8 Strange Things That Happen When You Get Sick

With all the time you spend outside enjoying the brief cool, cloudy and rainy weather here in Dubai, there is a high chance you'll eventually catch a bug, and no I don't mean the Volkswagen type. The Flu, cold, sniffles or call it whatever you like, but its not going to be pleasant! And it goes like this.

ONE

First thing is of course is denial! Nose a little runny, throat a little ticklish? Nah, no need to worry about it, just a little sneeze, nothing serious, you tell yourself, it'll go away, but also a little worried at the back of your mind, it can't be happening to me, I can't afford to get sick this week. I got stuff to do. But as the symptoms start to increase in intensity, that little trickle down your nose, turns into a raging waterfall. And your sneezes now are powerful enough to whip up a small hurricane, you finally give into nature, that yes, you've been hit by, the not so smooth criminal, the common cold.

TWO

Then what you really don't want to be doing is, what we all today do when encountered with any sort of problem .... we Google it. Bad idea, because you'll soon find out you probably should be dead by now or dying and have precious little time left on this earth. The symptoms you have typed in are a word for word match for a very rare strain of Ebola some 17th century exploration expedition members caught while exploring the deepest depths of the Congo and it goes without saying none of them made it out alive and you are now the only other known case in history after those poor souls to have been infected by it. Well according to Dr Google anyways.

THREE

Well now its pretty much established you've got a cold and about to die any second, so you do the only thing one should do in such dire and extreme situations. Lets all your friends on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp and the dozen other social media apps you are on, know that you are sick and document every minute of it. What better way to gain sympathy and act all victim like while sharing your woes over social media.

All of us also has those few evil friends that wait for such opportunities to get back at you for all the mean things you've done to them, or simply see through your sympathy gaining ruse or just plain out right don't believe you and think you over doing it a little too much, but what do they know!

FOUR

Next of course is the mess that comes along with being sick, you go through tissue boxes like the cookie monster goes through a box of cookies. And then once again trying to Google what a particular colour of snot really means. 

FIVE

While lying in bed, wallowing in self pity at your predicament, you can't help but do a flashback to see from who exactly did you catch your flu from. You try to recall everyone you have met, sat with, shared a sandwich, take a ride with so on and so forth, just so you can call him or her and give them an earful for making you sick, just make you feel slightly better, more so if they feel a little guilty about it. Yes its petty but adult rules don't apply when you are sick, more on that in point number 8

SIX

After a week of being in bed, all wheezed out, lungs spread out on your lap as you've coughed them out already, nose is so raw from going through 10 boxes of tissues a day that even the slightest touch from the softest fiber known to man feels like its rubbing against a old rusty cheese grater. Your body decides it has punished you enough and slowly starts to get back to normal. Even a tiny bit of relief is most welcomed.

But you're not entirely sure if its time to celebrate just yet, you could be jumping the gun. 

SEVEN

Eventually you start to feel much better and start to enjoy the small things which you took for granted before, like able to sleep and not wake up feeling even more tired than when you went to sleep. You face under constant pressure and feeling like its going to explode due to backed up, filled to the brim sinuses. 

Having just recovered, now you are extra vigilant, at least for a few days not to catch the bug again.

And now carry a pocket size bottle of sanitizing lotion, ( that promises to kill 99% of all bacteria, wonder why that last 1% always gets away ) in case someone pulls a fast one on you.

EIGHT

And finally you start acting like an adult again, because in the sickness rule book one of the first rules is all manner of adult behavior doesn't apply to you any more. You can act like a rotten 6 yr old and somehow everyone around has to put up with you and your shenanigans.

Hoped you liked this short articles on surviving the flu. And as always don't forget to comment below about what you think about this piece, also share and like this post by clicking on the social media icons below and also don't forget to smash that facebook like and share button, subscribe for more regular, interesting and entertaining content from Dubai Journals. 

Until next time, Yallah Bye!

