— witsandnuts

I spent almost half of the weekend in Dubai for two main reasons. One of which was to hand over some items to a newly married close friend who was flying to Manila that night. (Her husband would follow a week later. We were discussing that he would be doing the home chores alone the whole week. Since he’s not fond of washing the dishes, I advised that he buys disposable plates and other utensils. Heehee. Rather than to leave a messy kitchen and dining table.) As I needed to cancel my trip back home this December, I better ship through her such contrabands which are not safe to be sent through air or sea cargo. Another close friend was coming over to their house, with the assumption that she already took lunch, we consumed all the edibles. It turned out that she has not.

So we drove around, hopping from one possible source of ready to eat lunch to the other. As it was Ramadan, it was like searching for a needle during a brown out. We’ve proven once again how (generally) aggressive is Dubai compared to Abu Dhabi. In the latter, you will not find fastfood chains and restaurants and even non-food establishments until Iftar (normally at 7:00 PM) during Ramadan. Luckily, we found a Mc Donald’s and Krispy Kreme outlets housed in separate gasoline stations serving food for take-away.

We can’t wait until we reach their house. That though there’s an obvious risk that we’ll get caught through the radar/secretly installed government cameras, we munched on the Mc Donald’s munchies inside the car. As we tried to discreetly eat, I exclaimed, “Mas masarap ang fries ng Mc Donald’s ngayon!” It follows that when it’s forbidden, it challenges the appetite.

The other day, an Emirati colleague and I were talking about how we spent the weekend. I mentioned about that particular disobedience to Ramadan rules that I observed in Dubai. She can’t believe it at first. The next thing I know, she was already calling a hotline to report that misconduct.

Ngeee, that’s how to be an instant whistleblower. I’m glad I skipped the part that we ate discreetly in a public place (read: inside the car, still we were on the road) and how I/we enjoyed it. Otherwise, my friends and I are in great danger.