Asia living in Asia

07/04/2023

Kite Beach cycling.

19/12/2022

You gotta love this city.

26/06/2022

21/06/2022

Just a reminder.⁠
If he wants to, he will.⁠
And if he wanted to, he would've.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

31/12/2021

The first and the last day of rain in Dubai this year 🥳

Sound on to hear the joy out of the rain in the desert.

08/10/2021

When in doubt, walk it out.
And so I did.

There is a list of certain rules in Dubai that don't fully make sense. When walking around places like Bluewaters, you might be approached by security guys asking you not to use the camera. You can use your phone and take pictures, but not a camera. What is the difference between the two? You can take better pictures with an iPhone than with an older camera. Often they could be of the same quality. So what is the difference for security guys? They don't know. Every time I asked them why, they said they don't know, or they shrugged their shoulders.
Someone asked them to prevent people from taking photos with a professional camera, so this is what they're doing. They never asked why. They don't reflect if it makes sense, or if there is logic behind it. They don't ask questions, just do what someone from the top decided needs to be done.

There are good things coming out of it. When the pandemic started, no one here was questioning lockdown, even during Ramadan, and definitely, no one was saying that having to wear face masks (till this day) is against their freedom. I guess people here have a different understanding of what freedom is, or at least which part of it they are willing to give away.
Or they're used to making collective efforts to make the situation better for everyone.
Or they're not used to speaking up.
After 1,5 years of living here, I still don't know what is the right reason. Why do people obey all the rules here so easily? I don't think the answer is obvious.

Dubai, UAE
September 2021

03/08/2020

Last day of 2019.
Still in Warsaw, not knowing what new year will bring.