Al Ain Oasis

Liz and I are enjoying the cooler weather here in Al Ain. It's also winter vacation at university just now, so I have three weeks off work. And so, it seemed like the perfect time to get out and see a bit more of this oasis city of ours. First stop (and not entirely original or surprising...): the Al Ain Oasis.
The oasis is basically like a date palm plantation in the centre of the city. It is divided up into privately-owned plots. You can drive through the oasis is a few minutes, but we decided to walk it and take our time. It was really pretty and tranquil. You could easily forget that you were in the middle of a desert, what with the cool shade, refreshing breeze, the birdsong and the sound of running water. The oasis uses an ancient irrigation system called a "falaj". It's potentially really interesting if you're into that sort of thing. I just really liked the sound of the running water and the feeling of having stepped back in time.

Our journey on this day didn't actually start at the oasis. The truth is that we had intended to visit the Al Jahili Fort first, and THEN the oasis (since the fort is more or less right next to the oasis) but when we reached the fort, it became apparent that this was the day they were packing up after the three-day "International Festival of Falconry", and so the fort was surrounded by scaffolding, trucks, portaloos, and empty tents. It wasn't exactly a good day for taking pretty pictures of the old fort, and then, to top things off, the fort turned out to be closed to the public, but they said it would reopen the next day, so some day soon we will re-visit the fort and post on that.

Next to the Al Jahili Fort there is a beautiful park. So clean and green. It's amazing sometimes to see how much green there really is here in the middle of the Arabian desert (thanks to expensive irrigation). For some reason we didn't take any pictures in the park, so we'll be sure to do that next time we're there. So, after that it was on to the oasis.

The entrance to the oasis (or at least the one we found... I think there might be others) was rather imposing, and we weren't sure at first if we could just walk on in, but we gave it a go, and the security guards said good morning and told us it was fine to enter.

Once inside, the oasis was exactly as you might expect - a quiet, relaxing oasis of cool green. I was actually amazed at how green and almost meadow-like it was in places!

Liz and I stuck to the paved paths... but it was still a little maze-like at times.

Arabic is such a beautiful language. I would love to be able to read and write Arabic like this, but sadly, this sign was of no help to us.

Here you can see the "falaj" irrigation system. It's like little drains running through the entire oasis, connecting up with other drains, some blocked off and others filled with flowing water.

We also came across this tiny mosque in the middle of the oasis. I guess even the farmers need to pray.

The oasis was a really nice place to visit, and although there isn't really much to "do" there, it's worth a look if for nothing else than to get out of the hot, hustle and bustle of down-town Al Ain. Next time you bite into an Al Ain date, think of these pictures. Your date just might have come from this oasis.

Dubai Rugby Sevens!!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Dubai Rugby Sevens. For those who don't know, rugby (New Zealand's national game) is usually played with 15 players on each team, but sevens rugby has... seven players per side. Also, the game only lasts 14 minutes (seven minutes per half). It's a high pace, exciting game to watch. The Dubai Sevens is a big international competition (16 countries), and it was my first time going along to ANY sevens competition. Can I just say right now, it was GREAT!!

I went with Dad and his regular sevens buddy, Andrew. We got there at about 9am or so. Pretty early, eh? Serious fans here! haha.

When we got there, there weren't many people yet, so we pretty much chose exactly where we wanted to sit (in the shade). We got some coffees to start with, and had a great time watching game after game of fast-pace rugby. It was really fun, and it got even more fun at lunchtime, when it seemed an acceptable time to start drinking beer! haha. The competition seemed to be sponsored by Heineken, so that was all that was on sale there. Rugby is so much more fun to watch with a beer in hand!

It wasn't long before the stands started to really fill up. There were all sorts of fans there. Some were dressed up in costume, some draped in their national flag. Others appeared to be there purely to sunbathe! Others were there for the music. It was a great crowd, and very fun to be a part of.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting!! We had started the day in the shade, but as the sun moved across the sky we soon found ourselves in the sun, and the sunset was a welcome relief. As the sun went down, the mood of the crowd went from "sports" to "party". It was good fun singing and grooving along to the music in the pre-finals break.

Sadly, as far as the actual rugby went, New Zealand lost both games, which was GUTTING!!! and Wales lost its second game, so Dad and I were both disappointed, but Andrew (English) was very satisfied with England winning the entire competition ;)

General party-like atmosphere during the final minute or so of the half time break in the final (France vs England)

New Orleans Wedding

Sorry, this post has been a while in coming. My teacher certification course is keeping me busy (making pretend newsletters and websites and visiting a local school several times a week) and at the end of the day I am just tired of typing! But I promised a lot of you pictures, and I do have a few to share.

