God Parents!

Well, after being here for 18mths we reached a nice milestone this weekend with Niki and I becoming god parents this weekend.

We were very chuffed to be invited to be god parents to baby Olivia who is our friends and neighbours Trevor & Sam's newest addition and its a bit of a feather in our caps to be asked to be a part of their family.

Whilst I am not religious at all and to me the name is a bit of a misnomer, it is still a great honour.

So there we were on Friday morning, in Christ's Church Jebel Ali Dubai, being part of the ceremony along with two other babies to have Olivia baptised and us along with our fellow friends John & Deborah to be God Parents.

It just goes to show how much we have come along here in Dubai!  To think I could be a god parent to a little girl from English parents 18mths after landing in this strange country, well I wouldnt have believed you!

Welcome Back Mum!

Niki comes home tonight!  After her being away for two weeks in Sydney, I have come to the end of my run as "Mr Mum" and I think if I can blow my own trumpet, it has gone well.

The girls have had lunches and dinners without resorting to mass orders of take away food and the dishes have been done and the laundry upkept.

I have been able to get away early from work each day and the girls have been able to get home from school to wait for me really well.

I should also say that with the girls being the ages that they are (11 and 9) that they have been really mature and responsible with what they have had to do and Kate has had a key to the house and she hasnt lost it nor abused it.  I am very proud of them!

So tonight, with Niki landing around 11pm, it will be a dinner out at the kids place of choice - Chili's or McDonalds undoubtedly, but I may try to convince them to go to Fuddruckers and then we will probably look thru the mall and then onto to Abu Dhabi airport late to pick up their mum.

As for Niki's trip, her mum is recovering well from her surgery and I am glad Niki was able to get back to be there.

For us, the next holiday time is Eid al-Adha, and we're booked into the Indian Ocean side of the UAE for a couple of nights at Fujairah.  That's going to be on 17-18 of November!

Dubai, the Land of Service.

Dubai is the land of "service".  Everywhere you go, there is someone there to push your shopping cart to the car, pack your groceries and help you with your luggage.  At restaurants and food courts, there is always a "Hello Sir" as soon as you walk in and the service is very attentive.

This is one of the great things about Dubai.  Given that is so cheap for the Emirati's to import service staff and Emirati's also have a very high expectation of service, for us expats its a dream come true.  No 16 year old school girls behind the counter texting her BFF whilst you wait to be served here!

The downside though is that at times the service can be infruriatingly good and the keen desire to provide good service drives you batty.  Today, was a case in point.

We subscribe to the local pay tv company and they're rolling out High Definition boxes and upgrading everyone for free.  (Would you get that in Australia?).  I rang them to ask when I can book them in and they said, dont worry sir, we will ring you personally when your name comes up and arrange a technician to come and install it.

So, two days ago the phone rings and a pleasant voice at the other end told me all about the transition and that they would take care of it and I didnt have to worry at all.  They asked what time would suit on Tuesday and I asked for as late as possible so that I could get home from work to meet the technician.  Given that Niki is in Australia, I had to be there for the technician.  Positively she said "does the 4pm to 8pm slot suit you".  I agreed and she said that the technician would call when he was an hour or so away.

Tuesday comes and I am at work this morning and the phone rings at 11:30am.  "Hello Mr Clayton, this is (insert random name I didnt catch) from Orbit Showtime".  I said yes, how can I help you...  "Well Mr Clayton, I am at your Villa but nobody is home".  Umm... why are you at my villa at 11:30?  You're nearly five hours early I replied!  "I was in area, and my next appointments are at Deira" (which is about 45km across town) "... and I thought you might like early installation".

I replied that I am at work, was an hour drive away and that I wasnt leaving until 3pm to be home by 4pm.

"Can you leave now Sir?"

Um... NO... I have work, I am already stretched for time and you're five hours early!

"OK sir... sorry, I can wait.  When can you be here?" he asks... he is being disarmingly pleasant and this is just him trying to do me a favour but my diary now looks like I need to rearrange things to accommodate his 'favour'.

