Amazing Hug

I read with horror when I learnt that a Siberian tiger, Tatiana, in San Francisco Zoo escaped from her enclosure, killed and seriously injured 3 zoo visitors. Being a zoo docent myself, I must say this is a very bizarre incident. And the tiger was later shot to death by the police. A tragedy to every single soul involved. However, not all big cats are dangerous. I have this video and love it. And I think it is a good time to share it with you.


If you have problem viewing this, try this weblink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYh96USnzY0

Cup Noodle

Suddenly had a craving for cup noodle. Went to the supermarket and bought my favourite one. Don't ask me about the price. Let's just say I could have gotten a bowl of decent noodle in a restaurant had I been in Hong Kong or Singapore. But then again it is manufactured in Japan, you can't get that in HKG or S'pore. :p.



Bon appétit!

Birthday Bash

Yesterday was our colleague Marian's 40th birthday. She held a birthday bash in the Moscow Hotel.
Sara and her husband
Jyothi and her husband
Andrew
Marian and I
Hee. This is her birthday gift from me.
The birthday party was great. There were DJs, music, food and drinks. I ate and danced but didn't drink. Drinking alcohol in Dubai is a planned operation.

First, there is zero tolerance in drink driving. Jail sentence and deportation are guaranteed for DUI offenders. Secondly in Dubai, few places are accessible by walking alone. Hence taking cabs or appointing a designated driver is the solution in getting around Dubai during the festive season.

Well, I am a total believer in "If you drink, don't drive". Be a responsible driver. Imagine if your loved ones was killed or injured in a car accident because the other driver was DUI, how frustrated and angry you would be. It is never funny.

Don't do it to you and your loved ones. Don't do it to others.

The World Tallest Building

These are the views from the 134th Floor of the world tallest building, Burj Dubai. Photos were not taken by me.



Here are the ones with comments.

Official Office Christmas Lunch

We had our official office Christmas lunch at Irish Village near Deira district. I ordered the traditional Irish stew and it tasted fantastic. Also discovered HP sauce. According to my British and Irish colleagues, it is a popular condiment in the West. It is a cross between tomato sauce and vinegar.

I didn't drink because of my sore throat. Hence I was in charge of fetching people from office to the restaurant. And these people almost crushed my little car and we nearly didn't make it on the Garhound Bridge, as Stuart decided to hop around in the back seat.

Merry Christmas to you

I will be spending my first Christmas in Dubai so I decided to get something in IKEA to make my place more "Christmas-y"
Clearly, Miu miu (to my readers: well, catcat has many names, apparently. I am an irresponsible cat owner, OK?) was not very impressed.
She would much rather play with rubbish instead.

Ski Dubai

Finally went to Ski Dubai and tried out Skiing with my colleagues, Andy and Sara. Yeap, learning skiing in the desert.
It was not very difficult but it was damn tiring to walk around with the ski. The boots were heavy. Look at the size of the boots!

I found skiing really fun. We took the Discovery Lesson(for those who have never skied in their lives). You could see Sara and Andy behind me. This was the first time I slided off a ski slope. :)
Unfortunately, due to the sweat and cold air, I caught a cold for the following 2 days. As a matter of fact, I am still coughing now. *cough cough* I will definitely try snow boarding when I get better.

Unofficial Office Christmas Party

Eid Al Adhr was shifted forward from 21st to 18th. Therefore Dubai declared that the public holiday now falls on 18th, 19th and 20th. This means we only need to work for 2 days this week. Some colleagues took matters into their own hands and called it a day at 1230 and went out for lunch, followed by a Wii (and more beer) gathering at the Greens.
My colleagues- they were clearly drunk

Typical Stuart. Beer on one hand and Wii on the other.
Playing Bowling-Brian was the champion
Andrew and I
I love my face.

Random Thoughts

As I was driving home from work on Sheikh Zayed Road one night, I was thinking how bizarre I was, driving at 120km/h in a car I never thought I would owe, on a freeway in a foreign land.

What are the chances a person like me would live and work in the Middle East? I lived in Bath, UK, for a short while before. It is highly unlikely that I would ever visit that place again and yet I have spent 6 months of my life, living, studying and networking in an odd place in the UK.

I wonder how often I will remember my life in Dubai after this assignment. Would I miss the friends I have made here? Would I remember the restaurants, the shops, the food, the radio stations?

Peach Upside Down Cake

I was invited to a Christmas dinner party by my colleague, potluck style. He and his wife are vegans (meaning no egg, no milk, no butter, no gelatin and no animals). Understanding that I am not familiar with vegan recipe, they assigned me to prepare a bowl of fruit salad.

Not being the type who will shy away from a task, I searched the Internet for vegan dessert recipe. I wanted to make Almond jelly initially but I couldn't find almond milk in the supermarket. In the end, I settled for peach upside down cake.

These were the ingredients I picked up from the supermarket.

Plan B. This was going to be the dessert if the cake failed.

My first attempt was a failure. This was the second attempt. It looked pretty good. At least it looked edible.
We finished it during the dinner. It was a success!

Driving to Abu Dhabi

The drive that is termed by The Boss as the world's most boring drive: Dubai to Abu Dhabi to Dubai in one single day.

In my case, make it three times in a matter of 3 days. *ARRRRRGGGHHHH*

It is not extremely bad if I am not in a hurry, or if I am driving a mustang.

But driving at 120km/h in a tiny little car is no fun. It is 125km per trip. By the way, the trip from my place to office is 30km. So I clock 60km everyday.

Looking on the bright side, I am fully utilising my car. And petrol in UAE is dirt cheap, roughly one-third of the price of Singapore's, or one-tenth of London's.

Trees

More trees
And more trees
BORING...
Yawn.
And this is Abu Dhabi. Kind of remind me of Malaysia.





You think?