With the opening of Emirates Tower station, I can literally take the metro to work if the weather gets really hot! Usually, I would take a 10 minutes walk to work. Not sure if this is sustainable during summer. But with the metro, it should not be a worry anymore!
The Airport Terminal 1 station is also open today. So for people who do not take Emirates flights, they can still take the metro straight to terminal 1. In the past, they had to take to terminal 3 and change to the airport shuttle which runs every half hour. Quite a pain if the shuttle has just left and you're there stranded with your heavy baggage and waiting under the hot weather!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Internet service is very slow!
I know I can't blame the ISP for the slowness but I can't even use the net to listen to web radio or make calls back! This is quite frustrating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UAE internet traffic stuck in slow lane for now
The damage to an underwater cable that has slowed the country’s internet access to a crawl this week will not be repaired until next week, Etisalat says.
The country’s biggest telecommunications company said repair ships would arrive at the site of the damage on Saturday and it was likely to be fixed by next Tuesday.
The operator previously said the cable would be repaired by today. Etisalat said it was actively rerouting internet traffic to ensure the country’s users stayed online.
The cable,called Sea-ME-We 4, was damaged last week in the Mediterranean. It provides most of the UAE’s internet access, supported by two small connections.
“After a sudden Sea-ME-We 4 cable breakdown … Etisalat customers did not face major slowdowns in internet browsing, owing to its robust network with multiple redundant links to major global internet hubs in Asia, Europe, and USA,” the operator said.
The UAE’s second-largest telecoms operator, du, said its internet service was not affected by the cable break. The company only uses the Sea-ME-We 4 for a small percentage of its internet connection and has already diverted its bandwidth to other connections.
Etisalat said its rerouting strategy would improve connections to bandwidth-intensive websites such as YouTube, but online video streams were still suspended.
The UAE should gain access to five more underwater cables by the end of this year, which will reduce the chance of a major internet cut, said the telecoms research company TeleGeography.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UAE internet traffic stuck in slow lane for now
The damage to an underwater cable that has slowed the country’s internet access to a crawl this week will not be repaired until next week, Etisalat says.
The country’s biggest telecommunications company said repair ships would arrive at the site of the damage on Saturday and it was likely to be fixed by next Tuesday.
The operator previously said the cable would be repaired by today. Etisalat said it was actively rerouting internet traffic to ensure the country’s users stayed online.
The cable,called Sea-ME-We 4, was damaged last week in the Mediterranean. It provides most of the UAE’s internet access, supported by two small connections.
“After a sudden Sea-ME-We 4 cable breakdown … Etisalat customers did not face major slowdowns in internet browsing, owing to its robust network with multiple redundant links to major global internet hubs in Asia, Europe, and USA,” the operator said.
The UAE’s second-largest telecoms operator, du, said its internet service was not affected by the cable break. The company only uses the Sea-ME-We 4 for a small percentage of its internet connection and has already diverted its bandwidth to other connections.
Etisalat said its rerouting strategy would improve connections to bandwidth-intensive websites such as YouTube, but online video streams were still suspended.
The UAE should gain access to five more underwater cables by the end of this year, which will reduce the chance of a major internet cut, said the telecoms research company TeleGeography.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Long absence
Apologies to all who's following my blog (not sure if anyone actually does). It's a long story for the period of continued absence over the last 1.5 to 2 months. To cut it short, the few main things account for it:
1) The Internet service in my apartment was only up at the end of March. It was antagonising to live without the Internet, especially more on weekends as I'm at home all day buried in my CFA books (which again, I don't have any confidence to pass despite mugging for 11 consecutive weeks liao).
2) I had prepared a word document of all my updates for February and March, hoping to upload these posts as soon as I had my Internet access up. Holy cow! The document can't be found when I needed it most!!! I wasn't sure if I had accidentally deleted it when I cleaned up the stuff on my Windows desktop. :-(
3) I tried to recall the posts I had written over the past 2 weeks. Much as I tried to recall a little each day, I had to painstakingly give up this exercise as I don't wanna develop a headache for that. Hence, I have no choice but to announce that my updates over the last 2 months have vanished into thin air!
