Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Bittersweet Crunch

This half of BnB is returning to Singapore, while her better half remains in Dubai. Don't worry, the cookie hasn't crumbled! This lazy cookie just needs to get a job lah. So I'm leaving Dubai tomorrow and moving back to Singapore, indefinitely. I'd like to say I'm leaving for good, but I guess it's safer to never say never. After all, we didn't intend to live here for more than 2 years, and it'll already be 3 years this June.

The decision was quite sudden as we had already booked our flight tickets back to Singapore for our annual holiday. So I had to change mine to a one-way ticket and pack like mad to ship back all my barang-barang. Thanks to the kindness of a few amazing friends here and back home, I managed to survive a few near-meltdowns.

As I said, I would love to announce that I'm leaving and never coming back because I'm really quite happy to be leaving this place, but if I do REALLY say it, I may jinx it and end up crawling back to this city. I guess I'm just excited about going home, and the prospect of kick-starting a "normal" life again. What I mean is, working again and not having to deal with dimwits all the time. Of course, I'm also really sad cos Ben and I will be apart, indefinitely, till we decide The Next Move.

There will be a few things about Dubai I'll miss (just a FEW). Although we say food here sucks, I think it's just regular food (like from foodcourts) that are gross. And to compensate for the lack of good regular food, we sometimes opt for "better" food at restaurants or more expensive stuff from supermarkets. So I'll miss things like steaks and desserts from slightly-higher-end chains, and the availability of terribly unhealthy sweets and snacks from all over the world. We can get some of these back home, but we never splurge on things like this in Singapore simply cos there's such a big supply of good and cheap food and snacks there.

Then there's the whole tax-free thingie - not having to worry about GST, income tax, etc etc. Plus free accommodation with free utilities too. And of course ALL the free time I have here!

I suppose that's about it. That's all Dubai has to offer someone like me.

Now the stuff that I WONT miss! Haha... here goes...

Zero customer service or after-sales service, or just plain useless dumbasses who get paid to do NOTHING!

The misuse of the phrase "Insya-Allah" and overuse of the word "maybe".

Lousy public transport. Horrible traffic. Reckless driving. Plus idiots in their 4-wheel-drives who park on pavements and sidewalks or drive off-road to cut queues. It's only fun when they get stuck in mud or a flooded area when it rains! Haha... padan muka!


People who cut queues ALL the time. Like simply standing in front of you, then looking away, looking to the sky, or whatever, pretending that they were there all the time! **** YOU ALL!!


Governmental organizations or large corporations who come up with all sorts of Save-The-Environment crap and then approve/allow or be part of activities such as capturing sharks and other animals FROM THE WILD (like, oh, just off the Gulf Coast boleh lah), and trapping them in tanks, for display like one large, live TV screen...


Sandstorms, dust, haze, construction=destruction=polution...


And just the plain scary, gross, stupid, or stuff of nightmares...

Choked-to-death fish?


Supposed to be Miso Soup... But seaweed, fungi, froth? Pond scum I say...


The sotong macam people tangkap from Underwater World. Enough Sotong Bakar to feed your entire family, and then some. Alternatively, you can make Calamari Necklaces...


The size of chicken wings here. I like to call ém "mynah" wings...


Emirates - Keep Discovering? Yeah, I "discovered" THIS in a can of tuna flakes. About tooth-size...


"Wine"and bacardi-breezer-wannabes. Non-alcoholic of course...


Food styling at a highly-acclaimed restaurant...


And of course, who can forget the "festive"decor at this 5-star hotel one Christmas... God Rest Ye Santa...


Scary-a** camel...


Scary-a** chicken that makes weetle children cry...


And the Plain Stupid...


I suppose, all the stupid and annoying stuff is what we'll laugh about, looking back many years from now. Will I miss it? No. So it's goodbye for now, without regret. Everything that has a beginning, has an end...


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Another classic post from you that i'm belatedly reading. Must give credit where due:
you are one of the best bloggers i have ever read Berns (and you know what snobby high standards i have heehee)

What exactly was that gruesome thing in the can of tuna? I dont dare to even take a guess...shudder....

greengardn said...

Haha... u must be my biggest fan! But that's not really a compliment to u since only a handful read my blog. But coming from someone who reviews books, I'm most honoured!!

[And here's me doing the Wayne's World "not worthy" kow-tow]

The Tuna Incident - a tooth maybe? Even Ben still shudders when he sees this picture!