Shit! October’s come to an end, and I still haven’t sorted out photos of Jayden’s third birthday to blog on!
And …I’M STILL STUCK IN THIS INCREASINGLY IRRITATING PROJECT WHICH DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT’LL EVER COMPLETE.
On the home front, Justin’s started Year 3 in his increasingly expensive school. I keep telling myself to check out other schools, but being the procrastinator that I am, …nothing much’s done yet. No, I’ve checked out some interesting schools, but they’re either too far, or the rating (given by the Government) is suspect. And I kinda feel for the kid. He keeps pleading with us not to change schools… What do I do? Umm… let’s wait a little longer and see.
Jayden’s all over the place now, and talking like the characters in Peppa Pig, his favourite cartoon for now. He is George, his koko (brother) is Peppa (who is actually a girl), Anu’s Mommy Pig (Anu’s not too happy about the name, hehe), and I’m Daddy Pig. He’s also into Pocoyo, Wow English TV (Steve & Maggie), Blippi, and PJ Masks, and therefore has become an English speaking kid, like his brother.
Anu? She ain’t very happy, due to the 6 days’ week and faraway site that I work in, meaning that I have to get up at the ungodly hour of 4am (which will usually become 4.30am when I actually wake up – that’s what the ‘snooze’ button is for, right?) and it’ll be 7+pm before I bloody reach home. And all this, with not a single cent extra on my meagre pay, which has stayed the same since I bloody re-joined the company in 2013!
And last week I had an accident at a Petrol Station in Dubai! And of all the people I can have an accident with, it was with a colleague from work!! Just imagine, there’re about 3 million people in Dubai, and I had to clash with this one guy from work. Talk about being in a small world.
We were going home on a Friday, after a day out with the kids. I drove into a petrol station and saw a little queue of about 3 cars on the right. There was a gap on the left just nice for a car to go thru, with a few empty petrol pumps right ahead. So there I went, overtaking the cars. Just when I was passing the second car, he suddenly swerved out and CRASH! Now, what kind of stupid people swerve out without looking at the back first? My, fat friend, Am… let’s call him Carrom (since he's round and cute, like the carrom disks), not really good to put in his real name, init?!
So there we were, arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong, with our spouses and kids in support (we’d win by the numbers, because both of us had the wife and 2 kids, but our family had additional support in the form of our niece, Karishma!) We finally went to the Police Station (all cases have to be reported to the police if you wanna repair your car, especially if you wanna claim insurance). Just because he’s Arabic speaking (he’s Egyptian Christian), and fat (can't help but sympathize with fat people, init?), the police said he’s right!
"Huh? He drove into me, and he’s right? What justice is this??"
"It’s a one-lane street, so you shouldn’t be overtaking."
"It’s a lane that can fit 4 friggin cars side-by-side!!" (And I proceeded to show the policeman a photo of the accident location, which Anu wisely snapped before we left for the police station).
"Still, it’s a one-lane street, …there aren’t any dividing lines and there’s only one arrow."
"OK, then, why was he swerving out? To overtake the car in front of him, right?"
"If you don’t agree, we’ can go to the scene of the accident, and if you are wrong, you have to pay 1,200 dirhams. If you agree now, it’ll just be a 400 dirham fine, with no point deduction or other penalty. Your decision."
Guess what I did?
You think I’m dumb? I took the pink slip and left. (The police’s summon book is in triplicate: White – retained by Police, Pink –WRONG, Green – RIGHT).
Strangely, this is not the first time that coincidences like this happened in Dubai for us! We bought our 1 bedroom apartment in 2015 after looking at about err 20 apartments maybe. There're a million apartments in Dubai, and the one we finally bought was from the dad of one of Justin’s classmates, and I didn't know about it until we went to the Land Office (where the seller and the buyer have to be present) to sign the transfer papers of the property! Just imagine the chances of that happening!!!
So, here’re some pictures of a small world, a kid’s world actually, for this post – KidZania! KidZania is a theme park (it’s actually a chain of theme parks, it has branches all over the world) that’s built to imitate a real city but with a kid’s version of everything. It allows kids to work like adults in various professions and places and earn money to spend. Enjoy!
KidZania Town Square, Dubai Mall, Dubai
The kids’ Declaration of Independence Monument, KidZania, Dubai
One of the more popular jobs, a pilot for Fly Dubai!
Hey, how did that baby get into the cockpit?!
Justin, the fireman …umm, fireboy I mean
Putting out a fire in Hotel Flamingo, which is very prone to fires, like once every hour!
McDonald’s – How is working in a fast food joint fun? I don’t understand kids. Here’s another photo of Justin at McDonald’s
A juice factory! Now that’ll be more fun, I think!
Trying his hand, and nose, at being a perfumer
This one’s tough, auditioning to be a reporter for Al Jazeera
One of the less popular jobs, a government servant at the National Archives. There’s a lot more, but you think I’m really that free, taking photos of his every task?
I think a streak of bad luck is crossing my path. Friggin desk phone in my office broke down (the only phone with a problem in the whole friggin office), meaning I have to call from my mobile (meaning eating into my available credit). The friggin car air-con compressor broke down, and it’ll cost a whopping 7,200 dirhams to friggin replace! WTF! I ain’t changing it. What’s a little sweat and stuffiness do to anyone?! Besides, it’s gonna be winter soon.
