Frugal Expat

An expat's journey in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Archive for the month “November, 2009”

27 Nov 2009
3 Comments

Better Than Pizza Hut

It was initially a business prospect that led us to an Arabic coffee shop strangely named ‘Moulin Rouge’. As we entered, the place was slightly crowded with people and the smoke from Shisha dominated the atmosphere. 

To get a fresher air, we opted to settle outside. Great that the weather was already pleasant!

While waiting for the waiter, my eyes were busy looking around not for anything but to observe. We thought that it was a small coffee shop only but to my surprise, there was a spacious tent at the back packed with guests.

Every time I visit an Arabic coffee shop, I knew only two items to order – shisha and Turkish coffee. And so I ordered the same in Moulin Rouge.

However, something caught my attention. There was a small booth with glass walls besides the entrance door. The man inside in red shirt was busy swirling on the air a piece of what seemed a white thin sheet. Curious, I stepped closer to the booth. I came to know that the white thin sheet was actually a dough.

With his crooked English, he told me he was making an Egyptian Pastry, one of the sought after item in the menu. I believed him because all the while we were there; people came, wait for 10-15 minutes and left with boxes of his freshly baked pastry.

I interviewed him while observing his baking skill. According to him, it runs in his family for generations. He said it was an Egyptian style pizza and it tasted better than Pizza Hut. I simply smiled because I could not affirm anything for I hadn’t tasted it yet.

He was busy kneading the dough. Then later the cupful dough turned into a very thin sheet after he spinned it on the air. Then it was ready for stuffing which I opted for cheese.

Shortly our order came. Fresh from the oven, it was hot and looked very yummy. After a bite, I was convinced. His pastry was better than Pizza Hut, no doubt about it.  

No wonder that there was constant influx of customers waiting for his pastry.

Price Cost:  It was AED 20 only and the serving was good for 2-3 persons.

Posted by cyramilesvaldez in Dining and tagged , ,
24 Nov 2009
10 Comments

How am I Saving 70% of my Telephone Bill?

Photo Credit: www.freeclipartnow.com

It all started with the YM (Yahoo Messenger) offline messages from my mum in September this year. Through the help of her younger colleague, she learned to open her yahoo account and to send messages to us (I and my brother).

I was ecstatic because I knew Mum. At her age (mid 60s), we can’t expect her to be techie at all. A simple feature in her mobile phone can be extremely complicated for her.

Since she learned to send messages in YM, my brother and I received daily messages. To catch us online, she will rush to her faculty room every break time because by then, we are up already and at work. Then for few minutes we chat.

By the time we have our lunch break, my Mum is already at home where unfortunately she doesn’t have internet. She can only access her YM at her workplace hence it limits our time chat.

So, we decided to purchase her a desktop and also subscribed for internet connection. My sister, who stays and works four hours away from home, traveled and spent a weekend with Mum so she could teach her all the basics in computer from switching on to turning off the machine.

My brother and I were anticipating to chat with her the following week. To our dismay, YM had always a system glitch. Sometimes I was unable to log-in for days for whatever reasons. Then my brother introduced us to Oovoo, a web based free video conference facility.

Since then, we chat every night and weekend. Sometimes due to work demand, I need to stay late and I miss them joining in the video conference. We also demanded curfew for our Mum. With the time difference, we told Mum that she could only stay online until 11.30pm which is 7.30pm in our time. We don’t want her to suffer the next day because of lack of sleep.

On occasions where I miss the video conference with my brother, my Mum would send me a video message. Oovoo is really nice. Rather than leaving offline message at YM, Oovoo has a better option – video messages though it has also a chat facility.

With this, it slashes my phone budget by 70%. I no longer buy phone cards to call Mum and our communication nowadays is even more frequent.

Then yesterday, I discovered the 160by2.com, a website where you can send free sms in UAE, Saudi, Kuwait and few Asian countries like India, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

So now, I need only a phone card for emergency calls and when I don’t have internet access.

 

Update: I learned from a friend about smsteriod, a site for free sms. It’s actually better than the 160by2 because you can send sms anywhere in the world.

Posted by cyramilesvaldez in Bills, Frugal Tips and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
05 Nov 2009
4 Comments

Brawling for AED 10

I commute everyday to my workplace and there are two ways to do it. I can either take a public bus or taxi. You can read more about the public transportation in Abu Dhabi here.

I usually take taxi because the nearest bus stop is 15-20 minutes walk from my home.

Then last night the old taxi driver told me he would charge me AED 20. It was a blunt rip-off because for an old taxi, it generally costs me an average of AED 7 from my workplace to home.

Quite furious, I told that I would complain to the police and to my surprise, he didn’t care at all. No signs of being threaten.

At this time, I really wanted to go home and I could not spare another half an hour to wait for taxi. On the other hand, I was not really keen to give in to his blunt rip-off. Most of the times I let this kind of thing pass without any fuss because I evade stressful argument especially if the driver is kind and polite.

Unfortunately, last night’s driver was rude. So after he stopped in front of our gate, I paid him AED 10. He reacted and insisted for AED 10. At this time, I already made up my mind that I would not pay for another AED 10.

I encouraged him to call the police because I didn’t pay the extra AED 10.

He again urged. This time he became aggressive and violent, trying to hold my bag. I raised my voice and informed him that I would scream if he would ever touch me. Then I stepped out and slammed the door.

I know that it is just a small amount to fight but what I am contesting is the thought of being ripped off. For sure this taxi driver will do the same thing to other passengers.

It was unfortunate that I didn’t get his car plate number. It would have been better if I raise the complaint in the local authorities.

The old taxis will be totally phased out soon. Actually, the phase out has started already but there are still old few taxis roving around. I personally prefer to take the new taxis because the drivers are polite and they will really take you to your destination without any fuss.

If you face any misbehaving drivers, you can always call 600 535 353 to register complaints.

Posted by cyramilesvaldez in Transpo and tagged , ,

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