First Day in the Office

I woke up early around 5.00 a.m and suddenly got the mood to exercise. I thought of going to the hotel gymnasium but later decided to do push up and stationary run in my room. After shower and prayer, I dressed up (to kill) and rehearsed my smile and introductory line in front of the mirror - "Hi my name is Syamsulfaiz from Kuala Lumpur. I come to report to work".

I arrived at the office at 7.00 a.m and the office was still closed. At 8.00 a.m I checked again and met the receptionist. I was greeted by the HR manager and a few secretaries. They were all beautiful Arab ladies. They ushered me to my new room which I share with other 2 lawyers. My room have a wall sized window facing Sheikh Zayed Road and the sea ! The two partners who interviewed me, came in to shake hand. They were very friendly and good looking. Then a new partner from Canada also came in to my room. He also arrived for the first day same like me. He told me that he used to stay in Bangsar for 3 years. I also met a Malaysian lawyer who has been in Dubai for 3 years. I think I have seen him before in a seminar in Kuala Lumpur. Later we went for teh tarik session but in Starbuck Coffee. A very nice fellow.

"Hi my name is Syamsulfaiz from Kuala Lumpur"

My new battle station.

I noticed all the male lawyers coming to the office in full suit. So this is a new office culture that I must quickly adapt. Luckily I also wore my new suit. Also not to forget, all the office boys were wearing bow tie and vest. They look like hotel butlers, smart and sharp. My office also have Public Relation Officers (PROs), who I guess, are in charge of public relations with lawyers, clients and authorities. They were very friendly to me. All the personnel in the office are of diverse nationalities. I have met Australian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Indian, Egyptian, Canadian and Malaysian.

It was dark outside around 6.00p.m. If it is clear you can see the Persian Gulf

I asked to join my room mate lawyer for lunch. We went to the nearest grocery store and bought lunch packs. Then we ate lunch on one of the benches near Dubai International Financial Centre. Very quick lunch and delicious food. The cost was AED10 but my new friend bought it for me. He is a very kind fellow. I was the only guy wearing a full suit at that time and felt awkward. It was in a middle of the day, hot but I wasn't sweating. Don't want to jatuh standard ok !

After lunch the HR manager briefed me on the next steps for my residence visa and labour card application. Tomorrow I will have to attend a medical check up. They have fixed an appointment for me in a private hospital near Jumeirah. The cost will be AED650. I wanted to go out and buy a new mobile sim card, but one of the PROs volunteered to do it for me and he promised to get a nice number for me.

Feeling bored at my place doing nothing, I went to see a partner in my department and borrowed a few law textbooks from him. He told me they were not many English textbooks but if I can read Arabic then I can read more law books as they were written in Arabic. Refreshing my practice of reading and speaking Arabic will be a good move in Dubai.

A very improtant reading material for my line of work.

The sun sets early in Dubai like in Sarawak. It was around 6.00p.m (10.00 p.m in Malaysia) and already it was dark outside. So I just wait for 6.30pm where people leave the office to home. I looked around to see how busy their works were, but couldn't see them because all lawyers sit in their own room. I noticed a lot of Mat Salleh coming in and out for meeting with lawyers here.

So I just wait and send this entry first...

"Welcome aboard !"

Office colleagues