Last week I realised my vehicle registration was about to expire. It was with fear and trepidation I made plans to renew. Armed with a satchel of documents I choose Monday to tackle the dreaded task:

9am: Arrive at vehicle registration centre on 27th Street between 2nd/Airport Road and 4th/Muroor Road. Rejoice over the sparse number of cars waiting outside the vehicle inspection bays.

9.01am: Discover satellite offices for seven major insurance companies inside the vehicle registration office: ADNIC, Al Ain Ahlia, Al Dhafra, Emirates, Al Khazna, Al Wathba and Takaful. Dance jig on spot.

9.15am: New insurance policy in hand, pay for vehicle inspection at the ladies counter. Dumbfounded to discover have incurred no traffic fines since last year, but still cheeky enough to envy those with cars younger than three years old who get to skip the inspection altogether.

9.17am: Pull directly into inspection bay without delay. Give receipt and old registration card to inspector and go inside to wait.

9.23am: Barely get comfortable before inspector waves for me to come park my car and collect my inspection report.

9.25am: Return to ladies section, present inspection report, passport copy, new insurance policy,
old registration card and AED 105. Ask if letter from employer is still required (it was last year) only to hear kind police woman say, “No, no need.” Complete one full back-flip.

9.30am: Tuck new registration card away, stash new registration sticker in pocket and turn cartwheels out the door, amazed and deeply pleased at how quick this once painful process has become.
Laura Fulton