Happy as a Pig in Shit.

I am as happy as puck! It's only half a day more in the office and then it's 2 weeks of hardcore eating, drinkin', camera equipment shopping and lotsa bonin'.

Heeeeyah!

This time next week..

I will be home!

Photography by the Creek.

We had a photography walkabout by the creek last week when it was nice and cool, unlike the oven like conditions we experience a few months ago.

As usual the creek was bustling with activity.

There was a marathon going on. The recent rains left lots of large puddles.

This guy was probably so overjoyed with the weather that he couldn't resist a few cartwheels for my photographic benefit.

The last week was simply wonderful as we had 3 days of public holidays because of Eid, which back home would be Hari Raya Haji. So from Friday to Tuesday we did bugger all. I may have gained a few pounds though but that's okay. With the cold weather setting in I'll need the insulation.

Almost a week more...

As the days past and my fly off date approaches, my motivation to do anything (particularly work) declines. It feels like the 12th of December is going to be some sort of release for me. I used to think that the Xmas lights along Orchard road were corny but now I somehow cannot wait to see them!
Will it feel like it did the last time going home, like waking up from a dream?

Rainy Season in Dubai

It has been raining a lot the last week or so. Its a nice change. Temperatures in the mornings can be down to 12 to 16 degrees. The rain isn't torrential. It ain't like back home in Singapore.

Still it is such pleasant weather. Why yesterday afternoon I could just sit at my desk and watch the lightning strike the top of the Burj Dubai again and again.

Not Long now..

A sure fire way for me to drop off to sleep every night now is this. In my mind, I go through the sequence of events that I will have to take the day I fly home (3 weeks more!). And normally, before the bit where I am about to get on the aircraft, I am deep in slumber.
I am just so glad to be taking Singapore Airlines this time. How on earth Emirates can win best airline is beyond me.

IF I could.

If I could start over. I would have pursued an education in one of the following.

1. Political Science/Economics
2. Marine Biology

Just as well I didn't. I don't think I could have afforded to go to University anyway!

Pleasant surpises

When I was walking home yesterday evening through Satwa, a wad of cash, ok not exactly a wad, but about 20 dirhams fell out of my pocket as I took my iPod out. I didnt realise it as I had earphones on. A guy who must have been Pakistani picked it up and ran after me to give it back.
I was actually astonished at this man's honesty and sincerity at returning money.
Maybe he did it only because there were others around and if he had pocketed it, he would come off as being dishonest.
Nevertheless it is nice to be surprised once in a while at what can happen. Just goes to show that it takes all kinds and I'll be sure to remember this the next time I feel like generalising

To whoever this man is, I thank you.

Life in Dubai - Trip to Hatta

Heisham, Beaver and I went to Hatta a few weeks back to look for old forts and this supposedly famous rock pool. We didnt find the rock pool but we saw a few cool looking fortified outposts.

Thanks to Heisham for the photo of me.

We didnt find the rock pools as we were quite restricted at the offroad areas in Heisham wheels. But all that will be solved once I get my driving license and the company's 4x4 Jeep Cherokee. Then it will be my turn to contribute to our road trips.

Life in Dubai

Ok I think I managed to sort out the kinks on this blog regarding the sizing of my photos but I don't think its a permanent solution. The blog just isn't doing what its supposed to be doing.
Anyway blog aside, I can feel things are looking up because,

1. The weather is cooler.
2. I go home for 2 weeks next month.
3. I'm half way through my driving lessons.
4. RTA Dubai started a new bus service with a newer and bigger bus with an increased frequency.
5. Taxi's seem easier to flag down at 6.30am onwards negating the need for me to wake up at 5am.
6. The first 2 weeks of December are chock full of public holidays!

Life in Dubai - Chums

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have good company, especially living in a place like Dubai. These are the guys (and gal) that have kept me sane and who's company I look forward to at the end of some very trying days.

From L to R: Me, Beaver, May and Heisham.

