coming home for holidays, Amsterdam, and Halloween...

hey all...

thought i would post a couple quick snaps from the last couple of months. i have been pretty sporadic with the posts, so here are a few months at once!! :)

i got to see some of you when i came home to Canada for a few weeks.

on the way, i stopped in Holland and wandered around Amsterdam.

Canada was great, and not too cold :) and it was good seeing old friends, family and visiting some great areas of BC, including going back to the Sunshine Coast, and making a trip over to Nanaimo and up to Port McNeill. My main reason for going was a high school reunion, so it was great seeing old friends...

and then back to Abu Dhabi, where Lorien and I went to our favourite hotel for a Halloween party. We dressed up as a gangster and flapper girl, and we took a quick video of some friends of ours partying at the hotel. My friend Ben is the one dressed as Hansel trying to start the mob scene from Michael Jackson's Thriller... lots of fun that night...

next up is Christmas, which we will be spending in Muscat, Oman. Scuba diving and beach time is in order!!!

hope all is well with everyone at home, and as always, we are thinking of everyone and missing everyone...

Beirut Trip and coming home for 2 weeks!!

got some time to go to Beirut, Lebanon for some Safety training... one friend said, safety training?? in Beirut?? with all the bombs?? "yep"...

anyway, a fun few days, here are some pics from around town... didn't get to go everywhere, but got to see downtown, some really cool caves and mountainous areas, went to the casino, checked out some roman ruins downtown beside a mosque, and generally wandered around town...

rooftop pic from my hotel, with the trainer, i knew him from previous training in UAE, does all training for europe, middle east...

some pics from the Jeitta Grotto caves, very cool... the mountainous areas were on the drive outside town to get to these caves...

downtown beirut, cool area... clock tower and parliament buildings, some military presence in these areas, just in case...

while bulding this mosque, the excation unearthed these roman ruins... about 2 hours from beirut, did not get time to go there, is a fully excavated temple from the roman period, super cool (Baalbeck)...

EDIT: sorry about some of the photos being out of order, blogspot is acting weird, and i can't switch them around...


so i will be home for 2 weeks in October, looking forward to seeing as many people as possible... hope to see you guys at some point during my stay... and if not, then get your butt out to the sandbox!!! LOL :)

the future shape i strive to be in...

what a great video... they are full of fun and enjoying life, i would love to be in this spirit and shape at their age, inspiring for all...

the businessman and the fisherman...

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

pics of the day... Ramadan in UAE...

another pic of the day...

from one of the local mall parking lots... red light for full parking spot, green light to let you know that the spot coming up is empty, and on each floor indicates how many empty spots are available on that floor...

pic of the day...

from our Aloft pool... they put this up after their last huge night time pool party..

ramadan kareem!!

so it is august 11th, which means ramadan is upon us... this is my first time experiencing this side of the culture... for the most part, everyone takes part, like how everyone takes part in christmas and easter for christians...

so, all muslims will not eat, drink, or smoke, from sunrise to sunset... then a lot of muslims will gather and pray, then celebrate with a large Iftar dinner, with family and friends at sunset... also a time to give back by donating to charity or other ways to help those less fortunate, very big during ramadan... the biggest thing is it is supposed to connect you with god more, to understand your faith more, kind of like how christians are supposed to treat Lent...

sometimes people forget we are in a muslim country, with the ton of available bars, and the emeratis and their high end hotels and porsches/land rovers, but apparently ramadan really brings out the muslim faith and for this month, it is the holy month, so even the most secular muslim who might drink and have prostitutes is supposed to be extremely holy during this month...

so the only thing for non fasting folk is to not eat or drink in front of someone who is fasting...

it will be interesting, because most of the shops and restaurants will be closed until 7pm, then they stay open until 2am; malls, restaurants, etc...

i have already stocked up on beer!! hahaha...

but you can go to some places, and they set up special tents and screens for non fasting folk to eat... just that your options are extremely limited, so i will probably eat at home more, and of course at work away from the fasting muslims...

take care everyone, see you in october...

