Sandier Pastures

We picked up the gas cooking range sold to us by a newly found friend for 1/1oth of the price despite only two months old. It is still in perfect working condition, she just needed to get rid of that in place of a new one, so the great bargain. 

It was our first time seeing these people but almost instantly, we bonded. The family has a lovely four-year old daughter — Pristine was asking why her hair is red ala Anne of Green Gables!! This is one of the great things about living in Dubai, we meet people from all corners of the globe. The couple are originally from Syria but lived in the United States for so long until they moved to Dubai 2 years ago. Had we stayed in Japan, Pristine would not have a chance to have friends with red hair!

When we picked the rabbits from the family originally from the UK, Pristine asked me why the previous owner, a girl of 10, has big bright blue eyes!

I got some furnitures (and lovely pets) from people repatriating to their home country. The furnitures we have right now are from friends from Canada, UK, Syria, USA, Egypt, UAE..who knows what’s next.

The furries have arrived. We got the rabbits last Friday from Arabian Ranches, an exclusive community of beautiful Arabian villas situated far out in the desert. The trip was amazing, we get to pass vast strips of desert area waiting to be developed. It was an eye opener. Contrast to the skyscrapers along Sheikh Zayed Road (Dubai’s main highway), not a single building was in sight, only a few bushes and lots of palm tree, the ‘original’ Dubai before it camouflaged itself as a modern and cosmopolitan city.

Back to the topic, we got the two rabbits with us already. Here they are:

“I don’t like my eyes red and shining like the rabbits so I have to wear these dark glasses.” – little P 

One boy and one girl. The boy has been done, so to speak so I will not be rabbit-sitting 24/7 in the future! The previous owner gave them away because they got a new puppy and the dog doesn’t like the rabbits around. They have names - - Frosty and Snowball but we really can’t tell which is which!

Just so you have the picture of the very empty flat we have:

Pristine helping out and posing for a picture

Due to limited relocation budget offered by my company, we decided to leave most of our things in Japan and opted to buy here. We are starting from scratch! But shopping is always a pleasure - - - that is, if we have the means of course!! Now we can’t buy them in one shopping spree.

Happy in the kitchen

We are buying furniture slowly, according to priority — that way there’s some shopping to look forward every weekend or so. No bling blings for now.  Actually, we will be collecting things we bought from a friend who will be going back to Canada on Friday. We had a great bargain, her things were all from a reputed furniture shop, very new and she sold it to us for less, less than half the price!

M has far surpassed me (and surprised me!) with his cooking prowess. Once in a while I’m treated to gourmet dinners, authentic Jap cuisine and deserts that I should not indulge in.

He has also mastered his recipe experimentations in the kitchen. Waking up at five o’clock in the morning and starting rituals early paid off. 

This morning, he pulled up a surprise by serving me a fine homemade bread for breakfast! Hmmm, that was what the self-rising flour, along with some mysterious yeast in huge bags were for!

Thankfully, I don’t have a terrible bus story to tell today. Like a bolt of lightning, I ‘ran’ out of the office at 6 pm sharp yesterday and headed towards the bus stop. The frustrating bus experience I had 2 days ago should not be repeated, I hope, in a long time!

I arrived home safe and sound and in one piece! Bus story, nada. Crossing the road home story, yes I have one.

There’s a street I need to cross before I can insert the door key to our front door. A street with lots of speeding sometimes swerving cars, burly buses and having no pedestrian lane. Nooo!! Yes, horror. Add the fact that at 6:45 p.m., when the mental drivers can’t decide if it’s dusk or dark and don’t turn on the headlights, you get the very dangerous picture. Grey skies, grey road pavement, grey cars camouflaging the whole afternoon scene approaching like it is invible.

Due to the governement’s beautification program, there is this one stretch of island in the middle of the road filled with greens and lots of flowers. Duh! beautiful to look at but it is because of that, there are no pedestrian lanes for commuters who need to go to the opposite side of the road. The next intersection with traffic lights and a crossing lane is another kilometer or so away, so people including myself, tired and worn at work cross the dangerous street with their lives at stake, every-single-day.

I hate crossing this street with the thought that this might be my last, in mind. I have to be cautious, careful and 100% confident that there are no grey cars without headlights invisibly coming my way. Sheesh, even the slight thought of that sends shivers down my spine! So, I stop, look, listen on the average of more than 10 times or wait for the road to completely clear (takes about 10 minutes of waiting!)  before crossing.

