Blue, Rattlesnakes and the Girlies
I know I’m going back in-time and I said I’d keep these posts in order, but it’s not always possible; sorry! This post goes back to September 2004 and the first of many concerts I’ve attended here. I’d only been in Dubai a couple of months, I’d not met Alain yet, but I had made a few friends, most notably Jo and Pam. Joanna, known as Jo, was the first person I met on my arrival here, please picture the scene….
After a tearful parting from my parents, sister, niece and nephew at Manchester airport and a 6 hour flight, I arrived with my suitcase in Dubai at some ungodly hour. The plan was that I’d spend a couple of nights in a hotel before getting a car and moving into my new villa, so my employer had booked a hotel and arranged an airport pick-up. Expecting to be collected I looked in vain for my name on one of the hundreds of notices being held by the meeters and greeters! My flight had landed early so I sat in the café to wait and enjoyed a much needed coffee and cigarette. One hour later, there was still no sign of my driver. I was now getting a wee bit concerned, you see; I had no idea which hotel I was staying in so couldn’t just take a cab there, I had only one contact number belonging to the senior manager who had recruited me; what a fantastic way to start your new life, getting stuck at the airport with no clue where you’re staying – great first impression Bev, and as it was around 2am, I really didn’t want to call him. Unfortunately I had no choice; I left a chirpy voice message for him and had another cigarette.
A short while later I found my very apologetic driver, and we headed to the Mina Seyahi hotel. Whilst in the cab my new boss returned my call. Happy that all was ok and himself apologetic that I was left waiting, we arranged to meet face to face for the first time the next day. Once settled into my room I crawled into bed, exhausted but unable to sleep; too excited!
The next morning I met my first colleague; Jo. As planned she collected me at the hotel to take me to my new home. Though we’d spoken at the phone and bounced an email or too, we’d never met; in fact I’d not met anyone from Dubai and knew not a soul here! I knew I’d like Jo though; she was a friendly, chipper kinda gal, right up my street. We said our hellos outside the hotel and headed to the local supermarket to stock up on essentials. During our journey Jo filled me in on the basics of life in Dubai and gave many helpful hints and tips about navigation here. After driving through an enormous building site with partially completed roads and villas, and too many roundabouts to remember, we finally we arrived at my brand new villa. I was thrilled with it, a marble staircase, huge double front door, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, office, loads of storage space and a maid’s room! The best bit for me though was the dressing room; wall to wall wardrobes, every woman’s dream! The garden was a nice size though still a sand box; don’t worry said Jo, the turf’s on its way. After showing me where I would be working she dropped me back at the hotel with a promise that if I needed anything all I had to do was call, and plans to go for a few beers later in the week.
I then settled to an afternoon of sunbathing by the pool and waited to hear from my new boss about our meeting. As would turn out to be the norm with my boss, he changed his mind; our meeting would have to wait. The next day I was collected at 7.30 and taken to my new office to finally meet the boss and my team; I’ll say no more about work!
Around 3 weeks later I met Pam, ours was a fortuitous meeting as though she worked for the same company, she was based in another part of the city and the likelihood of us meeting therefore, was very slim. She was new to Dubai so had come into the office where I worked to meet with human resources; we literally bumped into each other on the landing. Recognising the look of bewilderment I’d so very recently displayed myself, I said hello. Numbers were exchanged and a date was made to meet for drinks. The drinks turned into a night of non-stop chatting, (she can talk as much as me) only punctuated by shaking our booties on the dance floor at Rock Bottom! We both love to dance, so a great night was had and we’d discovered our Dubai dance floor soul-mates.
Now I notice I’ve digressed slightly; this is one of my features, my mate Fintan is constantly amazed by my ability to wonder off topic and come back full circle. What can I say it’s a gift ;-) It also means my stories tend to be on the long side, sorry… I’ll get on with it shall I? September 30th 2004 and along with Jo, Pam and some of Pam’s friends we headed to Dubai Media City (DMC) to watch the Blue concert. I’d not met Pam’s friends before; Pam (another one) and the 2 Emmas. Great for me I only have to remember 2 names, Pam and Emma! They were a great bunch. A fantastic evenings entertainment was had, Mis-Teeq in support were awesome. Pam and I danced the night away as usual and I had my photo taken by some local paper, this would come to haunt me later! After the concert was over, very hot, slightly sweaty (Dubai in September is still very hot and the gig was outdoors) and not so sober, we decided the night was still young, so hailed a cab and headed to one of Dubai’s legendary nightspots; The Rattlesnake!
The Rattlesnake is in one of Dubai’s older hotels; the Metropolitan on the famous Sheikh Zayed Road. It’s legendary for its loud ‘rock’ band, its cheesy music, its watered down booze and the clientele! How can I put this….in there you find an unusually large number of single women drinking alone who strike up conversations with men, preferably middle-aged western men. As a consequence you also find an unusually large number of lone male drinkers in their 40s and 50s; I say lone males rather than single, as they usually have a wedding ring! That said, as a place to go for 6 slightly dishevelled looking girlies for more booze and boogying, it’s a blast!
