July 25, 2024
Day D9: A Brotherly Sendoff
It was definitely a hungover morning. I didn’t even know where I was upon waking up. The room seemed familiar yet not. Finally I realized it was the original Airbnb room. These constant switches and the alcohol were doing a number on my head.
Thankfully I had planned for this inebriated state in advance by securely locking away all valuables in easy to locate places. As well, all the bags for departure were packed the afternoon prior and laid out nicely by the door for a quick check out today. Another line of defense involved only bringing a credit card, phone, and small bills of cash to the party. The only need was to safeguard the credit card and phone then not think about anything else.
Despite how this would be a time crunch, I still wanted to do a fitness class, basically the last one at Orange Theory Dubai Nation.
I drank two full bottles of water then bought two more for the fitness class. It was obvious that I was severely dehydrated and this was becoming a major problem during the trip that I wasn’t taking care of enough. Even after all those bottles of water I was still thirsty after the class so I drank more.
Thankfully it was an easy class and a perfect hangover cure. The music of one of the songs the coach played was exactly like God speaking to me. In fact it was. Just like the song said and also my life coach, we can trust God. The more we trust God, the more he reveals himself to us. This trip was all the proof I needed.
Relax, take your time, and take your time, to trust in me
And you will find infinity, infinity
I chatted with the other people after class and one of them was a doctor from the US who had traveled to Armenia many times and basically started planning my trip for me. He said, “You must do a tour of the brandy factory. Do a brandy tasting tour, it will be unforgettable.” I said，“It could also be very dangerous” and we both laughed. He then said, “Did you also know that both the French and the Armenians are competing for who deserves to have the title for the best cognac in the world? The French got very jealous of Armenia's success and said only they could use that name. They got into a dispute over this.” I said, “That’s cool, and only the French would react like that.” I then fact checked him and he was completely correct.
He also said, “Have you booked a hotel yet? If not, I highly recommend the Marriot. It’s a 5 star hotel right in the center of town and there is a top floor with a swimming pool overlooking the city, it is absolutely beautiful. Great room service and bar service too, you won’t be disappointed. I stay with Marriot no matter where I travel”
This guy was giving some pretty good tour advice. He went on to say, “Another thing you should do is visit all these small underground cocktail bars. Don’t go to the main ones on the bar street, go looking for the hole in the wall places. The ones I went to did the most amazing cocktails and all sorts of attention to detail. Best Bloody Mary’s I’ve ever had, the bartenders take extreme care and are proud of their work.” He showed me one picture after the other and I assured him I would do this.
He said, “One more thing you should do is hire a driver for the day and go exploring these taverns in the mountains, you can sit there on top and enjoy the beautiful view while drinking and let your driver take care of you. It’s only $40 to hire the driver all day.” I said, “Wow, seriously? That’s a fabulous deal.” I was really liking the sound of all this. He showed me all sorts of pictures on his phone and I was struck by how beautiful it was.
There was of course the possibility to do all this on a bike also and yes, finally, the biking is going to happen in Armenia.
I thanked him very much for the advice and said my goodbyes to the other members and staff. They said, “You’re welcome back any time. We loved having you here. When is your next trip to Dubai?” I said, “I haven’t a clue. Hopefully in six months from now but there is so much chaos going on in my life that needs sorting so I don’t really have a plan. Once things settle I will look into coming back. For now all I can say is Dubai really changed my life and so did you guys.”
On that note, my mentor friend back in Shanghai wrote that "Holy shit man, your life has more twists and turns than the US presidential election. I can see how stressful this all is for you. China has become unliveable, you have reached your limit, and you are now facing these massive life decisions. Thank goodness you're hiring life coaches and not trying to tackle all this on your own. Definitely listen to the advice they are giving you."
All this had been eating at me inside for months if not years. I was watching my mental health deteriorate right in front of my eyes ever since the covid lockdowns. Maybe even well before the pandemic. My life coach yesterday basically said, "If you delay this, you know exactly what will happen. You will lose all the momentum you built up. It will be one more year, then one more, then 10 years will go by, and you'll be standing at your grave wondering what happened with nothing but regrets for why you didn't make a move."
Truth be told I actually had a general life plan which is more than most people could say. But for the immediate future I had nothing. I was simply going to wing it until something happened.
