We finished up the five days of simulator training with a check flight. I needed to see how the other pilots were progressing, so after K and myself, I spent the remainder of the day observing simulator periods. Needless to say, this made for a very long day. I was certainly ready to get back to the hotel.
With Ramadan over at 7:30 the entire group went up to the roof top Indian restaurant for the Iftar Buffet. We had been to this restaurant on numerous occasions so were well known by the staff. The reason we were there was an interesting sidelight of Ramadan. As I have mentioned previously, there is NO alcohol served during the month of Ramadan. Not that I would “skirt the rules,” but on previous nights we had been able to order “cold tea” that arrived at the table in a nice silver tea pot with a China cup and saucer. The “cold tea” was actually a way for the steady customers to get a cold beer, under the table so to speak. On this evening not all things were possible in Bahrain as there were under cover police watching in the kitchen and restaurant to ensure Ramadan rules were followed. So back to the room after dinner!
Gulf Air did provide us with first class seats for the returning trip to Dubai. Their service was excellent and the US airlines could learn a good deal from them. In a two hour flight they served a full meal, many juice, water, soft drink runs, and gave everyone a newspaper in the language of your choice. It is really very easy to get used to first class when someone else is paying the tab!
Once again arriving back into Dubai we had to make a Duty Free run before finding our driver S. Everyone purchased their limit of Duty Free but there is really no way to hide it from the driver, who is an Afghan Muslim. So, Ramadan or not, he turns a blind eye to our purchases as he knows who fills up his “rice bowl!”
With the pilots and flight attendants trained at this point, it is now up to the S Brothers to decide when to start and where to go. I think that we will begin operations sometime before the fifteenth of October. Hopefully they will start small so everyone can get some experience working together before getting too exotic. Although the new web site, http://safiairways.aero/, doesn’t seem to indicate a slow start! I would like to point out also that I had nothing to do with the building of the site.
I was very anxious to get back to Dubai this time because I was going to have my first visitor! This SNIL, Simulated Nephew in Law, was JS from Singapore. He was staying at the Arabian Courtyard in Bur Dubai, so we decided to have dinner there. He travels to Dubai numerous times a year on business, so I hope he ends up being the one constant while I’m here. I really did try to get him to the Ice Bar in Dubai to no avail. I had really thought he and his wife K were into this lifestyle. What can I say; he had to go to bed early! There are hackers and non hackers… I’m sure the Rs will go when they get here in November.
As I have mentioned before, it is a moral violation to use Skype on the internet in the UAE. The authorities are not able to keep Skype off the internet but they can BLOCK direct dialing internationally; they can BLOCK the ability to pay your account online; they can BLOCK direct dialing into your account. The only thing they can’t BLOCK is Skype to Skype calls, which are free.
So the commercial for this blog is about SMSDiscount.com. All the pilots have joined it as of yesterday. We took them up on their offer of 120 days of free international calling and then one to two cents per minute on the international calls after that. I was able to call GHD on SMSDiscount and the reception was excellent. We’ll see how long it takes for the UAE to find out about this. The real problem here is that both of these firms take away business from Etisalat, which is a UAE communications company. For those of you that may be going overseas, one must stay a step ahead of these guys.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Bahrain
Saturday morning K and I went to the Dubai airport for our flight to Bahrain for ground and simulator training. The other pilots had gone up the day before while we were flying the aircraft to Ras Al Khaimah.
There were some interesting facets to the Gulf Airways Dangerous Goods program that are not covered by US carriers. One good example is falcons. This may appear to just be an Air Force bird to you, but over here they are taken very seriously. Their initial price may be ten to fifteen thousand and go up from there. Be that has it may, you may take your falcon onboard the aircraft with you provided: (1) it is in coach; (2) it is hooded; (3) it must be chained to the seat and a pedestal is provided. However, if the passenger owning the bird sits in first class, the bird will have its pedestal in first class also (VVIP). Apparently about ninety five percent of the flacons that fly in the aircraft are in first class. One Gulf Air Training Captain said it was very interesting to watch the falcon on the pedestal because during takeoff it naturally leans forward and then backwards during landing.
Another example is the ceremonial dagger that an Arab always carries while wearing their long white robes. They are presented to the check-in counter and will be placed in a very nice padded box to be given back at their destination. First Class (VVIP) daggers sometimes are authorized in the cockpit! So much for US security!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we have been here during Ramadan. I’m really not sure of the significance of this lunar month, but it over takes everything. Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. So what this means in this liberal religious bastion is that no restaurants can serve food to anyone during this time, no alcohol can be served anywhere during the month, and you cannot have anything to drink (water, juice etc) during the day. If you are seen in pubic with a cookie or cracker, fines can be received. Muslims are not allowed to work during sunrise to sunset, so very hard to find ANYTHING open or to tour around (no taxis). Everyday is Sunday when we had our Blue Laws.
On initial check-in at the hotel I found a nice oriental rug in the room. It was about twenty four by forty two inches in a royal blue basic color. I soon realized that this was not a great bathmat, it was the prayer rug. I guess the Guidens Society are not very big over here!
The Gulf Air Training Facility did provide us with a private room, with a guard, for us to have coffee, tea, and our hand carried lunches from our flight kits. The glass door and windows to this room were covered over with paper so no one could look in and see us eating and drinking! So, we’ll be out of here next Tuesday and we’ll see how Sharjah celebrates. Always something!
There were some interesting facets to the Gulf Airways Dangerous Goods program that are not covered by US carriers. One good example is falcons. This may appear to just be an Air Force bird to you, but over here they are taken very seriously. Their initial price may be ten to fifteen thousand and go up from there. Be that has it may, you may take your falcon onboard the aircraft with you provided: (1) it is in coach; (2) it is hooded; (3) it must be chained to the seat and a pedestal is provided. However, if the passenger owning the bird sits in first class, the bird will have its pedestal in first class also (VVIP). Apparently about ninety five percent of the flacons that fly in the aircraft are in first class. One Gulf Air Training Captain said it was very interesting to watch the falcon on the pedestal because during takeoff it naturally leans forward and then backwards during landing.
Another example is the ceremonial dagger that an Arab always carries while wearing their long white robes. They are presented to the check-in counter and will be placed in a very nice padded box to be given back at their destination. First Class (VVIP) daggers sometimes are authorized in the cockpit! So much for US security!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we have been here during Ramadan. I’m really not sure of the significance of this lunar month, but it over takes everything. Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. So what this means in this liberal religious bastion is that no restaurants can serve food to anyone during this time, no alcohol can be served anywhere during the month, and you cannot have anything to drink (water, juice etc) during the day. If you are seen in pubic with a cookie or cracker, fines can be received. Muslims are not allowed to work during sunrise to sunset, so very hard to find ANYTHING open or to tour around (no taxis). Everyday is Sunday when we had our Blue Laws.
On initial check-in at the hotel I found a nice oriental rug in the room. It was about twenty four by forty two inches in a royal blue basic color. I soon realized that this was not a great bathmat, it was the prayer rug. I guess the Guidens Society are not very big over here!
The Gulf Air Training Facility did provide us with a private room, with a guard, for us to have coffee, tea, and our hand carried lunches from our flight kits. The glass door and windows to this room were covered over with paper so no one could look in and see us eating and drinking! So, we’ll be out of here next Tuesday and we’ll see how Sharjah celebrates. Always something!
Monday, September 17, 2007
CHINA
090807 It looks like China is getting very close! The authorization for the Business Class tickets went to the Travel Agent (Safi) today and we’ll get them Monday. Since the plane is purchased from China Air, we must fly them rather than Emirates Airways. Will be packing and planning for the trip till then.
Right now the plan is to take the Monday night flight which departs at 2300 arriving into Beijing at 1100 the next day. Beijing is four hours ahead of Dubai, so this will be a total of twelve hours ahead of Atlanta. What this all means is that I’m now half a world away!
We had received directions to the Hotel written in Chinese so the taxi driver would know where to take us. These directions proved invaluable; as we could use them anywhere we went and knew any taxi driver could get us “home.” The Hotel had very large apartments and was in a very nice part of town, at least for ExPats.
K and I got our signals crossed on when we would take our combat naps, so ended up at the Silk Market at different times. This is the market where most people have their custom tailored suits made which requires the first meeting to pick out the material needed, type of suit or sport coat, buttons etc. Twenty fours hours later is the second meeting where your clothes are fine tuned to your exact measurements. Then once again after twenty fours hours your clothes are ready. I was able to get two suits, one sport coat, and four shirts for the price I was going to pay last Christmas for the same sport coat. So, in that regard, it was a successful trip.
Now about the Silk Market! What a place to walk into. The only way I can describe the Silk Market is to call it a “zoo.” The first two floors must be very good “knock offs.” The prices that they are selling name brands for is unbelievable! There are two to three floors of small cubicles selling clothing for all age groups. The people running these booths put the American car dealers to shame when it come to aggressive selling.
