Beer Run!

Well, life here has been.... dull.

Niki and the girls continue their Australian adventure and seem to be having a great time catching up with friends and family whilst I am here doing not much other than working and mucking around on the computer or PlayStation.

I suppose its not all dull and boring... have managed to run two D&D sessions this month and we have finally completed the adventure that I was running. Next steps in the game is in my court to arrange and I will probably do a fair bit of that this week.

Also, went for my first ever beer run through Sharjah to Umm al-Quwain to a place called "Barracuda's". Barracuda is just like your regular Australian bottle shop except its very large and secondly and most importantly, they dont enforce the UAE regulation of requiring a license to buy alcohol. I have no idea why, the place is extremely popular with tourists (in fact the neighbouring water park would probably go out of business if it wasn't for westerners doing 'a Barracuda run").

So on Saturday morning I set off with friends John & Trevor to the bottle shop to stock up. Its about a 45min drive and most importantly you need to run through Sharjah (see map below). Sharjah is the opposite of Umm al-Quwain in that it enforces alot of the Sharia laws and it is a bit of an urban tale that many a car has been pulled over by the police who are looking for alcohol.

Punishment is typically 10 days jail... but I have never met anyone who has been jailed here, so I tend to have my doubts.

Anyway, we got to Barracuda's without incident, we spent 8000 dirhams between us on alot of beer and wine and some harder stuff and then we set off back. Stupidly, we didnt have anything covering our load - which was a very full Land Cruiser and whilst we did pass police on the road, we weren't stopped and made it back safe and sound.

Now... who wants a drink!

Full Land Cruiser

Up In Smoke...

Strange feeling this week... with Niki and the girls in Australia and both my staff on summer vacation, I am alone at home and the office... mmm... a bit weird!

Yes, work is still here and I still interact with people, but its a bit different when you're the only one in your area and that banter isnt happening across the offices.

But I am hardly in solitary confinement... went out last night for the World Cup final and wasn't home until after 1am as a result.  I am glad the Cup is now over because its been playing havoc with my sleeping patterns.  Also, I found myself sharing a plate of chicken wings at midnight last night as we watched the game and I feel really 'gluggy' this morning.

One thing about Dubai that is different to home is that smoking is not banned in pubs and I spent 5hrs in a pub last night sitting behind some Dutch fans who were keen to smoke big fat cigars all night.  I absolutely reeked when I got home and after two showers and prodigiously brushing my teeth, I can still taste / smell cigar smoke on me.

Also met an Aussie guy last night at the game as well.  In a packed pub that had arranged seating in an almost movie theatre style convention around the big screen, this guy in a t-shirt with Aussie flags sat next to me and would you believe I picked his accent as being from Queensland?  Yes, you know the high nasally accent of Brisbane people - if you know what rugby league player Billy Slater sounds like, you'll know what I mean.  Anyways, in true expat style when you see someone from home, despite them being a complete stranger you introduce yourself and shake hands.

So, in a rather weird clash of worlds, I found myself in a Dubai pub, watching the World Cup final between Holland and Spain and in the breaks was talking to a guy from Brisbane about State of Origin and the Melbourne Storm salary cap drama.  All the while being fumigated by big Dutch stogies and eating chicken wings!

Still on the smoking, in a throw back to the 1970's, would you believe that there were 2 girls in matching tight legging pants and tops walking around giving free cigarettes of a particular brand to all the punters?  This girl came up to my table and asked us would we like to try the new Marlboro cigarettes and when I said I didn't smoke she asked would I like to try!  Imagine if a company used attractive girls to give away cigarettes in Sydney!  There would be an uproar!

Obviously they haven't heard about lung cancer here in the Middle East yet....

Travelling...

Niki and the girls in Sydney and today I am off to London on business.  It amazes me how the world has gotten so much smaller over the years.  I am sitting here in Dubai and just skyped Niki in Sydney and will board a plane shortly to go to London and by this evening I will be in a pub catching up with some friends I have met via online gaming.  Then work will be the next day and will involve me meeting with my business colleagues who are flying in from Denmark and Germany.

Whilst this all goes on our dog and cat Molly and Charlie will be here being walked by our Sri Lankan maid...

Makes my head spin sometimes thinking about it and how far life takes you at times.

Other than the logistics of arranging all this, I am a bit bored and lonely and I can already tell that its going to be a very long month ahead.  Skype is great, but it freezes your life as you sit and chat away for ages and then when the call ends, the silence is pretty deafening.  I will need to do something to take up some time for me... perhaps painting or get into a new PS3 game or something.