This was last Friday when we all went out into the desert to watch the sunset, start a campfire and look at the full moon. Felix and his wife joined us a little later with GPS coordinates provided for by Beaver. Anyway this first trip was a primer for what was to come. The collapsible chairs we bought were indispensable. It was actually easier to walk around barefoot. We actually forgot that there were scorpions and snakes at night. Thankfully the nights were cool and breezy and it got chilly a bit.

Tripoli, Libya

Ok its been a very long while since I last blogged. No excuses, I have been feeling lazy...and I have lots to blog.
My trip to Libya and Tunisia was quite an interesting experience beginning with the flight to Tripoli. Of all the coincidences in this world I sat right next to another Singaporean on the flight to Tripoli from Dubai. Apparently he and a couple of other S'porean chaps were going to some town in Libya to do city planning.
Our hotel in Tripoli was right next to the old walled city of Tripoli and this got me all excited. This is the view from my hotel room.

Thankfully I had a few hours to kill on the second day we were there so I got to explore old Tripoli with my D80.

Old Tripoli is chock full of history. The walls and some of the buildings date back to Ottoman empire/Barbary pirate times with narrow pathways and arches.

After venturing about 600 metres into the city I came across this fabulous looking Roman archway! I've since discovered that this is the Marcus Aurelius archway built to commemorate the Emperor. I finalky got my chance to lay my hands on some ancient Roman history. There is a restaurant right next to the arch and the dining area is nestles amongst some roman ruins as well. Judging from the ground level of the arch and the elevated streets of Tripoli surrounding the arch, it is probably safe to surmise that the existing city had been build directly on top of the roman city and many more Roman archeological treasures lie beneath the current city!

However to have these excavated would probably mean demolishing an equally historically important heritage of Tripoli.

With Libya accepting responsibility for the Lockerbie disaster, announcing it's plans to scrap it's WMD program and renouncing terrorism, Col Qaddafi in one fell swoop has caused the lifting of sanctions on his country and the welcoming of Libya into the welcoming arms of international community as well as the major Oil & Gas exploration companies. As a result, Libya has become a boom town and is rapidly transforming itself.

However there is still a heavy security presence in the country with armed guards everywhere. I was not even allowed to take photographs of the hotel. Everyone had to enter and exit the hotel at the main entrance and pass through a metal detector and have your bags x-rayed. Adults are friendly but generally wary of a foreigners especially one toting a camera. Thankfully these kids had no qualms about posing for me. Their exuberance is a reflection of things to come for their country.
For my next trip to Tripoli I will plan it such so that I can go visit another set of ancient roman ruins in the desert, Sabratha.

Trip to Jabel Hafeet and Al-Ain Hot Springs

On the wee hours of Friday morning at 4.30am (what was I thinking?) I met up with Heisham, Beaver and May (and one of their colleagues) for a trip to Jebel Hafeet in the Abu Dhabi Emirate to catch the sunrise. Despite the early morning start, we still missed it.

Nevertheless it was quite pleasant up there with a very cold wind blowing. The huge block of mountain on the right hindered us from getting a full view of the sun rising over the landscape.

The summit itself was fenced off to prevent folks from falling over so that made it a bit inconvenient for landscape shots. However I got to test out my Mamiya 645 Pro at the base of the mountain.

The hot springs were at the base and there was lots of greenery kept fresh by a very active fresh water sprinkler system.

And yes...the water was hot...I think it would have been fabulous in winter.

By 10am, I was nodding away in Heisham's car on our way back to Dubai.

Life in Dubai - Cost of Photographic Gear

The cost of a Nikkor Micro AF-S 60mm f2.8 here is about 2600 Dirhams (approx) which is about SGD 1000. The cost of the same lens in Singapore, according to the Clubsnap forum is SGD 738. That's almost like a SGD 300 difference. I had contemplated getting this here then thought the better of it, deciding to wait until Singapore.
Its mind boggling how they price certain goods here. Mac products, Suunto dive computers...I think they follow European standards of pricing.

