Jakulin5

First part of Feb

2009-03-22T19:44:00.009+04:00

Hello!
I'm slowly getting caught up. If we would just sit still for a bit this would be easier... I left off at the end of Jan so I guess the first interesting thing in Feb was the news paper. We have a small free local paper called 7Days (it is now only published 5 days a week). It gives a synopsis of of local stories and happenings as well as international news. I pick it up whenever I can find it. Every Monday they feature a "Top 10" from a internationally published residence guide for Dubai called Explorer. The topics range from things to do in Dubai for under 100aed to day trips from the city. A few weeks ago I found the Top 10 to be quite interesting:

Then I found this:

This paper is famous (to us) for extremely poor article/photo placement. Almost daily they have at least one article with an eye-catching headline paired next to a completely different photo with its own small caption. I'm beginning to think that maybe the editor just has an incredible sense of humor. Evidently The Hoff did visit one of my local malls--YAY!

On the 12th we joined some friends at a black-tie charity event for the local feline rescue center. The boys were all going to rent a tuxes and then decided to bite the bullet and just purchase their own. (good for me, I got a new dress!!)

In honor of the cause Mark blinged up my ankle kitty:

We all met at our apartment to have a few drinks before the event. Since we were all dressed up we decided to take some photos - and I of course had to photoshop some of them... :)
This our 'James Bond' pose:

We had a really good time and were happy to be able to support the cause!! The rest of our photo shoot will be on our Photo Page as soon as I get it operational again.

This year had us celebrating our 12th anniversary - Wow!! Luckily Mark was working from Dubai this week so we were able to take a long weekend and go back out to Fujairah for our first dive trip together. We stayed at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort and it was fabulous!! Fujairah is about 1.5 hours from Dubai on the east coast of the Emirate, thru a little desert and a nice rocky mountain range which butts right up to the coast of the Gulf of Oman. The area is absolutely beautiful and the drive isn't too bad either.

Here is a free range camel. They were everywhere. No fences, no herders, just walking around grazing where they can.

View of the awesome hotel from the waterfront:

View from our balcony:

Unfortunately the area has been plagued since Nov. with the worst, longest running case of red tide in recent memory. Although it seems to be waning unfortunately the water condition is a daily crapshoot. Our dive day was on the ugly side:
(The water is usually crystal blue)
Evidently it takes more than some crappy water to deter us - we went diving!! Once you got down a couple meters it cleared up quite a bit. Still not up to par I hear but still enjoyable for a novice! Here are a couple cuddle fish we saw:

These photos are all taken with a cheap 35mm camera. After developing we realize that one of our rolls of film were expired and all had a purple tinge to them and the rest were mediocre at best. We have since purchased a proper digital underwater camera- pictures from here on out should be of much better quality.

heehee - I'm a scuba diver!! :)

The highlight of our two dives was getting to swim with sea turtles! We probably saw about 7 of them in this particular area. They were incredibly beautiful and didn't seem bothered that we were around. Very cool!!

We were totally bummed to have to leave. We will definately be back!!
(Again, as soon as I get our Photo Page up and running I will post all of our photos from the trip)

Well that's all I've got in me tonite - Its late. Hopefully I'll get another post up tomorrow.

Cheers!!
xoxox

Wow - where have I been??

2009-03-07T16:17:00.011+04:00

We are entering March and it appears I haven't even opened my own blog since Thanksgiving. Shame on me!
2009 has started off well... It seems like Mark has been home quite a bit more than last year which has allowed us to spend some great days together roaming Dubai and some surrounding areas. As usual I'll catch you up via photos - get comfortable, you know its going to be long!!

January was a little slow - he did some traveling and I worked on getting us settled back in life here. We did take one outing to explore The Palm Jumeirah. It had been awhile and construction moves quick out here.

The drive up the palm:

In the tunnel that takes you to the head of the palm:

Atlantis Hotel: at the very head of The Palm (no public beaches):

<--- view of The Burj Al Arab & Souk Madinat Jumeirah area

City Skyline from The Palm

With the launch of the annual, month long, Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) the city was abuzz with activity. We mostly frequented JBR's Walk due to the continual live art exhibits.

There was sand sculpting:

3D chalk art:

Rock Balancing:

Just to name a few. I'll post more pictures of the sand and chalk guy on a later post.

One night as we were out walking we found ourselves down by the Marina Yacht Club and were invited to tour one of the bigger ones! It turned out to be for sale/charter so the live aboard crew invite people on board to try to get some interest. Whatever, we were on a yacht and it was sweet!!!

view of JBR from the Yacht Club:

The Leopard 31:

<--Jet engines propel the 'boat' Well that about sums up January. I'll try to get February knocked out this week as well - that was a busy month!! Until then... xoxoxox OH! P.S. I almost forgot; I finally finished my PADI Open Water certification on Jan 30!!! We are both now ready for diving adventures!

Happy Belated Turkey Day!!

2008-11-29T09:32:00.003+04:00

Nov 29

Hi, hello - We're fine - I've received some emails the past couple days concerned about our well being (No worries here). Sorry, we've had some computer problems and have been off line for about a week. Slowly getting up and rolling again... Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was really good - we went to one of the local water parks:

Should be able to post some new photos and catch up soon.
Have a good day
xoxoxo

Does anyone else find this suspicious??

2008-11-13T13:50:00.003+04:00

Nov 13

I ordered a coffee from room service and this is the creamer they brought...

...I disagree - I did not think it tasted like fresh milk.

Nite out in Dubai

2008-11-13T12:20:00.011+04:00

Nov 13

Just logging some old events...

We went out last weekend with Steve and a new friend from South Africa, Louw. We ate some dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Madinat Jumeriah where the Burj Al Arab glows in the background. This night the hotel had sold out to Ferrari and was sporting a red glow and a yellow horsey in the middle. After dinner (in typical Dubai fashion) we stopped for some after-dinner-sheesha on the steps of Madinat Jumeriah overlooking the man-made bay.

Bean bags, beer & friends

We then stopped by the local 'pub' for some darts and a few more beers - Always a good pass time.

Good Times!!

xoxox

We're in Doha

2008-11-11T16:19:00.005+04:00

Nov 11

Mark has a few days of work here in Doha, Qatar so he brought me along! We're staying at the Marriott on the outskirts of town because it is shortens his commute to approx 40min. I discovered today that taxis are pretty scarce so I haven't done any exploring yet apart from a quick cab ride our first nite here. I received a few timing tips as to when to catch a cab so I will try again tomorrow. I read a small visitor book today and it sounds like a pleasant city although much of it is under construction. They apparently are working on building up the city to attract more big business and tourism (Dubai #2).

Here is a view from the patio outside the Executive Lounge on the 7th floor. To the left is city, to the right the port and a glimpses of part of the petrochemical industry. It is actually a really nice view but unfortunately we are on the 2nd floor looking toward the industrial area.

Here is a closer look of the city:

Here is a view from the same balcony looking over the hotel grounds:
The pool is under construction so that means no pool side lounging and no outside dinning either which is a shame since the weather is beautiful now; sunny & in the mid 80s. There is a small private beach just past the palm trees that looks nice enough and does have a waiter serving drinks. The food in the attached restaurants has been really good and there is a spa... no real reason to leave the hotel really but I'm getting stir crazy... We'll see what tomorrow brings

Have a good one
xoxoxo

Happy Belated Halloween

2008-11-04T11:56:00.025+04:00

Nov 4-11 (man this takes me forever!)

Just wanted to drop in and let you know that we had a great Halloween! We started the night before drinking some beer, eating some nachos and watching scary movies with a friend of ours, Steve. We wanted to get some classic Halloween thrillers like the 1st Halloween, or Children of the Corn or even the first Friday the 13th but none of those were available to buy or rent at the local stores. We ended up pulling from Mark's freaky collection and I struggled thru a Zombie movie (YIKES) and then we put in an oldy but goody that had worked its way into his collection, Cat's Eye. Evidently Cat's Eye was a little too slow for us - we each found ourselves nodding off a time or two. (Okay, so I actually grabbed a blanket and curled up on the chaise, so what- I happily answer the call when the Sandman rings!)
We woke the next morning (Halloween day) and went out for a late breakfast, checked out the craft market at the Marina Walk then headed out to explore the financial district.

Why the financial district you ask?? On a 'logical-Sunday' when nothing will be open?? Business may have been closed this day but there was plenty of activity...

(Here are a just few of the highlights, check the Photo link in a few days)

After dealing with those crazy Ants we headed to the Emirates Towers to browse around.

Here is a couple of items we found while window shopping:

While we were window shopping we stumbled on to a nice size terrace that had some great views of the city and goofed around up there for a while....

After running around outside with the Ants in 90deg weather we were hot and sweaty. What better way to cool off than to visit the ChillOut?!
This ice spot is located inside Time Square (yet another shopping venue here in Dubai). This was the first time any of us had been inside...

This place was so "cool"!!! We had to gear up before we went in with jackets, gloves and Steve & I sported some sweet cold-shoes because we wore flip-flops today.
As we entered Mark posed with an ice picture of 'Sheikh Mo'

(His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum; VP of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai)

The entire lounge was made of ice! Everything from the walls to the tables, chairs, the bar, the glasses, etc....

The lighting behind the ice slowly changed from blue to pink to white.

<-- the bar (ice glasses are on the glass shelves in the back)

Entry allowed us one drink (juice - no alcohol unless you are in a hotel--tsktsk). To our delight the juice was delivered in ice glasses!!

CHEERS!!

Of course there is always one...
Don't worry we called in first-aid to release him after we felt he had learned his lesson. :)

Mark and I blowing hot air

It was cold in there but it would have been fine if we would have had some decent gloves - the small knit ones they provided didn't really help much.

There was a small menu to order off of which included more juice styled drinks, ice cream and a few hot dishes. We didn't order anything but these people did and were nice enough to let me take a photo of them with their grill cooked skewers.

(more photos to be posted soon on the photo page)

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After the ice we had intended to go check out Ibn Battuta's Tomb of Terror (haunted house) that was set up in the middle of the mall but when we arrived the 'tomb' was on break and we didn't have time to wait... :(

... because we had reservations to go see Jumana: Secret of the Desert.
We had to catch a cab. Dubai has a strict Zero Tolerance for drinking and driving and we knew we would be drinking!! Plus - when you are traveling out to the unfamiliar desert, especially at night, you (I) do not want to be responsible for not getting lost... Leave it to the taxi man, he'll get you there! If you can find one:

The show is located about 30-45 minutes outside of town at a resort the Sahra Desert Resort that is actually still being built but the show and dinning area are up and running. We were greated with fire when we entered!

Let me tell you, I still don't know who Jumana is/was or what the secret is but the show was fantastic!!! It far exceeded any of our expectations. By the time we got in most of the stadium seats were full so we were able to get balcony seating. We had the entire balcony to ourselves and an awesome view!
The photo obviously isn't good but this is the
balcony we were sitting in ---------------------->

ahhh!!

(Check out photo link a few days, I'll post more pics)

When the show was over the disco beat started. People just hung around the stadium nodding there heads to the DJ's disco beat with a water/light show in the back ground. There was a mild Halloween theme and a few people in wigs and a resort Zombie roaming around, it was cool. We were told at midnight there would be a haunted dune ride, we were quite excited and waited around... Midnight came and went and there was no dune ride. We asked a handful of staff about it and they were all unaware and had no idea what we were talking about. (as is life in Dubai)
We had a taxi called and as we waited out front for our ride we saw in the distance, on top of one of the dunes, a gaggle of torches being led across the desert. I'm pretty sure this was our Haunted Dune Ride that no one knew anything about...
Our taxi arrived as promised (unusual) and we traveled back to the apartment.

After such an eventful day Steve was itch'n for some sheesha so we accompanied him to one of the numerous sheesha bars below our building; he had lemon-mint flavored sheesha, I had tiramasu ice cream and mark enjoyed a tasty water... we then parted and headed off to bed.
The moral of the story is that we had a lovely Halloween weekend!! Thanks for letting me relive it!
xoxox

Me again! nothing profound - just ramblings...

2008-10-22T20:23:00.007+04:00

Oct 22

... I won a battle!!! The short version is I we bought me a new cell phone, the data package (internet, etc) didn't work properly on it. After 48hours of screwing w/it and talking to the help desks and our service provider the phone was going back. They were quick to offer a replacement that would be in later that nite and they would call me --- they didn't (that is pretty standard). The next day I called and spoke to some guy that didn't speak good English and had no idea what I was talking about, I went up there later... still no phone, they'll call me. I called bullshit on them and got a little bitchy, they assured me. Later that nite they called!! I picked up the phone the next day, I tested it this time having learned a thing or two, it appeared to work but was a weird interface (being an unlocked, UK, AT&T phone I guess I shouldn't have been surprised), "...maybe I can fix that with a theme change...". Walking to my car I realized the data package still was still foul. I go back inside the mall, after spending an hour with a service provider representative to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong, after an hour with him it was determined the phone did not work! (I knew it!!) I marched back to the store, started complaining, turned the phone on and it all worked - WTF!!! After all the headache and trouble I had already decided that the karma/aura associated with the phone was no good and I did not want it but I had no recourse now. They have a strict no return policy on working phones, the only problem I now had with mine now was personal (and an odd screen set up/interface). {fyi: This story is longer than I planned} Me and the man begin our battle dance.... his hands are tied, his boss is in prayer--- I'll wait --- His boss said "no return" --- I need to talk to his boss then--- he's at lunch ---It's 2pm--- he takes lunch from 2-3p--- I'll go to lunch downstairs and eat lunch as well and be back at 3p---- when I come back he tells me that boss said no as well ---I need to talk to his boss then... He's going to call the 1st boss back again so I can talk to him. We dance on the phone a bit --- he says he cannot return the phone, what can we do?? ---I want my money back, I'm not happy--- etc, etc (the whole time in my mind thinking of all the things I'm going to to make sure the public knows this is how this store is doing business, writing letters to papers, posting fliers, writing it on my car with car chalk (I will know doubt have to send home for) He must have read my mind because we chatted for a few more minutes and after about 15 minutes of 'the boss' talking to his associate in an unknown dialect my money was returned!! Yay - the moral of the story?? I won!!!

