Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
We headed over the mountains…
to Dubai…
for game night.
Pounce
Quao (the cow dictator game)
and Elder Sign.
Thanks to our friends for making the evening fun!
Author Archive
Mashup or What?
October 11, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
Fujairah streets are under major construction and have been for most of the year. It is much needed, but makes it even more interesting to navigate the town than it was. Fujairah is not laid out in a system of rectangular streets and intersections. It is a web of diagonal streets and roundabouts. So, even when things are normal and not under construction one has to zig zag across town.
We came across this last night while negotiating a rather challenging detour. The construction of this villa looks standard except for the upside down ionic capitals that have been tacked onto the fence. I’m curious to see what more this will involve.
Infrastructure Should Come First
October 5, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
This is the view around our apartment building lately. This is not the first time they have dug a trench along here and torn out the paving bricks and made a mess.
This trench goes across the one and only entrance/exit to the underground parking. Now, why this trench can’t be dug 30 feet north where there are no structures, I don’t know. Why these pipes weren’t laid before the buildings were put up, I don’t know.
Here is how building is done. They put up a building first. There are no electrical lines to the construction area. There are no sewer lines laid prior to building. There are often no paved roadways to the construction site either. The building may never get a sewer line. (Sewage goes into tanks in the subbasement and trucks come by to pump out the contents, hopefully on a regular basis. Our building is 21 stories tall with 7 apartments on each of 17 floors and offices on 3 floors – you do the math.) The building may, or may not, get city supplied electricity. Our building is one half city utilities and one half connected to a generator in the basement. The generator is permanently installed.
Priceless
October 2, 2013Posted by Kanga.
Sheikh Zayed Road is now lined with a series of huge billboards. I found this one astonishing due to its mashup of iconic images. Dubai — Egyptian pyramids — Grecian/Roman columns — Petra Treasury. It’s apparently an advertisement for Priceless Arabia, whatever that is.
Sushi!
September 28, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
It is one of those weekends when we have reason to drive into Dubai on both days. Ya gotta love Friday morning traffic.
Here’s your obligatory iconic picture:
We had doctor appointments in the afternoon, but first we went to the Sumo Sushi restaurant at Jumeirah Town Centre at the invitation of the owner to help taste test some new dishes.
They were all delicious. The above is made with brown rice, green onions, salmon and black roe. Yummy!
This one is cucumber and salmon and very beautiful, but a little tricky to get into your mouth before it falls apart. Still yummy.
This one has shrimp inside. It was delicious, but what I really liked was the crispy fried shredded carrot. One of the major things I like about sushi is the combination of different textures. The carrots are all about texture. In the background are squid rolls which were very interesting on the texture and taste scale.
This one is pattered after Thai fresh spring rolls. Delicious. I think I ate most of them.
This is my A#1 favorite. Tuna, avocado, and fried carrots. The only way to make this better is to use salmon (my personal favorite fish). I would definitely order this every time. (A bonus – it is paleo in that there is no rice.)
Seared salmon nigiri was a big hit with everyone. It was delicious, but probably 3rd on my list.
A new style sushi sandwich with slices of tuna, salmon with avocado and roe. This was a hit, too.
Unfortunately, only a few will make it to the menu. I’m crossing my fingers for the brown rice/salmon maki, the tuna/avocado salad, and fried shredded carrots on EVERYTHING.
Reading with Cats
September 26, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
In continuing World Animal Remembrance Month, I must say that I am a cat person. I have been from the beginning. We lived on a small farm and had cats to help control the mouse population. Tommy was a big grey tabby whose domain was the barn. He would allow me to pet him a bit, but otherwise he was all independent and businesslike. Near the house, we had Momma Kitty, a short haired calico and her daughter, Rusty Dusty, a long haired calico. The area around the house, garage and the woodshed were their domain.
Before I came along, cats had always been outdoor animals. That wasn’t enough for me. I wanted companionship, not just mouse hunting. Kittens were soon smuggled into the house for supervised visits. Eventually, my mother’s resolve was eroded and the “no cats in the house rule” subsided. Then Manix came to live with us. He was rescued from the street by my sister, who then brought him home to the farm because she couldn’t have pets in her apartment. His tail had met with an unfortunate accident. He was a black long hair. He ended up being “the house cat.” My father was not big on pets, but Manix was big on sitting on Dad’s lap while Dad tried to read the newspaper. Sometimes Manix sat on the newspaper.
Over the years, I’ve shared space with many cats. Mittens (left in search of his own male territory, too much competition on the farm), Ashley (died young on a busy street), Tigger (after 3 years fell prey to the same busy street), Maggie (nearly killed by the vet who spade her, turned into a real kick-ass cat), Peanut (too stupid not to get massive injuries in cat fights), and George (gave me 8 years of companionship and ran my life). After George, there was a long hiatus. I had to euthanize George because I couldn’t afford the surgery he needed. I swore I wouldn’t have another cat until I had a cat surgery savings account set aside. This ban on cats held until a mother cat moved her three kittens into our backyard. I had forgotten how therapeutic cats are and I needed a bit of therapy.
