Ramadan return

Well, 26 September is a big gap since the last blog but here goes...
We had a good flight back on 28 August which was followed by a big lie in on Friday. Arlene had kept the villa perfect while we were away. Jack, Amelia and Madeleine were all kitted out in new uniforms for the start of school, Amelia is in hte senior school now so has moved into long trousers. Jack is year 10 so they change shirt colour to pale blue which he is pleased about- how to look older and cooler at school. All settled in OK, with the minor exception of Madeleine who wasn't sure about her teacher on first sight, but she has found out that she is very nice.

Jack and I have spent each Friday at Montgomerie Golf Club on the driving range and 9 hole Par 3 course. He is getting pretty good, last week I gave him a shot a hole and he won 3 and 1, shooting a 36 gross.

Helen arrived on 04 September and had 3 interviews before being offered a job within 10 days! She started work with a hotel chain yesterday, as training manager and working on the launch of themed restaurants within the hotels. She has hired a car and started finding her way around. Liz and Helen went out with the girls last night to Buddha bar so are currently sleeping it off...

Work is still going well, soon after we got back I was invited to sit a promotion panel to the next grade up, so I am to present on 14th October. This is going to be a busy time as we are in the last week of a big tender at that time, so I have been trying to get most of it planned and out of the way.

Ramadan means no eating and drinking openly in the office as many of the staff are fasting. We know our way around enough now to know all the places that are covered over and concealed from view so as to remain open for service. The end of Ramadan is a holiday, Eid Fitr so the schools are shut from 01 Oct-04 Oct, and I have the same time off as it falls at next weekend- 4 days of chillin coming up.

Buoyant Berrys board Beazley Boat

Nic Beazley texted me this week and we went out on his boat on Friday- it is a small game fishing boat with a big outboard and after towing to Umm Suqiem fishing harbour slipway we had a cruise up and down the Dubai coastline in the Arabian Gulf. It was quite choppy for Dubai in the open water areas which was good fun but a bit bouncy for the liking of Liz's back, and the spray over the boat soon got you wet and your eyes full of salt. We anchored in the lee of a man made island and did a spot of fishing with hand lines and then cruised back up to near the Burj al Arab for some photos. Jack and I had a drive of the boat and Madeleine and Amelia will probably remember it for putting towels over their heads to keep off all the spray!

Nice swing

When you arrive at the driving range a caddy comes up to the boot of the car in a buggy and takes your clubs round to the practice area. There's a nice bar and restaurant just behind the golf area so Liz met us for lunch. The waiters bring you out a cold flannel to mop your face down with which is a relief after a couple of hours in 40 degrees at the mo! Jack is revelling in doing the 9 hole par 3 in 38 this week, only his second go. He has realised I think that all that practice has paid off at Bromborough, his swing is excellent and he tells me what I am doing wrong! Check out the position at the start of his downswing!

Golf at last

Finally Jack got to the point where he was bored and Liz asked if I would take him to golf to get him out of the house. No need to ask twice and last Friday we nipped down to the Montgomerie club which is about 15 mins from our house. The Academy has a nice driving range and a pitch and putt length 9 hole par three, which is only around 35 Dirhams or 5GBP for Jack during the week, for unlimited balls on the range and as many rounds as he can do in the heat. We met up with his mates Alex and Adamm so he is now well set up for drop off at golf and pick up later.

Bugsy

Amelias school production of Bugsy was great, very professionally done and the kids had a ball. Amelia had a part with the tap dancing group towards the end which was good. They were all on a high at the end - I am not sure how the teachers would have got them calmed down for the rest of the day at school!

Jack and his IPod

Jack wasn't over excited about all the dressing up. He was the only one in school gear. He spends much of the time with his IPod in and so needs asking twice for everything, once to take his ears out and once for the question, which usually gets a mumble for an answer, Kevin and Perrie teenager style.

Fairies in the Garden

Madeleine had her end of year school ball arranged by one of the parents
at the Meridien Hotel Dubai Marina! It was a full Tux do for the boys, ball gowns for girls and the date coincided with Amelia's school show, a Bugsy Malone production, so a busy day!

