Current mood:	refreshed
Current music:	Lavish - NCC

Abu Dhabi

I received an SMS from the big boss on Tues telling me that I have to go to Abu Dhabi next week.  Abu Dhabi, if you're wondering, is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is made up of 7 Emirates which were formally under British protection until 1971 and the currency is the UAE Dirham. Ok I must admit that I just found out 2 mins ago that Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE. I always thought that the more glamourous Dubai was the capital, that of the architectural wonder which is The World. While Dubai is the playground of Arabic oil sheiks and Europe's rich and famous, Abu Dhabi is the poorer cousin who is almost catching up in terms of the luxury stakes.

I'm flying out of Singapore on Mon at 2200 and arriving in Dubai at 0135 on Tues morning. We will cross into Abu Dhabi at 0830 the same morning. Pretty retarded if you ask me cos SQ flies direct into Abu Dhabi but not every day. All we had to do was to push back the trip a couple of days in order to synchronise with the flight schedule. But I suppose time is of an essence here. 

I hear that most eateries are closed during this Ramadan period and those who are not fasting can only eat behind closed doors away from public view. The weather forecast reports that it will be 38 degree celsius during the day next week and a comfortable 22 degrees at night. LML's collegue, E, who stayed in UAE for a year said that the temperature can soar to the mid 40s at the peak of summer! The travelling party will split up to go our seperate ways to pursue our own agendas. We are to take the 0050 flight on Thurs back to Singapore after the maelstrom of planned events.

Such a pity cos I'll be working most of the time and will get almost no opportunity to see more of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi.