Apparently, Oliver thought I needed a new tattoo.
Actually, it was a somewhat amusing event. I was cleaning the bidet and this was of great curiosity to the cats. It is amazing how fascinated they are with sinks, showers and running water and how loathe they are to get wet. So, Oliver was standing on the toilet seat so that he could get a good view of what I was doing. This would have been fine, but the lid was up. I did something that startled him and made him back up. This resulted in some splashing and his foot ending up in the toilet water. This I found greatly amusing. He did not. I didn’t want him licking the blue toilet water off his foot, so I grabbed a hold of him and tried to position him so I could use the bidet to wash his foot. This is when the claw was sunk into my arm. I did manage to rinse his foot and he was greatly disgruntled about it all. And that is how I got that lovely puncture wound/bruise.
Archive for January, 2010
New Tattoo
January 12, 2010Who’s idea was this?
January 11, 2010
Someone thought that black marble was a cool idea for a bathroom sink counter. Clearly, this person had a maid who could spend her days cleaning it. They probably didn’t have two cats who insist on getting up on the counter to drink.
In addition to making footprints all over the counter, Oliver likes to put his paw in the water bowl and fling water drops all over the mirror. I spent Friday thoroughly cleaning two bathrooms. Had to take a picture so I can look back and remember how nice it looked for a few minutes.
Saturday Tweetup
January 11, 2010
Saturday we met with our Twitter friends at one of our favorite restaurants – Al Baghdadi on Al Muteena Street. The very first time Daddybird and I ate at this restaurant, my purse was stolen. You can read the detailed account of that experience here.
Anyway, back to the Tweetup. There were 26 people, according to my count, not all pictured here. They are a marvelous group of people from a wide range of countries, ages, professions, etc. 
Rami showed up late, but that’s the beauty of a tweetup. People come and go as they please or their schedule allows.
Now a word about Twitter. It seems that my friends and acquaintances back home haven’t figured out what to do with Twitter. They prefer Facebook. For me, Facebook is fine for keeping in touch with people you met and made friends with “in the flesh.” I have never made a new friend through Facebook. For me, the beauty of Twitter is making new friends. We are having an atypical expat experience because of this. We would never have met these people through “normal channels.” I once described Twitter as: “like being in a room full of people who are all talking, but you can hear and understand what everyone is saying and join or ignore any conversation.” This got “retweeted” a few times, so there may be some truth in it. The people (mostly stupid journalists) who say they aren’t interested in Twitter because they don’t care what other people had for lunch, really don’t comprehend what is happening in Twitter. There was a study that randomly sampled tweets and determined that 40% is “pointless babble.” This study was deeply flawed, because you can’t pull tweets out of context without turning them into pointless babble. Twitter is a conversation.
Why did I take a picture of this bystander who was not part of our group? Because he’s wearing a leather coat over his kandura BECAUSE IT’S SO COLD! The low that night was 63F. Since the people back home are complaining about rain, wind and sometimes snow, the thought that people think Dubai is cold is amusing to me.
Litterbugs
January 11, 2010
This is the Ikea parking lot late at night after a hard days commerce. People are really lazy litterbugs. Can’t even get it in the garbage can that is just a few feet away.
More Signs
January 11, 2010
“Yes, I’d like to purchase a ticket to another globe, please.”
This is a little place I like to call the Brad Pitt Saloon.
Lovely Baby Trading – that speaks for itself, doesn’t it?
This, too, speaks for itself.
Dubai has more active cell phone accounts than its population, so maybe this sign is right.
A brief word about “saloon” – We see both “saloon” and “salon,” occasionally “spa,” but never barber shop, beauty shop or beauty parlor. Apparently, “parlor” would be a serious no-no. We are amused by “saloon” as any American will have a vision of an Old West tavern, complete with poker playing cowboys and an upright piano. Saloon is the term used by (East) Indians. There are gents saloons and ladies saloons. You can frequently see into the gents saloons, but ladies saloons/salons always have opaque windows, usually with large pictures of women and their hairdos. This covering of the windows is due to the Muslim custom of covering the hair. You can’t get it shampooed or cut with a sheyla/hajab on. Also, there would probably be problems with crowds of men standing and staring in the windows. I never cease to be amazed by the blatant staring that goes on. 
Last, but not least, Garb Laundry. Notice the woman carrying an umbrella. It is very common, especially for Asians, to carry an umbrella as protection against the sun. In fact, here’s a store near the Gold Souk that sells nothing but umbrellas.
Burj Khalifa
January 10, 2010So, the Burj Khalifa opened this last week. Did we witness it? No. I was down with the flu and Daddybird was at Bu Qtair eating fish with friends and neither of us knew exactly what time the fireworks would be set off, so we missed it.
Those of you in America may have gotten sick of hearing about it due to the extravagance of the whole thing, however, it was a very important event for residents of Dubai and hopefully, all of the U.A.E. It is an unifying icon, not unlike the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower, a symbol for a citizenry that is a minority in their own country and for the non-citizens who love this country and call it home.
You have to remember this is a very young country by world standards. We just celebrated 38 years in December. It is also a very small country. The U.A.E. is 1/3 the size of our home state of Oregon. Oregon is just under 3% of the U.S.A. geographically, (if my math is correct.) And, one could complain about all the wealth and the flaunting of it, but I think there is some justice in the fact that the people who lived in one of the most inhospitable places on the earth (pre-air conditioning) should be sitting on top of a “gold mine” of oil. Secondly, stop complaining about oil rich Arabs while you drive around burning up fossil fuels, but I digress.
Anyway, it was not just a spectacular spectacle, but a nationally important event and very moving to the people who live here.
CNN has a good video of the event – Click here
Pictures – click here and here
And for pictures showing how they will keep all those (23,000) windows clean – click here
For more on the importance of the Burj to people, read our friend Lara Dunston’s blog – Cool Travel Guide.
The crowds are lining up for hours to go up to the observation deck on the 124th floor (out of 160 floors). It will probably be some time before we go up there ourselves, but I am sure we will take a photo or two to share when we do.
Lucky man
January 10, 2010Daddybird, being a very lucky man married to a woman who knows where to shop and what to buy, got this for Christmas. 
And, as you can see, the castle is sometimes under the attack of a dragon.
The dragons are now forbidden to get up on the table, but is it a hard lesson to learn. They do like to chew on the trees.
The castle is foam with interlocking pieces. Pretty cool toy. Of course, he wants another set so he can combine and make a bigger castle. Hmm… it’s already taking over my sewing table.
Metro Construction Update
January 9, 2010
The construction of the Metro stop in front of our apartment building is progressing. They are now putting up the frame for the entrance. Originally, this line (the Green line) was scheduled to open in March of 2010. That was pushed forward to June of 2010 and now has been pushed forward again until October 2010 or even later. 
North entrance right below our balcony.
Construction to the left. I am curious about what the oval structures are. 
The south entrance directly across the street from us.
The view to the right – again more oval structures.
To see all of the metro pictures we’ve posted over the last year and a half, click here.
More New Year’s
January 8, 2010
New Year’s Eve was quite a night. There was a partial eclipse of the moon. We had a great time with friends. The fireworks were spendid.
Then, I went and got the flu. Rats! Anyway, I am feeling better, so will try to get caught up on posting what we’ve done and seen lately. In a week, we will be off to Kuala Lumpur for six days and I am sure that will involve new adventures to share.
Living the Travel Channel 