Manila Vacation 2010 : August 11 to September 15

Leon's Baptism

Dubai Class

Before November, I hadn't attended any courses or conferences which at first felt odd as it always seemed I would get chances to fly out on business trips for whatever reason well into the early months of the year. Although, the need was there to take some courses, however, getting to actually attend the class(es) was challenging, what with work schedule conflicts and class schedules getting postponed and cancelled. But then, finally, things clicked into place and I drove out to Dubai Nov 15th for a week's training (Cisco).

The final 'click' was that I got to bring the mag-ina along. Needless to say, they were beaming with excitement the entire four-hour drive across the border. I attended the class with a colleague and very good friend of mine, Sadiq, who had then just cleared his CCIE Security lab exam. According to unconfirmed reports, and I truly believe this to be true, he is the very first Omani CCIE (at least, the first homegrown). He also brought along his family to celebrate with him. So, early on, you could already tell it was going to be an enjoyable trip.
So, then, while my friend and I proceed daily to slave away at the Cisco class, Thess and Vivian proceed to each and every popular mall in Dubai. They had a list...one mall a day. They take a cab from our hotel (Holiday Inn Express in Internet City) to whichever mall that's planned for that day. If it wasn't obvious yet, shopping was on top of girls' list. After our class, I drive over (through Dubai's darn rush hour traffic, mind) to whichever mall and proceed to load bags, boxes and whatever onto Scabber's rear.

Our last visit to Dubai already made us believers of how truly amazing this city really is. After this trip, it has made us long for the urban lifestyles ten times over. One particularly memorable experience was the Dubai Aquarium, inside the newly-opened Dubai Mall. As expected, the Aquarium was a big hit with the little girl... eyes swirling around trying to see all she can around this gigantic fishtank... note - it's inside a friggin' mall. The exterior of the tank is clearly visible to passersby and that alone is amazing in itself. If you still crave for more though, you can pay to enter and pass through this glass tunnel that takes you inside the gigantic fishtank....and, yes, it's inside a commercial mall. The selection of marine life ranges from the big schools of small fishes, to sharks and rays. After the tunnel, you can opt to visit (with additional fee of course) the Discovery Center which is another long stretch of tanks of other marine life including Vivian's favorites... seals and penguins.

I never though it possible, not in a million years... kung may magtanong sa kin, 'kamusta dre, san kayo nanggaling?' sagot ko (in a highly nasal tone), 'ah pare, dyan lang.... nag-mall hopping lang kami sa Dubai....'

interesting note: you know that SUV feature where you can get more cargo space by folding the back seats. I had to fold one of the back seats by the first night alone. and again, I really have to keep saying this, I thank the powers-that-be for whoever thunk up GPS and Nokia for my N95. :)