Ayman Elkhidir

I was invited to two parties in Al-Ain last week. A friend’s sister was getting engaged on Wednesday and another friend’s sister got married on Thursday. Unfortunately, even though both are very dear friends, I wasn’t able to attend any of the them.

I was expecting to see people that I haven’t seen in ages if I went there, and that really gave me mixed emotions. I have lived all my life in Al-Ain; 1981 – 2004. Born there, raised there, went to school there, went to college there and fell in love there. Thinking about the idea of meeting all these people made me remember a lot of things and believe me when I say I have tons of memories in Al-Ain. Most of these were good and rather great memories, but some of them weren’t as joyful.

It is amazing how a bunch of not-very-good memories can make even good memories look bad. A dear person’s death, a bad-ending love story, a back-stab by a close friend or even a bloody fight with a school bully; any of these can make you feel bad about a place, even though you had a lot of good memories in it.

Perhaps it is because when you decide you should raise your head and have a new perspective of the world or when you decide to start a new page of your life and leave history behind your back, a trigger like this would bring the bad memories before the good ones, just like opening an old wound.

I’ve always said that a person should not let the bad memories effect the good ones, but turns out this is quite difficult to accomplish. Bad memories are hard to forget and they stay in there waiting for that trigger to bring them out. At that point when you’re done with the bad ones and start remembering the good memories, you start missing those times and those people, and that hurts as well. Close friends who scattered around the globe or places that meant something to you which are not there anymore.

Again, at that moment, you think of looking forward and leaving everything behind. Perhaps write an email to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time, or maybe call your family who you miss so much, even consider calling an old sweetheart before you back off of that idea with a flirty smile on your face.

Life is a rollercoaster.

Have a good day!

Eid is here finally after a holy month of prayers and fasting. May it be a happy eid and may the mercy and blessings of Allah be with you and your families during this auspicious day.

I’ve been looking lately for a place to have a decent meal of foool and falafel. Fool (Beans) is the most consumed meal for breakfast and dinner in Sudan and even being born and raised in the UAE – where it is not that popular – the addiction of the sacred (fool) plate is in my genes.

So the other day I found a place in Mamzar called (Al-Amoor). I knew that Al-Amoor was a place for another tasty Egyptian recipe (Kushary) but it seems those guys are expanding. They opened a new place on the corner dedicated to the most popular recipe of fool and falafel and it was great.

I went their with a friend and had a meal I’ve been wanting for some time now. If you ever go there, as for something called (service). It is pronounced as in french [servees]. It is a dish containing fool, falafel, baba ghanooj (eggplant salad) and mashed potatoes, all separeted to your convinience. It tasted great and it was filling, even for a guy of my size. The best thing ever is that it all costs a mere 10 bucks. The place is clean and tidy, though busy. Very recommended.

Before you head to the nearest foool outlet, please be sure to read the notes below as foool has some (serious) side-effects.

Due to its concrete-like structure, foool is very thirsty to water. Once you finish enjoying your dish, you’ll feel like a brick is lying at the bottom of your stomache. You will sweat a lot with which you’ll lose lots of your body fluids. Be sure to drink 2-3 glasses of water after having foool. Another good digester for foool is a nice cup of tea, red tea!

You’ll see people around you acting funny after enjoying their dinner of foool. This is very normal; you’ll be acting funny as well. Besides, foool is very much addictive. That’s fine as it is still legal.

Fool, as well, has a narcotic effect. If you feel stoned after having your meal, don’t worry, it is normal; YOU JUST HAD FOOL!

You will also feel the urge to sleep. resistance to that urge might differ from one person to another. Don’t be usrprised to find some people fall asleep before they leave the restaurant. Professional foool eaters can only resist this urge for a couple of hours. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bita you!

This is one of the most dangerous side-effects of fool. After finishing your meal, if you still feel your senses and can keep your eyes open enough, leave the place as soon as possible and find the nearest rest room. Take your time as it is tricky!

Bon Apetite!

Interesting and totally true. Thanks to ANIL for sharing them.