With all this prior chat having happened, I was now back at the Airbnb and realizing that time was against me in more ways than one. All I could do was focus on today. If I was going to make this flight later in the afternoon I would have to hustle. Was it a regret to do that fitness class? Sort of, but if not, I never would have gotten all that amazing tour advice from the doctor. Thankfully my host was around the house. We bumped into each other, and she helped call a taxi. I picked up any items that still needed picking up. Unfortunately it was more than expected. By the time I left, I realized there was a mess of about 4-5 hastily packed bags from yesterday including the folding bike bag.
This whole thing was going to be a recipe for disaster. If anything could go wrong, this was now the perfect time for it to happen. My host even said, “Why did you bring that bike to Dubai if you never even rode it?” I said, “I will ride it in Armenia” and then it clicked for her as to what my plans were all along.
We chatted some more and the taxi arrived. I put down an extra 200 dirhams on the table, that much more than what I owed her simply because she was that great of a host. I even told her, “You are the best host I ever had.” She teared up a little, said thanks a lot and we hugged goodbye. She also helped put some bags in the taxi along with the driver and said, “Make sure to tip him, he is doing a great job for you.”
The plan was supposed to be a taxi to the bus station but it didn’t quite work out that way. The taxi driver started asking me all these questions, beginning with “Is she your mother?” I said, “No she’s actually my host" but then at that point I realized she was Mom Version 2.0. She will be called that from now on going forward. This is actually how it should be, you have a Mom like that and a Dad who plays golf and bridge every day in Pattaya while hanging out with bargirls at night in his compound.
The taxi driver kept on asking questions and I caught onto his game very quickly. He ascertained that I was going to Abu Dhabi airport and first needed to take a bus. He asked, “Will the bus even let you take all that luggage on? What time is the bus? Do you know the schedule?” I said, “I don’t know the schedule, I’ll show up at the bus station and buy a ticket for the next bus to the airport.” He then asked, “What time is your flight?” I said “5pm” and he said, “Well you got time, it is only 12:30pm now so over 4 hours. You’ll be fine.
As we got closer he said, “Maybe the bus isn’t a good idea. Why not a share taxi? I can introduce you one. It’s only 60 dirhams.” I said, “Sounds like a plan boss"
He then asked, “So what’s going on brother? You have all these bags packed like your mother kicked you out of the house or something." I said, “My life is a mess and I don’t even have a fucking plan for what to do next. My life is exactly like these bags. What’s more my life is these bags and my life is in these bags. Everything is there but thankfully it is a minimal amount of stuff.”
He said, “You sure wouldn’t want to lose any of it. And look at you brother, you’ve got like two mobile phones in one bag, a shaver in another, a loose laptop here and another bag there. What the fuck is going on with you brother? You gotta be real careful with all that shit especially when we’re at the bus station. That’s why I’m saying the bus is no good”
I tried to tell him my life story in dribs and drabs. He said, “You need to find a job in the Middle East. Tons of options for you brother. If you work in Dubai you can make 10,000 dirhams a month it’s more than enough. The schools also pay for accommodation and transport. You’ll have plenty of spending money. Maybe they pay more, who knows, don’t quote what I said. Ask for more.
I said, “I’ll do what I can and keep on traveling until something gets figured out.”
He then said, “So did your wife leave you or something? Brother you really need to tell me what’s going on.” I told him a few more dribs and drabs and he was evidently very curious. I then understood more the reason for all this hospitality and these questions. In the Islam religion, Prophet Muhammed was a traveler. He also faced massive life uncertainty and challenges and traveled on a quest for meaning. In the process he founded one of the world’s greatest religions. His famous quote was "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler along a path." Where he traveled exactly I don't know, it would be interesting to find out. Maybe it wasn't very far from where I was just now.
He then said “Why not Saudi? The rules have changed a lot. Less restrictions now. The crown prince Muhammed Bin Salman is a badass, I love this guy. You know women can drive there now too. I’m sure you know that. Also they don’t have to wear that veil like before. Things are really opening up. You can even drink alcohol in more places, it is getting easier.” I wasn’t sure how to fact check everything that this guy was saying but it definitely corroborated with what the other Saudis said in Thailand on my previous trip. It turns out he may have been jumping the gun a bit because the first liquor store only serves diplomats. But there is no doubt that alcohol will soon be available in more places in Saudia Arabia.
Just out of curiosity I had to ask, “Are you from Saudi” to which he said, “I sure as hell am. Great place man, you really need to check it out.”