Anyway Happy Halloween! And leave me alone, to sulk for the time being, OK?
And …I’M STILL STUCK IN THIS INCREASINGLY IRRITATING PROJECT WHICH DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT’LL EVER COMPLETE.
On the home front, Justin’s started Year 3 in his increasingly expensive school. I keep telling myself to check out other schools, but being the procrastinator that I am, …nothing much’s done yet. No, I’ve checked out some interesting schools, but they’re either too far, or the rating (given by the Government) is suspect. And I kinda feel for the kid. He keeps pleading with us not to change schools… What do I do? Umm… let’s wait a little longer and see.
Jayden’s all over the place now, and talking like the characters in Peppa Pig, his favourite cartoon for now. He is George, his koko (brother) is Peppa (who is actually a girl), Anu’s Mommy Pig (Anu’s not too happy about the name, hehe), and I’m Daddy Pig. He’s also into Pocoyo, Wow English TV (Steve & Maggie), Blippi, and PJ Masks, and therefore has become an English speaking kid, like his brother.
Anu? She ain’t very happy, due to the 6 days’ week and faraway site that I work in, meaning that I have to get up at the ungodly hour of 4am (which will usually become 4.30am when I actually wake up – that’s what the ‘snooze’ button is for, right?) and it’ll be 7+pm before I bloody reach home. And all this, with not a single cent extra on my meagre pay, which has stayed the same since I bloody re-joined the company in 2013!
And last week I had an accident at a Petrol Station in Dubai! And of all the people I can have an accident with, it was with a colleague from work!! Just imagine, there’re about 3 million people in Dubai, and I had to clash with this one guy from work. Talk about being in a small world.
We were going home on a Friday, after a day out with the kids. I drove into a petrol station and saw a little queue of about 3 cars on the right. There was a gap on the left just nice for a car to go thru, with a few empty petrol pumps right ahead. So there I went, overtaking the cars. Just when I was passing the second car, he suddenly swerved out and CRASH! Now, what kind of stupid people swerve out without looking at the back first? My, fat friend, Am… let’s call him Carrom (since he's round and cute, like the carrom disks), not really good to put in his real name, init?!
So there we were, arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong, with our spouses and kids in support (we’d win by the numbers, because both of us had the wife and 2 kids, but our family had additional support in the form of our niece, Karishma!) We finally went to the Police Station (all cases have to be reported to the police if you wanna repair your car, especially if you wanna claim insurance). Just because he’s Arabic speaking (he’s Egyptian Christian), and fat (can't help but sympathize with fat people, init?), the police said he’s right!
"Huh? He drove into me, and he’s right? What justice is this??"
"It’s a one-lane street, so you shouldn’t be overtaking."
"It’s a lane that can fit 4 friggin cars side-by-side!!" (And I proceeded to show the policeman a photo of the accident location, which Anu wisely snapped before we left for the police station).
"Still, it’s a one-lane street, …there aren’t any dividing lines and there’s only one arrow."
"OK, then, why was he swerving out? To overtake the car in front of him, right?"
"If you don’t agree, we’ can go to the scene of the accident, and if you are wrong, you have to pay 1,200 dirhams. If you agree now, it’ll just be a 400 dirham fine, with no point deduction or other penalty. Your decision."
Guess what I did?
You think I’m dumb? I took the pink slip and left. (The police’s summon book is in triplicate: White – retained by Police, Pink –WRONG, Green – RIGHT).
Strangely, this is not the first time that coincidences like this happened in Dubai for us! We bought our 1 bedroom apartment in 2015 after looking at about err 20 apartments maybe. There're a million apartments in Dubai, and the one we finally bought was from the dad of one of Justin’s classmates, and I didn't know about it until we went to the Land Office (where the seller and the buyer have to be present) to sign the transfer papers of the property! Just imagine the chances of that happening!!!
So, here’re some pictures of a small world, a kid’s world actually, for this post – KidZania! KidZania is a theme park (it’s actually a chain of theme parks, it has branches all over the world) that’s built to imitate a real city but with a kid’s version of everything. It allows kids to work like adults in various professions and places and earn money to spend. Enjoy!
KidZania Town Square, Dubai Mall, Dubai
The kids’ Declaration of Independence Monument, KidZania, Dubai
One of the more popular jobs, a pilot for Fly Dubai!
Hey, how did that baby get into the cockpit?!
Justin, the fireman …umm, fireboy I mean
Putting out a fire in Hotel Flamingo, which is very prone to fires, like once every hour!
McDonald’s – How is working in a fast food joint fun? I don’t understand kids. Here’s another photo of Justin at McDonald’s
A juice factory! Now that’ll be more fun, I think!
Trying his hand, and nose, at being a perfumer
This one’s tough, auditioning to be a reporter for Al Jazeera
One of the less popular jobs, a government servant at the National Archives. There’s a lot more, but you think I’m really that free, taking photos of his every task?
I think a streak of bad luck is crossing my path. Friggin desk phone in my office broke down (the only phone with a problem in the whole friggin office), meaning I have to call from my mobile (meaning eating into my available credit). The friggin car air-con compressor broke down, and it’ll cost a whopping 7,200 dirhams to friggin replace! WTF! I ain’t changing it. What’s a little sweat and stuffiness do to anyone?! Besides, it’s gonna be winter soon.
Anyway Happy Halloween! And leave me alone, to sulk for the time being, OK?
