After a gap of BSM posting, I'll continue with my next day. I promised myself that I would finish blogging all 11 days of it. ;) Today would be a busy day. We were slated to visit the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the Emirates Palace hotel, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), then Abu Dhabi University(ADU) in the late afternoon. Phew. What a day. And so, being the 8th day, many of us were starting to feel very weary. With youth on our side, we managed to sustain site visit after site visit for the past few days. But not today. OH No. And so, at our first visit at ADNOC, we kinda slept in during the presentation. Okay, this is how it flows: there are two speakers, one a lady, and the other a guy, both talking about oil stuff. The girl talked more on the general information on ADNOC, whereas the guy talked about the business analysis part. In between these two speakers, there was a 25 minute video on ADNOC. And oh gosh. Let me teach you how to keep awake:
1. Swirl your water bottle to the left and right slowly.
2. Gently open the cap of your bottle.
3. Let some drops of water drip onto your index finger.
4. Dap your eyes with your finger which has water on it.
=.=
That was what some people did during the 2 hours. We were sooo tired. Many, if not all, took the opportunity to sleep during the 25 minute video. It was so bad that after the video, our hosts suggested a 5 minute break for us. Oops. Sooo embarassing. A group of students from a prestigious university in Singapore, disgracing ourselves in front of big shot guys in Abu Dhabi. Haih. Aiks. It made us feel worse that after the whole presentation, each of us was given 1 8 GB thumbdrive, 1 hard cover book on the ruler of Abu Dhabi (it's damn nice), and 1 souvenir, either a gold camel or jug, as a token of our visitation. Oops. *embarassed* Next, we went to Emirates Palace, to see the Saadiyat Island exhibition. And boy, was the hotel superbly nice! It's sooooo nice! The hotel is just amazing. I feel very fortunate to be able to step into it. Not everyone can go inside. I think it costs $1000 plus a room! Heh.
Outside the hotel
Pianist in the lobby.I tell you, she's a darn good jazz pianist! She can play any song on the spot!
Tea, anyone?
Ceiling
In the lobby with Darrick. Hee.
View from the inside of the hotel
Corridor in the hotel
Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Yes, the French museum which hosts Mona Lisa's picture. They'll have a 2nd Louvre in Abu Dhabi around 2012-13.
Performing Arts Centre
Ceiling
In the lobby with Darrick. Hee.
View from the inside of the hotel
Corridor in the hotelThe next few pictures are the real reason we went there, the Saadiyat Island (meaning Island of Happiness) exhibition. It's this real island off the shore of Abu Dhabi. They are planning to develop it so that it becomes a city on its own. One prominent development is the Cultural Centre, where they would have world class museums. See for it yourself. Note that all these are just models. The real things are not up yet. The whole development will only be completed in 2018.
Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi
Louvre Abu Dhabi Yes, the French museum which hosts Mona Lisa's picture. They'll have a 2nd Louvre in Abu Dhabi around 2012-13.
Performing Arts CentreWe then went for a lunch sponsored by Capitala. Oh, the goodness of having sponsored lunches. :P And YES! Asian, Chinese food!!! Oh my, how I miss it! Imagine, 6 to 7 days of grilled meat, grilled meat and grilled meat. And humus, and raw vege, and raw vege. If you like grilled meat, good for you. Heh. Being generous, Capitala gave us another free shot at bowling. :P
Next was ADTA. They had a presentation and video for us too. I felt quite embarassed up to this point in time. Let me explain. SMU has a culture have asking questions in class to increase a student's understanding. Next, our Prof for this trip fervently supports asking questions at each site visit. I'm supportive of this. This is good. So as long as we respect people too. l that in terms of asking questions, we should not go overboard, and should first and foremost, respect another one's culture. I feel that each of us could be more sensitive to someone from another culture, especially since this is the first time that we are meeting them. I felt disgrace. But what could I do. I'm still in this group. And therefore am thankful for some kind souls around. Anyway, below are the exhibitions that we saw at ADTA.
