Sandier Pastures

A horrific accident happened last Tuesday in the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway caused by fog and clear reckless driving left hundreds injured and 8 people dead. Of the hundred vehicle pile up, 25 vehicles caught fire.

~ Looks like a scene from a Hollywood action movie but sadly, it isn’t ~

Police officers say that the crash happened because the vehicles were still speeding despite the severe weather conditions where thick fog reduced visibility to 15 meters. Driving at more than 60 kmh when you can’t see a thing 15 meters ahead of you is just simply road arrogance and suicide. I pray for those who perished and hope for fast recovery of those injured.

More than anything else, I fervently hope that UAE drivers reach a maturity level so accidents like this can be prevented.

*****

Thanks to all who emailed me to ask if me and my family was ok. Thank God we are. The accident area is far from our place and my route for work. However, my husband and I have decided to delay getting out of the house in the morning during foggy weather.

Photos from Gulf News

I know I could post this for Wordless Wednesday but I just can’t keep myself wordless when I saw this:

I took this March 1, 2008. This is a countdown to the completion of one of Dubai’s mega project, the Dubai Metro. I’m excited to see the number decrease each day and couldn’t wait for it to become 0001. I wouldn’t want to leave Dubai until I get on Dubai’s first train.

It was my first time to see a horse racing event at Nad Al Sheba, Dubai. I know nothing about horse racing except for horses being beaten to run to the delight of the betting crowd. I thought I’d check out the excitement when M said he needs to go there for his work (evaluating the horse racing event for tourism purposes).

We arrived at the venue after sunset and in the middle of the almost barren surroundings stands the futuristic designed Millenium Grandstand:

~ the Grandstand lights change from electric hues of blue to yellow to pink and purple ~

The grandstand up close:

 We passed the free section where most of the spectators are seated. On the sidelines, there were so many people with picnic mats eating, sleeping and playing cards! Pristine kept asking me, “Mom, is this their house?”

The lights were glaringly bright inside.

~ Nad Al Sheba has one of the world’s best horse tracks ~

M bought tickets to the Gainsborough Lounge where we can watch the horse racing event in a covered atmosphere, great for tourists during the summer. There is also a bar with food and serves alcohol (not that we were craving for that- we were there for evaluation, remember?). When we got out of the elevator, the usherette stopped us and pointed to the sign that says,

“Visitors under 21 YEARS not allowed”

Since Pristine’s age only qualified for over 21 MONTHS not years, we were escorted out of the lounge. We were a bit disappointed that one told us about this rule! Pristine was a little upset to miss the fun and the people waving at her inside the lounge and almost cried. We had to take her out and look for other ways to entertain her!

Glad we found something she really liked:

~ free face painting for kids at the event ~

I could write on and on about the event but I’ll save it for later. It’s 1 am already. Just a quick note though, there is no betting in the Dubai horse racing event but there is some kind of raffle draw where if you can correctly guess the winners of each of the seven games, you win a huge cash prize. We might be back again for the Dubai World Cup later this month.

Yesterday we went to the mall to find some ingredients for the bake sale tomorrow at our daughter’s school. It’s just Tuesday so the malls wouldn’t be packed like crazy like when it is Thursday night, the last working week of the hardworking people of the UAE.

The mall was full. What were the people doing there? and all the rows and rows of heart-shaped cases of chocolates and fancies? Looks like Dubaians start preparing for Valentine’s Day early. A man hoarded an entire cart-full of red heart-shaped box of Lindor chocolates — for his, ah, many wives? Just kidding, I don’t know.

With that thought, I remembered the news flash on the radio this morning:

The virtue police in Saudi Arabia have ordered shops to remove roses and other items that are red to prevent the celebration of Valentine’s day February 14. The V-day ban is imposed because this particular occasion encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women.

However here in Dubai, also a city in the Middle East, the whole city is preparing for Valentines. The malls, the florists are donned in red, hotels and restaurants have some programs and promotions aired over the radio over and over. A little freedom is delicious.

They’ve  gotta be kidding us!

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has installed air-conditioned bus shelters all over the city in preparation of next year’s summer. One of the purposes of these environment controlled shelters is to lure people to take the public transport to reduce the bottleneck traffic everyday in the emirate.

The capacity of the very badly designed shelter is 14, 8 seated and 6 standing. On the average, 20-30 people wait at bus stops and given the culture this country has, everyone was surprised that the shelters has no separate section for ladies.