So, I got my money back from the cursed phone and went and enrolled in SCUBA certification! Mark got his before summer but I didn't have time but in a week or so I'll be certified too!! I'm pretty excited about that!
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Our old stomping ground is being torn down! Oasis Beach, the hotel we stayed out when we first came out here to visit. We've always been impressed with them and before summer we still frequented their facilities.
Here's a couple shots last May (2007):

And now:

bummer! ~sigh~ As is life in Dubai... always making way for something newer and more impressive.

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Here is tonite's sunset taken from the famous JBR (you'll have to forgive, most of the pics on todays post were taken with my phone)

Speaking of JBR here is a video from one of the penthouse suites on the 46th floor. It overlooks The Palm Jumeirah and the Burj Al Arab
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Oh - we were at Festival City a couple weeks ago and were excited to find that Dave & Busters is coming to Dubai! Nothing we like more than having a few too many and playing video games in order to win silly tickets that allow you to redeem them for even silly-er prizes!! YAY!
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Just a shot of some of the buildings in the Marina
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A newly discovered bill:
Introducing the 200 dirhams bill (about $54)

This could have been around for some time but this is the first one I've seen--Pretty cool
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TexMex in the MidEast
El Chico Cafe opened up earlier this year. As I understand it they originated in Texas in 1940. We were thrilled to have a piece of home here in Dubai. Being vegetarian we are limited as to what we can eat in a Mexican restaurant but the cheeze enchiladas aren't 1/2 bad and others rave about the rest of the menu. The service is s-l-o-w-l---y getting better but the bigger problem is the lack of alcohol. You can't really enjoy TexMex with out the cervezas or margaritas - am I right??!!
For some reason it is still cracks me up every time I look at the menu:

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Alright, one more before I call it a nite. One of our last days there in Houston we were driving, somewhere, and saw this subliminal message:

(TrustMark Bank)

Good night all - until next time!
xoxoxxo

I'm back... more or less

2008-10-18T19:43:00.004+04:00

Wow, its been awhile!! Had a good trip home, man we covered a lot of ground while we were home. Having the surgery done there when I did allowed me to participate in a lot of events there in the States and miss the absolute worse here in Dubai (Summer & Ramadan). Mark is worried I wore out his personal celebrity status since I was there for so long... :)

What a difference 3 months makes:
July 9, 2008
Oct 13, 2008
alright - well these don't look that different but I will try to get some good before and after in a bit.

Well, we are back to normal I guess. Mark is traveling for a couple weeks and I'm trying to find my footing around here again... Constructions continues at a dizzying pace. Just as buildings are being completed ground is being broke on new ones. The Metro is making progress and looking good, it is due to be operational by next year sometime. Hopefully we'll get to see it run.

Anyways, nothing exciting right now - I'll check back in later.
Have a great day
xoxoxxo

Guess where we went this weekend...

2008-05-30T21:57:00.009+04:00

May 29

The Burj Al Arab

That right boys and girls! We had Ultimate Afternoon Tea in the Burj Al Arab!

Ultimate Afternoon Tea
The newly introduced Ultimate Afternoon Tea is the quintessential of afternoon teas. With its 7-course menu, you are sure to experience a culinary journey of pure delight.

The journey begins with a glass of champagne or a non-alcoholic alternative accompanied by a selection of delicate finger sandwiches. A selection of succulent cuts of meat or fish served by our Chef from the carving station follows. Fresh sorbet presented on dry ice is served as the next course, providing a palate cleanser before the much anticipated sweet pleasures. Then, expect a variety of warm scones, accompanied by homemade jams and endless lashings of clotted cream. A sweet interlude comprising a colourful mixed berry basket lightly dusted with icing sugar and served with fresh cream is followed by an exquisite selection of French pastries. A variety of hand-crafted petit fours is presented as the finale to this gastronomic journey.

A selection of 50 loose teas to choose from and coffees from different parts of the world form an integral part of the Ultimate Afternoon Tea experience and will be refilled at any stage during the afternoon tea, according to your taste.

It was cool!!
The Burj is on its own island and you have to pass thru a security point in order to state your business at the Burj. Once they check your reservations you are allowed to drive to the front where you valet of course.

The entry lobby is quite small actually but brightly decorated. You are greeted by a colorful fountain with an on going display of jumping water flanked by two huge aquariums filled with brightly colored fish and an escalator on either side to take you up to the main floor.It was really hard to take full pictures of anything because of the sheer size and hight and closeness of everything. I did my best and stitched a few together so you could get the full feeling.
This is taken from the main floor (near where we ate) looking up.

Entry fountain
One of the aquariams
Looking up from the base of the escalatorView of the lobby from the top of the jumping water fountain

Again, it was hard to take pictures, the lighting wasn't always working in my favor so some of these have been lightened so you can see some of the detail.

This is taken from standing at the back of the main floor near the shopping ally (you'll see) facing the canvas front of the hotel.
The white canvas does indeed let in a lot of light. I've have an arrow pointing to where we ate. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures in the area where we ate so we don't have any picture of the food or our view, etc. :( We were seated by the window so we had a great view of part of the city and of the entire inside of the hotel.

Same shot as above but with views all the way to the top of the hotel. In the center of this area is another jumping water fountain that was really nice.View of some of the restaurants on this main floor (and looking up of course)

Full view of the 'sail' all the way to the ceiling . Oh, and yes, those little colored cubbies all the way up the inside are the entries to the rooms.

It's a shame they don't offer tours of at least one of the rooms, I would think they could make good money doing it. I would pay to see one...
Standing at the top of the 'jumping water' looking towards the ally of shopping (and up).

As you would expect the shopping was all high dollar jewlery and art, etc. They did have a small bank back there as well.
At the base is a jewelry storeMe at the center fountain (looking up of course)

Behind Mark is the entrance to the shopping ally. This is a pic of the tile work at the entrance of the area as seen below

At the back of the main floor is a bank of elevators that take you to up the glass spine of the hotel to the restaurants at the top. We tried to go up but of course were not allowed entry to them without a reservation. On my photo link I have included a couple pictures of the view from inside the lift.

While we wait I'm kicking back on a sweet lounger

Outside is the Burj's own painted camel. These things are all over town (usually in odd places) and I try to photograph them when I can.

Behind the camel and myself, waaay off in the distance, is the Marina where we live.

We arrived at 2:30p for Tea and roamed around until around 6pm or later. As we left the sun was setting and the skies were clear enough to actually see the sun dip beneath the horizon!

We took a quick trip to Jumeriah Beach Hotel which is the land wave that was made to complement the Burj. We were lucky enough to weasel our way onto the property and explore their grounds (I'll post on that later). From their beach is a great view of the 7 star land mark resting upon it's very own island...

The night turned balmy quickly once the sun went down. We continued to explore the Jumeirah property and later grabbed a quick bite at one of our favorite dining places, Madinat Jumeirah, which is only a stones throw from the hotels.

All and all we are both glad we spent the money to experience the Burj.
The small courses of finger sandwiches, fruits, and desserts were quite good. The service was great of course. It is really cool to be able to now say we've been inside but really we both agreed that most of the Vegas hotels are actually better in overall wow factor on the inside. That being said, you still have to give credit where credit is due... The design of this hotel is beautiful and unusual and it was erected on it's very own, man made island, in the Middle East...
In my opinion the place deserves the attention it receives and is worth a visit for tea, lunch, dinner or even just drinks if you don't want to fork out the cash for an overnight. It is going on my personal list of must dos. Maybe one day we will look into paying for one of those pricey overnights.... :)
If you would like to see all of the pictures I took while we were there check out the "Photo Link" at the top right of the blog or just click here.

xoxoxxo

Life in pictures

2008-05-25T21:32:00.008+04:00

One evening we were hanging out at the house and heard some explosion noises. To our delight, we looked out the window to see a wonderful display of fireworks!!
One great thing about this city - they like to use fireworks!! There are numerous nights we have found ourselves running to the balcony or down the hall to get a view of the unannounced celebration. This night I believe was the Dutch celebration of the Queen's Birthday.
I don't question the reasons for the displays, I just enjoy them and am happy I don't have to wait a full year to see them!!
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On to some bad news... We discovered this past week that by the end of summer 2 of our favorite views will be interrupted by new buildings...

This was our view of the Burj Al Arab (more info) and the Burj Dubai on:

Now look at it!!

Look at the growth in only 4 months! Amazing.
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Speaking of the Burj Dubai some guy just got in trouble for sneaking into the building, climbing 150 floors (unnoticed) and performing a Base Jump off the tallest building in the world. Here is the full article that was in one of the local papers. He had a video camera on his head recording the flight but I don't know if it was confiscated or not.

(if you're into info and updates about the Burj Dubai, this guy is very detailed and has lots of nice pictures)

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Burjuman is yet another awesome mall in this city. We don't go out there often because the construction in the area typically has traffic tied in knots. Never the less it is a beautiful shopping center.

One of the many atriums

The main food court that houses a handful of restaurants

The center of the mall is always decorated or displaying something. This time it was a showing of stunning gowns:

Mom, I found this great dress I thought you could duplicate for me: :)
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Some lovely shots of the famous Sheikh Zayed Rd and its monorail in progress:

All of the underpasses/tunnels are tiled in different designs. There are some really nice ones throughout the city but I'm usually driving alone and unable to capture them.

Today I had the husband in town and driving!

WafiCity Mall

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Le Meridien Mina Seyahi is a one of the many hotels in the city. We stopped by there to grab dinner and have a beer the other night. Very nice! It is also home to (supposedly) one of the top bar locations in the world; Barasti. It was quite nice but I personally wouldn't classify it as the best in the world...
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My 2nd stained glass project is finally complete! YAY

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We also journey out to Dubai Outlet Mall. It is about 20 miles (I think) in land. Its amazing how quickly I forget that I'm in a desert. Living in the city with all the buildings, water features, trees and flowers... It doesn't take very far before you are surrounded with sand and sage-brush type trees.
The mall was large and seemed to have some decent prices on clothing but is really just too far out (and the roads/traffic is ikky) to make it appealing. Plus it is out in the middle of no where. I'm sure it is only a mater of a few years before the city grows that far out but for now, I'll pass.
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Shot of the Dubai Marina/JBR from my local mall, Ibn Battuta

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These are not disapearing anytime soon, I don't think...

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There was a fire on top of one of the buildings being built. They say no one was hurt, that's good.__________________________________
We are not sure what the hoopla was about but it made for a nice photo:
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THE BIKE

This eyesore has been chained to this light pole for at least 2 month if not more. I can't even imagine how or what happened to this poor bike but why the Hotel that the bike is parked in front of hasn't removed it is a mystery. Upon closer inspection the key is actually in the lock so, in theory, no cutting would even be required to remove the eyesore, yet still the bike sits... Maybe the maintenance people for that building aren't actually authorized to do any work there either...

Well, have a good day!!
xoxoxo
Jennifer

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2008-05-11T14:21:00.002+04:00

Our hearts, love and admiration goes out to ALL of our friends and family who are Moms! Enjoy your day!!

2008-05-11T13:06:00.003+04:00

May 8

Mark was home for the weekend and we decided to go check out what was shaking at the foot of the tallest building in the world (Burj Dubai), our neighbor. We haven't been over there in months. Last time we were in the area there was nothing but a huge construction zone. This time there was still a ton of construction but civilization is beginning to take hold. There are multiple living facilities being occupied. The Palace Hotel is open and parts of a small shopping center called Souk Al Bahar. There is still quite a bit of construction going on so navigating in and out is a bit tricky but the area is shaping up nicely.

The main road going out is actually pretty nice.
I zoomed in the best I could to the top of the still growing Burj.

I still don't understand how they move those cranes from one floor to the next as it rises.
Shot from the highway as we were leaving. You can see the monorail track in the foreground. I think the first phase of that is due to open in 2009. God knows the city needs it. Traffic at rush hour is worse than I-10.

Oh - and this is Mark and I's favorite news photo to date. This was in the paper and taken during the World Cup Horse Races. Absolutely priceless!!

Alright, I think I'm caught up on old news. Lets see if I can stay current now.
xxoooo

Shamal Winds

2008-05-11T07:39:00.006+04:00

May 5

Weather here is weird to say the least. I woke up on Cinco di Mayo ready to embrace the holiday! As I was enjoying my breakfast I noticed the sky conditions changing rapidly. As I was not sure what to expect I grabbed my camera.
All of the images below were taken in a 15 minute window.

10:05a10:12a

10:20a

Here are some more detailed shots:

10:06a - the sky was really looking suspicious.

10:07a - I started noticing debris flying in the air.

10:07a - I look to the west and hell appears to be blowing thru

10:07a - as usual I got a little freaked out and ran inside.

10:08a - the wind is really blowing from the Gulf and stirring everything up!

10:09a - It now looks like The Mist is rolling in...

10:10a - again, as usual, I'm the only one a bit weirded out by the events.
I didn't circle them but there are still numerous men working this building...

