Yas Marina Circuit

After a rather groggy start we loaded up the skylark and headed off to Abu Dhabi, Yas Island motor-racing circuit where Helen now works. She had got us tickets for the Aussie V8 Supercars meeting, souped up saloons. Its an hour drive but a pretty straight run. The stadium is very impressive and we went to the main grandstand, ending up in the executive boxes and also able to get a tour of the pits when the teams were tuning up the cars. Jack loved it, you could get right up to the drivers for autographs. The girls got a bit tired later so we headed back about 5pm, before the final races. More pics on the Facebook. The whole development at the racetrack is looking amazing- there is a links golf course and loads of hotels, plus Ferrari World which will be a huge indoor amusement park. The picture of Jack is on the pits tour- the onlookers were shouting "no-need to look so terrified son", and, "a couple more years and he'll have no hesitation" etc- very funny!

Emirates Club Friday and mojitos curry

Friday was my favourite type- an early walk with the dog followed by a late morning journey to the Emirates Club for some golf and an afternoon by the pool. I did a spot of tidying up in the garden first, which for Bougainvilla means tying bricks to the branches and lobbing them over the concrete perimeter wall (using the prop to dangle them over). One day I'll hear ouch from the other side... Maddy's friend Georgia had been at ours for a sleepover, hence the pic. Jack and Amelia dipped out from the club and stayed at the villa. The weather is really starting to get hot, the increase in the heat after lying for 5 mins is very noticeable. We had guests coming over for Liz's signature curry- Brian Elaine and friends Cath and Dave. I made Mojitos for starters which went down well but took their toll later. Elaine crashed out early and had to spend the night in our guest room- first time a dinner guest hasn't made it home! Great evening, dug out all the old LPs and gave them a spin, a lot of singing and merriment, but a bit hangoverish...

Valentines weekend half term

The half term holiday was not a week, just two days off added to the back of the weekend- but still a nice break for the kids. Thursday night when I got in, Jack had some friends around after having been out at the mall- Liz made them some pizzas and a few slices of that went down well with a bottle of red in front of the TV. I was up early next day and took Pepper out in the car to Greens, walked a lap of the lake and picked up a take-out latte from Costa. He gets really excited going places in the car, I think it must be new smell overload around the lake, as it has doggy bins and regular meetings with the odd pooch. Liz, the girls and I went to the Emirates Club late morning Friday, the weather is getting much nicer and the sun is hot. I hit a basket of balls down the range, met by the pool for a salad lunch and then sunbathed and swam all afternoon, with a mandatory game of "Marco Polo" across the pool with the girls. Jack said he was going to the Umm Suqiem beach with the lads to play soap football but when we got back he was still in his bedroom with Alex on the XBox- though he has been working hard on studying all week so I let him off. Friday night Liz and I went up to the Radisson Blu in Deira and met Billy for a drink and a steak meal in the Palm Grill- very nice fillet steaks! After some beers and Chateauneuf du Pape we tripped round a couple of bars in the hotel before a taxi back with a bag of duty free wine courtesy of Billy. Saturday was a bit of a late hangover start as a consequence- but not as bad as for Bill who rang in sick later in the afternoon! Saturday was a bit wiped out with homework, study and me trying to fix Jack's laptop, which has finally self destructed after 2.5 years of maltreatment and neglect. The picture is Jack getting a new laptop as his early birthday present (hence another photo smile)- he is made up, I got the IT guy at work to tip me off on a great spec and price with a guy he knows in Bur Dubai, it even has an HDMI cable to link with his TV. I have been at work Sunday and Monday, but with Sunday being Valentines Day I came home to a great steak meal and a bottle of wine- marvellous! Everyone has had a nice rest, particularly today when Liz went to the club again with Helen Beesley, who wants to join. Our family golf membership has come up on the waiting list but upgrading from our family social membership is out of the budget for now- maybe next year! On the work front I have been busy doing reviews of lots of bids going in but all in Abu Dhabi, Saudi or Qatar- after Metro finishes I envisage a lot more travel is likely around the region!

Feb 5-6 Desert Classic Weekend

The weekend was set for watching golf- tickets to the Desert Classic at Emirates Club for all the family! Club-house access too as social members, and a parking slot in the club- great. Jack decided he didn't want to come and Maddy was on a sleepover Thu-Fri so it was me Liz and Amelia. I tempted Liz with a full english breakfast buffet in the club so we were all there
at 10am Friday morning for the real pork and baconfest! We started off following Rory McIlroy round with Jimenez, then switched to Lee Westwood before a chicken shawarma lunch in the clubhouse. The girls got a bit tired out hot-footing it after the golfers to keep up with the game (and chasing after me), but we took it a bit easier later and sat in the stand at 18 to watch a few go through for a finish, including Darren Clarke. The pic is me and Amelia to the left of the 8th fairway. The next day Amelia did a 7km sponsored walk to raise money for the school they visit in Vietnam at the end of March. It was twice around Safa Park, I went too and took Pepper- there is a rubberised jogging track right around the perimeter- it wasn't until we'd finished that I saw the no dogs sign, but we avoided any 200AED fine! The girls were too footsore from Friday to go back to the golf on Saturday, so I went along myself and followed Watson then Westwood. I said I was going to be in at 4pm to watch the derby, Liz said to the kids, "Your Dad will be in in a minute" and Jack said, "No he won't, he's still there- look!" pointing at the telly where I was pictured stood behind Westwood teeing off at the 17th- very funny! The golf was great, not many spectators so you could get really close to the play. Capped off in the evening by Liverpool beating the toffees with 10 men!

Birthday weekend

Friday 29th Jan- good to have my birthday on the weekend! Thursday night though was a revision night with Jack as he is on the run up to GCSEs. Friday morning I took Pepper for a walk, Liz came too and we picked up a coffee at the new shop near the Sharaf DG station. When the kids woke they watched me open my pressies and Liz made a scrambled eggs breakfast. We went to the Emirates Club, I played Jack on the par 3 (and lost to Jack, no shots, much to his pleasure!!) then had lunch and a sunbathe by the pool, mixed in with some more science revision! We had a table booked at Bussola in the evening, nice pizzas overlooking the sea near Palm Jumeirah. The pic is me with my cake, I had a bottle of red free on one of our vouchers, all to myself as Liz was driving- well looked after! The next day was much more of a homework Saturday- though we did take time out to go and get Pepper clipped- he looks like a proper poodle now!! While he was being done we went up to a new park just opened at Barsha 2- it is big with a lake in the centre and fountain, with a rubberised jogging track right around the lake. Liz went on Sunday and it has an outdoor gym area too. When it's open properly (and you have to pay to enter) it will have boats on the lake which will be good. Liverpool were on TV to finish the weekend off and beat Bolton 2-0 at Anfield- next week Desert Classic golf at the Emirates!