My first night there I made the mistake of stopping to look at some Tommy Bahama knock offs. The young sales girl took the shirt off a hangar and handed it to me. Stupidly taking the shirt in my hand, I was “fair game.” With the shirt in my hand, she had the opportunity to grab my Cross Pen out of my pocket to “look at.” All of a sudden the pen is in her friend’s hands and we’re playing “Monkey in the Middle,” and guess who the monkey is? Once I obtained my pen back, I knew I had to stay focused on ordering my suits.
I think the rules I learned from these first three floors were: don’t touch anything, don’t shake hands (you can be pulled into the shops), don’t answer where you’re from (they then know which currency to convert to), offer your first price at 25% of what they want and try to stay below the 50% level and you will win, stay focused on why you’re there. Other than these rules, just go and have a great time!
Now we need to talk about the upper floors. This is where the good stuff is. The jewelry, jade, pearls, and stones appear to be very good. Like the Gold Souk, a lot of weighing goes on to determine prices. Artistry does change the price. They do have real luggage (Samsonite) for very good prices but again negotiating comes into play.
I had arranged to have dinner with SB in China on the first night. It turns out he lives very close to the hotel so we decided to have dinner at a German restaurant in the Lufthansa Center. I do understand that you don’t go to Beijing for German food, but this was very good. It was very nice to be able to sit outside and have adult refreshment. The only problem outside is that the Chinese are able to put the people of Los Angeles to shame with all their smog. Those that are able to see my pictures will see that on the ramp of Beijing airport visibility is only about half a mile during the day do to this smog. It must be all the bicycles over here!
The real reason I was in Beijing was to pick up the 767 for Safi Airways and take it to Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Tuesday morning Air China picked up K and I as well as two others that have been “getting the plane ready for flight.” These two also happen to work for Safi Airways. One of the individuals was named J, who is an Afghan and is the brother of our President. The second is an Italian named M who happens to be “a maintenance professional.”
Our two Safi employees begin to explain how to get the security passes at the Air China/Lufthansa Maintenance Facility and Chinese Military. It sounds so easy when I put the initial conversation on computer, but as some of you know, nothing is easy with the Chinese!
Arriving at the front gate at the Maintenance Facility, we went into the security office. The initial pass didn’t take too long but the agent there wanted to keep our passports, which we would need to get our ramp permits. It took a few calls to our Air China Customer Service Agent to have him explain in Chinese that we were not required to give the passports to her. She succumbed to the pressure and we had our passports back in hand.
We then went to the Safi Office within Air China and gathered up numerous items that J and M would need at the aircraft. K and I had our flight kits that we would need to check out the various systems to accomplish our mission. Our Customer Service Agent, Paul, was then to take K and I to the main terminal for our ramp permits. Nobody said it was five miles away! In the main terminal it was pictures, passports, and lots of questions.
Arriving back at security point number one, we now proceeded to security point number two. At security point number two, the military scanned our bags, had us go through a magnetometer, and inspected the Air China truck we had. They also stamped our security permit, which also meant that when we left the ramp, we couldn’t go back unless we went back to the main terminal and purchased another pass! The bureaucracy didn’t stop there. As we approached OUR aircraft and unloaded the truck, I noticed an armed Private (or whatever) approaching. The Air China Customer Agent told us he really “owns” the aircraft at that point and we couldn’t touch it till a mechanic was there.
We called for a mechanic and of course there is another wait. When the mechanic arrived, there was a formal signing ceremony at which time the mechanic “owned” the aircraft and was responsible for all of us on OUR aircraft! All of this could possible even put the Russians to shame!
During our inspection we did find a couple items that needed fixing and made a list up for Air China. We also checked the FMS (navigation) extensively and ordered updated software. As it was now approaching 5:00PM, we had to get ready to go because we would have to have another signing ceremony and get back to the office because the entire plant closes then.
Wednesday was a very busy day. Our president wanted the aircraft washed, the Italian ordered a fourteen day check, Air China had to finish the requested items, final money had to be transferred, the 8 hour and ten minute flight plan had to be filed, catering had to be ordered, and most of all we needed 50,000# of additional fuel. Again I mention that K & I had also to get to the tailors to pick up our clothes. So, needless to say, this day will turn into one of those “lake stories!”
