Getting to Dubai

Finally gotten around to making the time to write a quick little story about Dubai, how I got here and what I think...

Well firstly it took much longer to get here than I orginally expected.... As some of you may have been aware, the British Airports Authority must have heard I was planning a mega on plane hand luggage hual from London to Dubai, so they decided to ban all hand luggage and in the process cause such a delay in flight departures I was stuck in Oslo for two days.... Do'h, well there goes one day of my life with only CNN or the music channel to choose from, as all other channels were pay to view at a cost of $20 per channel... something I don't think work would pay for.... Oh and forgot to mention night one in Oslo airport...which was slept on the ground, thankfully work offered to pay for night two, which was nice, but as mentioned above lacked multimedia appeal, fortunately there was a gym and buffet brekky...

So Wed arvo - Friday arvo was transit from Bo, Norway to London, England. Then I got into London.. ate some nice Thai food with wine and spent most of night on msn with Farah.... Then it was pack bag time.... oh yeah..... packing bags..... something I think I could right a Phd on now ..

So I get to the airport and what awaits me? Sitting in the carpark for a few hours waiting to hear if my flight has been cancelled.... Well thankfully it wasnt, it was called and for some reason.... I get away with 57kg of checked luggage... Ha! No hand luggage stuffing me up? Never! So then my flight still gets delayed... but now it's goodbye carpark and hello BA Business Lounge... And man.... wow!!! I could hardly believe it.... self service to everything.... including spirits!!! Internet, fine wines, expresso machines, soup and cheeses etc etc ETC!!!! Now I know how the other half lives!!! I mean, granted they are soft as ten day old camal cheese left in the Dubai sun at 1pm in August.... but hey I wasn't going to leave the place in protest at the extravigant life there tools live.... nup.... it was three glasses of chilean white, mixed with olives, cheese and crackers... then after I realised I could put my bar skills to my own devices it was white russians, bloody marys and gin and tonics.... Oh YEAH! And then I get on the plane and get a three course meal, with choices!!!! And like 25 channels to choose from and a seat that goes to 100% flat!!!! ARGH!!!! Maybe I will be damaged forever as riding a chicken bus in Guatemala will never be quite the same again.////

Anyways after 4 days of transit I arrive in Dubai and it's 45C, nice!!! And really it isn't as bad as you would think.... Actually I am doing very well... Esp. given I am the sweat king!

The place I am staying in is nice as and there is breakfast included, which is great as this is obviously my favourite meal of the day. And on top of this they clean my room for me everyday, including the washing up, which I found out on day two after I got lazy the night before.....

The city itself is nuts.... people extremely rich and people extremely poor... all living pretty damn close to each other...Work is great, office is awesome... even a pool table! Everything here is cheap, except rent, which hard to believe is more expensive than London! But I have found a place to live, with an Irish Guy, NZ Guy and an Ozzie girl, move in there on thurs....

Besides that um.... just getting used to being out here alone... esp. without Farah/// which is pretty tough but given we talk every night on the phone, it is barable at this stage...

Well will write more soon and put photos up soon too... but gotta run as tomorrow is a public holiday, something to do with Mohommad going to Jerusalem to talk to God and Jesus about how many prayers a day you have to do... strated at 5,000, but God buckled under the pressure and gave into 5... sweet!!!