Nevertheless, I shall start to update again from now onwards..
1) The Internet service in my apartment was only up at the end of March. It was antagonising to live without the Internet, especially more on weekends as I'm at home all day buried in my CFA books (which again, I don't have any confidence to pass despite mugging for 11 consecutive weeks liao).
2) I had prepared a word document of all my updates for February and March, hoping to upload these posts as soon as I had my Internet access up. Holy cow! The document can't be found when I needed it most!!! I wasn't sure if I had accidentally deleted it when I cleaned up the stuff on my Windows desktop. :-(
3) I tried to recall the posts I had written over the past 2 weeks. Much as I tried to recall a little each day, I had to painstakingly give up this exercise as I don't wanna develop a headache for that. Hence, I have no choice but to announce that my updates over the last 2 months have vanished into thin air!
Nevertheless, I shall start to update again from now onwards..
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Bagged another free upgrade!
It's due for me to return home for the Lunar New Year. It was bad enough not to have internet access in my apartment and having the office internet access blocking Gmail. I was thinking how on earth am I gonna check my mails! Fortunately, some kind neighbour forgot to secure his wifi network and I managed to borrow his connection. However, the service is intermittent and I had to constantly poll his wireless router to gain access.
Also thanks to his connection, I received an email from Emirates that I was invited for an upgrade from Economy to Business class for an additional top up of AED990. Sounds attractive and I heard that business class in EK is comparable to SQ, so I decided to pay for the upgrade. Unfortunately, the payment process failed due to some technical fault on their end but my card was charged. I called them up and request for a reversal charge which they did so promptly. Called up the bank and verified that the reversal was indeed executed.
A few hours later, a customer service consultant called me up and said that I could upgrade for free. Initially, I thought it was due to the technical fault and they compensated me with a free upgrade. However, the lady replied that it was partly due to the technical fault and partly due to the fact that I had booked a full economy fare and that I was a first-time Skywards member (Skywards is their frequent flyer program). Hence, this upgrade is also partly a welcome gift for me. I was delighted to learn of this good news that I simply decided to give up cooking my dinner today and have my dinner at the EK business class lounge instead!
One word describes EK lounge in Dubai: HUGE!!! It takes me a whole 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other end! It is at least 10 times bigger than the SQ Silver Kris lounge in Singapore! They had 6 F&B areas and 3 bar counters serving alcohol. Coupled with at least 200 tables, 50 slumberettes, 500 chairs, 3 shower rooms for each gender, 20 TV areas and 2 business centres, I'm just freakingly amazed by this massive lounge they have here. Even as a loyal Krisflyer member, I can say that NONE of the SQ lounges can match up to this EK lounge in terms of size and capacity!
Took many photos of this lounge (and perhaps more when I board the plane later), I shall sort them out when I'm back home and upload them over the Lunar New Year on FB. Food variety in the lounge is about the same as SQ. Have yet to assess the lie-flat seat as I'm still waiting to board the plane at the lounge. Hope it turns out well. The entertainment system should be comparable to SQ's Krisworld, judging from the numerous positive reviews found online about EK's ICE system.
It's only 12.15am! Another 2.5 hours to go before I take off. If not for the Dubai Metro stopping its operations at 11pm, I would not have came over so early. This Metro closes earlier than any other Metros in other metropolitan cities! When I mention 11pm as the closing time, it means the last train reaches the terminal at 11pm and not the last train departing the starting point at 11pm! From the station right outside my apartment, the last train leaves at 10.15pm and I arrived at the airport at 10.50pm, a whole 4 hours before departure!
All EK flights depart from Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, a terminal reserved exclusively for EK flights only. The departure hall is also divided into 2 parts, economy class area & first/business class area. I went to the first/business class area and it was literally empty! There were like 15 check-in counters for first class and another 20 check-in counters for business class. There was no waiting required on my part. I was attended to promptly by an Emirates check-in staff. My take-home luggage was pretty light though, 12kg. Thanks to my mum who brought home a big bulk of my load last week when she came over. Immigration was smooth-sailing with no one in the queue. It seems as though I had booked the whole airport for my exclusive use. I then boarded a series of escalators leading up to the duty-free shopping and departure gates level. The interior architecture was impressive and there were many duty-free shops. Dubai has really invested a lot on tourism (which also partly explains why they're broke now). Spent about half hour walking through those shops and bought a stick of chewing gum to exercise my jaws.