Private and Corporate jets must leave Beijing before 6:00AM, which required a very early pickup. I had planned on a 5:00AM takeoff to give myself some slack. After an excessive amount of taxiing, we did have a 5:10 takeoff. The flight was on its way toward the Gobi Desert, Himalayas, and then to the desert again. If you are not familiar with those items, we followed the northern Chinese border, west to Pakistan, down the Pakistan border with Afghanistan, over Iran to Bandar Abass, over the Straights of Hormuze (?) to Ras Al Khaimah.
The trip itself was uneventful but had extremely beautiful scenery. Not only was the Gobi interesting, but the Himalayas had a MOCA of somewhere around 32,000 feet. We were only cruising at 38,000 feet, so it was very interesting to be about 8000 feet above the ground. I will put more out on this trip to the aviation types later.
The arrival and landing at Ras Al Khaimah was as all the Navy friends would expect. The old touch is still there and I was “back in the saddle again!”
The joy of the moment was only tempered by the thought that I had to be in Bahrain the next morning.
Have a good week!
Right now the plan is to take the Monday night flight which departs at 2300 arriving into Beijing at 1100 the next day. Beijing is four hours ahead of Dubai, so this will be a total of twelve hours ahead of Atlanta. What this all means is that I’m now half a world away!
We had received directions to the Hotel written in Chinese so the taxi driver would know where to take us. These directions proved invaluable; as we could use them anywhere we went and knew any taxi driver could get us “home.” The Hotel had very large apartments and was in a very nice part of town, at least for ExPats.
K and I got our signals crossed on when we would take our combat naps, so ended up at the Silk Market at different times. This is the market where most people have their custom tailored suits made which requires the first meeting to pick out the material needed, type of suit or sport coat, buttons etc. Twenty fours hours later is the second meeting where your clothes are fine tuned to your exact measurements. Then once again after twenty fours hours your clothes are ready. I was able to get two suits, one sport coat, and four shirts for the price I was going to pay last Christmas for the same sport coat. So, in that regard, it was a successful trip.
Now about the Silk Market! What a place to walk into. The only way I can describe the Silk Market is to call it a “zoo.” The first two floors must be very good “knock offs.” The prices that they are selling name brands for is unbelievable! There are two to three floors of small cubicles selling clothing for all age groups. The people running these booths put the American car dealers to shame when it come to aggressive selling.
My first night there I made the mistake of stopping to look at some Tommy Bahama knock offs. The young sales girl took the shirt off a hangar and handed it to me. Stupidly taking the shirt in my hand, I was “fair game.” With the shirt in my hand, she had the opportunity to grab my Cross Pen out of my pocket to “look at.” All of a sudden the pen is in her friend’s hands and we’re playing “Monkey in the Middle,” and guess who the monkey is? Once I obtained my pen back, I knew I had to stay focused on ordering my suits.
I think the rules I learned from these first three floors were: don’t touch anything, don’t shake hands (you can be pulled into the shops), don’t answer where you’re from (they then know which currency to convert to), offer your first price at 25% of what they want and try to stay below the 50% level and you will win, stay focused on why you’re there. Other than these rules, just go and have a great time!
Now we need to talk about the upper floors. This is where the good stuff is. The jewelry, jade, pearls, and stones appear to be very good. Like the Gold Souk, a lot of weighing goes on to determine prices. Artistry does change the price. They do have real luggage (Samsonite) for very good prices but again negotiating comes into play.
I had arranged to have dinner with SB in China on the first night. It turns out he lives very close to the hotel so we decided to have dinner at a German restaurant in the Lufthansa Center. I do understand that you don’t go to Beijing for German food, but this was very good. It was very nice to be able to sit outside and have adult refreshment. The only problem outside is that the Chinese are able to put the people of Los Angeles to shame with all their smog. Those that are able to see my pictures will see that on the ramp of Beijing airport visibility is only about half a mile during the day do to this smog. It must be all the bicycles over here!
The real reason I was in Beijing was to pick up the 767 for Safi Airways and take it to Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Tuesday morning Air China picked up K and I as well as two others that have been “getting the plane ready for flight.” These two also happen to work for Safi Airways. One of the individuals was named J, who is an Afghan and is the brother of our President. The second is an Italian named M who happens to be “a maintenance professional.”
Our two Safi employees begin to explain how to get the security passes at the Air China/Lufthansa Maintenance Facility and Chinese Military. It sounds so easy when I put the initial conversation on computer, but as some of you know, nothing is easy with the Chinese!