10:10a

10:12a - seems to be clearing out

10:20a - It's all gone into the desert
It blew most of the crap in the air out and the weather was beautiful the rest of the day.

And I thought Houston's weather was tempermental! Wonder what I will encounter next...

xoxoxx

JBR and a surprise

2008-05-10T19:42:00.006+04:00

May 6

The yellow buildings you see is a HUGE living complex called Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR). The complex stretches almost the entire length of the Marina. This was the first place we looked at to live; once fully completed the master planned community is designed to be a city within a city with a huge courtyard tucked in the center stretching the length of the complex with trees, grassy areas and fountains all lined with multiple retailers, coffee shops and restaurants. They just recently began opening up some of the stores and food chains, the grass has taken root and most of the fountains are going. The place is beautiful! I walked thru the other night with my camera and took some pictures. I didn't have my tripod so some of them are a bit blurry but you get the idea.

Ruby Tuesdays!!!
This was a beautiful addition to the city and we were excited to see the doors open. It was, however, bittersweet.

Okay, we need to talk. You may want to sit down for this...

In February Mark and I made a decision to become vegetarians. Mark came home one weekend after reading yet another story about a beef recall and had finally had enough. Of course we've always known that meat production of any kind wasn't a pretty business but they finally got caught sinking to a new low (**disturbing footage). It's no secret that I've been on the fence for years and after this particular story Mark was ready to make a change. We are not so much against eating meat as we are personally against the way in which it is raised and slaughtered. It has developed into a practice that (in our opinion) goes far beyond 'inhumane'; the whole process is done in such a ridiculously poor manner that not only is the animal's general health and wellbeing not of any consideration or concern but this goes on down the line to affect the immediate health of the consumers...

As with most of our beliefs we do not following any particular manual or align ourselves with any one specific group of thought. We are developing our rules for this life change as we go and letting our conscience guide us. We have had multiple discussions on how to explain this to our friends and family and what would be the best way to sum it up for those who ask... We have decided to call ourselves 'free range vegetarian'. (This should make our hunting friends happy) For the time being we are steering clear of commercially processed meat products until we see a suitable change in the methods in which they are raised and processed. This leaves the door open for 'free range' animals that can typically only be taken down by those with the proper licenses (This does not do me much good since I've never been a fan of red meat) or the ones grown on nice traditional farms... For the moment we are eating fish upon occasion (Mark hasn't fully taken to tofu yet :) ) and are still unsure how Thanksgiving will be handled. I don't think tofu-rkey is going to cut it for either of us, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Surprise!

Well, now that I have that off my chest I'm going to bed. Have a good one!

xoxox

Heellllooo....

2008-05-10T18:33:00.005+04:00

Man, it's been awhile (again). I'm going to have to start doing a daily post. When I let too much time pass I spend ALL day catching up...
I'll start here with some random photos of the past few weeks and try to fill in with some commentary:

This will probably be one of the last blue sky and white clouds for a while. Summer is here and that means 3 months of haze and heat. :p yuck! (Today got up to 102F!)

There was a community 'flea market' going on at the Safa Park today. The event was nicely tucked under a grouping of date palms.Sheikh Zayed Road
Here is my second stained glass project. It's going to be a lamp. It should be done by the end of this week!

Construction of new building in the Marina where we live.

Here's a shot from our balcony of the Atlantis Hotel/Resort that sits at the head of The Palm.
You can see the leafs of The Palm with the villas and apts.
By the time fall rolls around two of our awesome views will be lost behind rising skyscrapers.
:(
The Burj Al Arab is the white crescent between the two building on the left. The Burj Dubai can usually be seen in the distance behind the cranes near the center of the photo. As pretty as the day was the haze still lingered.
This nite we had a lovely sunset. Again, due to the haze this time of year this is as good as the sunset gets until the fall. I will not actually see the sun hit the horizon until October/November.

Stained Glass

2008-04-13T22:37:00.003+04:00

April 13

I almost forgot! I have finished my 1st stained glass project! It of course has some flaws but I am quite proud of it! I designed most of it myself. My art teacher picked out most of the colors and chose the placement. We didn't always see eye to eye on his decisions but since I am the student and he is the master I gave in to his vision 90% of the time even if I didn't agree. :)

It paid off. He is going to display it in the Student Art Exhibition in May!! I'm very excited!
The piece is quite large and looks pretty when the sun shines thru it!

This is my next project. In the end it will be a 4 sided lamp shade that we will make into a lamp. Again, the teacher and I have had some disagreements on design but are working thru them, kind of...
Alright - I'm going to bed!
Tisbah bi-khair

Pok'er - I don't even know 'er...

2008-04-13T21:28:00.003+04:00

April 13

It is no secret that Mark and I enjoy a good card game. Let's be honest, we even enjoy the not-so-good games... it's kind of like pizza that way. Any ways, we were terribly sad to leave our beloved chips back in the States when we relocated last fall. (For anyone who may have just crawled out from under a rock: gambling and all paraphernalia is illegal in our current country of residence) Being the law abiding citizens that we are everything that could be construed as 'gambling' was left behind (sadly, I even sold my famous poker table), the only thing that accompanied us was a deck of non-discript playing cards. Not the nice ones from Vegas, just red back playing cards.
After settling in for a few months we really started to miss the game. The social event was definitely a void in our hearts but even just playing between ourselves was missing something, it wasn't the same. When we came home for the holidays Mark thru caution to the wind and bought a small shiny new set of chips to bring back with us. We were elated at the thought of getting a new game together with some of the guys from work. As we were leaving Houston we packed our new chips with smiles on our faces. We had convinced ourselves that our we would slip thru customs without disruption. After all we were harboring no evil intent, we were just trying to bring some people together with a fun little game...
... We were nabbed by customs on our way out the door. The chips were confiscated and supposedly destroyed. :( ppppttttthththhththhhh.... bunch of party poopers

We talked for weeks about what we could use as a replacement and nothing really fit, made sense or was worth the effort. I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why we had to have traditional chips, the cards are the important part... well, your wrong. Its a package deal (ying & yang, etc.).
At last there was a light! One of Mark's co-workers were going back to the states for a visit. After careful consideration and thought Mark had figured out a 'full proof way' to get the chips thru security and roped this sweet kid into giving it a try. To make a long story shorter.... he didn't follow 'the plan' and only half of the chips made it thru. (that is a good story on it's own)
We were again back to square one, no chips, no game, sad and lonely Mark & Jenni. We had given up for the time being and moved on with our daily lives. This weekend we were shopping in a department store much like Sears or JCPenneys when we stumbled across one of those shelving units in the middle of the store with all the goofy gifts for the man who has everything and is a big kid at heart. Because I happen to be shopping with one we stopped to peruse the merchandise and that is when we found them!!!

Yes, here, in the middle east, we found our forbidden toys for sale!! They were just sitting there for anyone to grab! After we rubbed our eyes a bit and pinched each other to make sure we weren't dreaming Mark grabbed two boxes! To make the find even sweeter they only cost us $27 total!!!! Oh happy day! When the clerk asked if he could hold them for us at the counter while we shopped we were frightened by the National dressed in traditional garb also working the counter who looked at the boxes in astonishment and disbelief. We felt a little dirty as we paid the National for our items and I was a little creeped-out that we were possibly part of some kind of sick 'sting operation' and were about to be hauled off to jail or something terrible (p). Alas - all went well, we skipped out of the store grinning ear to ear and we are now the proud owners of 600 taboo pok'er chips!!
We'll be hosting a game soon, who's in?!?!

xoxoxox
Jen

Look what we did yesterday!

2008-04-12T11:59:00.007+04:00

April 12

We have been talking about all the things we still want to do in the city while were here, most of the things are outside activities of some fashion. Since our weekends together are usually so short we have been slow to get these things accomplished. Sadly, summer is creeping up on us and there will be certain activities that will either be closed because of the heat or not nearly as enjoyable so we are really trying to start jamming some of these 'must dos' into our schedule.
This weekend, Friday in particular, was almost perfect for the 1st thing on our list: parasailing. We have been watching people do it for months and had decided we had to try it! Unfortunately this time of year as the thermostat rises a haze settles on the city and long distance visibility is pretty low. If we were going to go up in a parachute we wanted to have a decent view. Yesterday when we woke up we realized the conditions were about as good as they were going to get! Shortly after breakfast we headed for the beach...

Mark went first!

They have improved the experience by launching and landing you with the boat. It is a very smooth process.

The city was still a bit hazy so the Burj Dubai is a little hard to see.

Panorama of Mark's flight

Smooth landing!

My turn!!
I was a bit nervous before we boarded the boat but after watching Mark it looked so fun and he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. That helped me keep my cool but make no mistake, I had a death grip on the harness the entire time...

We got some major hight and the views were awesome!

We had so much fun and look forward to doing it again sometime!! We had a great weekend!

All of our photos are in the photo link at the top right of the blog.
Mark took the video camera up with him and took some footage in the air and of me while he was on the boat. I'll try to get that loaded somewhere.

Have a good one!!
xoxox
Jen

Whisked away...

2008-03-29T18:19:00.005+04:00

Mar 29, 2008

Mark was working from town all this week!! It was so great to have him home in the evenings. We only have one car so when he is here I take him to work and pick him up in the afternoons. This works out particularly well lately since I have a class around the corner from him that lets out around the same time he gets off. Wednesday I was running late leaving class and when I looked to my phone saw that I had multiple missed calls from Mark. I promptly called him back on my way to retrieve him to make sure everything was okay. Everything was fine, but he did have a surprise for me!!
M: "Where have you always wanted me to take you?"
J: "If we could go anywhere?!"
M: "Where is somewhere you've always wanted to go..."
I begin to name off places like Italy, Germany, the Maldives, African Safari.... He finally puts an end to the game and tells me he is whisking me away for an impromptu weekend.....
in...........
......Bahrain. The plane leaves at 11pm tonite and I will return to Dubai on Friday as he is heading to work in Saudi.
At this point I'm not really sure if I should be excited or what. Bahrain, to the layman, sounds like a neat place. Even to the slightly unfamiliar it sounds like a decent get away. Bahrain is a little island just to the West of us, off the shore of Saudi. Mark regularly flies in and out of the city and then drives to or from Saudi from there. It's a pit-stop for him and a 'alleged' playground for SA. Although a Muslim country they are small and govern themselves as it suites them... I'll let you fill in from there.
Anyways, I'm getting off topic.
Mark's work schedule is very tight with no wiggle room for sick days or mishaps. Well, he had a mishap and the only way to resolve the issue in a timely manner was for him to spend his weekend in Bahrain and then travel straight on to SA. This was going to cut into, actually completely take away, our precious 1.5 day weekend we get together. To make matters worse, all he would be doing is sitting a hotel alone while I sat in our apartment alone... It was a crappy situation that was not going to be able to be avoided. But then, in all his sweetness, he booked me a ticket to go with him and officially, for the first time, literally "whisked me away for an impromptu weekend" (huge romantic points), to another country (extra points), to an island (ding-ding-ding!! bonus round!) :)
The weekend itself was very tame, there really isn't much to do or see there in the city and everything seemed quite expensive from taxis to food. He took care of his business he went there for and I did some studying, we took a couple walks to the Starbucks (there is always a Starbucks!) and we went and got a massage there at the hotel. Friday afternoon came quickly and we went to the airport together and parted ways for the week.
Although it was not a very notable journey in the destination, I just wanted to make sure he was publicly given credit for the gesture that allowed us to spend the weekend in each others company despite some stupid workish-thing that came up. Thanks Mark! I believe I am truly married to the greatest man on the planet!! xooxxo

And then the fun begins...

My plane out of Bahrain is delayed a bit, no worries. I finally board and make my short hour flight back to Dubai. As I'm standing in the throngs of people trying to push there way off the plane I wonder to myself...
"Where is the house key?!"
...no really! Where is the house key?!?!

We packed and left the house pretty quickly without any time to really eat anything. Then we were on a plane. Landing in a foreign (to me) country. Getting an overprice taxi. And finally arriving at our destination tuckered out. Neither one of us ever thought about who should rightly keep the house key.
As I was waiting for my bag, I called Mark who was now 1/2 way into SA and agreed he probably had it in his luggage. We did not expect to big of a problem, if our building did not have a copy, I would go and stay with a friend who lived nearby and get a locksmith in the morning. I arrive at my apartment around 10pm and begin talking with the night deskman. He does not have a key and tells me that I have to have my tenant contract, a letter from the owner and the police inorder to get the door opened.... I'm too tired and irritated to deal with this tonite. I walked over to a friends apt and decided to deal in the am.

~This is getting huge, sorry. I'll try to summarize the insanity that occurred over the next 6+ hours~

I wake up and try to go back to my building to get the door open.
Mark in the mean time is going to have the key overnited so at worst I stay with Laura another nite and go back to normal on Sunday.
As I speak to the building deskman (manager) I discover that indeed, not only is there no one on premise that could let me in the apt (via picking the lock or other wise) but if I wanted to call a locksmith I would need a copy of my Tenant Contract and a letter from the owner (who, btw, lives in the UK) before they would let him touch the lock (for security purposes)! Now, the Tenant Contract shows that I am not only the tenant but that I am fully responsible for the care of the apt, per the owner. All I want is someone to pick the lock so I can get my secondary key and the key to my car and access to all of my personal belongings! So after lengthy discussions with the staff, all the way up to the building manager (all on a weekend, mind you), I have all my paperwork as they require and I am told that they (the building team) can still not help me, I will have to call a locksmith who they will oversee.
We proceed to have further discussions about the fact that they do not have anyone on property to pick my lock and supposedly, it is not a 'maintenance function they perform'. I find it impossible to believe that they have not had something like this happen before AND are technologically unable to open the lock. I told them with the right tools I could probably get it open!! By this time I have a key coming (Mark has over-nited it), I have a place to stay (with Laura) so I could just pack it in and call it a day and wait but now at 11:30am my stubborn pride has kicked in and I refuse to take no for an answer.

Scene 2 (sorry, I'm still rattling on)

I've called a locksmith who is going to meet me across the Marina (with in walking distance), I've convinced Laura to return to her plans for the day so with my luggage still in tow I go for coffee and wait. When I finally meet with the locksmith at the coffee shop he informs me that it is going to cost me 45oaed for him to do this job. I'm floored. The other 5 people I had called all wanted 200aed which I thought was ridiculous but had finally resigned to pay. Now this jack-ass is wanting more than double. I told him no way!!! He's crazy.
About 15 minutes after we parted ways and I had begun again to call back some of the other 'smithies this Jack-ass calls me and says he will do it for 200aed but he won't be available until 6pm. He just left my sight and scheduled appointment but now isn't available for another 6 hours!! I told him to call me before he comes out... now I have one undesirable guy in the wings as I look for someone to let me in a timely fashion. The only other person I can find isn't available until 4pm. It is now noon:30. This is now the best I can do. My steadfast stubborn pride is bruised and the wind is all but gone from my sails. I gather my luggage again and begin the short walk back to my building to wait in the lobby for 4pm to roll around. As a last resort I stop at a neighboring building to inquire if they could direct me to a locksmith, theirs or otherwise. She is unable to help but is appalled that my building people will do nothing to help. I'm feeling better that someone else, unrelated, is seeing my side of it and is appalled at the situation.
I get back, dripping with sweat and sit my now smelly butt in the lobby and begin to read a magazine. At around 3pm one of the building guys that I have been arguing my problem with asks if I have someone coming to unlock the door? "...yes, they say at 4pm..." He proceeds to explain to me that now, now, that he has seen me sitting here for so long that he believes that I am a resident and do indeed need help. The fact that I have been trying to enter my apt since 10pm the night before, the tenant contract I had to get someone to fax over for me on their weekend, the lengthy discussions I've had with them and their boss over my situation AND the fact that most of the cleaning and security staff know me was not enough to convince him that I truely lived there and was in need of help. But sitting in his lobby for 2hours sold him! (this is the frustration that is Dubai in a nutshell)

Conclusion (at last)

We have a brief 'discussion' about why is has let me suffer all day when he could have helped me all along. The short of it is, for whatever the Effed-up reasoning, per building rules they are not allowed to perform such services (I guess like a policeman helping you change your tire) for tenants but his heart finally went out to me and as long as I don't tell anyone he would arrange the service which turned out to be, even with a tip, a mere fraction of the price I was going to have to pay some stranger out of the phone book (which oddly, they didn't find to be a security issue).
:p pppttptttttthhhhhhhhh!!!
At 5pm, like a bad dream it was all over. Thanks Laura for you help, patience and hospitality!!

With Earth Hour in full swing I will leave you to it. Thanks for listening! (sorry, I don't know what I did to the font color...)

Tisbah alaa khair
xoxox
Jen

Earth Hour 2008

2008-03-29T18:17:00.001+04:00

Per Gulf News:

Dubai to switch off lights tonight for Earth Hour
03/29/2008 08:54 AM | By Kevin ScottStaff Reporter

Dubai: Thousands of people are expected to take part in a Lantern Parade from 8pm to 9pm on Saturday night to mark Earth Hour.

The parade will begin at the Burj Al Arab and will follow a two-km route along Beach Road to Jumeirah Beach Park and back. Jumeirah Road will be closed for an hour between Al Thaniya and Umm Suqueim intersections in both directions. The intensity of streetlights will also be reduced on this road.

The parade will be marked by the switching off the Burj Al Arab's exterior lights and fire fountain, plunging Dubai famous landmark into darkness. It is organised by Dubai Holding and the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

Dubai is the first Arab city to declare support for Earth Hour. In a poll conducted by City 7 TV in Dubai, 98 per cent of people taking part said they would support the initiative by turning off unnecessary lighting and appliances. Other landmarks, including Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Emirates Towers and Madinat Jumeirah will switch off their exterior lights. Nakheel has informed all staff and residents of Palm Jumeirah, Gardens, Jumeirah Islands, International City and Discovery Gardens of the event and its importance.

"It included guidance on how to participate," said Aaron Richardson, spokesperson for Nakheel. He said Earth Hour was an excellent tool in creating awareness.

During Earth Hour, Ibn Battuta Mall will turn off its floodlights and exterior lighting. "We will aim to extinguish all non-essential lights across our offices and construction sites. We will also liaise with third party contractors with the aim of extinguishing all non-essential lights on their own sites," he added. Abdullah Raffia, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Affairs, said an internal circular has been issued urging more than 10,000 Municipality staff to participate by switching off non-essential lights as well as electrical and electronic appliances.

Marco Nijhof, Senior Vice-President for Jumeirah Group - Gulf Region, said: "We are also encouraging our guests to actively participate by switching off their lights."

Union Properties PJSC (UP) will also switch off the external lights of UP Tower, its landmark building on Shaikh Zayed Road.

Simon Azzam, Chief Executive Officer of Union Properties, said: "We look forward to joining Dubai and the rest of the world ... to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming."

The Dubai World Cup takes place at Nad Al Sheba today but it will not be affected by the initiative. Seb Vance, Media PR Manager for Dubai Racing Club, said: "Dubai Racing Club won't be switching off non-essential lights as we cannot afford to jeopardise the safety of 55,000 racegoers."

personal note:
It will be interesting to see the city plunged into darkness... I'm staying inside but wish me luck for a safe 're-light'.
xooxo
Jen

FYI: technical difficulties

2008-03-22T20:03:00.002+04:00

Mar 22

I'm not able to view anything on blogspot except for the edit portion of my blog. All other blogs, including my own, are unattainable for me at the moment. There has been rumor that a country band has been put on blogspot because of a particular site that was deemed offensive. I'm not sure how true this actually is but for now my access is limited, and I am obviously annoyed. I'll let you know when I know more and will post again soon.

oxoxo

Jen

We made the front page on Yahoo

2008-03-12T17:09:00.003+04:00

Mar 12

There was a terrible accident yesterday morning on the main highway a bit south of the city. I've heard reports of up to 60 cars being involved. We get really bad fog in the mornings (hence the waking in a cloud pics from before) and that combined with people driving like they are trying to win the Indy 500 and extremely poor use of hazard lights, or lights at all for that mater... well, shit like this is bound to happen. It's awful. Surprisingly they are saying only 3 people lost their lives. Check it out, the pictures are surreal.

Here is the video link off of Yahoo's homepage
And here is the link to the local paper that covered it yesterday: GulfNews.com

This was the front page of most regional papers yesterday:
Nobody knows who took it. The Associated Press finally claimed credit for it so it could be used.

Anyways, you guys be careful out there on the roads!

xoxoxx
Jen

EGYPT!!

2008-02-27T15:51:00.004+04:00

Feb 27

On Feb 22 we celebrated our 11 year anniversary touring the Great Pyramids!
I've tried to be gentle with the photos here by posting only a few of the first ones. I'll get the other ones up on the Photo link in a couple of days.

(It was really windy!)

True tourist:

The pyramids over look the city of Cairo

This is the pyramid we crawled inside of:

This is a view from our hotel:

Feb 2008

2008-02-20T21:11:00.005+04:00

Feb 20

We have almost logged another month! Wow. I tried to get this out before vacation but that obviously didn't happen, oh well, it's here now. This is what we've been up to:

My stained glass project is coming along nicely. I finally got to start soldering and tacked all the pieces together the other day. (Melting metal... is freak'n awesome!)

We've seen a lot of interesting things this month...

Giant Bonsai

A walking shopping bag mascot with no handler!!

Fancy camels are always fun for tourist...

We took another trip on The Big Bus Tour and had a great time.

This a picture of the imports at the creek.

Dhows touring the creeek:

Maybe this country isn't so modest after all:

Fire/Water show at the fountains at Mall of the Emirates

ta-ta for now! We are off to Egypt to celebrate our Anniversary!

Jan 2008

2008-02-03T12:39:00.000+04:00

Feb 2, 2008

This post has already gotten away from me. I started it on the Jan 29 and am just now sitting back down with it. We'll see if I can get it up and running tonite.
January seemed like a very long month for some reason.

Here are some highlights of our month:

The country got some rain, lots of rain! 4 solid days of it with lingering sprinkles closing out the month. I heard on the radio at one point that it was record breaking rainfall for January but now I can't seem to find written proof of that.

By day's end I had much more water than this on the balcony.

Schools closed for two days in some areas of town.Obviously the city has not been designed with drainage in mind (it typically isn't an issue).
A lot of people flooded out their vehicles, had water damage in their homes and sadly I hear there were a few deaths.

_______________________
On a lighter note, the Dubai Shopping Festival started this month!!
Most of the action is down by the Creek and we just don't get down there very often. The stores on this side of town are full of sales but nothing 'crazy'. The malls are all hosting their own car give-aways. Typically for every 300aed you spend you get your name thrown into a basket and at the end of February multiple names will be drawn and cars will be handed out. We have our fingers crossed for a Mini!

Here is some of the entertainment going on at Festival City:

_________________________
Map of the City:
we live in the Marina which is just to the left of the middle palm island
________________________
We took an afternoon and checked out Global Village which is part of the developing Dubailand. It is difficult to describe... you are probably better off looking at the link. It is located about 40 minutes inland from us, doesn't open until 4pm (unknowingly we arrived at 3pm). It is very large 'global' shopping destination that represents around 20 countries between the Middle East and Asia. In the day light the place leaves a lot to be desired, it is cheaply put together, run down and dingy. But once the sun sets and all the up lighting is turned on the place is quite intriguing. Included in the park is also a very large 'Carny' section (don't worry Mom, we didn't ride a thing!!). There are more pictures on my photo page.
___________________________
George Bush came to visit one day. They basically shut down the city (<-- if you view the link the sidebar to the right has numerous related headlines). The city closed down the major highway and main arteries of town so Bush could travel from Abu Dhabi to Dubai without incident. To make it easier on the public Dubai declared a holiday and closed down schools and most businesses until 5pm or so. It was a nice unexpected day off for most. From our balcony I could see the highway he was due to travel on. Although not completely void of motorist (they are a bit stubborn) it was remarkably quite.
I kept an eye out for the motorcade but never saw it. I did see these very official looking helicopters fly over head. I'm still unsure of how he entered the city. I saw these 'birds' but heard one say he flew in on Airforce One, someone else had pictures of the motorcade... whatever, long story short; he visited and many people got a 'Bush-day' (we don't get much snow in these parts)________________________
We had another nice dinner with some of the company folks at a place called Irish Village. Excellent atmosphere and food was pretty decent, the beer was great and the company was fabulous as always!!
Here are the boys:
And the whole group:
_______________________
I finally started taking some art classes with a friend of mine, Laura. She is one of the other wives in the group (second from the right in the back row). My first class is stained glass!!!
Here is my wonderful instructor, Tinko:
And here is the start of my first project, it's the kids:

He made us design our own project to make sure we would be excited and interested and really learn the whole process start to finish. I'm so excited about it!! He's a really good teacher and I'm learning a lot! I go 2-3 times a week and really look forward to it every time. I have more pictures from last week but they are still on the camera, I'll post those soon.
_______________________
We finished the month off with a nasty sand storm that included gusting winds up to 90mph I hear. It was nasty! Mark and I went out for breakfast Friday morning in the thick of it... crazy windy and gritty! We both received some free microderm abrasion :)

I'll try to post some of my personal pics when I take them off the camera.
_______________________
Boy that's a lot to cover! I'm sure I've left some things out. I guess that serves me right for waiting so long to post, I'll try to do better.

You guys have a good week and I'll catch you later!!
xooxxox

P.S. For those of you who have heard the story of the Pop-tarts living in the p*rk section of the grocery store... I finally snagged a picture of them:

Look at all those products mingling with the forbidden p*rk!!

Wow - twice in less than a week!

2008-02-02T18:27:00.000+04:00

Feb 2, 2008

per Gulf News:

I've been pretty lucky so far here. I've only experienced an extremely slow internet connection, hopefully that will be the worse of it. I'll keep you posted

fyi

2008-02-01T16:42:00.000+04:00

Feb 1, 2008

Just a quick note: I just heard about a possible loss or slowness of internet communications in my area and just wanted parents especially to be aware...

... so if I fall off the grid for a bit don't worry.
xoxox

long time no see...

2008-01-13T21:42:00.000+04:00

Been busy with the Holidays and just haven't wanted to be on the computer lately. A lot of thoughts floating in my head and have been overwhelmed with the idea of capturing it in text.

We went home to Houston for the Holidays and were so happy that we did. We had a fabulous time! I'll post some pictures later.

Mark is back in Saudi working again :( I miss him tons.

We finally got a new car! We started out with an absolutely terrible Chevy Aveo with tons of mechanical problems. Finally got upgraded to a very used Toyota Yaris which was small but okay. Now we finally have "our" car which is a giant boat of a Honda Accord. It's brand new (50kms on the dial) and very nice but it is godawful huge with no kind of turn radius. It actually scares me to drive it around here just because of the parking issues!

Let's see.....

Its been raining here quite a bit. Everyday for the past 3 days I guess. It's actually pretty cool, I'm enjoying it while I can.

I've finally signed up for some art classes. I'm going to a few of them with one of the other wives here. I'm quite excited, our first medium is going to be stained glass! Yay!

Oh, just heard this evening they are basically closing down the city tomorrow; George Bush is coming to town... they are declaring it "holiday for the private and public sector across the emirate" He arrived in the countries capitol today and gave a speech and is driving here to Dubai tomorrow for meetings of some kind here. As I heard it they are closing down all the major roads and bridges across the city from 6am - 5pm. Wow.

Well, I'm off to bed, enjoy your Sunday.

xoxxoxo
Jen

Some pictures I like...

2007-12-10T18:54:00.000+04:00

We had a unique situation a few weeks ago when I ran down to the store and Mark stayed in the apt. We both had cameras so we took pictures of each other!
This is my view from down at the Marina Walk. He is circled in each shot.
This is me from his view. I'm circled in orange.

I don't know what kind of car this is but it was very cool. Sorry the quality is poor, I took it while I was driving with my cell phone. I have been told, again, not to take pictures while I drive....

Winter Wonderland

2007-12-10T10:19:00.001+04:00

Dec. 5-6

Alright, I have decorated our home, I finally found some Holiday scented candles, I have a Xmas play list on the ipod, Mark was home this past weekend, we cranked down the a/c and broke out our first holiday movie, "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation"... the next day we were ready to hit the town and take in the sites!

We first headed to Souk Madinat because the Dubia International Film Festival (DIFF) was due to kick off and George Clooney was suppose to arrive today! (We think we saw his helicopter landing on the Burj Al Arab!)

Plus the mall was hosting a Winter Wonderland that I wanted to check out. They did a really nice job tastefully decorating the inside mall...

...and going over the top (as much as Arabs can) decorating their Winter Wonderland, that they charged 20aed each to enter (~$5-6).

(I've finally figured out how to 'stich' photos! Now I can offer panoramics!)

And again, they did a good job trying to please the masses but they can't get everything right I suppose.
There was this little stage that had a variety of characters performing; the Grinch (not the best), a xmas girl who sang quite nicely, little elves that were done fairly well, a acrobatic /break dancing Santa (w/ a twin to the left in a sleigh charging for pics). And then there were these 3 absolutely frighting Snowmen!! We both love snowmen and give much leeway to the country and culture for reaching out and really trying in an area they know nothing about; I mean, the Grinch who stole 'Christ'mas & 'Snow'men. I guess you find a few references and go but they really should have looked further than 'Jack Frost'

EEK!!

Watch out Grinch! They are coming to get you!! ooohh - that's spooky!

After That we went up to Mall of the Emirates and roamed around. They were surprisingly lacking in decor considering their size. Some of the stores were decorated but that was all. I guess you can't blame them, its really not their holiday.

That snow is made from little styrofoam packing balls! Do you realize how much of that was needed? Now that is commitment! I bought our tree from them.

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your week!

2007-12-05T20:49:00.001+04:00

Dec 2

aahhh - Another beautiful sunrise.

Its Christmas Time!!

2007-12-05T20:04:00.000+04:00

Dec 5

Well, we hover in the mid 80s during the day and drop to around 68-72 at nite. Its is quite nice. Makes it a little harder to get into the spirit but to help out we have decorated for the holidays!! We have a total of 4 decorated trees, candy canes and some lovely holiday cheer shipped from the states. :) (thanks Missy)
I was finally able to find some scented candles which helps as well, I think we will be watching a Xmas movie when he gets in tonite.
Our bar is feeling festive and a few of the guys even dressed up.
My messy desk(thanks Van & Jerry)...
Oh - this is the camel I bought Mark. We haven't named her yet. Oh, and of course Mr. Santa Potato!

These were taken in the toy store at one of the malls

Its a really cool store actually.
This is in Mercato Mall and is the most festive place I've found so far. They did a really good job with the decorations!
Everyday I go out I'm more and more surprised at the amount of decorations around. All of the grocery stores have a decent sized section and today I actually found LIVE xmas trees! They were very 'Charlie Brown' but hell, I never thought in a million years they would ship in pine trees to the desert. hahaha - awesome.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Thanksgiving in Dubai 2007http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

2007-11-24T11:43:00.000+04:00

Nov 22

Mmmmm... turkey!! :p

We were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of Mark's coworkers. We had a fabulous time. The weather here is even warmer than home so we were able to eat outside! Although Mark and I normally do when we eat with my side of the family no one we were dinning with had ever done that. We had people from Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Venezuela, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was quite a diverse group.
The evening was wonderful full of great food, friends and entertainment. There were numerous games and tricks that blended well into the evening keeping everyone in laughter.

Everyone had a unique place card so they knew where to sit:

The spread:

The table was set, everyone was present and the food was ready. All except the cranberries. These were intentionally saved for the last. Everyone was gathered around and silenced. We were all here to witness and experience the "shhlllluurppphggaa" as the cranberries fell from the can.

It was indeed an inspiring event - some felt the pledge or national song was in order... the majority opted for the food!

Again, a very nice mix of people and nationality. It appears that we subconsciously decided to share the holiday and honor our large section of Dutch by partaking in Heineken as our drink of choice. (just an odd coincidence)

We contributed too - I channeled Mom in order to make these beautiful deserts!

I also made some homemade mashed potatoes, turkey gravy (from the jar of course) and, I'm ashamed to admit, the ugliest, borderline edible deviled eggs ever to come from our family. It actually took me two batched of eggs to get them cooked - the first batch came out poached (for lack of a better description) and the 2nd batch were just barely cooked enough to eat but not really enough to peel well. Oh it was terrible!! We have a flat-top stove and I just can't seem to get the hang of it.

I was definitely not the only deserts in the house, we had a beautiful showing from little pilgrim hats to homemade, authentic Dutch Apple Pie - YUMMY! There are pictures on my web page

We had numerous wonderful toasts.

Once dinner and deserts were done we were amazed and entertained over and over by the nose of a Dutchman. 9 coasters were laid out, he would smell someone's hand (very intently), walk away from the table while the person touched a coaster, he would return, smell the coasters, call up to Allah and could eventually pick out which one had been touched, everytime. We mixed all kind of things up and couldn't stump him!!

Bob had seen the trick many times before and couldn't figure out how he did it. James was new to it but it was simply eating him up inside not knowing. They begged and pleaded for the man to reveal his ability. Finally his price was named: the boys both had to shave off their beards! They both instantly agreed and ran upstairs...

This only broke the ice, soon other amazing talents were showcased, some were busted but all were a good time!

The night was wrapped up with a lovely song written to the tune of 'The 12 days of Xmas'. Everyone was passed out their verse in secret and told only to reveal it when our turn came in the song.
I give you:

Hello!

2007-11-13T22:42:00.000+04:00

Nov 13

haha! Check out my new Drivers License! No test was required, just some paperwork. They recognize standing licenses from the US, UK and European Union as well as a few other countries. Sweet!

Well let's see... what have we been up to lately??

Nov 2

It rained the other day!! Well, it sprinkled for a bit. It was actually cloudy for two days and then we got some sprinkles, it was cool. The sky and the feel of the air was very reminiscent of home, it was nice.

Since the weather was so nice Mark and I took a stroll on the beach after breakfast.

We saw my famous urban beach camels...

There were some rock'n waves...

Okay, maybe 'rock'n' is a bit strong but the Gulf was definitely more turbulent than normal... its not like you get better in Galveston...

This was one of many surfers 'hangin'10'??

I guess these people didn't want to pay for a beach front hotel, and hell why should they? Look at their sweet digs!!
This is a very small section of the vanishing free beach on this stretch of coast. It never occurred to us to bring a camper but there are no indications that it isn't allowed. They had quite the set up with music playing and everything.

It was a lovely day - here is another one of us in the surf.

Let me just leave you with one last image that continues to scar us everytime we go the beach...

The dreaded MAN-KINI!!(TM)

AAAGGGHHH!!! HAHAAHA - ENJOY YOUR DAY!

Mercato Mall

2007-11-10T20:59:00.000+04:00

Nov 10 (afternoon)

This is where I went grocery shopping tonite. Most full sized grocery stores are attached to malls. It was weird at first but now I actually like it, you can go browse the mall and get your endorphins all pumped up so you're still a little blissed out when you hit the store and it takes awhile to come down and realize you are in the middle of a chore. Anyways, this mall is small but really pretty. Enjoy my pictures but they don't do it justice, you really should check out the actual link.

(these first two pics are from our first trip out here, I forgot to take any this time)

Sunset tonite

2007-11-10T20:39:00.000+04:00

Nov 10 (p.m.)

Wow!
I stopped by the beach on the way home from the grocery store tonite because I saw this working...

I can't believe I live here!!

Reminded me of Galveston Seawall but with better scenery

Hope your night is as nice!
Jen

I went to the beach this morning

2007-11-10T09:24:00.000+04:00

Nov 10 (a.m.)

I went down to walk on the beach this morning, its good exercise, relaxing and very pretty...

This is all that really moved me today:

I was finishing my walk and as I was rounding the bend saw a gentleman carrying a yellow grocery bag with oh so familiar contents... I zoned in with excitement as I waited for his partner to catch up to him... I knew it was a dog of some kind...

** **
side note:
You don't see many dogs here at all, at least not in the 'city' area, (down in the villa areas (suburbs) where people have yards I understand they are more common) an occasional Yorkie or Shitzu but nothing over lap size...
** **

I was SO excited to see it was a GSD, not surprised, just excited, some how before I ever laid my eyes on the pup I knew it was a GSD. I picked up my pace so I could get with in holler distance in hopes to strike up just enough conversation to get my hands on his furry friend. It worked! I told him how beautiful his dog was, he asked me where I was from, I told him the U.S., Texas, he said he thought he recognized my accent...

** **
side note:
People over here don't seem to be able to distinguish English from American based on accent alone. I'm frequently asked if I'm from London. ???
** **

He is from LA and is out here working as an architect (good business to be in) Any how, we stopped and he allowed me to scratch on her for a while and get my fix! I was so taken by here it didn't even occur to me to snap her picture until I was walking away. I turned around to get one last look at her and she was still sitting there. Her human was walking in one direction and I was walking in another and she just sat there. After I pulled my camera to take her picture he realized she wasn't at his heal and called for her, she looked at me and back to him and started running towards me!!! :)
He called her again and she caught her snap and happily trotted back towards him.

I continued on again to my car and took another look back and saw them settling in watching the waves.

It made for a wonderful morning but has left a melancholy haze around me as well.

I miss them. :(

2007-10-31T21:31:00.000+04:00

This is little Baxter's 1st Halloween! Isn't he adorable!! He is now about 3 months old!

We went to a small party on Thursday, we were proudly representing Fancy Ketcup and Classic Mustard!

Here's a close up of what is on our shirts:

What a beautiful day

2007-10-27T20:10:00.001+04:00

Oct 27

Man yesterday was pretty! I woke up around 6:15a to roll over. When I looked out the window I waw the sun rising and it was awesome. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the camera...

Atlantis Hotel

This is remarkably clear! You can see Burj Al Arab, Burj Dubai and many of the skyscrapers off of Sheikh Zayed Rd. most noteably both the Emirates Towers.

I actually spent most of the day on the patio cleaning windows. That is how pretty it was! Look how far you can see!

I can't be certain but I think the land masses you see way off in the distance may be part of The World

THIS JUST IN!!

2007-10-24T01:49:00.001+04:00

(hahaha - couldn't pass that one up!)

That's right!! Meet the happy parents to be!

Is he ready to be a Daddy you ask?!?!

Well...

and...

plus a great wife...

I think he'll do fine!!

Mark's time home part 4 (I think)

2007-10-23T14:55:00.000+04:00

Oct 13th

I give you the Emirates Towers.

I can't find a good all inclusive link for the towers. Here is a quick snippet from glasssteelandstone.com :

This pair of towers pierce the sky over Dubai with spires over 1,000 feet tall -- an appropriate way for the United Arab Emirates to welcome in the turn of the millennium. The taller tower's main function is to hold offices. The lesser tower is mostly taken up with a hotel. The strength of the towers is conveyed through the concrete columns on the three corners framing the remainder of the facade which is primarily glass.
->At the time of their completion, the towers were the tallest buildings in the Middle East and Europe.
->The Upper Atrium is 364 feet / 111 meters tall.

One of the towers are home to the Vu's Bar on the 51st floor. It is supposed to have just spectacular views. We haven't been yet - it's on the list.
The two towers are connected by a small upscale shopping area and a few restaurants.

This is at the base of the towers. It was nice to see so much green in one area.

Here are some back side skyline shots as we headed off the main highway to a parallel, less developed road.

Oct 19th

This always make us smile. I found out today (via CBS) they don't actually use live jockeys on the camels anymore, the public as a whole found it cruel. They use little motorized boxes that sit on the camel and they control the actions of the box via remote control. They follow the camels around the perimeter of the track in their cars. I don't know how they avoid wrecking??

Welcome to Dragon Mart It is a GIANT Asian Flea Market really. Neat to see and say you've been there but neither one of us can entertain ourselves for long in flea markets. We did buy an osculating fan for around $20 (a good price out here) but the controls are all in some form of Chinese... works good!

Here is a map of the place.

Inside shot this is basically part of the 'spine'

Wafi City Mall

There is no shortage of nice cars around.

Decorations for Ramadan

Artsy picture of us under one of the stain glassed pyramids.

xxoxoo
Jen

Let's try again...

2007-10-23T11:36:00.000+04:00

Oct 12
We headed to Festival City. This is about 30min away just over the creek. Its a newly developing area with a surprisingly awesome shopping complex that is still in the opening stages. As soon as I can figure out how to succesfully get out there and home with ease I will be frequenting the facilities. We have been out there twice so far and it is always a bit sketchy and we always need the map for the drive home.

Ikea lives here!!

This place is all about the water features! The escalators to the right have striking neon blue lighting that shows beautifully in the evening.

Overlooking another multilevel water feature that overlooks a mall courtyard, the mall canal, Dubai Creek and you can just see Burj Dubai
on the horizon! Beautiful.

All this walking makes us hungry. We had the patio all to ourselves. We usually do, even back home it seems we are the only ones who ever want to sit outside...

Food was pretty okay, service was fabulous!

View of the canal from our lunch spot.

One of our famous self portraits with the awesome water features in the back. Photo's just don't do it justice.

Me walking along the canal looking to see the view of the Burj Dubai

These little scenes depicting arabian life were set up throughout the mall. Most all of them had robotic characters moving around. They were very well done.

Hahaha! I'm such a goofball!
This was in a department store (Paris Galleries I think). We stumbled across this and were blown away! Against our better judgement we actually picked up the purple shoe only to discover, to our horror, that it cost approx. $1000!!! We quickly yet gently set the shoe back down and strolled out of the store.

While Mark was home (take 2)

2007-10-21T20:24:00.000+04:00

Let's try this again - I actually think this might work today. (maybe)

Oct. 10th
Mark's home!!!! (These are our new patio chairs - we love them!)

Oct 11th
We took a trip to Time Square. Its a surprisingly nice shopping center, just not very easy to access right now. They have a big digital mega store equivilant to Fry's... that is very good news.

Mark thought this might be a good purchase...
Thankfully I was able to talk him out of it! I was pretty sure snow would not be a problem this year.

That's all for today - the internet is running painfully slow and I'm tired of sitting in front of the computer.

Until tomorrow, Happy Sunday!

Hello!

2007-10-20T21:29:00.000+04:00

Sorry it's been so long. I'm currently having a hard time getting Blogger to cooperate with my photos. I have created a new album in *Photo Links* (top right) showing the low flying clouds from a few weeks ago. I'll try to at least post some albums there since I can't get them on here right now.

Anyways! Where have I been?? Well, Mark was home for a full 7 days and it was fabulous!! Ramadan finally came to an end on October 11th. With the end of that comes a celebration called Eide. I don't pretend to know the hows and whys, what is important is that causes most businesses (excluding retail and food) in Dubai to shut down for a few days (holiday). And in Saudi, I think, they basically shut down for a week. All of that adds up to Mark getting 6 days off and one Dubai work day.
We spent our week just roaming around the city and lounging in front of the TV. Simply splendid.

He left for India bright and early Thursday to go and interview some guys and is actually flying home tonite (Saturday around midnite) to turn around and leave for the airport again around 6am to fly out to Saudi - exhausting! I feel for him...
The good news is I think he is only going to be out there for a couple of days and then will spend a few days here in town working before the weekend. I think he will be in town the 1st week of November as well but I'm getting lost in his schedule.

So, that's about it for now...

Enjoy your weekend

My first sandstorm

2007-10-10T13:12:00.000+04:00

In case you were sleeping...
It didn't actually occur to me to check this until I sat down to type just after noon, I woke up around 8am. (I know, I know... it was a late night okay)

This is how it looked when I woke up. I thought I was just having a low cloud repeat from last week (I'll post those soon - very cool!)

The clouds moved in FAST!

I was enjoying the views, just snapping away. It actually wasn't as scary as the clouds from the other week.

I was wrong - these were just rolling clouds before the storm.

It got windy! It was pushing the table chairs around and knocked over my tripod that I typically keep out there. I pulled the cushions in off the lounge chairs and pushed them close to the window. It was freaking me out to walk around out there! I'm always alone when these weird things go on!

Well obviously I was concerned about nothing. These guys didn't miss a beat...

So I started going from window to window to see if every one was indeed working as normal...

I'm only on the 27th floor. All of the guys posted above are higher than I am. Many of them 10-15 floors higher than me.

Whatever - I'm staying inside!

I mean think about it; people are driving (like maniacs) out there on the highway. Glad I was up here, safe and sound.

Have a great day! I've got to get to cleaning - Mark comes home tonite!!! YAY!

Jen

Marina Terrace

2007-10-02T21:53:00.000+04:00

Bab Al Shams

2007-10-01T21:37:00.000+04:00

So Mark's company took all the employees out for dinner at this awesome resort about 40 minutes outside of town. They say its a really beautiful drive out into the desert but unfortunately it was after sunset so I couldn't see a thing. It seems like it won't be long until civilization stretches out there as well. There were a few billboards advertising different theme cities that are in the plans.
Small Dunes run right up to the resort and parking lot. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore the rest of the grounds (we'll have to go back) but the outdoor restaurant was lovely.
This is the entrance; we were greeted by what I can only assume were arabian stallions.

Throughout the entire dinner there was live music, a guy dancing and twirling a skirt around and on the hill behind all of that were camels (alternated by the stallions galloping) walking across. It gave a real nice ambiance because as you can see they weren't lit up at all so you would be sitting around talking or eating or watching the stage and you would just suddenly realize something was migrating in the distance!!

Some of he food...

Ahh... here is the famous Sheesha. It looks like some kind of contraption to smoke wacky-tobaky but here it is just used to smoke flavored tobacco. I'm not entirely sure of the exact workings of it but people will sit for hours smoking this stuff. Apple tends to be the flavor of choice but it comes in a wide variety. I'll try to find a link about it and put it up on the side bar.

...surely no good could come from this...

Awe Crap!! Sheesha Down!!

Make no mistake, those are hot coals that Mark is attempting to pick up with his bare hands!

After we got the Sheesha mess cleaned up the twirly guy came back...

This was another section of the restaurant that we ventured into at the end of the nite. It was set up as a 'traditional' lounge area like you would have found back in the day, minus the rope lites and TVs (not shown here - sorry).

We didn't realize you could ride the camels until it was time to go. Here are some of his coworkers living it up!

We had a great time and I suspect we will go back on our own in the future - the place is a tad pricey as I hear but a very enjoyable experience!

Ramadan Kareem!! 10 days and counting!
Actually, its not that bad once you adjust - you've got to appreciate other cultures and customs - if everything was as it is back home what would be the point of traveling...
xoxox
Jen

We have a new home!!

2007-09-30T23:26:00.001+04:00

We finally got to move in!! I received the keys Thursday am while Mark attended a meeting. I was able to get most of our stuff moved in before he got off work. This place is AWESOME!!

We never got an official size but I'm going to guess around 1100-1200sqft. It is a 2bdrm/2.5bath with maids quarters. What that actually means is there is a storage closet that has its own bathroom. People do actually employee maids (usually Indian) that live with them in this room that is smaller than most closets back home. So far everyone, including native Indians, say that the situation is heaven compared to what they would be living like back home. Typically they clean, help with the kids, maybe cook and in return they get a paycheck, a health card, meals, a space of their own, in a nice, clean home, and they get a free ride home at least every other year. I guess it must be better in most cases or they wouldn't be falling over each other to find work here.

So, instead of building the apt. with a nice size laundry room I get a storage room with a bathroom attached and my washing machine is in my kitchen. :)

It didn't take us any time to demolish the apt once we got everything inside. Actually we had that company dinner at the desert resort and I didn't have the foresight to pull out our clothes and stuff before we moved so everything got opened up and thrown about.

I'm still working on settling in and getting everything put away - I should be about done by tomorrow and then I'll start cleaning - everything already has a layer of dust on it.

I've got to get to bed - talk to you soon!

Just a quick update

2007-09-25T21:12:00.000+04:00

Nothing really new or exciting going -just thought I'd check in.

FYI: Still looking to sell the Prius and rent out the Missouri City house. If you know anyone looking for either please let me know. Thx

I should get the key to the new apartment tomorrow but we aren't sure how quick we are going to get cable or internet. :o Crap! I guess its a small trade off.

Mark comes home tomorrow nite and I just learned we are having 'Iftar' with his company Thursday nite out in the desert. Don't worry, its not just sand and a tent, it is actually at a resort - it sounds fantastic! You know I'll take tons of pictures but here is the link to the place in the mean time: http://www.jumeirahbabalshams.com/ramadan/#PTP_070807_07071336_EJZV2

Went out for Starbuck's after sunset tonite. They say that traffic in Dubai is bad, and it is a little hairy, but the real problem in my opinion is parking. It is amazing how bad it is in some locations. I spent more time tonite driving around looking for a spot than it took for them to make my coffee. The build these great buildings and shopping areas but rarely consider adequate parking spaces to accommodate the throngs of people they are trying to attract.

That's something else - I hate to admit it but I think that globalization has finally taken its toll on Starbuck's. The pure joy and happiness that has filled my soul every time I have found that glorious green glow in foreign lands has been tainted by the companies inability to maintain basic product standards worldwide.

A good bean is a good bean, no argument there, but the quality of the cup of joe is definitely sub-par. Few places, even in the states, appreciate the difference between a Latte and a Cappuccino, and more places than not burn the coffee to boot. What a shame!

Well we need to end on a happy note so:

I also just heard tonite that a very good friend of mine is pregnant! YAY!! Congrats guys, that's great!!

Wednesday, Friday, Saturday...

2007-09-22T19:21:00.000+04:00

WEDNESDAY:
Mark was home over his weekend. That gets a tad confusing... Dubai's weekend falls as Friday/Saturday, Friday being their Holy day (Sunday). In Saudi the weekend falls Thursday/Friday, Friday still being the Holy day. So, for work, since he works mostly in Saudi he follows their weekend and flies home on Wednesday nite and leaves again Saturday morning, early. Its weird but we will adjust I suppose. Anyways, he was home this weekend, we had a nice weekend.

THURSDAY:
We finally got our boxes this weekend!!! I was able to track them down at one of the local post offices. They don't use actual addresses here. Everyone has a P.O. box located at the respective area Post Office and these PO Boxes only receive letters. They will however, if the package is addressed correctly, store you package and put a notification in you Box regarding the parcel. We were not aware of this and had no PO Box listed and no contact phone number, simply the physical address of Mark's place of employment (not good enough). I use the term 'physical address' loosely, Dubai does not have addresses in the way we know them. They don't really use street names or north, east, south, west that I've heard. Everything is done by landmarks and occasional building names but mostly just random business landmarks. So, our packages actually arrived in Dubai on the 7th, we did not track them down until the 17th or 18th and were not able to get them until Thursday the 20th. They just sat in storage for 10+ days... sat, drop kicked, whatever... They look to be in pretty bad shape too, we have not opened them yet since we will be moving this weekend and don't want to have to repack. We have our fingers crossed that I did an excellent packing job. :)

Good thing they stamped FRAGILE on them!

Luckily I had reinforced most of the corners with packing tape.

I should have reinforced the entire box.

ehh - live and learn...

THURSDAY NITE:
We walked over the Marina one nite for dinner, here are a couple of pictures I snapped. I'm still working on mastering the nite-time shots.

The lights on the right is the Marina Mall that is being built with a good size parking garage.

THURS, FRI, SAT:
I've had an ongoing saga with my phone. I'll spare you the gory details but after hours of blood sweat and tears the defective one is finally on its way back to the States. The end of the story is Tmobile has an extremely pleasant staff of customer service reps but their procedures are retarded... I lost a few small battles but ultimately won the war!! Congrats to the good guys!

FRIDAY:
We took it easy, we went and saw Harry Potter 5 on the IMAX. The last 20 minutes were in 3D. It was pretty cool. I think that whole movie saga would do well in 3D. It was during the day so Ramadan rules were in affect, no food or drinks in the theater and it was FREEZING! It was so cold that even Mark made numerous comments thru-out the show.

What else...
OH! I drove for the first time this weekend. I don't think I've mentioned it before but we have a temporary rental car until our Honda Accord arrives. We have been blessed with a super snappy (insert sarcasm), electric blue, Chevy Avao. This car is terrible! It is supposedly a newer model but I'm calling BS. Its not that bad I guess to look at but it has about 2 horsepower and a fire extinguisher under the driver's seat. We can no longer put the thing in "Park", we have to put it in "Neutral" and pull the Emergency Brake. If we put it in "Park" it gets stuck and takes an undetermined amount of time for it to unstick. hahaha - The moral of the story is I have been released to drive at will and no longer am resigned to taxi's. It doesn't matter much right now though, with Ramadan in full swing I have no desire to go out accept for the occasional grocery store run. Its not too bad, they drive like maniacs but not that much worse than Houston; vehicles float from lane to lane as they please with no real warning or concern about others on the road. The constant road changes and giant 'roundabouts' are the worse of it. (I don't operate on Windows so I don't have access to a lot of the blog features and enhancements, one of which is installing hyperlinks into my text so you'll have to copy this link yourself of connect directly from my "LINKS of INTEREST" above on the right) How Roundabouts work: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/popular-topics/roundabouts/roundabouts.htm

SATURDAY:
Mark left this morning at 5:30a. He arrived fine and worked all day. He sends his love...