I would come home from school, grab a dill pickle for a snack, and sit down to read or watch TV. Maggie would plant herself in my lap and ask to share my snack. Yes, she ate dill pickles. She would eat everything except citrus fruit. When she wasn’t chasing the neighbor’s little dog out of HER yard or tearing a grocery bag apart with her wicked claws, she could be sweet. Just don’t cross her.
George, as I said, ran my life for 8 years. I didn’t like the name George, but it had been given to him before he came to live with me AND he answered to it, so it stuck. George’s deep belief was that I was put on the planet to make a lap for him to sit in. If I wanted to read while doing that, fine, as long as it didn’t interfere.
No post about the cats of my life would be complete without Earl. We already had three cats (the kittens deposited in our backyard). These three were interesting with very different personalities and amusing antics, but they only saw us as providers of the kibble and scoopers of the litter. We were their housekeepers. One evening, a skinny little grey kitten sneaked in through the cat door and helped himself to some kibble. Each night at the same time, he came for dinner. He was very skittish, so it took several days to get close enough to touch him. After a bit of petting, he decided to move in. The poor thing was so undernourished, that we thought he was a short hair. After a few weeks of steady meals, he turned out to be a long hair. He would meet us at the door to talk to us about our day. He would jump into my lap before I hit the chair. He recognized my bedtime routine and would curl up next to me and we would go off to sleep together. Unfortunately, we only had 6 months with Earl. He was hit on the street. Saint Earl set a benchmark against which we will always measure the cats in our life.
Currently, our companions are Oliver and Bert. We’ve had four years with them and expect many more. Oliver has the dubious honor of being both the worst and second best cat we have ever had. It is a good thing he is beautiful, funny, and plays fetch better than most dogs. Bert lives in Oliver’s shadow, but is a sweet, mostly well behaved cat.
World Animal Remembrance Month
September 12, 2013Posted by Kanga.
September is World Animal Remembrance Month. I suspect that most of the World is unaware of this fact. I only stumbled upon this fact today, myself.
The scope of this “remembrance” is “to remember, respect and honor the memory of all animals—a month to pay tribute to companion animal family members; animal victims of abuse, cruelty and neglect; animals lost in natural disasters; and animals killed in the line of duty.” http://www.answers.com/topic/world-animal-remembrance-month
Here’s my contribution to World Animal Remembrance – Meet Bessie the Cow.
Pictured here are my Aunt Louella, Great-Aunt Alice, Great-Uncle Charlie, Bessie the Cow, Great-Aunt Mary, my mother, Great-Uncle Sharon, cousin Mildred, and Grandma Bettie. How do I know the cow’s name is Bessie? Because when writing the names of the people in the picture on the back, my grandmother included Bessie. Multiple pictures were taken that day and Bessie figured prominently. I never had the pleasure of meeting Bessie, but I am sure she was a fine cow.
If you don’t come from a farming family, you might think it’s strange to include your farm animal in the family photo. Farmers totally understand.
Do you miss America?
August 13, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
We are often asked if we miss America or most specifically if there are things we miss. Our answer is “No, we don’t miss America, but we miss Portland.” We miss the many people there that we love, we miss the climate, and we miss the culture. It is really too bad that we can’t afford to live in Portland.
Our Oregon sojourn is over and we are in California for a few days again. To see all our Portlandia pictures click here. To see all of our Oregon pictures click here.
We’ve been terribly remiss. We visited many friends, as many as we could squeeze in in one week. However, we did not even think to take pictures with all of them. Duh! I’m so used to taking pictures in a culture where people usually don’t want their picture taken, that I forget that it is acceptable. Despite the lack of photographic evidence, we enjoyed our time with Cedate, Laura, Tony, Colleen, Mari, Jeremy, Sue, Kraig, Paul, Gary, Troy, Martina, Todd, Angie, Kristen, Troy, Shawna, and Linda. If I’ve missed someone, my apologies. It was a whirlwind week and my brain is old.
Here is something that we do miss. The coin operated laundry.
We spent Sunday afternoon in a self-service laundry. There are no such things in the UAE. People there either have laundry machines in their home or give their laundry to a laundry service. Our current all-in-one laundry machine does not remove cat hair, so we happily ran our clothes through these machines and reveled in the lack of cat hair when they came out.
This is a rather disjointed blog post, but I hope it makes some sense. We love Oregon and Portland, specifically, and enjoyed our time there.
A Hobbit’s Breakfast
August 10, 2013Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
First Breakfast came from Yolk Breakfast in the Woodstock neighborhood.
Fresh orange juice in an industrially compostable cup.
The Brother Badass sandwich – smoked pork, arugula, egg, on an English muffin.
Second Breakfast came from Egg Carton on Foster Road.
Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese on an English muffin with pink lemonade.
Third Breakfast came from Fried Egg – I’m in Love on Hawthorne.
Three sandwiches. Mine had egg, tomato, avocado, and cheese. Yummy!
Living the Travel Channel 