Top 5 List : When It Rains In Dubai

So finally after a cracking dry winter spell, Dubai finally got lashed with a healthy dose of rain accompanied by some gusty winds. As I've already mentioned in my earlier post, that rain brings its own set of unique challenges to a place that really doesn't take anything other than all year round of warm blue skies and unlimited sunshine into consideration. So when we do get some weather, things often take a different turn, usually fun and mostly entertaining.

One : Rain Gear

Taking 365 days of sunny skies for granted, the most prominent thing being is most of us really aren't equipped to handle the rain.With closet space being at a premium for our latest summer fashion, there is no place for thick rain coats, jackets or hoodies.  So we just MacGuyver it with whatever we find lying around at arms reach. It's during these few days of rain we see the oddest rain gear make an appearance. Old shopping bags and plastic sheets turn into waterproof hoodies, some don't mind keeping only one's head dry good enough, and others who got caught unaware, something is better than nothing I guess.

Or when you still want to wear your Jimmy Choos or Yeezys because that normal everyday footwear here and mostly because no one really owns a pair of galoshes or if you prefer to call them willies or in just plain English, rubber boots. 

TWO : Wind Shield Wipers


You finally get to use that stalk on the other side of the steering, your windshield wipers, but then instant regret sets in, because you haven't used them in ages and the rubber on them is all dried up and cracked, so the wipers really aren't doing any real wiping, mostly just moving around dirt and water from one part of the wind screen to the other, while you bob and weave your head behind the steering wheel to catch that one clear spot on the screen before it moves to another location with every wipe.

And if you are lucky, you have decent wipers, or you just bought the car and wipers are still in good shape, still doesn't mean you know how to use them, so you press, push, pull, twist, stab and beat the stalk all over the place to get them working just at the right speed, and god help you if you have a vehicle with a rear window wiper, I don't think even the people who manufactured the car, know how those work!

Three : Free Water Parks

You get instant access to large water parks for free and if you are lucky, right at your door step too. If it rains long and hard enough  You can be the odd Gloomy Gus and complain about it or be the type who believes in, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. For example why put up with the worsening traffic when you can take the canoe to work instead and as an added bonus you don't have to worry about parking either.

Or if you are more of an adrenaline junkie, Try the latest in water sports, Go wake boarding right in the middle of the street  

Four : Rainy Wonderland

Dubai turns into Venice for a few days in a year, only difference is instead of romantic gondolas we still ply the water ways, which were roads just a few hours back, in our cars. Land disappears under water, making for some very stunning visuals. You could easily think this was an exotic 7 star hotel in the middle of a lake, when in reality its just another housing community off Shk Zayed Road.

Five : Intended Purpose 

People get to finally use things for the real intended purpose they were made for, well kind of. Take umbrellas for example, now you can actually use them to protect yourself from the rain instead of providing shelter from the glaring sun, hoping not get burnt to a crisp in the summer,

Many folks finally get to use their 4x4s for something other than the school run or mall crawling.

Although some people are overtly confident in the amphibious capabilities of their vehicles. Seeing cars stalled out in flooded streets becomes a added feature of Dubai. 

Sure the SLS can do 0-100 in under 4 seconds but the rains here have it beat.

Hoped you liked this short list on what is Dubai like when it rains. And as always don't forget to comment below about what you think about this piece, also share and like this post by clicking on the social media icons below and also don't forget to smash that facebook like and share button, subscribe for more regular, interesting and entertaining content from Dubai Journals. 

List Of 10 Things of When You Know You've Been In Dubai Too Long.

 As a life long expat here in Dubai me, I've grown accustomed to or take somethings for granted, things which we realise are out of the ordinary only when someone from abroad comes to visit us. Oh, for those of you wondering why I use the term life long expat rather than long term expat read my introductory post here for a better understanding.

ONE

Bling, fails to impress. Ever wondered whats so great when you hear songs for what ever rapper seems to be trending at the moment about their bling bling and baller lifestyle. Talking about rolling in fancy cars, gold chains around their necks, living in mansions with huge flat screen TVs and jacuzzi's in their living rooms? In Dubai, where diamond studded Rolls Royce's and $25 million penthouses in the tallest tower in the world, Burj Khalifa. are not exactly rare, you wonder what the big deal is?