Came through to this EK lounge at 11.15pm and headed for the shower room immediately as I have not showered for the day. Was out by 11.30pm and grabbed dinner thereafter. Now having a drink while trying to find something to kill the remaining 2.5 hours. Seems like eternity as there's nothing much I can do in the lounge except to eat, drink, read magazines, watch TV and surf the net. I can go on blogging but this entry will soon turn you off and you may probably stay away from my blog as there's nothing else I have to talk about other than the surroundings of where I am now.
Oh well, wish me a pleasant sleep on board later. Hope the seat is comfortable enough for a good night's rest.
Also thanks to his connection, I received an email from Emirates that I was invited for an upgrade from Economy to Business class for an additional top up of AED990. Sounds attractive and I heard that business class in EK is comparable to SQ, so I decided to pay for the upgrade. Unfortunately, the payment process failed due to some technical fault on their end but my card was charged. I called them up and request for a reversal charge which they did so promptly. Called up the bank and verified that the reversal was indeed executed.
A few hours later, a customer service consultant called me up and said that I could upgrade for free. Initially, I thought it was due to the technical fault and they compensated me with a free upgrade. However, the lady replied that it was partly due to the technical fault and partly due to the fact that I had booked a full economy fare and that I was a first-time Skywards member (Skywards is their frequent flyer program). Hence, this upgrade is also partly a welcome gift for me. I was delighted to learn of this good news that I simply decided to give up cooking my dinner today and have my dinner at the EK business class lounge instead!
One word describes EK lounge in Dubai: HUGE!!! It takes me a whole 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other end! It is at least 10 times bigger than the SQ Silver Kris lounge in Singapore! They had 6 F&B areas and 3 bar counters serving alcohol. Coupled with at least 200 tables, 50 slumberettes, 500 chairs, 3 shower rooms for each gender, 20 TV areas and 2 business centres, I'm just freakingly amazed by this massive lounge they have here. Even as a loyal Krisflyer member, I can say that NONE of the SQ lounges can match up to this EK lounge in terms of size and capacity!
Took many photos of this lounge (and perhaps more when I board the plane later), I shall sort them out when I'm back home and upload them over the Lunar New Year on FB. Food variety in the lounge is about the same as SQ. Have yet to assess the lie-flat seat as I'm still waiting to board the plane at the lounge. Hope it turns out well. The entertainment system should be comparable to SQ's Krisworld, judging from the numerous positive reviews found online about EK's ICE system.
It's only 12.15am! Another 2.5 hours to go before I take off. If not for the Dubai Metro stopping its operations at 11pm, I would not have came over so early. This Metro closes earlier than any other Metros in other metropolitan cities! When I mention 11pm as the closing time, it means the last train reaches the terminal at 11pm and not the last train departing the starting point at 11pm! From the station right outside my apartment, the last train leaves at 10.15pm and I arrived at the airport at 10.50pm, a whole 4 hours before departure!
All EK flights depart from Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, a terminal reserved exclusively for EK flights only. The departure hall is also divided into 2 parts, economy class area & first/business class area. I went to the first/business class area and it was literally empty! There were like 15 check-in counters for first class and another 20 check-in counters for business class. There was no waiting required on my part. I was attended to promptly by an Emirates check-in staff. My take-home luggage was pretty light though, 12kg. Thanks to my mum who brought home a big bulk of my load last week when she came over. Immigration was smooth-sailing with no one in the queue. It seems as though I had booked the whole airport for my exclusive use. I then boarded a series of escalators leading up to the duty-free shopping and departure gates level. The interior architecture was impressive and there were many duty-free shops. Dubai has really invested a lot on tourism (which also partly explains why they're broke now). Spent about half hour walking through those shops and bought a stick of chewing gum to exercise my jaws.
