Wow, your treated today!.......another post!
So my other half flew out on Thursday night (6th Dec). He is out for a month trying to weigh up the employment market here, but also have a great holiday…….
Chris and Jean were on a countdown to flying to NZ for Christmas but got to meet him for a couple of days before they left and I started my house sitting.
Friday was spent over at festival city…plodding round the shops and of course IKEA! Getting some inspiration for the new accomodation…when I get it! Nothing to strenuous as I was tired from a week at work and the boy had been travelling the previous day. Now a deal has been struck on the accommodation front, and the search begins from now…..well Saturday actually (8th Dec)…..
Steve had spotted that the power boats were in Dubai…(I had seen the signs in Doha the week before) they looked cool! So we took a trip down to the marine club place to watch them….i forgot sun cream…oops..and got a tad burnt…the boats were sooo loud..as I understand it, they had twin V12 engines! They were rapid but it was a little boring for someone into tin top car racing with the odd contact…but the helicopter flying was something else…The coverage must have been on TV somewhere. I also managed to rip my jeans….god I was p#@%%d off! Picture this…nice pair of next jeans…(with pleated foldy bits at the top of the thigh……well sat down and pulled them up a little to hard RIIIIIIPPPP…….s$#t….great big rip…had I been in the 80s it may had passed for cool…but 2007, Dubai marina….powerboats….NOT COOL! The rest of the day was spent hiding the rip with my bag, till we left to go flat hunting….(I had to go get changed first!)……
Saw some really nice flats that night!one at JBR…(Jumeirah beach residence..) but it was a little far out….the hunt continues……………..will up load pics shortly…they are all at home!
Monday, 17 December 2007
Sunday, 16 December 2007
YAY the Rugby 7s!
OH GOD the RUGBY 7s!!Its all in the title! The weekend of the 30th Nov/1st Dec at Dubai Exiles was the Doobers round of the 7s tournament…I love rugby, but I also like socialising and this was an event on a par with the gold cup! Despite the laws surrounding alcohol…..it was readily available.
Kaths friend Caroline got our tickets and I had to get to the NGS for 0830 on Friday morning so we could get an early start. I didn’t get in till late the night before as I had to get an evening flight from Doha(they didn’t understand me when I tried to change the flight) and didn’t get in till around 1030, .................so 0830 in the morning was EARLY!Got to the flat and Kath and her mates (tom and Matt) from the UK had been out on a date with Bullfrog the night before…..they were not so good…infact…still in bed…
Matt cooked a full English (complete with proper bangers…….) and at 1030 we headed to exiles.It was already getting full and we perched on the BP stand, slightly separated because some of the guys got there early…..i made contact with my work colleagues and went to find them to say hello…..and stayed there as we were all sat together and having a laugh, i did see kath later...and Stu and katie dressed as NZ farmers complete with stubbies!!!.
About 1pm went and got the old beer tokens and my cool bag of 12x heineken…let the games begin.. water was also on tap as it was a whole day event (with Saturday to come too) and I didn’t want to peak. 
The rugby was ace, and food was bought to the stand…burgers, pies etc. One of the guys had made a drinking contraption out of a funnel/tube and valve…basically it was a siphon….beer up high, open valve away you go…and many members of the BP stand had a go! 
Periodically a massive blow up rugby ball would be released and bounced from one end of the stand to the other…I managed to get a hand on it on the first day! And as the drinking progressed a guy at the bottom of the stand kept trying to make it his mission to start a Mexican wave…sometimes it worked.
Didn’t feel too bad by the evening and we decided to have a tame one because obviously Saturday was another day of the same..so we hit the free bus and went to double deckers to get taxis…..the problem was that A) the bus system was a joke and b) all they served to do was shift the queue from exiles to the murooj….although jim had a cunning plan to rush round to the hotel (we bypassed queues and got a cab in 5 mins!).
Saturday…..feeling a little dodgey I made a deal with myself…not to start until 11am. Got to exiles at 9ish and met up at the same spot with my colleagues. And sure enough the second day was as hot as the first day, and equally as messy….saw some rugby, but have gaps filled in by flashbacks. I remember a fleece hat with bright bits sticking off it on my head in 30 degree heat…and hard hats and these plastic blow up noise makers that kept getting burst, getting the munchies late in the afternoon and sharing this MAAAHOOOOSIVE bag of pick and mix between 4+ adults…hahah it was a comedy day….
Over the course of the weekend we witnessed the sight of 5 guys not shy about breaking the myth of what Scots wear under their kilts…….oh yeah and there was poor tom who involuntarily flashed to the world………he wasnt that shy as later he accepted a bet from some randoms to try and take his pants off without removing his trousers!!.
At the end….erm…NZ won…and we were treated to them getting their tops off..then we moved on….
There was a band but as no more tokens were being sold and we couldn’t get beer, we headed to IV!
Thankfully the bus situation had been rectified..
There was a band on at Irish Village and we hit the dance floor. Jim and Scott had to leave quite early…think it was the onset of hangover, but lou and I (hardcore) carried on till later……we met up with some welsh guy who was a geologist offering us work in Oz hahahah and by chance a guy that works for the same company we do! Small world! End Ex was 0230….
Thankfully there was a public holiday on the Sunday and in the evening we had a beach BBQ….NGS+…it was good till kath had to leave rapido….nothing to do with the cooking…that would have been a little to fast…suffice to say a pitstop was made on the way home and a few diacalm!….and then Caroline burnt her hand on the sand! But it was all fun…..not had a weekend like that in ages….was ace!
The rugby was ace, and food was bought to the stand…burgers, pies etc. One of the guys had made a drinking contraption out of a funnel/tube and valve…basically it was a siphon….beer up high, open valve away you go…and many members of the BP stand had a go! Periodically a massive blow up rugby ball would be released and bounced from one end of the stand to the other…I managed to get a hand on it on the first day! And as the drinking progressed a guy at the bottom of the stand kept trying to make it his mission to start a Mexican wave…sometimes it worked.Didn’t feel too bad by the evening and we decided to have a tame one because obviously Saturday was another day of the same..so we hit the free bus and went to double deckers to get taxis…..the problem was that A) the bus system was a joke and b) all they served to do was shift the queue from exiles to the murooj….although jim had a cunning plan to rush round to the hotel (we bypassed queues and got a cab in 5 mins!).
Saturday…..feeling a little dodgey I made a deal with myself…not to start until 11am. Got to exiles at 9ish and met up at the same spot with my colleagues. And sure enough the second day was as hot as the first day, and equally as messy….saw some rugby, but have gaps filled in by flashbacks. I remember a fleece hat with bright bits sticking off it on my head in 30 degree heat…and hard hats and these plastic blow up noise makers that kept getting burst, getting the munchies late in the afternoon and sharing this MAAAHOOOOSIVE bag of pick and mix between 4+ adults…hahah it was a comedy day….
Over the course of the weekend we witnessed the sight of 5 guys not shy about breaking the myth of what Scots wear under their kilts…….oh yeah and there was poor tom who involuntarily flashed to the world………he wasnt that shy as later he accepted a bet from some randoms to try and take his pants off without removing his trousers!!.At the end….erm…NZ won…and we were treated to them getting their tops off..then we moved on….
There was a band but as no more tokens were being sold and we couldn’t get beer, we headed to IV!Thankfully the bus situation had been rectified..
There was a band on at Irish Village and we hit the dance floor. Jim and Scott had to leave quite early…think it was the onset of hangover, but lou and I (hardcore) carried on till later……we met up with some welsh guy who was a geologist offering us work in Oz hahahah and by chance a guy that works for the same company we do! Small world! End Ex was 0230….
Thankfully there was a public holiday on the Sunday and in the evening we had a beach BBQ….NGS+…it was good till kath had to leave rapido….nothing to do with the cooking…that would have been a little to fast…suffice to say a pitstop was made on the way home and a few diacalm!….and then Caroline burnt her hand on the sand! But it was all fun…..not had a weekend like that in ages….was ace!
Ok so i am having an attack of amnesia...not even an entry in my filofax for the 23rd/24th Nov......will try and remember and come back to edit this post... 
I remembered….ok so I was prompted by some photos while writing the rugby 7s piece!
I went to the Redbull FlugTag at Creek Park. Lou and I had been discussing it and decided we would go and see what it was all about…plus my old company (Atkins) had an entry to raise money for a hospital here and we really wanted to see it in action.
If you don’t know what the FlugTag is, it’s a lot of people making their own flying machines and jumping off a platform over water trying to “fly” as far as possible! They cant have engines…
I got there around 1300….i think it started at 1330, and it was really busy and dead hot!
I made the stupid assumption that I would be able to park at the creek and got stuck trying to leave the car park for about 1/2hr! luckily there was a lot of rough car parking on the other side of the road near what I think is a hospital. The only thing is it meant I had to navigate my way across an 8 lane road…..I HATE PLAYING CHICKEN!
Lou met me in the park and we stood watching the “aircraft” plummeting from the stage to a watery demise. People watching was comedy....checkout the guy with the big hair...we reckon it was natural! OMG BIG BIG BIG HAIR!!
After an hour and a bit we decided to find somewhere to sit and have a picnic….unfortunately for us it happened to be home to several million ants too! At least they were not red ants!
We walked back to the viewing area to see the mini Burj Al Arab getting ready for a plunge…it was funny…good skills to the guys that made it…must have taken ages!
Caught up with Stu and Katie who were sat on the beach area and watched the remaining entries… 
We split after the competition had finished and I got a text from lou saying they were going out for a meal, so I pitched up later and 7 of us went for a really nice Mexican at Ridges Plaza (excuse the spelling).
I really cant remember what happened on Saturday…I must have gone dragon boating as I didn’t go clubbing with the others the previous night, but other than that I don’t know!!!!!!
Meanwhile work is fab...had to go and get my safety boots for a work trip to Doha!..dead excited...however somewhat overshadowed by the events leading to my GETTING THE BOOTS! got the business card of the place i had to go to...(prefered supplier)....on Shiek Zayed Road (SZR)....near crowne plaza......i left the office at 4pm and was there in about 10mins...the traffic on the service road was heaving and i couldnt see this place...so i pulled over and called...
"hi i have come to get some safety boots" ARRRR maam, they are not stored here anymore, you need to go to Al Quoz Ind Area....ring this number.....
So i called the number...repeated my statement.....oh, can you ring this number.......i was starting to simmer...i had cars all around me, i couldnt move and to top it off the lady gave me the same number i just called...deep breath! rang the guy again (a little agitated), and he gave me directions and insisted i had to go to Al Quoz....
Anyone who knows what Al Quoz is like will appreciate my nightmare thoughts...its rush hour...the place is like a rabbit warren of industrial units, trucks buses everywhere, no order to addresses and a labour camp out the back!
i really dont know how, but i found the place first time......
Chose my boots and went to pay, only to find out they dont take cards! ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH (been at this task for a few hours by this point...all i wanted was some boots!)....
i was told there was a supermarket with cash machine at the back of the estate...so i left on the search, but got totally lost and ended up driving through the labour camp in rush hour and decided to sack it off and go back in the morning....
got into work and another colleague said...i would have just got some CAT boots from Wafi......GREAT!
Anyway...Doha was cool....literally...
the weather was not like Dubai...less humid and in the evening really cool (not freezing or anything like that, but i only took one jumper (and i used that during the day and it smelled of diesel as the core boxes were in a little cabin that had a generator in it). It is not as high rise as Dubai and there is one area of tall buildings...its worth a visit
I remembered….ok so I was prompted by some photos while writing the rugby 7s piece!I went to the Redbull FlugTag at Creek Park. Lou and I had been discussing it and decided we would go and see what it was all about…plus my old company (Atkins) had an entry to raise money for a hospital here and we really wanted to see it in action.
If you don’t know what the FlugTag is, it’s a lot of people making their own flying machines and jumping off a platform over water trying to “fly” as far as possible! They cant have engines…
I got there around 1300….i think it started at 1330, and it was really busy and dead hot!
I made the stupid assumption that I would be able to park at the creek and got stuck trying to leave the car park for about 1/2hr! luckily there was a lot of rough car parking on the other side of the road near what I think is a hospital. The only thing is it meant I had to navigate my way across an 8 lane road…..I HATE PLAYING CHICKEN!
Lou met me in the park and we stood watching the “aircraft” plummeting from the stage to a watery demise. People watching was comedy....checkout the guy with the big hair...we reckon it was natural! OMG BIG BIG BIG HAIR!!
After an hour and a bit we decided to find somewhere to sit and have a picnic….unfortunately for us it happened to be home to several million ants too! At least they were not red ants!We walked back to the viewing area to see the mini Burj Al Arab getting ready for a plunge…it was funny…good skills to the guys that made it…must have taken ages!
