miercuri, 17 august 2011

Tourist or local


I feel like this city is getting me more and more, and I really don't want to start enjoying Dubai that much :))) So what should I do?
Anyways the idea is that in India I felt like a local since the first month, here I am still not in the "local mood"
One benefit of being a resident was clear last week, when our group went to spend a day off all together in the amazing Aquaventure Atlantis park. Being a UAE resident the month of Ramadan brought us a discount of 50% in that aqua park. And then I felt like a local. Afterwards the situation changed immediately, when spending a whole day in those pools and in that entertainment I truly felt like a tourist, being just in vacation in Dubai, having no worries, no stress, no work the next day...
One think is clear doe, the country could not live without the tourists. One major source of money here is definitely tourism, so imagine all these people not coming and spending luxury vacations in Dubai, where would we be? Hundred of hotels, with different entertainment and different attractions, making you feel like a king and taking a hell lot of your money. Well if you want to feel like a king, clearly you should pay, right?
Now some other sources of "living" here are the fines. As I mentioned before, the highways within the city allow quite a high speed comparing with other cities in the world. On Emirates road that is crossing Dubai from one end to another, the speed limit is 120km/h, but people from around here know that the radar will not catch you even if you drive with 140. But how can you drive only with 140 when you have an amazing road in front, all clear, with 7 lanes and one hell of a car that can go up to 220? So here comes the problem, speeding=>radar=>fine=>money in local budget.
The metro stations are absolutely divine here, all air conditioned, all clean and organized, metros come in time and a lot of rules. Did you know that you are not allowed to drink or eat in the metro? Most probably in all countries it's like that. Well here you actually get a fine if you do that but more than this, you get a fine if...you chew gum inside the metro. And just to clear that out, 2 work mates that were going in the city one hot summer day, found themselves having to pay a 100 Dhs (aprox 20 euros) fine because they were chewing gum inside the metro. The crazy part is that the fine went up to 110 Dhs...the extra 10 Dhs amount was...what do you think..knowledge fee. For the simple reason that they were shown the manual where it is written that chewing gum inside the metro is prohibited, they were charged 10 Dhs (aprox 2 euros) Therefore being a local is quite hard as well...
So I'm just thinking, better to be a tourist or better to be a local? Any ways you get to spend a whole lot of money on God knows what.
I could stay and write little stories from Dubai all day but time is running out and I gotta go. So stay tuned y'all.
~Cheers~

2 comentarii:

restless feet spunea...

Ce fain! Dar de ce sa nu poti mesteca guma pe metrou? De teama ca vei fi tentat sa o lipesti elegant de dosul unui scaun? Oricum, mai veau povesti despre Dubai:D

Papillon spunea...

probabil ca de asta :))) cel mai probabil de asta...