Earthquake!

I experienced an earthquake in Dubai today!

I was seated at my laptop.. and my laptop was on my coffee table. I had my back resting on my sofa and suddenly, I felt a slight vibration on my back. But was I was so engrossed in what I was doing, it did not register with me that it was strange that my sofa was vibrating.

Then it stopped for a while and started again. This time, it was vibrating quite STRONGLY. And I paused what I was doing and looked up. "Why is the sofa vibrating?" It suddenly occured to me that this is not a natural occurance.

I looked in front of me and noticed that my TV was quivering on the tv console and the clothes that I was hanging up to dry were swinging around like there was a breeze blowing through. But the table did not shake so hard that anything would drop off

"Oh my god, what am I going to do now?" I thought to myself. I was alone at home and I remembered how the shows I watched showed how Japanese children hiding under the tables when there is an earthquake. Should I crawl under the coffee table and HIDE there? Should I stand up and go out of the house? Should I wait it out?

"This is Dubai right, there shouldnt be earthquakes, it should be stopping soon lah..." I thought to myself. And since I was right in front of my laptop, my first instinct was to update my status.

"EARTHQUAKE!" That was all I managed to type. My mind was running amok again "Dam, please dun let the building crumble on me... This is just a small tremor right?". I suddenly recalled that there was supposedly an earthquake in Iran about a week back and some people in Dubai felt some tremors. Probably linked. It suddenly dawned on me that if I can feel it until my TV is shaking, somewhere far away, some people are experiencing crumbling houses and getting hurt or maybe even dying.. so I started chanting for them in my heart.

Just as it suddenly started. The vibration suddenly stopped.

I sat there.. waiting to make sure that it really stopped. I suddenly feel dizzy and even though I was sure that the vibration has stopped I still felt dizzy and felt like I wanted to vomit... you know, like how you feel when you are seasick or car sick. I sat there and paused for two seconds and then I heard my neighbours opening their doors, I quickly opened my door and we were all so happy to see each other!

"Oh gosh, I was lying on bed and suddenly everything was moving.. I was thinking to myself, it cannot be that I am so old till things are starting to move and I cannot see them clearly right?" My neighbour was telling me...

And as I was chatting with her, I suddenly realized that my heart was racing and pik piak pik piak.... it was palpitating. THAT. WAS. SCARY.

Then the phone rang. It was Max, I picked up the phone and said, "I am still alive, I am still alive!"

I went to FB and realized that many of my other friends in Dubai felt the same earthquake as well. One was wondering why she couldnt walk properly.. another one thought his office which is in a cabin was the only one that was shaking.

It suddenly occurred to me that should that quake have been in Dubai, and if i died there and then.. crushed down by the crumbling building, it would mean I would leave this world without a chance to say goodbye to my loved ones... Not a pleasant thought at all... Hai.. I miss Singapore...

Anyway, at this point, my neighbour knocked on my door and said it might be better for us to evacuate the building. Since it was time to pick Ace up, I thought might as well lah.. then I wondered if I should bring my passport and Emirates ID card along.. and maybe my money.. or my ipad.. or my gohonzon.. and then I tot.. wat the heck, I just going to fetch Ace so I left the house with only my phone and my keys:) wahahahah

While gathering around.. I got to meet ALL my neighbours one shot for the first time in my life lor. One uncle walked out dreamily in his PJs.. so funny:) hahaha.. And I did not realize that there were so many arabic families inside our building at all. One neighbour jit tao drove his family in his car and dunno go where.. maybe they feel safer in the desert:) wahahahaha..

And then we stood around there for about 10 minutes while the watchman is on the phone. I think to check for latest instructions.. by the time they say can go back, Ace's school bus is back lor. I asked the school bus custodian if they felt anything inside the school bus but they did not feel anything at all.

Ace was totally excited at the prospect of feeling another earthquake again because he "missed" it since Max told me that there might be another one coming in another 10 min time when I called him to tell him that Ace is home safely.

So Ace says he wants to pack in the case of evacuation cos Max asked me to pack our passports into a bag... and what does our good friend pack? HE PACKS HIS TOY GUNS!

FAINTS!

I dunno where he got the idea that the Nerf guns are the most important things in the world...

"I can't wait for the earthquake to happen again!" said my son gleefully. I had to explain again to him that an earthquake is not something to be happy about. it is not an excursion or an adventure. Maybe for us who dun experience it often, it is sort of exciting but if we are in dubai and there is an earthquake that is so strong that we can feel it clearly, it means it is very very big quake and that many people will die or lose their family and even their homes..

Anyway, no more quakes after that. The next day, I was feeling much better as well.. phew...

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