While browsing some articles the other day, I came across this quote which brought a sense of awakening to my sense of awareness within my immediate surroundings:
“What others do is a reflection of what’s going on in their own life and probably has little or nothing to do with you”
It was a perfect reminder for me that when it comes to dealing with nasty people who has nothing good to say about anything, it is best to bow out, walk away and not take things personally. Rather, you gotta feel sorry for them and never let such people ruin your life.
Dubai may have been one hell of a crazy, fantasy, lego-land city, but I have to admit that the landscape has been pretty fascinating for me. The tall buildings are amazing with really modern and progressive looking architecture, while some are just a little too gaudy for my taste.
Here are some of my favourite shots taken in the last few days which I find to be truly amazing:
On the boat on the way to the Spice MarketStill on the boat 2 minutes later Yep. Still on the boat.Picturesque scene from Anantara Hotel where we had our conference Capturing the hue of sunrise Sunrise seen from the balcony of our hotel room Real fauna decorated the walkway from the lobby to the dining area of the hotel
My days in Dubai is finally coming to an end after several days of heavy-duty download sessions. While we all had spent most of our time confined in a conference room, we did manage to get little time off yesterday afternoon to explore a little bit of Dubai prior to our Annual Awards Ceremony and its subsequent celebration. (Our Thai office swept up one Gold Award for their work in 2013. Hurray!)
The last few days have been nothing but decadent. Not only the after-party post the awards ceremony last night was held in a rather exclusive club in Dubai called the Armani Prive, we all have probably dined in only the finer restaurants in town throughout the time we were here.
This place is crazy. It is like Lego land.
Everything is made-man and everything is luxuriously decadent for the sakes of being decadent. There is always a Porsche or Ferrari on the road and I haven’t seen a single soul living in poverty here. Everything is very well-run and this not so little man-made city feels really, really safe. Its population, as we found out, comprises of 80% expats hailing from mostly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the neighbouring Arab countries as well as those from the Philippines. It seems to be a hell of a city glittering with riches!
One thing I noticed is that kids stay up so late here. at 9 pm, they all are still running around in shopping malls or having dinner with the parents.
Here are few more pictures from the last few days:
A view of Burj KhalifahThe dancing fountain near Dubai MallCandle lighting ceremony at the hotelThe largest aquarium in the world at The AtlantisStill at the AtlantisPort – taking a local boat to the spice marketDoing touristy things…Me, my Thai colleague and a selfie on the boatSpices at the Spice MarketMore junk at the spice market
We overheard an interesting conversation of a fellow colleague with one of the shop-owner as she started bargaining for price.It went like this:
Colleague: More discount?
Shop Keeper: If you speak English, we give discount more. If you speak Arabic with us, price always higher.
Colleague: Why?
Shop Keeper: Because tourist always poor.
Looking at how Dubai is being built and the luxury that is build around it, I am inclined to think that the guy is probably quite spot-on! Talk about perception, eh.
Oh Dubai, you are just so unreal. After 5 days here, I think I am about ready to head home!