I said I will see what I can do and call you back when I am leaving Abu Dhabi.

"No problem sir, I will wait".

I in turn, perhaps rudely, didnt leave until a bit after 2pm.  I had things to do and I got caught up in work and worked through lunch.  I rang him as I walked to my car and told him I would be there around 3:30pm.

"OK Mr Clayton, no worries.  Can I ask Mr Clayton... can you drive faster?"

Given I drive at the max speed before the cameras flash (which is 160km/h) I reaffirmed that I would be there at 3:30.

Anyway, I arrive and he is there and he is very friendly and helpful and takes me through all the options as if I had never seen a TV remote before... he also tweaked my junction box to boost the signal and was very happy to install.  I offered him a drink which he declined but almost apologetically he asked at the end if he could use my bathroom. 

It was the least I could do given I kept him waiting for about 4 hours!

Niki is in Oz

Well, after I made my trip to Sydney for my Dad's heart operation, Niki left last night and should be landing soon in Sydney to help her Mum who is having an important back operation.

This means that the kids have stayed with me in Dubai and I am playing Mr Mum for two weeks.  Niki was of course very loathe to leave the girls but it is important for her to go back to help out her parents but I think we will cope nicely.

I am going to have to juggle work alot but given that the official working hours are 8:30 to 4:30 and that I tend to work 2 or so hours a day overtime, I guess I can take "on the clock" time and leave at 4:30 every day.  Our neighbours have all offerred to help out with the girls until I get home each day and the kids with their mobiles are always contactable and in turn they can always contact me.

So for the next two weeks, I am going to be pretty busy with the extra shopping and dinner responsibilities (and I hope I don't make the girls ill with my cooking skills!) but it should also be good fun.

Speaking of mobile phones for the kids, Kate who is 11 is really pestering us for a Black Berry.  Why does a girl of 11 need a BlackBerry?  Well its all peer pressure and with a number of parents with what seems to be oodles of disposable income, a number of Kate's class mates have one or an iPhone.  To me its insane, and we checked out the prices for a BlackBerry and the base model is 1100 dirhams (divide by 3.6 for Aussie) and the base data cost per month is another 189 dirhams a month.  Given I just paid 400 dirhams for a phone for her and I sling her 50 dirhams credit every blue moon on her pre-paid, it seems like a big jump in out goings so that she can email and facebook her friends (and of course the dreaded BBM).  It seems that we're getting the first of the teenage style peer pressure purchase blues!

(Just had to laugh, as I type this Brooke is running around the house looking for her mobile as its ringing... the 9 year old social scene is alive and well!)

Well, better sign off, need to get the kids lunch together... McDonalds of course... but it is the weekend after all!

DRAGONS NRL PREMIERS 2010

Well, my football team, the St George Illawarra Dragons won the NRL Premiership!

Today, in steamy Dubai, I took the day off work to ensure that at 10am I was on the lounge ready to watch the game.

After grand final losses in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1999 and then 10 years of promising so much and delivering so little, the Dragons have led the 2010 premiership from start to finish and today eclipsed the Roosters 32-8.

I have to say today was an emotional day as I sat so far away watching through the Middle East sports network OSN.  Niki sat with me after we dropped the kids to school, had a coffee and then walked the dog.  We were so far away from the hype and the press and of course my mates giving me a hard time but the tension in my lounge room was huge as we waited for kick off.  With the weather in Sydney clearly cold and rainy, we watched some really crap (and I mean really crap) pre-game entertainment before a really crap rendition of the National Anthem.  A note to Australian event organisers:- Do not f#ck around with the Anthem.  Do not jazz it up, put a didgeridoo under it or muck about in any way shape or form.  Get a solid singer with no pretensions to belt it out so that the fans and the players can sing along.  Jessica Mauboy is not such a person... she remixed it to sound like a B-Side of her "upcoming album" which I will not be in a hurry to buy.