Some people decide otherwise and run like they are playing on the road. What if they trip over while running and couldn’t stand at once? I take time to cross, no matter how long it will take as long as it is completely safe. I don’t see the point in being restless and hurrying up at the expense of my precious life! (It’s like hurrying up going to the grave!)

Yes, I know that the subject line is a dead giveaway to what will be some horrible contents of today’s blog entry.

I know that no amount of complaining would make my situation yesterday less disappointing and frustrating. It takes lot of character strength to find composure in situations where patience is terribly tested. The book says so. Yesterday was a good example to implement the good habits discussed in the book!  I have psyched myself and talked like chanting a prayer over and over not to snap my sanity but that’s it!

Public transport services in Dubai leave even the most optimistic resident in despair.

I left the office at 6:10 pm, walked towards the bus stop and saw not one but two buses. I must be pretty lucky today! Since I was still waiting to cross the pedestrian lane, the two buses left but I thought, hey, another one will come. Grabbing my book, I started reading and became too engrossed to realize that almost 30 minutes has passed and I just stood there, leaning against some pole, oblivious of the world around me.

When I looked up, the number of cars on the streets doubled and horn honking session has started. The lights are on as it was getting dark. I was able to continue reading because of the light from the pole I was leaning on. Bus #13 came. I know I can take this option and just walk home. Farther walk but bearable. Bus #13 did not even bother to stop! It was too full.

Bus #3 is supposed to take me home in less than 30 minutes. To my home where hubby’s well prepared dinner awaits. I called home and told him as calmly as I can to just go ahead with dinner without me as I am not on any bus yet. M said Pristine don’t want to eat without me. Right.

The minutes of waiting easily slipped to an hour of desperation. The buses just refused to appear! They are either caught in bad traffic or for other reasons. The number of people in the bus stop increased and increased until Bus #3 came and everyone rushed to the bus entrance door, elbowing and pushing each other. But who would care? Everyone wants a piece of seat on the bus. Ladies were screaming. The bus driver told everyone to step aside. The bus is too full.

Seeing no chance to be home if I stayed longer on the same spot, I walked to another bus stop and started reading again. I am so glad I am with a great book. After almost two hours of waiting on an empty stomach and a full bladder, bus #31 came. One passenger came down leaving one seat vacant — one seat vacant against more than 20 desperate and angry, hungry passengers. The bus driver took me in, 19 guys were left behind. Although I have to walk about half a kilometer home after unboarding that bus, I was thankful I was able to get on that bus before Pristine’s bedtime.

Ok, this might be perfectly normal here but deep inside me, there are a lot of questions and comparisons. Buses in Japan come on time and a minute of delay entails loads of apologies. The public transport in Japan is very efficient one can hardly complain. But Dubai is such a ‘young’ city compared to Tokyo (or any other city in Japan for that matter) so the Dubai government deserve a chance to improve, at the expense of course to lots and lots of commuters including myself.

Normally, I would vent with utmost rage to M before I could even let go of my handbag, before I could even take off my shoes. This time, it was either the 7 habits (the book) that strapped me to be calm or I was just too tired to talk. I walked to the kitchen, helped myself with dinner and ate while watching the stars. (Daughter was in the bath with daddy)

I was looking through some friend’s photos yesterday afternoon. Photos of friends I left behind in Japan. There were lots of photos in the snow, the mountains that used to greet me every morning when I wake up and simply, the Japanese characters in the signboards all over the city.

Then photos taken in Tokyo came up. The famous Tokyo tower, the busy streets of Shinjuku and then! some pictures of the cherry blossoms. Spring has come to Tokyo and I am badly missing it like hell! As I looked at the pictures one by one, I remembered the days when I used to stroll around the streets of Shinjuku or Akihabara when I was a restless student, 10 years ago! Where did all the time go?

Told M as soon as I went home and he just laughed at me. He never even misses his own home country and Japan’s globetrotting adopted daughter now based in the desert is on the brink of crying over pictures!