Frankie says Relax

The Hely fortnight seemed to fly by and after an early drop off at the airport the house could relax- its a weak link but I liked the picture of Madeleine. The two weeks coincided with Jack doing his SATS, which seemed to have gone well- his maths grade has improved and he hit his target for Science. Just English to find out. The girls both finished SATS before Jack but haven't heard any results. Jack has signed himself to play football at school, Amelia is signed up to re-start her violin lessons at the start of next term, which is very encouraging after she has already taken up the tap dancing again. We are looking forward to the school show next week - Bugsy Malone- when she will be dancing in her Charleston dress made by Liz! Friday 13th is the school ball for parents, which is at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel- should be very nice but a bit hot in a tux!

Shimmers and Antique Bazaar

As a wise man once said "There's plenty of places to eat in Dubai" and we managed to get out to a few including Shimmers, a sort of Caribbean style beach bar with BBQ style food and loads of cushion areas for relaxing with a coffe and Sheesha after the meal. This was at Antique Bazaar, our favourite Indian restaurant, complete with live sitaar, drums, wacky singers and dancers.

Abra Kadabra

My first Friday off during Helen's stay was the opportunity to drive the crew into town for some Soukh browsing and a ferry cross the Creek on the Abras. We bought some sheesha baccy a load of sandals and had a nice cafe stop creekside. The weather is starting to get really hot now so it got a bit too uncomfortable to keep going after we had been around the Old Soukh, the Spice Soukh and the Gold Soukh. Helen got the hang of haggling down the sales guys, buying a silver chain for 50 after he started off at 150 Dirhams- you are OK if you can divide by 7 here to convert Dirhams to a Pounds equivalent!

Lunch at Al Qasr

Helen and Liz had a pretty chilled week, the kids are still at school from 8am to about 3pm so the big decisions were lunch or Karama shopping or both. This is at the Al Qasr Madinat Jumeirah, where Helen met a few of the school mums.

Sister Act

Before the vapour trails had disappeared from Pam's departure, Helen arrived for a two week stay- Arlene just about had time to change the bedding. I drove out early Friday morning and picked her up at the airport, found out the flight was late and drove back to pick up everyone else to meet her! Sleep off the journey- no chance! We were straight down to the beach after a walk to our compound pool found it with the pump in repair and the water green. This is Liz on Jumeirah Beach Park. It was very busy on the beach, the weather was hot and as it was Friday about 2,000 Indian blokes were in the water- Liz and Helen might go again on Monday when it's ladies only day.

Diamond Life

Pam had a great time with Liz having a mooch around the Gold and Diamond Park choosing a ring, hunting bags in Karama, sunbathing by the pool and enjoying the fine dining at the Ritz Carlton, the Burj al Arab, the Mina Seyahi and the One and Only Royal Mirage, which I managed to tag along for! This is us outside the One and Only, we had a Moroccan meal in a great restaurant then finished with a Sheesha in the central courtyard, amongst the cushions and the palm trees.

Pamela Landi

The day after Jeanette and Ian left Pam arrived, on the midnight flight into Dubai. Liz and I had an early night and set the alarm to go and pick her up from the airport. It was strange drinking cafe latte and eating chocolate muffins in Costa at 1am, but Pam appearred out of nowhere after a flight abounding with champers and we headed back to the villa for some Zeds. This pic was in the week when we went to "Segreto" Italian restaurant at Madinat Jumeirah- rooftop bar followed by nice meal, but it is starting to get warm to sit outside, and a Russian family with a load of squawking kids were next to us so we went indoors for dessert.

Marina Mozzies

Jeanette and Ian's visit had drawn to an end, our last night was at the marina where we all had a chinese meal sat outside next to the yachts. The mosquitos were a bit fierce, the pots tubs and borders get irrigated here and the flies seem to like it, Amelia counted 26 bites on her legs! The food was great and nice atmos sat outside in the warm but we might have been better inside as far as barelegs were concerned! I dropped Ian and Jeanette off the next morning on Sheik Zayed Road, we had a coffee under the Chelsea Tower before they took the coach to Abu Dhabi for the flight home.