We arrived at the bus station and it was totally unfamiliar. It didn't look like a bus station. I then began to ask the question, “Just out of curiosity, how much if you drive me to the Abu Dhabi airport?“ He said “Around 300 dirhams” and I countered with “What about 250?” and he said, “Sorry bro, I would say yes but we have to use the meter. The government controls the taxis very strictly. But don’t worry about it, let me hook you up with a share taxi.“
At that moment, a friendly chap from Pakistan ‘just happened’ to be at the place where my taxi driver dropped me off. Oh how convenient was that! I knew the game here. He spoke something to him and they went back and forth. Although the price was supposed to 60 dirhams, he upped it to 100 because of all my luggage including the folding bike. As I agreed to the deal, the two went back and forth some more and I’m sure my cabbie got his commission. He also got a tip from me too so he made double. But this guy was brilliant, he deserved it all and more.
We then started hauling bags in the heat to one of several dropoff points. This later led into an escalator going up into some massive shopping mall. Thankfully it was air conditioned. As this went on and the walk got longer, more and more people came out of nowhere and offered to help. One black guy took one bag, a lady from India took another, someone else offered to help, and the Pakistani driver and I both shared the load from the bike bag. But he was keeping up such a brisk pace I was sweating bullets. It dawned me that all these people were passengers in the share taxi and we were all making our way to his car which was very, very, very, very, very far away. These people could be trusted, but the length of this walk was excruciating.
We finally made it to his car way off in the middle of nowhere at the edge of some empty parking lot. To this day I don’t know how I was so slow for not figuring this out earlier. I blame it on the hangover that was partially cured by the fitness class. All the clues were extremely obvious: this was an illegal taxi operation. Maybe even a kidnapping. The Pakistani taxi driver was friendly and we both called each other brother as you do. But since this was an illegal taxi, you know for sure he was going to drive extremely fast. Sure enough he sped out like a bat of hell and exceeded 140 km/h on the freeway, only slowing down periodically for speed cameras. Still this was extremely fun. As we sped off in the desert he asked, “What music do you like brother? You decide for all of us.” I said, “It’s gonna be hiphop, boss” And it was so. There were black guys in the taxi also so it was a win/win choice for everyone. This was another magical moment. Here we were pumping out hiphop music in an illegal taxi blasting away in the desert. This trip had not only achieved liftoff, we were in outer space by this point.
Not surprisingly we got to the destination in no time but he dropped me off in the middle of nowhere. He said, “Sorry brother I have to do this, but the taxi is not allowed in the airport.” I was puzzled by that and still clueless to everything while he found me another taxi. He was in a ferocious hurry and started shoving bags here and there and forcing stuff in the taxi including the folding bike bag. I told him to please slow down. While this was going on I was trying my very best to watch all the bags vigilantly as well as keep an eye on my most valuable stuff. This brought back scary flashbacks when something very similar happened in Nanchang China in 2010 and I forgot a key valuable bag in an illegal share taxi with everything including my passport. The driver at the time sped off. If I wasn’t very careful at this precarious situation I was in, the same thing could happen again. Just like then, and also now, everyone was in a fucking hurry.
The final taxi driver was a lot less nice than I was. He said to the Pakistani guy, “Watch it brother!! Don’t damage my car. Who do you think you are acting like this, and who said you could just barge in like this?” The two argued some more and I was getting worried this could escalate fast. I tried to diffuse the situation by being friendly with the Pakistani. In the end he shook my hand and smiled and said, “It is really nice meeting you brother” and then he sped off. All my stuff was securely in this final Abu Dhabi taxi and I took a seat in the front.
As he drove to the airport he said, “That guy from Pakistan is a very dirty man. He had no right to just barge in like that. And if he damages my car, who has to pay for it？ That’s right, me!”
I let him calm down a bit as he continued to drive and he said, “You realize, don’t you, that the share taxi you just took was illegal?" I honestly didn’t. My smiling and friendly replies were not working to break the ice as usual with this guy. He said a few more things and gave me that look to say this is serious business and how could you be so stupid.
He elaborated by saying, “If the police catch him, he will be fined 25,000 dirhams. And what’s more the police will fine you, yes YOU, and will be charged 1000 dirhams along with every other passenger sitting in that hell on wheels. That’s why the driver acted the way he did and was in such a hurry, he was scared that the police would catch him.”
