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!

Jet Setting

Well I got back from Australia yesterday... for those readers who aren't already aware, Dad had a triple bypass and is as we speak sitting in the hospital recovering nicely.  All will be OK it seems and I left Sydney on Sunday night with him in good spirits.

I have now been in Dubai 24hrs and tonight we fly out for our vacation in France.  2 nights in Bordeaux, 4 nights in Paris and 3 nights at EuroDisney.  It will be a "busy but enjoyable" holiday and its one that I have been thinking about for about 10 years.  I went to Paris in 2001 on the back end of a business trip and I promised I would take Niki back there.  Initially I said it would be a great place for the 2 of us to go for our 10th wedding anniversary (which would have been 2005) but come 2005 we had two small children and it wasn't easy to go.

So now, after being here in Dubai for a bit over 18mths, we finally get to go and take the kids with us.  I am really looking forward to it as are Niki and the girls.

So, this blog will be "updateless" for the next 10-11 days or so but will put some pics up when we get back.

Au revoir!

Contingency Plans

When we moved here to Dubai, one of the big issues mentally was the fact that we were leaving our families.  Upping and moving around the world to a foreign country without your support network of friends and family was a big deal for us.

One of the things, and its not a great thing to think about, is what happens when something important happens in Australia?  What do we do?  Its not like we can "pop back" anytime... there needs to be a level of importance attached to things.

Well, we reached that point this week when my Mum rang me to tell me that Dad had had a 'minor heart attack' on Saturday night.  To me, there is nothing minor about any heart attack and I was instantly worried.  Calls to home were positive... it was nothing major, it was a heart attack but Mum did the right thing and rang the ambulance quickly and a test on Tuesday will show what damage was done and Dad would have to start to think about changing very ingrained habits.

Unfortunately the tests showed major blockages and Dad is scheduled to have a quadruple bypass on Thursday.  I found all this out this morning and by early afternoon I am booked on a plane to Sydney.  I land very early morning and depending on the timing of the surgery I could be getting straight into a taxi and heading to the hospital.

It is one of those moments that we had talked about between Niki and I and it was an automatic reaction to call my travel guy and get on the next available plane.  I must admit though it is still a shock to actually have this scenario play out and its a bit surreal that in a bit over 24hrs I will be touching down in Sydney.

But this is what family is about and this is what we had discussed when we moved here... the dreaded "what if" scenarios and the contingency plan is being put into effect.

Hopefully though Dad will be OK... it is major surgery but at the same time it almost feels routine these days.  Niki's Dad had the same operation a number of years ago and he's as fit as a fiddle these days, so I know what its going to be like after the surgery.  But nevertheless, its something you have to be there for.

Good luck Dad!

Getting on with it....

Been a weird period of late... Ramadan is on, work has been busy and I am counting down to when I take my holidays... I guess at this stage of life, you can very much say that we're now "in a routine" in living in the Emirates.

I feel very comfortable driving around the place, the Islamic culture has grown on me, I am feeling like I truly live here and not on holidays. Its little things too, like when someone mentions a place and you know where it is or when someone refers to a Mohammed at work and you know which one they mean (that sounds terribly racist and I dont mean it that way, but its true).

Life is pretty much running normal.

The number of moments in which I say to myself "wow, how unusual is that" are reducing and when little surprises pop up, you just tend to roll with things and get on with it. For example, our power got cut off the other day and Niki rang me at work to tell me she was suddenly without air con. Turns out that my bill hadnt arrived for two months due to the vague lack of any postal service here and the power company just cut us off. No problem, I get in the car, drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (roughly 140kms) and pay the bill and the power was back on in two hours.

Yes, its bureaucratic and yes if it happened in Sydney I would be "outraged" but here its just "meh... bloody postal company". We get on with it...

Niki and the kids though are in holiday mode and the kids have moved into this half nocturnal pattern of bed by 11pm and they get up at 11am... In my view, let em do it as they cannot go anywhere unless they want to forgo food due to Ramadan (hard for kids) and its very hot outside, so let them sleep... it means I get home from work and they're full of beans which is nice.