Caught up with Stu and Katie who were sat on the beach area and watched the remaining entries… We split after the competition had finished and I got a text from lou saying they were going out for a meal, so I pitched up later and 7 of us went for a really nice Mexican at Ridges Plaza (excuse the spelling).I really cant remember what happened on Saturday…I must have gone dragon boating as I didn’t go clubbing with the others the previous night, but other than that I don’t know!!!!!!
Meanwhile work is fab...had to go and get my safety boots for a work trip to Doha!..dead excited...however somewhat overshadowed by the events leading to my GETTING THE BOOTS! got the business card of the place i had to go to...(prefered supplier)....on Shiek Zayed Road (SZR)....near crowne plaza......i left the office at 4pm and was there in about 10mins...the traffic on the service road was heaving and i couldnt see this place...so i pulled over and called...
"hi i have come to get some safety boots" ARRRR maam, they are not stored here anymore, you need to go to Al Quoz Ind Area....ring this number.....
So i called the number...repeated my statement.....oh, can you ring this number.......i was starting to simmer...i had cars all around me, i couldnt move and to top it off the lady gave me the same number i just called...deep breath! rang the guy again (a little agitated), and he gave me directions and insisted i had to go to Al Quoz....
Anyone who knows what Al Quoz is like will appreciate my nightmare thoughts...its rush hour...the place is like a rabbit warren of industrial units, trucks buses everywhere, no order to addresses and a labour camp out the back!
i really dont know how, but i found the place first time......
Chose my boots and went to pay, only to find out they dont take cards! ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH (been at this task for a few hours by this point...all i wanted was some boots!)....
i was told there was a supermarket with cash machine at the back of the estate...so i left on the search, but got totally lost and ended up driving through the labour camp in rush hour and decided to sack it off and go back in the morning....
got into work and another colleague said...i would have just got some CAT boots from Wafi......GREAT!
Anyway...Doha was cool....literally...
the weather was not like Dubai...less humid and in the evening really cool (not freezing or anything like that, but i only took one jumper (and i used that during the day and it smelled of diesel as the core boxes were in a little cabin that had a generator in it). It is not as high rise as Dubai and there is one area of tall buildings...its worth a visit
Ok so I feel bad….i am lying to you all with false promises of monster updates etc, when I just seem to spend my evenings swimming and going to bed! Where is the time going?
So following the Ed Birthday weekend my body took a battering…..SOMEHOW (and I blame aircon) I managed to get a cold…..i rode it for a day and and Wednesday I just felt too rough…..i spent the day in bed surrounded by all the cold and flu drugs I could lay my hands on….Jean was fab…she played nurse maid….just spent the whole day sleeping….well I was woken once by a call organising what was happening about the Arabic wedding we were going to attend on Thursday night…..assuming I felt better that is…….
Thursday (15th Nov) I felt better….was in work and made arrangements to pick Stu and Katie up at NGS around 7pm…….OMG how bad was the traffic….OF ALL NIGHTS……
A former colleague from the secondment was getting married and had invited us all to attend at a hotel in Sharjar……now at the best of times Sharjar is a nightmare to navigate…..try adding rush hour into the equation and your basically in for a VERY long journey.
I didn’t get to NGS till around 7:45 as SZR was a total cluster, and it didn’t improve from there! We barely got to Al Nahda and Weimin called…….he reported to Stu that he had been on the road 2hrs (straight from work) and still wasn’t at the hotel…..WE HAD ONLY JUST LEFT NGS!!!!!!!! So Sharjar Traffic…its not like Dubai traffic, It doesn’t move very fast at all……in fact with my trusty Navigator Stu……we didn’t take any wrong turns we just took 2 hrs to get to the Hotel….Katie Stu and I rushed in to find a table with Choon Seng and Weimin. But the wedding hadn’t started yet…
Chatted and caught up with everyone, and Scott managed to find his way there…..Louise and Jim managed to get stuck on a slip road and end up back in Dubai….but they got to the hotel about an hour later……
The hall had a massive red carpet down to a dance floor and a stage beautifully decorated! Salah and Rasha came in surrounded by female relatives (I assume) with a young girl walking in front…..there were cameras everywhere, including on a massive boom…..then the celebrations started….it was non stop music, dancing and they even had salsa dancers……was pretty cool…..they walked around the tables and said hi to everyone and then around 12:30 the doors opened to the biggest Buffet I have seen for a long time……the thing was…we were all starving….not knowing what to expect and having little time to get ready after work we didn’t have tea….and you cant exactly get a beer to fill you up….A) it was an Arabic wedding and B) sharjar is a dry emirate….but by that time I was passed eating…..got a couple of small plates and sat up the other end of the hall talking to everyone…..
I had exclaimed earlier in the night that there was no way I was dancing sober! BUT!!!!! Salah and Rasha came to the table and asked us all to go up……we all looked at each other and waited for the first excuse but it never came…..they did say we didn’t have to …but I thought, we had just driven there…lets do it….so we charged the floor! Was pretty cool….have to say I don’t ever remember dancing and actually having control of the shapes I was making…..but it was getting well late and the lack of alcohol induced adrenaline didn’t help so we all split….i took Stu and Katie home and got back to greens around 2am.
So refreshing to wake up on a Friday and NO HANGOVER! Decided to hit the beach for the day with Stu and Katie….people watching and swimming…the water was pleasant to swim in…not to cold!.......lots of kids on the beach and one of them unfortunately lost a bucket…HMMmmmmm Stu and I had an idea….lets create our own Atlantis (there is a hotel being built on the palm!) so we collected the bucket from the water and had a quick look around for a wailing kid (who may have lost this attractive bucket that we were about to play with) and scuttled up the beach to prepare the foundations!
Several mix designs later we found the right consistency of sand to start our creation…………well it has been years since I made sand castles!........
It got to a pretty impressive height….but a few to many damaging structural crack got Stu’s goat and he booted the sands castle to the ground!.........it was fun for an hour or so! (photos are with Katie…just trying to work out how to send them to me…)
Saturday there was no Dragon boating….it was soooo foggy! So I just came back to the flat and chilled till the sun appeared and lazed by the pool!
So following the Ed Birthday weekend my body took a battering…..SOMEHOW (and I blame aircon) I managed to get a cold…..i rode it for a day and and Wednesday I just felt too rough…..i spent the day in bed surrounded by all the cold and flu drugs I could lay my hands on….Jean was fab…she played nurse maid….just spent the whole day sleeping….well I was woken once by a call organising what was happening about the Arabic wedding we were going to attend on Thursday night…..assuming I felt better that is…….
Thursday (15th Nov) I felt better….was in work and made arrangements to pick Stu and Katie up at NGS around 7pm…….OMG how bad was the traffic….OF ALL NIGHTS……
A former colleague from the secondment was getting married and had invited us all to attend at a hotel in Sharjar……now at the best of times Sharjar is a nightmare to navigate…..try adding rush hour into the equation and your basically in for a VERY long journey.
I didn’t get to NGS till around 7:45 as SZR was a total cluster, and it didn’t improve from there! We barely got to Al Nahda and Weimin called…….he reported to Stu that he had been on the road 2hrs (straight from work) and still wasn’t at the hotel…..WE HAD ONLY JUST LEFT NGS!!!!!!!! So Sharjar Traffic…its not like Dubai traffic, It doesn’t move very fast at all……in fact with my trusty Navigator Stu……we didn’t take any wrong turns we just took 2 hrs to get to the Hotel….Katie Stu and I rushed in to find a table with Choon Seng and Weimin. But the wedding hadn’t started yet…
Chatted and caught up with everyone, and Scott managed to find his way there…..Louise and Jim managed to get stuck on a slip road and end up back in Dubai….but they got to the hotel about an hour later……
The hall had a massive red carpet down to a dance floor and a stage beautifully decorated! Salah and Rasha came in surrounded by female relatives (I assume) with a young girl walking in front…..there were cameras everywhere, including on a massive boom…..then the celebrations started….it was non stop music, dancing and they even had salsa dancers……was pretty cool…..they walked around the tables and said hi to everyone and then around 12:30 the doors opened to the biggest Buffet I have seen for a long time……the thing was…we were all starving….not knowing what to expect and having little time to get ready after work we didn’t have tea….and you cant exactly get a beer to fill you up….A) it was an Arabic wedding and B) sharjar is a dry emirate….but by that time I was passed eating…..got a couple of small plates and sat up the other end of the hall talking to everyone…..
I had exclaimed earlier in the night that there was no way I was dancing sober! BUT!!!!! Salah and Rasha came to the table and asked us all to go up……we all looked at each other and waited for the first excuse but it never came…..they did say we didn’t have to …but I thought, we had just driven there…lets do it….so we charged the floor! Was pretty cool….have to say I don’t ever remember dancing and actually having control of the shapes I was making…..but it was getting well late and the lack of alcohol induced adrenaline didn’t help so we all split….i took Stu and Katie home and got back to greens around 2am.
So refreshing to wake up on a Friday and NO HANGOVER! Decided to hit the beach for the day with Stu and Katie….people watching and swimming…the water was pleasant to swim in…not to cold!.......lots of kids on the beach and one of them unfortunately lost a bucket…HMMmmmmm Stu and I had an idea….lets create our own Atlantis (there is a hotel being built on the palm!) so we collected the bucket from the water and had a quick look around for a wailing kid (who may have lost this attractive bucket that we were about to play with) and scuttled up the beach to prepare the foundations!
Several mix designs later we found the right consistency of sand to start our creation…………well it has been years since I made sand castles!........
It got to a pretty impressive height….but a few to many damaging structural crack got Stu’s goat and he booted the sands castle to the ground!.........it was fun for an hour or so! (photos are with Katie…just trying to work out how to send them to me…)
Saturday there was no Dragon boating….it was soooo foggy! So I just came back to the flat and chilled till the sun appeared and lazed by the pool!
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Eds 30th!!!!
Ok so had a break from the blog….mainly because I have been soooooo busy hahahaha
Naaaa, I just seem to have got into a routine! Go to work, back to the flat and read the 7 days that I manage to pick up at work, from cover to cover..(I love that rag) and then go for a swim…..eat and then sit down to trash TV….well that is unless we have got hold of the latest Heros!!!! CHRIST I AM ADDICTED TO IT!
Anyway….i will attempt an monster update over the next few days!!! As GUESS WHAT!!! IT’S THE WEEKEND AGAIN! Time is just flying……not long till stvev is out now!!!
Right the weekend of the 8th! Ok so it started on the Thursday! Ed (one of the NGS OLD SKOOL) turned 30….not sure of the exact date, but events coordinator extraordinaire KATH, organized his bash! The venue…the Blue Elephant for Thai buffet (again all you can eat and drink!!!!) think we got there for around 20:30 and I figured a good move would be sticking to the same beverage….red wine it was!
19 peeps turned out….many faces I remember and it was cool to catch up…
Hit the buffet…………everything from curry to salad…stir fry and whole fish…..was a good spread…as with all these events though, you tend to get, or try to get your money’s worth of booze! I had a few trips, and the inadvertent accident…..by that I mean selecting some of the spiciest dishes I have ever shoved in my mouth! The Clams were EVIL!...tried the freshly cooked stir fry….can recommend it!
Hours later and many conversations later (note one I was having with Stu in the photo….no doubt I was talking bllox and boring him senseless…..)
and it was time to move….had a couple of revelations….shiney clubber Chris admitted to missing the messy nights out at JD (jimmy Dix)….so….i have vowed to organize a night out….probably in the new year now though! Anyway….the rest is a big blurr… 
I later found out (from the photos on my camera) that I got back to the NGS with Mohammed and co….then ended up at the roof after a tour of their flat…Kath never made it up to the roof, but that was because she was frantically packing to go to UK the next morning! Hahaha 8am flight….REALLY not envying her there!
the next I remember being at J&C flat, having a severe bout of the munchies and scoffing on the left over party food from Sky’s 3rd party…..sufficed to say it was all sweet stuff and I really didn’t need to be eating that at 3 in the morning!.....
Friday was the worst I have ever felt….i think it was probably wine…although I didn’t get up til 13:00 and jean was soooo nice to me…I felt sooooo crook….apparently I was an ill yellow colour hahahah I could hardly string a sentence together and thankfully I just had a quiet day….did nothing…..not even swim….
Really think it was more than the alcohol because I still felt ill on Saturday….i had to call the Dragon Boating lady to let her know there was no way I was stepping into a boat the way I was feeling! So just slowly got up and went to find the Post office to send a jumper back home for my niece…..it was soooo cute…I couldn’t resist it!
Post office was pretty easy to find…..(yeah that’s why you drove past it Witts)……it was another waiting affair….pull a ticket like the meat counter at the supermarket and wait your turn! It only took 4 days to get back home!