Anyway, the game was on and with Niki enthusiastically cheering as well we watched the first half whilst we both kept connected to people back home via Facebook.  The first half didnt go so well and the Roosters led at half time 8-6 but on the plus side it should have been worse.

Second half however was a brilliant effort as the Dragons in driving rain smashed the Roosters to win the game 32-8.  A nearly faultless display of ball handling in tough conditions and some unforgiving defense saw the game in the bag with 15 minutes to play and we were celebrating.  I couldn't believe it... the team that I have been following for as long as I could remember and yet had lost 5 grand finals in my younger years had finally done it.  The last premiership that we won was in 1979 (when I was 7, yet I can't remember it) and now I found myself 13,000km away watching from afar as the trophy was lifted by a St George team for the first time in 31 years.

It's days like today that you wish you were back at home, but that's OK... I had my St George jersey on today and had a couple of celebratory beers after the game :-)

Still here!

Sorry blog readers, I am sorry I have been out of sorts with the blog posting but I have been fairly busy with work this past week and it isn't letting up with me traveling to London later this week as well.

Things here have been good though and a few general things I should blog about are:

One, we watched the might Dragons get into the NRL grandfinal yesterday and I have already booked myself a day off from work next Sunday as we take on the Roosters in the big one.  The NRL has been well covered by the local TV this season but it is a lonely place here in Dubai for the NRL fan.  Rarely do I see any NRL gear here (I saw one guy wearing a Raiders cap a few weeks ago) but I was down the local shops yesterday before the game in my Saints jersey and am proud to fly the flag when I can.  We will however (we being Niki and I) be watching the game alone in our lounge room on Sunday.  Saints by 4.

Two, we watched by accident last night the local Dubai TV news.  There is a channel called Dubai One on the TV guide which we never go to because it doesnt actually tell you what is on, but I flicked it on just as the news was starting.  We were laughing though as the stories were hardly hard hitting and it was all good news stories about the Sheikh's (who are in Kentucky USA on some equestrian event) and that there was a Arabian Suluki dog show in Abu Dhabi.  Oh and by the way, the budget surplus in Dubai is set to rise by 367%... not sure what creative accounting worked that out!

Three:  We have been without our maid Dhammi this past fortnight as she went to Sri Lanka for a holiday... it was a bit of a culture shock for us and a sign that we have been living the good life here.  Not that it was difficult but it is just very nice that things get done for us and when it disappears it takes a bit to adjust.  But Dhammi was back this morning and she stopped by on the weekend to give the girls some trinkets and Niki scored a new skirt.  Very generous!

Four:  And again as a contrast for what Dubai is like, we went to brunch on Friday and given there were 17 of us in all, we decided to hire a limo to take us.  What turned up was a jet black stretch Hummer that holds 20 and we piled in and really enjoyed it.  It was a slight premium on paying for enough taxis but not by much and the laughs as we all piled into the Hummer were worth the cost.  It made me think though how lucky we are to have our girls laughing and poking their heads out of the windows waving to passing motorists from such a massive car whilst driving down the golden mile of Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.  They are certainly having a good life!

So, sorry for the lack of posts... I guess France took the wind out of my blogging sails, but life here is very good and we're still enjoying it.  The weather is down to the mid 30's and is incredibly pleasant and the summer is well and truly over weather wise.  Life is Good!

Go The Dragons!

Bonjour! We're Back!

Yes, we got back from France on the weekend and I am now back at work.  Was meaning to do a meaningful and long descriptive post but this short summary will have to do instead.

We arrived on the overnight flight from Abu Dhabi to Paris and managed to negotiate ourselves through customs and out to the bus terminal to get a bus to the TGV station for the fast train to Bordeaux.  We timed it beautifully as we only had about a 20min wait at Montparnasse station which was ample time to get my first French croissant into me!  YUM!

The train was brilliant and we sped through France to Bordeaux at speeds up to 320km/h and arrived in about 3hrs where we were met by our Dubai friends Philippe and Marianne and their son Raphi.  They had also scored a big 9 seater van and we had plenty of room for our luggage as well as we sped off to our accommodation for the next two nights at La Girarde.

