2010 is coming to a close. As I write this, I am sitting in Sydney after arriving here from Dubai for the Christmas / NY holidays. Our trip to Sydney was fine and uneventful (which is what you want on a plane!) and whilst the weather isnt brilliant, to be honest I dont mind overcast and showers as a bit of variety from our Dubai home.
The year on reflection has been a great one. Work has consolidated in Dubai and is now routine rather than the wonderous experience of oddities that I blogged about in 2009. Its not that it is no longer "different" but rather I have adjusted where what was once odd and different is now the norm.
On the family front, the year has been excellent. We have made great friends, have met wonderful people and have enjoyed many unique experiences. We have explored the UAE and seen many sites ranging from the view at the top of the Burj Khalifa which is a monument of man's engineering down to seeing the sun set over the mountains of Fujeirah as they drop into the Indian Ocean.
We have reached the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which has been about a 10yr goal of mine to take Niki to and we both were extremely happy to see the kids still hang on to their childhood by dancing around with the Disney Princesses at Euro Disney.
2010 was also the year of learning new things... I have kept up my Arabic lessons and the girls are both getting very adept at French. Kate went into the IB curriculum version of High School and adjusted well.
Sadly though, we lost our first dog Zoe to old age and we still miss her. We also thought we lost Charlie the Cat too, but he came back after a 5 day stay somewhere else?! Both Niki and I had to make sudden trips back to Sydney for her mum and my dad for health reasons but we're glad that they both turned out OK.
But overall, 2010 has been one of the best years ever and we're very much looking forward to 2011. And whilst I know that I havent been posting as often as I once did, but this blog is still a great record of life and next year in 2011 will be the 8th year of Lime Kettles and I will keep posting.
So thank you readers for still reading and I wish everyone a very Merry Xmas and I hope your New Year will be a great one.
All the best!
Clay
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Dubai Birthday
Well, it was my birthday last weekend and given that last year I spent my birthday in a plane to Sydney, this year was a much better occasion and I celebrated with Niki and the girls and our Dubai friends at a big "brunch".
My birthday you see fell on Friday, and therefore as its the "done thing" in Dubai, we celebrated with a Friday Brunch.
Brunch is where you pay a fixed price and get to eat and drink (including alcohol) as much as you like. It's definately an occasion to leave the car at home and take a taxi! All hotels in Dubai offer a Friday Brunch and you can generally find one that meets your price range and you can also take a "non-alcohol" choice as well which reduces the cost of course. Kids are also offered a discounted price and kids typically under 4 eat and drink free.
This all stems from the Arabic custom of having a Friday meal together with family (much like the Sunday Roast in western cultures) and 90% of all Brunches are buffets.
We went to one of our favourites - Beachcombers at Jumeriah Beach Hotel - in which the food is Thai / Malaysian and we pretty much ate from midday to sunset all the satay sticks, fried rice, roti bread and prawn dumplings you could poke a stick at with an endless supply of Tiger Beer.
Cost was 285 Dirhams a head for full alcohol brunch, 185 for non-alcohol and a token amount for kids. We had 24 people, of which 3 were kids, 2 were non-paying babies and the rest were adults and it came to about 4500 dirhams. Now to convert to Aussie Dollars, divide by 3.6 approximately which is about $1,250. Where else can you feed 24 people for 4 hours with unlimited alcohol in a 5 star location for $50 a head!!
Now my head was a bit fuzzy at the time, but the bill did count how many bottles of Tiger we did order and the final total was 59 beers. That was from about 6-7 beer drinkers, so we did pretty good!
I tells ya dear readers in Sydney, Dubai is a great place to visit and a great place to celebrate your birthday!!
My birthday you see fell on Friday, and therefore as its the "done thing" in Dubai, we celebrated with a Friday Brunch.
Brunch is where you pay a fixed price and get to eat and drink (including alcohol) as much as you like. It's definately an occasion to leave the car at home and take a taxi! All hotels in Dubai offer a Friday Brunch and you can generally find one that meets your price range and you can also take a "non-alcohol" choice as well which reduces the cost of course. Kids are also offered a discounted price and kids typically under 4 eat and drink free.
This all stems from the Arabic custom of having a Friday meal together with family (much like the Sunday Roast in western cultures) and 90% of all Brunches are buffets.