Arriving at the front gate at the Maintenance Facility, we went into the security office. The initial pass didn’t take too long but the agent there wanted to keep our passports, which we would need to get our ramp permits. It took a few calls to our Air China Customer Service Agent to have him explain in Chinese that we were not required to give the passports to her. She succumbed to the pressure and we had our passports back in hand.
We then went to the Safi Office within Air China and gathered up numerous items that J and M would need at the aircraft. K and I had our flight kits that we would need to check out the various systems to accomplish our mission. Our Customer Service Agent, Paul, was then to take K and I to the main terminal for our ramp permits. Nobody said it was five miles away! In the main terminal it was pictures, passports, and lots of questions.
Arriving back at security point number one, we now proceeded to security point number two. At security point number two, the military scanned our bags, had us go through a magnetometer, and inspected the Air China truck we had. They also stamped our security permit, which also meant that when we left the ramp, we couldn’t go back unless we went back to the main terminal and purchased another pass! The bureaucracy didn’t stop there. As we approached OUR aircraft and unloaded the truck, I noticed an armed Private (or whatever) approaching. The Air China Customer Agent told us he really “owns” the aircraft at that point and we couldn’t touch it till a mechanic was there.
We called for a mechanic and of course there is another wait. When the mechanic arrived, there was a formal signing ceremony at which time the mechanic “owned” the aircraft and was responsible for all of us on OUR aircraft! All of this could possible even put the Russians to shame!
During our inspection we did find a couple items that needed fixing and made a list up for Air China. We also checked the FMS (navigation) extensively and ordered updated software. As it was now approaching 5:00PM, we had to get ready to go because we would have to have another signing ceremony and get back to the office because the entire plant closes then.
Wednesday was a very busy day. Our president wanted the aircraft washed, the Italian ordered a fourteen day check, Air China had to finish the requested items, final money had to be transferred, the 8 hour and ten minute flight plan had to be filed, catering had to be ordered, and most of all we needed 50,000# of additional fuel. Again I mention that K & I had also to get to the tailors to pick up our clothes. So, needless to say, this day will turn into one of those “lake stories!”
Private and Corporate jets must leave Beijing before 6:00AM, which required a very early pickup. I had planned on a 5:00AM takeoff to give myself some slack. After an excessive amount of taxiing, we did have a 5:10 takeoff. The flight was on its way toward the Gobi Desert, Himalayas, and then to the desert again. If you are not familiar with those items, we followed the northern Chinese border, west to Pakistan, down the Pakistan border with Afghanistan, over Iran to Bandar Abass, over the Straights of Hormuze (?) to Ras Al Khaimah.
The trip itself was uneventful but had extremely beautiful scenery. Not only was the Gobi interesting, but the Himalayas had a MOCA of somewhere around 32,000 feet. We were only cruising at 38,000 feet, so it was very interesting to be about 8000 feet above the ground. I will put more out on this trip to the aviation types later.
The arrival and landing at Ras Al Khaimah was as all the Navy friends would expect. The old touch is still there and I was “back in the saddle again!”
The joy of the moment was only tempered by the thought that I had to be in Bahrain the next morning.
Have a good week!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
The Gold Souk
090307 I will start this blog out with immediately relating that I’m not in Beijing! More to follow!
When I arrived in Dubai early last month, one of the first things I was told was about the basic honesty of all the people. To help “back up this honesty,” the police are extremely strict as they are in Singapore. From what I’ve seen, everyone seems to listen intently to the police when they would like your attention. Now that it has been said…
There is a law in the UAE that basically states that a new company may have up to ninety days to decide in which Emirate they are working. Safi’s ninety days ended last Sunday. The problem being, we live in Sharjah and work in Dubai – two different Emirates. Knowing that the authorities well knew of this problem and that it had to be resolved, we were told not to come to work on Monday. I still had to get some paperwork from the office so I went in to retrieve it. After loading up the paperwork and memory stick with the driver, I decided to send those items back to Sharjah and go sight seeing on my own.
The driver took me along Dubai Creek on my way to the Gold Souk (Market). The ride over past the small (80 foot) boats that delivered the dry goods to dockside was very interesting. This is probably the way it has been done for a thousand years, all manual labor. These boats are tied up three to four abreast with rough walkways across each for carrying “the cargo.” I will try to get pictures of these in the future. We drove past a large bus terminal and taxi stand as we turned into the Gold Souk.