• I had a great day-off yesterday. Just stayed at home and watched the outside world around me unfurl from the balcony of our flat, more than a hundred meters from above the ground.
• Lots of zzzz’s yesterday courtesy of hubby who took care of everything so I can rest.
• I cut hubby’s hair yesterday. He will be having a job interview tomorrow. I know, I know! it’s not a good idea to have an amateur to trust with haircutting matters, most importantly, not before a very important job interview!
• But M is so brave to give me the comb and barber shears, with a come-what-may attitude!
• I could never trust him with my hair — I am so taken aback he trusts me 100% with his.
• After more than 30 minutes of snip-snap-snip-snap-snip-snapping, M was sporting a new, shorter haircut and a fresher face.
• I did it! and the result!? Awesome! (according to my client).
• I guess this will be a start of a lifetime career as a family barber!
• My father doesn’t need to go out for a haircut since being married to my mom for the last 30 years.
• I am having a gut feeling I am following that path of hers. Dreading it but after starting it right, hubby is happy we will be saving on barber fees every 2 months!
• I didn’t know small talents like haircutting can be passed from one generation to the other *wink*
• Sorry, I am making this a very big deal because IT is!
• I am a little proud of my newly found *ahem* talent.
• Meanwhile, Pristine was acting a little strange yesterday, like a grumpy old woman, really. From the way she complains about anything, you’d think you are dealing with someone having a mid-life crisis.
• I dreamed of a male friend yesterday. I must be dearly, badly missing him so much. In my dream, he was coming out of the closet!
• He is still in my thoughts today. I would love to write him about my dream but dread that he might be mad at me for being suspicious about his gender. I hope he is not jumping into the other fence, really.
• I took a very early bus today, around 10 minutes than the usual. No traffic today, I arrived in the office 15 minutes after I boarded the bus, which is before 8 am.
• I didn’t realize I am living very  near the office, if only there were no traffic!
• Usually, it takes me more than 30 minutes to arrive. There’s one intersection that takes 15 minutes to clear.
• Arrived very early at work.
• Horrified to see that the office door is very much closed still!
• Grabbed my favorite company — my book and started reading until I heard someone clanging with keys in hand.
• After more than 20 minutes of waiting, someone finally came and opened the office door.
• I am in no mood to work today, although I need to finish so many things. Working on Saturdays and Sundays hasn’t sunk in my system yet — I wonder if it will ever do!
• Someone told me I talk too fast. If I am talking with Canadians/Americans/British, I have no problem. In the office where 99.9% of the population are Indians, I need to slow down except when I talk with my boss.
• I find talking slowly almost like “telegram talking” very difficult.
• I find it strange (although enjoying it!) that people can actually chat and write blogs (oops!) during office hours! but I am thankful for that or else I have no other way to vent any feelings or thoughts.
• I should be back working, like, NOW.

No picture taking happened. The yellow flag on the beach was in yellow, meaning, we swim with caution. Strong winds over at Jumeirah Park prevented us from dipping. Good thing though because we forgot to bring our camera with us last Thursday afternoon. The anticipated trip to the beach had one real letdown, the forgotten camera!

I know I put it in M’s bag the night before, somehow, some magic made it disappear…only to find out it was in Pristine’s school bag. Now we know the culprit!

It was cold and windy on the beach last Thursday and the people there were just enjoying the passing of time, relaxing and looking at the sunset. We did too, rented lounge chairs and look at the sun saying goodbye to a marvelous day.

If we go with this schedule every week, I will be ‘tanner’ than Naomi Campbell long before the official summer months begin!

After work today, I will go to Gold Souk (Dubai Gold Market — bus terminal near it) and meet hubby and Pristine. We will be heading to Jumeirah, where the fantastic beaches are, to meet a family I met online. The English family will be relocating back to the UK and leaving so many things behind them giving ‘Dubaians’ like myself a big chance to bargain! (They have advertised their stuff and invited us over for viewing.)

I will finish work at 1:30 pm, arrive probably in Gold Souk by 2:00, then probably be in Jumeira at 3:00 because though it is very near, traffic is at its worst on Thursday afternoons when everyone begin their weekend breaks. The family in Jumeirah is only free after 5pm.

So what do we do until then? Frolic in the beach (again!) of course! This time, one of us will be officially dressed — Pristine will be sporting a new bathing suit. 

3 pm. The beach. At least 2 hours of sun.My skin is going to cry!