We went to one of our favourites - Beachcombers at Jumeriah Beach Hotel - in which the food is Thai / Malaysian and we pretty much ate from midday to sunset all the satay sticks, fried rice, roti bread and prawn dumplings you could poke a stick at with an endless supply of Tiger Beer.
Cost was 285 Dirhams a head for full alcohol brunch, 185 for non-alcohol and a token amount for kids. We had 24 people, of which 3 were kids, 2 were non-paying babies and the rest were adults and it came to about 4500 dirhams. Now to convert to Aussie Dollars, divide by 3.6 approximately which is about $1,250. Where else can you feed 24 people for 4 hours with unlimited alcohol in a 5 star location for $50 a head!!
Now my head was a bit fuzzy at the time, but the bill did count how many bottles of Tiger we did order and the final total was 59 beers. That was from about 6-7 beer drinkers, so we did pretty good!
I tells ya dear readers in Sydney, Dubai is a great place to visit and a great place to celebrate your birthday!!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
UAE National Day
Well after our trip to Fujeirah, we now have a 4 day weekend coming up with the UAE National Day on Thursday and on Sunday, its the public holiday for the Islamic New Year. So four days off! With Ramadan, then Big Eid, then Little Eid, National Day and Islamic New Year, the last couple of months of the calendar year here are full of holidays. Oh and there was Prophet Mohammed's Birthday as well a couple of weeks ago but we didnt have a holiday because it fell on the weekend.
So, like in Australia in which the country seems to slow down after Melbourne Cup Day, here in the UAE its a bit more of a holiday mode.
Except for Christmas of course, which isnt recognised but many many expats do take some holidays. For us Australians who are used to summer holidays over Christmas its a bigger deal than compared to the English. The English celebrate Christmas Day of course, but then its back to work. So most of my colleagues really only take the Christmas days off and maybe extend through to New Years but I am once again a bit of the office freak in that I am taking three weeks off.
December 21 to January 9 I will be off work but we are thinking that we wont head back to Sydney next year. The airfare costs are 50% more expensive, the friends and relatives at home are busy busy busy with Christmas of course but also many of our friends are taking holidays away out of Sydney so the reality is we don't see everybody and it just seems so rushed with logistics for presents and booking dates in diaries etc etc.
So next year we may change it up and have Christmas in Dubai and see how it pans out.
Having said that, it will be good to get back to Sydney and see the people that we will see. Other than my Dad's heart attack trip, I havent been back since last Christmas and I am looking forward to it and I wont deny, that I am keen to have a break from work which has been particularly busy of late.
But before all that though, its a Happy Islamic New Year and a Happy UAE National Day!!
So, like in Australia in which the country seems to slow down after Melbourne Cup Day, here in the UAE its a bit more of a holiday mode.
Except for Christmas of course, which isnt recognised but many many expats do take some holidays. For us Australians who are used to summer holidays over Christmas its a bigger deal than compared to the English. The English celebrate Christmas Day of course, but then its back to work. So most of my colleagues really only take the Christmas days off and maybe extend through to New Years but I am once again a bit of the office freak in that I am taking three weeks off.
December 21 to January 9 I will be off work but we are thinking that we wont head back to Sydney next year. The airfare costs are 50% more expensive, the friends and relatives at home are busy busy busy with Christmas of course but also many of our friends are taking holidays away out of Sydney so the reality is we don't see everybody and it just seems so rushed with logistics for presents and booking dates in diaries etc etc.
So next year we may change it up and have Christmas in Dubai and see how it pans out.
Having said that, it will be good to get back to Sydney and see the people that we will see. Other than my Dad's heart attack trip, I havent been back since last Christmas and I am looking forward to it and I wont deny, that I am keen to have a break from work which has been particularly busy of late.
But before all that though, its a Happy Islamic New Year and a Happy UAE National Day!!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Fujeirah
Now, a valid reason for the lack of posts... we went to Fujeirah this week on the eastern / Indian Ocean side of the UAE. It was the first time I had seen the Indian Ocean (its actually called the Gulf of Oman this far north, but it all flows into the Indian Ocean) and it was a really interesting trip.
