First Weekend... First of many purchases...

Yes, a weekend without the In-teh-webz and I survived!  Only just though lol!  I moved out of Al Raha Beach on Thursday morning, went to work and then Thursday night drove to my new home in the Green Community in Dubai.

There was me, my toaster, a pillow and foam mattress and my novel and PSP to keep me occupied...

By the end of the weekend, I had a sandwhich maker, some basic food stuffs (Vegemite and Tim Tams for some Aussie home sickness) a borrowed fridge and washing machine and some bar stools to sit up at the kitchen bench (again borrowed).  The weekend itself went well but it was actually overcast and we had some thundery showers... in fact I would go close to saying the lightening show last night was close to the most spectacular I had ever seen!  With Dubai being so flat, you can see lightening going for miles without interference from trees, buildings and/or hills.  I tried to take some pictures, but failed miserably...

As for what I did, well shopped of course... the local supermarket got a work out and I was happy with the quality of the food (they did sell the above mentioned Vegemite!) and I went to the Mall of the Emirates on Friday night and the Ibn Battuta (sp?) Mall last night.  Everyone seems to go to Malls as part of the social fabric of the city and its not just shopping, but movies, theme parks (there were people skiing in the Tube at 11pm on Friday night) and socialising via coffee shops thru to restaurants.

I personally bought yet another iPod (my 2nd one went AWOL when Niki was here... I think I dropped it out of my pocket along the way) and I also looked for some new shoes but was too tired to buy any (all that walking!).  I also bought some more novels (Dean Koontz one and Bill Bryson's latest)

During the day, the weather wasnt great but I still swam both days and (oh yeah, bought a beach towel and sunscreen) and lazed on the banana lounges and went walking around my estate.  There is alot of villas still without grass but I am think thats because alot of Arabs dont like grass and also the Brits dont know anything about lawns :-)

So, no internet, I did get bored in some stretches (and so I got in the car and went shopping) but made some progress re furnishings... (oh yeah, I bought Brookies bed which will be delivered next week).

Next on the list is a stove, a BBQ, a TV and at least one lounge suite... plus I keep thinking about stuff to buy, so I bought a notepad and pen too!  LOL!

What is Facebook?

Hehe... very funny...



* Taken from the 0ddness blog... kudos to Dan.

BAM! Its Hot...

Today is the hottest day so far... forecast is for 41 and possible thunderstorms (really?!).  The wind is blowing, the sand is flying and it is very hot outside.

I am spending one last night at the Al Raha Beach hotel tonight and I will check out tomorrow morning with the view of spending Thursday night in the new villa!  Whilst Power & Water are connected, the air con is run via a chilled water system and I have to connect myself at the plant just outside the Green Community.  I have to front up with my visa, passport and associated letters to get connected... will be a right pain I bet!

So, I will try and do that on Friday morning (which is the weekend)... otherwise I could be sweltering.  Having said that, the pool is right next door! YAY!

Back to the Organised Chaos...

OK... had a long weekend, did heaps, spent some great quality time with Niki and then sadly took her to the airport this morning...

Then, I return to work to find that my area of the building has been taken over by some head office people and I have been bumped out into what is referred to as "Block 4".  In short, my gear had been boxed and moved into a building that is today still under construction.

To get into my office, I had to shoo some Indians who were taking a power saw to a piece of timber whilst using my desk and chair as a "saw horse".  All my gear was in a box in the corner and that included my laptop docking station and monitor and phone.

To also put Block 4 into context, there are NO footpaths to get here and NO steps into the building.  I had to walk thru sand (which can drift into ankle deep dunes) and then climb into the building!  I dont think I will wear a suit tomorrow?

So, I put in a call to "help desk" to basically set me up in construction site and turned my laptop on and worked away.  Had to make some calls and then my pre-paid mobile ran out... then I noticed my battery was getting flat so I grabbed the power cable from the box and plugged it in.  No Power!

To sum up a long story, power was on by 3pm and my battery lasted (just) but only because I had a couple of meetings and I turned it off.  Managed to get the phone on and rang the girls at home but other than that my day has been shot and I have been re-dunked into the pool of UAE Chaos Theory.

All good fun!!

Weekend In Dubai

Well, no posts for a few days as we have been driving around the UAE and giving Niki the full tour of the place. She landed early in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night and she was able to have a lazy day around the hotel whilst I had to go to work on the Thursday... a bit of a bummer, but it was good for her to get over her jet lag.

Thursday night, I drove her into Abu Dhabi where we went all the way into town and down to the Corniche and across to the Marina Mall. We checked out some furniture shops and browsed around and it was Niki's first taste of the mall-centric Arabic night life. We drove around the city on the way back and cut across town to give her the full experience of the heavily Indian population here.

Friday was Dubai day and we drove up to first our house at the Green Community and I was able to show her what her new home looked like and where it was in relation to everything else - the shops, the school, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She loved it and was gobsmacked at the 7 toilets, 3 baths, 4 showers, 2 living areas and 2 dining rooms... its pretty big when you put it all together!

After a drive around the Green Community we headed into "The Address" which would be our home for 2 nights... the place was amazing! We were truly impressed and the views of the pool areas, the Lake around the Burj Dubai and the massive Burj Dubai itself was amazing.

The view from our room... overlooking the magnificent pool deck

Me in front of the 820 odd metre high Burj Dubai... Niki couldnt get it all in the shot (the building, not me!)

After we left, we went on a drive around to the Mall of the Emirates where Niki saw the Ski Dubai for the first time, we also drove along Jumeira Beach (but didnt get to the Palm) and took some shots of the Burj Al Arab (the big sail like hotel)... we were in a rush though because we had an appointment at the girls' future school for a bit of a tour and a discussion on their enrollment.

It was whirlwind, but it gave Niki a real flavour of the area.

Tomorrow, Niki's final full day, we will relax around Al Raha and perhaps look to buy me some furniture!

The least of your problems...

Just diverting from the UAE latest...

I read this article just now.

Let me paraphrase... complaints are being made on why a warning label on swearing wasnt included on the box of a computer game.

If this was Bambi Chases Butterflies, then yes if Bambi drops the F-Bomb well you'd be upset.

But no, this game is a MA 15+ Violence riddled game called "House of the Dead: Overkill" and you can see what a wholesome game it is from the screenshots.

Seriously, if you let your kids play this and THEN complain about the swearing, you're an idiot!

24hrs Until Niki is Here!

Well... its like Christmas and I am 6yrs old!  Niki is coming for a visit and lands at 11pm tomorrow night.

By then, I should have the keys to our villa and I have booked into one of the fancy hotels in Dubai for a couple of nights and we'll do some sight seeing and some shopping in prep for me moving into the villa.

So its a combo of showing her her new country and more "prep" work... Between work and getting ready for Niki and the girls to relocate, I am really frazzled and I am looking forward to perhaps having a week of downtime with her.

I think we have also decided that I will come back to Australia in late May / early June to bring her and the girls back to Dubai... so to all my Aussie friends, be on the look out for me on a flying visit.

On the banking front, I got the pin numbers to my accounts... which is nice considering I dont have the ATM cards... but I think they are coming tomorrow!

I just have to keep telling myself to be patient... ;-)