dubai dubai dubai
Thursday, August 24th, 2006reply to cecelia’s blog.
AJMAN, first destination
Aside from the creepy people and fire on our first day, ces forgot to mention the noodles-for-a-week diet. It was Ramadan when we arrived so all stores and restos were closed. We don’t have any decent food to eat since we just arrived from the Phils. The stores and restos open after 6pm, but our work was from 2pm-12mn so there was no way that we can do the groceries. We bought noodles na lang sa convience store. And we ate noodles lang, as in no rice or whatsoever, for a week. Imagine?!
Ajman is an hour drive from Dubai. In short, naa na siya sa bukid, outside Dubai. We had bad experiences in Ajman so after a week, we moved out from the company’s accommodation.
BUR DUBAI, second destination
Hmmm nicest and biggest room we ever had. And most affordable as well — considering the size of the room. If not for the "samukan" visitors that we had (katong lovers in paris… hehehe), we won’t be transferring to satwa. Let me say, this is the most memorable place we had in Dubai. Aside from the famous eviction, parties, drinking session, etc… naa pa sad mi usa ka secret diri nga place. right toni? hehehe. just kidding. love yah toni. hehehe. And who can forget our crying sessions on christmas day. We woke up early in the afternoon and talked about how sad our christmas is gonna be. Mayang started to cry and takdan nasad ang uban sa ato. Then my family called and i began crying again. After the call, we ate our late lunch but I was still crying. So natakdan nasad ang uban. We were eating, crying and laughing at the same time. The reason for crying? Aside from we missed our loved ones very much, we don’t have any money left for our 9day xmas vacation. Kasi… Our very good company didn’t give us our salary =( Good thing, our other housemates prepared food for Noche Buena and nag amot na lang sad mi gamay. So we still had fun on christmas eve. Our first christmas away from home. Hubog and busog gihapon. Hehehe. On christmas day itself, we ate the leftover food, then naglingaw sa swimming pool sa bldg. Hahay.
AL SATWA, third destination
The so-called Colon in Dubai. But come to think of it, it’s cleaner and safer than Colon sad daw oi. Place na dili namo ganahan puy-an before coz it’s kinda gubot compared to Bur Dubai. But nakastay gihapon mi and nalingaw ra sad mi. A lot of Filipinos in this place. You’ll go to Al Maya Lals Supermarket and mura ra sad ka ug naa sa Gaisano Metro coz halos tanan tao are Fiipinos. Met a lot of friends here as well =)
Side trips? Hmmm. Wild Wadi. I was about to go w Mayang and the others, but I was too tired. Sayang becoz Mayang had a good discount. From 200 dhs, we only have to pay 15 dhs. I’ve heard that it was really amazing. Cge lang, next time. Hehehe. Desert Safari. Only in my dreams. Usual hang-outs: Jumeirah Beach/Outside Burj Al Arab, Chikka Grill (as in every weekend — ilado na gud mi sa banda ddto, imention pirmi ang name namo… Hehehe), Tipanan (ahhh bulalo and tapsilog), Deira City Center (grocery and shopping galore), Baskin Robbins (fave namo ni toni — heaven gyud kaayo), Hardees, Marrybrown, Mall of the Emirates, etc etc etc. Basta daghan kaayo.
On the more serious note, Dubai was like a dream come true. I mean US is my main target. We all do have the so-called ‘American Dream’ ayt? Dubai was like my stepping stone to the US. If not for Skycom, I would have decided to stay. Despite the fact that i missed my loved ones a lot. But because of my very bad experience — no, let me rephrase that — But because of my worst experience in Skycom, I decided to go home. Well I didn’t decide, actually. My family wanted me to go home already. I missed my family a lot esp bee so I went home. I think Dubai is not for me. Or maybe, this is not the right time for me to go to other places. Biglaan man sad gud akong paglarga. Didn’t have plans gyud. Nikalit lang gyud siya abot and I wasn’t able to plan everything wisely. Plus grabe pa gyud ang ’sales talk’ sa among agency which was all not true. Grabe ang pasakay. Grrrrr! But I can’t do anything about it. Nangyari na ang nangyari. My mom told me to think about it as a lesson learned. She told me to forget about the bad experiences, and treasure the good memories I had with my friends. One friend also told me na unsaon man daw ng money kung d ko happy. Ang money makit-an ra na anytime anywhere. Anyway datu man ko diri sa pinas so I don’t give a damn about Dubai. Hahaha. Kidding lang po =p But then, I live a hayahay life here in the Pinas. So i don’t think I’m that desperate to sacrifice my happiness for money.
Yes, THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME. I now believe in that. Money is not everything. But you also can’t live without money. I still have plans of going to other countries in the future. Coz even if I have mana from my family, I still want to earn money on my own. As I said, our mana (gamay man or dako) would only be a fall back. If wala na gyud lain choice. Since I’m still young, I will work really hard to earn money that I can give to my children in the future. D magsalig kung unsa naa imong family coz you’ll never know what will happen in the future. Simbako. As of now, I will be staying in the Phils muna. Enjoying everything about Pinas. And cguro by late next year, I will go to another country na naman. God willing.
Ces Toni Mayang Jackie Dale Bong Edgar Veda Totong and other Dubai friends (sorry if wala na nako namention tanan coz mapuno akong blog… Hehehe. You know who you are), don’t give up the fight. You’re happy man sad diha coz you have your "happiness" (term ni toni… hehehe). Basta kitakits lang gihapon. Text/Call me when you’re in the Phils ha =) Miss you all.
By the way, i forgot to mention na becoz of my close friends in Dubai (ones mentioned above…), medyo natiis nako gamay akong life didto. I wouldn’t last 9mos if not for them. I love you all.
*** ang drama ko no? si ces man gud ba. hahaha ***
— DottieMae —
I could come up with one million reasons until this site would no longer accept any more words, but there is only one reasonable reason why Dorothy left Dubai…. THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME! 
Others might call it insanity. Some would think it is stupidity. My Dad termed it as arrogance. My Mom says it is homesickness. However they call it, I share Dorothy’s feelings. It’s not insanity, stupidity, arrogance nor homesickness, it is FOLLOWING YOUR HEART! 