There was only an hour and a half available for me at this point because the Gold Souk, as well as all other Souks, closes daily from 1:00 to 4:00 for prayer and reflection. The Gold Souk itself is very similar to the market in Moscow, Ismaliva (?). It is a combination of probably five hundred+ independent vendors but all specializing in GOLD! There is also jewelry such as pearls, diamonds (RS take note), rubies etc. The upscale stores have some very interesting and unique jewelry. There are obviously Arab vendors, but there are also very strong contingents from India, Thailand, Columbia, and South Africa. The sky appears to be the limit on what you can spend here.
Interesting aspect here is that there don’t appear to be prices for the gold items. Everything gets weighted and the price is set by the daily price of gold in London. There appears to be negotiating room with hand made items such as rings, where workmanship comes into play. Then the fun begins, if you have plenty of time.
After the Souk closed at 1:00, I decided to walk along the outside and see some of the other shops in the area. As I was picking up the “flavor” of the place, I received a call from one of the pilots. After immediately solving his earth shaking problem, I placed my cell phone back in the holster J had given me. As I continued walking into smaller and smaller areas, I decided to make sure the button on my wallet pocket was buttoned as more and more people were around me.
A short time later I reached for the holster with my cell phone to make another call and nothing was there! There was a moment of panic, a quick look around, a quick look down, and no cell phone. Everyone’s back was toward me walking away in all directions. My thoughts went back to my initial briefings here about the honesty here and I quickly decided “so much for that philosophy!” I then had to make myself feel good by telling myself that the guy that stole my cell phone had to be really good to get MY CELL PHONE! I also fooled that guy because I still had my wallet, and no one could get that from ME.
Now I’m a little depressed because someone has gotten to me. I’m ready to be back in my apartment NOW. Get me out of here! I was able to easily find the cab stand I saw on arrival at the Gold Souk. As I arrived at the first cab in line, I realized that not one of the twenty five cabs had drivers. Prayer time gets me again, as they won’t be driving again till 4:00. As I look across the street, there is the bus terminal. Do I or don’t I and where do I go?
I decided to go to Terminal One of the Dubai Airport. It was half way between Sharjah and my present position and right on the way. Anyway, the bus cost forty cents US, and with the cab added, I ended up back at the apartment spending $4.20 US. I was beginning to show “the system” that I could at least do something correctly, and I was feeling better!
Returning to the apartment a number of people informed me they had tried to call me but some Arab answered the phone. All thought they had wrong numbers. Then the light comes on, I’ll call and tell him what I think of him.
To wind this up, I did call and he only spoke Arab. I called our IT Manager, S, and asked him to call my cell phone and find out if it was stolen. S did call and the individual told him he found the cell phone on the sidewalk and didn’t know where to send it or which of the many numbers to call. S got his address and the next day one of our drivers took me over to pick it up. The finder would not take a tip, was extremely nice, with everything being translated by the driver. Nothing like eating a little crow, so I take back everything I’ve already written about stolen items.
Thursday two pilots and I were driven to the Chinese Consulate to get our visas. It is located in Bur Dubai which took us about an hour and a half in prime traffic. The ride was actually very interesting in that it passed all the famous buildings you have seen in tourist magazines and such. Architects are having a field day over here with unlimited resources which are then transformed into buildings that would even impress Frank Lloyd Wright! Of course this all ended up by passing the Bur Dubai building, which is the tallest building in the world. The Bur Dubai’s top is constructed so if another building is built that is taller, another ten or twenty stories can be built on top.
We each purchased two Chinese Visas. One is the normal Tourist Visa that will get us into China, with the second being the Crew Visa that will allow us to pick up the plane and fly it out of China. Needless to say, these visas were very expensive as they were in the neighborhood of $800 US for a one day turnaround. However, with visas in hand we are scheduled in Business Class aboard China Air bound for Beijing Sunday. Then the fun begins.
Will have more on China later, so have a good week and keep your cell phones close!
When I arrived in Dubai early last month, one of the first things I was told was about the basic honesty of all the people. To help “back up this honesty,” the police are extremely strict as they are in Singapore. From what I’ve seen, everyone seems to listen intently to the police when they would like your attention. Now that it has been said…
There is a law in the UAE that basically states that a new company may have up to ninety days to decide in which Emirate they are working. Safi’s ninety days ended last Sunday. The problem being, we live in Sharjah and work in Dubai – two different Emirates. Knowing that the authorities well knew of this problem and that it had to be resolved, we were told not to come to work on Monday. I still had to get some paperwork from the office so I went in to retrieve it. After loading up the paperwork and memory stick with the driver, I decided to send those items back to Sharjah and go sight seeing on my own.
