New Blog

Please visit www.quantifiedexpat.com for my new blog. Thanks!

 

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Blogger's Block

When we first came to the UAE I was keen to find out as much as I could about where we had moved to, so I decided to search out blogs by people who had done the same thing.

There are lots of them out there, it seems that many expats take up blogging when they come here, no doubt - like me- to keep family and friends updated. Indeed it seems to be more unusual not to blog.

One thing I did notice though is that in many cases the enthusiasm seems to disappear within a few weeks or months. Maybe people become too busy living their new lives so don't have time to write about it. Maybe they run out of things to write about. Maybe they get discouraged by not attracting new readers, after all, I'm sure most of us (at least secretly) want to feel that what we write about is interesting to a wider audience than just friends and family.

For me, like I suspect for many people, it is a combination of the above. I haven't blogged much in recent weeks, firstly because we had a few visitors so evenings were busy, then we got hooked on a couple of crime drama series on TV, which I had to concentrate on and we all know men can't multitask.

I still have lots of things I want to blog about, the exciting things we have done over the last few weeks, interesting things we are still learning about the UAE, and so on. Hopefully this short post will help me break through the "blogger's block" I am suffering from and I'll be back with a vengeance soon.

But before that, it's the weekend, so I'm off to enjoy myself.

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Kayaking in the Abu Dhabi Mangroves

And relax. It's been a busy few weeks with various visitors either staying with us or in Abu Dhabi. It has been great seeing everyone, Jo in particular has enjoyed showing people round, and the kids have enjoyed playing with friends they remember from Bolton. But it is also nice to be able to get back to the normal routine we have established.

One of the activities we have done in between visitors is kayaking in the Eastern Mangroves of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi supports nearly 70% of the mangroves found in the UAE, some natural and some planted, including the Eastern Mangroves. The mangroves serve a number of purposes, acting as an excellent breeding ground for fish, attracting birds, and also providing some protection against wind and flood damage to the low lying areas they surround.

Various companies offer guided kayak tours around the mangroves. We went with Noukhada Adventure Company, mainly because we had Entertainer vouchers entitling us to two free places (never go for a tour without getting hold of some of these vouchers).

We turned up at the appointed time of 8:45am one Friday morning. It was a lovely sunny day, with the temperature already hitting 30 degrees at that early hour. Once we had slapped on our sun cream, had our safety briefing, and advice on paddling technique, it wasn't long before we were on our way.

We had three kayaks between us. Henry was on his own, Flossie started with Jo, and Archie with me. There were between ten and 15 kayaks in the group, including a couple of guides, one at the front and one at the back. We spent a happy, if hot, couple of hours paddling along, stopping at intervals to gather our breath and learn a little more about what we were seeing, including the plants, the fish and the crabs (LOTS of crabs!).

On the way back we stopped at a small beach area for a little while, where you could go for a swim to cool down. Archie, Flossie and I were very happy to take advantage of this. The only mishaps I recall were those of us in heavier kayaks running aground in the shallow water a couple of times, and Archie toppling out of Jo's kayak when she put in a sudden burst of acceleration (no harm was done).

All in all we had a fantastic time, Jo describing it as "the best thing we have done since coming to the UAE". We enjoyed it so much that we are now on the lookout for some cheap secondhand kayaks so we can get out there on our own.

For anyone living in Abu Dhabi I would very much recommend this as a "must do" activity. You don't need to be an expert kayaker, and you get plenty of breaks to gather your energy along the way. Remember your sun cream, some drinks (although the guides have plenty of water with them), your swimwear and your camera, and you'll have a great time.

You can find out more about the mangroves of Abu Dhabi here.

As always thanks for reading.

 

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Back soon

Hello all. Sorry not to have posted for a while but we've had visitors, and work has been busy. I'll be back soon, but in the meantime I thought you may enjoy Archie and Flossie's latest homework!

Thanks to Henry for the video editing.

