₦airaland Forum

Sapphire86:
..... (cont'd)

Woke up very early because I’d like to get to the dining room early. Breakfast is served from 7 – 10:30am; I noticed that I am the ONLY black and a female at that in the hotel and when I arrived the Cinnamon Room (the name for their dining room) some days back at around 9am or so, people were just staring at me. I felt very uncomfortable, so I decided to head to the Cinnamon room early and leave early. Of course, I wouldn’t have done so if I had company but what can I do? I said I was going to leave the hotel by 10am to go to Deira City Centre (DCC) for shopping but ended up leaving by 11am because the spirit of sleep was operating heavily in my life. Today was metro day; I decided to take the metro to DCC and return by cab due to shopping bags. Metro experience was really, really nice; it was my 3rd time on a train and 2nd in Dubai; I mostly travel by cabs (London never jam me yet). I really don’t know how to explain the metro system in Dubai other than it was timely, effective and costs less. 6 Dirhams got me to DCC within 2 minutes of getting my ticket; now I know I’m gonna ‘metro’ a lot these next few days.


Finally, I’m entering DCC and in my mind I was like ‘viola, my old friend’ and as expected, the whole mall was on sales! I don’t know how they were going to make profits, but I know that revenue would skyrocket. People were on ground ready to take advantage of the discounts, but the mall wasn’t crowded like Balogun market during Christmas period. Malls are everywhere so it wasn’t like there was any particular reason for everyone to camped at the same place that’s why Ikeja City Mall is always a no-no for me during weekends, festive periods and public holidays. I can’t endure traffic to enter mall, pray to locate parking spot and wander aimlessly at the mall because there is nothing exciting going on. Upon my ascent with the escalator, I found my Etisalat store and in my mind, I was like ‘today na today, I’m getting my sim’ but I was in for a surprise. I asked the man who was in charge of ticketing about the sim and he asked if I had my passport, to which I responded ‘yes’. Just when he was about printing my ticket number, I asked him the cost of a sim and he said ‘105 Dirhams’ and as a prudent person I sharply calculated the cost of a sim, airtime and data and estimated to be at least $50, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Anybody that urgently needs to reach me can contact me on my WhatsApp. I would rather use that $50 to shop for clothes (lol).

It seems all the malls in Dubai are always on sales, a gentleman's way to steal money from people. How did you come about your conversion rates (it's less than $50)?

Doctors are running abroad, Boko haram and fulani herdsmen are terrorizing, Corruption is yet to be defeated. The only one thing you want Buhari to do is to defeat PDP.



There's something wrong with you

Op, please change the topic

When the both of them started following each other, did you bring up the news here?


Op, take time

Trash!!

Sapphire86:
..... (cont'd)

Before I could say my name, the spirit of shopping had entered me, and I was going from store to store looking for the best prices. The more discounts a store offered, the more likely I would be there. There were stores waiting to take your money – Victoria’s Secret, H & M, shoe express, you name it, Dubai had it! I couldn’t go to all stores because as a normal human being, I knew what I had with me so why bother with what I couldn’t afford at the moment? Even those I could afford, I eventually got tired of going from one store to the other but made sure I made good of my expensive cab fare to Mirdif. The mall was going to be on sales for 3 days straight, but I knew I wasn’t coming back so let me just buy what I could and leave.


Had a full day the next day (Friday) – went to church in Bur Dubai and after service decided to take a stroll before cabbing to my hotel. My aim of the stroll was to – buy a sim card, possibly change money and shop at a supermarket. For some reason I can’t explain, I love supermarket shopping especially when I’m outside Nigeria. The bigger the better and the cheaper, the happier I am. I entered a plaza and the whole plaza was on a 4-day sale, I was like ‘ah, ah, Dubai is not playing’. I entered and changed money (I change according to my day and needs; I didn’t want to do bulk changing) before proceeding to shop. I entered a store and got 1 charger, 2 watches and a Guess perfume for 200 AED! I was loving my time in Bur Dubai. Then I went to the supermarket and all hell broke loose. Supermarket was on sale! I am talking about real sales not what Shoprite in Nigeria will call sale. Shoprite will say they are on sale by reducing Pepsi from 100 to 94 NGN! But here, I saw SALES!! First, I was on a chocolate mission to be precise Lindt Chocolate mission. I was tired of Shoprite charging me 1200 to 4500 for Lindt chocolate so I went ham at the supermarket. From Lindt for myself to Toblerone for my brother to Galaxy and KitKat for give away, I just bought, and I think my chocolate bill was almost or over a 100 AED (please, don’t judge me). When I was satisfied with my craving, then I toured around. They really know how to give discounts in Dubai – buy 3 Listerine and get one 1 free all still at a discounted price and so it was across all items – soaps, toothpaste etc. and people shopped! Oh, people shopped, and I wasn’t excluded. Maybe I should open a supermarket (hmmm).


Once I left the supermarket, I knew it was time to head back to my hotel. I had shopped enough for the day (or so I thought). I entered my room and slept off (after a hard day’s job shouldn’t I be tired?) but upon waking up, I decided to finally go sim-card shopping and observe my environment. I started walking without any direction in mind until I got to a bubbling area in Deira – there I saw Burger King, Dunkin Donuts etc. and finally another mall – Al Ghurair Centre! I said to myself ‘we are not shopping, just looking for an Etisalat store for a sim card’ oh boy, how I was wrong! I entered and of course, the mall was on sales (as usual) and now it’s beginning to look like it was a government decision because everywhere was on sale. Let’s just say I came out with 3 shopping bags and no sim card of any network in hand! I left the mall because I wasn’t supposed to be shopping but looking for sim card store and I don’t like to spend over budget. Heading back to my hotel thinking while giving myself a pep talk on curbing the shopping spirit Dubai has unleashed by declaring sales in every plaza and mall because slowly BUT surely, money was leaving my purse. Sufficient is the stress of Friday shopping, Saturday is another day.

