One Year Down

There are several reasons to celebrate having been a resident of Dubai for 1 year. For example, I finally can sound more like a veteran in conversation, using the word "year" instead of "month". I have year-long friendships, I've obviously survived and adapted, and there should be very few new unwelcome surprises. On the other hand, there are bad, very bad things, such as apartment leases and contract renewals. I spent the last two months searching for a new place to live, considering buying vs renting, homes vs apartments, roommates vs strangers vs me by myself. It was a rough and frustrating road to figure out, but for the present time, I traded in my high rise sea view and half bath for a cheaper 1 bedroom apartment close by (since the rent on my apartment skyrocketed). The major downside is that navigating the parking garage requires extreme accuracy. Nevertheless, it was definitely provided by God, as I was completely out of time and had grown paralyzed with frustration over relocation and trying to get work done.

Also, I will be car shopping soon since the company is getting rid of its cars. All this while trying to manage a tidal wave of work coming for the summer larger than we've seen yet. Oh and I sat on my phone and can only read half of the screen... When it rains it pours! Just not literal rain because there is no rain here.

Living afar should mean ability to travel for fun and with work. Earlier this month, I flew to Brunei on the island of Borneo in SE Asia.

I stayed in the Empire Hotel, one of the major attractions for tourists coming to Brunei. Our client put us up in huge 3 room suites with the most amazing views.


Brunei is an islamic state, and unlike Dubai, buying alcohol is prohibited.

With no industry and no littering, the country is pristine and beautiful. The bad thing was that we stayed so busy with meetings and never had the opportunity to tromp through the jungle or look for monkeys. The mosques were quite impressive, and the government buildings looked like futuristic towers rising out of the jungle.




On our last day, we flew to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. KK seemed to be a lot more fun place to live, and there were a lot more expats living there. It was a lot more lively than Brunei, and there were several islands and dive spots nearby (none of which I got to enjoy).





On the way home, we stopped for a few meetings in Singapore. Singapore was a beautiful and very fun place, and I definitely could see myself leaving Dubai and heading there one day... but then I learned how expensive it was to live there. Of four million people, 1/4 are expats. The landscape was overgrown yet gorgeous, but maybe I am just oversensitive to green these days since I don't see much of it in Dubai. We were able to go for dinner at Clark Quay, where there were a lot of stores and restaurants lining the canal. And we heard thunder! And it rained a little bit!



Anyway, it was a great trip and a great way to mark my first year in Dubai. I just wish we had scheduled in another week at each place so we could have played the tourist instead and really experience these places more fully. Hopefully one day I can make it back with friends or family and get that chance.