 

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Six things to bear in mind if camping in the UAE

We've been back from camping for two days and have just about got rid of all the sand from various nooks and crannies. I thought I would report on the weekend in the form of some tips for anyone else who may be considering their first camping trip in the UAE, or is packing their life into a container about to move here, and wondering whether to use space for their camping gear.

1: Don't think twice about driving 200 miles for one night camping

It may seem a lot to drive 200 miles, spend an hour unpacking and putting your tent up, only to do it all in reverse less than 24 hours later, but it's worth it. You are in a new country and you need to see as much of it as possible so make the effort. I never imagined I would be camping on a beach close to the border of Saudi Arabia, and yes the landscape was desolate, but the beach was beautiful, and it was great to see another part of the UAE. Anyway the main roads here are always at least dual carriage way so quick progress can be made, indeed it was only a little after lunchtime when our convoy of six cars turned off the main road, drove round the camel track, and arrived at the beach.

Who wouldn't want to camp here?

2: Leave your gear behind, start again in the UAE

We brought most of our existing gear with us from the UK, taking up valuable room in our container. With the benefit of hindsight I wouldn't have bothered. You can pick up all the equipment you need for a night or two camping easily and cheaply here, particularly from places like Carrefour. Some of the gear you can get here is probably more suited to the desert or beaches. We discovered this with our tent, which was a pain to erect in the sea breeze that was blowing when we arrived at Al Sila'a, whereas our friends had their tent up and were ready to enjoy their first beer within 15 minutes of arriving.

Finally, a little lopsided, but somewhere to sleep

3: They make special pegs for the sand

It never even occurred to me that the "normal" pegs we bought from the UK would be completely unsuitable for sand, particularly when pitching a tent in windy conditions. I only realized there is such a thing as "sand pegs" when a fellow camper (the one who had already pitched his tent) asked whether we had any. I felt somewhat foolish when answering in the negative, but we battled onward and managed to get enough pegs to stay in the ground to get the tent up, albeit a little lopsided.

It wasn't to last though. Having been buffeted by the wind for 12 hours, at 2am on Saturday I awoke with a start having been clattered in the face by a collapsing tent pole. I quickly woke Jo and the kids and we had to make a bolt for the car where we spent the rest of the night, the kids sleeping in the boot (which they thought was great) and Jo and I on the reclined front seats (not getting much sleep).

Windswept

This is the scene that greeted us at 6am. Needless to say we have now said goodbye to this tent, and will be visiting Carrefour before our next camping trip.

4: Take some friends, lubricate with a drink or two, add music, a roaring camp fire and marshmallows

Between getting our tent up and it blowing down in the early hours we had a lovely time. I'm still not quite sure how many kids were there, they never stood still long enough for me to count them, but I do know that they all had a great time running riot around the campsite and toasting marshmallows on the campfire. Meanwhile the adults took the opportunity to relax, sitting round the fire chatting, listening to music, and enjoying the food and drink we had taken with us (including a lovely Chilli, and Jo's slush punch). We finally turned in around midnight once the battery on the music player had run out, and the last of the punch had gone, but it was a great afternoon and evening.

5: Take it all in

In between everything that is going on take some time to enjoy what is going on around you. A couple of things I took some time to take in were the stunning sunrise on Saturday, and the locals exercising their camels on the race track next to our campsite. It has to be said that Jo was a little disappointed by the race track. She had been expecting something along the lines of Aintree I think, with huge grandstands and modern facilities. What we found was a huge oval track with railings that had seen better days (probably about 40 years ago), and ..... nothing else. Never mind.

Exercising the camels

Seen better days

A beautiful sunrise

6: Clean up after yourself

One thing that disappointed me was the litter on the beach when we arrived. I'm not sure whether it had been left by previous campers, or had been thrown overboard from passing boats and washed ashore. It doesn't really matter either way. I understand there can be similar issues if you visit many of the wadis here as well. Anyway, it goes without saying my final tip is to clean up after yourself, indeed why not make a point of taking away more rubbish than you create? Lecture over!

