Another Nice Quote

For what it’s worth, it’s never too late, or in my case, too early to be whoever you wanna be.
There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want.
You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing.
You can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.
I hope you see things that startle you.
I hope you feel things you never felt before.
I hope you meet people with a different point of view.
I hope you live a life you are proud of.
And if you find that you are not,
I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Chinese Poem

A poem by my favourite Chinese poet. This poem kind of explains what I am feeling right now.

行路難
李白

金樽清酒斗十千，玉盤珍羞直萬錢。
停杯投箸不能食，拔劍四顧心茫然。
欲渡黃河冰塞川，將登太行雪滿山。
閑來垂釣碧溪上，忽復乘舟夢日邊。
行路難，行路難，多岐路，今安在。
長風破浪會有時，直挂雲帆濟滄海。

[註釋]
①斗十千：每杯酒價十千錢。珍羞：珍美的菜餚，羞同「饈」。直同「值」。
②箸：筷子。顧：看。茫然：渺茫而無著落的樣子。
③「欲渡」二句：比喻人生道路中的事與願違。太行：即太行山，在今山西、河北、河南三省邊界。
④「閑來」二句：古代傳說，姜尚未遇周文王時，曾在磻溪(今陝西寶雞東南)釣魚，伊尹見湯之前，夢見自己乘舟經過日月之邊。這裡把兩個典故合用，表示人生變幻難測，世事茫茫。
⑤長風破浪：出自《南史·宗愨傳》 ：「宗愨少時。叔父炳問其志。愨曰：`願乘長風破萬裡浪。』」濟：渡。滄海：大海。雲帆：指天水相連時，船帆像是出沒雲中。

[賞析]
《行路難》本樂府舊題。多寫世路艱難與別離傷感。詩首先通過對珍饈美酒，食不下咽，拔劍而起，四顧茫然的動作刻畫，突出表現李白內心的苦悶，接著通過黃河冰塞、太行雪滿表現世路的坎坷艱難，最後仍抱著幻想，相信總有一天會實現理想施展抱負，雖然苦悶但不失去信心，給人以激勵。

Salik Recharge Card

Salik is the road toll system in Dubai. It has been in operation since September 2007.

I use the SZR twice per day and pass through the Salik toll gates 2 times each trip. Since Salik was in operation, I have been recharging my salik tag either by going online using my credit card or by going to the petrol station and topping it up with cash.

Lately I have problems recharging my Salik account online. (I have similar problems while paying my DEWA bills but that is another story.) Every time I click on the epay website, an Access Denied message comes up on my screen.

I went to petrol station yesterday, tried to put some cash into my account. But instead I was told that we all would have to use the Salik Recharge Card.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the new Recharge Card. But what's wrong with online recharge or cash recharge? Why do RTA need to produce another piece of paper to complicate the process when the original recharge methods are working fine?

I can't help but think, somewhere on earth a tree has to die for this.

Food poisoning in Dubai

Received this article from a colleague.

Father looks for answers after children's death
By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter
Published: June 15, 2009, 23:51

Dubai: A grieving father who lost both his children to suspected food poisoning, has questioned the treatment provided by the hospitals and said he will leave it to Dubai authorities to give him justice.

"I lost both my babies to this stupid, stupid disease [food poisoning]," said Patrick D'Souza, unable to hold back his tears. "This shouldn't happen to anyone; this is the worst punishment."

He and his wife Anne-Sophie on Monday gave their statement to the police, who will deliver it to Dubai Prosecution to pursue the case, said D'Souza.

"We are hoping to get justice and that the authorities make sure this does not happen to other children," he said.

Anne-Sophie had ordered mixed fried rice from the Lotus Garden in Al Ghusais for their evening meal and everyone started getting stomach cramps and vomiting.

She rushed them all to NMC Hospital and they were released after initial treatment. She had to rush them all again later as things started to worsen.
D'Souza questioned how the hospital could have released the family after their initial treatment.

"Children with serious diseases like cancer survive. This was a simple case."
He said Dubai Hospital knew that a child (Nathan, five) in the family had already died. His wife and daughter were transferred to Dubai Hospital from NMC Hospital after initial treatment.

"They [Dubai Hospital] kept saying my daughter [Chelsea, seven] was 'stable' but that her blood pressure was low.

D'Souza was given a form to sign accepting the hospital's recommendation to put a tube into her to pump in extra drugs to keep her blood pressure stable.

"She [Chelsea] kept opening her eyes and smiling. Everything seemed to be OK. My wife was moved next to her bed. Chelsea then became unconscious and they tried to revive her. The same thing happened to my son," he said sobbing.

Dr B.R. Shetty, managing director and CEO of the NMC Group of Hospitals, earlier said: "Two children and an adult were brought to the hospital on Friday evening with suspected food poisoning. One of the children, a young boy, was pronounced dead on arrival. A young girl and a woman were then transferred to Dubai Hospital."

But that is not the sequence of events, according to D'Souza

He said his wife rushed the children to NMC Hospital which treated and released them.

Then, later, Nathan started complaining of stomach cramps and his wife was finding it difficult to move her legs and hands. She took them back to the hospital.

"They [the hospital] knew it is was a food poisoning case, why couldn't they have flushed the toxins from the stomach," asked D'Souza.

He was away in Abu Dhabi when the tragic events began.

Dubai Hospital was not immediately available for comment as Dubai Authorities are conducting investigations. The Lotus Garden restaurant has since been closed and will remain closed until investigations are complete.

Click here for article in the Gulf News.

Movers

Recently, a lot of big trucks from mover companies can be spotted on the road. I see people with cardboard boxes and packed cargoes moving out from the apartment I am staying almost every day.

Yes. People are leaving Dubai. Of course there are people arriving at the same time. Dubai has always been and always will be a place with people moving in and out from around the world. It is, in its nature, a very transient place.

And the time for me to move out from Dubai has come.

After some serious considerations and personal reasons, I have choose not to extend my long term assignment in Dubai and will be heading back home in approximately one month's time. Therefore it is time to wrap up my Dubai experience and I will continue to update this blog until my very final day in the Gulf.

After all, moving out of the country is part of the Dubai Experience as well.

I love this song.

A very old song by Gigi Leung. Love the lyrics and the melody. I hope this song will cheer those who needs cheering up.

神說　你要勇敢就賜你阻礙
想聰明　必需解開難題　自己停止悲哀
要長大　很困難　偶而能耍賴
眼淚擦乾　頭髮甩一甩

就算那麼一天　我將不存在
留下的痕跡　也可證明　Hey他真不簡單
地球轉　不停擺　沒人能阻攔
這一口氣　活的可精采　

一個人走　更快了
我來決定　太陽出來或者發點瘋
可能高處有些寒　可能沒有人依賴
一杯Cafe’ latte也能送上溫暖

一個人活　也快樂
裝扮心情　優雅懶散或者鬧哄哄
我不相信這麼難　幸福不只有被愛
一陣微風吹過　心裡浮現答案

不要擔心　朋友　我會OK平安

Moving Advertisement

On my way back home the other day, I saw a fleet of Volkswagen Beetles driving very slowly on the road. They were moving advertisement for the big sale in Centre point. The vehicles were covered all over with plastics with the words "Centre Point" and "Sale".

It was indeed a very interesting concept. However it was also very annoying. The volks were blocking the roads as they drove like snails. And drivers in Dubai were notorious for their impatience and rudeness. Hence loud horning and flashing high beams from the cars behind the volks was a common sight.