Decided I would take a slow walk around MOE to get a new top for the Arabic Wedding I had been invited too the next weekend……and I needed desperately to find a boy to clean my car! Hahahaha
Shopped out I hit the pool in the afternoon to try and get some colour!...
Really it was a wasted weekend…but not considering I had a wicked Thursday night with the guys!!!
Naaaa, I just seem to have got into a routine! Go to work, back to the flat and read the 7 days that I manage to pick up at work, from cover to cover..(I love that rag) and then go for a swim…..eat and then sit down to trash TV….well that is unless we have got hold of the latest Heros!!!! CHRIST I AM ADDICTED TO IT!
Anyway….i will attempt an monster update over the next few days!!! As GUESS WHAT!!! IT’S THE WEEKEND AGAIN! Time is just flying……not long till stvev is out now!!!
Right the weekend of the 8th! Ok so it started on the Thursday! Ed (one of the NGS OLD SKOOL) turned 30….not sure of the exact date, but events coordinator extraordinaire KATH, organized his bash! The venue…the Blue Elephant for Thai buffet (again all you can eat and drink!!!!) think we got there for around 20:30 and I figured a good move would be sticking to the same beverage….red wine it was!
19 peeps turned out….many faces I remember and it was cool to catch up…
Hit the buffet…………everything from curry to salad…stir fry and whole fish…..was a good spread…as with all these events though, you tend to get, or try to get your money’s worth of booze! I had a few trips, and the inadvertent accident…..by that I mean selecting some of the spiciest dishes I have ever shoved in my mouth! The Clams were EVIL!...tried the freshly cooked stir fry….can recommend it!
Hours later and many conversations later (note one I was having with Stu in the photo….no doubt I was talking bllox and boring him senseless…..)
and it was time to move….had a couple of revelations….shiney clubber Chris admitted to missing the messy nights out at JD (jimmy Dix)….so….i have vowed to organize a night out….probably in the new year now though! Anyway….the rest is a big blurr… I later found out (from the photos on my camera) that I got back to the NGS with Mohammed and co….then ended up at the roof after a tour of their flat…Kath never made it up to the roof, but that was because she was frantically packing to go to UK the next morning! Hahaha 8am flight….REALLY not envying her there!
the next I remember being at J&C flat, having a severe bout of the munchies and scoffing on the left over party food from Sky’s 3rd party…..sufficed to say it was all sweet stuff and I really didn’t need to be eating that at 3 in the morning!.....
Friday was the worst I have ever felt….i think it was probably wine…although I didn’t get up til 13:00 and jean was soooo nice to me…I felt sooooo crook….apparently I was an ill yellow colour hahahah I could hardly string a sentence together and thankfully I just had a quiet day….did nothing…..not even swim….
Really think it was more than the alcohol because I still felt ill on Saturday….i had to call the Dragon Boating lady to let her know there was no way I was stepping into a boat the way I was feeling! So just slowly got up and went to find the Post office to send a jumper back home for my niece…..it was soooo cute…I couldn’t resist it!
Post office was pretty easy to find…..(yeah that’s why you drove past it Witts)……it was another waiting affair….pull a ticket like the meat counter at the supermarket and wait your turn! It only took 4 days to get back home!
Decided I would take a slow walk around MOE to get a new top for the Arabic Wedding I had been invited too the next weekend……and I needed desperately to find a boy to clean my car! Hahahaha
Shopped out I hit the pool in the afternoon to try and get some colour!...
Really it was a wasted weekend…but not considering I had a wicked Thursday night with the guys!!!
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
WHERE IS THE SUN? and my camera cable come to think of it!
Now I am getting frustrated! STILL no camera cable….despite having ordered one and it has been delivered to Widnes! Will have to check with the boy to find out where it is! I can assure you though, this episode of the blog is gonna have no pics……..
Woke up full of the joys on Friday 2nd Nov..no hangover and a plan to hit the pool or go for an explore to festival city and wander round Ikea….(I LOVE IKEA! My house in UK is 15 mins from a MASSIVE Ikea at Warrington….)….anyway…opened the curtains…..NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo it was grey….what the *^%^*……..great! no sun….and I am in desperate need of a bit of colour! So plan B….festival city….ok so I am not tight and wasn’t deliberately avoiding Salik, but wanted to take a drive over the business bay bridge…after all festival city is right at the end of the bridge so it made sense….armed with map I left the flat about 12……pretty uneventful drive….headed down SZR and just followed the signs for business bay…..had been joking with Chris that I should stay left all the way as the road layout in Dubai invariably means that if you want to take an exit going right, for example, you usually have to turn left……….DOH I took him literally….and managed to miss a turn and head toward the Nad Al Sheba racecourse…NO DRAMA, was able to turn back and get back on track! Eventually (it was further than I thought!) after negotiating roadwork chicanes and lorries pulling out I got to the bridge and festival city….
I parked near the VIP entrance….WTF it’s a shopping mall not a cinema showing a premier!...anyway I was still unsure whether a scruffy weekend dressed brit like me was supposed to be walking on the red carpet going in the mall by that entrance…basically it was the entrance near Ikea, but could I see how to get to Ikea?…NO …….I sheepishly asked the Valet parking boys and they kindly (without laughing as the Ikea building was right behind me!) instructed me how to get there. Cant really say much about the experience…it was just like walking round any Ikea, except I actually tried the famous Swedish meatballs this time…..they were ok…but not overly exciting…..they dumped enough rice on the plate to feed a small continent…and doused it in gravy before I had a chance to say CHIPS please…..GDI!.....wandered round M&S and Toys R us and headed back to the flat…..still grey and no sun….I don’t know how I managed it but I went back a COMPLETELY different way…..and before I knew it I was alongside the Burj al Arab….god, I need to turn towards the sea!!! I think I was in the Al Khail road…I saw a sign for Al Quoz and knew that wasn’t to far from my destination so I turned…OMG..now I have heard all about these labour camps…and as I progressed towards the coast I noted that there was an increase in the male Indian population and a severe lackage of females….then I saw the accommodation….OMG where the hell was I!!! sufficed to say I now know where the “labour camp”at Al Quoz is….and I didn’t hang around….had a laugh later with jean about it as she did exactly the same thing, but nearly ran out of petrol there!! hahahha….anyway got back to the flat and the weather stayed grey for the rest of the day!
I had tentatively arranged a beach party…(the first NGS sandy sausage beach party no less)….for the Saturday….but on waking up for dragon boating, AGAIN it was grey…..i headed to the marina and it didn’t improve….in fact the sky looked really evil and if thunder and lightening threatened we would be off the water! No lightening…but it did rain!!!!! RAIN!!! OMG!!!!!!!....tried to call Kath but I understand she was hibernating all day….something about UV withdrawal symptoms….i certainly was feeling it too…just stayed in the flat and text Stu to let them know we had postponed the beach BBQ till another HOTTER day arrives….the sun did finally make a show later that evening, just before it set! but that was it…..incidentally…for going back to work on the Sunday!!!, THE SUN WAS HIGH IN THE SKY AGAIN! Typical!
Woke up full of the joys on Friday 2nd Nov..no hangover and a plan to hit the pool or go for an explore to festival city and wander round Ikea….(I LOVE IKEA! My house in UK is 15 mins from a MASSIVE Ikea at Warrington….)….anyway…opened the curtains…..NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo it was grey….what the *^%^*……..great! no sun….and I am in desperate need of a bit of colour! So plan B….festival city….ok so I am not tight and wasn’t deliberately avoiding Salik, but wanted to take a drive over the business bay bridge…after all festival city is right at the end of the bridge so it made sense….armed with map I left the flat about 12……pretty uneventful drive….headed down SZR and just followed the signs for business bay…..had been joking with Chris that I should stay left all the way as the road layout in Dubai invariably means that if you want to take an exit going right, for example, you usually have to turn left……….DOH I took him literally….and managed to miss a turn and head toward the Nad Al Sheba racecourse…NO DRAMA, was able to turn back and get back on track! Eventually (it was further than I thought!) after negotiating roadwork chicanes and lorries pulling out I got to the bridge and festival city….
I parked near the VIP entrance….WTF it’s a shopping mall not a cinema showing a premier!...anyway I was still unsure whether a scruffy weekend dressed brit like me was supposed to be walking on the red carpet going in the mall by that entrance…basically it was the entrance near Ikea, but could I see how to get to Ikea?…NO …….I sheepishly asked the Valet parking boys and they kindly (without laughing as the Ikea building was right behind me!) instructed me how to get there. Cant really say much about the experience…it was just like walking round any Ikea, except I actually tried the famous Swedish meatballs this time…..they were ok…but not overly exciting…..they dumped enough rice on the plate to feed a small continent…and doused it in gravy before I had a chance to say CHIPS please…..GDI!.....wandered round M&S and Toys R us and headed back to the flat…..still grey and no sun….I don’t know how I managed it but I went back a COMPLETELY different way…..and before I knew it I was alongside the Burj al Arab….god, I need to turn towards the sea!!! I think I was in the Al Khail road…I saw a sign for Al Quoz and knew that wasn’t to far from my destination so I turned…OMG..now I have heard all about these labour camps…and as I progressed towards the coast I noted that there was an increase in the male Indian population and a severe lackage of females….then I saw the accommodation….OMG where the hell was I!!! sufficed to say I now know where the “labour camp”at Al Quoz is….and I didn’t hang around….had a laugh later with jean about it as she did exactly the same thing, but nearly ran out of petrol there!! hahahha….anyway got back to the flat and the weather stayed grey for the rest of the day!
I had tentatively arranged a beach party…(the first NGS sandy sausage beach party no less)….for the Saturday….but on waking up for dragon boating, AGAIN it was grey…..i headed to the marina and it didn’t improve….in fact the sky looked really evil and if thunder and lightening threatened we would be off the water! No lightening…but it did rain!!!!! RAIN!!! OMG!!!!!!!....tried to call Kath but I understand she was hibernating all day….something about UV withdrawal symptoms….i certainly was feeling it too…just stayed in the flat and text Stu to let them know we had postponed the beach BBQ till another HOTTER day arrives….the sun did finally make a show later that evening, just before it set! but that was it…..incidentally…for going back to work on the Sunday!!!, THE SUN WAS HIGH IN THE SKY AGAIN! Typical!
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Finally updated!
Another week has past (26th October 07)…and I really need a lie in! it isn’t gonna happen this week!
Kath sent an email around about a Breast Cancer charity walk around the Burjuman area of Bur Dubai. It’s a good cause and I fully support it as my mum is fortunately a survivor. I didn’t reply as I contemplated what I was going to do as you had to register and I didn’t want to head to that busy part of town after work…….BUT, Kath called and volunteered to register me as she was going in to do it anyway! Cool!!! Up at crack of sparrows and drove to NGS (if you remember from last blog that’s New Gold Souk) to pick Kath up 0730….OMG!
Headed to Burjuman center and parked up…..Kath was armed with T shirts for the event so as discretely as I could….risking being arrested I changed in the car! Popped up to the start line collected some complimentary water and our delightful PINK hats….TRUST ME, if it wasn’t for a charity, I wouldn’t have worn it….its just not my colour! Met up with one of Kaths mates and waited for Ammie….she had been out on a sesh the night before and was banned from driving by her folks so had to wake her sis to drive her in…she jogged to meet us half way round….surprised she wasn’t ill!
We walked 3.8km in a loop and ended back at the shopping mall! Breakfast was next highest on the agenda! I drove us to Lime tree café on the Jumeirah road but is was HEAVING! So we went to a café at Mercato and had a Mahoosive fry up!
Kath and I headed back to NGS so she could pay for her Justin Timberlake tickets…. (and NO, I am not going, think my response was something along the lines of I would rather poke myself in the eye with a cocktail stick!!!!but I appreciate the invite!) and then on to the greens….picked up beach gear and we spent the rest of the day at the free beach between the palaces and the palm! It was soooo nice…empty and hot! The sea isn’t that refreshing as it is still slightly lukewarm. I was a bit of a swine as I took a photie and sent it to a few mates in the UK to remind them of what a sunny day looks like. Sorry about that!
Friday evening was a sesh in the pool and relax…….
Saturday…Up for dragon boating! Practice starts….and I think I am just about getting better with the technique….its still hard though! And afterwards I decided I would be pro active in my flat hunting! I just want to see what is out there! But it didn’t go according to plan!.....