Happy campers

So there we go, my top tips for camping in the UAE. All in all, despite the collapse of our tent, we had a great time, and can't wait for our next trip.

If you have experience of camping in the UAE, what tips would you add to those above? Leave a comment to let me know.

As always thanks for reading.

 

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Camping Take Two

A week on from our postponed camping trip things are looking good for it happening this weekend. There were rumors early in the week that the unsettled weather was going to last for a couple of weeks, but the national weather centre was quick to deny this. It looks as though they were right as temperatures have been steadily climbing and are predicted to be around 30 degrees tomorrow.

We are off to Al Sila'a, three hours to the west of here, just before the border with Saudi Arabia. One of the couples we are going with have been there before and apparently it is an idyllic location, so we are very much looking forward to it. Henry has decided not to come as there will be no other kids his age, so he is staying with a friend for the weekend.

It's been another busy week, but we've managed to pack a lot in, including eight laps of Yas Marina circuit on Tuesday evening. Yesterday was our ninth anniversary so we went out for a lovely meal at one of the restaurants at the Emirates Palace Hotel. Jo declared her steak the best she has ever had, and the left over piece I had in my sandwich this lunchtime was certainly delicious.

Today Jo has been in Archie's class at school helping the kids to make superhero costumes out of recyclable materials (boxes, cans, etc), and this afternoon we watched Flossie in her "Jungle Boogie Woogie" show, in which her class were on stage singing "Bare Necessaties". She was wearing the elephant costume that she and Jo had been working on for the last couple of weeks, and seemed to be really enjoying herself.

Anyway, I'll be back early next week to tell you about our camping trip, but I'll leave you with my final three "blasts from the past" of this week.

Tuesday: Valerie by Steve Winwood (1982)

Wednesday: Shout to the Top by The Style Council (1985)

Thursday: September by Earth, Wind & Fire (1978)

 

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Blasts from the Past: 16 and 17 March

Yesterday's blast from the past on Radio 2 was Go West's "We Close Our Eyes" from 1985. I loved this song when it first came out, and can remember getting the album on cassette and listening to it over and over whilst on holiday in Whitby. At least I think I can remember this, but I'm doubting myself now, would I have been buying a cassette in 1985? And did I go to Whitby in that year? Maybe it was just a dream.

Today's choice is a little more difficult. I've been at a conference in Dubai so have listened to Radio 2 for about two and a half hours in total on the way there and back. Not only that but they were counting down the listeners' top 100 songs of all time, in celebration of the opening of Centrepoint's 100th store in the UAE (just in case you are interested), so there was plenty to choose from.

There were three songs that I was particularly pleased to hear again for the first time in many years. In third place was Nik Kershaw, "The Riddle" (1984), closely followed by Simple Minds, "Don't You" (1987). But the winner was "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz, also from 1987.

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Stormy Weather

Carrying on from yesterday's update, postponing the camping turned out to be the right decision. As the day went on it got more and more stormy, resulting in thunder, lightning and short bursts of heavy rain. Despit that we had an enjoyable evening at the villa of one of the families that had been due to go on the trip so all was not lost. There was an Hawaiin theme for some unknown reason so everyone turned up in their flowery shirts and grass skirts. Jo caused a bit of a stir by going into the allcohol shop in her bikini and grass skirt, I don't think the assistants in there knew where to look. Still at least it meant they didn't ask her for her alcohol license!

Today has been a quiet day, recovering from last night. The stormy weather seems to have passed so it's looking good for our second attempt at camping next weekend.

