from the uae with love...

no reason for the title, it just sounds good... =)

i'm back! after such a long long long long time. and it actually feels even longer for me. once the school started here in abu dhabi, i've barely had time to catch my breath. from the first day, it's studies for 6 days, exam on the 7th day and it went on like this for 5 straight weeks. by the end of the 5th week, i felt like i've been pushed to the limit and i was just too exhausted to do anything. honestly, the materials thought were more practical if it were handed out in 2 months instead of 5 weeks.

thankfully the 6th and 7th week is practical week. although the work is more tiring but at least it's physical and i was looking forward to it after 5 weeks or torture in the classroom.

anyway, that was when things turned around here in abu dhabi. the 6th week for me was unbelievable. it started with a dinner on the boat for the whole class with the instructors which was nice. it was relaxing and it had a good atmosphere, and it feels especially good as we know we're done with 50% of school by then.

and then came the highlight of the week - BON JOVI! yup! i went to the bon jovi - lost highway concert. it was amazing! it's in an open arena but the sound system was superb. when he sang songs like i'll be there for you, it's my life, beds of roses and living on a prayer, the whole arena went crazy! it was the best concert i've ever been to so far. it's just simply amazing...

man utd's victory in the champions league was like icing on the cake that week. champions of england and europe. almost matching the 99 season so couldn't ask for more there...

and by the end of the week, we finally had a 2 day weekend and we took the opportunity to go to dubai. dubai is a city which you have to see to believe. the whole city is under construction right now with more than 5000 projects going on. they're building dubailand which is twice the size of disneyland in fluorida. they're building an underwater 5 star hotel which is being constructed in germany. they've got money and they know how to make an impression with it. i just wish i have the chance to come back in 5 years to see all these feats once it's completed...

well, that was the end of the week which felt so much like a vacation for me. and although i was looking forward to the practical weeks, there was one factor which i never considered - the weather. for the last few days, it reached a high of 50 degrees and it was schorching hot! it doesn't matter how much water you drink, you'll still be dehydrated. but it all ended well for us and now it's 7 weeks halas...

3 more weeks to go and i can end my craving for malaysian food... =)

ps: i'm too tired right now to be elaborating more in this post. i'll just end it with a few shots of my "vacation"... =)

the highlight of the week - the lost highway leads to abu dhabi

bon jovi rocks!

burj al arab - the all famous 7 star hotel taken from souk madinat

class of ots stim, from left - hassan, sheriff (instructor), anna, myself, aminullah, renie, indra ,igor, liza, istvan, dmitriy, julio, martin (instructor)

just to add, this class consists of egyptians, russians, malaysians, indonesians, hungarian, mexican and nigerian - almost from all continents of the world... amazing huh?