Archive for June, 2013

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Ukraine: Day Two

June 30, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

brown toilet paper rolled tightly with no cardboard center

One guess what this is. It’s not very attractive or promising, but it is serviceable.

shoes placed on the heated towel rack

After the rain storm, my shoes were quite soaked. Luckily, we happened to have a water heated towel rack that dried them effectively.

We spent most of the day light hours blogging and sleeping and more sleeping. In the evening, we headed out for a walk to the downtown area (approximately 2 miles). It was just a leisurely stroll, looking at the sights …

ornate church spires

looking in store windows …

porcelain figures, a horse drawn carriage

and counting the many sushi bar signs.

orange sign for the Manga sushi bar restaurant

We stopped in here for dinner – Puzata Hata.

red sign over a restaurant door

It turned out to be a cafeteria style restaurant where one gets a tray and goes down the line pointing to food desired.

two trays full of plates and bowls of food

Here is what we ended up with. Chicken, potatoes, salad, dumplings, and borsch. This spread cost us 124.55 Hryvnia ($15.27 US or 56 AED). When selecting the bottled water, I had compared the blue label and the green label to try to decipher what the difference was. I could not, so just went with the green label. Upon opening it and having it explode, I deduced that green label means sparkling water. Blue label, therefore, is probably still water. Live and learn.

yellow building with a red roof, yellow bus, city street

We continued our walk downtown with my mood much improved with my hunger finally sated. The architecture is lovely and varied. It is refreshing to see an old, well established city with a clear identity.

mechanical candy making machine in the store window

We stopped into another Roshen candy shop. This one had a lovely candy making machine in the window to amaze children, young and old.

beautiful building with fountain, lit after dark

The sun went down and the lights came up. We stopped here for a while to sit on a park bench, rest my feet, and watch people go by.

The downtown area was full of people enjoying a pleasant summer’s evening. Due to the weekend the streets were closed to automobile traffic and pedestrians were free to wander where they would. Buskers and street performers were out and about.

In fact, here’s a little taste.

In the end, we took the metro train back to our neighborhood and called it a night.

For all the pictures, click here.

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Ukraine: Day One

June 29, 2013

Posted to Kanga.

view out plane window of airport control tower

We departed from the Sharjah Airport on Air Arabia. This was a new experience. We usually travel from the much, much larger Dubai airport. Sharjah airport is small and quite efficient.

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

This is my food court breakfast (freshly made mushroom and onion omelette), which I had to gobble down because the loud speaker started calling passengers for our flight. We arrived at the “gate” and were bussed to the plane.

space between my knees and the seat in front of me

Happily, the flight was only half full, so we had plenty of space and no one reclining the seats in front of us. Air Arabia was a pleasant experience. They are a low frills airline, similar to Southwest Airlines. The tickets are cheaper, but you pay fees for things like the weight of your bags (which is nice because you can pay less if you travel light or if you know you will have a heavy bag, you can pay for the weight you need). There is food on the plane, but you pay for that separately, too.

airplane drop down screen showing safety video

The safety video was the best I’ve seen because they cleverly cast only children. It was actually interesting to watch.

Japanese style fan on an airplane seat

It was a bit hot, especially since we had been bussed out to the plane on the tarmac rather than walking through an air conditioned gangway. However, I always come prepared for these eventualities.

close up of the airplane safety guide sheet showing a red X through a remote control toy car

I was disappointed to find that I was not allowed to play with my remote control car. All that aisle space and I can’t race up and down it?

airplane safety sheet showing a red X through something indistinguishable

I never did figure out this illustration of something I am not supposed to do. My best guess is that when the plane crashes, before I exit, I am supposed to remove my shoes and leave my briefcase behind. I assure you, I will not be taking off my shoes during a crash. My bags are on their own, but until they provide ample leg space, my shoes are sticking with me.

cartoon on an airplane drop down screen

There was entertainment provided, beginning with a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It was nice to see old Bugs. I haven’t seen him in ages. We were amused at how much kissing and groping there was in this little cartoon. I wouldn’t be allowed to have this cartoon in my library.

view out the airplane window

After a short flight (less than 5 hours), we arrived in the verdant Ukraine.

