I woke up at half past six in the morning. I set my celfone alarm last night to wake me up at 10am, but here I was, wide and awake, and could not go back to sleep.

 

So I decided to do a little sorting out in the house. I threw the garbage out, threw my laundry in the washing machine and prepared breakfast – green tea and cornflakes. I ate in front of my laptop again. Oh, I just love this computer table! It has enough room for my plates and cups.

 

10am. I started preparing for lunch. I thought of inviting the guys over for lunch, so I decided cooking a nice dish. I cooked giniling (ground beef with potatoes and tomato sauce). Food was ready by 11am, so I started calling Roger, Remyr and Miller to eat lunch in my flat.

 

Before they came, I realized the food may not be enough for the four of us. So I hurriedly sliced some onions and garlic and opened a can of mackerel. A little sauté and walah! A second dish!

 

It’s nice having invited them over. I have eaten in their units a couple of times, and this is my payback. I saw their support towards me knowing I did not bring a lot of money to support myself till salary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were still a lot of construction and infrastructure going on at the city, so I was not really impressed as yet. The place that I passed by was just like Ortigas back home. But I am sure that in two to three years, after completing all their beautification drives, Dubai will be one of the most amazing cities in the world. They have all the financial sources to make their place a good tourist destination.

 

We were dropped at Deira City Center Mall. My friends and I roamed around the mall. My eyes were tempted again, after seeing lots of things to buy, but I was lucky not to have bought anything I would not need in a couple of weeks. I only spent about 50 dirhams including food expenses. That’s about 500 pesos only. I’m amazing, ain’t I? The things that I bought were mostly kitchen stuff that I need badly.

 

I have very limited cash at hand so I have to budget it properly. Yup I just received my cash advance, but I lent half of my money to my other friend who did not get his cash advance yesterday. I do not want to mention it, but I just do not want you to get puzzled where my money goes.

 

Around 945pm, the bus returned to fetch us up and bring us back home in Al Ain. On the way home, the driver had difficulty finding a gasoline station, as the first three stations we visited were all out of diesel. It was only the fourth gas station where we were able to reload. UAE gas stations ran out of diesel? What’s happening?

 

I reached my flat at 12 midnight.