MR. PRESIDENT'S ARRIVAL
A lot of actors and very famous people have been visiting Dubai. A lot are even staying in the resort I am working for. But never have I experienced someone who caused much turmoil as George Bush. His wife have stayed in our hotel about two months ago but more tahn the thight security, we barely felt her presence.
I was on local vacation and was supposed to come back to work last 14 January. I called up my supervisor to ask what time does he need me at work, not that I was excited about coming back ( oh no, please!) but just so the start of my year at work would be in order. Then I just found out that the whole of Madinat Jumeirah, actually the whole of Dubai was not in order at all. Bush would be staying in Burj Al Arab and the rest of his delegation in Madinat Jumeirah. To top that, they have closed all the roads near our hotel. 1)A part of the main road, Sheikh Zayed Road, was closed. That was like closing EDSA from Cubao to SM Megamall. 2)The whole of Jumeirah Road, the road in front of Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah was closed from 6 am to 6 pm. How could our guest go out of the resort? How can we go to work during our shifts? Hmm.. good questions! Answer to both is they could not. All our guests were advised to go out of the resort after the said timings or move to Emirates Tower, one of our hotels in the downtown area not affected by the road closings. And take this. All the employees who used to be coming to shift 7am or 3 pm has to come to work at 4:30 in the morning. Could you imagine that!? Sometimes, I wonder if people like George Bush could actually imagine how much does his presence affect people's lives. I mean one day visit and suddenly our world was shaken. Anyway, I feel bad for those people affected but luckily I wasn't. My supervisor said I can jsut take the day as my OFF. Hmm.. extended vacation..
IT'S RAINING, MAN!
The scarcity of raindrops in Dubai got a bit of excitement out of me. It was not like the typhoon with strong rain and wind that we always have in the Philippines. It was a very light downpour but a few days of continued rain was not really a good thing. Dubai was flooded, at least some areas. Could you imagine?! My colleague told me he phoned his mom back in Mumbai to tell her that it was currently flooded in Dubai and she was shocked in disbelief. Dubai, an emirate in the middle of desert is flooded?!Haha, what an irony but it happened. Thing is, this rain is something they are not so prepared of. The drainage system is so poor and there are some areas where there is no drainage system at all. Road have been inaccessible because of this. The few roads remaining were so congested. For two days in a row, I had to sit for 2 hours in the bus just to get to work and from work to my flat, which usually takes 15 minutes of my time. On the 4th day, after the rain stopped, a loty of workers have been dispersed to actually do some pumping thing to get water off the street.
Here are some pictures. Enjoy as you may never see them again. Im sure Dubai will do something about it. Maybe they will even make the grandest drainage system in the world. You know how ambitious this place is..
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