Tag: rain

When it rains, it pours

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Contrary to a lot of advice I was given before coming to Dubai, it does in fact rain in the middle east. We first saw some rainfall in Deira when we were staying there. It was plain to see how ill-equipped the city was for rain when a few mils of drizzle would fill the streets for a week or two.

The rain has been a lot more solid in the past week, now that we’re into what they call winter. It’s interesting to see how quickly some English colleagues have forgotten what it was like back home and complained on their Facebook status about the rain. On average, December is likely to see 15mm rain from 3-4 days. Not much to write home about.

But the city still acts like it’s a monsoon. The terrible driving on our roads gets even more terrible. And this makes the terrible traffic, even more terrible.

In fact one night this week when I was on the metro heading home, Elle called to say she was caught in traffic. So I caught a taxi from my station at the Mall Of Emirates. After driving through a few deep creeks which were formally roads, we hit a bad section of traffic that was not moving at all. It was under a kilometre from our place, so I cut the taxi ride short and got out – sporting my new Emirates umbrella – to set off to walk the remaining distance. Probably not the best idea. The footpaths in our neck of the woods are appalling. There was no room besides the cars for me to cross the busy intersection, so I set off to find a break in the construction of the overpass. An even worse idea. The place was full of mud, and while I did my best to only step on solid ground. On two occasions I stepped into a mud puddle and stepped out without a shoe. Fortunately there was just enough light to see and rescue the shoe before they were totally consumed by the puddle.

After this debacle I made it home in one piece, a little wet but so muddy, the dry cleaner’s going to wonder what happened.

The schools also struggle at this time. Poor Myles had an Achievement Assembly cancelled on account of the rain. I remember a couple of times while I was at school wishing that the rain would cancel school, all to no avail. Here it seems to be the norm.

Generosity and rain

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last night I went to the electrical shop just down the road to see if I could get a certain connection.  I failed, but the trip was certainly worth it.  The centre I went to was the more expensive one which has  a lot of fancy clothes shops especially, but I had heard previously there was a Spinney’s there also – a supermarket which is popular, although overpriced compared its competitors.  I had never seen the supermarket in my travels, but on this particular trip I saw one of their shopping trolley so I figure I’d walk a bit further to see if I could find it.  As soon as I got to the end of the street, and looked around the corner there it was in huge green fluoro lights.  I can’t believe I was so close, yet not ever seeing it before.  I had very nearly walked there quite a few times previously.

The good thing about Spinney’s and a few other supermarkets is that they have a noticeboard, which is handy as I’m currently looking to buy a car.

There were also plenty of other shops that would have been useful a while ago if I had known it was all there.  There was a kids entertainment place which we may utilise one of these days.

When I returned home I was a bit chuffed at my discovery, but that was nothing.  Our night time doorman had a bit of a grin on his face, and as I approached I noticed he was fidgeting through a stack of envelopes. With a big beaming smile he said this is for you Ryan.  It was an invitation to his wedding in India.  I think it was a bit tongue in cheek, but he proceeded to tell me about all the details, and how good India is to go to for quite a period of time I think he would like us to attend.  Unfortunately it’s too short notice, and probably not the ideal time to visit.  He also told me that he doesn’t give them to anyone, just his friends which was a nice touch. The pile of envelopes was quite high, so I figure he’s friends with just about everyone in our apartment.

This hasn’t been our first invitation to India, or Sri Lanka. Quite a few of the guys I work with have been very welcoming, and have offered to show me around their respective countries, and that they would love to show me around.  I’ll definitely take them up on the offer one day. One guy also made a deal with me to show me around if I take him to a cricket test match in Australia one day – which I obviously agreed to.

Thought I’d also mention, tonight it has been raining quite a lot. It’s rained so much that the road has flooded (probably 10 cm of “flooding”).  It’s been interesting to see the drivers reacting to water on the road, like it’s a deadly creek crossing. Actually the flooded road doesn’t necessarily indicate lots of rain as generally there hasn’t been much thinking or design for the effects of rain, as it’s not traditionally an issue.  With the effects of climate change, perhaps they should begin thinking. I mean, a couple of days before I arrived here it actually snowed in Ras Al Khaimer – a neighbouring Emirate.

Dune bashing take two

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Yesterday I was involved in a convoy of seven 4WDs, filled with expats who came together to achieve a single aim.  To bash some dunes.  The mission was a tremendous success.  However we failed to find and reach either of our two destinations, despite a guide book, co-ordinates, GPS technology x 2, and plenty of blokes trying to look like they know what they’re doing.  Camel Hump, and Fossil Rock will need to be a follow-up mission.  Actually we think we may have seen Camel Hump – that is, if it’s a big rocky range that looks like a camel’s hump.

I was picked up at my apartment around 9am, and while I was waiting outside it began to rain.  It was only occasionally drops, but it was definitely rain. So much for only 5 or 6 days or rain each year.  Apparently they exhausted that in the week before I arrived.

We initially met a petrol station – where one of the guys got humorously dissed by the console operator.  Jay is a young stylish guy, and consequently has his hair impressively messed up, going every which way. Apparently the console operator was staring at Jay’s hair, and asked him what the style was called.  Jay said, it’s the “Just got out of bed” style, and said to the guy why, don’t you like it?  The guy responded, “It’s just that it’s very terrible”. HA!

It was interesting to see the camels seemingly roaming wild.  There’s actually no wild camels in Dubai – they are all owned by someone.  But given the great expanse we covered with very extreme undulations, I’d hate to be the guy to herd those camels.  Actually, that job would be pretty tops!

It’s funny cause we didn’t see any for quite some time, but then, all at once they seem to be co-ordinating an attack. They decided against it, when they saw the horse-power on display.

I still don’t have my Dubai driver’s license. It requires a passport, which has been worryingly held by work to organise my Visa.  So the trip turned out to be a good research activity, for when I am in a position to buy a car.  The Prado is a superb vehicle.  I have known this for some time, as my father-in-law solely purchases them for work.  But it was truly awesome to see it effortlessly speeding through the sand, up and down hills like they don’t even exist.

On the other hand, the Jeep Wrangler on show was a huge disappointment.  This is a good thing for me, as a mate of mine in .AU and my former director both had Jeeps which I would give them plenty about. I must forward them the pictures of the Jeep getting pulled around first by a Land Rover, then the Prado. Apparently the driver had quite a bit of off-road experience, so perhaps to the Jeep’s defense, it was not at full strength. By the end of the day, the engine was all but dead.

Also, probably not quite up to the task was a Hummer H3. It’s a pretty awesome vehicle, but way too heavy for driving around in sand.

Other cars that performed well were the Toyota FJ  and Nissan X-Terra.  I hadn’t seen these cars in Australia, but they are both serious machines – made specifically for this sort of action.  But the Prado was in a league of its own, and provided more comfort than the other two combined.

The only other car I am considering is the Nissan Pathfinder, but there was no one on the day with one.  Hmm… decisions, decisions.

On the day there was another case of unbelievable consequences, and proof that it’s a small world.  One of the Aussie guys we met on the day happened to be from Brisbane, when we talked about which suburbs.  It turns out he’s from Indooroopilly, and he just happened to go to the same Lutheran school as one of the other guys.  He was around the same age, and knew, the guys brothers.