Whilst we stayed at the lovely Fujeirah Rotana Resort, it was the drive in and the drive out that was really interesting. We took the scenic route in as we drove to Hatta (where we went about three weeks ago) and then pressed on to the coast over a small mountain pass road. The mountains in the UAE and heading down the Indian Ocean coast to Oman are massive bare rock outcrops that look very jagged and rough. The Blue Mountains of Sydney are really a big hill covered in gum trees in comparison as these were the biggest mountains I had seen (and yes, I have never been to New Zealand, the Rocky Mountains in the USA or the Swiss Alps).
The trip was also interesting because once again we got a glimpse of the older UAE and how the people outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are not that well off. The townships we travelled through were all pretty ramshackle with road side fruit shops and places to buy firewood, it was very old school. The roads were rougher as well and whilst there were plenty of flash resorts on the coast, the rest of the place was pretty bleak.
But that's what its all about - getting out and seeing the country side... and by the end of the three days, we had driven up all the way along the UAE East Coast from Kalba to Dibba.
The holiday itself was very relaxing with our friends and I spent two days by the pool working on my tan.
The drive out home we headed north and then back west through the main mountain pass road which is right on the border to Mussandam and the Omani territory north of the UAE. The roads were better but the views as the mountains came right to the sea were breathtaking.
All in all, a great trip away for our Eid break... and now we're on the down hill run to our trip home to Sydney for Xmas.
Whilst we stayed at the lovely Fujeirah Rotana Resort, it was the drive in and the drive out that was really interesting. We took the scenic route in as we drove to Hatta (where we went about three weeks ago) and then pressed on to the coast over a small mountain pass road. The mountains in the UAE and heading down the Indian Ocean coast to Oman are massive bare rock outcrops that look very jagged and rough. The Blue Mountains of Sydney are really a big hill covered in gum trees in comparison as these were the biggest mountains I had seen (and yes, I have never been to New Zealand, the Rocky Mountains in the USA or the Swiss Alps).
The trip was also interesting because once again we got a glimpse of the older UAE and how the people outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are not that well off. The townships we travelled through were all pretty ramshackle with road side fruit shops and places to buy firewood, it was very old school. The roads were rougher as well and whilst there were plenty of flash resorts on the coast, the rest of the place was pretty bleak.
But that's what its all about - getting out and seeing the country side... and by the end of the three days, we had driven up all the way along the UAE East Coast from Kalba to Dibba.
The holiday itself was very relaxing with our friends and I spent two days by the pool working on my tan.
The drive out home we headed north and then back west through the main mountain pass road which is right on the border to Mussandam and the Omani territory north of the UAE. The roads were better but the views as the mountains came right to the sea were breathtaking.
All in all, a great trip away for our Eid break... and now we're on the down hill run to our trip home to Sydney for Xmas.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Blog Lag
Sorry for the lack of posts... simple explanation is that work has been really busy and really difficult I have been putting in a large number of hours of late.
But that should change as this week is the last week before a week off for Eid. I may have to work the Sunday, but other than that it will be Mon - Thurs off work next week and we will be heading to Fujeirah on the east coast of the UAE for a well deserved break for a couple of nights with the rest of the break spent in and around the pool. I am not sure about Sunday... its an official work day but its also the date of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, so many people will be away there and the day will be pretty dead. I may go in the morning and see how busy work is and then knock off to watch the race.
But to recap on the past couple of weeks, we didnt end up going on our trip to Mussandam as mentioned in my last post because of what is known as a "Dubai Stuff Up". Essentially our friend Marianne booked the trip, had a confirming email, and then the pick up didnt show. When we rang them, they had no record of our booking. No money was lost but its just one of those things that things dont happen as certain as you may hope. But all wasn't lost as we jumped in the cars and spent a day travelling to Hatta in the south east corner of the country and we still got to cross the Omani border to get there.
The weather at the moment is also brilliant with temps in the high 20's / low 30's (celcius) and the humidity non existant. Its been really nice and Oct / Nov is certainly the best time of year. We're still swimming albeit its a bit cooler when getting out and we had our first rain today for about 10 minutes.
On the other side of Eid, it will be a short wait before we're returning to Sydney for Xmas and so we need to start thinking about Xmas presents. Again, it will be a combo of buying stuff here and packing it in the suitcases and buying stuff there in Sydney.