I'll leave you with the short video below. I am attempting the "second a day" video challenge, where you have to capture (surprise, surprise) a second of video every day for a year and turn them into a video at the end of the year. To be honest I'm not doing that well, either forgetting completely and having to substitute a photo instead of a video clip, or only remembering when I am on the way home from work, hence far too many clips of traffic. Anyway, below is my progress to the end of February. There isn't a soundtrack yet so you'll probably want to listen to it with your volume down.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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Blast from the Past: 13 March

Never thought this would happen, but the weather has caused our camping trip to be postponed. The forecast has been threatening rain for the last few days, particularly moving down from Saudi Arabia, which is the direction we were going to head in. Yesterday they added in the threat of sandstorms as well. We awoke this morning to dark skies and wind, so decided it wasn't worth the three hour trek only to end up sheltering in our tents from rain and sand. Thankfully most of us can make it next weekend, so there isn't too long to wait.

All is not lost, in an hour we are off to an "Hawaiin" party at the villa of one of the families that was meant to have been going. I'm dreading seeing the Hawaiin shirt that Jo has bought me specially! Mind you I'm looking forward to seeing her in her grass skirt and coconuts!

Before I leave you, here's yesterday's "blast from the past" from Radio 2.

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Blast from the Past: 12 March

I can't remember if I've commented before on the quality of the English language radio stations in the UAE. Suffice to say the choice isn't extensive, and what is available leaves a little to be desired. Anyway, my station of choice has become Radio 2, which feels like a commercial station from the UK in the 1980s (remember Red Rose Radio anyone from the North West?), full of adverts and sponsorship, and cheesy in the extreme.

It's certainly not Five Live, which I do sometimes miss, but after six months I am getting kind of attached to some of the presenters, particularly Kenny & Accalia at breakfast time, although it took me a few weeks to realize it was two people rather than one called Kenny Anakalia (and I seem to recall Jo thought the same thing).

The good thing about Radio 2 though is that they play a huge variety of music from the 1980s right up to date. There is at least one song a day that provokes a "oh my goodness I haven't heard this in years" reaction in me, and has to be immediately turned up loud, and sung along to. Anyway, I thought I would share these with you every now and then, so here we are with yesterday's.

That's it for today's interlude. We're off camping for a night this weekend, over near the border with Saudi Arabia (never thought I'd be saying that!), so I shall let you know how that goes.

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A Busy Weekend

A couple of days later than I intended due to being distracted by Burnley's famous victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, here is my latest diary entry. Life continues to be busy both at work and at home. Nothing about work this week, I'll focus instead on a busy last weekend.

Henry was away most of the weekend at a drama workshop, about which more later, so as Jo and I were going out on Friday night, during the day we decided to take Archie and Flossie to a local splash park. We'd not been there before, despite it being very nearby. It was very reasonably priced to get in, and pretty quiet despite the weather really starting to heat up.

Archie and Flossie had a great time, rushing backwards and forwards between various rides. Flossie loved the "lazy river", I can't imagine why (the clue is in the name), and the slides. Archie loved the "bungee trampoline" (I have no idea if that is the right name for it), going on a number of times, demanding to be bounced higher each time.

Eventually we had to tell them the park was closing to get them out of there, although they were suspicious as there were still people going in there as we left. We'll definitely be going back again, quite a few times probably.

Once we got home there was just time for a quick change and to order a pizza in for Archie and Flossie, before the babysitter arrived and then it was time for Jo and I to get our taxi.

We were heading for "Fight Night" at the du Forum on Yas Island, having been persuaded to go by a couple of friends. The evening was to consist of ten bouts involving different disciplines, including boxing, mixed martial arts, and others I cannot for the life of me remember. There was also the prospect of "vertical athletic displays" between the bouts (it's forbidden to call it pole dancing here!), although that was of no particular interest!

Before the competition began we went for a lovely meal at the Blue Grill at the Yas Rotana Hotel. Having over indulged we managed to drag ourselves to the Forum just as the evening's entertainment began. We were delighted to find that we had ring side seats, and that there was actually a good crowd and atmosphere, we had been worried that we may be the only people there.