Life in Dubai

Well looks like my Libyan/Tunisian trip of this week has been postponed to the next. However it's Wednesday and our flights this Sunday are still waitlisted. The last thing I want to do is to arrange all our meetings only to have to cancel them again like I had to do last week. Its been a busy hectic week. But busy in the good sense. Busy with a sense of purpose and a feeling of self worth.
End of October its North Africa, 2nd week November its India, and Egypt with the boss early December. Then come 19th December its that flight home. Singapore Airlines this time thank God.

We got a vessel into charter for Libya yesterday and although it was largely due to the brokers efforts, I still feel pretty good about it.

I had a parking lesson today. What I find frustrating is the language barrier that ocassionally crops up. I think I'm doing what the instructor is telling me to do and when I get it wrong, he doesn't (or cannot) tell me what exactly I'm doing wrong. I think it is actually up to me to gauge where I have gone wrong and then deviate a little from his instructions to get it closer to getting it right.

Personal life all fixed, driving lessons ongoing and a more sense of purpose at work. At least I am beginning to get somewhere now.

Scuba Diving - UAE East Coast

Went for a dive yesterday with Heisham to the east coast. While Heisham carried out his training dives for his Advanced Diver certification, I went for a leisure dive. I was grateful to have been able to hitch a ride with Heisham in his car, otherwise I would have had to settle for the dive centre's mini bus.

Hawkfish on the Inchcape 1 wreck

The first dive was done on the Inchcape 1 wreck. This small crew boat was sunk on 12th December 2001 to form an artificial offshore reef. At 32m, it restricted our bottom time to 18 minutes and along with strong surface currents, poor visibility, a huge cluster f@#k of divers all exploring the small wreck and wanting to do a safety stop at 5m on the ascend line all made it a very undesirable dive experience.

Chromodoris annulata nudibranch on the Inchcape 2 wreck.

Thankfully, the second dive on the Inchcape 2 wreck was much better. The Inchcape 2 is a another crew boat that was sunk on 24th April 2002 based on the success of the sinking of the Inchcape 1 and the marine life it attracted.

Lionfish on the Inchcape 2 wreck.

The wreck lay at 20-22m and visibility was good, current non existent and marine life prolific. The icing on the cake for me was finding two nudibranches that I had not photographed before.

Mating chromodoris annulata nudibranchs on the Inchcape 2 wreck.

Hypselodoris Kanga nudibranch on the Inchcape 2 wreck.

The schools of snapper that surrounded the Inchcape 2 were really something as well. I hope they will still be around when I can finally shoot wide angle using my D80 in a Nexus housing and a 10.5mm lens.

I am glad that after this weekend, Heisham would have his Advanced Diver certification and I can have a regular dive buddy that lives a scant 300m down the road from me. 

Then on the way back to Dubai we stopped over at the Friday Market where I bought two silk carpets, one for my study and the other for my hall. We also met up with Beaver and wifey in Deira to eat mandy with grill fish. Now my mandy experience is complete.  

Life in Dubai - The Things I look forward to.

In order of achievability..
1. Scuba Diving this Friday at Fujairah with Heisham.
2. Next week's work trip to Libya and Tunisia
3. Geraldine coming to Dubai for a few weeks (Nov hopefully)
4. Dec 19th's SQ flight home.
5. Housing my Nikon D80 with a Nexus aluminium housing.
5. Driving test (hopefully in Jan 09)
6. Finally driving the company's 4x4 Jeep

Phuket 2007

Surin Beach, Phuket March 2007.

I am recollecting a wonderful memory of my short trip to Phuket last year with Geraldine.

The love of my life. I'm sorry I took so long to realise this.

Life in Dubai - Changing Seasons

You can tell we're entering Autumn. It now gets completely dark at 6.30pm. I guess in a way it's good as it'll remind me that I have to get to bed earlier if I want to get up at 5am.

These days I am just so pissed off at work. I used to be depressed, but right now I am just so damn pissed. I think if I could, I'd go home right now and to heck with this stint.