In other news, we rent our maid quarters (yes, we have a maid quarters!) out to an Indian man called Victor who works at the local vets. I am sure I have blogged about this in the past, but to recap Victor was really lovely with our pets at the vet surgery and when he found himself looking for a new place we rented him our un-used maid room in exchange for a bit of rent and to look after the animals while we go on holidays. It has worked out really well and he is quiet, keeps to himself and does a great job with our dog Molly who he walks most days. Victor though must be very lonely and his wife and child are in India and he goes back once every 2 years. He simply works and hangs out at home and doesnt have a big social life. However he was very excited because his brother is coming to Dubai and he will bunk in with Victor soon. I put up the rent a bit but I think it will be good for him as the only people he talks to at home is our part time maid and her husband who come by on Friday's.
If you asked me before we left for Dubai would we sub-let our place to an Indian trainee vet, I would have thought you were nuts but he has helped out heaps with our travelling and keeping the pets safe and looked after.
Eid Mubarak!
But that should change as this week is the last week before a week off for Eid. I may have to work the Sunday, but other than that it will be Mon - Thurs off work next week and we will be heading to Fujeirah on the east coast of the UAE for a well deserved break for a couple of nights with the rest of the break spent in and around the pool. I am not sure about Sunday... its an official work day but its also the date of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, so many people will be away there and the day will be pretty dead. I may go in the morning and see how busy work is and then knock off to watch the race.
But to recap on the past couple of weeks, we didnt end up going on our trip to Mussandam as mentioned in my last post because of what is known as a "Dubai Stuff Up". Essentially our friend Marianne booked the trip, had a confirming email, and then the pick up didnt show. When we rang them, they had no record of our booking. No money was lost but its just one of those things that things dont happen as certain as you may hope. But all wasn't lost as we jumped in the cars and spent a day travelling to Hatta in the south east corner of the country and we still got to cross the Omani border to get there.
The weather at the moment is also brilliant with temps in the high 20's / low 30's (celcius) and the humidity non existant. Its been really nice and Oct / Nov is certainly the best time of year. We're still swimming albeit its a bit cooler when getting out and we had our first rain today for about 10 minutes.
On the other side of Eid, it will be a short wait before we're returning to Sydney for Xmas and so we need to start thinking about Xmas presents. Again, it will be a combo of buying stuff here and packing it in the suitcases and buying stuff there in Sydney.
In other news, we rent our maid quarters (yes, we have a maid quarters!) out to an Indian man called Victor who works at the local vets. I am sure I have blogged about this in the past, but to recap Victor was really lovely with our pets at the vet surgery and when he found himself looking for a new place we rented him our un-used maid room in exchange for a bit of rent and to look after the animals while we go on holidays. It has worked out really well and he is quiet, keeps to himself and does a great job with our dog Molly who he walks most days. Victor though must be very lonely and his wife and child are in India and he goes back once every 2 years. He simply works and hangs out at home and doesnt have a big social life. However he was very excited because his brother is coming to Dubai and he will bunk in with Victor soon. I put up the rent a bit but I think it will be good for him as the only people he talks to at home is our part time maid and her husband who come by on Friday's.
If you asked me before we left for Dubai would we sub-let our place to an Indian trainee vet, I would have thought you were nuts but he has helped out heaps with our travelling and keeping the pets safe and looked after.
Eid Mubarak!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Ras al Khaimah In Turmoil?
Further to yesterday's blog post about the death of Sheikh Saqr, all seems at peace here in Dubai and it was a surprise to stumble on this article in today's Sydney Morning Herald.
The contents of this article are not mentioned in local press here and this is all a surprise to me. Not that I am saying it isnt true, but it is clear that the local media does not report such "scandal" and to everyone here who reads the English language press, there has been nothing but a smooth transition of power. Maybe the Arabic language press may be being more direct, but for me this is totally new.
Having said that, I am aware that in Sunni controlled Abu Dhabi, that there is a concern that Sh'ite muslims in the northern part of the country (Dubai, Ras al Khaimah and Ajman) need to be monitored for ties to Sh'ite governed Iran. After living here for nearly 2 years I cannot tell the difference between a Sh'ite and a Sunni but apparently it is possible by subtle differences in the collar of the white robe Khandoura and the way the head dress is worn. I can pick a Kuwaiti from an Emirati, but I cant pick the difference in religion affiliation.
