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2008 in Retrospective

July 2, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

Before leaving the United Arab Emirates, I thought it might be appropriate to take a look back at our six years here, beginning with 2008.

This is what we looked like before getting on the plane to launch into our adventure. We felt as fuzzy as we look.

DaddyBird’s shirt says “the sun is trying to kill me.” This has been true for six years.

This is what the street outside our apartment looked like.

We traveled to Germany in early December and reveled in the rain and cold weather.

We took a day trip to Hatta.

This is what Sheikh Zayed Road looked like.

Much has changed since then. Two lines of the metro are finished and heavily used. It is much easier to get around Dubai because of it. Sheikh Zayed Road is no longer just two rows of skyscrapers surrounded by sand.

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Busy Weekend

June 17, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

Friday morning plans included an early (8:30 am) morning breakfast get together with friends at a new restaurant in Dubai. The plans did not include not being able to get out of our parking garage because a trench had been dug across the entrance/exit. Only one way in and out and we were not getting out. This resulted in a switch to taking a taxi.

The food was good, but the customer service was very bad, so I’ll leave out the name of the restaurant. The company of friends was wonderful as always.

Having traveled by taxi and having doctor appointments at 4 pm, we had a whole day to kill. So we spent most of it at Dubai Mall.

We checked out the new dinosaur exhibit in the grand atrium. There was a contest to name it and the winner was “Dubai Dino.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it required a contest to come up with that. It has a ridiculously small head.

Then we traveled by the metro to Health Care City.

Dinner (or a really late lunch) at Circle Cafe followed.

Then we had a bit of an adventure getting onto the Dubai-Fujairah bus. We missed one departure, but managed to catch the next one. It was a long day.

Saturday was a bit simpler since we could drive our own car. We met friends for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Aroos Damascus. We stuffed ourselves with marvelous food.

Aside from the fantastic fresh baked bread and delicious meats, my favorite thing is the complimentary bowl of fresh veggies.

The conversation turned to fish – salmon, tuna, etc., – so it didn’t seem out of place when our friend Rami said “What’s the best tuna?” After a brief pause, Daddybird and I simultaneously said “Chicken of the Sea.” This was met with laughter. Apparently, that was the answer Rami was looking for. He has asked it in many situations, but we were the first to answer correctly. He had been watching an “Apprentice” show where the task was to update the Chicken of the Sea ad campaign and he had never heard of it before. He found the idea of chicken of the sea funny. (http://youtu.be/NKnxQC79Cww)

Over the years we have collected (on purpose) ridiculous toys. Now that we have to move and are trying to reduce what we take with us as much as possible, we have solved this by giving the toys away at our farewell parties. It’s been fun, even for the recipients.

Birds of a Feather

Interest Chicken and Lion

Posted in Dubai, food, restaurant, toys, Tweet up | Tagged Dubai, food, tweetup | 2 Comments »

Beer, Sausage, Cheese – Rinse, Repeat

April 3, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

Our agenda for the next few days in Prague, Czech Republic is beer, sausage, and cheese. We will probably get a bit of sight seeing in, too.

For the first few pictures, click here.

From the moment of touchdown, our experience has been lovely. The flight, however, was not so lovely. We arrived at Dubai International Airport at terminal 3. After check-in & baggage drop off, we went through passport and security. These were all normal and easy. Our gate was A7, which is at the newer terminal (number 4?) so we took the train to that terminal and walked down to the end of it, gate A7. This is were it gets stupid. Gate A7 is actually a bus terminal. They load people onto buses and drive them to a plane. I hate this because it means standing in a moving bus which has no seats and is crammed with people followed by climbing wobbly metal stairs, dragging my carry on luggage to get into the plane. This bus ride was ridiculously long. They drove us from terminal 4, through terminal 2, to the far end of the airport. An exact map of the airport is not available, for obvious reasons, but here is my approximation:

Emirates Airline is clearly over-reaching and scheduling more flights than it can actually handle. The last several flights we have taken with them have all be late in departing due to stupid stuff like this. Next time we book a flight we will look at other airlines a bit more seriously.

Posted in Dubai, Prague, travel adventures | Tagged Czech Republic, DXB Airport, Emirates Airlines, Prague | 1 Comment »

EAFOL: Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature 2014

March 16, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

We attended the Friday and Saturday EAFOL events again this year.

I started with the presentation by Julia Johnson on her new book The Turtle Secret. It is a chapter book intended for ages 8-12. The characters are Emirati and the story revolves around sea turtles, poaching, and the need to protect these endangered animals. I picked up two copies, one for me and one for my library. It is excellent. I would love to have a class set (20+ copies) so that our students could read it together. We need many more titles like this written with local interest and in the English language. These are crucial in helping students learn English.

Next was Dr. Jim Al-Khalili. This was the best presentation I attended. Very interesting. They should have given him two hours instead of just one. I purchased his book Pathfinders: the Golden Age of Arabic Science. I hope it is as interesting as his oral presentation. I hope that they invite him back next year and give him more time.

Charlie Higson and Philip Reeve had to carry on without Eoin Colfer who was unfortunately ill and absent. These authors are very humorous and enjoyable to listen to. After this session I’ve put Reeve’s King Arthur book on my list to buy.

I had not heard of Sally Gardner before and found her very interesting. She has dyslexia and has had to find ways to cope with the challenge that presents when writing stories. She is a staunch advocate for changes in education to help students who don’t fit the “normal” pigeon hole. I look forward to reading her books.

Next was Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre promoting their collaboration Oliver and the Seawigs. One of the best parts of going to all the children’s literature presentations is that they are usually interactive and the audience (filled with kids and parents) are responsive and enthusiastic.

The villain’s minions are sea monkeys, so Sarah walked us all through the process of drawing our own sea monkey. Here is mine:

Time for a singalong:

Charlie Higson, again, very interesting to listen to and gives the kids in the audience good advice about writing.

Eoin Colfer recovered enough for the second day. He spent the whole time telling funny stories, mostly on his own children. He was originally intended to promote his new book series W.A.R.P., but he took a look at the age of the audience and decided the book wasn’t age appropriate. He had them laughing with several bodily function stories (involving the phrases “pee pee,” “poo poo” and “pee poo!”) He’s an excellent storyteller. I picked up a copy of The Legend of Spud Murphy which is a story about a mean librarian. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’m tempted to read it to my students.

Posted in books, Dubai | Tagged books, Dubai, EAFOL, Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature | Leave a Comment »

Walk Through Meena Bazaar

January 24, 2014

Posted by Kanga

After a lovely dinner at Special Ostadi, we took a walk through the neighborhood and Meena Bazaar. This afforded an opportunity to take some sign photos.

Blue Water Sweets is right next door to Sweety Sweets.

I’m glad they spelled sweety correctly. It could have just as easily been “sweaty.”

Choice Corner General Trading – it’s good to have a choice corner.

Spider Star Electronics – sometimes I think they just pull words out of a hat.

As we approached Al Meher Recording, we were surprised to hear:

Here are some of their hard to find titles:

I’ve probably posted this one before, but it is a gem.

Tasty Village Restaurant.

The new souk (market) building has a Loading Unloading Area.

It was a pleasant walk. We enjoy the cool winter evenings when we can walk without sweating and being miserable. (It reached a low of 59F.) Of course, “cool” and “winter” are relative terms. We walked around with no coats.

Posted in Dubai, signs | Tagged Dubai, signs | 2 Comments »

New Year’s Eve 2013

January 5, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

New Year’s Eve began with a drive to Dubai and lunch at the Special Ostadi restaurant. Then we went down to the Bur Dubai side of Dubai Creek. We walked through the old souk (market). The merchants were calling out to DaddyBird calling him “boss” and to BabyBird calling her “Shakira” to entice them to stop and see the wares. From there, we took an abra (water taxi) across the creek to the Spice Souk area.

The ride across the creek is always pleasant and it is much cooler on the water.

I haven’t even thought of looking up while on the boat before and was surprised to see the life jackets. If the boat runs into trouble, I doubt I would have time to get one of those, but the thought is nice, I suppose.

We stopped for fresh juice and BabyBird discovered that fresh apple juice is not like bottled apple juice. I had watermelon juice and was unpleasantly surprised to find that the seeds had been included. We walked through the Spice Souk and Gold Souk. To return to the car parked in Bur Dubai, we took the metro train.

The park area near the Shindaga historical area is quite nice and inviting to those who want to relax for a while. Next, we were off to Bu Qtair Restaurant for our traditional fish and shrimp dinner with friends followed by fireworks seen from Jumeirah beach.

In past years, all the fireworks displays started at the stroke of midnight – Dubai Marina, Burj Al Arab, Atlantis Hotel and the Burj Khalifa (all of which we can see from our beach location). This year the displays were staggered. Dubai Marina went first, slightly before the stroke of midnight. Then the Burj Khalifa was next. Burj Al Arab took it’s turn. (This is usually the best display from four barges lasting 15 minutes.)

This year, the world record breaking display capped the evening shooting off from the Palm Jumeirah island and the World islands. It took 2 hours to get out of Dubai and another hour to drive to Fujairah, but it was worth it.

Posted in abras, Burj al Arab, celebration, Dubai Creek, New Year's Eve, Palm Island | Leave a Comment »

Christmas Balls

January 3, 2014

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

We didn’t check out every mall this season, but there seemed to be a theme of huge Christmas balls.

Below is my favorite tree. The carousel horses were moving around the tree.

Each year Christmas is more prevalent in public. It is gaining acceptance, because it is a shopping holiday.

Posted in Christmas, Dubai, malls | Tagged Christmas, Dubai, shopping malls | 1 Comment »

Special Ostadi

December 30, 2013

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

The food at the family owned Special Ostadi (Al Mankhool Road, Bur Dubai) is always fantastic, but what makes this restaurant stand out is the personal touch. Before we even reached the restaurant, Majed, one of the three sons/waiters, greeted DaddyBird with open arms and a big hug. He had seen us coming down the sidewalk.

We took a table for 8, but by the time all was said and done there were 14 in our party. By 8:30 (local dinner time) every seat in the place was occupied. The three sons serve as waiters and keep very vigilant eyes on the crowded restaurant making sure everyone’s needs are met, while still finding time to tease, crack jokes, and pose for pictures.

Highly recommended, this restaurant is within walking distance of the Dubai Museum and the Al Fahidi Metro station. Don’t miss it.

Posted in Dubai, food, restaurant | Tagged Dubai, food | 2 Comments »

Christmas Eve

December 25, 2013

Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.

The day began with the idea of going to the beach to watch the sun rise over the ocean, but this was not the appropriate day for that plan.

But the rain could not keep us from having breakfast at Al Khan restaurant – qeema (ground beef and potato), chana (chickpeas/garbanzo beans) and paratha (flat bread).

Then, a quick drive into Dubai to get to the Burj Khalifa in time for our admission to the observation deck. The tickets were nearly all sold out this week, so timing was inflexible.

It was a particularly clear day, so the view was excellent.

These are the World Islands.

BabyBird and DaddyBird.

Then it was time for a chocolate binge.

Then there was a fair amount of shopping and roaming around the mall.

The day ended with our traditional meal with friends at Bu Qtair restaurant. Fish, prawns, paratha and good friends.

Photo by DaddyBird

We love meeting with such a mix of people from different countries and cultures. It was so much fun. The world would be a more peaceful place if everyone did this.