Anything happen?

Did I miss anything important while we were away?

The ID card idea been scrapped? The RTA has decided that private cars are an acceptable form of transportation? Public and private sectors will be treated equally?

No?

I guessed not. I assumed nothing much would have changed, although I must say it seems to be much quieter around town.

We arrived back on Thursday evening, it took several hours to walk from the aircraft to the exit, we came through the 'nothing to declare' channel and as always were picked out to have our bags scanned.

I must practice not looking furtive.

The Singapore Airlines flight was the emptiest plane I've ever been on. No-one in First Class, five in Business and perhaps thirty or forty in Economy. On a 777-300 designed to hold 332 passengers - or 'customers' as they irritatingly insist on calling us.

The airport was all-but empty, the taxi driver said business is not good, Mall of the Emirates at lunchtime Friday was very quiet, the restaurants were doing minimal trade, even the checkout queues at Carrefour were only one or two deep. The roads today have very light traffic...I think I might like this slowdown.

In spite of the lack of traffic I was welcomed back by typical Dubai driving. Doing eighty in the Al Sufouh Road eighty zone I had a blonde bimbo in a big 4x4 tailgating me while waving her hands about. Then from Madinat Jumeirah to MoE a taxi driver screaming up behind me flashing his lights. My body clock is still on Sydney time, I'm tired, I'm irritable and it's not easy to sit in the car ignoring them when the alternative of confrontation is so much more appealing.

The holiday was a few nights in Singapore, a couple of weeks in Oz from which I have several hundred photos to be uploaded and sorted through. When that's done I'll post a few, so I'd better get on with it...