The driver took me along Dubai Creek on my way to the Gold Souk (Market). The ride over past the small (80 foot) boats that delivered the dry goods to dockside was very interesting. This is probably the way it has been done for a thousand years, all manual labor. These boats are tied up three to four abreast with rough walkways across each for carrying “the cargo.” I will try to get pictures of these in the future. We drove past a large bus terminal and taxi stand as we turned into the Gold Souk.
There was only an hour and a half available for me at this point because the Gold Souk, as well as all other Souks, closes daily from 1:00 to 4:00 for prayer and reflection. The Gold Souk itself is very similar to the market in Moscow, Ismaliva (?). It is a combination of probably five hundred+ independent vendors but all specializing in GOLD! There is also jewelry such as pearls, diamonds (RS take note), rubies etc. The upscale stores have some very interesting and unique jewelry. There are obviously Arab vendors, but there are also very strong contingents from India, Thailand, Columbia, and South Africa. The sky appears to be the limit on what you can spend here.
Interesting aspect here is that there don’t appear to be prices for the gold items. Everything gets weighted and the price is set by the daily price of gold in London. There appears to be negotiating room with hand made items such as rings, where workmanship comes into play. Then the fun begins, if you have plenty of time.
After the Souk closed at 1:00, I decided to walk along the outside and see some of the other shops in the area. As I was picking up the “flavor” of the place, I received a call from one of the pilots. After immediately solving his earth shaking problem, I placed my cell phone back in the holster J had given me. As I continued walking into smaller and smaller areas, I decided to make sure the button on my wallet pocket was buttoned as more and more people were around me.
A short time later I reached for the holster with my cell phone to make another call and nothing was there! There was a moment of panic, a quick look around, a quick look down, and no cell phone. Everyone’s back was toward me walking away in all directions. My thoughts went back to my initial briefings here about the honesty here and I quickly decided “so much for that philosophy!” I then had to make myself feel good by telling myself that the guy that stole my cell phone had to be really good to get MY CELL PHONE! I also fooled that guy because I still had my wallet, and no one could get that from ME.
Now I’m a little depressed because someone has gotten to me. I’m ready to be back in my apartment NOW. Get me out of here! I was able to easily find the cab stand I saw on arrival at the Gold Souk. As I arrived at the first cab in line, I realized that not one of the twenty five cabs had drivers. Prayer time gets me again, as they won’t be driving again till 4:00. As I look across the street, there is the bus terminal. Do I or don’t I and where do I go?
I decided to go to Terminal One of the Dubai Airport. It was half way between Sharjah and my present position and right on the way. Anyway, the bus cost forty cents US, and with the cab added, I ended up back at the apartment spending $4.20 US. I was beginning to show “the system” that I could at least do something correctly, and I was feeling better!
Returning to the apartment a number of people informed me they had tried to call me but some Arab answered the phone. All thought they had wrong numbers. Then the light comes on, I’ll call and tell him what I think of him.
To wind this up, I did call and he only spoke Arab. I called our IT Manager, S, and asked him to call my cell phone and find out if it was stolen. S did call and the individual told him he found the cell phone on the sidewalk and didn’t know where to send it or which of the many numbers to call. S got his address and the next day one of our drivers took me over to pick it up. The finder would not take a tip, was extremely nice, with everything being translated by the driver. Nothing like eating a little crow, so I take back everything I’ve already written about stolen items.
Thursday two pilots and I were driven to the Chinese Consulate to get our visas. It is located in Bur Dubai which took us about an hour and a half in prime traffic. The ride was actually very interesting in that it passed all the famous buildings you have seen in tourist magazines and such. Architects are having a field day over here with unlimited resources which are then transformed into buildings that would even impress Frank Lloyd Wright! Of course this all ended up by passing the Bur Dubai building, which is the tallest building in the world. The Bur Dubai’s top is constructed so if another building is built that is taller, another ten or twenty stories can be built on top.
We each purchased two Chinese Visas. One is the normal Tourist Visa that will get us into China, with the second being the Crew Visa that will allow us to pick up the plane and fly it out of China. Needless to say, these visas were very expensive as they were in the neighborhood of $800 US for a one day turnaround. However, with visas in hand we are scheduled in Business Class aboard China Air bound for Beijing Sunday. Then the fun begins.