I got a number from Gulf News for an agent to look at flats in Barsha…arranged to meet at 11am...i was too call him from Mall of the Emirates (MOE). I parked outside another real estate agents and called him…”oh maam, I am in Bur Dubai…I will be 1.5hrs”…hmmm ok…I will go shopping and meet you back here at 1230…headed to MOE…had a wander, bought some swimming stuff and headed back to the RV point!..........I tried to call him…PHONE OFF…….oh mate….you really don’t want to be winding me up…..i am tired and I am getting hungry!......i gave him 15mins…and thought well do you know what I am not desperate to find somewhere now, so I will pop into the agent I was parked out side…then go get food at the flat…….No word of a lie…I just sit down with a lady to discuss options and I get a call…..”hi maam…” oh so you’re here…where in the car park… “oh I am in Bur dubai…..” I saw red…MATE, you were suppose to meet me in BARSHA! At 11am…..tell you what…I will ring you another time……and hung up…..
I have since found out that this is the norm here…..so I guess I have to get used to it….i will find a wall to smack my head against I think!
Anyway…got a load of information and let my details with this other agent and they are going to let me know when anything suitable comes up. I just went back to the flat and hung around….a plumber was coming to fix our washing machine issues…..and it allowed Chris to take Sky out to the park, while Jean was at a pool party with Jacob.
Photos should follow soon....just waiting for kath to send them..
Kath sent an email around about a Breast Cancer charity walk around the Burjuman area of Bur Dubai. It’s a good cause and I fully support it as my mum is fortunately a survivor. I didn’t reply as I contemplated what I was going to do as you had to register and I didn’t want to head to that busy part of town after work…….BUT, Kath called and volunteered to register me as she was going in to do it anyway! Cool!!! Up at crack of sparrows and drove to NGS (if you remember from last blog that’s New Gold Souk) to pick Kath up 0730….OMG!
Headed to Burjuman center and parked up…..Kath was armed with T shirts for the event so as discretely as I could….risking being arrested I changed in the car! Popped up to the start line collected some complimentary water and our delightful PINK hats….TRUST ME, if it wasn’t for a charity, I wouldn’t have worn it….its just not my colour! Met up with one of Kaths mates and waited for Ammie….she had been out on a sesh the night before and was banned from driving by her folks so had to wake her sis to drive her in…she jogged to meet us half way round….surprised she wasn’t ill!
We walked 3.8km in a loop and ended back at the shopping mall! Breakfast was next highest on the agenda! I drove us to Lime tree café on the Jumeirah road but is was HEAVING! So we went to a café at Mercato and had a Mahoosive fry up!
Kath and I headed back to NGS so she could pay for her Justin Timberlake tickets…. (and NO, I am not going, think my response was something along the lines of I would rather poke myself in the eye with a cocktail stick!!!!but I appreciate the invite!) and then on to the greens….picked up beach gear and we spent the rest of the day at the free beach between the palaces and the palm! It was soooo nice…empty and hot! The sea isn’t that refreshing as it is still slightly lukewarm. I was a bit of a swine as I took a photie and sent it to a few mates in the UK to remind them of what a sunny day looks like. Sorry about that!
Friday evening was a sesh in the pool and relax…….
Saturday…Up for dragon boating! Practice starts….and I think I am just about getting better with the technique….its still hard though! And afterwards I decided I would be pro active in my flat hunting! I just want to see what is out there! But it didn’t go according to plan!.....
I got a number from Gulf News for an agent to look at flats in Barsha…arranged to meet at 11am...i was too call him from Mall of the Emirates (MOE). I parked outside another real estate agents and called him…”oh maam, I am in Bur Dubai…I will be 1.5hrs”…hmmm ok…I will go shopping and meet you back here at 1230…headed to MOE…had a wander, bought some swimming stuff and headed back to the RV point!..........I tried to call him…PHONE OFF…….oh mate….you really don’t want to be winding me up…..i am tired and I am getting hungry!......i gave him 15mins…and thought well do you know what I am not desperate to find somewhere now, so I will pop into the agent I was parked out side…then go get food at the flat…….No word of a lie…I just sit down with a lady to discuss options and I get a call…..”hi maam…” oh so you’re here…where in the car park… “oh I am in Bur dubai…..” I saw red…MATE, you were suppose to meet me in BARSHA! At 11am…..tell you what…I will ring you another time……and hung up…..
I have since found out that this is the norm here…..so I guess I have to get used to it….i will find a wall to smack my head against I think!
Anyway…got a load of information and let my details with this other agent and they are going to let me know when anything suitable comes up. I just went back to the flat and hung around….a plumber was coming to fix our washing machine issues…..and it allowed Chris to take Sky out to the park, while Jean was at a pool party with Jacob.
Photos should follow soon....just waiting for kath to send them..
Thursday 18th..start of the weekend..and how quick has the week gone! Well, I suppose it was only a 4 day week because of Eid. Didn’t plan anything for Thursday night, just hit the pool and chilled. Friday I didn’t get up particularly early…but had to be up and ready for 12 as I had been invited to a brunch at Al Qasr hotel for a birthday celebration with some of the guys I work with. We were sat outside and had a really good view of the gulf, the burj and the construction site that is the palm and what’s more it was hot! Now, brunches……don’t be fooled by the name…..a cross between breakfast and lunch, these things are full on all you can eat any cuisine and all you can drink alcohol! Sitting out side…in the sun…..i need not explain what happens next….i samples Indian with sparkling wine and then Paella and one of my FAV drinks….SANGRIA! I think I ate other stuff before pudding but I cannot remember what!.....i was then introduced to the delights of the Mohito! (not sure if that how you spell it!?)…the brunch started at 12 and ended at 4pm. From there we moved to a bar upstairs as we got complimentary tickets…WHICH IS GREAT if you want to follow sparkling wine, mohitos and sangria with Heineken, Heineken or erm……Heineken! I think not!
So we headed to Barasti…half the crowd had already ventured to the outside bar, and we followed some ½ hr later. Finished the afternoon over a few gin and tonics and discussed schooling in Dubai….mainly for my cousin who is thinking of a relocation out here too!
It alarms me to have to admit that I cried off at about 7pm…if I didn’t stop then I was definately not going to make my inaugral session at Dragon Boating the next morning. Got back to the flat and got on the computer…trying so hard to act sober in my video conversations with both Steve and Anna consuming much water so I was top of the world for Saturday morn!
0700…..the alarm was sounding…..oh I feel a little ill….but I cant cry off I have been looking forward to this activity for a few weeks now! Grabbed my kit and headed to the marina…..walked behind barasti and had deja vous attack…..walked along the beach and met up with the group. All a friendly bunch and took the time to sit me and this other new lady down and explain the technique. Wow…I had no idea it was so technical! Helped get the boat in the water and then we jumped on…..for the first session we were known as virgins……hahahha VIRGINS, very amusing….and the usual banter ensued…we paddled out and I can tell you, that session was hard work! I had made a concerted effort in swimming to get fit but I used muscles that I didn’t realise I had. For those who haven’t done it (and I am by no means an expert) you use your thighs and core….and god did I feel it later!....following our session we now moved from virgin status to newbies! I headed back to the flat exhausted and I later found out that I looked like sh1t when I walked through the door…..hahaha I kinda felt like it too! I was aching! I was stiff by the evening, but that didn’t stop me nipping out with Chris to watch the RWC final round a mates house. I wish I hadn’t for not only was the result a bit pants but I felt so tired the next day! Oh well….
Sunday was back to work….I ached soooooo much! That’s all I can say!
So we headed to Barasti…half the crowd had already ventured to the outside bar, and we followed some ½ hr later. Finished the afternoon over a few gin and tonics and discussed schooling in Dubai….mainly for my cousin who is thinking of a relocation out here too!
It alarms me to have to admit that I cried off at about 7pm…if I didn’t stop then I was definately not going to make my inaugral session at Dragon Boating the next morning. Got back to the flat and got on the computer…trying so hard to act sober in my video conversations with both Steve and Anna consuming much water so I was top of the world for Saturday morn!
0700…..the alarm was sounding…..oh I feel a little ill….but I cant cry off I have been looking forward to this activity for a few weeks now! Grabbed my kit and headed to the marina…..walked behind barasti and had deja vous attack…..walked along the beach and met up with the group. All a friendly bunch and took the time to sit me and this other new lady down and explain the technique. Wow…I had no idea it was so technical! Helped get the boat in the water and then we jumped on…..for the first session we were known as virgins……hahahha VIRGINS, very amusing….and the usual banter ensued…we paddled out and I can tell you, that session was hard work! I had made a concerted effort in swimming to get fit but I used muscles that I didn’t realise I had. For those who haven’t done it (and I am by no means an expert) you use your thighs and core….and god did I feel it later!....following our session we now moved from virgin status to newbies! I headed back to the flat exhausted and I later found out that I looked like sh1t when I walked through the door…..hahaha I kinda felt like it too! I was aching! I was stiff by the evening, but that didn’t stop me nipping out with Chris to watch the RWC final round a mates house. I wish I hadn’t for not only was the result a bit pants but I felt so tired the next day! Oh well….
Sunday was back to work….I ached soooooo much! That’s all I can say!
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
WARNING BIG POST!
WOOOOOHOOOO end of Ramadan!
Wow its also nearly been a year since I first came to Dubai! How time has flown!
So the weekend commenced on Thursday the 12th…this has to be the most active weekend I have had, and I really did push myself!
Catherine had been out all week on her way back to the UK from a holiday in Malaysia. She was flying back to UK on the Friday, so we all went out and managed to fill a table with 19……a mixture of peeps from the Abu Dhabi office and many from different departments in Dubai office. Louise booked us into Yalumba…..UH OH!!! YES I was there a few weeks before and YES I know how it gets messy!
First stop was Dubliners at the meridian village from 8pm onwards….no problem….so I thought….grab a cab from the greens….WRONG! Eid weekend means busyness for taxi firm…took me 40mins to get a cab….i booked one but they never did call me back…I ended up flagging one down! Driver seemed ok….i didn’t know however he was a nutter until we got onto SZR and he nailed it!! Pretty erratic and kept violently tilting his head….i thought maybe he had a nervous tick but NO he was trying to click his neck…..WOT! I guess that was his way of psyching up for the journey….he then proceeded to put his foot down harder….weaving and flashing at people in his way…and muttering some stuff in his language…but then….what’s this….the voice of an English lady from the front…at first I thought he had a TOMTOM…but no she said “you are speeding please slow down” in perfect queens English…..he then proceeded to smack the steering wheel and shout at it…well I couldn’t help it….i laughed sooo much! Especially as I must have had the pleasure of this repeated over and over, each time the wrath of the driver increasing to my amusement!
Finally got to the meridian village…the guy had no idea where the place was…..THAT MADE TWO OF US! So I got him to drop me at Meridian Dubai where I had a 5 min walk to the village….not too much of a problem, but my shoes were not the most comfortable!
Got to Dubliners at 2045…..DOH…louise had arrived 5 mins before me, so we headed to the bar for a bevy! The barman miss heard and instead of getting a bottle I got a pint of becks…and when we got outside….we were told we had to drink up as we were moving on……I was being egged on…..oooo your gonna struggle with that!!! REALLY! I was a student, and can still drink like a student…although it means I get light headed VERY quickly……so to set the scene (this was my first outing with my new colleagues) I polished off the pint, lou finished her vodka and we went to Yalumba for the champagne fest! Walking past a gym feeling a little guilty as all those fit types were working out, and it was exclaimed, I especially feel bad as they are working out and we are off to get sh1tfaced….i did laugh at that….funniest thing I heard in a while!
I thought we may have escaped photos…but Catherine had her camera….here are a few of the night….they are on Catherines facebook account….very amusing
….Dont know where the pumpkin, chef hat, foliage etc came from….but it was funny….again very cloudy memories of the night. 
I must have been drunk as Tayo ran off and got an octopus for me and louise to try…..complete with head and suckers….rubbery and tasted of nothing…..gross! 
I tried sushi…….so many people rave on about it I thought I would give it a go….i picked up this round white rice think with what looked like salmon in the middle wrapped in orange crumb like stuff….cool…..looked pretty!.....started eating it and realised it actually tasted like the smell on your hands after you have been fishing all day (I loved course fishing in the UK)….that took away the eliteness of sushi for me….followed by Catherine informing me the crumb like stuff was actually crab eggs….OMG they were crunchy too…It turned me…and mid mouthful I was like a child…I wanted sooo much to spit it out and wipe my tongue…but had to finish…..with non other than a gulp of champers….sufficed to say I didn’t eat anymore sushi!
12am marked the end of the flow of champagne…but final fill of glasses kept us going for another hour or so….even people minesweeping meant you had to be on your guard for champers robbers! that was, while we were sticking spoons to our noses!
Someone asked where we were heading too……SORRY did I hear you correctly…were we not inebriated enough!? BACK TO DUBLINERS….a final gin and one person falling asleep at the table…I exclaimed END EX! I had to get a taxi…I hit the brick wall! And grabbed a cab relatively easily back to the greens…….got into bed ARRRRRRrrrrrrr but wasn’t too good…..
woke at 930….oops the room still moving!……much to Chris amusement as I walk out the bedroom…..he asked if I wanted egg and bacon…..NO! the very thought! I went back to bed….1130….feeling much better….Jean mothered me…shes great….with Chris again taking the pee! I KNOW I KNOW self inflicted!