Sheikh yer Bellie

Belly dancing again at the finish, we have nearly got as good as the main belly dancer now! We had a mini scare with a small snake and a night drive in the Land cruiser, but all got back safely!

Arabian Nights

The next day off I had was spent on a full on desert safari, kicking off with our driver Ammar in full dish-dash picking us up in the obligatory Land-Cruiser and heading out to the Big Red Dune for some serious dune bashing. Ian wanted to get a job as their English driver! This is at a pause to let the engines cool off before we headed on to watch the sun set over the desert.

Sugar and Spice

No trip is complete without an Abra ride on the creek, so on Saturday we all headed off to Bur Dubai, mooched around a few soukhs and took the Abra across the creek to the Spice Soukh. We bought our own Sheesha pipes after a bit of haggling, and the guy even expressed his thanks by giving me and Ian some brown nuts- " Like natural viagra- grind up, mix with a little honey and tock tock tock" said the seller, clicking his tongue and keeping Jack amused for about three weeks doing the impression!

Friday Brunch at Beachcombers

Not having eaten enough at the hotel the previous night, we went to the Beachcomber restaurant at the back of Jumeirah Beach Hotel on the Friday. Weather was scorching, this is us after the lunch taking a walk along the breakwater around the marina, admiring some of the yachts!

Jeanette and Ian arrive for a fortnight

Guests for two weeks! Jeanette and Ian came out, this was on 24 April on an evening out, at the rooftop bar of the One and Only Royal Mirage, we dined like celebrities in "Celebrities" restaurant, had a walk round the pool and gardens area between the hotel and the beach and finished the evening sat out with a Sheesha. During the week they visited the Gold and Diamond Park and bought their wedding rings- very nice.

Pretty fancy

The school had a dressing up day, all the kids had to go in dressed up as a cartoon character - Madeleine' s class had a Shrek theme, she was the fairy godmother- Amelia went as Cruella. A bit hot for parading around outside but it looked good fun from the photos!

Under the Boardwalk..

On the Boardwalk really, it's a restaurant at the Dubai Creek golf complex that a lot of the guys at work had recommended. After our recce at the New Gold and Diamond Centre, we headed to by the Creek, across the floating bridge and to this restaurant on the side of the creek, which extends out over the water on a kind of jetty structure. The food was great and around 6pm was the right time to arrive, as the heat had gone out of the sun as it headed down towards the horizon.

Hot chocolate needed

We stayed in there for about half an hour or so, which was a deal longer than anyone else who came and went in the same period- we are from the frozen north after all- but it took a round of hot chocolate to extend our stay! Madeleine was first to start feeling the pinch so we got out for a warm up. There's a Toys'R'Us in the centre so we had a shop for Satya's birthday present for tomorrow present- he is a boy in Madeleine's class.

Chilled out in Times Square

No we didn't skip over to New York- Liz wanted to do a recce on the Gold and Diamond Centre near to where we live, but it didn't open 'til 4pm so we went to the Times Square mall nearby for some lunch. In there is a cafe bar called chillout, where all the furniture is made from ice and the temperature is kept at -6 degrees. The drinks are served in hollowed out blocks of ice and all the furniture, ornaments and lighting are made of ice.

Wiso and Crosso

Andy Wiseman and Catherine Cross, two of my ex-colleagues from Mouchel, came to Dubai this week after presenting papers at a conference in Bahrain. On Wednesday night I met Andy at Longs Bar on Sheikh Zayed Road, then last night (Thu) Liz and I went out to meet them at Barasti, a bar/pub complex at the back of the Mina Seyahi hotel, onto the beach. It was really busy but a great evening, we had a few beers, ate a buffet dinner at the hotel and finished off with a few more drinks and an apple sheesha. Arlene our maid did the babysitting, we could be doing some more dining out when Jeanette and Ian arrive this Sunday!