From an etisalat sim-card to a shopping spree, very nice!

Wonder why you had to carry lots of cash on you, just to get an etisalat sim card.

Sapphire86:
Food is ready

thank you

Sapphire86:
Food is ready

thank you

Sapphire86:
I thought the immigration at the airport had undergone reformation some years back, but I guess they are now back to their ‘business as usual’ mode of operation. Only in Nigerian airport do immigration officers harass Nigerians and ask for tip/bribe. In the few countries I have been to, not one immigration officer has ever asked for money not even those in other African countries. Clearly, it is a Nigerian thing!


Honestly, my opinion of workers (both immigration officers & airline staff) at the airport is that they probably are angry or jealous when they see fellow Nigerians escaping sorry leaving the country. I stand to be corrected but that’s how I feel. Now, I know that Nigerians are angry naturally – angry at their choice of a president, angry prices are skyrocketing but salary is stagnant or even nose-diving, angry at traffic, angry at the economy, you name it! We are angry! But they are polite to foreigners and even celebrities, but they will just be squeezing face and acting drama for regular folks. I don’t have time for their drama, I simply just have a discussion (long or short) with their Maker (God).


Finally, I board my Emirates flight to DXB and issa breeze. The cabin crew were nice and white (lol) I wonder why no African heck even Nigerian was on board; maybe they are on American route . Usually, my observation of cabin crew ladies was that they were HOTTTT and YOUNG. Now, these crew members were not ugly, but you could see that they were veterans in the game. Where were all the young and short-skirted ladies? Maybe they are still in Emirates Aviation Academy! I am not gay or bi but it always amused me how those young cabin crew would strut around the plane attending to passengers, very eager to please. Or maybe they were assigned to the first and business class cabins (oh Lord, bless me na), only time would tell. I always observe the uniform of the cabin crew of airlines and I must say Emirates does it for me. Their uniform from their head to their shoes with their bright red lipstick is always on point. Heck, their uniform makes me want to be part of the Emirates crew but then I know that I would eventually roll my eyes at some passengers so why start something only to get written up?


Flight EK 782 to DXB was great; the cabin crew served and served from an hour after take-off till 30 minutes before landing but Business & First class was from sitting down to 30 minutes before landing (oh Lord, I need an upgrade). It was really flowing; Pepsi to red wine, juice to champagne; food to biscuits. The aroma of the food woke me (yes, it was that strong and that nice)! I ate with a ‘last supper’ appetite while still applying decorum (of course). The entertainment was on point; though was a bit disappointed because Wedding Party 2 ‘narrowly missed’ the list of movies shown; I thought the movie cost would be taken from my flight ticket (pleaseee, I had heard about the mixed reviews and I was not about to waste 2.5k for that could-be disappointment). I guess the reviews must be correct if the movie hype didn’t last long the way the first one did!

Landed in DXB; journey was smooth, but the landing was smoother. It was my 2nd time at the Dubai Airport and things had certainly changed! The airport was like a beautiful 5-star hotel; I am not exaggerating or acting like someone straight out of the village but if you know how the airport of my birth country looks like, you will appreciate the beauty and grandeur of the Dubai International Airport. It is beautiful, elegant, classy and looks like Arab money on a mission. The immigration officers were polite but not friendly (at least the one who checked me in wasn’t but since I wasn’t stressed, why should I care? He’s done his job, now it’s my turn to do mine which is turn up). Changing money at the airport was just an unavoidable evil – expensive but necessary; the beauty was that I wasn’t changing ALL at the airport (I know their tricks & tariffs so I wasn’t falling for it). This is where I give credit to O.R. Tambo Airport Johannesburg, their rates were much friendlier. The lady the Travelex booth in Dubai Airport was like ‘oh, why not change $200? If you don’t finish spending it, you can change it back at the same rate when you come back’. In my mind I was like ‘I wasn’t sent to come and guarantee your May salary after charging 15 AED for $100’. It’s very hard to bring Dirham back to the airport because Dubai has everything that will enable you spend and even spend on credit. This wasn’t my first time in Dubai so let nobody come and give me fairy tales.

.... to be continued. Thanks to everyone reading and following

Even some Nigerian are tired of being Nigerians.
Pls, tag me when you post any update

biacan:
You fine.....

You fine? Fine or not fine HML!

All his songs sound almost the same.

I kinda liked his touch on jogodo tho

chukxie:
Why should he or any traveler for that matter tip immigration, custom officers or officers of any other agencies at the airport? Nigeria is terribly messed up because acts that would land people in other countries in jail are seen as normal here.

Like you said sir, Nigeria is terribly messed up. Every Nigerian knows that

The same thing wey carry one aboki go UK, na him make this aboki comment on a foriegn thread.




See the way he carry Obama care for head

Sapphire86:
Immigration officer #200?? they are greedy oooo

Oh okay

Op overwhelmed does exist, and literally too.
How did you come about this anyway?

Just make enough money, and you would be fine

Following

Although I have never left the shores of this country, but I think giving #200 to the second officer could have saved you a lot of stress. Judging from the fact that you were stuck in traffic and angry with uber driver.

Okay

See as fiat almost cover everywhere, make them stick to trucks abeg

mrdashing10:
Olosho!! She has bleached everywhere..

It's like you have been to every where

Okay

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