The Diamond Studded Rolls Royce Celestial Edition

TWO

Multilingual, You speak at least a couple of languages, and no I don't consider knowing Yallah and Habibi as being able to speak Arabic.The great melting pot of culture this place is its almost impossible not to pick up a second language. You have to deal with the plethora of nationalities you come across daily. And the more languages you speak the easier your life here becomes. At the very minimum I would say you need to know English, Arabic and Urdu or Hindi. Although I do have friends, long time residents of Dubai and they still haven't gone beyond the Yallah and Habibi stage, sigh!

THREE

You expect everything to stay open till midnight and beyond. For a city that never sleeps and people who usually come out, mostly after sundown, it's still hard to come to terms with realizing that yes a lot of stores do close at midnight. It's that awkward feeling when you walk up to a place to see it's closed. Its a moment of disbelief, why is it closed, I just got here and it's only like ... oh wait, then you look down at your watch and realize...oh it's already 12. But if you've been here long enough, you already have a list of places that are open till late in the night or better yet 24 hrs, be it a restaurant or supermarket.

FOUR

When bashing is not really a crime, Wadi or Dune Bashing is not a pre-planned excursion booked months in advance on your next vacation to an exotic destination. Instead its just something you do on the weekend, every weekend. Although for someone like me who spent a good deal of time in the industry something to do only when you've totally run out of all other options on how to spend your weekend. But even then. its a great de-stresser and really revitalizes you for the week ahead. Just something about the Desert that can't be explained, you need to experience it for yourself.

FIVE

Your group of friends looks like a United Colors of Benetton advertisement. Once again living in a such a multicultural society you can't help but have friends from almost all the continents of the world, And this makes for a great life experience, you get to know more about their countries and cultures while telling them about yours. Not uncommon to see people coming from countries who are sworn political enemies, become good friends here and in many cases, even ending up married, just takes your faith, that the human race despite all our differences will make it after all, a notch higher.

SIX

You stop going to the grocery store around the corner or even the one located on the ground floor of the very building you live in, instead you just place a call and tell them what you want and within no time it'll be at your doorstep and nine times out of ten, its a free service they provide. No matter how small or big the order is, even if it is just a bar of chocolate. I know that sounds ridiculous but that's just the way it is over here. I guess this is one of the reason these small stores still survive even with big chains popping up all over the place.




SEVEN

When breaking down of your air conditioning is as an extinction level disaster. Eventually, if you stay here long enough this will happen to you. You take for granted that when ever you walk into your house already sweaty from just walking across from the car park to the house, you'll just pick up the remote. press a button, and instantly you'll be enveloped in a cool comforting blanket of air and everything that is wrong with the world will just dissolve away, while you indulge in the icy comfort. But if you are that unfortunate soul whose A/C has broken down, you instantly panic, you are already thinking how will I make it through the day, how will I be able to sleep at night, is life even worth living anymore, should I just end it all now? Your fight or flight instinct kicks in, and you do what everyone does here, check into the nearest hotel until its fixed.

EIGHT

When you don't go all bat crap crazy, when you realized you've left a valuable or prized item at the dinner table at the restaurant or counter at the store because you're pretty much sure, its either still there or someone in charge has it in his or her possession for safe keeping and when you return, usually before you can even finish saying "Excuse me, I think I might have left my wallet here ", the person reaches under the counter and presents it to "Sir you forget your wallet" and checking to see if any thing is missing from it would amount to insulting the person's integrity and just plain rude.

NINE

When telling someone your address is at least a 20 min conversation, And you look at fresh arrivals in disdain if they give you street and building names and numbers when asked a location. What are you going on about man, have you lost your marbles. That's not how we roll here, we don't have addresses, we have directions, unless of course you happen to live or work in some place iconic or famous.You have to be an expert in the city layout to give out your address and to expect someone or something to reach you in time or without asking for further directions is a fool hardy wish. Although with the advent of google maps and the ability drop pins and WhatsApp location it is starting to get less stressful.

Here's what typical directions sound like. Do you know where the building with a maze design on it on Shk Zayed Road, ok good, now while heading towards Dubai, take the 3rd turn after you cross it, then drive until you reach a grocery on the left hand side, that means you're on the right road, then after that take right from the roundabout then you'll hit some speed humps, as soon as you go over the 5th speed bump you'll see a small blue building, yup thats the one. 5th floor apt 512. Thanks

TEN

When you have a list of at least 5 cheap hotels in Dubai handy to recommend to family and friends who plan on visiting Dubai in the near future, because even though might not know it but by now you are the go to guy or gal and expert on Dubai to all your friends and family who already don't live here already and even their friends.

The Burj Al Arab, not exactly cheap at $24,000 a night for the Royal Suite

This is just a quick and short on the subject of you know you've been in Dubai for a long time and most probably not planing of leaving anytime soon, let me know if you enjoyed this brief description and also if you would like to read more on this or similar subjects, a part 2 if you will. And as always don't forget comment below about what you think about this piece, also share and like this post by clicking on the social media icons below and also don't forget to smash that facebook like and share button subscribe for more from Dubai Journals. And if you found this post enjoyable, please consider a small donation by clicking on the paypal donate icon on the  top right corner of this page and also below this post. Thank You

What Winter Means In Dubai - Dubai Weather

  So winter is finally here, well Dubai's definition of winter anyways. You know winter is here when you don't have to be permanently sitting in a stream of cold air being blasted by your air conditioner set to its lowest setting. You also know its winter when you can actually drive around with your windows cracked open and not feel like you just opened the oven door to check on your lamb roast. That big gush of hot air to singe even your nostrils.

  Even in the winteriest ( is that even a word? ) of winters, it still never gets cold enough to don your all your snazzy winter gear that has spent the entire year mothballed in your closet, the leather jackets, wind breakers, your long sleeved jumpers or hand knitted sweaters your grandma sent you last year. But we wear them regardless, because its the only time we can strut our stuff, out in the open and not end up drenched in our own sweat and smelling like a week old laundry pile. At least that's the case in the city.

  When I was living out in one of new developments fueled by the property boom of the 2000's away from the city, on the border of where the city limits end and the desert begins, I must admit it did get cold, cold enough to warrant wearing a pullover even at home. I even know of a friend who bought an electric heater to keep warm in the house, but I'm pretty sure it's never been used since. But it does really get cold out in the deserts and the mountains away from the city.

  As I've spent many a cold night camping out in the spectacular wilderness this country has to offer, I can pretty much say that without being wrapped in a layer of warm clothing and a campfire going, those nights would have been pretty rough to say the least.

  I once got in argument with a buddy of mine on how cold it really gets here, and this was before the internet came along where you can verify such things with the latest temperature reading of almost any place on this planet. So to settle the argument, we managed to convince another buddy to join us and all three of us went out in the middle of the night, to Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain City, the highest point accessible by car at the time, our sole instrument to rely on would be the temperature readout in the car.

The road going up Jebel Hafeet at night

  Long story short, we three spent a really uncomfortable night in a 2 door Chevy Cavalier parked on a windy mountain top 1200 ft high. But I lost the argument as the car read out never showed less than 2 Celsius and the argument was that it did dip below 0 at such extreme places. Now in this day and age of instant information we do know now, that it does and that car temperature read outs are not very reliable.

  But the coldest nights I've spent would probably be the time when we were out camping near Liwa, an oasis out in the middle of no where, which is pretty much the southern most part of the country right next to the Saudi border and start of the Rub-Al-Khali translated as the empty quarter, the world's largest uninterupted sand desert, with some of the highest sand dunes in the world almost a 1000 ft high.

View from our campsite, as you can see it had just rained that morning, the sky cloudy and sand still wet 

 The worst part was after we had done all our eating and merry making around the camp fire and pretty much beat down from a very long day of being up since before the break of dawn, the long drive to Liwa, navigating through the dunes to find a good camping spot then setting up camp. It was time to call it a day, put out the fire, and hunker down for the night.

  It was as cold as it could get, I was all zipped tight in our tent, snug as a bug in a rug, just as I was getting comfortable and dozing off to la la land, it happened! A deep growl, it wasn't the yeti of the desert. It came from deep with in my bowels and an instant regret came over me at chomping down on all the succulent kebabs and tikkas I had downed just a couple of hours ago, the infamous call to nature and the big one, if you know what I mean. Without getting into too much gory details lets just say it was one of the most cold and uncomfortable experiences of my life, tip toeing out into the cold windy night, barefooted on the freezing sand, it also didn't help having to wash up afterwards with water which I'm sure was on the verge of turning into ice. Brrrrrrr.

  Anyways, even though it is winter now, it still doesn't feel like proper winter has set in until we get slapped by some rain, usually after you've just washed your car. The weather has been overcast over the weekend, remember weekend here is Friday and Saturday. Even if you come from a place where its cloudy and rainy 200 plus days a year but after staying here a while, a cloudy day is something to rejoice and be merry about. A pleasant break from the sun so bright and hot that it feels like its breathing down your neck.

  The east coast with towns like Fujairah and Kalba have been experiencing rain and even some hail up north in Ras Al Khaima but nothing for us coastal dwellers here on the west coast. Sigh. Although any rain that lasts for more than a few minutes and is anything more than a scattered shower brings in its own set of special challenges to a place that is not used to rain and has just a handful of rainy days in a year. Read more about it what can occur when it rains here Even so, any rain is more than welcomed. The omnipresent dusts settles, the ground just seeps it in, like a parched traveler having his first drink in days. The air smells cleans, visibility increases, you can actually see far off into the distance without the ever looming dusty haze clouding your vision.

  Rain has the total opposite effect here in Dubai than what we all have seen, heard and read in our life. That cloudy days are gloomy and sad, even nursery rhymes of asking the rain to bugger off because little johnny wants to play. That rainy and cloudy days spread melancholy. No one wants to do anything, just stay at home and wait it out. A rainy cloud depicted hanging over someone heads means that person is sad or having a very bad day.

  Here in Dubai when you get up and look out of the window and see that nice fluffy dark blanket of woolly wonderness in the sky, it instantly puts you in a good mood, no matter how groggy you woke up, you're instantly energized. Meh, coffee is for losers on a such a fine day, you just know today is going to be an awesome day and if you don't have work, that means its time to get busy outdoors even if it means just sitting on the rarely used outside seating areas in restaurants or cafes, sipping on your favourite beverage.

  Anything as long as you are not confined inside. To me being indoors on a nice cold cloudy or better yet rainy day feels like what I can only imagine an inmate, doing a long stint in prison would feel like as he stares through his tiny cell window on to the outside world. There is this whole beautiful world outside to enjoy, while he is forced to be locked up in tiny cell.

 
  Do you have any interesting stories about winter time in Dubai? Don't forget to leave your feedback, thoughts and stories in the comments section below and also don't forget to press the subscribe button below to keep you up to day on more interesting thoughts, stories and day to day happenings here on Dubai Journals. And if you found this post worthwhile please consider a small donation by clicking the paypal donate icon on your top right and also below this post. Thank You

Lets Get It Started - An Introduction

 Hello there, I thought before we start on this journey of ours, it would only seem appropriate to tell you a little about myself. An introduction of sorts. So lets get right down to it.

  Well, where do we start, I moved or rather was brought here to the land of sand at the ripe old age of around six months old in the late 70's. I really don't have any real way to verify that fact other than that my mother told me so, I didn't have my own passport till I was in my early teens, so we'll just have to take her word for it, I can't imagine a reason why she wouldn't tell me the truth, can you?

