The Makiav3llian Enchantment…

I’ve been getting queries from a lot of people, Mak, how much does it take to survive in Dubai? How much can I send back home if my salary is so and so… Fortunately, I do have an answer to all these inquiries but unfortunately, much like breaking up, there isn’t a really a good way to say it particularly if you have a family to support back home. So the 6 Million Dollar question is… Can I save any money if I get 3000AED as salary? The answer is a BIG and resounding NO. Let me give you a break down on how this thing goes…

Accommodation:
Minimum: 500AED                        Optimal: 700AED

With this budget, you simply get a bed to sleep in and your very own version of Big Brother, Dubai Edition. Of course, you share a room with maybe 4 people and a cabinet to put your stuff in, other than that, that is the best this budget can buy. You may get lucky from time to time with the place having facilities like an automatic washing machine, television with TFC and wireless internet. Of course, it increases your bill by a little but having an automatic washing machine is next best thing to having a maid around. You can’t get it any cheaper unless you love in Sharjah or on the outskirts of Dubai. Majority of the time you will be living with people from the Philippines but there will be instance that there will be other nationalities staying with you, this makes for Pinoy BB with an international flavor! Expect times when you are trying to get along with everyone, factions, petty quarrels and all sorts of drunken misadventures to happen every now and then. This is the UAE experience, LIVE it, love it.

Food:
Minimum: 400AED                        Optimal: 600AED

Unless in the place you stay you have internal arrangement with your flat mates, expect to be shelling out this much on your budget. I am sorry to say but don’t expect the best of Mom’s good ol’ cooking unless you really listened to you mother way back and cooked. You get what you pay for, budget price = budget meal. Breakfast will consist of coffee and some bread or head to the office and order egg paratha (3AED) from your local cafeteria. Of course you will have a decent meal at least once every week and more often than not, you may find yourself eating out at your local shwarma (3.50AED) joint more often than you think. So, unless your budget consists of Chicken Tikka (9AED) meal at Karachi Darbar, you may not have healthy eating habits but you will get your fill.

Transport:
Minimum: 400AED                        Optimal: 600AED

Transport as you know is very expensive in the UAE. Why 400AED, this is unless you have company service, you spend 350AED minimum on Fancy or Avis. It’s not as cheap as it use to be but at the end of the day you tell yourself that you are so thankful that you didn’t take the Dubai "overcharge" Taxi or RTA "always full and late" Bus. If you do decide to go to work with the RTA bus, you can bring the costs down to 150Aside from this, you would need to allocate some dough on your gimmicks, regardless if it is bus or taki, you may end up spending more than 150AED per month on transportation expenses.

Miscellaneous:
Minimum: 800AED                        Optimal: 1200AED

You wouldn’t believe me if I actually told you guys that I live off a 500AED budget per month on miscellaneous which actually includes my transport budget. Miscellaneous is basically additional expenses which includes your gimmicks, trips to the movie, ice cream and Starbucks Coffee. You can also include the minimum amount you are paying to your credit card because of that new iPhone you just had to buy but have no idea how to use it. Believe me, there are many things you will spend so unnecessarily not because you need them but because it’s the only thing that gives you a feeling of fulfillment. It also gives you that feeling that you are a cut above the rest, unfortunately, as much as you think how your mobile phone gives you your status symbol, show my your bank account and the number of credit cards you have… Nuff Sed.

This is only the tip of the iceberg really; there are some many things you have to put into consideration when doing the budgeting. Besides, I’ve only given you the expenses, what about the money you are suppose to send back home. So taking into account the minimum expenses with a salary of 3000AED, the grand total you take home is 900AED. That roughly falls into 10115PhP, not including the deductions for sending it by money transfer and the deductions made by the banks. Now think, after a work schedule of six days a week, ten hours per day and a snobby SOB boss to boot, is 10K really worth all this trouble? Then again, at least you survive in a foreign land and you are the new generation of Pinoy heroes, the proverbial OFW.

I’m quite fortunate that I’ve been surrounded by beautiful company, whether it be inside or outside. I mean take for example, my wife is a former Ms. Roosevelt winner, my friends Beth and Rica were beauty contest participants, Ms. Pampanga and Ms. AMA respectively. My friend Madel is an Emirates Airline flight stewardess, Michelle was taken for a jewel advertisement, Ruth was Mr. Dick Gordon’s associate and there are so much more to mention. I’m not so picky with people, its just coincidence that they seem to be head-turners. Even luckier that I share the same breathing space and have shared some great stories or moments with them.
Anyways, we know how critical we are about the way we look; it’s always the first thing we see in a person, unless you are more into the online dating scene, how your online counterpart looks like plays a big role when you guys meet. Anyways, there is always the pressure to look good in front of these people; however this is not the burden I carry. The attitude, "always be yourself" and display self confidence is the thing that carries me when I am with them. There was a time however where I was so conscious about the way I look and I wasn’t always so confident and full of it. It was during the time from September until late January when I really took a beat down on my confidence level. Honestly speaking I was a facial mess and when I mean a mess, you would have thought that Pacquiao’s last opponent would look better after the beat down he’d take from him. It was horrible because I was very dependent on the way I look and unfortunately, the way I look was not what others would see now. I had large pimples which ached a lot when it was growing; it took forever to mature and was always lumpy. Aside from this, the scars it would leave on my previously unblemished face, was a constant reminder that I was not looking my best; the blemishes would simply not fade. Every moment I woke up, I always kept telling myself that things will always turn out right, looking in front of the mirror proved me otherwise. My self-esteem was low and everyone was asking what was happening to me. I believe that the sun and beach was good for me and since there was Vitamin E and salt water for drying up those nasty bumps. Wrong again, this whole beach activity actually dug my grave. Fine, I was in a state of depression and the beach always brought me back to a better (well sometimes better) state of mind but it was not the best thing for my skin.
So when I went home last December 23, my Mom saw me and was quite shocked to find out how bad my condition was. My Mom was looking great and my state was almost the same as Marlon, my younger brother. As of now, we are both recovering but it was sad to see that I was very conscious about the way I looked. My best friend Mike even made it worse by commenting what the "hell" happened to me. My Mom shouldered the tab for my treatment and it wasn’t the easy. It was painful and bloody, not to mention mind numbing of the amount of dirt you can actually get on your face. For the first time in my life, I had two soaps, whitening tablets and a routine to do for my face. Never in my life would I think of being vain but for me to get better, I actually had to do this. It wasn’t being vain actually, it was because the skin is more sensitive that we think, after all, the skin is the largest organ of the human body, it should be cared for most. After spending close to 900AED, I went through this facial procedure; it was only the beginning of a tedious road to recovery. I was under constant threat for the past 3 years being out on the field, I couldn’t easily reverse the damage, trying to have it repaired in 3 weeks, was an impossible task.
Since arriving early January, I had to go through the routine and with a little help of proper hygiene; things did get better for me. I’m already past the half way mark and I did buy new products to help me. Now, it’s just blemishes, hopefully, I’ll get that radiant glow back. During the time I got back, some friends did comment on the improvement, at the end of the day, I got my confidence back regardless of how I looked. My friends accepted me the way I was and nothing did change with the way I interacted with any of them. As for now, I accept the fact that it isn’t only women who go through great lengths to look good. Men now consider looking good as a key component in their lives, is it because they are all becoming metrosexuals? The cosmetic industry is now a billion dollar industry since the men started to get more involved with their appearance. To end it all, to look like a million dollars, all you have to do is think and feel like one, a million dollars can never make you.