Dubai trip...

did a quick trip to dubai to see a friend... he bartends at The Address hotel, which is right across from Burj Khalifa, and looks down on the Dubai Dancing Fountain...

couple of pics from that night...


the address hotel bar is 64 floors up, and we are only halfway up from looking across at the burj khalifa...

my friend anubhav and i went and saw my friend jeremy in his new work gig...

and looking down at the fountain and souq, pretty cool...

cars, licenses, and independence...

this blog will be a little about driving in the uae...

this country is very much all about the car... either if you talk about local emeratis with their porsches, hummers, and land cruisers, or you are talking about the labourers, who only dream of such things...

the biggest thing out here is owning a car... and acquiring a driver's license to go with it...

for most people who work here, either indian or filipino, or even from other arabic countries like egypt or syria, the pay is very low, and most of your monthly salary would go towards a car.

for most, owning a car symbolizes wealth like nothing else, and the independence and freedom to take off and go driving, go to the mall, etc. whenever you want...

most staff, for example in my hotel, live in a shared accommodation, and they are shuttled back and forth to work. we have a cafeteria, where the food is free, and the shuttle back to the accommodation is free... but you are unable to do anything else if you are slave to the food and bus timings... and the accommodation is 45 minutes from downtown

so for them, being able to go to the mall on your own or with a couple friends to sit at the movie or go bowling or sit at the food court is the same as back home with teenagers, the thrill of being able to break out of the rut...

like i mentioned, getting a license for westerners is no big deal, we just get a couple pieces of paper, and a stamp or two, pay some money, and after one solid day of bureaucracy, it is done and we can drive here ( if you rent a car you can use your CAD license, if you own a car, you must have a UAE license...)

but for non westerners (indian, egyptian, etc.) you need to spend several days in lineups for paperwork, and then you have to take a road test, which cost alot more money than my paperwork... and if you fail the test, you need to take a week long driving school... and this is even after you have your own license from your own country...

and of course, once you own a car, trying to find parking is a whole other blog!!

this and that...

i am woefully behind in my posting... i apologize to my loyal 5 readers... :)

so... what to talk about???

as most of you know from facebook, we got a new puppy named LeaLou, another chihuahua, a little sister for Tinsley... she has been fun, and a handful, and at least Tinsley is not bored now LOL...


Lorien and I had some days of hanging at the pool and going for drinks before she went home for the summer... She is spending some time in Vancouver before visiting some Irish Teacher friends over in Ireland... i am still planning on heading back in October, so I will visit with people then...

work is okay, and i have been hanging with the kids mainly... i found a friend who plays guitar and we have been playing a little here and there, me on the harp and him on guitar... it is something to do and not go crazy, being inside all the time because of the heat...

it has actually been cool the last 4 days, and by cool i mean under 40 degrees... i can actually enjoy mid 30's after a few days of 47...

i have also got back running and working out, and trying to spend time at the pool...

i have a few friends who will also be here all summer, so i will have company on my off days... they are also members of the pool, so we can hang out there and have a drink or two...

you might see more posts over the summer if i have time, i will try to do some from work while i am bored...

i might head to dubai this weekend, will take pics!!!

I know, I know... it has been awhile...

so i have been getting grief from a couple people for not updating my blog in the last, oh month or two... cough*travis*cough... :)

when you last left me, lorien's parents had been here and hanging out...

since then, what has been new???

i went to the UFC on yas island with some friends, got to meet a few fighters back at the hotel, generally a great weekend all around...

two pics are from lorien's birthday weekend, hanging out with our regular group of friends... canadian, american, english, and irish... almost all of them are teachers or neighbours or teachers' spouses...



so other than that, most of the rest of our time has been hanging out at our health club and pool... you have to realize that this pool is the best thing ever!!! hahaha... when it is 45 degrees out, and you don't want to sit in your A/C apt all the time, we hang out at the pool, get some sun, and have a corona or two... we have also been trying to hit the gym a bit more than before...

last week we had a pool party for a friend's birthday, tons of fun!!!

most of our entertainment has been hanging with our friends and going to birthday parties or having people over...

unfortunately, my work schedule has sucked, so we try to do the simple things when lorien and i are together... go for dinner, go to the mall, etc...

we are looking forward to in the future when we can get some time off together and actually do some longer trips, looks like lorien's school year next year will have a couple solid 2 week breaks, and we will know ahead of time, so we can do some significant travel... right now we are having fun just relaxing when we are not busy working... the daily work grind exists over here as well!!! i won't jinx anything by saying where we are going, i will wait until the plane tickets are booked...