  So practically me and Dubai grew up together, as I grew taller so did the towers, wouldn't call them skyscrapers yet as skyscrapers really didn't take off here until the turn of the century but even then Dubai's ambition to be the best was clear, there was the Dubai World Trade Center, the tallest tower in the region at the time. Even today it's still standing...tall-ish after all these years.

Dubai World Trade Center back in 1979.

Pic courtesy by micro urban 

   Then there was the usual kindergarten and schooling, I do thank my parents for a decent education, well at least they tried, although later if I recall correctly it was at my late uncle's insistence that I be put into a British GCSE curriculum school and not the regular run of the mill institutions, like my two elder brothers were sent to before me. It wasn't some fancy pants type of institution, where the kids of royalty and the rich and famous went to, nor could my folks afford to, who were strictly middle class, to enroll me in a fancy pants school, as my dad came from a very poor background, forced an education on himself, and the only one amongst his siblings to do so and become a civil engineer. and a small business owner later on.

  I on the other hand never finished my higher education, enrolled in one of the very few places at the time where you could finish your degree without going aboard and even then it wasn't cheap, BUT, I dropped out after the arrival of my first semester's horrible grades! I was never a good student anyways, I barely managed to scrape through high school with just enough to graduate. There was always too much going on the outside to get trapped in this world of boring texts books and classes. Attention Deficit Disorder, perhaps? I have one of those oddly wired brains that need to be stimulated 24/7 and lets face it, school wasn't very interesting or stimulating. I sometimes envy the people who can just stare at a wall for hours while thinking of absolutely nothing. I can never switch off my brain, and sometimes find myself, talking to myself, Maybe I'm just a good listener.

   After dropping out of college I spent most of the time on and off working at my dad's small video rental store, until the time I thought I had found what was my true calling, desert safaris, or Desert Tour Guide as it was officially known. The better part of this century was spent doing just that, and I had a blast doing it, for it combined two of my passions into one. I loved the outdoors and nature and I was pretty much a petrol head. Dubai is a place that nurtures these both.  And I guess it was obvious to other people also as I remember being told many a time by people who had come on vacation to Dubai  that I probably had one of the best jobs in the world and it didn't hurt that the money was good too.

  Then during the end of the decade, the real estate boom really took off here, and one of my good friend somehow landed up in it as well, he tired for quite a while to convince me to stop wasting my time running around like a madman in the desert and come to where all the action was, he would hook me up, and I saw how much he was making and how a couple of people he had hooked up were.


  But money was never my main motivation to do anything, If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. Plain and simple, I spent almost two years working for free or what you might call an apprenticeship to get my foot into the desert safari world, so money really wasn't a factor, maybe if I was more motivated by money I'd be a rich man today!


  Anyways after long stint of presenting Dubai as the ultimate travel destination to people who had come here from all the globe and walks of life, I was starting to get a bit bored of it. The industry was starting to get more and regulated day by day it started to feel more like a job. And I very clearly remember saying to myself. The day this starts to feel like a regular job, I'd quit!

Dubai Marina

 And that's what I did. Fast forward a little, lo and behold I was a freelance real estate agent, I won't get into too much detail about this at the moment, which I did for a very short time of time because as luck would have it, just when I was starting to make or was starting to get the potential to make some solid money the global economy tanked due to the credit crunch crisis and so did the real estate and property market over here. Long story short, it all went pear shaped. Really pear shaped!!

  I'll leave other stories and adventures of my life for a another time, like how I met my future wife...online or how I tried to make it as a music producer in this city and much much more. So that was just tiny slice of my life here in Dubai, now its your turn, do you have any interesting stories or anecdotes you would like to share? Or simply if you would like to know something more about Dubai or if you like to hear about something specific of how it used to be here or how it is now, Leave your feedback, thoughts, questions and stories in the comments section below. And also please don't forget to subscribe in the box bellow and share it, to share just click any of the buttons below like facebook and twitter. And if you found this post worthwhile please consider a small donation by clicking the paypal donate icon on your top right and also below this post. Thank You