In November I headed back to the US (all by my lonesome...the United Arab Emirates University wanted to make sure I felt like the ONLY person at the wedding without a date). I think I was in St. Michaels for about 4 minutes before we headed back to the airport to head down to New Orleans for the big event - Prad and Amanda's wedding!

We stayed at P&A's super-nice new house for the first couple of nights. (It really is super-nice...I am slightly, no completely jealous.) We spent the day before the day before the wedding (yes, 2 days before) running errands with Prad when we stumbled across a most exciting establishment!

[Side note: Have you ever heard of Gordon Ramsay's show Kitchen Nightmares? Ramsay goes into these completely awful, struggling restaurants all over the US and UK and works with them to straighten up their acts and get back on their feet. It's really terrible TV, but we have become addicted to really terrible TV. It comes on in the US now, Fox maybe? Or you can find it on YouTube. End side note.]

We were in this random strip mall and had just finished an errand when we spotted a Walgreens, which mom and I had mentioned wanting to pop into. As we walked through the parking lot I glanced to my left and saw it - Zeke's!!! GORDON WENT THERE! It was an absolutely disgusting place - you should have seen their kitchen (actually, be glad you didn't). But, he fixed them right up and turned them around. I had found one of the restaurants that had been on his show without even looking for it! Very exciting.

The following morning we got up bright and early to move everything to the Westin in New Orleans - a super nice hotel right on the edge of the French Quarter. Mom, my Grandmother and I were invited to a bridal luncheon that morning, and even with bumper to bumper traffic we managed to make it on time. The luncheon was really nice. It was at Antoines - a famous New Orleans restaurant. Very yummy food and fun company.






Pretty much immediately following that, we hopped back in the car to go to the church for the rehearsal. Such a pretty church in the Garden District. After that was the rehearsal dinner. It was at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse and it was gooooood. Judging by the windowsills lined with empty wine bottles it seemed that everyone had a pretty good time!



While a good part of the wedding party (well, the guys) all hit the bars after the dinner, I hit the sack! We had the adjoining room (to our monstrous suite) which was meant for Bryn and I, but since Bryn wasn't there it sort of defaulted to the groom, but since he was out getting drunk I claimed it for myself. The Westin has REALLY comfortable beds...I hadn't slept that well in months! (The pillows in the UAE aren't doing it for me...seriously, we have bought 5 different types and I have tried every combination possible and still wake up with a sore neck.)

The next morning Dad and I (and Uncle Jim and some cousins) walked to the Cafe du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets. We opened the place - literally took the chairs down off of the table, but minutes later there was a line snaking around the building - it's one popular place!




We wandered around the French Quarter for a little while before I had to go back to join the girls for hair and make-up in Amanda's family's suite. After I was all made-up and properly coiffed, mom and I decided to hit the mall downstairs. I wanted lipstick and had a pretty good excuse to get some, and while we were at it mom got a complimentary makeover which was lots of fun.



Now, I can only talk about the girls' side from here on out. I know the guys and the groom's side all got ready in the Hamilton Suite, then took a party bus to the church. The girls got ready in the Robert Suite, then congregated in the lobby for some pictures (with like 3 other wedding parties...it was pretty crazy!) We rode to the church in a stretch Escalade...very sweet ride!

The coolest part of the whole thing was the police motorcycle escort. We had like 3 NOPD officers on their bikes with lights, sirens and the works weaving in and out of traffic and stopping cars to let us through - we must have looked like rock stars!

The ceremony was really nice and went off without a (noticeable) hitch. Then it was back to the Westin for the reception full of yummy food, good music, and lots of people I didn't know, but who knew me...ha.

The next morning we slowly made our way out of the hotel - after a very leisurely brunch on a private balcony with Prad, Amanda, Amanda's parents, mom, dad and Uncle Michael. After we saw P&A off in their car to the airport (to catch a flight to CA then Bora Bora - totally jealous again!) we set off for Perdido for some R&R.

Perdido was exactly as it has always been. While I was there I popped over to Pensacola to take the first of 3 required exams to be a teacher - I passed. (thank goodness!)

It was a good trip and great to see P&A finally get married!!! Luckily their photographer got way better pics than I did ;)

'Tis the Season

When you think of autumn or early winter, what comes to mind? Is it maybe the excitement of putting on an extra layer of clothing for the first time in the season? Perhaps the surprise when you see your breath in the morning when you step out the door and realize that it hasn’t been this cold in months and you can suddenly feel winter approaching? How about wrapping your cold fingers round a warm mug of your favourite hot drink? Stacking firewood in preparation for winter? Whatever it is that you think of as being quintessentially “wintery” I can almost guarantee you we don’t get it here in the desert.