1. If your road map is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and get a new one.

2. If you are in Al Rashidiya and your map is one day old, then it is already obsolete.

3. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Dubai has its own version of traffic rules, which can be summarized as “Hold on and Pray!”

4. If it is your priority to cross, forget it and wait.

5. There is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed chase in Dubai. Everyone drives like that.

6. When you plan to get a new car, ask first about its acceleration from 80 to 160 Km/h (recommended: 3 seconds). Very important i f you frequently use the Emirates Road.

7. All directions start with Sheikh Zayed Road, which has no beginning and no end.

8. The morning rush hour is from 5:00AM, the evening rush hour is from 1:00PM to 10:00PM.

9. Wednesday’s rush hour starts Tuesday morning.

10. If you slow down at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended and then given a ticket by the Dubai Police.

11. If you are the first one at the intersection, when the light turns green ignore the car honks behind you and count to five to avoid crashing into one of the cars running the red light in cross-traffic.

12. Construction on all main roads is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. (Sorry for the inconvenience)

13. All unfamiliar sights are explained by the phrase, “Oh, we must be in Sharjah!”

14. Car horns are actually toys for big boys.

15. Anyone in a Land Cruiser, Tuned Patrol, or Mercedes with tinted windows has the right of way. Period.

16. If you are driving a Corolla, Sunny, or another small Japanese car, stay on the far right lane. No comment!

17. Most roads mysteriously change names as you cross intersections.

18. To ask directions, you must have good knowledge of Urdu.

19. A trip across town will take a minimum of four hours, although Sheikh Zayed Road has an unposted minimum speed of 150 Km/h.

20. It is sobering to realize that local Arabs are taught how to drive by Pakistanis.

21. 18 wheeler trucks are one of the fastest vehicles in Dubai, they can do 120 Km/h on Hatta-Oman Road when fully loaded.

22. The minimum acceptable speed on the Emirates Road is 160 km/h. Anything less is considered downright sissy.

23. Al Khail Road is Dubai’s daily version of NASCAR.

24. Dubai Autodrome has a new extension: The Emirates Road.

WELCOME TO THE UAE!!!

So here we say good bye to the good old Abu Dhabi Taxi. Uniquely identified by it’s white and gold colors, cheap tariff, rude driver and bad smell.

The taxi service in Abu Dhabi was always a private individual business, though limited to locals, but taxis were registed as regular as normal cars were, only with a special number plate and specific design of colors.

Now the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has finally issued a law to regulate and organise taxi transport service in the Emirate. A new body is to be set up; “Taxi Transport Regulation Centre (TTRC)”. The centre will be responsible for choosing the companies to run the taxi services in Abu Dhabi.

Well, people in Abu Dhabi heard about this step since last year. Even though this means better service and no more smelly vehicles, they were afraid that Abu Dhabi taxi fare, which are said to be the cheapest in the world (According to Emirates Today), will be raised as high as it is in Dubai.

To make the picture clear, the maximum trip you can go in the city of Abu Dhabi wouldn’t cost you more than 6-7 Dhs, and this only if you cross the whole island . A similar trip in Dubai would cost 15 Dhs.

Abu Dhabi taxi charges 2 Dhs on pick-up and then 50 fils per kilometer.

Dubai taxi charges 3 Dhs on pick up and then 150 fils per kilometer.

(3 Dhs pick up is minimum; after 10 pm it is 3.5 Dhs and if you take the taxi from the airport, it is 16 Dhs)

So you can imagine how Abu Dhabi people are terrified now, especially with the high fuel prices and the new parking payment system, it gets more difficult to afford buying a car.

Anyway, government officials are promising that the increase will be minimal.

“We assure the Abu Dhabi commuters that the fares will be kept within their reach,” explained Khaled Saleh Al Rashedi, General Manager of TTRC.

We’ll wait and see!

Last note:

8,500 heavily-used Toyota Corollas 1.8XLi models (2000-2006) with manual transmission will be on cheap sale for the next couple of years. If you want to buy a car, wait for the spree to start.