The evening itself was very enjoyable, fueled by a few drinks and not taking it too seriously. There were some ferocious fights, although it was a good idea not to think too hard about the danger involved for the fighters. The "ring girl" was hilarious, without intending to be, but it would be disrespectful to say too much more about her. And as for the "vertical athletics", of course that was very "entertaining".

To finish off the evening we popped across to the Yas Viceroy Hotel, next to the Yas Marina Circuit, and spent an hour in the Sky Bar. Despite it being late it seems that the track was open for local Porsche owners to take their cars for a drive around the track. Jo now wants to know which evening is for Toyota Fortuner drivers to do the same thing.

After a relaxing morning on Saturday, recovering from the excesses of the previous evening, we went to Carrefour to buy a few bits for our camping trip this weekend, which we are all excited about. It was then time to go and see Henry in the show he had been preparing for all weekend.

He was attending a drama weekend hosted by British Schools Middle East, where drama students from two schools in Abu Dhabi, one in Egypt and one from another country (I can't remember where) came together to work with a well known drama group. They did various workshops during the weekend, culminating in putting on a performance on the Saturday afternoon. Henry really seems to have enjoyed himself, and hopefully got lots out of the weekend, and the performance itself was very polished given how little time they had to prepare.

After the show Henry went off to a dinner to celebrate the end of the workshop, so the rest of us went off for tea at one of the more recently opened shopping malls in the city centre, as if the city doesn't already have enough malls. The restaurant we were intending to go hasn't opened yet, so we ended up in Nando's, which has only opened very recently. Whilst the food itself was delicious, resulting in four clean plates, the service left a great deal to be desired. There is definitely more staff training needed.

So, all in all, another very enjoyable weekend in "the Sandpit", and we returned to work and school on Sunday morning refreshed exhausted for the week ahead!

Thanks for reading, see you all next week.

 

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An Arabic Bridal Shower

As I said in my last post, last night Jo was invited to an Emirati bridal shower. She recounts the experience below.

I had my first 'real housewives of Arabia' experience last night when I was invited to go to an emirate bridal shower at one of the houses on our compound. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing although there were a few other girls that I knew were also going. I found out later that the Quran requires you to be kind and friendly to the 7 neighbours to your right which is why I got an invite. I guess if everyone abides by this rule the world is covered.

The party was ladies only so the ladies arrived in their abayas, which they quickly removed once inside to reveal some very flamboyant numbers. We were all feeling a bit underdressed at this stage. I would have loved to have taken some photos but it would be a big no no. The family maids brought round lovely chocolates and mango juice while we all sat in rows the the lounge rather like you would in a church.

We went around and introduced ourself and shook everyone's hands but it's very difficult to know how you should really greet someone here. The other ladies were greeting each other with several kisses to the right cheek. To us there didn't seem to be any particular formulae as to how many kisses were administered but nobody appeared to get it wrong so all the girls obviously knew what they were doing.

Each time the bride appeared there was much whooping and hollering. She was dressed in a beautiful turquoise and gold dress and was amazingly young, slim and glamorous. She then sat whilst various people (including myself) were dragged up to dance for her. Not my finest hour. I'm not the best dancer anyway unless it's post brunch roof top table dancing, where I seem to come into my own!!!!

Finally, just before 11pm (way past my bedtime) we had some beautiful food. I can't imagine how Emiratis function when they stay up so late. Especially given that the first call for prayer is loud and early, so even if you don't go you will probably still be woke at 5am. I wish I had that kind of stamina.

Most of the ladies downstairs were of the older generation but after our food the bride and her sisters insisted that we go upstairs. The bride and her husband have the top floor of the groom's mother's house. It had been beautifully refurbished to accommodate them. We were there with her and her three sisters who are all from Fujairah. It was lovely to chat to them as they were very keen to answer all our questions regarding various cultural issues. All very interesting.

By this time it was close to midnight all us westerners needed our beds. They seemed quite horrified that we were leaving sooo early!