At that point I finally clued in. He looked at me to say wow you really are dumb but you get it. I told him, “Honestly brother I didn’t know any of this. I’m only traveling here on a holiday and the very first taxi driver recommended this share taxi instead of a bus.” The ice was starting to melt a little bit. The taxi driver said, “Well you know that the first guy obviously got commission. How much did you pay for the share taxi?” I told him 100 dirhams and he said, “They ripped you off, it is only supposed to be 60” I said, “Yeah I realize that but with all this luggage I still thought it was a fair deal and we all got along great.” He said, ”It doesn’t matter, you still paid too much.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little because at first he was scolding me for being so dumb to take an illegal share taxi but now was saying I should have paid a cheaper price. I gave him a nice tip on arrival. One excellent thing about all is that people were at least willing to break the rules and there was a grey market for it. The people in China have become so much like sheep that even those who used to run illegal business all stopped it and are now on the side of the law. Or so we think. Maybe it has all gone deeper and deeper underground.
But as we drove up to the airport I was astonished at how modern and beautiful it was. Words cannot describe it so will just show pictures.
This had only opened about 8 months and can most easily beat China for modern airports. This is actually a major loss of face for the Chinese government because their propaganda constantly brags about how their airports are so much more modern and safer than the US. But the UAE has them both beat. It's not even a competition. Besides how great the airport looked, it actually had functional stuff including a printing service which I needed since I thought I had lost my Armenia visa. It had all sorts of other amenities and conveniences that no other airport in China would even come close to having such as CUSTOMER SERVICE. Now let that sink in.
The taxi driver saw all my haphazardly packed bags and said, “Why you do like this brother? Watch your stuff, especially your mobile phone.” Nice guy and nice advice, but he could have walked out and given me a luggage cart for the tip I gave him instead of just talking this way and driving off. Even so I have to admit he was right in some aspects.
By now it was well over 3 hours before the flight so tons of time. I bought some much needed water and snacks then went about the process of repacking all the bags properly. It took almost an hour but the finished product was much better than the initial rush out of here. Honestly I had no idea how long it was going to take to get here and expected the worst. That illegal share taxi actually saved the day.
Checking in was a bit of a mess as you would expect for a budget airline. It took a very very long time. All of a sudden that 3 hours early proved to be necessary. I had forgotten to check in online for seats and that penalty cost me 190 dirhams. Such is life with budget airlines, they will ding you for anything. Thankfully I had pre-booked sports equipment. There were no other issues.
Once through passport control and security I realized it was already boarding time and if I didn’t run I would miss my flight. One major drawback of how large this airport was that it meant horrendously long walks, or in this case runs to make the right. As I got closer to the area I heard the dreadful announcement, “Final call for Wizz Air flight to Yerevan. If you don’t make it on time we will offload your luggage.” This scared me to no end I gave it everything I fucking had to run the last 500 meters to the gate with my hands full of carry on bags. I was sweating bullets then realized an obvious truth: if not for my fitness journey, I would 100% miss my flight. Or to state it in inverse, because of fitness I was going to make it. I knew I could do this.
When I got on the plane of course I was the last one. The flight attendant said, “Are you OK sir? You look red.” I said, “I’m fine, I just ran nearly a kilometer to get here from security because this airport is so huge. They made an announcement saying it was the last call and they were going to offload my luggage. There was no choice, I had to run like hell.”
She said, “Well you made it! Here, just relax. Put all your stuff down here at the front of the plane, we’ll take care of you. Have some water sir, here are some tissues. You are victorious!” The captain was right beside the flight attendant when all this happened and he basically said similar things and directed this whole operation. They were both super nice people.
I then showed her my boarding pass and she said, “No, don’t follow the seat order. You can sit here in the front at a window seat with premium economy. Captain’s orders. What else would you like sir?” I said “Just water it’s fine. You guys are a great airline!”
This was really exceptional service to say the least. The flight then took off and it was another stunner.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
On a related note, when this war finally ends, we could possibly expect massive investment and tech cooperation between Ukraine and the Gulf countries. This is one hopeful scenario. A guy I regularly follow on Mercado Media frequently goes to Kyiv even now and taught me a lot about how advanced their technology is. Some of the best in the world. We can only dream but that circled void could be filled with investment and airline routes. Wouldn’t you want to be based in a Gulf country over the next 10-15 years if that happens?
Taking this one step further, Kamala Harris would be the ideal president for the US to get this momentum going. She would throw her weight more into helping Ukraine. But we'll see what happens.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |