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Lifestream

Directions

I Have spent the day researching the Tokyo trip and posting updates from the holiday a couple of weeks ago.

I was also waiting for the Satellite TV guys to call and replace my box for a new one.

The Satellite guys eventually rang at 7pm. It’s not unusual for people over here to be working late in the evening.

“Where are you” he asked
“Khalifa city A” I replied
“Khalifa City A or B sir” ..
“Khalifa City A”… this went on several times until he eventually got the hint. I then proceeded to give the best directions possible.

“Are there any landmarks nearby?”
“No” I replied
“Sir what landmarks are there near where you live?”
“There aren’t any”

I again explain how to drive here knowing full well he will not find it.

“Give me a call when you are nearby” I state and with that finish the call.

In fact where I live is a bitch of a place to explain to an English person let alone anyone else. I have never been able to explain to taxi drivers how to get here either. The lack of having a physical street address does get slightly depressing after a while. This is also something people outside of this country do not comprehend.

So I head out in the car. I know i’ll have to go and meet them somewhere. As it was almost out of fuel I drive up to the garage. There were no queues for a change. As I turned round the roundabout the car spluttered and decided that it did not like running solely on air. Shit – I’d run out of fuel. I managed to coast to the entrance and within 10m of the pump the car decided enough was enough. After about three litres of fuel I managed to get the thing going again, topped it up with 110AED worth of special and sped off to meet the satellite guys.

I called them to check where they were and fortunately i found them easily. They then followed me home.

The new HD box was installed free of charge and they did a good job. Except for one thing – It doesn’t have a strong enough signal for the HD channels.

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Abu Dhabi (Holiday Day 2)

Not too sure what time we got back last night but we started late with the corona breakfast. We headed to the Grand Mosque here in Abu Dhabi. It is a fantastic piece of workmanship and just imply stunning.

Afterwards we drove to Jebbel Hafeet which has a great viewing point and a fantastic windy road leading up to it. It overlooks the border of Oman and the UAE. I gently scared Andreas to death as this road is an absolute joy to drive in a RWD car – especially with the 355bhp under the hood. Andreas has promised to return the favour on his motorbike one day.

We got back late afternoon and had a bbq and several more drinks whilst packing for the flight in the morning.

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A Day in Dubai (Holiday Day 1)

Andreas arrived late just after midnight. It was extremely humid out and we were fortunate for the quick drive back to my apartment. After couple of Gin Tonics and several hours later it was 3.30am. We got up early to have our usual Corona Breakfast and then hit the road to Dubai.

We got to Dubai Mall early enough to have a walk around before heading to Burj Khalifa, highest building in the world, 824 meters and over 200 stories. It was an interesting experience. You could not even feel the lift moving we it started and before we knew it we were there 124 floors up.

Even though it was hazy day the views where fantastic and we could even see the world Islands off shore, though they were not very clear. It is a very strange experience to stand outside on an open balcony 124 floors up in the air looking down at the skyscrapers below.

Afterwards we went to Dubai indoor Skiing area in Emirates mall. This is another surreal experience and a great bit of fun for two hours. a bargain at 180AED. Andreas showed off his skiing skills and then entertainingly tried to snow board. Fair play though as he picked it up pretty quickly.

Afterwards we drove back to Abu Dhabi and hit the hotel bars with friends. We eventually ended up in the infamous Emirates Palace Hotel. The taxi drive up to the entrance was worth it alone!

We had some Singapore slings, even better than the once at the Raffles hotel in Singapore and tried to get some gold out of the newly installed gold ATM. Unfortunately it was out of order so we came home empty handed.

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Lawrence of Arabia Country

So what have I been up to recently I hear you cry!?Well I have recently been finalising a two-week holiday that I have planned for the first two weeks of June.

Andreas (of www.ginfan.com fame) my great friend from Iceland was originally going to come over for two weeks and we were going to drive over to Oman. The plan was to head down to Salalah on the south coast on the infamous Frankincense route.

Unfortunately it is starting to get warm over here. Typically the thermometer is hitting +40c during the day. This does not make for very comfortable driving.

Secondly getting a visa to allow you to re-enter the UAE within 30 days is impossible. This quite simply meant that Andreas could enter the UAE, leave to tour Oman and not get back into the country. Quite ridiculous really, as I can imagine a lot of people do not bother to meet relations or friends in the UAE anymore. I suppose however they don’t need the money!

With this in mind we have been frantically trying to find something to do and somewhere to go that did not need visas in our passports. Mine is full and I don’t want to exchange it just yet as I have too many valid visas left in it.

Eventually we decided on Beirut in Lebanon and Jordan. They are both easy to get into and only three hours away; preceded with a very brief couple of days in the UAE to see the main sights.

With the aid of a couple of friends on twitter I have generated the following cunning plan (as Baldrick would say)

So here it is:

Day 1. Dubai, Dubai Mall, Burj Kahlifa, Emirates Mall & Gold Souk, drinks pm

Day 2. Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi city & Jebel Hafeet / Al Ain, drinks pm

Day 3. Fly Beirut site see & drinks pm

Day 4. Beirut Site seeing & drinks pm

Day 5. Head out to the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek & Kasara, drinks pm

Day 6. Byblos am, fly to Amman, Jordan pm, followed by drinks pm

Day 7. Amman Site seeing & possibly the castles route, drinks pm

Day 8. Visit Jerash, Ajloun, Mt Nebo & Madaba, head to spa and chill out with drinks pm

Day 9. Drive down to Petra, via Karak & Dead Sea, drinks pm

Day 10. Petra, drinks pm

Day 11. Drive Wadi Rum, 4wd tour, sleep in desert overnight, hopefully drinks pm

Day 12. Camel trek and return to Wadi Rum, Drive to Aqaba for drinks pm

Day 13. Drive back to Airport & return to UAE

It should be an interesting trip, resulting in a fantastic amount of photos and memories. In fact it is my first holiday since Andreas & I drove around Southern Australia, Xmas 2008/9.

The Route

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and finally…. my Sonos Rocks!

Okay so the first question I hear you shout is what is Sonos?

Sonos is quite simply a mesh wifi network sound system. I can have a device in any room and have it linked throughout the apartment and play music via a computer or the remote.

I have had the system for a while now, but

…….Continue reading and finally…. my Sonos Rocks!

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Photo Wizardry

Just been playing with Microsoft Photosynth.

Here is a shot from site looking towards the AF2 building from the Library (LIB)

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A Lost Ark?

Having flown back into Abu Dhabi at 6:40am on Sunday I was going to head straight to work.

It looked like it had been wet and I discovered how much when I got back to my apartment.

There was water downstairs in the entrance, on my landing, in my hall and in my bedroom. It’s a bloody

…….Continue reading A Lost Ark?

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All Drugged Up

Since I got back from China last Sunday I have had a pretty vicious sore throat. This was not helped by the really bad dust storm on Thursday either.

It did however make some of my early morning conversations quite entertaining as I was as husky as a husky dog eating husks (or should that be

…….Continue reading All Drugged Up

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All Work and a Small Hint of Play

Before I start the following is a brief synopsis of my recent trip to China for work. As you can understand some if not most of the trip must remain confidential for many reasons so I’ll discuss what I believe I can.

So I finally made it back from China Today some two days later than

…….Continue reading All Work and a Small Hint of Play

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Driving in Fog UAE Style – May the Force be with You!

Fog…. it is an interesting weather phenomena!

Fortunately for me driving to work is a very short affair.

This morning with a slight chill to the air I jumped into my car for the five minute drive to work. It was not long until I came over the brow of the expressway when I hit the fog.

There

…….Continue reading May the Force be with You! or Driving in Fog UAE Style.

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