La Girarde was lovely and we relaxed in the afternoon and also headed into the local town of Gensac for a late afternoon aperitif!  Dinner was provided by our hosts at La Girarde Mark and Kathy and it turned out to be the best meal we had all trip.

The next day we toured Margaux and Pauillac and did sight seeing, had some wine and sampled the local markets.  Also had a very funny lunch in which the staff did not speak English and only talked to Philippe (who is French) and basically insulted us when we asked if we could have some French Fries for the kids.  The loose translation of the insult was "that this is not England and the children should eat real food and not just potatoes!".  I think I was more upset at being referred to as English!!

After our end of our time at La Girarde and after alot of good food, we headed back to Paris again via the TGV train.

We arrived late in the evening and the big excitement was that we discovered our hotel was within spitting distance of the Eiffel Tower and Niki and the girls all were amazed at how it was lit up at night.  If it was one thing that the girls, particularly Kate, were keen to see in Paris it was the Eiffel Tower and so the first impressions of Paris were a big winner!

It was late, we checked in and got some sleep.  Our hotel room wasnt the most modern, but it had two double beds and lots of space and we were up and about the next day to go straight to the Eiffel Tower - which was of course breathtaking.

I had been to Paris before back in 2001, but it was really interesting to see how Niki and the girls took in the sights.  They were all amazed how tall the tower was and Niki commented that she thought it would be shorter.  We queued for a little while, but not too long, and soon enough we went up the lifts.  For those who have done it, the lifts themselves are an exciting part of the experience as you go up the angular lifts up the legs and then relay to the tower lifts.  We took ALOT of photos!

It was very special that finally after nearly 10 years in the planning, Niki and I had our photo together and shared a kiss on the top of the tower... :-)

The rest of Day 1 in Paris was spent on a river cruise and we spent along time in Notre Dame.  Built in 1163, this place is amazing and the history is amazing.  As an Australian in which old means just 200 years, Europe amazes me how things have stood for close to 1000 years.  Notre Dame is probably the oldest thing I have been to.

The rest of the trip to Paris was spent in taxis and on the Big Red Bus tour and we saw all the site.  The Louvre was a special experience as well and we, as with every other tourist, made a bee line to the Mona Lisa, but we spent alot of time in other areas of the museum.  The Egyptian artifacts were a big hit for the kids.

We also went to Montemarte and Sacre Couer, the Arc de Triomphe and spent alot of time in brasseries, souvenir shops and sunning ourselves in the parks.  Our new favourite delicacy is the Ham & Cheese baguette or the Croque Monsieur which is a grilled ham and cheese multi-decker sandwhich.  We also ate alot of duck and drank a fair amount of wine ;-)

After 4 nights in Paris doing all the above, it was time to hit Euro Disney and for the kids especially, this was a great way to finish the holiday.  We booked in for 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel and whilst its expensive, it is well worth being just 5 minutes from your hotel room to the roller coasters!

Euro Disney was great and we had access to Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios and the Disney Village plus all the amenities of the hotel.  All our meals in the hotel were accompanied by the Disney characters and Pluto even tried to steal my ice cream cone!

As for the parks themselves, we went on all the rides, queues were reasonable (worst wait was 40mins for the Nemo themed "Crush's Coaster" roller coaster) but they also had a "fast pass system" for some rides which we actually never needed to use.  My favourite ride was the Aerosmith Rock'n'Roll roller coaster at Walt Disney Studios and top marks also for the Wild West Big Thunder Bay roller coaster and the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom roller coaster both in Disneyland.

Space Mountain, a Disney classic, was also ridden on about 4 times!

By the end of three days at Euro Disney, we had seen it all and we had to get up very early for our bus transfer to Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and our flight home.

At the end of it, a great 10 days in France and one of the best holidays we have ever had.  The girls loved speaking French and I was surprised at how much they had picked up from school and Kate has vowed to "learn full French" at school...

Pics to come I hope!