And today, I will be heading home sometime between 3 and 4pm today... its about time I too start enjoying the Ramadan slow down. Two weeks to France!!

(3 minutes later)

OK, need to do a PS here... I just hit "send" and published the above post and my mobile rang. It was the bank and a lady introduced herself and said she was from the bank and for security reasons can she confirm my ID. She asks me the usual "mothers maiden name" and my date of birth etc etc... She then asks me to confirm my country of birth and I said Australia. She then asks "are you traveling there today?"

I reply "um, no... I am at work..."

"Mr Clayton are you traveling there this weekend?"

"Um... no... not going until Christmas" I reply.

"OK, thank you sir." and she then hangs up.

What was the point of the call? Why did she ring me?

That my dear readers is one of life's quirky UAE moments....

Ramadan Kareem!

Well, Ramadan has started once again!  Its a funny time here when Ramadan is on... its a period of religious reflection and in a country that is governed by religion, then it impacts EVERYTHING.  Work, shopping, dining out, driving and socialising in general are all affected.

The rules of Ramadan are this:

1. No eating or drinking, even of water in the daylight hours (this is particularly tough given its summer and temps are 45-50 degrees celcius)
2. No smoking, chewing gum or any other item that goes in the mouth again in daylight hours
3. Work hours are reduced and knock off time (for those observing Ramadan) is 3pm

Ramadan means increased prayer times so instead of Muslims ducking out for prayer for say 5 minutes, they're gone for much longer.  In non-Ramadan times this has no impact on my work day and is almost the same as a "smoko" in Australia, but when 80% of the staff disappear for nearly half an hour at a time, it does impact the work day.

On the roads, and particularly as Ramadan goes on, the driving becomes more erratic.  Muslims are not eating and sleeping and yet are operating motor vehicles at high speed.  Its a mix for a disaster and there were a number of crashes on the roads last year.  The trick is to avoid the 3pm rush but also leave before the Iftar rush (Iftar is the meal that breaks the daily fast which occurs exactly on sunset... which is approx 6:30pm).

Speaking of Iftar, it is like the Xmas Party season in the western world.  My company will be putting on an Iftar Buffet for all staff and their families on August 25 and I have already been invited to another companies Iftar Buffet for their clients next Monday.  Think the Xmas Party scene in Sydney but without the alcohol.

But whilst I point out all these do's and do not's, it is actually a very interesting time to be living and working in the Middle East.  I have a real respect for the Arabic way of life now that I have been here for a while now and it is their holiday season and they do make Westerners feel welcome.  You need to be more careful and you need to be conscious of your own actions (dont sip water, don't eat in front of fasting Muslims) but at the same time the impact on the way of life here is intriguing and a great experience.

And its long... its a full lunar cycle so approximately 29 or 30 days and given its summer, its going to be quite difficult for fasters especially the lack of water!

Ramadan Kareem!

Vive La France!

Well, exciting news here... we're all booked for our French holiday next month.  Yes, as Roy & HG say, we're off to the land of the cheese eating surrender monkeys and we're very excited.

We fly to Paris and then head straight to the train station as we're heading for 2 nights in Bordeaux.  The TGV train is one of those "very fast trains" that the Australian government keeps cancelling and we'll be in the south of France by early afternoon.  We're meeting our friends Marianne and Philippe there who are holidaying as well and given Philippe is French, we'll be glad for the local to help with the language issues.

Then we're heading back north to Paris and four nights to see all the famous Parisian sites.  I was there in 2001 and always wanted to head back with Niki and now we're finally doing it!  We're staying not far from the river Seine and closish to the Eiffel Tower.  Both the girls are pumped to see the Mona Lisa.

After what will undoubetedly be alot of walking, we're then finishing off with three nights at Euro Disney.  Roller coasters and the like will be a great day to finish what we're hoping will be a great trip.  We did say that we'd be making use of the closer proximity to Europe and each northern summer we'll be heading to somewhere new.

In the meantime, I have about three more weeks of work to get through and I am sure it will go really slow!