La Veranda

Last Friday was a one day weekend for me but Liz had arranged to meet with Kevin and Lorna for a family meal at La Veranda, a restaurant at the back of Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Jack Amelia and Madeleine get on well with their two girls, Heather and Katie. After an Italian meal, we all walked along the harbour surround to the far end where there is a nightspot- not quite for us on this occasion but looked very lively!

Katies 10th birthday

05 April and Katie reached 10 in Dubai! She has to wait for UK for her main prezzie (too big!) After all the prezzie opening we did an open top bus tour of Dubai, finishing at Karama where we did some shopping for genuine fake designer goods, through the secret door..... Jack and Steve bought James Bond type Omega watches and I picked up a pretty good Rolex for around 20GBP! We finished the week with tea at Japengo in Mall of the Emirates and even saw the fountain do its flame show-after which the kids and Liz all "told me so"! We were sad to see them all go on Sunday but we had all had a great time together.

Wild Wadi

The day came at last for the Wild wadi trip, not so many pics as there's too much water about for cameras! We were there for the full

day, 10am to 7pm and the kids loved it. Steve Jack Carolyn and I did the Jumeirah Sceirah this time, the biggest vertical water slide outside North America apparently!

Is it the Diddymen?

The ski Dubai shop nearly lost all its hats for this photo, whilst we were waiting for the official snaps to be developed. I think nearly as much was spent on the pictures as on the ski classes!

Avant-ski

The pictures of the kids in ski school were a bit blurry from afar so here's one getting ready to go! They were well excited, and so were some of the adults! We watched them fora while from the snowpark then did some tobogganing and rubber ring slides

ourselves. The hour class was over all too quickly and Carolyn was keen to come back again to ski herself!

Ski Dubai for Jack's birthday

Jack wanted us to go to Ski Dubai for his birthday, but as the lesson bookings were strange times it meant the 5 kids all had a lesson whilst he took a slope pass to go snowboarding and Liz Steve Carolyn and I went in the snowpark. This clip if it works is Jack snowboarding down the main slope!

Jack reaches 14!

02 April arrived and Jack surfaced to open his cards and presents. He wanted an ipod touch for his birthday and thought he wasn't getting one until 01 April when Maddy gave the game away! He has reminded me he wanted one every day since the end of January, just like a mini version of his Uncle Chris when we were kids. Most of his cards arrived before the day and Steve and Carolyn had brought presents from the UK. He did well for dirhams all the same, about 700 dirhams that were pretty much all gone by the end of the day after he bought a docking station with speakers for his ipod and a hard case to protect it, so thanks everyone for his cash, that's where it went!

Curry heaven at the Antique Bazaar

When we first visited Dubai Liz and I stayed at a hotel with a great Indian restaurant in, Antique Bazaar, and we both said Steve and Carolyn would love it, so it was good to take them and realise it! The food was great, there was live sitar and drum music followed by an Indian band with dancers, making for a great atmosphere.

Habtoor Grand

After the weekend it was work again for me but Liz had set up a trip for all to one of the hotels next to the beach, you can pay something like a tenner a day to use their facilities. As it was Easter, some were only open to guests, but they all got in to the Habtoor Grand near the marina. It has a pool with a waterfall/rockslide feature, and from the photos they spent most of the day in there!

Is that Shakira?

Great barbeque. As night drew in we settled down for our desert evening under the stars. We all had henna tattos, smoked a sheesha pipe, rode a camel and had some pics in the Arab Abayas and dish dashes. The food was really nice, kebabs of various descript and the bar was well stocked with red wine and we weren't driving home! When the belly dancer came on she was a little surprised to see that our lot had all brought their own gear and joined her on the mat.

Son of the desert

Just a pic of George of Arabia but I liked the shot so much I wanted to put it on.

Heading for desert barbeque

The dunes were much bigger than I expected, it was really good fun and a surprise for me how you can drive up sand even when it looks pretty impossible. After an afternoon of screaming and great photo stops we arrived close the barbeque venu, some

where which felt like the middle of nowhere but was actually half an hour drive from Dubai. This was a pause to take pics of the desert sunset.

Desert Princesses with the Queen

The main event and my first trip out dune bashing! We were all picked up at the villa and driven out towards Hatta in two Land Cruisers. The girls all came with me and Liz, Jack and George were with Steve and Carolyn in the other car- guess where all the screaming came from? Our driver was nearly deafened but it made it more fun. This is at a pause for photo shots and to let air out of the tyres before heading up the dunes.

Beachcombers

Monster buffet next the Burj al Arab, it was a good setting by the beach for a huge lunch, with lots of Thai food at the buffet. Luckily Liz booked an inside table, as the air conditioninng was needed, the weather is hotting up.

Lunch at Jumeirah Beach Hotel

I took three days of my leave to make a long weekend Wed-Saturday and Liz booked up some outings for these days. First was lunch at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the beachcomber bar. We still managed to sneak in a visit to Mall of Emirates on the way to get a look at Ski Dubai, this is at the front on the way. The fountain does a show with a soundtrack, and the kids and Liz kept telling me it also fires up flames, which I didn't believe.

Kids and water- they love it

As Rolf Harris might have said, put a computerised fountain in the middle of a load of kids, and you know only too well what might might happen. Somehow they managed to scramble back to the side where we were having a coffee, and we knew we should have brought towels for covering the car seats home.

George looked like had swum across the marina!

Johnny Rockets

The same evening we all went to the Marina Walk for tea at Johnny Rockets. It was really warm and nice to sit out, and we took in a walk along the marina promenade. The kids all seemed to enjoy the food, especially the chocolate peanut butter milk shakes (that was me really).

Camping might be history

I was busy at work on the Sunday the Knowleses arrived so Liz needed to pick them up at the airport. After parking at the mall near our villa she took a cab to the airport to meet them and after an exchange in the mall carpark from the taxi to our car they were all crashed out at the villa for the day, overcoming the jetlag and not sleeping on the overnight flight! We had a barbeque at the villa the first evening when I got home from work. Next morning Liz took them to the beach at Jumeirah beach park, this is Steve and Carolyn soaking up some rays.

The Knowleseys land

Wednesday morning was the arrival time for Steve Carolyn Rachel Katie and George from UK. I had to work so Liz met them from the airport at around 0930 and taxied back ot the villa with them, for an immediate kip to get over not sleeping on the flight (apart from George). Our kids have been counting the days down so it was a s well they were at school! The morning they arrived there was an explosion in Al Quoz nearby, a warehouse went up in flames and put abig smoke cloud in the air- see pic! Industrial accident apparently but it made the ground shake nearby and put ablack cloud in the air for two days.

Easter lunch in style

Nothing very Eastery about it here but nice all the same. The Easter bunny at the Hilton (an Indian guy in a rabbit suit when everyone else was sweltering) had hidden eggs on the beach but unless they had been packed in dry ice first I can't imagine the chocolate lasting long. We had the biggest brunch ever at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel with Bruce and Lisa and family, it was more like Brunchinner, we got kicked out a t 4pm ready to burst. There was face painting and a juggler for the kids and unlimited champagne and wine for the non-driving on the deluxe buffet. The kids paddled on the beach and we sloped off home late afternoon and had a swim in the pool at the compound. Liz's sister Carolyn and hubbbie Steve are out here with the kids from Wednesday so we are looking forward to that.

Hilton Holly

Friday and Madeleine had a party at Fun City in Ibn Battuta mall, Liz's friend Lisa picked her up and the rest of us went to the Hilton next to the Marina to meet Mark and Sarah with Holly, staying at the hotel for a brief time before going to Saudi. We had a few coffees and a chat in the Axis cafe in the lobby, Jack and Mark checked out each others phones and Amelia gave Holly her dinner in the pushchair, all very civilised! JAck even picked up a bag of pressies for 02 April!

Prophets Birthday

I did my first drive to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, 130km and just like motorway all the way. There was a tiny bit of fog but it wasn't too bad and the traffic was easy, not as bad as the M56 to be fair! Thursday was a religious holiday so I was off work, Jack had a party to go to all day at Wild Wadi so he was disconnected from the pump and on the insulin again, just for the day. Somehow he found himself with 5 girls from the school, the only lad! Liz got her hair done (pic) and even had a foot massage at the same time. Amelia went with her, me and Madeleine caught up with them for lunch at the Spinneys in Umm Suqiem, where Liz had just missed free teeth whitening in the mall (while you wait - lol) much to her dismay! The temperature is hotting up nicely, it was about 34 deg C around the middle of the day. Jack got a certificate this week for putting a lot of effort in on his science SATs revision which was pleasing.

Festival City

We seemed to spend a lot of time over here at the weekend- Wed- Thursday was our works Annual management conference, at hte Intercontinental hotel near the creek- great view of the city skyline in the sunset! We were all back here as a family on the Friday, at Ikea to kit out our maids room with a bed and table. We now have a live-in maid, a Filipina called Arlene. She does a great job at cleaning, washing and ironing, it's a weight off for Liz. Friday afternoon we took Amelia to a party at her friends, Sarah out at Arabian ranches, a freehold development of villas at the edge of the city. We took her friend Chloe to Meadows before she came for a sleepover, and on the way home we picked up an Indian takeaway for tea in Media City. Saturday I was at work but we went out for dinner in the evening at Go West, a wild west style restaurant in the Jumeirah Beach hotel. Jack is faring well on the pump, his averages are getting better and he can change the canula himself. It even seems to be helping with his school work as we think he can concentrate better when his levels are more in balance- great!

Good grub

Thursday 06 March was our works annual dinner event, partners invited. It was at the Jumeirah Beach hotel, on the lawned outdoor event area, a great setting just in front of the Burj al Arab. Kevin and Lorna volunteered to sit for us so we taxied it to the hotel and met the rest of the 1200 guests. It was just about warm enough without a jacket, the food was good as it was all laid on by the hotel, and there was a black market for drinks vouchers after each guest received two complimentary ones at the entrance. I managed to introduce Liz to some of the guys from Metro and their partners and we staggered back to the villa at about half past midnight.
Friday I cooked a lamb roast dinner at ours for Bruce and Lisa, who came around to the villa with their girls, Tarren and Jenna. Jack missed the roasties because i dropped him at the Ibn Battuta mall to hang out with three of his girlfriends from school, Chelsea, Katie and Rebecca. All "just friends" Jack says. Saturday morning Jack and i went to the American Hospital and we were prescribed his insulin pump, which is already improving his blood sugar control- great!!Saturday afternoon we met Billy who is passing through Dubai on business. He called at the villa and we all went to the Beazleys where Helen and Nick had laid on a great barbeque, the kids all played together and we sat out and chewed the fat, so to speak. Dave and Maria were there, one of Nick's work mates, who we have now met at Christmas dinner, the golf and two barbeques, so it's like we know them ourselves now. Liz didn't drink as she has been feeling a bit off, so she drove Billy to his hotel in Deira in the evening, which was very brave at rush hour and in the heavy traffic direction! All in all a very positive weekend!

Maid in England

This is Amelia in Jumeirah Beach park and not to do with the blog title! The park has a nice grassed amphitheatre area in the centre, where the parkie has the great job of going around all the girls sunbathing in bikinis asking them to cover up.

Liz finally caved in and we are going to look for a maid, we put an ad in the Gulf News and I was blitzed with calls to the mobile today. We met a Sri Lankan lady called Fue at the Lulu cafe in the evening, she would be perfect but she has been in Emirates Hills for the last four years where the villas have much bigger maids quarters. according to her references she is fantastic at ironing, cooking, cleaning and also drives her own car. We are going to have a week try out to see if we are all happy, so we'll see. She has a husband called Raj who is very nice, but we've got a slight feeling we will be looking again next week.

Safa 2 Football party

After the Beach- party on dudes! Safa 2 Park has a sand football pitch, basketball and grassed areas that can be booked out for parties (free)- perfect siting for a bouncy castle and a good venue for a football party. All Maddy's school pals there again and jack even had a chance to show off his barefoot footy skills on the beach football.