Came through to this EK lounge at 11.15pm and headed for the shower room immediately as I have not showered for the day. Was out by 11.30pm and grabbed dinner thereafter. Now having a drink while trying to find something to kill the remaining 2.5 hours. Seems like eternity as there's nothing much I can do in the lounge except to eat, drink, read magazines, watch TV and surf the net. I can go on blogging but this entry will soon turn you off and you may probably stay away from my blog as there's nothing else I have to talk about other than the surroundings of where I am now.
Oh well, wish me a pleasant sleep on board later. Hope the seat is comfortable enough for a good night's rest.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
21 Days in Dubai
I can't believe that I've already spent 3 weeks here! Time really files and I still feel like I'm a tourist. Not that I'm really doing a lot of sightseeing but I guess I've not immersed myself fully into my work yet. I'm still grasping bits and pieces here and there. Probably I just need more time. Perhaps 3 months? I took about close to 3 months to get myself fully aware of what I was doing in my previous role. Moreover, I'd be going back for 2 weeks in Feb, so probably 3.5 months to get myself fully aware? So my target for full job assimilation: end April 2010.
Many people asked me how long I'd be staying here. To reiterate again, I'm on a permanent transfer, so the employment contract is open dated. But if you guys want a rough timeframe, I guess it's about 2 to 3 years thereabout if all goes well. 2 to 3 years is about the average period for a person to work on a role and he/she should take on a new role after this period to avoid being too comfortable and complacent. After all, work is also about learning new things and improving oneself, so I prefer not to stay too long in a position as after about 2 to 3 years, I would have probably learnt most of the things in my job scope. It would be about time to move on to another role in search for new things to learn.
So what's nice here? Hmm... Will I get beaten up if I mention the weather? Yeah, it's cool and the kind of perfect weather I'm looking for. But such weather is only around for a short period each year (Nov-Jan). By the time I return back after CNY, I'd be saying goodbye to this weather and the real hot experience is about to begin. I'm also amazed at the pace they construct new buildings (and I only mean specifically buildings). They're slow in other areas of construction (e.g.: the metro). The opening of the remaining stations of the Dubai Metro red line has been further delayed by another 2 months. Look at Burj Khalifa, it was done in 3 years! 160 stories in 3 years is equivalent to building 1 level per week!
What else? Oh yes, I love Sundays. It's not because it's my rest day but because I can do all my grocery shopping and other sightseeing on Sundays when most of the working population are at work! I've tried thronging the shopping malls on both Saturdays and Sundays and there's indeed a vast difference between the 2 days. The malls are virtually empty on Sundays (except for now when the Dubai Shopping Festival is going on which attracts tourists from all over the world). On the other hand, I go to work on Fridays when everyone else is resting at home. Not a bad idea actually as there is hardly anyone on the streets on Friday mornings (I guess everyone sleeps in on Friday mornings). Furthermore, due to such working arrangements, I can dress down on Thursdays (polo tee and jeans) and dress in any way on Fridays (no restrictions - I usually go with a round-neck tee and jeans)!
What's cheap in Dubai? The cheap stuff can be pretty expensive. Branded stuff are cheap if you compare with Singapore or UK standards but still expensive if you're like me who goes for cheap and durable rather than the brand. Gold and diamonds are also cheap but yeah, I won't be buying them as I'm not interested in those precious metals or stones. Transport is also cheap. A metro ride can be as cheap as AED1.80 (~SGD0.70) and the average fare is about AED2.50 (~SGD1.00). Taxis are also slightly cheaper than Singapore as flag-down fare is AED3.00 (~SGD1.20) and it's AED0.50 (~SGD0.20) per 312m. Fuel is dirt cheap here, AED6.20 per gallon (or SGD0.55 per litre). That's about 1/4 of the price of the fuel in Singapore! Consider a car? Well, not at this stage for me. But just in case those who are curious enough, a Merz SLK is about AED175K (~SGD70K). You can't even get the cheapest Merz with 70K back in Singapore, or for that matter, even a Toyota Corolla is out of reach!
Wow, I've typed so much for the past half hour. Ok, this can probably compensate for the lack of updates. Hopefully I can post another update before I leave for CNY.