 

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Qasr Al Hosn Festival

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but 2014 is flying by. This week has been busy, with our first visitors of 2014, Mark and Kate, with us for three nights. It was lovely to see them and Jo enjoyed showing them around whilst I was working. We've also finally taken the plunge and decided to trust Henry with looking after Archie and Flossie, so we managed to get out for a couple of grown up meals in the evenings as well as spending an hour cycling and walking round the Yas Marina circuit on Tuesday. Kate even managed to fit in an impromptu talk at one of the local schools.

Work itself continues to be varied and busy (and enjoyable). There is a healthy pipeline of new work, and every day brings a new challenge. In just the last week I have been liaising with BDO firms around the world about a bid focused on Abu Dhabi, and it's been great to see just how well the network works at times like these. Tomorrow I have an intern starting for a few months to support me with various projects which will be great as they are things I have been struggling to find the time to progress.

Turning to the weekend, we had a busy day yesterday, heading onto Abu Dhabi Island to watch some of the Red Bull Air Race, and visit the Qasr Al Hosn Festival.

The Red Bull Air Race is an international series of races in which competitors have to navigate an obstacle course (see the strange little cones in the distance in the photo below) in the fastest time. The series started in 2003 and ran every year until 2010, before being cancelled in 2011, 2012 and 2013 due to safety concerns (apparently there were some near misses). Following changes it has started again in 2014, with Abu Dhabi being the venue for the first race of the series.

There was complete traffic chaos so we couldn't get very close to the action. Still it was nice to sit on the beach for a while watching the planes navigate the course, which a couple of them struggled to do without knocking one of the cones down.

Having spent an hour watching the planes we jumped into a taxi to Qasr Al Hosn to visit the festival. Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest building in Abu Dhabi. It started out in 1761 as a round watchtower defending the only freshwater well on the island, and was expanded to become a small fort in 1793, at which point it became the permanent residence of the ruling sheikh.

It stayed this way until the 1930s when revenue started flowing from the granting of the first oil license, at which point it was expanded. It remained the seat of government until 1966 and is now a heritage site, with the fort currently undergoing extensive renovation. The photo below shows the fort in the 1940s. It is now completely surrounded by modern day Abu Dhabi, showing how much the city has changed in a relatively short period of time.

Each year there is a festival at the fort celebrating the history of Abu Dhabi. There are various sections focusing on areas such as the desert, an oasis, Abu Dhabi Island, marine life, and the fort itself. There is also a programme of workshops for adults and children, including palm weaving, kandura dyeing and making fishing nets. Archie and Flossie enjoyed a couple of workshops, including painting an Arabic goblet and making a traditional toy, a hobby horse.

Apart from there being complete bedlam when trying to book onto the workshops, the sessions themselves were very well run, with lots of helpful instructors on hand to help the kids if they were struggling. It was a shame we didn't have longer to do more of the workshops but there is always next year.

As well as the workshops Archie held a falcon, Flossie petted a hunting dog (Saluki), and they both had a ride on a camel. To round off an enjoyable day we watched the UAE's aerobatics team, Al Forsan, performing to mark the end the first day of the Red Bull Air Race. There was something quite nice about watching the modern day air display taking place over the ancient fort.

After a busy day it was back home where Archie, Flossie and I enjoyed a pizza whilst watching Man of Steel (superman), and Jo went out to a traditional Arabic bridal shower at a house on the compound, about which I'm hoping she'll write a "guest post" soon.

Archie's first ride on a camel

Al Forsan Display Team

Anyway, almost time for tea so I shall leave it there for now. As always thanks for reading.

 

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Trip to Fujairah

One of the things we've been looking forward to about living here is the opportunity to visit parts of the world we have never been to before. I'm not sure what Jo's score is but so far I have visited 14% of the countries in the world, so there is lots more to go at.

