The Journey Begins

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The adventure began at 630pm on the 10th June 2017 when the limousine service arrived to take me to the airport. After a tearful farewell with my loved ones I was soon on my way, the journey to the airport was surprisingly rapid for a Saturday night and I was soon checking in my cases and heading for the quiet of the lounge. A few beers and toasties later and I was settled in for the hour or so until boarding. Business class meant priority boarding and my seat was very comfortable, champagne in hand I relaxed while the rabble in cattle class boarded the aircraft.



The flight was a little bumpy at times and I ate a fair bit as I made my way down the cocktail list the choices of beer were poor so I had a glass of wine with dinner instead. The chair reclined fully so I could sleep between movies which was a huge bonus. The aircraft arrived in Dubai with the dawn and I was soon off the plane and on my way to the carousel. For once my luggage came out first and within 10 minutes I emerged briefly into the early morning heat before entering my complimentary vehicle for the short journey to my home for the next six weeks the Nassima Royal Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Rd Dubai's premier thoroughfare.



My suite has a large bedroom with a desk, wardrobes and safe, a large bathroom with bidet and bum washer and a kitchen lounge area that is quite comfortable. I checked in around 6am and spent much of my first day confined to my room although I did venture out into the extreme heat and humidity to visit the supermarket next door where I arranged a sim card and purchased some bits and pieces. Day two I visited the gym then got a manicure before ironing all my shirts for tomorrow my first day at work.



There is a courtesy bus from the hotel to HSBC’s Emaar Square headquarters but considering the heat I chose to take a taxi which cost just $5. On arrival, I was met in the lobby at 10am by the HR onboarding manager and went through some details before meeting the British Head of Intelligence for a coffee before being taken into the secure area where I will work. It is in the middle of the fasting month of Ramadan and so in consideration of our Muslim colleagues we do not openly eat or drink in the office but instead sneak off to the cafeteria.



I was handed over to the Ukrainian office manager who issued my laptop, phone stationery etc and I joined my new team. I have two Lithuanians, a Jordanian and a Serbian in my team which is managed by a Canadian. The rest of the day was about getting access to the many systems I will require and getting my phone working. Around 5pm I left work and walked out into the oven like heat, my glasses immediately fogging up as I exited the building. I asked a Sikh gentleman for directions to the nearest metro station, it was a short walk through a multilevel carpark before entering and airconditioned walk way near the entrance to the massive Dubai mall, from here it was about seven minutes to the Burj Khalifa metro station. On arrival at the metro station I worked out which platform I needed and jumped aboard a packed train for the three-station journey to the World Trade Centre district where I disembarked for the short walk through the airconditioned overpass to the opposite side of Sheikh Zayed Road before exiting the station and walking the short distance to my hotel.



Dubai is an interesting, clean place despite the heat and dust pollution, the city has grown hugely in the decade or so since I last graced its streets.



The next morning my Jordanian colleague Faisal arrived to pick me up, he is taking me to my medical appointment in the Al Karama district near the GPO. The medical was extremely efficient there were hundreds of people just like me getting blood and chest x-rays taken, next I went to the Emirates ID office but by now it was 47 degrees and the queue was out in the street so I decided to come back the next morning to do the biometrics. We arrived at work around 1130am and apart from a brief meeting with a banking person who was setting up my accounts, I spent the rest of the day doing online training. In the evening, I returned to the metro station and hopped on the train which again was there waiting when I arrived, it was cramped and unpleasant, I have a Gold card so tomorrow I will go find the Gold carriage.



Next day I took a taxi to the ID office, there were two queues and I couldn’t work out why, eventually I discovered that the priority queue was for people who did their medical next door and the other was for those that had come from other centres, after about an hour and a bit of remonstrating they let me inside and gave me a docket, I waited for my number to be called and then had my hands scanned and my photo taken before stepping back into the furnace in search of a taxi. On arrival at work, I took the medical form to HR and then headed for the office. Apart from a training session regarding information management and classification the rest of the day was a little dull. I left work and as is my habit walked to the train station but this time I entered the Gold Carriage, still no seat but at least it wasn’t crowded and today there was a ticket checker. I then headed to the hotel changed into a t-shirt and shorts and went in search of an Irish pub which I had been told about earlier that day, incredulously it was almost directly behind my hotel. I met a couple of Aussie blokes here and ended up not getting back to the hotel till 2am, the bar is smoky but very laid back and during happy hour is reasonably priced for Dubai.



The weekend starts on Friday here so when I finally woke up I cooked my big veggie breakfast before washing and ironing my clothes before wandering a little further down the road to see what I could see, I have found an ATM with no fees and a good shopping centre. The heat continues to be intense and I am reluctant to venture out into it so I didn’t do much Saturday except visit the Irish pub for a few drinks before heading back to my room.

Sunday is the beginning of the working week and I again took a cab so that I wouldn’t arrive at work all hot and sweaty, not much happened today although I did discover a few restaurants hidden away in nearby buildings. I also had a visit from a courier who delivered my debit card. Monday was pretty much the same not much happened during the day I haven’t started doing anything of interest yet, nobody seems to in their first month. Tuesday was a bit more interesting I got a taxi driver who had no idea where he was going and we got lost.



I have joined the HSBC volunteers and it seems I will be going out to workcamp to dish out meals to the immigrant workers on Wednesday after work. Tonight, is the banks big Iftar (breaking fast) function at the Armani Hotel, I am going so I can meet as many people as possible, so after an ACAMS video seminar I headed to the hotel with my friend Krimeed and joined the other 600 staff present at the huge feast. Later in the evening I met my new boss who is currently on maternity leave.



