Onwards to the Middle East

I have some time to kill before the rendezvous with my sister so did some last minute currency exchange and just stroll around KLIA international departure area. Tempted to go into the Plaza Premium Lounge but didn't because it will not be worth it with the time I have on hand, Found out that the Bank Islam exchange booth in KLIA gave the best exchange rate in Europe by far. The rest are just ripping you off
Noticed Famous food street replica here as well

The "inner chamber" are really quiet after midnight, looks like not many Malaysian are headed overseas nowadays. The meet up with my sister Agnes Yee didn't happen until the time of boarding but I managed to make some new friends already, played poker to pass time.
A little commentary about Emirates flight here. They are actually better than Malaysian Airlines in terms of service and their in flight entertainment system (ICE), go google yourself if you want to find out more, haha. ICE actually have almost any genre one could ask for/expect in a flight entertainment system. The sticker thingy is really good too as it notifies the stewardess whether you want to be woken up for meals or be left alone. Was well fed on flight, seems like the food just keep coming and coming.
Touchdown in Dubai at dawn and noticed the long queue for passport control. This is a busy airport indeed. Here's some snapshots of the airport

Finally got to my turn (it is times like this I wish I have a NATO pass or something) The passport control couldn't resist to take a swipe at Malaysia when she saw my passport," So Malaysian Passport? They give our system some problem, don't know what the government is doing there." Got through without problems but I would expect more questioning when I get to Europe.

My sister and I crashed at her place after our clearances after being driven to her place by a lady cab driver (a lady out showing her face, working in public, perhaps some parts in Middle East is not that conservative eh?)
We woke up around noon, and I wanted to get in sync with how local people get through their daily life, so I tag along with her as she finish her some task that she needs to. Got a little crash course about the culture here and is surprised by the MINIMUM wage of a degree holder here, it's 12,000 Dh. (For my Malaysian readers, this is almost RM 12,000) There's a definitely a huge gulf between us and them, quite sadly. You can read the article here
http://www.dubaivisarules.info/2011/01/ministry-of-labour-uae-announced.html
Yep, We have a long way to go.

I went to her training school and she gave me a tour. Here's pictures

and a training simulation room too

I was grateful for the privilege
Oh, the lower level workers here are predominantly Pakistani or Indian so they get pushed around a lot (Just some side info)

My sis and I had an authentic Dubai taxi experience, somehow two taxis noticed our waves and decide to have a shouting match to decide who has the right to the customer. One was an Arab and the other an Indian, another local came along (and you can guess who won and who left sulking and cursing)
About the food here, as I moved out of Malaysia, one thing that will be very evident is that the food will not be that heavily flavored. I found something that I like here which is the hummus, the wiki is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus) and it is nicely packed

However, the food price is almost double compared to that of Malaysia but the bigger portion left greater eating satisfaction.
Walked around the mall and marveled at the huge aquarium before calling it a day

Got my orientation of the city from my sister and I am all set to wander off by myself tomorrow.
(Dubai main city is mainly just two long streets, one for the financial area and another the beach road, it is really pretty easy)