But before we go further afield there is still plenty of the UAE for us to visit. Of the seven Emirates we have done Abu Dhabi (obviously) and Dubai so far, so at half term we were determined to tick another one off the list. We decided on Fujairah as we had heard good things about it, plus we wanted to scout out some potential camping spots for later in the year.

We booked an apartment at a hotel just outside Dibba, the second biggest town in Fujairah, situated in the North of the Emirate, just across the border from Oman. It was a drive of 160 miles, but the roads were good all the way so it took just under three hours, including a brief stop for lunch.

As we got closer to Fujairah the landscape started to change from sand to rocky mountains. "Mountains" may be too strong a word as they only rise to 1,000m, but that's what they are called, the Hajjar Mountains, or "stone mountains". Anyway they presented a picturesque finish to our journey.

We found our hotel, the Radisson Blu, without too much trouble, checked in and headed to the adjoining beach to enjoy the last couple of hours of sunshine. In the evening we went to another hotel a few miles away and had a lovely Indian meal for our tea.

Much of Friday was spent on the beach, or by the pools, but in the afternoon we went on a boat trip up and down the coastline. The kids really enjoyed themselves, especially when the boat was going at top speed. We saw some interesting sights as well, one of the local sheikh's beach house (complete with helipad), a fish farm (I think it was sea bream they were farming) and a fleeting glimpse of a sea turtle's head!

We also saw the beach which you can apparently camp on. It looked fine, with a couple of small shops for provisions, so we may head back over there with our tent at some point during the rest of this year.

Saturday came too quickly and it was time to check out. We decided to head home via the town of Fujairah itself. En route we happened upon Al Bidyah Mosque, the oldest mosque in the UAE, dating back to 1446, so stopped for a quick photo.

Onwards to Fujairah. The town itself is pretty industrialized, with lots of development going on like in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but didn't look particularly touristy so we didn't stop.

We did though happen on a lovely park and stopped there for a picnic lunch and a game of football. We've been impressed with the number of parks there are dotted about the major cities of the UAE, all with great facilities, and often very quiet. Jo finds a new one pretty much every week, and Archie and Flossie enjoy trying them all out.

Before too long it was time to get back in the car for the long slog home. All in all we had a fantastic weekend and will definitely be heading back over that way again.

As always, thanks for reading.

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Archie's latest video

Archie's latest video, highlights from his weekend in Fujairah. All of his own work, with a little guidance from Henry. Blog post about a great weekend coming soon.

 

 

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One year on

It was a year ago this week that I first got the phone call asking if I would be interested in being put forward for "a great role in the Middle East". I can vividly remember discussing it with Jo and deciding to find out more just for the hell of it. One thing lead to another, and twelve months later here we are, fast approaching the end of our first six months, enjoying our new lives immensely and relishing the challenges and opportunities at work. Life certainly takes unexpected turns on occasion.

It's half term already in the UAE, 2014 is flying past. The kids only get a couple of days off but we are taking the opportunity to explore a bit more of the country having had a fairly quiet January from that point of view. Tomorrow we are heading off to Fujairah for a couple of nights in a hotel. Fujairah is one of the other Emirates which make up the UAE, and the only one with a coastline solely on the Gulf of Oman, and none on the Persian Gulf. More about that when we return.

Flossie was "Star of the Week" last week

Since I last updated you it has been Jo's birthday, the celebrations of which she managed to stretch out for five days, starting with Friday Brunch at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and finishing with ladies night at the same hotel yesterday. I think I can safely say that she has enjoyed herself greatly.

Brunch with friends at the Ritz Carlton

We've also had another sports day for all three children, and Archie has had his swimming gala, finishing second in a couple of races. He also spent his first night away from Jo and I when he hasn't been at his grandma's, when his class had an "Aussie Sleepover" at school. He was very excited in the run up to it, and had a great time, although a week later and he still doesn't seem to have caught up with his sleep.