I went for my evening cup of coffee at the neighborhood ‘Central Perk’ tonite. I was pleasantly surprised to walk in and see two women chatting over a cup. In the week or so that I’ve been going I’ve never seen another customer in there. I congratulated the barista who has been making my coffee for me – expressing to him my concern of possibly being his only customer. Much to my dismay he tells me that tonite is the last nite… “WHAT?!?!” Just then my eyes focus and I realize that the tables were not outside, some of the wall décor has been taken down, the food display is empty, there are no specials written on the board… Upon further conversation he tells me they are closing until Oct. 10th. There just isn’t enough passing traffic to keep business up. He is right; they are in a poor location for public display and a bit difficult to get to. I made comment of that to Mark after the 1st nite I had found them. There is a lot of road construction in the area and with Ramadan killing the daytime sales and lack of advertising on any scale killing the rest I’m shocked they are going to open back up at all, well lucky for them they will. Unfortunately, this doesn't work out for me; I have 5 more days at our current location before we can move and the one highlight of living here was finding this caffeine loaded, iconic oasis… now what am I going to look forward to in the evenings?!

Well that's about it for me for tonite - I'm tired and need to lay down.
Have a good weekend!
Jen

Guess what I learned this week?!

2007-09-19T20:36:00.000+04:00

Well the past 3 days have been very exciting! 3 fabulous things happened.
1. I found our boxes!!! After controlling my urge to crawl thru the phone and punch someone at the United States Postal Service I begun calling postal office here and finally found our boxes!!!!
*Fun Fact - Dubai does not use, nor do they rarely even have actual street addresses. Everyone operates out of a P.O. Box at their local office. You do not get mail delivered to your door. We mailed our 8 boxes to Mark's work address, they were told they would arrive in 6-10 days. So they should have been here sometime around the 10th at the latest; I finally found them on the 17th
*Fun Fact - Nobody calls you when you have packages sitting at the post office.
2. I found out that Dubai has a "Central Perk"!!! You know the coffee shop from the wildly popular sitcom 'Friends'!! There are actually a handful of them here but what is really important is that there is one across the street from where I'm staying - sweet. Its very cute. From the outside the windows and all look like it does on the show and the inside has sweet comfy chairs, I'll take some pictures eventually.

The 3rd thing I've learned this week I think is really going to put a sweet twist on my life here...

3. I found that I can take pictures of myself at my computer and upload them quickly to show stuff off!!

YAY!!

1st week alone

2007-09-17T20:32:00.000+04:00

Well, Mark flew out to Saudi Saturday morning. He'll be home Wednesday nite. My week has been pretty uneventful. I'm a little disorientated without him here, its a little lonely, but I could occupy my time just fine if we were a little more settled. We are still in our temporary digs living out of suit cases so I can't start 'nesting' yet....
This Ramadan thing is really cramping my style too. I don't feel comfortable taking off to do anything because it is still hot and you can't drink anything in public, I typically don't do any kind of roaming around without a coffee or water in my hand but now, when I'm told specifically I can't, well of course then I REALLY NEED SOMETHING! Its depressing out there anyways. I went to one of the malls yesterday and it was practically empty, the clerks in the stores were barely awake zombies and there was no music or anything playing (that too is forbidden this month), all the restaurants were closed as well as all the coffee shops! Travesty. I wonder how much money they loose? I'd be pissed to show up as a tourist during this. Supposedly the nightlife is pretty good, I haven't been out to see that yet.

Well just a quick post tonite - It's getting late and I need to get up in the morning and start hunting down our boxes that we shipped over that are overdue! Yay!!

Here are some daytime/nightime pictures from our balcony... Enjoy!

HAPPY RAMADAN!!

2007-09-13T09:39:00.000+04:00

It should be an interesting month, especially for Mark while he's in Saudi during the week where the rules are more strict. Feel free to view the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
As a super quick explanation as to what this means to us--- No eating, drinking, smoking (no problem) or chewing gum (WTF) during daylight hours. Supposedly at nite the party is on... we'll see....

Wish us luck!

Jen

Welcome to Dubai

2007-09-12T13:37:00.000+04:00

The North Sea and the city of Delft.

2006-11-10T22:11:00.000+04:00

This the only sunset I ever had a chance to take pictures of. It was so awesome!!

These are in the Netherlands on a beach of the North Sea. Most of the pictures I took from myar because it was so cold and the wind was just brutal!! North Sea, what do you expect I guess...

Delft, the Netherlands

This is a chuch in the city of Delft in the Netherlands.
We paid a couple euro and got to climb to the top of the tower via the mostly original spiral staircase. It was an amazing view from the top!!

We ate lunch down here... in fact I was standing down there taking the picture to the left.

In side the very narrow spiral staircase.

Mark at the top... I'll add some more pictures to this soon.

Later.

Venice, Italy

2006-10-28T19:50:00.000+04:00

Actually it seems my head has been wrapped around Venice, Italy lately so I'll start there for now. I'll try to add more pictures as I come across them.

Lets see, we were in Venice for 3 nites I believe. Between the two of us we had mixed reviews of the city. It didn't start out great, we got off our train on the land 'side' (for lack of a better word) of Venice (yes, there are two 'sides', you don't here about the land 'side' of Venice for a reason, yuck!). So after some confusion we hoped another 30 minute train to the Canal 'side' of Venice. Much better. Sadly due to carrying our luggage I don't have any first pictures of anywhere we went and that is a shame because arriving in Venice you step out of the train station and on too a huge platform looking on to canals! It is pretty striking!
So I say we have mixed reviews of Venice and that is because Mark didn't really like the place at all and I agree with him on a lot of his reasons but I can look past a lot of the bad and say that it was just bad luck and bad circumstances. I would like to go back and give it another chance...

By the time we got to Italy we had made two stops in Germany and one in Switzerland, the weather had begun to warm and we knew we needed to unload some clothing and such plus we needed to do laundry, we were getting ripe... So there was a lot of buisiness to do at our 1st stop in Italy.

This is one side of the famous Rialto Bridge. Its amazing how hard it was to photograph - it is just so massive!! If you'd like to know more about it you can check out this link

We arrived and it was drizzly and dreary most of our stay. We got off our water taxi at the Rialto bridge and lugged our very heavy luggage over the bridge (which is all stairs and tourists)only to discover that we were suppose to be on the other side of the bridge (the side we exited the taxi on). We find our B&B (two blocks off of Rialto) and climb a typically narrow stairway to the lobby and then discover we are in the top (attic) suite; more narrow stairways carrying our luggage. I think Mark slammed his head on a low beam going up if I'm not mistaken. The room was small but nice enough, until you open the bathroom door. The sewage smell was sooo strong you could barely stand to do your own quick business. The door had to remain shut at all times which made the smell worse but to open the door and air it out would stink the whole room! We had yet a few more stairs to access our own personal patio that overlooked Venice roof tops.

It was nice but the mosquitos were terrible! We had no a/c to speak of and it was hot and stuffy and smelly in this room!

Anyways, we discovered rather quickly that the service and personel everywhere (accept at our B&B) was terrrible!! Merchants of Venice aparently do not care about repeat business because they know that if its not you someone else will be there to pay them... its really sad. This is the 1st place that you really felt the tourist trap, everything is priced up because it's Venice. I'm sure if you got away from the main canal it would be better but doing our trip as fast as we did I planned to be in the heart of everywhere we stayed.

When we finally settled down to do laundry we found out how windy and claustophobic the allies of Venice can be. There is no kind of standard grid for the allies or anyway to even look out above to find a land mark to get your bearings. This is what Mark had the biggest problem with. We took off to the laudry mat which appeared to be about a 10 minute walk from our BB and it should have been but the buildings are all so tall and the allies so narrow and nothing is really labeled well... We got there and got back but it was a challange. (The post office was done the next day and had it's own unique challanges).

St. Marks Square was nice, just like the movies minus some construction to one of the buildings. There were pigeons everywhere and plenty of vendors to hand out some sugar juice you could hold which would cause the winged rats to climb all over you and your loved ones - GROSS!! We saw a couple get engaged in the middle of the square! That was Great!! He dropped to one knee and handed her a ring and she started crying and hugging him saying yes, yes - it too was just like the movies - it was sweet.

Lets see, we had 2 small cups of coffee there at the square for the kick ass price of about $30. EXTORTION!! It was crazy, you are paying just for the experience to sit down in the square.

We didn't do the gondola rides, we'd heard from everyone that they were too overpriced as well and besides, all the gondoliers went on strike Friday while we were there... ptttthhhhh!

The last day the sun began to peak out from behind the clouds and it's light, I think, really didn't brighten up the city. I could ramble here for days just about Venice. It is an old, sinking city with vultures for shop keepers but it has its charm and I think if the stars would have lined up differently for us we would have enjoyed it better. I guess some where has to be the least favorite place... Next time it will be better, I'm sure of it!! :)

Me at one of the canal/ally crossings.

I have to stop for now... I'll try to get back on and add some more pictures very soon...

Haven't been here in a while

2006-10-28T19:12:00.000+04:00

...well I guess nothing has changed here... the page does not infact automatically update itself through my telepathic comands... hmm I guess I'll have to do the old fashion way.

Its officially been 5 months that we have now been home and I have been lazy/too busy to post photos. I honestly haven't even gone thru them all myself in any great detail. I'm still fighting regular life, not wanting to commit to the fact I'm 'home' and not picking up and going anywhere for quite a while. I guess that's okay in the long run, I have enough happy memories and warm fuzzies to hold me over for a time.

We have both been working an insane amount of hours and are currently on opposite schedules; he's on nights while I'm locked in my own cage during the day. That too is for the best, xmas is coming and we still haven't fully paid for our European adventure.

I guess what I will try to do is get them posted and not worry much about the order.

So, without further ado lets see what I pull out of my hat...

TEST pics

2006-10-28T17:43:00.000+04:00

Us on top of the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy!!

In front of the tower

Regular Life

2006-05-16T21:00:00.000+04:00

Well we went back to work this week. My job was nice enough to work me in slowly but I miss the fresh air and the natural light from the past 2 months. Mark got slammed from the minute he walked in the door at his job. I was proud of him though - he didn't let it affect him at home and we had a nice, productive evening.
Its a tough transition to come back. I think it will take abit to work into it. We've brought back alot (psychologically) that we are going to try to apply to our daily lives...
So, as soon as I balance the check book from the trip I will start posting pictures. We probably have close to 5000. :0 I won't flood you with all of them, just the highlights.

Jen

We're home!

2006-05-10T16:03:00.000+04:00

2 months in Europe, 6 countries, 6 languages (I think), over 10 major cities, in even more hotels, over 42 hours on a train and approx. 20 hours on a plane... And we made it back safely, in on piece! We had no major medical issues, we never got mugged or robbed, we didn't loose anything (that we know of), never got in trouble with the law - and with driving and road structure what they were that is amazing, we never got lost or missed a traveling connection and we came back more in love and closer than the day we left. We are going to call this trip a complete success! Some day I'll add up the miles - I'm sure it will be wild.

We had a GREAT time but we are so happy to be home!!

We arrived yesterday around 4pm. We left Paris in jackets and arrived in Houston wishing we were naked. hahaha - it wasn't that bad but it was hot and thick. Mark's parents picked us up, supplied us with our 1st American Starbucks and drove us across town, fed us some much longed for Chick-fil-a and dropped us off with our kids. (Thank you so much)
The furballs were all smiles and paws!! We woke them up so Devlin was a little slower to realize what was going on - he thought it was a dream. I think he is still having a hard time believing we're real - he hasn't spent much time away from my side all morning. My parents left us a welcome home package full of food basics to get us through the first few days. You know just the basics; some bread, lunchmeat, milk, oj, bacon, eggs, Captain Crunch and ice cream--yummy! Thanks - it was great to come home and not have to leave for food!

We had such a great time we saw sooo much- there is so much to catch up on, pictures and stories but I'm sure you all will appreciate my need to just be home and relax. I'll start trying to get pictures up in a few weeks! It is nice to have the internet back at my disposal though!!

Talk to you soon

we are in italy

2006-04-28T21:04:00.000+04:00

We have made it safely to Italy. We arrived in Venice yesterday after a small trainstation mix up. We will be leaving here tomorrow and headed to Pisa. We are hoping for a better food and people experience there and in Rome. I am glad we came here but will be happy to move on. Just stopped by an internet cafe here in town to check our mail and grab a couple of addresses to send out postcards (that we picked up in Amsterdam -- sorry -- we tend to procrastinate). We will probably make it home before the cards- hahaha. All right, we are off; we still have to pack and figure out the postoffice thing over here. Talk to you soon, later in Italy!!!

p.s. We saw our 1st European Rat!! SWEET! (it was across a canal so there was no risk involved)

Love,

Mark and Jenni

Europe ~ by the seat of our pants!!

2006-04-22T10:34:00.000+04:00

Below is a quick list of where we will be and when. I'm not sure what rooms have internet access so I don't know where I will be able to get on and at least say hi but please keep checking! We'll communicate when we can.

Mark & Jen

April 21 & 22 (fri & sat) = Berlin, Germany
April 23, 24 & 25 (sun, mon & tue) Heidelberg, Germany
April 26 (wed) = Zurich, Switzerland
April 27 & 28 (thu & fri)= Vencie, Italy
April 29 & 30 (sat & sun)= Pisa, Italy
May 1, 2, 3 & 4 (mon, tue, wed & thu) = Rome, Italy
May 5 (fri)- travel day to Paris
May 6, 7 & 8 (sat, sun & mon) = Paris, France
May 9 we fly home.

So feel free to suggest things to see - we have very little planned - we are just going to tour by the seat of our pants, impromptu style!!

p.s. We have started our day here in Berlin and Mark does indeed feel better today! We have eaten and are headed for the zoo with temperatures in the upper 50s (scattered showers). Talk to you soon!!

We're off!!

