just walking ...ala samuel bilibit ....

15 February 2011, tuesday

i got up early, decidedly going to the bank to clear my accounts - i'm still receiving statements despite the fact that i have closed that account like ahh.. one year ago!!! and it shows now that i still have to pay them something for some charges???? aba.... naman !!!!

but then i got into bbm with my cousin, yay, hehehe and was able to leave the house like uhh .:D 11:00am hehehe .. niweiz - recharged my NOL card (bus card - these days they don't accept cash - you gotta have that NOL card which can be used for the bus and metro train rides) - mahirap nang pababain sa bus! me thinking ...... i would simply take the bus - no rush

so i arrived at the bank went to the counter - the lady was gracious enough to check my query and told me that the account is in fact already closed and that i wouldn't be receiving any more statements and that i need not pay anything! wow.. great ... done in a few minutes - my bus travel took even longer .. hehehe

as i was going out of the bank i was thinking of where to go next - i don't want to stay home - coz i will end up eating again .. ahahahaha... hmm.. so DFC or DCC .. hmmm before i knew it i was walking, walking and had walked past the bus stop .. oh well - next bus stop then.. but my feet took me somewhere else!!! i was walking .. literally walking - i guessed my mind was somewhere else and then i realised i've walking na pala for almost half an hour and was near the bur dubai bus station na. o siya, take the bus ride home .. okey - but my feet just continued walking and took me further ... passed the station and towards the souk area.. i found myself looking at some tourists feeding the seagulls near the creekside and taking pictures of them once they fly away.. i groped into my bag - :D great i have my pretty little friend - lumix! ( and yes kapatid - nakakabit ang battery heheh)... took it out and started taking shots din - feeling tourist din ba daw ako! ahahaha

i noticed there were some kabayans mounting their big cameras too.. ahh siguro mga estudyantes ito ng OPPPS (Overseas Pinoy Professional Photographers Society)... taking pictures of the seagulls and the creek views. medyo nahiya nga ako bigla kasi liit lang cam ko - pero - bakit ba? heheheh .... walang pakialamanan di ba?

sige klik-klik-klik din ako .. (lintukekong naman itong mga seagulls na ito! pakipot! hirap kunan ah! ahahaha ... pilit ba daw habulin with my pretty little lumix! more tourists pa further down .. natuwa naman ako.. wala lang .. natuwa lang ... then.. i started walking again but instead of taking an about-face - i continued forward till i reached the entrance na pala ng souk... eto i took pic din (and i grab a photo of the front from the net - i was not able to take the shot eh!)

the pic on the top is taken by yours truly... ay readable ba yung notes?!? :0

and this one was the one grabbed (and borrowed :D) from www. dubaiwall.com - nilagay ko naman dun sa pic yung source eh .. :D

i walked passed through this souk (market) to go to the abra (water taxi) station that would take me across to deira side.

here are some photos i grabbed from wikipedia showing the before and now, well that photo was taken 2007 still - and some more developments has been done to the area....

Dubai Creek - 1964

Dubai Creek - 2007

the abra ride cost 1AED (US$ 0.27 /Php.11.50) and took about 10 minutes to cross. this is better than taking the bus to Deira side which would normally take you like 30-45 minutes depende sa traffic, or mag taxi ka which would cost AED. 25/= (mahal!)... and during the ride klik-klik ulit ako sa camera ko.. a lot of changes na talaga!!! (it's been quite some time na rin na ndi ako nag-abra kasi!)

view of the Deira side of the Creek - doon ako papunta - pero sa banda pa roon.... pero further down the creek towards the Maktoum bridge you will see more landmarks of Dubai (sa susunod - turista talaga dating ko .. will set a day para talaga maggala heheh)

when i reached the other side, isip na naman ako saan ako pupunta?! when i chanced upon these cuties perched on the wooden railing....

.. cute talaga .. ndi lang ako nakalapit masyado kasi baka magliparan... ahahaha

lakad pa rin ako - i don't know nga where i was going eh .. then i saw these 2 hotels .... The Riviera Hotel and the Carlton Hotel - still standing ... brought back some memories of my early years in Dubai .. :D

then, this building - the Twin Tower, Deira also known as the 'Rolex Tower' - obviously because of that big Rolex writing on top of it! This a res/com building and houses a couple of well-branded shops/boutiques, good restaurants and a fairly good foodcourt... where we had our 'shabu-shabu' dinner ... will be going back coz the food is really nice ...

so there i was .. still walking with feet aching, was deciding to take the metro or taxi na lang pauwi .. but wait! i haven't had lunch pa pala! ... ahhh .. great ... walked past the metro station onwards to Al Ghurair Centre .. i saw McDo!!! .. hmm been craving for a burger so straight away to Mcdo - ordered.. no not beef burger - fish sandwich meal hehehe ... shackkkkss after walking for nearly 2 hours from bur dubai to deira - i ended up with mcdo meals .. ahahahaha

you might be wondering why i wrote 'samuel bilibit' on my title - hehehe .. kasi i felt like samuel bilibit - ohh in case you don't know this guy - he was cursed to walk the earth daw till he dies - a myth of sort - alam mo naman ang mga oldies. my lola used to call my cousins na gala na 'samuel bilibit' daw sila!

i took the metro train ride back to satwa, got off at jafliyah station - the feeder bus was taking ages to arrive so finally .. yes.. i took the taxi! waahhh .. AED10/= (anlapit-lapit lang - i could have walked sana kaso my feet really hurts na!)

in almost 4hours - i used 4 modes of transpo pala: bus - abra(water taxi/bangka) - metro train - taxi ... hehehehe... mura rin lang pamasahe ko.. AED. 15 something... but my mcdo meal was even costlier at AED14/-per meal ++ .. shhhhh i ordered extra apple pie (take away) and ice-cream cone (lang naman) which i bit n licked while walking to the train station .. :D

nice to be a 'samuel bilibit' for once in a while - helps you clear your mind off things .... :D