Soviet style apartment buildings

For all the pictures and commentary, click here.

We ventured out in the evening just as a summer rainstorm let loose. We waited under a sheltered area until the worst was over. Thunder, lightning, rivers rushing down hill. All very exciting. Needless to say my shoes were soon soaked. I only brought one pair. 😦

Brief video of the fountain at Ocean Plaza mall.

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Sharjah Maritime Museum

June 25, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

After visiting the Sharjah Aquarium, we went to the Maritime Museum. (The entrance fee of 20 AED per person covers entrance to both.)

small wooden model of a galleon

They have several lovely wooden models, some small scale and some full scale.

full size pearling boat

To see all the pictures, click here.

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Sharjah Aquarium

June 24, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

After nearly five years in the country, we finally got around to going to the Sharjah Aquarium.

large ugly fish

There were lots of tasty looking groupers. These are also known as hamour, the most commonly eaten fish in the area. Unfortunately, they are now overfished. It doesn’t pay to be so very tasty.

diver hugging a sea turtle

Turtle buddies.

purple fish

The aquarium is quite pleasant. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and it was fairly quiet and peaceful. As we were leaving around 6 pm more people were arriving, so it may be more populated in the evening. The entrance fee is 20 AED per person and includes admittance to the neighboring Maritime Museum. Well worth it.

sign instructing not to use flash photography, rap on the glass, drop coins in the tanks, or offer your finger to hungry fish

Please don’t pay the fish, flash the fish, feed the fish, or punch the fish.

More pictures here.

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Etihad Mall

June 16, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

bookstore

We stopped by Etihad Mall to check out Kan Ya Ma Kan (Once Upon a Time) bookstore. It is a lovely little store with Arabic picture books.

picture book

I can hardly wait for the English translation of Maitha Al Khayat’s new book, The Runaway Louse. That’s one energetic looking bug.

There are a few malls that are not targeted at tourists. Etihad Mall is one of them. The signs of this are the traditional clothing stores and tailors, perfume shops, and dish shops, like this one.

extravagant dishes

I don’t know what that big green thing is for. Boggles the mind. (May be used to infuse clothing with incense.)

tea cup rack shaped like an Arab boat

This rather impressive tea cup rack shaped like an Arab boat caught our eyes.

Umm Saqeem Traditional Kitchen

And, in the food court, you will find choices like Umm Saqeem Traditional Kitchen. I would tell you what was available, except that the menu pictures were labeled only in Arabic. It appears it is likely to be Ma’louba, Margooga, Harees, Machbous, etc.

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Water Overhead

June 14, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

small water heater installed in ceiling space

We are having water heater fun this week. Even though this is a new building and this water heater is only about 2 years old, it decided to spring a leak. This is extra fun, because water heaters are installed in ceiling spaces. Each bathroom and the kitchen have a small water heater rather than having one large one for the whole apartment. I don’t know how widespread this practice is in the world, but in the States houses and apartments usually have one large water heater installed in a closet or garage area. It wouldn’t occur to Americans to put something like this in the ceiling area. Just last month a 5 year old girl in Ajman was killed by a falling water heater. Placing a heavy water filled tank over your head just doesn’t seem smart.

So, the bathroom is off limits until we can find a maintenance request form and get the ball rolling toward some repairs or replacement. I suspect this will take a while. Good thing we have more than one bathroom.

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Caesars in Fujairah

June 11, 2013

Posted by Kanga.

restaurant decor simulating ruins

A new Caesars restaurant opened recently in Fujairah.

catsup, HP sauce, hot sauce, and soy sauce

Condiments can be proof of a varied menu. Something for everyone.

green salad and rocca salad

The size of the salads was a welcome sight. There were tomatoes, cucumber, and carrots hiding under all that lettuce.

main courses

I ordered beef with mushroom and broccoli. Daddybird ordered chili chicken and a garlic steak. We ended up splitting the steak.

There are Caesars Restaurants all over the UAE, so this isn’t a Fujairah discovery, but it is nice to have another option that is somewhat amenable to our diet.