Life in Dubai

It is 6.15am and I am sitting in my office. The last week or so has been a real shocker for me. My days of leaving the apartment at 7 am and getting a taxi within 5 mins are over, probably until next year when summer comes and the school vacation starts.
The last week or so has seen me taking almost 2 hours to get to the office which is only about 5 or 6 km away. With the amount of people waiting for taxis at 7 am, it was impossible to get one. And it was a 15 minute walk to the bus stop. A 1 hour wait for the bus, a mad scramble to get on the bus and a short 15 minute bus ride to the office. If this place was more pedestrian friendly I think I could have WALKED to work.
So therefore from this morning on, its waking up at 5am just so I can leave at 6am and get a cab to work. I guess I better try to turn in early. A 2 hour commute to work can be a real b*tch.

Dibba - Musandam

Scuba Diving - Musandam, Oman 4th Oct 08

I finally go to put in a dive here. I signed up with Al Boom Diving down the road to go up to Musandam in Oman last Saturday. It was a 2 hour mini bus ride to Dibba in Oman and an hour's speedboat journey to the dive sites.

The water was unfortunately quite choppy but Musandam's rugged scenery was something to behold.

I was actually quite surprised with the dives. They exceeded my expectations and I was thoroughly pleased. They reminded me of Pulau Aur but with a lot more marine life.

Fishes generally did not seem too bothered by divers which is great for an underwater photographer. Unfortunately this chromodoris nudibranch below was the only nudibranch I saw that really excited me.

What I also love about Musandam is that there is no sign of human habitation. The desolate rugged landscape above water is in direct contrast to what lies beneath the waves. A place so abundant with marine life! And at one look you know no one is going to go build a 10 star hotel here at such an "inhospitable" place.

However on the downside, a 3 hour commute one way just for 2 dives is just too tiring, which leads me to believe that diving Musandam is best done on a liveaboard over a few days. All the other numerous dive sites are way up north anyway.

Nevertheless I am excited at the prospect of diving Musandam more in the future.

Photo info: All shots taken with Canon Powershot A620 in Ikelite housing with Inon underwater close up macro lens and Inon D2000 strobe.

Photographer: Me lah.

Life in Dubai - Dinner at an Iraqi Reztaurant

On the 3rd day of Eid, Heisham, Mr and Mrs Beaver and I went out for Iraqi food (We bloody couldn't have Mandi two nights in a row now could we?). So off we went to Samad, Iraqi Restaurant!

The food was really really good.

What was interesting was how they grilled their fish. Apparently you have to order this 2 hours in advance. 

The interior decor was really quaint and lovely. Now I know what you're thinking, No there were no portraits of Saddam. It looked just like any other Arabic restaurant. And service was really good as well.

There are only two branches of Samad Restaurant. Baghdad and Dubai! 

Life in Dubai - Eid's all Good Day 3

This evening Heisham, Mr & Mrs Beaver and I went to the Mall of the Emirates to a walk around and have Thai food at the foodcourt where a young girl accidentally punches me in the groin.  

Life in Dubai - Mandi

Beaver has been raving on and on about this local Arabic dish called Mandi. Seeing him all excited just at the thought of Mandi, how could I not give it a go? So last night, we all went for Mandi.
The concept of the restaurant is pretty traditional, everyone sits on carpeted floors and tucks away using their right hand. The dish is simple, yet extremely delicious and is enjoyed communally. Comes with the option of Chicken, Mutton or Fish but they were out of fish last night.
Since we had Mrs Beaver with us, we got to use the "family rooms" which in essence is just a covered eating area at the back. It basically looks like the inside of a tent which only adds to the Arabic experience of Mandi. They only thing they need to do now is to simulate a camel sticking it's head into the tent opening to complete the entire Arab experience.

To complete my Mandi experience, it is only right that we go back again to try the fish.

I am eating waaaaaaay too much here.

Geraldine...

After a lot of soul searching the last few weeks, I decided to get back with Geraldine and agree to her "Terms and Conditions" (for lack of a better word) for any future postings my company may have in store for me. I didn't want to be in a situation a few years down the road where I realise I turned away my only real chance of settling down for an expectation that did not materialise. After all, my company is not going to send me someone to grow old with so why should I give my full loyalty to them?