speaking of which, lorien will be home this summer, and i am coming home in october... i have my high school reunion in october, so i have decided to wait until then... lorien and i are going to do some local trips this summer while she is here (ie Dubai, or Oman or Liwa or Fujairah) but then she will be gone and hanging in canada... tinsley and i will be hanging out together, and some of the other spouses of teachers who don't have time off this summer, so i know of at least 2-3 people i will be hanging with...

plus i have been talking about finally taking my open water scuba diving course, looks like i will do it this summer... i did some scuba diving while we vacationed in Fujairah, and rekindled my desire to get it done!!!

lazy weekend...

taking it easy this weekend after lorien's parents were here last weekend... whirlwind week trying to pack everything in!!

went to dubai, al ain, and showed them around abu dhabi...

dubai involved going to the ski hill in the mall, checking out the palm island, burj khalifa, fountain light show, burj al arb, jumeirah beach, the list goes on!!

showing them around abu dhabi involved going on a desert safari as well which was tons of fun, riding camels and dune bashing!!

definitely will do that again...

Hamas Dubai hit...

really interesting read on the drama that unfolded in Dubai...



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7029669.ece

word of the day

word for today is zebiba... look it up... i know at least one egyptian at my work who has one, but his is like a darker spot than a bump...

it shows me the amazing level of devotion from some. there is video of an entire football stadium chanting the Quran before a match to help their team. men regularly go 5 times a day to the mosque, washing their feet, bowing together in unison... we see men from all walks of life, landscapers in the park, drivers pulled over on the side of the road, everyone facing mecca... a lot of devotion... what is interesting as well, is no one is attempting to convert me, no one judging me, no JW's or christians on a saturday morning... a little slice of the middle east life...

random thoughts...

hey all...

long time since i blogged last, for all of you not on facebook, get on facebook!!! :)
i throw most of my photos on there, so you get a good taste of what lorien and i are up to...


pics on this page are from our health club and pool we are always hanging at, and a pic of lorien and i from a night out... black and white theme night, at a bar on yas island...

wanted to post some random thoughts about life here... little day to day things that people might not realize... generally life here is the same as back home, with a few minor differences...

i am out walking tinsley with my friend bruce (texan), and there are bangledeshi workers in the park, staring at us... and i think to myself, have they ever seen two westerners walking a 5 pound chihuahua before??? probably not!!!!

living near all the embassies, we get to see some cool stuff from time to time, like motorcades, or military helicopters dropping into an embassy parking lot...

photo radar everywhere!!!

haven't seen much of the olympics, because i am still trying to see who has the international broadcastting rights, but i have found some stuff online, and some live stuff, but of course it is also 12 hours of time difference, so i am not up at 3 or 5 am...

some times, when we are BBQ'ing in our villa, with all our ex-pat friends, feels like home... if home was 25 degrees in the winter, then we are home...

went on vacation to fujairah, on the indian ocean side of UAE... nice!!! scuba diving, snorkeling, general beach laying and poolside tanning... lots of fun...

work is okay, i am learning lots about safety and environmental health, OHS, etc... useful stuff for any future careers...

lorien's parents come to visit in march, getting excited about showing them around town...

got my UAE driver's license, so i can finally drive our car... couldn't before because local law was that if you owned a car, must have a resident visa and license... if you rented a car, you could use your canadian license...

if you are not from usa, england, canada, australian, etc.. you need to take a driver's test and road sign course... you get one try, if not you have to take a driver's course... so if you are from india, egypt, syria, etc.. you need to jump through all these hoops and pay all this money for a UAE license, even though in your home country you might have driven for the last 20 years...

going to go to UFC when it comes in april, very excited about that, as you guys all know, love the MMA...

people here, especially locals, love to cut to the front of the line...
and that occurs in driving or in the supermarket... oblivious more than anything...

someone said they didn't recognize lorien in some photos, because we are getting so much sun!!! we have been spending a lot of offtime at the pool, nice to get some relaxing time...

playing the odd game of poker with friends, not as good as gibsons though!!

went online to the sechelt courthouse list the other day, same names as always!!! oh jack, when will you learn!!! hahaha...

hope everyone is well back home, i am for sure coming back in october, 20 year high school reunion...

more blogs to come soon, and hopefully more pics of random life in abu dhabi...