Sporting activities

Other than the above, the Candy Crush addiction continues, although I've now been stuck on the same level for a few days so maybe this is where I go cold turkey. I did drag myself away briefly to try the Flappy Bird craze but soon gave up in frustration, thank goodness that has now been withdrawn by its creator!

Hope all is well with you wherever you are, and that those of you back in the UK are coping with the wind and the floods.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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Archie's Slideshow

Archie has been practicing his film making again......

 

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A sweet addiction

I can't believe that January is almost over. Apologies that I haven't been blogging much, but it has been a busy time at work, and weekends have been busy too. Although I do have to admit that there have been times when I could have been blogging, but I decided to play Candy Crush Saga instead.

I'm sure you all know what Candy Crush is, but in case there is someone out there who doesn't, it is a "match three puzzle video game" (thanks Wikipedia), which in March 2013 apparently had an average of 46 million users a month. I'm rather late to the party, I've been aware of it for some time but have avoided downloading it as I had heard how addictive it could be. However that all changed a couple of days before Christmas when Ann (mother-in-law) persuaded me to have a go. Thanks Ann! ;)

From that moment I was hooked. Christmas and New Year passed in a blur as every spare moment (and some moments that weren't strictly spare) was spent playing, and this has continued throughout January although at a much reduced level as I have had to work as well (how inconvenient!). I've managed to make reasonable progress, enough to keep me returning anyway. And for those wondering, and I've had at least one email asking, you know who you are ;), yes, in the early days I did pay 69p once or twice so I didn't have to wait for my lives to build up again, but my total spending has been less than £3, and since returning to the UAE I have not spent a penny.

Away from Candy Crush our weekends have settled into a routine during January, usually involving doing something with friends on one day, and spending the next recovering. Two weekends ago we hosted a dinner party, which seemed to be a great success, although the song selection on Spotify did cause one or two tensions as the evening went on. This was due to the men (obviously) choosing proper music, but the ladies objecting to most of our choices as they didn't involve Gary Barlow, or couldn't be danced to.

Anyway the evening finished without major incident, other than one person landing flat on their backside whilst "dancing", and two people ending up with scraped knees due to forgetting about the steps outside our front door as they left. Needless to say the three individuals concerned were all female!

Last weekend some Australian friends on the compound decided to celebrate Australia Day with a "Aussies v Pommies" sporting challenge, involving cricket, netball and basketball. They had rounded up a number of their sporty mates, whereas the plucky English (plus a token Scot, Welshman and French man) were somewhat thrown together. Whilst we put up a brave challenge, unfortunately we were very narrowly (honest) beaten in all of the matches. We shall be better prepared next year, believe me, but it was a great afternoon and evening.

Action shot from the netball match

Work continues to be busy but in a good way. I'm splitting my time between Abu Dhabi and Dubai due to my new role, and continue to meet a wide variety of clients and targets. In the last week alone I've met organizations in the following sectors: health, education, dairy, retail, hotels (I knew my degree would come in handy eventually!), financial services, manufacturing, government, and night clubs. I certainly can't complain about the variety, and the important thing is I am really enjoying it.

Arab Health Exhibition in Dubai this week

Yesterday I did a 2.5 hour presentation at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, sharing my thoughts on audit committees, a relatively recent concept for the UAE. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to fill the time but there were plenty of questions from the audience so in the end it wasn't an issue, indeed I could probably have gone on for another hour! I managed to attract an audience of about 60, and got some really positive feedback, which I am really pleased about.

Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce

Jo and the kids are fine, having settled back into their routines. Flossie's reading is really coming on, Archie is enjoying playing touch rugby (despite rarely touching the ball, bless him), and Henry has relaunched his film career (see trailer below). Jo is as busy as ever, out and about exploring new parts of Abu Dhabi amongst many other things, and seems to be emerging as the social hub of the compound, the person who knows everyone, and everyone knows her.

That's all for now, I'll try and post a little more regularly from now on.

Thanks for reading as always.

 

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