Will report again when I am back from London on Wednesday!

Sending the Girls Home :-(

Niki and the girls are off tomorrow for a month in Sydney.  On one hand I am happy that they can get to go back and visit the family and their friends but on the other hand I will be rattling around the house here on my lonesome when I am not at work.

To me, my holidays wont be until a) they get home and b) we get on the plane to go to France in September!

As I type this, its nearly 11pm in Dubai and Niki is packing the last minute things and double and triple checking.  Then we'll be off early in the morning to be at Abu Dhabi Airport at around 8:30ish for her check-in.

So, mixed feelings tonight and I will miss Niki and the girls heaps!

World Cup and a Bit Each Way

The Australian World Cup journey is spluttering along in which we really should be dead and buried but we keep on keeping on.... To have conceded 5 goals in two games and to be still in with a decent (read 10%) chance of qualification to the 2nd stage is not really a testament to Australia but rather a statement that a) the Germans should have buried Serbia and b) Ghana should have beaten us.  But we take it as it comes and we look to the heavens for a miracle in the 3rd and final game.  All we can do is win against Serbia and hope that either Ghana beats Germany OR Germany pummels Ghana by 3 goals.  Yes, we're cheering for BOTH teams to win!

If you can follow the logic as to why this is the case, then congratulations you are now a fully fledged soccer aficionado!

In other news, its getting rather busy all round at my end... Niki and the girls are making preparations for their trip home to Australia for a month to beat the heat and enjoy the extended school holidays.  I will be staying on and I am trying not to think about it.  I will miss them heaps and I will be alone for the entire month of July.  Other than the World Cup and watching the NRL I will probably be beating the heat on the weekends by staying indoors with the blessed PS3.  Might buy myself a new game...

Also at work each of my two staff members will be taking their summer holidays and for one week at least I will be manning the fort on my own.  So it will be lonely times indeed!

But, when the girls come back, I will be looking forward to our French sojourn in September and between now and then, I will be booking train tickets, Euro Disney and hotels!  Very excited!

The Heat Is On...

Well, summer is here.  Officially.

By officially I mean because I have turned off the hot water heaters in the bathroom as the "cold" water now gets so hot in the pipes that it is actually very warm and therefore if you don't you end up with a "hot" tap and a "very warm" tap.  Not great for brushing your teeth!

Because the hot water tank is in a building and out of the direct sun, if you turn off the heater, then the water goes cool and is shaded and therefore comes out cool from the taps.

So, hot is cold, cold is hot and summer is here!

It's been 47-48 degrees Celsius this week... and it will probably get hotter next month!

Mannshafted

Das Mannshaft or in other words, the German Soccer team really did shaft Australia last night... Today I am really perplexed at a) the tactics that the coach employed (no strikers, 5 full backs) and b) how slow we looked in comparison to the Germans... but for full match analysis, I will leave you to read the newspapers because I want to dwell more on my personal experience last night.

Once again, I attended a bar - this time the Jebel Ali Sports Club - to watch the match.  Being a sadist, I accepted an invitation to join a party being hosted by a German contracting firm which was attended by, you guessed it, Germans.

By the time kickoff came around, I was outnumbered 40 to 1 and whilst the beer and food was free, the Germans in their jerseys, t-shirts and flags were making me pay.  Sure, it was all good natured and I was giving it back, but I always seem to end up as the vocal minority at these things.  I was wearing my Socceroos hat and had the national flag tied around my neck but I was just as much of a match for my German hosts in the sledging stakes as our team was on the pitch.

In the pre-game build up the Qatari TV network they had a number of British guys talking 95% about Germany but ex-Aussie coach Terry Venebles was one of the panel members and he declared Australia whilst not favourites would not be over run and would be very physical.  I didnt hear what Terry said during the half time break, but I am sure he wasn't saying Australia was going to come back and equalise.

But as the game went on, I slumped further down into my seat and the Germans were laughing it up at my expense and the beers couldn't come quick enough.

Finally it was over.  4-0 but it could have been 8 nil and the German hosts announced the winners of the "Pick the Score" competition of which I was eliminated from in the 9th minute when Germany scored their first goal (I was going for a 1-0 Aussie win).  A flashy soccer ball and sports bag were shared between the two guys who tipped 4-0 but graciously the German company man hosting the function came up and and shook my hand for being a good sport and for cheering on Australia.

He gave me a soccer ball as well with his company logo emblazoned on it.

I was very happy with getting his German ball... apparently they go into the back of the net alot easier than Australian ones!