The Dress That Saved The Day (A Tale of Three Visas)

Yesterday, I related how I learned the virtue of patience through my experience in processing the renewal of my children's UAE visas.

As if the days of waiting were not enough, my experience in getting the residence visas stamped on the passports was also eventful. It started at around 1:30pm when I sped from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, as soon as I received the SMS approval for the last visa.

Considering the drive to be 1.5 hours, I expected to reach Dubai at around 3pm, hope to finish fast and come back to Abu Dhabi in time to fetch the kids around 5:00(ish). I used the fastest route I knew from the office- the Sheikh Zayed Tunnel.

As soon as I entered the tunnel there was a notice on the electronic boards - "Tunnel congested. Expect delays."

"Darn!", I thought. "Really now?"

Guess what, the maximum speed limit displayed was even updated to 20kph! Geez!

Instead of just a couple of minutes to get through the tunnel, it took me 20 minutes. Stuck, I was thinking what could have caused such a big congestion.

My question was answered a few meters from the end of the tunnel:

A stalled taxi.

I was stuck in traffic for around 20 minutes in a hot afternoon because of a stalled taxi!Great.

I also noticed that it was hot yesterday. The temperature was ranging from 40-43°C, hottest as I reached the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.

As I approached Dubai, I presumed what could have been causing the hot weather was a sand storm(that's how it seemed to me) that I could see from the horizon. It was dreary, the sky was a faint brown.

A few minutes more and I passed the Ibn Batutta area and there in front of me I could see a building with it's tip emitting black smoke. Ahhhm, could it be a restaurant's smoke from it's kitchen?! I doubt. It was a high rise building and the smoke was too dark.

FIRE. The building was on fire. I concluded.

I confirmed my assumption as I reached the JLT area and saw the tip of the building had flame. The fire trucks were also busy getting to the location.

Almas Tower in JLT on fire.

My Destination. FINALLY.

I finally reached the Al Manara Municipality Center at around 3.30pm. It is actually a place where different Dubai government transactions could be carried out- Immigration office just being one of them.

As I approached the reception, the security came to me.

"Where to?" he asked.

"I am here to stamp residence visa," I answered.

"Yes, it is here, but sorry you cannot enter."

Say wuuuttt?! I drove all the way from Abu Dhabi just to be sent away?!

"Sorry ma'am but your dress is too short," he said. "If I let you in, I will be in trouble with my supervisor."

He advised me to go and change.

My skirt was a little above the knee. I was even wearing a blazer and I thought I looked formal enough. Then I remembered the last time I was also not allowed inside a government building because I wore a "slightly" short dress. "I need to do something," I thought. "I did not go all the way from Abu Dhabi for nothing.

I called my aunt to check whether she knew of any place where I could buy a pair of leggings or something to wrap my legs with in the area. Her suggestions just led to me going to the area near the Immigration office which gave me a verbal rejection on the visas. I did not want to go there to jeopardize my agenda all the more.

I went back to the car and rummaged through the compartment. Then I saw this old brown dress, which was actually one of the clothes we gathered when we called for help for a fellow UAE steemian whose home got burned in the Philippines. AHA! I did not even bother putting the sun shades up. In my car, I made possible the fashion statement of the year!

I wrapped the dress around my thighs so that it would be beneath my skirt. Viola! A knee-length skirt!

Once again, I have realized that our ingenuity and resourcefulness is just within us.

...creativity is something we all have and most of the time will accidentally unlock the best in us in the most unexpected time! (Hive account@virgo27)

So I went back inside the building, modeling my new fashion creation. I was greeted by the security again, who gave me a thumbs up- "Yes, this is much better ma'am. Immigration is there at the last counter."

I got a number and waited for a few minutes. Eleven counters were open and there were 20 waiting before me but it did not really take a long time.

At last, my number flashed the screen and I went to the immigration officer and gave my application forms. I was ready (ahhm, actually praying otherwise) for the possibility of being asked to pay 3 days of fines for the 2 kids but one by one, the Officer took the passports and sticked the visas. No fines! The validity was back dated to the renewal date (March 21) for Little Miss and Little Monster while Kuya's visa which I renewed prematurely was dated April 21.

All of these happened in less than 30 minutes. At 4.30pm, after making some official phone calls and sending some emails, I hit the road back to Abu Dhabi and reached at exactly 6.00pm to fetch my waiting kids.