Friday as you would guess……a water drinking wasted day! Had a few morsels of curry late that evening with C&J friends that came round but I had to go to bed as I had dragon boating in the morning……
Alarm…..0645…had to be there for 0800…not too sure where the place was so thought it best to leave early…..Jean was already up…Sky was awake. So at 0730 I left the house for the marina…….armed with directions in my head I found is really easily! Right next to Barasti! YEAH!....very proud of myself…
Went to the gate to see if I had the right place and the boy told me to drive down to the marina and and park at the side…..and that non of the other people were there yet….well I waited until 0755…..YES it only took me 10mins to drive there…..waited ages….and when I phoned the lady…she was a little surprised….arrrrr….your new…YEP! Its off today because of EID….. OMG I deprived my self of valuable sleep! No problems I will come back next week….and drove home…..THIRD TIME LUCKY I HOPE! I was really excited about going too! Took this picture of the marina as proof I actually got up at that ungodly hour!
Got back to the flat…still feeling tired I had full intention of doing something…cant remember what now…but I went to Ibn Battuta with J&C and the kids….i wanted to buy some training aids for swimming…(I love swimming…used to swim for a club and just love being in the pool)……got myself finger paddles and a pullbouy…when we got back to the flat I had to catch sum ZZZzzzzzzzzz if I didn’t lie down I was going to fall down!…..i never made it to the pool for sunbathing….
I was awoken by a text from a work mate……we are heading to Irish Village for the footie and staying till the rugby….gonna get messy if your up for it….OMG…I couldn’t face drinking….but I was deffo going to watch the rugby anyway! I had forgotten the end of Ramadan meant a three day weekend! BONUS….no work tomorrow!
Had an attack of guilt for the lack of exercise so went for a good old swim got ready and got a taxi straight away (stark difference from Thursday night!)…..got to IV met up with 2 ladies from work…got a G&T and headed for the tent….surprisingly empty!.....i drank the G&T and wished I hadn’t bought it….so it was coke for me for the rest of the night! The place really got packed from about 2130….people dressed in berets with French sticks…. And lots of England supporters….luckily the group I met got there early and had got some bean bags….BONUS….
What a game….the tent was chocker! From the first try in 1min21secs to the last drop goal we were shouting….my throat really hurt…. And sudden realisation UH OH how are all these people going to get out of IV….my concerns made reality when I got to the taxi rank…I hung back about half an hour…but there were NO Taxis…I decided to walk….and god did I walk, thankfully it is pretty safe in doobers.….i walked for about an hour…but the cabs weren’t stopping…I decided that I was better off at IV and started walking back…and eventually flagged a cab down….it was 2am and I was shattered! Apparently the rules have got strict….if a cab stops at the side of the road, FINE, if he takes more than 4 people, FINE! Peeps tend to stand at the roadside hide their friends then when he stops more than 4 jump in…so that’s why they wont stop! He also told me about the lovely lady in the car that tells them they are speeding!! Apparently if she comes on too many times the fare is free and they get reported to head office! GOOD SKILLS that should slow them down a little!. To be fair he was a nice chap.
Got back to the flat at 0245!
Sunday was a late lie…I didn’t get up till lunch and then I spent the day by the pool…..swimming and catching rays….not that factor 20 will let you catch rays!...had an early night ready for work…..the three day weekend over ALREADY!Photos to follow as I need to get some from facebook…….
Wow its also nearly been a year since I first came to Dubai! How time has flown!
So the weekend commenced on Thursday the 12th…this has to be the most active weekend I have had, and I really did push myself!
Catherine had been out all week on her way back to the UK from a holiday in Malaysia. She was flying back to UK on the Friday, so we all went out and managed to fill a table with 19……a mixture of peeps from the Abu Dhabi office and many from different departments in Dubai office. Louise booked us into Yalumba…..UH OH!!! YES I was there a few weeks before and YES I know how it gets messy!
First stop was Dubliners at the meridian village from 8pm onwards….no problem….so I thought….grab a cab from the greens….WRONG! Eid weekend means busyness for taxi firm…took me 40mins to get a cab….i booked one but they never did call me back…I ended up flagging one down! Driver seemed ok….i didn’t know however he was a nutter until we got onto SZR and he nailed it!! Pretty erratic and kept violently tilting his head….i thought maybe he had a nervous tick but NO he was trying to click his neck…..WOT! I guess that was his way of psyching up for the journey….he then proceeded to put his foot down harder….weaving and flashing at people in his way…and muttering some stuff in his language…but then….what’s this….the voice of an English lady from the front…at first I thought he had a TOMTOM…but no she said “you are speeding please slow down” in perfect queens English…..he then proceeded to smack the steering wheel and shout at it…well I couldn’t help it….i laughed sooo much! Especially as I must have had the pleasure of this repeated over and over, each time the wrath of the driver increasing to my amusement!
Finally got to the meridian village…the guy had no idea where the place was…..THAT MADE TWO OF US! So I got him to drop me at Meridian Dubai where I had a 5 min walk to the village….not too much of a problem, but my shoes were not the most comfortable!
Got to Dubliners at 2045…..DOH…louise had arrived 5 mins before me, so we headed to the bar for a bevy! The barman miss heard and instead of getting a bottle I got a pint of becks…and when we got outside….we were told we had to drink up as we were moving on……I was being egged on…..oooo your gonna struggle with that!!! REALLY! I was a student, and can still drink like a student…although it means I get light headed VERY quickly……so to set the scene (this was my first outing with my new colleagues) I polished off the pint, lou finished her vodka and we went to Yalumba for the champagne fest! Walking past a gym feeling a little guilty as all those fit types were working out, and it was exclaimed, I especially feel bad as they are working out and we are off to get sh1tfaced….i did laugh at that….funniest thing I heard in a while!
I thought we may have escaped photos…but Catherine had her camera….here are a few of the night….they are on Catherines facebook account….very amusing
….Dont know where the pumpkin, chef hat, foliage etc came from….but it was funny….again very cloudy memories of the night. I must have been drunk as Tayo ran off and got an octopus for me and louise to try…..complete with head and suckers….rubbery and tasted of nothing…..gross! I tried sushi…….so many people rave on about it I thought I would give it a go….i picked up this round white rice think with what looked like salmon in the middle wrapped in orange crumb like stuff….cool…..looked pretty!.....started eating it and realised it actually tasted like the smell on your hands after you have been fishing all day (I loved course fishing in the UK)….that took away the eliteness of sushi for me….followed by Catherine informing me the crumb like stuff was actually crab eggs….OMG they were crunchy too…It turned me…and mid mouthful I was like a child…I wanted sooo much to spit it out and wipe my tongue…but had to finish…..with non other than a gulp of champers….sufficed to say I didn’t eat anymore sushi!
12am marked the end of the flow of champagne…but final fill of glasses kept us going for another hour or so….even people minesweeping meant you had to be on your guard for champers robbers! that was, while we were sticking spoons to our noses!
Someone asked where we were heading too……SORRY did I hear you correctly…were we not inebriated enough!? BACK TO DUBLINERS….a final gin and one person falling asleep at the table…I exclaimed END EX! I had to get a taxi…I hit the brick wall! And grabbed a cab relatively easily back to the greens…….got into bed ARRRRRRrrrrrrr but wasn’t too good…..woke at 930….oops the room still moving!……much to Chris amusement as I walk out the bedroom…..he asked if I wanted egg and bacon…..NO! the very thought! I went back to bed….1130….feeling much better….Jean mothered me…shes great….with Chris again taking the pee! I KNOW I KNOW self inflicted!
Friday as you would guess……a water drinking wasted day! Had a few morsels of curry late that evening with C&J friends that came round but I had to go to bed as I had dragon boating in the morning……
Alarm…..0645…had to be there for 0800…not too sure where the place was so thought it best to leave early…..Jean was already up…Sky was awake. So at 0730 I left the house for the marina…….armed with directions in my head I found is really easily! Right next to Barasti! YEAH!....very proud of myself…
Went to the gate to see if I had the right place and the boy told me to drive down to the marina and and park at the side…..and that non of the other people were there yet….well I waited until 0755…..YES it only took me 10mins to drive there…..waited ages….and when I phoned the lady…she was a little surprised….arrrrr….your new…YEP! Its off today because of EID….. OMG I deprived my self of valuable sleep! No problems I will come back next week….and drove home…..THIRD TIME LUCKY I HOPE! I was really excited about going too! Took this picture of the marina as proof I actually got up at that ungodly hour!
Got back to the flat…still feeling tired I had full intention of doing something…cant remember what now…but I went to Ibn Battuta with J&C and the kids….i wanted to buy some training aids for swimming…(I love swimming…used to swim for a club and just love being in the pool)……got myself finger paddles and a pullbouy…when we got back to the flat I had to catch sum ZZZzzzzzzzzz if I didn’t lie down I was going to fall down!…..i never made it to the pool for sunbathing….
I was awoken by a text from a work mate……we are heading to Irish Village for the footie and staying till the rugby….gonna get messy if your up for it….OMG…I couldn’t face drinking….but I was deffo going to watch the rugby anyway! I had forgotten the end of Ramadan meant a three day weekend! BONUS….no work tomorrow!
Had an attack of guilt for the lack of exercise so went for a good old swim got ready and got a taxi straight away (stark difference from Thursday night!)…..got to IV met up with 2 ladies from work…got a G&T and headed for the tent….surprisingly empty!.....i drank the G&T and wished I hadn’t bought it….so it was coke for me for the rest of the night! The place really got packed from about 2130….people dressed in berets with French sticks…. And lots of England supporters….luckily the group I met got there early and had got some bean bags….BONUS….
What a game….the tent was chocker! From the first try in 1min21secs to the last drop goal we were shouting….my throat really hurt…. And sudden realisation UH OH how are all these people going to get out of IV….my concerns made reality when I got to the taxi rank…I hung back about half an hour…but there were NO Taxis…I decided to walk….and god did I walk, thankfully it is pretty safe in doobers.….i walked for about an hour…but the cabs weren’t stopping…I decided that I was better off at IV and started walking back…and eventually flagged a cab down….it was 2am and I was shattered! Apparently the rules have got strict….if a cab stops at the side of the road, FINE, if he takes more than 4 people, FINE! Peeps tend to stand at the roadside hide their friends then when he stops more than 4 jump in…so that’s why they wont stop! He also told me about the lovely lady in the car that tells them they are speeding!! Apparently if she comes on too many times the fare is free and they get reported to head office! GOOD SKILLS that should slow them down a little!. To be fair he was a nice chap.
Got back to the flat at 0245!
Sunday was a late lie…I didn’t get up till lunch and then I spent the day by the pool…..swimming and catching rays….not that factor 20 will let you catch rays!...had an early night ready for work…..the three day weekend over ALREADY!Photos to follow as I need to get some from facebook…….
Apologies for being slack. And again for the lack of photos! But the cable is being illusive! I am reliably informed it was sent but has got lost somewhere between UK and here…..not sure what I can do as I went and bought a 55 in one card reader and somehow, my card is NOT one of the 55 that the unit will take! GOD! If there is something that will wind me up its that! Anyway……..
On a lighter note, I thought I would fill in my weekends activities as I seem to have gone 2 weekends and not updated the old blog!
Basically I was a lazy swine on the 5th Oct…just didn’t feel like doing anything so……I didn’t….i played with the Apple…making a movie from all the clips and videos Doull and I, and our guests had taken between Oct and April this year….I didn’t get far….apart from picking a wicked track to open it with and the first three slides….WELL, I am a beginner…got to start somewhere!
I also got cutting and shutting some of the videos that we had taken and stupidly rotated the camera! Great this apple for cutting video, turning it and putting it back together…but that’s where my affection for the apple ends I am afraid! I cant wait for my PC to be shipped!
Sadly….i did actually spend the WHOLE day in front of the computer….what a geek!
Saturday wasn’t much better if I remember rightly…didn’t get to go dragon boating…they had some racing on and for a rookie, that would have been a bit much, so I was booked in for the 13th oct!…I didn’t stay by the PC, but I took my white glowing body out to the pool….i even had to put sun glasses on as my arms were so white they dazzled me!....amazing how much 4.5months out of sun makes the tan fade! Spent the hottest part of the day out there….factor 20 was my friend and in fact it was too good…..didnt get any browning at all! At least I got to chill and listen to my shuffle…..thought of my beloved cadets and how they were probably out in the cold and wet doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards!!!!