~airconditioned bus shelter near my place~

How can they not see, from the design stage that functionality heavily sacrificed for the design? What were they thinking, shaping the bus shelters like the iconic Burj Al Arab?

The Indian bus driver involved in yesterday’s fatal crashwas questioned by the RTA (Roads and Transport Authority). Witnesses said he was driving recklessly and with speed but police have yet to confirm if the driver indeed jumped at a red light by analyzing photos and videos installed in the intersection lights.

Why don’t they just listen to the passengers and the motorists who were there when it happened?

One Pakistani succumbed to head injuries because of the tragedy. Ten other people are injured. How many more casualties before the government takes full control of the depressing traffic situation here? And it wouldn’t help to know that the newly-formed traffic control teams recorded a whooping 16,000 cases of traffic violation in just one week.

This is what happens when a special public bus dubbed as “express” jumps at a red light to adhere to its name:

Bus #X25 slammed into five other cars in a busy intersection (100 meters from my office)  on a hectic Tuesday morning

Sorry, I could not bring myself to post bigger images. Please click the thumbnails to enlarge the photos.

The X25 bus is one of the new buses operating since September of this year. X in the bus name means “Express” and it really lives up to that name with its speed. Until a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were using this bus every single day. I was amazed by the skill of the driver to hustle through traffic, sometimes cutting corners, overtaking, inserting between cars (as if the vehicle is small!) and unfortunately, jumping on red lights just to get passengers to their destination on time.

I always knew one day, this bus and that kind of driving would result in something bad. Sad for the people involved in the accident this morning.

One motorist died in today’s unfortunate event.

More horrifying photos and the complete story in GulfNews.

My mother was serious. She swore what she saw were fighter planes hovering in the sky for more than one hour. Diving then going up again, almost beautiful but a little bit scary.

Fighter planes.

       The Middle East.

                 Iran.

If you put two and two together, it can be a scary thought. Isn’t it?

I never entertained the thought of war, no not this soon. And I don’t want to mention that word to my mother who has hypertension! So I told her maybe there’s an airshow, with hope that it would erase her fears.

This morning when I looked at the online news, I was right! There is an ongoing Dubai Airshow, dubbed to be the third largest in the world. The planes hovering in the skies, entertaining motorists stuck in traffic are part of the airshow!

I showed the news article to my mother and relieved her fears away. The airshow lasts until the 15th. I hope there won’t be any suspicious planes in the sky after that!

Note: Photos from GulfNews

There was very heavy traffic going to Jebel Ali side of Dubai early this week which was caused by laborers mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh protesting in the streets demanding a 200 dirham (approx. $55) increase in their current salary of 600 dirhams per month (approx. US$166). They also complained of their accommodation, living condition and the fact that they have to pay for their visas to get here. 

Residents near the area said police sirens can be heard everywhere and in no time, the protesters were back in their shabby labor camps, fenced in with barbed wires more like caged animals than human beings. I can’t believe this is happening in 2007.

These men are the ones making the Dubai dream happen and giving it shape and form. Now, the news says they are to be deported and face a lifetime ban from entering UAE again. I hope they go home and tell the others who attempt to drown in debt just to go abroad, that life in Dubai as a laborer is not worth it. The streets are not paved in gold.

Update: The protest ended, the laborers arrested. In one forum I read one lady said, “The government of Dubai may not care if 1,000 Indians march down the streets but I wonder what 1,000 white Westerners protesting in the middle of the highway would do though.”

CNN also covered a story on this.

Eid Al Fitr, the Islamic celebration following the end of Ramadan is coming sometime this weekend - - all depending on the rise of the new moon as sighted physically by the moon sighting committee, of course, of course.

If the Shawwal moon is sighted tomorrow night (exactly 30 days after the last new moon) as heard from a group of people in the bus, then we will have Friday and Saturday off for private sectors and until Sunday off for government sectors. But I found a website that says “God willing, the new moon will be visible on Friday, October 12″.

The sighting of the moon can be very confusing and vary from country to country.

If the moon shows up in the sky on Friday night, I will not be working on Saturday and Sunday, finally, just like most people in so many parts of the world. The moon sighting committee has got to make sure they open their eyes wide and be very vigilant from tomorrow night and onwards.

Binoculars will help.