On Saturday, we're going with friends to Mussandam and we will have to travel through Ras al Khaimah to get there but its still perfectly safe and its hardly believable that it was over a year ago that we went to Ras al Khaimah for a holiday.
The contents of this article are not mentioned in local press here and this is all a surprise to me. Not that I am saying it isnt true, but it is clear that the local media does not report such "scandal" and to everyone here who reads the English language press, there has been nothing but a smooth transition of power. Maybe the Arabic language press may be being more direct, but for me this is totally new.
Having said that, I am aware that in Sunni controlled Abu Dhabi, that there is a concern that Sh'ite muslims in the northern part of the country (Dubai, Ras al Khaimah and Ajman) need to be monitored for ties to Sh'ite governed Iran. After living here for nearly 2 years I cannot tell the difference between a Sh'ite and a Sunni but apparently it is possible by subtle differences in the collar of the white robe Khandoura and the way the head dress is worn. I can pick a Kuwaiti from an Emirati, but I cant pick the difference in religion affiliation.
On Saturday, we're going with friends to Mussandam and we will have to travel through Ras al Khaimah to get there but its still perfectly safe and its hardly believable that it was over a year ago that we went to Ras al Khaimah for a holiday.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
National Mourning...
The ruler of the Emirate Ras al Khaimah, Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, passed away this morning at the spritely age of 92. He was, according to wikipedia, the worlds oldest ruling monarch and had been the ruler of Ras al Khaimah since 1948 after taking over in a "bloodless" coup.
Yes, I can read wikipedia and regurgitate all this but what does it mean on the ground here in the UAE?
Well... for starters, there has been a period of National Mourning declared. It varies from Emirate to Emirate with Ras al Khaimah declaring that they will be in mourning for 40 days. The rest of the Emirates are plumping for generally three days of mourning but what is interesting to me is that the largest Emirate - Abu Dhabi - has actually not declared any official mourning period with the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan only passing on his deepest condolences.
Which is disappointing because "National Mourning" includes the closing of government offices and businesses, which would have been a day or three off work for me because I work for an Abu Dhabi government company.
Other than closed government offices what National Mourning means that all radio stations now only play "mourning music" which is at best soft classical music but is typically recitals of the Holy Q'uran and Arabic poetry. This extends to ALL radio stations, which means when the kids want to listen to Virgin Radio Top 40 in the car, its sorry, but we only have Arabic poetry.
Also, all public events and celebrations are cancelled. The opening of the multi million dollar Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi has been postponed which would have involved a huge number of celebrities and big wigs cancelled / rescheduled but also even our kids school cancelled their "International Day Parade" out of respect for the Sheikhs death.
So, it impacts everyone from the big events in town down to the kids and schools... but I have to say that the reaction has been sombre and respectful without being hysterical in the media. It is by no means a "Princess Diana" event, but then again he was 92 and it was hardly unexpected.
Rest in Peace Sheikh Saqr.
Yes, I can read wikipedia and regurgitate all this but what does it mean on the ground here in the UAE?
Well... for starters, there has been a period of National Mourning declared. It varies from Emirate to Emirate with Ras al Khaimah declaring that they will be in mourning for 40 days. The rest of the Emirates are plumping for generally three days of mourning but what is interesting to me is that the largest Emirate - Abu Dhabi - has actually not declared any official mourning period with the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan only passing on his deepest condolences.
Which is disappointing because "National Mourning" includes the closing of government offices and businesses, which would have been a day or three off work for me because I work for an Abu Dhabi government company.
Other than closed government offices what National Mourning means that all radio stations now only play "mourning music" which is at best soft classical music but is typically recitals of the Holy Q'uran and Arabic poetry. This extends to ALL radio stations, which means when the kids want to listen to Virgin Radio Top 40 in the car, its sorry, but we only have Arabic poetry.
Also, all public events and celebrations are cancelled. The opening of the multi million dollar Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi has been postponed which would have involved a huge number of celebrities and big wigs cancelled / rescheduled but also even our kids school cancelled their "International Day Parade" out of respect for the Sheikhs death.
So, it impacts everyone from the big events in town down to the kids and schools... but I have to say that the reaction has been sombre and respectful without being hysterical in the media. It is by no means a "Princess Diana" event, but then again he was 92 and it was hardly unexpected.
Rest in Peace Sheikh Saqr.
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