We then headed to Abu Dhabi University. Ahh, we were running late! And again, at this university, we saw education conducted where the sexes were separated, similar to that of Saudi Arabia. But I don't think all universities are like that in UAE. Anyway, sometimes the opposite sexes are allowed to mingle together, like during large or official events, such as this one, and sometimes, they are not allowed to do so. There's no hard and fast rule about it. I had quite an insightful chat with some of the girls there. I talked to these two ladies who were not local. In a sense that they have been staying in UAE for all their lives, but because they are not of UAE nationality by blood, they cannot be citizens of UAE. One is Pakistani-Indian, and another Indian and something else. They were lementing on UAE's policy of citizenship, saying that even if they were 2nd or 3rd generation residents in UAE, they would still not be able to get a citizenship. They love the country, but they can't get a citizenship there, cus it's just not allowed. You can only become a citizen of UAE only if you are of the local blood or if you marry into their family. Imagine if Singapore does not allow expats to become citizens so easily. I think sometimes Singaporeans who were Malaysians or of any nationality for that matter forget about the open policy that allow them to be citizens in where they stay in. Oh well.
Oh, and the two girls that I talk to were quite humorous, I have to say. Nothing of what I would expect of a Middle Eastern lady. One was studying Information Systems, another one Engineering or something. They were speaking good English, and displayed vast knowledge of the places in the world. They've heard of Malaysia and Singapore, and cus one of them has a parent from India, frequently goes back there. They were quite Western in thinking, I have to say.
Common Hall. Standing to the national anthems of both countries.
Next was ADTA. They had a presentation and video for us too. I felt quite embarassed up to this point in time. Let me explain. SMU has a culture have asking questions in class to increase a student's understanding. Next, our Prof for this trip fervently supports asking questions at each site visit. I'm supportive of this. This is good. So as long as we respect people too. l that in terms of asking questions, we should not go overboard, and should first and foremost, respect another one's culture. I feel that each of us could be more sensitive to someone from another culture, especially since this is the first time that we are meeting them. I felt disgrace. But what could I do. I'm still in this group. And therefore am thankful for some kind souls around. Anyway, below are the exhibitions that we saw at ADTA.
We then headed to Abu Dhabi University. Ahh, we were running late! And again, at this university, we saw education conducted where the sexes were separated, similar to that of Saudi Arabia. But I don't think all universities are like that in UAE. Anyway, sometimes the opposite sexes are allowed to mingle together, like during large or official events, such as this one, and sometimes, they are not allowed to do so. There's no hard and fast rule about it. I had quite an insightful chat with some of the girls there. I talked to these two ladies who were not local. In a sense that they have been staying in UAE for all their lives, but because they are not of UAE nationality by blood, they cannot be citizens of UAE. One is Pakistani-Indian, and another Indian and something else. They were lementing on UAE's policy of citizenship, saying that even if they were 2nd or 3rd generation residents in UAE, they would still not be able to get a citizenship. They love the country, but they can't get a citizenship there, cus it's just not allowed. You can only become a citizen of UAE only if you are of the local blood or if you marry into their family. Imagine if Singapore does not allow expats to become citizens so easily. I think sometimes Singaporeans who were Malaysians or of any nationality for that matter forget about the open policy that allow them to be citizens in where they stay in. Oh well.
Oh, and the two girls that I talk to were quite humorous, I have to say. Nothing of what I would expect of a Middle Eastern lady. One was studying Information Systems, another one Engineering or something. They were speaking good English, and displayed vast knowledge of the places in the world. They've heard of Malaysia and Singapore, and cus one of them has a parent from India, frequently goes back there. They were quite Western in thinking, I have to say.
Common Hall. Standing to the national anthems of both countries.We were pretty tired at the end of the day, but it was a rewarding one. We ate A LOT (they had breakfast, tea or lunch at each site visit =.=) and learnt a lot. We then headed to Dubai, a 1.5 hour journey on the bus. I have to say, that you will know that you are in Dubai when you see the change in the height and style of the buildings. Taller, grander. Hah. In no time at all, we reached Abu Dhabi Arabian Park, the hotel. Not surprisingly, we got a lecture from our Prof. On our behaviour in the morning. Saying that we should have gave them more respect. Saying that she knows that we are old enough to handle ourselves, and should know how much sleep we need at this point of time. And of course, all of us felt remorseful. There was some EPL match that night, and before the lecture, many of the guys were game up to catch it. But after that, all of them did not feel like watching it anymore. Many being guai, just headed to bed, which was a good thing, because it was another 3 more days of fun. ;)
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