Came in mid afternoon….had to get ready…I drove to one of the malls towards the creek and got a cab to Irish Village, it’s a better option than trying to park near there!…..had to watch the England game on big screen!!!
RWC cant beat it…Eng vs Aus……..the place was surprisingly empty….but still a great atmosphere…nail biting to the end I really enjoyed it…and finally got myself out on my own……..That was basically it.. A chilled, refreshing relaxing weekend….back to work on Sunday!!!
On a lighter note, I thought I would fill in my weekends activities as I seem to have gone 2 weekends and not updated the old blog!
Basically I was a lazy swine on the 5th Oct…just didn’t feel like doing anything so……I didn’t….i played with the Apple…making a movie from all the clips and videos Doull and I, and our guests had taken between Oct and April this year….I didn’t get far….apart from picking a wicked track to open it with and the first three slides….WELL, I am a beginner…got to start somewhere!
I also got cutting and shutting some of the videos that we had taken and stupidly rotated the camera! Great this apple for cutting video, turning it and putting it back together…but that’s where my affection for the apple ends I am afraid! I cant wait for my PC to be shipped!
Sadly….i did actually spend the WHOLE day in front of the computer….what a geek!
Saturday wasn’t much better if I remember rightly…didn’t get to go dragon boating…they had some racing on and for a rookie, that would have been a bit much, so I was booked in for the 13th oct!…I didn’t stay by the PC, but I took my white glowing body out to the pool….i even had to put sun glasses on as my arms were so white they dazzled me!....amazing how much 4.5months out of sun makes the tan fade! Spent the hottest part of the day out there….factor 20 was my friend and in fact it was too good…..didnt get any browning at all! At least I got to chill and listen to my shuffle…..thought of my beloved cadets and how they were probably out in the cold and wet doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards!!!!
Came in mid afternoon….had to get ready…I drove to one of the malls towards the creek and got a cab to Irish Village, it’s a better option than trying to park near there!…..had to watch the England game on big screen!!!
RWC cant beat it…Eng vs Aus……..the place was surprisingly empty….but still a great atmosphere…nail biting to the end I really enjoyed it…and finally got myself out on my own……..That was basically it.. A chilled, refreshing relaxing weekend….back to work on Sunday!!!Sunday, 30 September 2007
Thursday!!!! ALREADY!!!!!!! Where is the time going? Finished my second week at work, and it is going really well. But Thursday means one ththaaaanggggggg……The weekend is here!
Forget fountain of knowledge, Kath, the Dubai Niagra Falls of knowledge was facing her 26th birthday on Friday, so it was only fitting that we all got together for a big celebration.
She had booked 2 tables at Yalumba at the Meridian Dubai for the champagne brunch…..being Ramadan the options for a good old fashioned session were limited, and technically the brunch was an evening meal..but that’s just a timing technicality!
After work I scooted off over to the NGS to Kaths to get ready…..i was sure I had the right day……but why was kath not opening the door???? Was she having a laugh!!!!! No! she was in the shower and I was banging on the door ringing her phone….eventually she let me in……………soon the other NGS residents started to descend for pre party drinks! Not that we were going to need them as the champagne was free as much as you can drink from 9pm to midnight! OMG!
Caught up with Katie and Stu and Chris….havent seen them since I left in April….was cool to see them again, and when we had all arrivals we headed for the taxis….The taxi firms wouldn’t let Kath book 3 taxis on a Thursday night…they said they wouldn’t have three available…..WHAT!!! we easily found three when we got downstairs….muppets!
Yalumba restaurant was like a buffet arrangement…
go up and fill your plate as much as you wanted. From roast lamb and beef where your plate is piled HIGH!! 
to prawn, crayfish, sushi, noodles, couscous…..you name it and it was there! So much where do you start! Meanwhile, slurping down the champers, with a guy that fills your glass as soon as you take a millimeter out of it….lets just say it didn’t take long for the bubbles to take effect…..there are many foggy areas from Thursday night…but the pictures do well to fill in the gaps! 
I remember numerous occasions where Alison and I were just laughing…..i don’t know what we were laughing at but it was funny at the time. Things started to get messy when we moved to the bar….we had a big group photo and then the hardcore select few opted for the evil elixir………tequila…
sufficed to say, at 1pm we wrestled kath to a car and got back to the NGS where again we struggled to get her to go to bed…..she was ALL OVER THE PLACE! Hahaha it was comedy, right up to the point where she accidently smacked ammie in the mouth and went running down the corridor…..although I am not sure it necessarily happened in that order!…..i end ex’ed at 3:30, but I understand caroline got kath in bed and went off in search of cheesy bread, high jacking some random and getting him to drive them round dubai on their quest!! Ahahha
FIRSTLY….CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS IS!!!!!
Friday was a bit of a funny morning….woke up at 7 and just couldn’t sleep….kath woke up too and was laughing at the photos from the night before…it is prudent to mention she was still inebriated! We logged into facebook so we could see the pictures from Doulls session at Oktoberfest…the way we were feeling….we had full sympathy for her!
Kath cooked up some bacon and retired back to bed…………I just played on the computer and recovered slowly…….i must have left around 3pm and headed to MOE to get a key cut….WHAT A MISSON…..wandered around looking for the shop, the only one in the mall that cut keys, which, when I did find it….no longer cut keys!!! GDI! I was exhausted and needed sleep…however I had a phone call from my mate jean that perked me up…..they had a baby sitter and were heading to the shooting club at Jebal Ali and I was invited too!! ACE! Headed back to the apartment totally fed up that I had used valuable energy searching for a shop that didn’t offer the service I required!!! Grrrrr
The baby sitter arrived and we headed to Jebal Ali shooting range! They offer a wide variety of weaponry activities….YEAH BABY! I like it!
I was going to try the archery on Saturday but as we were there together we decided to hit the shotguns! They also have a pistol range (like something out of Cagney and Lacey…..god I am showing my age!), and archery but about 8 different types of shotgun range, which I was educated, they call Traps…..the clay disks are fired in an array of directions, but we opted for the one where the clay pigeons went away from you…..was easier for the beginner…..
Was quite nervous actually….was bizarre to just go down to the counter….get your jacket, pick up a gun and have a box of cartridges whacked on the counter….i am used to full on weapon handover procedure…hahaha but here….plonk the gun on your shoulder and walk out to the range!
The instructors were brilliant….and after 25 shots we had exhausted our ammo….and GOD did my shoulder know about it! (in fact I have nice bruising!) was worth the pain though…I will do it again although it doesn’t seem that social…..we shall see……
Following shooting we hit Ibn Battuta for some grub and a wander round the shops….we had a proper comedy moment in the sports shop!!!!! Remember the obscure piece of equipment in the picture above? Hahahahahah well it was a horse……and electronic horse…called an iGallop
……it had multiple settings and would be more fitting to be seen in an Ann Summers catalogue! Well that’s what I think anyway! Chris got on it first….i nearly wet myself! But I had to have a go too…and I do have a video…and no I am NOT putting it on here…..maybe on facebook though! Bought some swim wear and was surprised to stumble across a new brand of swim wear hahahahah 
OOPPPSS think they need a new sign! We had a coffee following our little electronic pony trek and then headed home…I was ready to drop!
Saturday! Well needed lie in to catch up on lost sleep! I had a bit of time on the internet and then headed to Ibn Battuta Mall….mainly because the night before we had spotted a key cutting shop…but the queue was soo long I couldn’t be bothered to wait! Was an adventure to remember the route Chris took to get on the E11 towards Abu Dhabi….but I made it…..had a wander around the shops and headed back…..had a call from Jean and was invited to go round their friends and watch the NZ vs Romania and Australia vs Canada games…..and also stayed to watch the Wales game……..it was great! A very nice couple with a young lad…they put on nibbles and we had Lebanese……..it was a really nice afternoon/evening…..but before we knew it….the weekend was over!
Forget fountain of knowledge, Kath, the Dubai Niagra Falls of knowledge was facing her 26th birthday on Friday, so it was only fitting that we all got together for a big celebration.
She had booked 2 tables at Yalumba at the Meridian Dubai for the champagne brunch…..being Ramadan the options for a good old fashioned session were limited, and technically the brunch was an evening meal..but that’s just a timing technicality!
After work I scooted off over to the NGS to Kaths to get ready…..i was sure I had the right day……but why was kath not opening the door???? Was she having a laugh!!!!! No! she was in the shower and I was banging on the door ringing her phone….eventually she let me in……………soon the other NGS residents started to descend for pre party drinks! Not that we were going to need them as the champagne was free as much as you can drink from 9pm to midnight! OMG!
Caught up with Katie and Stu and Chris….havent seen them since I left in April….was cool to see them again, and when we had all arrivals we headed for the taxis….The taxi firms wouldn’t let Kath book 3 taxis on a Thursday night…they said they wouldn’t have three available…..WHAT!!! we easily found three when we got downstairs….muppets!
Yalumba restaurant was like a buffet arrangement…
go up and fill your plate as much as you wanted. From roast lamb and beef where your plate is piled HIGH!! to prawn, crayfish, sushi, noodles, couscous…..you name it and it was there! So much where do you start! Meanwhile, slurping down the champers, with a guy that fills your glass as soon as you take a millimeter out of it….lets just say it didn’t take long for the bubbles to take effect…..there are many foggy areas from Thursday night…but the pictures do well to fill in the gaps! I remember numerous occasions where Alison and I were just laughing…..i don’t know what we were laughing at but it was funny at the time. Things started to get messy when we moved to the bar….we had a big group photo and then the hardcore select few opted for the evil elixir………tequila…sufficed to say, at 1pm we wrestled kath to a car and got back to the NGS where again we struggled to get her to go to bed…..she was ALL OVER THE PLACE! Hahaha it was comedy, right up to the point where she accidently smacked ammie in the mouth and went running down the corridor…..although I am not sure it necessarily happened in that order!…..i end ex’ed at 3:30, but I understand caroline got kath in bed and went off in search of cheesy bread, high jacking some random and getting him to drive them round dubai on their quest!! AhahhaFIRSTLY….CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS IS!!!!!
Friday was a bit of a funny morning….woke up at 7 and just couldn’t sleep….kath woke up too and was laughing at the photos from the night before…it is prudent to mention she was still inebriated! We logged into facebook so we could see the pictures from Doulls session at Oktoberfest…the way we were feeling….we had full sympathy for her!
Kath cooked up some bacon and retired back to bed…………I just played on the computer and recovered slowly…….i must have left around 3pm and headed to MOE to get a key cut….WHAT A MISSON…..wandered around looking for the shop, the only one in the mall that cut keys, which, when I did find it….no longer cut keys!!! GDI! I was exhausted and needed sleep…however I had a phone call from my mate jean that perked me up…..they had a baby sitter and were heading to the shooting club at Jebal Ali and I was invited too!! ACE! Headed back to the apartment totally fed up that I had used valuable energy searching for a shop that didn’t offer the service I required!!! Grrrrr
The baby sitter arrived and we headed to Jebal Ali shooting range! They offer a wide variety of weaponry activities….YEAH BABY! I like it!
I was going to try the archery on Saturday but as we were there together we decided to hit the shotguns! They also have a pistol range (like something out of Cagney and Lacey…..god I am showing my age!), and archery but about 8 different types of shotgun range, which I was educated, they call Traps…..the clay disks are fired in an array of directions, but we opted for the one where the clay pigeons went away from you…..was easier for the beginner…..
Was quite nervous actually….was bizarre to just go down to the counter….get your jacket, pick up a gun and have a box of cartridges whacked on the counter….i am used to full on weapon handover procedure…hahaha but here….plonk the gun on your shoulder and walk out to the range!
The instructors were brilliant….and after 25 shots we had exhausted our ammo….and GOD did my shoulder know about it! (in fact I have nice bruising!) was worth the pain though…I will do it again although it doesn’t seem that social…..we shall see……
Following shooting we hit Ibn Battuta for some grub and a wander round the shops….we had a proper comedy moment in the sports shop!!!!! Remember the obscure piece of equipment in the picture above? Hahahahahah well it was a horse……and electronic horse…called an iGallop
……it had multiple settings and would be more fitting to be seen in an Ann Summers catalogue! Well that’s what I think anyway! Chris got on it first….i nearly wet myself! But I had to have a go too…and I do have a video…and no I am NOT putting it on here…..maybe on facebook though! Bought some swim wear and was surprised to stumble across a new brand of swim wear hahahahah OOPPPSS think they need a new sign! We had a coffee following our little electronic pony trek and then headed home…I was ready to drop!Saturday! Well needed lie in to catch up on lost sleep! I had a bit of time on the internet and then headed to Ibn Battuta Mall….mainly because the night before we had spotted a key cutting shop…but the queue was soo long I couldn’t be bothered to wait! Was an adventure to remember the route Chris took to get on the E11 towards Abu Dhabi….but I made it…..had a wander around the shops and headed back…..had a call from Jean and was invited to go round their friends and watch the NZ vs Romania and Australia vs Canada games…..and also stayed to watch the Wales game……..it was great! A very nice couple with a young lad…they put on nibbles and we had Lebanese……..it was a really nice afternoon/evening…..but before we knew it….the weekend was over!
