I have ties with Dubai now!

2011 saw me in Dubai – a place I have heard of, spoken about and seen on the movies. All that I have heard was “people in Dubai are wealthy”, “it is all desert”, “it is a Muslim country”, “you will have to wear an “abaya”like the Arab women when you are in Dubai” etc etc and more. I was silly…….I thought Dubai is the capital of United Arab Emirates!! I had a chance to polish my Geography from this visit……no wonder people say – “the more you travel they more you will become street smart”.

The United Arab Emirates comprises of seven states known as “emirates”(because they are ruled by emirs (emirs means commanders or leaders). The government also has a president but each of the emirs acts as leader of his own emirate. The seven emirates are: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. The capital and second-largest city is Abu Dhabi.

And so I landed at the Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3 one afternoon and was just shocked at the expanse of space in terms of height of ceiling to the length and breadth of the airport! I thought Singapore’s airport was the best in the world. I found out later that Terminal 3 in Dubai is the largest building in the world by floor space and it handles over 30 million over passengers a year. I only counted a few on landing on my departure day but the fact is this airport has 82 moving walkways, 97 escalators, eight skytrains (4 each at Arrivals and Departures), 157 elevators, and 27 truck lifts; 180 check-in counters and 2,600 car-parking spaces and 115,000 sq ft of shopping facilities. In addition at the departure hall where I was held up for sometime because of overweight luggage, there are 126 check-in counters for economy class passengers, and 36 for first and business class passengers. Also, there are 18 self service kiosks, 3 lounges for unaccompanied minors, 38 counters and 12 e-gates for Economy class passengers and 10 counters and 4 e-gates for First & Business class at immigration. There is also a mosque within the airport

Travelling from the airport to the hotel was not difficult. The taxi service provided by the government run Dubai Transport airport taxi service was very efficient. The taxis are meter-run and the start-up charge on the meter was Dh.20 and I paid about Dh.43 when I reached Park Kris Kin Regis Hotel. Dubai and the rest of the emirates share the same currency - the Arab Emirate Dirham or AED. It is called Dirham for short and you will see it abbreviated as either Dhs. or Dh. 1 dhs is divided into 100 fils (the equivalent of cents). The notes come in denominations of 5,10,20,50,100,200,500 and 1000 Dirhams. The coins come in 1,5,10,25 and 50 fils and 1 dirham. Personally, I liked the feel of the coins –every coin looked like it was handcrafted as the emblems and the edges of the coins don’t exactly look neat as if it was machine made.

While I was at the airport and in the taxi, I noticed something that I was slightly puzzled and shocked – I saw more Indians and Filipinos walking in the streets than Arabs! And there were many Indian and Filipino restaurants dotted everywhere on the street and some were even chain restaurants from India. My taxi driver was a Filipino lady who wore a pink attire and pink head scarf. Pink taxis provide a “women only” service and provide services at places frequented by women and I did not know of it until a couple of days later. The taxi had a pink roofs, pink seats and pink interior …too much of a feminine touch for me.

The national dress of the Arab men is the very very spotlessly clean long flowing white “disdasha” or “kandoura” as they called it. I never came across a man in a dirty or crumbled traditional wear. This traditional white garment allows the air to circulate and helps to cool the body during the hot weather. During the cold winter, the men wear a disdasha that is made of thicker material like wool and wear darker shades. They all wore a head dress called the “ghuttra” or “ogal”which were usually white though occasionally I saw men with red and white checked material. To hold the ghuttra in place, they wore a thick black cord like thing that not only was used as decorative piece on the head but I found out later that it was also used for tying the camel’s feet at night so that it will not go wondering! The head dress is worm to protect the head and face from direct sunlight and also to cover the mouth and nose during cold weather or sandstorms. The ladies wore a long flowing traditionally black “abaya” and a head dress called the “sheyla”. The abayas are usually decorated with beads or fine embroidery and it covers the whole body except the face, feet and hands. The older women wore a black mask called the “burkha” to cover their entire face. I saw some women who even covered their hands with long black gloves. I kept wondering and wondering how hot they will feel. If I am going to be dressed like this in the kitchen, I think I will go mad…………which is giving me another thought? Are there Arab women who are chefs in restaurants? What do they wear?

More of Dubai experience in the next few weeks.........