The next morning, I took the courteous bus into work before putting in a long day of online training completing all the courses currently assigned to me before heading down to the lobby to meet the volunteer coordinator in the lobby. We then travelled to the Al Quoz labour camp on the road to Abu Dhabi pulling up out the front of the camps mosque about thirty minutes later. The workers were everywhere pushing, shoving they represent many races and religious groups, on arrival we prepared the towel and swimming kits that would be distributed to each worker while the camp manager tried in vain to get the hundreds of men under control. The heat was intense and nobody could drink anything because it was Ramadan, the men continued to bicker and carry on as we attempted to distribute the swimming gear and the accompanying meals. At times, I thought they would riot and we would all be trampled to death but finally just before the call to prayer we completed our task and headed home.



Thursday saw me travel to an Induction course down near the Creek, I stayed down here the last time I was in Dubai, back then this area was Dubai, it was a shortened day due to Ramadan, one of the guys (Omar) on the course gave me a lift back to my hotel and I chilled out for a couple of hours before heading to the Irish bar where I planned to meet Shane the Aussie guy I met last week and some of the guys from work, it was big night and I woke up with a hangover. The rest of the weekend was chilled I went to the gym most days and visited the huge Mall of the Emirates to buy some clothes and see a movie (The Mummy) I also visited a different the Irish Pub down the road.



Another week has passed and not much has changed except I hurt my back doing weights and had to go visit the medical clinic in Dubai Mall it was a pretty cool experience because you are treated like royalty and medical insurance covers everything including prescriptions. Thursday I went out after work with some colleagues for drinks at a few bars in Down Town Dubai the heat is always oppressive but the area is extremely attractive by night. This morning I went to see an apartment in Business Bay which is a 30 minute walk from work, this distance wouldn’t seem a big deal but it is damn hot here with temperatures averaging 45 degrees so I if I live there I will probably take a taxi to work and walk home. The Burj Khalifa is visible from the balcony as is the Dubai mall.



Much of the next week was spent visiting apartments in various parts of the city eventually I decided on a place in the Dubai Investment and Financial Centre district which is extremely close (just over a kilometre) from Downtown and work. I thought initially that I had planned my move well, I had spoken to the Sheihk who owns the building, arranged a loan for the years rent and moved my belongings over only to discover that I couldn’t move in because the government database was down and I couldn’t register my lease. If the lease is not registered then the power can’t be turned on and it is just too hot to stay here so I returned to the Nassima and booked in for another night.



Early the next morning I packed up some stuff and dropped it off at my furnished Studio apartment before boarding the metro back to the government offices near the Noor Bank station. I arrived early and received ticket number 12, the staff arrived about 15 minutes later and today the computer systems where working fine and I soon had my Ejari registered. Next, I was directed upstairs to pay my Dewa (power) deposit. By 9am I was at work and was starting to develop a list in my head of things I would need to purchase. I commenced working on my first assessment this week so I am busy now arranging meetings and attending training with my next major course taking place on Wednesday. That Monday evening, I ordered in takeaway from one of the local restaurants and attempted to order everything from Ikea online but they wanted to charge me more in delivery charges than the total cost I would spend on my order so I took a taxi out there instead the following evening.



It took me about two hours or so to buy two of this and two of that and by 630pm I was back in a cab heading home, I ended up spending much more than planned but such is life. The next day was my course down at Internet City, as you enter the area the first buildings you see are those of Microsoft, Google and IBM big players in the IT space.



The next day was the last day of the working week and was extremely busy, I visited Fibber McGees on the way home for a beer before walking the two or three kilometres to my apartment. I have found a larger supermarket nearby and will be going to fill my fridge tomorrow.



I had a good weekend I did some shopping and explored the area around my building, I even ordered some squash racquets, table tennis bats and yoga gear to improve my fitness. I decided I would go into work at 645am as I would rather start early than work late. I walked down to the station and hopped on the train arriving five minutes later, I then walked towards my exit near Dubai Mall, as I walked through the doorway into the carpark my glasses fogged up and I stepped on the edge of the wheel chair ramp rolled my ankle and took a nasty fall. The pain was intense and I knew as I hobbled the rest of the way to work that I had done some serious damage to the ankle this time. As I sat at my desk ankle swelling to the size of a grape fruit I knew I was in trouble so I bit the bullet and hobbled to the medical clinic in Dubai mall.



Here I discovered that I had a broken ankle they fitted me for a boot and crutches and I was on my way home where ten days later I still sat. Krimeed popped around on the weekend and took me down to Deira for a great Lebanese breakfast and also dropped me off a carton of Carlsberg. Faisal, Artur, Lloyd and the senior manager have also visited which has been great.



Good news! I returned to the doctor who took more x-rays and has given me the all clear to abandon the boot and begin physiotherapy it is good to be mobile again. That Friday I went to a house warming party I managed to scam the liquor store into selling me some wine even though I had no licence and drank quite a bit before heading home around 11pm, the rest of the weekend was pretty chilled.



Sunday morning, I had an interview for a position of financial crime investigator which I heard later was successful. To gain experience in this discipline was a big part of why I came to Dubai in the first place so I was thrilled. The rest of the week went well the Eid holiday fell on the Sunday as I had hoped and my long weekend was about to begin.

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Photos

Crossing Sheikh Zayed rd
You can see my work if you look closely

I snail it seems
Downtown