Dubai expat life

Five years and counting

January 13, 2012

Today, FIVE years ago, we landed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Honestly? I can’t believe we are still here. Not that I want to be somewhere else right now but when I look back at what I was thinking when we first set foot here, it’s unbelievable. We thought our stint would be short, like [...]

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Expat life and saying goodbye

December 27, 2011

Yesterday, I have discovered the single hardest thing about being an expat in a fab place so many people call home, including us. We gain friends, enjoy those friendships and develop deep bonds as the years roll by. We are all expatriates, people in a foreign land who share stories of the ups and downs, [...]

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The madame who wants all

December 19, 2011

I can’t help but stop and stare at this maid wanted ad: We are a young family living on Palm Jumeirah and would like to start interviewing for a nanny position for our 2 kids: Boy aged 5 and girl aged 3 years old. They have (are) happy kids and go to school full time [...]

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You think Dubai employers are racists?

December 17, 2011

The classified ads here are unbelievable – you would find job ads with ‘extra’ lines that read: “No Filipinos” or “White, Western female please” and “Indians only”. And nobody seems to care. It’s a common sight and job seekers apply to where they are appropriate. Racial discrimination is alive and well in Dubai. The companies [...]

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Unjustified ‘offloading’ of Filipino travelers

October 17, 2011

My old post: New Rule for Filipinos Traveling to Dubai discussing the pains of Filipinos traveling from the Philippines to Dubai has been getting a lot of  attention lately from people wanting to travel to Dubai but faced a lot of problems with the immigration officials in Manila. Despite having proper documents, Filipinos still face [...]

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Discrimination, racism, whatever it is

September 15, 2011

I’ve written about how I love the new public transport system in Dubai that is, the newly opened Dubai Metro Green Line. Now, it’s time to talk about what I hate about it – the people manning the trains. ‘Manning’ means supervising, checking on the passengers making sure no one eats, drinks or puts his/her [...]

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After Eid holidays, traffic

September 5, 2011

It’s Monday and while most of the people around the world have just started their work week (except for friends in the US who’s celebrating Labor Day), Monday’s the hump day for me already – the middle of the week since work for me start on Saturdays. Thanks for that look of pity. After four [...]

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Eid Mubarak 2011!

August 30, 2011

Finally after fasting for a total of 29 days (no drink, food and other ‘worldly’ pleasures) from dawn ’till sunset, daily life of Muslims around the world is back to its normalcy. Last night, it was declared that the crescent moon was sighted, signaling the end of the holy month of Ramadan. That would mean [...]

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