Glorious Moment for UAE

i stayed a little bit later in the office until the mall closed at 1030pm last night. i waited a few minutes more for Manoleth so that we can drive home together. at 11pm, we were out of the parking, and was contemplating on either going to a nearby Starbucks or just head straight home. we were both hungry, so we decided to give starbucks a rain check...

i tried on the new route that our driver told us, which is the second intersection, supposed to be much faster, until i went up the curve, and bang! huge non-moving traffic! we were both totally clueless at what was happening.... maybe coz it was payday??? nah! maybe it has something to do with football!

later on, we noticed some cars painted with UAE flags, honking continuosuly. as some of the cars moved a bit, i was able to slid into an empty road... until bang! another traffic! oh, we don't need this now, I thought, as my tummy revolted crazily! then some cars on the opposite lane were raising flags, and some throwing conffeties. even saw some kids sitting on the car roofs!!! i wonder if they know what was happening... some teenage boys were dancing on the road! and up the sky were fireworks! and if people are not hot-headed with a huge traffic as this, something wonderful must really be happening...

'if you can't beat them, join them!" so Mano and I just joined the revelry... i turned up the volume of my radio, though it wasn't anything arabic, but the 80's New Wave. haha! but who cares? everyone seemed to be in a festive mood! i honked and honked too! this is cool, we thought. the closest i can relate to was the People Power celebration in the Philippines.... well, except that i did not find any food peddlers around when we needed them the most!

finally, we were off the heavy traffic, and was sailing smoothly to our villa. the other lane this time, is the heavily-trafficed but happy lane! oh, a glorious moment in UAE we didn't know about. something in me was stirried up with this seemigly patriotic moment...

then today, it's all plastered on the front pages of the national newspapers:

"the UAE pulled off one one of the biggest achievements in its football history last evening to beat Oman 1-0 and win the Gulf Cup for the first time. The UAE win follows a 35-year wait since the first participation in the second tournament in 1972 in Saudi Arabia. They made history yesterday in front of 60,000 fans by becoming the fifth country to win the prestigious footbacll title in the region".

even though we were caught in traffic, very hungry, i guess it was worth the experience... anyways, it might be another 35 years before this happens again...