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
So, the first weekend back in Dubai rapidly approached….Was just going to chill in the flat, take it easy…I even had the thought in my head that I would not return to the old routine of monster nights out as I had things to sort out at weekends, and sleep deprivation is not conducive to a productive weekend!....HAHAHAHHAHA who was I trying to kid!
My flat mate was returning to Oz and she had to be given a send off. I waited in the flat till around 19:30 and thought the night was off, just about to whack the oven on……well…….the grill as that’s all we could get working, and in she came, with a colleague from her site office. Lets go….It was only a short walk to the chosen venue…Double Deckers. A new one for me, didn’t even get there last time.
The place is decorated in a typical tourists view of London…..underground signs, red phone box and that is just on the out side. In side it is like an old fashioned pub on two floors. With traffic lights and suits of armour etc :-/
A few more colleagues joined us and we spent a good few hours chatting and drinking….I was starting to feel pretty hungry although the beer seemed to fill me up. Carolyns words “eatins, cheatin” kept reverberating around in my head! The sofas were really comfortable and because of Ramadan the music was low I was starting to feel the burn….but on we moved…..we grabbed a lift and ended up at Souk Madinat and Left Bank…another new one for me. Much of the same, low music, darkness, chatting and drink. Around 1 we decided to try and get a cab…..OMG, easier said than done….the queue was at the front entrance to madinat…..but the taxis were being turned away at the roundabout towards the road!!!!! WHAT!!!..but the thing was it took us 30mins to work this out!!!..so I marched off with Joyce in tow to jump a cab from the road…2 minutes later and we were away….munchies set in so toast and noodles required….If someone from asia tells you the noodles are spicy for goodness sake take note……..I was so hungry that I thought they may be just slightly warm!!!!!! They BLEW my head off…..it really hurt! I had to rinse them 3 times with boiling water and still have a bottle of milk next to me just to eat them! Just what the doctor ordered though! Joyce started packing for her flight in the morning and I hit my bed.
Friday, woke up to an 0630 alarm to ensure Joyce was up, then went back to sleep….forgetting to change the setting on my phone from loud to discrete, I was awoken at 9am to a barrage of texts (replying to texts I had evidently sent at some point in the evening!)……I must leave my phone at home in the future, I text the world and his dog when I have had a few!………and ow did my head hurt! When I did surface I grabbed my washing and swimming gear and headed to Kaths. She had a washing machine she didn’t mind me using…..I was going to not go back to the NGS for a while….but needs must and it was ace to spend the day chilling and catching up with her.
In the afternoon I met her friend from Uni….Caroline? I think….and we went for a drive round Dubai….so I could see where mirdiff was in relation to other places…..OMG there is a lot of construction going on! A quick stop at Festival City! no excuse needed for shopping!!! especially at M&S!!!! 
We then went to Exiles…via the new business bay bridge…..
Exiles is like a massive sports venue…Kath plays netball there and one of her team mates was making her debut in the Womens Rugby……again OMG! They are really rough, no holds barred tackling….i think I will stick to swimming! Although I need to get involved with something here to meet people…. 
Saturday was spent packing up and moving in with my mates, Jean and Chris….and my swimming regime will start Sunday Eve….after work!
Update…so swimming….I think I underestimated how 4.5mths of NO swimming (no excuses as there is a pool in Widnes) would make ones body so unfit…so what did I do…..stupidly hit it running! 20 lengths of a pool a million times bigger than the one we had at NGS..(ok so that’s a small lie)…but it was still big! I felt well dizzy after that! And was even offered oxygen by jean when I got back to the flat! OMG it was hard!...three days in and the swimming is coming on well!
My flat mate was returning to Oz and she had to be given a send off. I waited in the flat till around 19:30 and thought the night was off, just about to whack the oven on……well…….the grill as that’s all we could get working, and in she came, with a colleague from her site office. Lets go….It was only a short walk to the chosen venue…Double Deckers. A new one for me, didn’t even get there last time.
The place is decorated in a typical tourists view of London…..underground signs, red phone box and that is just on the out side. In side it is like an old fashioned pub on two floors. With traffic lights and suits of armour etc :-/
A few more colleagues joined us and we spent a good few hours chatting and drinking….I was starting to feel pretty hungry although the beer seemed to fill me up. Carolyns words “eatins, cheatin” kept reverberating around in my head! The sofas were really comfortable and because of Ramadan the music was low I was starting to feel the burn….but on we moved…..we grabbed a lift and ended up at Souk Madinat and Left Bank…another new one for me. Much of the same, low music, darkness, chatting and drink. Around 1 we decided to try and get a cab…..OMG, easier said than done….the queue was at the front entrance to madinat…..but the taxis were being turned away at the roundabout towards the road!!!!! WHAT!!!..but the thing was it took us 30mins to work this out!!!..so I marched off with Joyce in tow to jump a cab from the road…2 minutes later and we were away….munchies set in so toast and noodles required….If someone from asia tells you the noodles are spicy for goodness sake take note……..I was so hungry that I thought they may be just slightly warm!!!!!! They BLEW my head off…..it really hurt! I had to rinse them 3 times with boiling water and still have a bottle of milk next to me just to eat them! Just what the doctor ordered though! Joyce started packing for her flight in the morning and I hit my bed.
Friday, woke up to an 0630 alarm to ensure Joyce was up, then went back to sleep….forgetting to change the setting on my phone from loud to discrete, I was awoken at 9am to a barrage of texts (replying to texts I had evidently sent at some point in the evening!)……I must leave my phone at home in the future, I text the world and his dog when I have had a few!………and ow did my head hurt! When I did surface I grabbed my washing and swimming gear and headed to Kaths. She had a washing machine she didn’t mind me using…..I was going to not go back to the NGS for a while….but needs must and it was ace to spend the day chilling and catching up with her.
In the afternoon I met her friend from Uni….Caroline? I think….and we went for a drive round Dubai….so I could see where mirdiff was in relation to other places…..OMG there is a lot of construction going on! A quick stop at Festival City! no excuse needed for shopping!!! especially at M&S!!!! We then went to Exiles…via the new business bay bridge…..Exiles is like a massive sports venue…Kath plays netball there and one of her team mates was making her debut in the Womens Rugby……again OMG! They are really rough, no holds barred tackling….i think I will stick to swimming! Although I need to get involved with something here to meet people…. Saturday was spent packing up and moving in with my mates, Jean and Chris….and my swimming regime will start Sunday Eve….after work!Update…so swimming….I think I underestimated how 4.5mths of NO swimming (no excuses as there is a pool in Widnes) would make ones body so unfit…so what did I do…..stupidly hit it running! 20 lengths of a pool a million times bigger than the one we had at NGS..(ok so that’s a small lie)…but it was still big! I felt well dizzy after that! And was even offered oxygen by jean when I got back to the flat! OMG it was hard!...three days in and the swimming is coming on well!
You will have to excuse the poor quality of the photos....the cable for the camera still hasnt turned up and i have have had to use my camera phone.......x
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Tuesday 18th ……..Dont get me wrong…I may be updating this everyday….but this wont be for ever! So many new things are going on this week that I think it warrants a daily update!
So today….when I got in the office….it was Visa Medical day……OMG!
I had a driver/chaperone……THANKFULLY! As I would have had NO idea where I was going or what I was doing!
Went to the Al Maktoum medical centre with a couple of Photos a copy of my passport and employment visa. Went to one queue for registration and get a number put on the visa. (the mens queue was massive) Picture this….a hot day…..herded into queues like cattle stalls….OMG! went to the typist…they translate the documents….get some postage sticker thing….go back to the room you just queued in (the other side of the complex…..walking outside I may add!),,,you pay your money and collect another A4 sheet of paper….POOR TREES! From there I had to go to the ladies blood giving room! More forms and thankfully not many women waiting meant for a quick event! I Hate needles and WHY is it when you have a look to see what they are doing because they are taking a while….YOU ALWAYS LOOK AS THEY STICK IT IN…..ooo had to look away! Anyway with that over I was given some paper and told to follow the green line to xray,……..WHAT! is this wizard of oz……oh….. that was yellow!
On the way out of the blood place…I bumped into Katie..she is the fiancé of one of the secondees from Epsom , Cal and I worked with last time in Dubai…couldn’t chat long as our chaperones were keen to get us in the next queues. Got to the xray place and it was just a sea of men! Waiting for xray too…..unbelievable! poor guys must wait for HOURS! Got to the window to be told we didn’t have the correct paperwork the blood room had kept both of the photo documents and we needed one….Another trip into the heat to walk back to the other side….ARRRRRR another quick chat with Katie and we were back at the xray section! Ladies seem to be rushed through! That’s an experience…a hand full of philipino ladies and 2 british……when our turn came round us two were ushered in together and told to share a changing room to put a cotton top on for xray! Hahaha funny funny…..we thought it important to introduce ourselves before!!!! Hahaha only in Dubai! The xray was a chest one….guess it tells them if your healthy……….got my stamps and off we go back to the office! A couple of hours after leaving!!! What an Experience!
After work saw my first social experience with the office. It was the birthday of one of the lady’s in the office and they invited me along for afterwork drinks and dinner. It was held at the More restaurant below my apartment…..very nice place…so I joined them and had a really nice time chatting and getting to know people…..
So today….when I got in the office….it was Visa Medical day……OMG!
I had a driver/chaperone……THANKFULLY! As I would have had NO idea where I was going or what I was doing!
Went to the Al Maktoum medical centre with a couple of Photos a copy of my passport and employment visa. Went to one queue for registration and get a number put on the visa. (the mens queue was massive) Picture this….a hot day…..herded into queues like cattle stalls….OMG! went to the typist…they translate the documents….get some postage sticker thing….go back to the room you just queued in (the other side of the complex…..walking outside I may add!),,,you pay your money and collect another A4 sheet of paper….POOR TREES! From there I had to go to the ladies blood giving room! More forms and thankfully not many women waiting meant for a quick event! I Hate needles and WHY is it when you have a look to see what they are doing because they are taking a while….YOU ALWAYS LOOK AS THEY STICK IT IN…..ooo had to look away! Anyway with that over I was given some paper and told to follow the green line to xray,……..WHAT! is this wizard of oz……oh….. that was yellow!
On the way out of the blood place…I bumped into Katie..she is the fiancé of one of the secondees from Epsom , Cal and I worked with last time in Dubai…couldn’t chat long as our chaperones were keen to get us in the next queues. Got to the xray place and it was just a sea of men! Waiting for xray too…..unbelievable! poor guys must wait for HOURS! Got to the window to be told we didn’t have the correct paperwork the blood room had kept both of the photo documents and we needed one….Another trip into the heat to walk back to the other side….ARRRRRR another quick chat with Katie and we were back at the xray section! Ladies seem to be rushed through! That’s an experience…a hand full of philipino ladies and 2 british……when our turn came round us two were ushered in together and told to share a changing room to put a cotton top on for xray! Hahaha funny funny…..we thought it important to introduce ourselves before!!!! Hahaha only in Dubai! The xray was a chest one….guess it tells them if your healthy……….got my stamps and off we go back to the office! A couple of hours after leaving!!! What an Experience!
After work saw my first social experience with the office. It was the birthday of one of the lady’s in the office and they invited me along for afterwork drinks and dinner. It was held at the More restaurant below my apartment…..very nice place…so I joined them and had a really nice time chatting and getting to know people…..
Monday 17th….Right….need to get a cab…..need to remember the 2 finger beckoning salute!!! GOD!! CAROLYN WAS SO MUCH BETTER AT IT THAN ME! In fact I literally walked out the block BANG into the humidity….and before reaching the road a cab was beeping….GAME ON!
Got to office in record time…..best thing about Ramadan! Empty roads at certain times.
Another good day and in the afternoon……THE CAR! Ok so the rules have changed since we were last here. To hire a car you HAVE to have an international driving permit…..i had to go to the post office in Liverpool to get my little beauty! £4.50 and basically it’s an AA document that translates your license into a number of languages…..including Arabic! The boy turned up and we went to inspect the beast! A 2007 corolla….1.8….i was pretty pleased….but was SOOOOO hoping to get a chevvy optra hahahaha oh the memories!
End of the day, and oh how the nerves kicked in! my first experience back behind the wheel in Doobers for 4.5mths! it felt so weird sitting on the left. I felt quite nauseous! If I am honest! Before I even started the car I was talking to my self…..oh god oh god right!