2006-04-21T20:49:00.000+04:00

We have officially left for "vacation"! It snuck up on us but Mark finally was released from work on Thursday afternoon after a wonderful send off by the plant out here. I went to work with him that morning and one of the head guys at the site took us out to Delft to see the Delft Blue Factory (http://www.royaldelft.com/). "Royal Delft is the last remaining Delftware factory from the 17th century still producing entirely handmade Delftware." So we had a quick tour of the factory there and they were generous enough to buy us a piece to show their thanks for Mark's hard work. It is being shipped to our house as we speak.
They were all so nice and accommodating to anything we could possibly need. One of the guys even gave us a small suitcase to use for our trip thru Europe because he heard we were going to buy one. Amazingly friendly people. I'm excited to be on the road but very sad that we had to leave Holland. There was still so much in that little country we didn't get a chance to see... Oh well, I guess we'll just have to go back!! :)

So, as I was saying, we are officially on our vacation. We left this morning at the Godawfull hour of 4:30am to go to Amsterdam and turn in our rental car and catch our train out of the country. We of course (true to us) got about 3 hours of crappy sleep before we set out. After his send off at work we went to Madurodam (http://www.madurodam.nl/default.php?language=1&sqlmode=1&fid=479) in Den Haag; its the amazing miniature replica of Hollands top sites and it has a really cool ice sculpture section too.... AAAAGGGGHHHHH.... man I can't stay focused. (<-- that was all very cool but ate up our afternoon and then spent 1.5 hours going home -usually takes about 30-40 minutes) We met our Englishman, Danny, for dinner and a few beers to say good-bye at our local restaruant and bar there in Citta Romana. Of course one beer rolls into three and before you know it its 9:30pm and we have to get home an pack!!

Thankfully Danny is staying a week longer than us and is doing us a huge favor of mailing off some of our belongings that we just didn't have room for in the downsizing of our luggage.
*~*~*~Man, I have so much to say that I haven't even touched on and just not enough focus or time to get into all of it - its going to take me a year to finish by vacation blog for this trip*~*~*~
He's a saint, that one, we kept adding the famous, 'Oh, and one more thing... Oh, and if you don't mind, could you...oh yah we forgot, whatever...' and he just kept nodding and assuring us he would take care of it. Hell of a nice guy!

So after we got finished packing it was damn-near midnight and we laid down for our 3am wakeup call - UUUUGGGGG! We got up about 3:25am, grabbed all of our shit and were out the door. Surprisingly once we got the tickets validated we did pretty good with the whole train thing. A very nice stranger found us looking lost at Central Station and stopped to offer some assistance and guidence to get us off and then we sat accross from another very nice gentleman that we spoke to at the end of our 1st train who offered up some nice vacation points and some basics on train travel throughout Europe. Incredibelly nice folk out here!!

We arrived in Berlin this afternoon about 3pm. Our only actual plan for this city was their zoo. Zoo Berlin (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.zoo-berlin.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2Bsite:www.zoo-berlin.de%2Bberlin%2Bzoo%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DX) is noted as one of the biggest and best zoo's in the world!! And us being the freaks that we are, if we only have 1.5 days in the city what do we want to see??? Yeah... I hope that doesn't make us shallow. We are truely interested in the crumbling of the wall and all of the history associated with Berlin (and there is tons of it) but... they have Pandas!? I can experience the zoo in one day - I can't truely experience the WHOLE city in a single day - so, you make choices!
Unforturnately Mark and I have come down with a small cold and I have been battling some kind of stomach 'upset' off and on for a couple weeks. I don't know if I keep eating something icky or I'm just picking up stomach viruses but it definately sucks and Mark definately caught it this morning as we were leaving! :( He woke up feeling crappy and it has progressed all day. So, although we have been able to push off a cold with out modern medicines such as Nyqui & Dayquil (they have never heard of it) I have found that the only remedy for this stomach crap is lots of water, pepto, advil and sleep. So as I type to you on our 1st night in Germany, my love sleeps 10 feet from me trying to fight off somekind of Holland Bug. Keep your fingers crossed that he wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed!!

Yeah, so, although we finally hopped the boarder via train I don't have much to report. The countryside is definately more rolling - Holland is pretty flat - but the houses and farms we saw on our way were pretty simular. I snapped some pics but I'm not sure if I'll be able to paste them in this post or not. We were both surprised - although Holland had begun to warm up to around the 50s the last couple days when we got off the train here it was almost hot! Too warm for our jackets (although some still are wearing them - habit I think) I never caught an actual temperature but wow! I shouldn't have sent my capri's and sandles home with Jason and Ashley! Maybe southern Germany will be cooler! We don't have room in our luggage to buy new clothes! Traveling this time of year (at least for us) seems to be a great big Catch22. The city obviously isn't as noticibly old as the other places we have visited but it was all but completely leveled at one time or another in its history, so its easy to forget, as we walked from the train station to our hotel, that we are indeed in another country.

Before Mark laid down he asked me to tell everyong hello for him. So, 'Hello"! Well, I too, am exhausted - It has been along day. I'm going to go curl up with my husband and will him better by morning. Due to computer difficulties I'm not going to try to post pictures now - it would cause too much frustration. I'll try to get some attached tomorrow evening if we don't go do anything.

I'll talk to you all soon, wish us luck!

Love,
Jennifer

p.s. just so you know, I rarely reread these before I post them (I didn't read this one), you are lucky if I remember to spell check the thing, so don't judge to much on the flow of the document, take it as a glimps into the workings of my mind, no matter how frightning that may be!! Good night!

We're going to Amsterdam!!

2006-04-13T13:17:00.001+04:00

Central Station

SATURDAY
Today we are off to Amsterdam!!! After a few hurdles...
Its is rainy and dreary and cold!! Just really yucky! No worries though, most days start like this and clear up by noon - so we get a little wet... That isn't going to stop our trip!
Next, food...
We have found (via a whole nother storey) that inorder to eat breakfast at the club house you must 1st make a reservation. We have a very nice restaurant and bar up here that we tend to frequent, the night staff know us and are very friendly... do you feel where this is going?
We made reservations after dinner last night. We decided to eat here because of the convience for an early start and because they have a pretty decient breakfast menu (namely pancakes! :) ) We wanted pancakes, it has been almost 4 weeks!!
We get there for grub and find an almost empty restaurant and a table for 4 nicely arranged... with food... we haven't ordered yet. : There is a basket of bread rolls (hard as rocks), a plate of sliced meats (possible proscuto) and cheeses, a basket of jellies, peanut butter and butter, some watered down OJ, a thermos of plain coffee...
~*~*let me stop here for a second~*~*
We have been here almost 4 weeks and out side of what I make at home have not been able to find a plain cup of coffee anywhere in this country. Not to complain but occassionally a girl just wants some 'joe'; no froth, no need for sugar and damn-it, a normal size cup. This 'joe' which has been so elusive that I have finally put it out of my head is now in front of me with all this other crap, that I did not order, and all I want is come pancakes and cappachino.
...so, I see a waitress, one, and decide I'll go find out what is going on and see if we can order something to eat since we did not order the stuff on the table. 95% of the population here speaks almost perfect English and everyone else speaks enough to conversate with, this lady clearly spoke the language I needed but we were having some communication problems still (I will even take the blame and say it was my fault, I tend to talk very fast). As our brief conversation unraveled my 'point' kept getting smaller and detailed. I went from wanting to understand how this breakfast/reservation/menu thing worked to just wanting to order off the menu to just wanting cappachinos for the table... finally a cord with her was struck with the cappachinos and I recieved a rather loud, very forceful "Nae, it is not possible" and she was gone. Wide-eyed, I hung my head and returned to my friends with no better breakfast and worse, no fancy, european cappachino. Hmmmph! Mark later, after we resigned to our less than desireable meal tried to go smooth over the problem and figure out how to do this next time and came back with no better resolution but brought a bill for 40-some-odd Euros!! We finished 'joe', licked our wounds, touched every roll on the table so they could not be reused since we paid for them and with our tails limp walked to the car in the most rain we have seen since we arrived to make the treck to Amsterdam. We got a little more chipper! No problem! We'll eat in Amsterdam!!
We piled in the car and were off. The drive is about 1.5 hours so basicly accross Houston, no problem, we'll be there in no time! The rain slowed us down some but what really took it's toll is when we were almost to the parking garage where we were going to catch the train and my husband said, 'just take the next exit..'. Somewhere my brain vetod his comment and I went straight. I told him that didn't look like what we did last time. That was all until we passed under the overpass and I saw the stadium to our left! OOPS!! sorry love! I figure no biggy, I apologized to all, we'll just take the next exit and u-turn. As most of you can guess, it never works like that when you are in unfamiluar territory. We ended up taking a 35 minute detour, not senic, just a detour.
We did finally get there, we were able to park and finally get on a city train to Amsterdam Canal district. As typical, our timing couldn't have been better. The weather cleared up within 30 minutes or so of our arrival and we had about an hour to go before we could check into our apartment for the evening.
I had tried to book us a hotel but was too late to find anything decient for a reasonable price and had reserted to B&B (which I were cheaper anyways) and the first one that had something I jumped on! We didn't get the B&B treatement because we didn't stay in their home but rather in an apartment around the corner that they also rented out. This ended up being the best idea because you get to see what at least one or two of these little houses look like on the inside! I didn't get a good picture of the outside (I carry the camera all the time but tend to get caught in the moment and forget to use it) but grabbed a few inside. I would definately recommend these guys. They were very friendly and helpful and the place was well kept. Barangay has 8 thumbs up!!
Here a few pictures of our trip - there will be more on our photo site by the end of today - I'm posting something like 330!!! I need to figure out how to get paid doing this - its a full time job!

our living room

stairs leading to the bedroom. The ones leading up from the street were just as steep!
nice room

the bathroom is typically small with an odd, full length window view of the person bathing
this is how you get to the loft bed (Mark & I slept up here)

it was kind of like sleeping in a tent

this is the view of the loft if you are lying on the blue bed.

Okay, this is getting long! For the rest of the pictures you will have to hit the picture link. I'll work on getting them up and will label them all later.

We had a good time. We just roamed around. We took a night time tour of the Red Light District which I would definately recommend. It was very informative and it makes sure you see the whole district. We went down some allies I know we would never have dared on our own. I wish we would have taken a 2nd one to see what other info. we would have gotten. The next morning we also went to the Anne Frank House and took a canal tour. The Anne Frank House was very well done and organized and a real experience worth the 7.50Euro each I think it cost us. The canal tour was okay but you couldn't really hear or understand all the points of interest and it was hard to see unless you could hang out a window taking pictures, which I did. I guess I would do it again though because it lets you see areas you probably wouldn't cover on foot.
We left the city around 6:30pm on Sunday and were exhausted - I don't know how I got us home, it was a looooonnnng 1.5 hours back.

Anne Frank House

Hello - I'm back

2006-04-13T11:58:00.000+04:00

Again I appologize for the delay. As I said, we had some friends in town and then I have been trying to prep pictures for posting and then you would not believe the hoops I had to jump through today with this computer to get to be able to post anything!!! I think I am going to be able to attach pictures with this post but it will still be time consuming.

Well lets get you updated. One of our best friends, Jason and his wife Ashley, came for a short visit this past weekend. They arrived on Friday after some plane headaches that occured before they even left their home town in Oklahoma. They were suppose to arrive here at 8:20am but instead landed at 11:00am. Not too much time lost. We got a cappachino and hit the road. Schiphol Airport (pronounced: skip-ole) is a cool air port, they have quite a bit of shopping, food, a grocery store and train depot as well as a museum all within its walls. If you're interested you can check out their web site here.

We took off to Brielle for some authentic 16th & 17th century Europe sites and a little shopping.

1620!! I've becomed almost obsessed with finding dates on buildings. This is one of the oldest I've found.

I think we met Mark for dinner at the club house and had a few beers and called it a night. The next day was our journey to Amsterdam!! We needed our rest.

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sorry its been so long

2006-04-07T10:02:00.000+04:00

Wow, its been awhile, sorry. I had to get our train arrangements taken care of and reserve all of our hotels for our actual vacation. It was extremely time consuming and frustrating but I am happy to announce that we are officially 'booked'!!! Yeeeeaaaahhhhh!!! :) I really just need to stay focused thru that. Look how long it still took me, almost a week!! And it ended up being more expensive than we (he) thought it would be. I told him not to let me do it alone... I have expensive taste... :)

Just so you know I have pictures of Rotterdam that still need posted as well as some from Hellevoetsluis and some from a sunset at the beach I took the other night. It is just going to take awhile to get them up; now that I have our reservations taken care of, I'm fix'n to walk out the door to go pick up Jason and Ashley from the Amsterdam Airport!!!!!!!!!!!! They got screwed on their flight! They were suppose to be landing at 8:30am but their plane from Oklahoma to Atlanta had problems so they had to rework their entire itinerary and are now landing at 11:00am. Not too much lost time just a pain in the ass for them. But, they are coming to Europe so that should erase some of the pain for them, hopefully!

Lets see, what else... Mark has been working late every night this week, pulling 11 & 12 hour days, not exactly the 8 -10 we were told but still bearable. He's actually worried about getting off tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed for us!!!

Well, I'm sure there is a ton more but I have to get out the door, it's about 1.5 hour drive and the weather is kind of shitty this morning.

Talk to you soon, don't give up on me!!

Jennifer :)

fyi

2006-04-04T18:03:00.000+04:00

My mother-in-law sent me this and I thought it was pretty cool!!

On Wednesday of this week,
at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning,
the time and date will be
01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.