It’s a strange thing moving from Japan with its oh-so-distinct four seasons to Al Ain where the weather seems the same every day and the closest thing we get to a “seasonal change” is the gentle and welcome cooling off over the "winter" months. It can be easy to lose sense of “when” you are. Liz and I had breakfast at our local café, La Brioche, last weekend. It was the morning after our Thanksgiving dinner. We sat outside in the sun. It was really nice out there, and I’m sure we’ll do it again soon, but as we were leaving Liz said that she couldn’t believe it was late November! And it’s true! Breakfast out on the terrace in late November??!?! (and all my southern hemisphere friends are going "yeah, and...?") It’s a perfect example of how we don’t have a sense of seasons here. That doesn’t mean we don’t try… haha. And having warm weather every day certainly does have it’s benefits!

Now it’s “winter” here. Yes, winter. Though let me assure you that “winter” in Al Ain is not like winter back home. There is no snow. There is no cold, only cool. It’s sunny and very pleasant. Much like a Christchurch summer! Ha! We don't need to use our aircons any more. We can just open the windows and let the cool breeze in. It's fantastic!! Speaking of seasons… it is now “officially” the SEASON TO BE JOLLY!!! Yes, December brings with it my favourite time of the year: Christmas!!!!!

We have our tree up. Not just any tree, but a superior 8 foot tree! It’s awesome! I hear there is a shipment of real live Christmas trees due to arrive here any day now from Nova Scotia, but we’ve decided to go with a fake tree. First we made a wreath. We had a simple autumn wreath up already, so we decided to just add some red berries, poinsettia flowers, apples, pine cones, etc to convert it into a Christmas wreath. I think it looks pretty good, actually.

Then, the moment I had been waiting for: the tree! Yesterday being December 1st, I raced into the guest room and brought the box into the lounge. Liz and I then unfurled each branch and gradually built up our tree. SO much fun!!

We moved the tree around the room a bit looking for the best place to leave it, and decided on putting it in front of the big glass doors that we don't often use. It's always nice if the tree lights can be seen from outside. We then had a minor lights disaster, but everything got sorted out and now we have our tree!! We still need to get a tree topper, which we'll hopefully manage to pick up next time we're in Dubai. Then our neighbours Geoff and Wan came over for afternoon tea, and then we went to Dad and Jan's for a bbq dinner. All in all, a GREAT day.

Dubai Departures

Liz and I had plans to attend a very special wedding in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago (more on that later), but as it turned out, I wasn’t granted leave from work, so Liz had to go alone. It wasn’t an ideal result, but there wasn’t anything we could do to change the situation, so on Sunday two weeks ago Liz and I loaded her bags into the car and headed to Dubai. Her flight departed late at night (or more accurately, early in the morning) so we went first to the mall. Festival City, to be precise. We had a great time wandering through IKEA, Ace Hardware, and many other shops. We had lunch at Fudruckers. It was awesome. Since we had the camera with us, we took a few pictures in and around the mall.

The Intercontinental hotel's swimming pool jutting out over the walkway

After a successful shopping trip we headed to the hotel near the airport. I had a room booked for the night, since Liz was leaving so late and I couldn’t be bothered driving back to Al Ain so late without any sleep. Sadly though, the room wasn’t ready for us yet, so we decided to take the Dubai Metro to the world’s largest mall: Dubai Mall. This was a great idea… in theory.

In reality, however, this was one of the most unpleasant train rides I have ever had. I won’t go into details, but rest assured it was a TERRIBLE experience! Finally, we arrived at Dubai Mall, or so we thought until we realized that the Dubai Mall Metro Stop was a good 10 minute bus ride away from the actual mall!! Once we eventually got to the mall, we found it PACKED!! Absolutely chocka-blocka full of people!! We quickly dived into California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, since we could see they had a table free. We then went outside to watch the Dubai Fountain display. This is one of the largest fountains in the world (and I think it’s the largest musical fountain in the world). The water jets and sprays like a dance in time to the music. There were GAZILLIONS of people there to watch the display, so we walked for quite some time to find our spot. The actual display/performance was fantastic! It’s so amazing what fountains can do these days! And at the foot of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Really epic!

The Burj Khalifa (AKA the tallest building in the world)

Then we headed back into the mall for some serious walking and crowd dodging. Then it was a horrific experience of a metro ride back to the hotel. Liz left for America, and I was alone for two weeks.

Stay tuned for more on Liz’s US trip.

People people people everywhere

Liz in front of the world's largest single plexiglass pane in the Dubai Mall... ooooh...