Drove out the car park….after studying the map for a bit! Still managed to get lost! Instead of heading to Za Beel I went towards Satwa………easy to do as it was the same junction and I don’t ever recall using it before…oh well….got near the apartments….and on a quiet road went to the wrong side! ARRRRR what has happened to me! MY DRIVING!!!! Thankfully found the car park and was happy to get back to the flat!!
Decided to try making some nice culinary treat!......chicken breast stuffed with tomato garlic and basil and roasted veg……a throw back from my last time here and inspired by Rachael Ray YEAHHHHHHHHHHH! Was all going really well…except the oven wouldn’t work! GDI! I ended up putting the chicken in foil wraps under the grill and almost sacking the roast veg off!
So I buttered some bread and had posh chicken sandwiches….posh cos I would never have gone to the effort of cooking with the other ingredients if it was destined to lie smack between two slices of bread!
Having scoffed I dashed out to the Greens to see my good friends Jean and Chris….i really have missed them….in fact Jean was prepping some little cakes as Skye’s birthday was on Tuesday! I even got a personalised cake!
Was soo good chatting and we discussed my moving in with them for a while….that is such a kind offer! But oh how time flies…..i ignored the issue of salik and just headed back on Sheik Zayed to get home!
Got to office in record time…..best thing about Ramadan! Empty roads at certain times.
Another good day and in the afternoon……THE CAR! Ok so the rules have changed since we were last here. To hire a car you HAVE to have an international driving permit…..i had to go to the post office in Liverpool to get my little beauty! £4.50 and basically it’s an AA document that translates your license into a number of languages…..including Arabic! The boy turned up and we went to inspect the beast! A 2007 corolla….1.8….i was pretty pleased….but was SOOOOO hoping to get a chevvy optra hahahaha oh the memories!
End of the day, and oh how the nerves kicked in! my first experience back behind the wheel in Doobers for 4.5mths! it felt so weird sitting on the left. I felt quite nauseous! If I am honest! Before I even started the car I was talking to my self…..oh god oh god right!
Drove out the car park….after studying the map for a bit! Still managed to get lost! Instead of heading to Za Beel I went towards Satwa………easy to do as it was the same junction and I don’t ever recall using it before…oh well….got near the apartments….and on a quiet road went to the wrong side! ARRRRR what has happened to me! MY DRIVING!!!! Thankfully found the car park and was happy to get back to the flat!!
Decided to try making some nice culinary treat!......chicken breast stuffed with tomato garlic and basil and roasted veg……a throw back from my last time here and inspired by Rachael Ray YEAHHHHHHHHHHH! Was all going really well…except the oven wouldn’t work! GDI! I ended up putting the chicken in foil wraps under the grill and almost sacking the roast veg off!
So I buttered some bread and had posh chicken sandwiches….posh cos I would never have gone to the effort of cooking with the other ingredients if it was destined to lie smack between two slices of bread!Having scoffed I dashed out to the Greens to see my good friends Jean and Chris….i really have missed them….in fact Jean was prepping some little cakes as Skye’s birthday was on Tuesday! I even got a personalised cake!
Was soo good chatting and we discussed my moving in with them for a while….that is such a kind offer! But oh how time flies…..i ignored the issue of salik and just headed back on Sheik Zayed to get home!
Sunday 16th…..First day at work….going to be taken to the office by a driver! At 0800…….0815….he wasn’t there…did I get it wrong? I phoned in to enquire and the driver left immediately….1hr30 later he arrived….he must be the slowest driver in Dubai….this was confirmed when he got to me….at least I felt safer than being in a mad taxi! Usual admin conducted in the office and had a really good day….meeting everyone etc. Didn’t get a car, It was a bit late in the afternoon to be getting one sorted by the time I got round to it.….Its Ramadan here, so places close early. I booked a cab at the end of the day….probably a good thing…..the more trips around Dubai in the back of a cab rather than being in control of my own weapon so soon, was probably the best idea!
Ok, so ticket confirmation printed, two bags packed…..case approx 21kg hold all about 25kg. I know I am over my weight limit but there is nothing I can do about it. I need my stuff!
Check my documents…..Passport…..International Driving Permit…..Driving licence…..degree certificates….birth certificate……..yep I have them…….5 mins later…better just check again I wasn’t seeing things…..this cycle repeated numerous times, but I am definitely not an obsessive compulsive!
I already spent the last few weeks seeing friends and family, saying my goodbyes…..so it was just final phone calls and saying good bye to the neighbours who kindly came round to wish me all the best.
Steve drove me to the airport around tea time on Friday 14th…..Excellent call as there were NO queues at the check in. I nearly fainted…….the last couple of times I have flown out of Manchester to Dubai I have been in a queue for nearly an hour!
Guy at check in was pretty reasonable…..pointing out I was in fact quite a lot over my weight limit! I explained that I was aware of that, in a pleasant manner maintaining eye contact, yet not resorting to eyelash fluttering (THAT IS JUST NOT ME). He asked if I was moving out there and I confirmed, to which he said “I will do you a deal on the excess baggage”. Hmmmm its still not gonna be cheap he added! Basically I was some 20kg over….(they allow up to 28kg free) he charged me for 10 kg……£226 later I was able to collect my boarding card! (Note to self, when returning to UK…….SHIP EXCESS BAGGAGE!).
Had a coffee with Steve and his brother (who was staying as he was working not a million miles from Cheshire). Steve wanted to get off. He had a few things to sort and had to get to cadets, so he stayed while I joined the increasing queue through to departures. That was hard. We had already said goodbye before we left the house, but the 83 day countdown till he comes out on hols was about to start!.....Departures was busy but I found a chair and texted a few peeps…before I knew it my gate was open and boarding started.
The flight was uneventful….to be honest I really don’t know where the time went! Managed to get a few hours kip and started watching the new Pirates of the Caribbean film, but didn’t see the ending!
All of a sudden we were 30 min from Dubai! And for the first time ever they came round to collect their blankets…..I guess they have lost a lot of them…. :-/ First thing I had to do was find the Visa desk. No one was on the European desk so I queued up at the “All other countries” desk, and the guy went over to look for my Employment Visa at the correct desk. He looked a bit perplexed to start with, asking why did I need a visa………but sure enough it was there in the pile. Next, clutching my piece of Ministry of Interior paperwork I headed to the passport control….he stamped my passport a couple of times and then beckoned his mate over. They took my passport and I had to wait! I don’t know what they did, but about 5 mins later he came back. I was able to go and get my bags which were still going round and round on the carousel with only a handful of others remaining.
My driver was still waiting for me and we went via the office to collect a phone, then on to the apartment. I am sharing with a lady from Sydney office who returns home in a week. She has been here for 5 weeks on her own. I was shown where the supermarket was and we both went down to the restaurant below for breakfast. Ramadan started 2 days ago so the place looked shut! But a full English and a cuppa was needed.
Joyce went off to site (she is working on the Burjuman Station where two engineering firms are working together!). I decided that I was running low on fuel….needed to chill/nap. Sat in the flat for the rest of the day as the heat was increasing and I didn’t have wheels. I called Chris and Jean to say hi……they offered to come and get me which was really kind, but I didn’t want to put them out and just wanted to chill and get my stuff ready for work the next day. When I get a car I will go down to see them. The apartment is great! As you would expect its big!....I have taken photos of the view….BASICALLY the Burj Dubai (worlds tallest building when complete) is straight out the window!
But………moron here didn’t bring the download cable for the camera so I will have to get a card reader from somewhere! But will get the photos uploaded soon. 
That night I made contact with the new Dubai Fountain of Knowledge!!!! Kathryn! Sensing my nervousness we arranged to go out for dinner at a nice Italian at Wafi City…it was nice to get out the flat and catch up with a mate!
Check my documents…..Passport…..International Driving Permit…..Driving licence…..degree certificates….birth certificate……..yep I have them…….5 mins later…better just check again I wasn’t seeing things…..this cycle repeated numerous times, but I am definitely not an obsessive compulsive!
I already spent the last few weeks seeing friends and family, saying my goodbyes…..so it was just final phone calls and saying good bye to the neighbours who kindly came round to wish me all the best.
Steve drove me to the airport around tea time on Friday 14th…..Excellent call as there were NO queues at the check in. I nearly fainted…….the last couple of times I have flown out of Manchester to Dubai I have been in a queue for nearly an hour!
Guy at check in was pretty reasonable…..pointing out I was in fact quite a lot over my weight limit! I explained that I was aware of that, in a pleasant manner maintaining eye contact, yet not resorting to eyelash fluttering (THAT IS JUST NOT ME). He asked if I was moving out there and I confirmed, to which he said “I will do you a deal on the excess baggage”. Hmmmm its still not gonna be cheap he added! Basically I was some 20kg over….(they allow up to 28kg free) he charged me for 10 kg……£226 later I was able to collect my boarding card! (Note to self, when returning to UK…….SHIP EXCESS BAGGAGE!).
Had a coffee with Steve and his brother (who was staying as he was working not a million miles from Cheshire). Steve wanted to get off. He had a few things to sort and had to get to cadets, so he stayed while I joined the increasing queue through to departures. That was hard. We had already said goodbye before we left the house, but the 83 day countdown till he comes out on hols was about to start!.....Departures was busy but I found a chair and texted a few peeps…before I knew it my gate was open and boarding started.
The flight was uneventful….to be honest I really don’t know where the time went! Managed to get a few hours kip and started watching the new Pirates of the Caribbean film, but didn’t see the ending!
All of a sudden we were 30 min from Dubai! And for the first time ever they came round to collect their blankets…..I guess they have lost a lot of them…. :-/ First thing I had to do was find the Visa desk. No one was on the European desk so I queued up at the “All other countries” desk, and the guy went over to look for my Employment Visa at the correct desk. He looked a bit perplexed to start with, asking why did I need a visa………but sure enough it was there in the pile. Next, clutching my piece of Ministry of Interior paperwork I headed to the passport control….he stamped my passport a couple of times and then beckoned his mate over. They took my passport and I had to wait! I don’t know what they did, but about 5 mins later he came back. I was able to go and get my bags which were still going round and round on the carousel with only a handful of others remaining.
My driver was still waiting for me and we went via the office to collect a phone, then on to the apartment. I am sharing with a lady from Sydney office who returns home in a week. She has been here for 5 weeks on her own. I was shown where the supermarket was and we both went down to the restaurant below for breakfast. Ramadan started 2 days ago so the place looked shut! But a full English and a cuppa was needed.
Joyce went off to site (she is working on the Burjuman Station where two engineering firms are working together!). I decided that I was running low on fuel….needed to chill/nap. Sat in the flat for the rest of the day as the heat was increasing and I didn’t have wheels. I called Chris and Jean to say hi……they offered to come and get me which was really kind, but I didn’t want to put them out and just wanted to chill and get my stuff ready for work the next day. When I get a car I will go down to see them. The apartment is great! As you would expect its big!....I have taken photos of the view….BASICALLY the Burj Dubai (worlds tallest building when complete) is straight out the window!
But………moron here didn’t bring the download cable for the camera so I will have to get a card reader from somewhere! But will get the photos uploaded soon. That night I made contact with the new Dubai Fountain of Knowledge!!!! Kathryn! Sensing my nervousness we arranged to go out for dinner at a nice Italian at Wafi City…it was nice to get out the flat and catch up with a mate!Wednesday, 12 September 2007
HERE I GO AGAIN ON MY OWN!!!!!!
Well, What can i say.....i was told "you have to take a risk to broaden your horizons".
In 10 yrs time I dont want to have regrets for not giving it a go... I have been given yet another excellent opportunity to work in this exciting city! so all that is left to do it PACK!
OMG how daunting!
how much rubbish have i accumulated...and why the hell have i not thrown out those old jumpers that nan knitted!!!!!!.............. WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER!
my wardrobe is greatly reduced now...MORE SPACE FOR NEW CLOTHES!!!!
Have said the family fairwells.....met my baby neice Abigail.
Said good bye to my neighbours and my cadet squadron (that was hard).
I said Ta Ta to the other ATC staff i have met since joining Merseyside Wing...............many of which have become great friends.....and i look forward to seeing them out in the desert too!
I sold my beloved car (being a petrol head, i found that particularly hard.....). BUT! my bike......my adored blue Hornet is tucked up for a while thanks to my mate Anna and her Dad.....if it wasnt for them my baby would have been sold, but is now waiting for my return!!!
;-)
Not much left to do now bar packing and getting my butt to the airport on Friday ready for our new experience. My other half will be out in Dec and then Jan.....CANT WAIT! but meantime i hope to be getting set up and meeting the team i will be working with!
I have missed not keeping a blog! so.......WATCH THIS SPACE!
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