Many people asked me how long I'd be staying here. To reiterate again, I'm on a permanent transfer, so the employment contract is open dated. But if you guys want a rough timeframe, I guess it's about 2 to 3 years thereabout if all goes well. 2 to 3 years is about the average period for a person to work on a role and he/she should take on a new role after this period to avoid being too comfortable and complacent. After all, work is also about learning new things and improving oneself, so I prefer not to stay too long in a position as after about 2 to 3 years, I would have probably learnt most of the things in my job scope. It would be about time to move on to another role in search for new things to learn.
So what's nice here? Hmm... Will I get beaten up if I mention the weather? Yeah, it's cool and the kind of perfect weather I'm looking for. But such weather is only around for a short period each year (Nov-Jan). By the time I return back after CNY, I'd be saying goodbye to this weather and the real hot experience is about to begin. I'm also amazed at the pace they construct new buildings (and I only mean specifically buildings). They're slow in other areas of construction (e.g.: the metro). The opening of the remaining stations of the Dubai Metro red line has been further delayed by another 2 months. Look at Burj Khalifa, it was done in 3 years! 160 stories in 3 years is equivalent to building 1 level per week!
What else? Oh yes, I love Sundays. It's not because it's my rest day but because I can do all my grocery shopping and other sightseeing on Sundays when most of the working population are at work! I've tried thronging the shopping malls on both Saturdays and Sundays and there's indeed a vast difference between the 2 days. The malls are virtually empty on Sundays (except for now when the Dubai Shopping Festival is going on which attracts tourists from all over the world). On the other hand, I go to work on Fridays when everyone else is resting at home. Not a bad idea actually as there is hardly anyone on the streets on Friday mornings (I guess everyone sleeps in on Friday mornings). Furthermore, due to such working arrangements, I can dress down on Thursdays (polo tee and jeans) and dress in any way on Fridays (no restrictions - I usually go with a round-neck tee and jeans)!
What's cheap in Dubai? The cheap stuff can be pretty expensive. Branded stuff are cheap if you compare with Singapore or UK standards but still expensive if you're like me who goes for cheap and durable rather than the brand. Gold and diamonds are also cheap but yeah, I won't be buying them as I'm not interested in those precious metals or stones. Transport is also cheap. A metro ride can be as cheap as AED1.80 (~SGD0.70) and the average fare is about AED2.50 (~SGD1.00). Taxis are also slightly cheaper than Singapore as flag-down fare is AED3.00 (~SGD1.20) and it's AED0.50 (~SGD0.20) per 312m. Fuel is dirt cheap here, AED6.20 per gallon (or SGD0.55 per litre). That's about 1/4 of the price of the fuel in Singapore! Consider a car? Well, not at this stage for me. But just in case those who are curious enough, a Merz SLK is about AED175K (~SGD70K). You can't even get the cheapest Merz with 70K back in Singapore, or for that matter, even a Toyota Corolla is out of reach!
Wow, I've typed so much for the past half hour. Ok, this can probably compensate for the lack of updates. Hopefully I can post another update before I leave for CNY.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Dubai can be COLD!
This is not a myth. I actually FEEL COLD here! The temperature at night for the past 2 nights was hovering around 9 degrees. Then it went back to around 16 degrees tonight, which is the normal night temperature for Dubai's winter. So yeah, if someone tells you that he/she feels cold in Dubai, don't be surprised...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Doing things beyond what I can perceive
Sipping a drink while taking a dip in the pool... Being handed a bath towel to dry yourself while dinner is being served... Tucked comfortably into the chair and dining by the poolside while watching the sunset... All these seemed to exist in dramas and movies only. I've never thought that I would have such an experience...
It was experienced this evening at the swimming pool of the service apartment I'm currently residing in... What more can I ask for... I don't even ask for a second experience as once is sufficient... Perhaps I'm easily satisfied... Haha...
It was experienced this evening at the swimming pool of the service apartment I'm currently residing in... What more can I ask for... I don't even ask for a second experience as once is sufficient... Perhaps I'm easily satisfied... Haha...
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