After a tearful parting from my parents, sister, niece and nephew at Manchester airport and a 6 hour flight, I arrived with my suitcase in Dubai at some ungodly hour. The plan was that I’d spend a couple of nights in a hotel before getting a car and moving into my new villa, so my employer had booked a hotel and arranged an airport pick-up. Expecting to be collected I looked in vain for my name on one of the hundreds of notices being held by the meeters and greeters! My flight had landed early so I sat in the café to wait and enjoyed a much needed coffee and cigarette. One hour later, there was still no sign of my driver. I was now getting a wee bit concerned, you see; I had no idea which hotel I was staying in so couldn’t just take a cab there, I had only one contact number belonging to the senior manager who had recruited me; what a fantastic way to start your new life, getting stuck at the airport with no clue where you’re staying – great first impression Bev, and as it was around 2am, I really didn’t want to call him. Unfortunately I had no choice; I left a chirpy voice message for him and had another cigarette.
A short while later I found my very apologetic driver, and we headed to the Mina Seyahi hotel. Whilst in the cab my new boss returned my call. Happy that all was ok and himself apologetic that I was left waiting, we arranged to meet face to face for the first time the next day. Once settled into my room I crawled into bed, exhausted but unable to sleep; too excited!
The next morning I met my first colleague; Jo. As planned she collected me at the hotel to take me to my new home. Though we’d spoken at the phone and bounced an email or too, we’d never met; in fact I’d not met anyone from Dubai and knew not a soul here! I knew I’d like Jo though; she was a friendly, chipper kinda gal, right up my street. We said our hellos outside the hotel and headed to the local supermarket to stock up on essentials. During our journey Jo filled me in on the basics of life in Dubai and gave many helpful hints and tips about navigation here. After driving through an enormous building site with partially completed roads and villas, and too many roundabouts to remember, we finally we arrived at my brand new villa. I was thrilled with it, a marble staircase, huge double front door, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, office, loads of storage space and a maid’s room! The best bit for me though was the dressing room; wall to wall wardrobes, every woman’s dream! The garden was a nice size though still a sand box; don’t worry said Jo, the turf’s on its way. After showing me where I would be working she dropped me back at the hotel with a promise that if I needed anything all I had to do was call, and plans to go for a few beers later in the week.
I then settled to an afternoon of sunbathing by the pool and waited to hear from my new boss about our meeting. As would turn out to be the norm with my boss, he changed his mind; our meeting would have to wait. The next day I was collected at 7.30 and taken to my new office to finally meet the boss and my team; I’ll say no more about work!
Around 3 weeks later I met Pam, ours was a fortuitous meeting as though she worked for the same company, she was based in another part of the city and the likelihood of us meeting therefore, was very slim. She was new to Dubai so had come into the office where I worked to meet with human resources; we literally bumped into each other on the landing. Recognising the look of bewilderment I’d so very recently displayed myself, I said hello. Numbers were exchanged and a date was made to meet for drinks. The drinks turned into a night of non-stop chatting, (she can talk as much as me) only punctuated by shaking our booties on the dance floor at Rock Bottom! We both love to dance, so a great night was had and we’d discovered our Dubai dance floor soul-mates.
Now I notice I’ve digressed slightly; this is one of my features, my mate Fintan is constantly amazed by my ability to wonder off topic and come back full circle. What can I say it’s a gift ;-) It also means my stories tend to be on the long side, sorry… I’ll get on with it shall I? September 30th 2004 and along with Jo, Pam and some of Pam’s friends we headed to Dubai Media City (DMC) to watch the Blue concert. I’d not met Pam’s friends before; Pam (another one) and the 2 Emmas. Great for me I only have to remember 2 names, Pam and Emma! They were a great bunch. A fantastic evenings entertainment was had, Mis-Teeq in support were awesome. Pam and I danced the night away as usual and I had my photo taken by some local paper, this would come to haunt me later! After the concert was over, very hot, slightly sweaty (Dubai in September is still very hot and the gig was outdoors) and not so sober, we decided the night was still young, so hailed a cab and headed to one of Dubai’s legendary nightspots; The Rattlesnake!
The Rattlesnake is in one of Dubai’s older hotels; the Metropolitan on the famous Sheikh Zayed Road. It’s legendary for its loud ‘rock’ band, its cheesy music, its watered down booze and the clientele! How can I put this….in there you find an unusually large number of single women drinking alone who strike up conversations with men, preferably middle-aged western men. As a consequence you also find an unusually large number of lone male drinkers in their 40s and 50s; I say lone males rather than single, as they usually have a wedding ring! That said, as a place to go for 6 slightly dishevelled looking girlies for more booze and boogying, it’s a blast!
posted by Bev @ 2:45 pm
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