Will have more on China later, so have a good week and keep your cell phones close!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Labor Day weekend
083107 Last Saturday at the end of the day we had a lot of commotion in the office. I was working at my computer and sensed that there was more activity than normal. I looked up and saw an elderly gentleman in a very well pressed Arab outfit and about three others with him. Looking outside I could see a very expensive set of three cars. He came over to me, shook hands, and just said “nice job!” I replied “thank you!”
I immediately got I’s attention and asked who he was and was told he was the elder S. He was the father of the two sons who run the airline. Very impressive! More on this for quiet nights on the lake.
We started calling the pilots over this week. It is really a very simple procedure to make a reservation, get a ticket, and get on an airplane in the states. However, when one has to deal with the owner’s travel agency, Safitesx, it does get quite dicey. I made up a very simple list of the pilots, their home airports, and the day I wanted them to leave. F, the Safitesx representative, received the list four days before the first pilot was to depart. The day before the first pilot was to depart; I had the secretary call to see the schedule and was informed he was waiting to find a “good deal!” Needless to say, he waited too long for this “good deal.” After he confirmed the flight, he didn't leave the pilot enough time to get to the airport. So much for working together!
It seems that my whole week was dealing with F and his mistakes. He cost Safitesx a great deal of money, not sure he will be around long.
We have been waiting quite a while for the Chinese Crew Visas. All things may be possible in Afghanistan, but certainly not with China and the Chinese. One would believe the Chinese would want the plane off the ramp, but not enough to send a “letter of invitation” to us for the local consulate to issue the visa. So, just like in the military, we wait and wait and wait! Then I’m sure it will be a rush evolution. Anyone who has picked up a plane out of rework knows that it really isn’t ready just because someone says it is. Since I will have two other pilots with me going to China, I had to change the Bahrain training till later in September. I’m willing to give the Chinese two weeks leeway and then training starts.
By the end of the week, all but one of the pilots had arrived. I had everyone to my apartment on Friday night and it seem to go very well, even for a dry Emirate. Keep in mind I only said the Emirate was dry (not the apartment)! I did find it very interesting after all their fourteen and fifteen hours flights, every one of them, like me, said they had slept on the aircraft and felt very good. They felt the time change at night about 0200 and not being able to sleep till about 0700. The old “rule of thumb” of one day/hour of time change still applies. I guess it is just like the rule of thumb (right PF).
We’ll end this blog up with the hope that the next one will be from Beijing, China.
I immediately got I’s attention and asked who he was and was told he was the elder S. He was the father of the two sons who run the airline. Very impressive! More on this for quiet nights on the lake.
We started calling the pilots over this week. It is really a very simple procedure to make a reservation, get a ticket, and get on an airplane in the states. However, when one has to deal with the owner’s travel agency, Safitesx, it does get quite dicey. I made up a very simple list of the pilots, their home airports, and the day I wanted them to leave. F, the Safitesx representative, received the list four days before the first pilot was to depart. The day before the first pilot was to depart; I had the secretary call to see the schedule and was informed he was waiting to find a “good deal!” Needless to say, he waited too long for this “good deal.” After he confirmed the flight, he didn't leave the pilot enough time to get to the airport. So much for working together!
It seems that my whole week was dealing with F and his mistakes. He cost Safitesx a great deal of money, not sure he will be around long.
We have been waiting quite a while for the Chinese Crew Visas. All things may be possible in Afghanistan, but certainly not with China and the Chinese. One would believe the Chinese would want the plane off the ramp, but not enough to send a “letter of invitation” to us for the local consulate to issue the visa. So, just like in the military, we wait and wait and wait! Then I’m sure it will be a rush evolution. Anyone who has picked up a plane out of rework knows that it really isn’t ready just because someone says it is. Since I will have two other pilots with me going to China, I had to change the Bahrain training till later in September. I’m willing to give the Chinese two weeks leeway and then training starts.
By the end of the week, all but one of the pilots had arrived. I had everyone to my apartment on Friday night and it seem to go very well, even for a dry Emirate. Keep in mind I only said the Emirate was dry (not the apartment)! I did find it very interesting after all their fourteen and fifteen hours flights, every one of them, like me, said they had slept on the aircraft and felt very good. They felt the time change at night about 0200 and not being able to sleep till about 0700. The old “rule of thumb” of one day/hour of time change still applies. I guess it is just like the rule of thumb (right PF).
We’ll end this blog up with the hope that the next one will be from Beijing, China.
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