I used to think that my only real chance of getting anywhere and having any chance of competing with the bright young British Uni grads we employ was to not say no to anywhere my company may want to post me and to a great extent, this is true. However I also realise that I am not getting any younger. The above argument can stand if I was in my twenties. But in 5 years time I will be 40, and I don't want to look back then and feel regret.

So therefore, Geraldine and I are back together. I will be asking her to marry me and she's expecting this. However we're still a long way of getting anything settled or finalised but still, it's a start. The last few weeks have made me realise that she is the one for me. She will be coming with me to Malacca end of December so she'll get to meet the entire Sequerah clan! (a great way to start eh?). After all she is going to be a Sequerah soon. 

I am whole again...

Life in Dubai - Eid's all Good Day 1

Today I spent close to 12 hours hanging our with Heisham and Mr and Mrs Beaver. We all gathered at Heisham's place at around 10.30am and in true Hari Raya fashion, stuffed ourselves silly with Lontong, Serondeng, Beef Rendang, Spicy Prawns (courtesy of Mr/Mrs Beaver) and my Nasi Goreng Kampung. We then watched two movies on Heisham's fabulous BenQ plasma flatscreen before resuming food consumption round 3 (round 2 was the mid movie snacks).

In the evening we then adjourned to our usual coffeeshop haunt downstairs until about 10pm.

And I have just completed my online booking to go home in December for 2 weeks. My trip home will take in Christmas, the unprecedented Sequerah clan meet up in Malacca on the 28th as well as New Year's eve/day.

Life in Dubai - Eid is Good!

Tomorrow the Eid Al Fitr holidays begin. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have been declared public holidays. So along with the weekend of Friday and Saturday, that gives us FIVE days of no work! My fun begins tonight. And knowing full well how time will eventually fly and all this will be but a pleasant memory, I am going to blog each and every day for the next 5 days so that I can relive them all over again when eid's (pardon the pun) all over. 

Yes, eid's all good (yes..that bad pun again)!

Life in Dubai

I thinking I am eating waaaaaay too much here!

Life in Dubai - Cookery..

Since my planned scuba diving trip got cancelled I decided to give Mama's grilled chicken recipe a go.

I think I overdid it slightly with the black peppers and nutmeg powder but the chiken turned out "ok" enough. Note to self: Go easy on the black pepper and nutmeg the next time.

Once again folks, NO home deliveries!

Life in Dubai - I was really really Bored.

Ok I was really really bored so I decided to goof around and experiment with new concepts for profile photos. I put on my diving hood, wetsuit top, placed the 80mm on the D80 on a tripod and held my rangefinder lenses to my face.

Toy Soldiers

I LOVE Toy soldiers! Its been a love I've had ever since I was a child.

British Napoleonic Soldiers, 15mm AB Figures

15mm Portuguese Napoleonic Soldiers.

All these figures have been lovingly collected and painted by me. Unfortunately I do not seem to be painting as much these days...

Life in Dubai - Caught by the Paparazzi!

2 photographers were going around taking shots during last week's UAESG.com Mid Autumn Festival do at the Consul General's residence. As a result some of our faces got published in yesterday's Khaleej's City Times under "Party Patrol". Although I would hardly call it a party as there was no booze. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you for that is I at the extreme left with the baseball cap on.

If you asked me, I feel the best part of the entire hot and humid evening was when I finally took down the last of the lanterns and I was handed an ice cold bottle of Tiger Beer by CG. The first few gulps was pure joy...

Life in Dubai - Cookery..

Thanks to Dira, I managed to get Mama's (Grandmother) recipe for Nasi Goreng Kampung! Without going into the nitty gritty details, here's how you do it.

Grab some garlic, onions, red chillis and belachan (important).

Cut them up and chuck them into a mortar (Or blender if pounding ain't your thang).

Pound like there's no tomorrow until like so..

After heating cooking oil in a wok, fry the pounded contents until fragrant. Then break in an egg. 

Add in rice (cook the rice first lah) and fry away. Add in a bit of Sweet Soy sauce if this is desirable to you. 

Viola! The final mouth watering product. I assure you my nasi goreng kampung tastes a whole lot better than Noodle Bowl's. SEDAP!

(and no I don't do home deliveries.)