Things to Know When Going to Church in Dubai

It was not my first time to attend the mass at St. Marys. I have gone several times with my sisters, but usually we came late and the mass has already started when we arrive. I never had the chance to take communion.

One time, I went with an office colleague, Eli, and her husband, Bijoy. Eli is one of my colleague at work. She's from Visayas and she is married to Bijoy, an Indian whom she fondly calls Bitoy.

We were early and had time to eat at the canteen of the church before the start of the mass. When we went inside the church we couldn't sit together because the church was jam packed. The mass was great. The priest had a sense of humor and he is very good during a sermon.

Then the communion started.

I was not very observant that time. I was a little puzzled why nobody was standing up to take communion. So I took my back pack and stood up and went to the queue at the middle aisle of the church. Everybody stared at me, as I approached the queue, I noticed that the people taking communion was taking turns. The first row went first, then the second row! I was at the third to the last row!

The usherer, an Indian, was whispering to me uncomprehensively. I realized my mistake but I just play dumb and went to the queue and had my communion. I didn't go back to my seat. After the communion I went out and lighted several candles and went home laughing at myself.

A Pinay Cutting the Line

Friday in Dubai is like Sunday in other parts of the world. Government offices, banks and most establishments are closed. And it is the worker's day off.

I decided to go with my younger sister to Mall of the Emirates and watch a movie. She wanted to see Jacky Chan's Spy Next Door and I wanted to see Avatar. When we got there, we settled for Valentine's Day starring a long list of superstars and cute newbies including Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jesica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Garner, Taylor Lautner and a lot more!

We were in queue to buy food and drinks. We decided to split up and queue on different lines. A lady cut in my line. As it turned out, she was a Kababayan. If we had been in the Philippines, I would have made a scene and asked her to go to the back of the line, but unfortunately, we were in Dubai. So I took a deep breath and held my anger.

What would you have done in my place?

Prophet's Birthday

The Ministry of Tourism (DCTM) has issued a circular effective from 6pm of February 25, 2010 until 7pm of February 26, 2010 in observance of the Prophet's Birthday.  Establishments are advised to refrain from serving alcohol and holding entertainment.  This circular is implemented in all restaurants, clubs, desert safari camps and dhow cruises.

This will imply that desert safari camps cannot serve alcohol in the bar and they cannot perform belly dance, fire dance or tanura dance.  The dhow cruises cannot also serve alcohol in the bar nor can they hold magic show, tanura dance and song performances.

Desert Safari

One of the highlights when visiting Dubai is going to the desert safari. For AED 200/- per person, you will be picked up directly from your hotel and taken to the desert for a Dune Drive. There will be a photo stop for the beautiful sun set in the middle of the desert.

You will be taken to an Arabic desert camp where you can do camel riding and sand boarding. To pass the time before dinner, you can have sheesha or a henna painting.

There is an unlimited supply of water and softdrinks. Snacks are provided before the barbecue dinner buffet which has vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

There will be a belly dance performance before you are brought back to the city filled with fond and exciting memories of all the activities of the evening desert safari.

Tax Free Dubai

One of the most surprising thing in Dubai was that personal incomes, including all forms of salary and capital gains wherever arising, are not subject to taxation in any of the Emirates of UAE. There is no enforced federal income tax legislation for general business. An income tax decree has been enacted by each Emirate, but in practice, the enforcement of these decrees is restricted to foreign banks and to oil companies.

It is very upsetting to remember that in the Philippines everybody is required to submit themselves to withholding tax, which eats out more than 20% of your income. And what do you get in return, lousy government service, dilapidated roads and several billions of debt by the government from other countries.

Where do the Government of UAE get their funds?

"Foreign banks are taxed at 20 percent of their taxable income in the Emirates of Abu-Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The tax is restricted to the taxable income which is earned or deemed to be earned in that particular Emirate. Oil Companies (which include any chargeable person that deals in oil or right to oil both off-shore and on-shore) pay a flat rate of 55 percent on their taxable income in Dubai and 50 percent in the other Emirates. In addition, they pay royalties on production.

Under the terms of an agreement on customs tariffs with countries of the GCC, all Emirates are bound to levy a minimum customs duty of 10 percent on luxury goods and 4 percent on the C.I.F. value of all other goods imported, excluding certain items such as alcohol and cigarettes. Recently, the federal government has approved a tobacco tax rate of 50 percent.

In practice, however, exemptions are made for a wide range of goods. In cases where customs duties are charged, it is generally restricted to 1 percent.

Municipal taxes are levied in most Emirates on annual rental paid at 5 percent for residential premises and 10 percent for commercial premises.

Other local taxes include a 5 percent tax on hotel services and entertainment."

Source: http://www.government.ae/gov/en/biz/business/taxes.jsp

The Songbird & the Songwriter in Dubai

Last Friday, I went to Zabeel Park to watch The Songbird & The Songwriter.

The tickets had three (3) denominations. AED100 for the bleacher seats, AED200 for VIP & AED350 for VVIP. I bought the second one.

The venue was a big open field arena in the middle of the park. I bought dinner for AED45!

The concert started with several raffle draws and games officiated by two radio deejays. They had one question which they did not know the answer themselves.

"Which song did Regine & Robin Padilla sing as a duet in one of their movies?"

Several answers were wrong. "Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw" "Maging Sino Ka Man" "Hanggang Ngayon"

I was waiting for "Tuwing Umuulan" which they sang in the movie "Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw". One of the VVIP audience gave this answer and the announcers said that it was wrong. They declared "Alipin" as the right answer. The girl DJ was recalling from her memory that Regine & Robin sang that song in the soundtrack album of the movie "Till I Met You".

The Dubai Champion of "Are You The Next Big Star" sang "I Believe I Can Fly" as a front act. I was not impressed. It felt like she was just shouting not singing.

The show started with Regine and Ogie singing Black Eyed Peas' "I've Got A Feeling". And then the "mall show" continued. :-)

I was a little bit disappointed with the show. It felt like a mall show to me. Regine was underdressed. The song line up was not impressive.

Regine & Ogie are good singers. But it was Rico J. Puno who made my night.

The lipsync of Marian Rivera during the duet with Dingdong Dantes was not surprising but unwelcomed. Sana sumayaw na lang siya ng sumayaw.

I felt I was robbed. The show was okay but not good enough. It was an effortless event. SOP is even better.

If they ever come back, maybe I will pass next time. It is not worth your money.

How To Recall Emails with Mistakes

There was one time I did a very stupid thing. I replied and put the date 30th February 2010.

I wanted to recall my email but I did not know how! I didn't know that Microsoft Outlook had the ability to recall your email and replace it with a new "correct" one.

Just go to your Sent Item folder and open the email you sent. In the Other Actions drop down menu, there is a command there Recall This Message. A prompt will appear asking you whether you want to "delete unread copies of this message" or "delete copies and replace with a new message".

There is also a check box which will enable you to know if the recall is successful or not.

For more info, visit this link:

http://www.ehow.com/how_113821_recall-e-mail.html

Prohibited Items for Travel to Dubai

One of the most important things that I bring along during travel to other countries are prescription free medicine for common sickness like headache, cold and fever.

For my headache I usually take Dolfenol and for my fever Bioflu. As it turned out, there are several drugs that are prohibited in the UAE.

As a customs regulation. visitors to Dubai can bring in duty-free:

• 4 litres of alcohol, or 2 cartons of beer (1 carton = 24 cans not exceeding 355 ml)
• 400 cigarettes
• 50 cigars
• 500 g of loose tobacco

Prohibited items include:

• Drugs
• Firearms
• Pornography

Below is a long list of controlled medicines and medications, registered with the Ministry of Health in the UAE and enforced by the UAE Ministry of Interior and International Narcotic Controlled Board (INCB).  It is best to consult UAE Government to be sure.

UAE Ministry of Health’s Drug Control Department
Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 848
Fax: 971 2 6313 742

"These items are essentially available only in hospitals and in large community pharmacies, under the prescription of doctors. The Ministry of Health advises that unlicensed, controlled medicines can only be imported into the UAE through hospitals and not by individuals.

However, the Drug Control Department of the Ministry of health does have special regulations for personal import of such items: patients or travelers carrying prescribed prescription medications must have their prescriptions issued by licensed U.S. doctors, attested by a notary public, and duly authenticated by both the secretary of state of one’s U.S. state, and finally also authenticated by the Secretary of State of the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C."

Dolphin Show with Chinese Circus in the Dolphinarium at Dubai Creek Park

Last night, I went to Dubai Creek Park to watch the Dolphin Show with Chinese Circus. I went with my officemate Eli. Her husband, Bidjoy, was already in the park when we arrived.

Hussein, another coworker, saw us make a wrong turn on the second stop. We reached the park just about the same time.

The show was great but the people at ticketing gave us seats far apart from one another. Good thing the show was great.

After the show I bought a cotton candy and rented a bike to go around the beautiful and huge Dubai Creek Park.

My sister fetched me around 8:30pm at Gate 1 and we proceeded home to Al Baraha.

A Pinoy In Dubai

I flew to Dubai late last year. My almost three months stay has been filled with lots of memories I want to cherish and share. Call me Pinoy and I am in Dubai.