It's been a stormy weekend but it's nice to see dark clouds in the sky. However, our windows that I cleaned after the last big storm are now muddy again. Our building's windows haven't been cleaned in almost a year now. A friend of ours says that his building's windows have never been cleaned since he moved in 2.5 years ago. Alberta's Premier paid a visit to Abu Dhabi recently and signed some bilateral agreements. He also participated on a panel in Abu Dhabi's annual World Future Energy Summit.
There have been a few stories about the city's plans to expand paid parking. The new zones are getting closer to us and we're nervous about having to pay when there is little guarantee that we'll be able to find a spot. Unfortunately parking in the city is still very difficult but we're able to find parking close to our building. Apparently there are massive problems with Abu Dhabi's nascent recycling program. Another article
talks about upgrading an existing recycling depot. We've been recycling plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminum for about a year now. There's a small place we drive and unload our stuff but we wonder what happens to it after we sort out the contents. Many of the big dumpsters have poor laborers sifting through the garbage and neatly sorting out the plastic and cardboard. But is it all for naught?
Dates for the the 2010 Red Bull Air Race were just confirmed for next month. Makes one wonder how organizers could plan it here. We've seen it a few times before as it's close to our building. However, we're still too far away to see the planes up close.
Darcy is near the end of Week 28 of her pregnancy. A friend gave us their baby crib which they had got from someone else. He helped me put it together so the baby room is starting to take shape now. Guess we need to buy a mobile for it. We're still reading baby name books and our lists of boy and girl names are slowly growing. We'll have to compare them and narrow them down to a few. We're also hoping that it doesn't take too long for all the baby's paperwork to be processed after its born. It must have a passport, residency visa and a health insurance card before we can leave the country. Hope for the best and plan for the worst I guess . We'll have to be careful with picking our departure date to fly home for the summer after the birth!
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Saturday, February 06, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Catching Up
Yikes - it was Halloween since I last blogged! I'll use the old cliche that much has happened since then. I'll start by saying that Darcy is pregnant and is due around April 24. We're both very excited and a bit nervous. Call us old school but we decided not to know the gender of the baby. We want it to be a surprise and we don't think it will be too hard to buy gender neutral clothes for the baby's first few months.
We've bought and received some baby books and baby clothes. We also bought a car seat in Edmonton and shipped it with us back to Abu Dhabi. But we still have a lot of things to purchase plus baby proof our apartment before the birth. Few boy and girl names have caught our fancy but we don't want anything too old Testament or New Agey sounding. The photo below is the Team Canada 2010 Olympic hockey jersey for our little one. No, I didn't buy it - Darcy did! It's very cute and appropriate since the baby will be born in the same Olympic year. Maybe I should get it framed once s/he outgrows it.
Our November 25 to December 10 trip to Paris, Bruges and Brussels was fantastic. The weather was cool and rainy most of the time but it didn't dampen our spirits. Our hotels were in great locations and were within walking distance to many places. Paris highlights were Notre Dame, Versailles and the Louvre but we saw wonderful places every day. The medieval city of Bruges was incredible and we filled our share of Belgian waffles, chocolates and mussels. The Grand Place in Brussels was very interesting too. We did a lot of walking and took the convenient subways. If you have a Facebook account then you can view photos of our trip here.
On December 21 we renewed our National I.D. cards. The process only took an hour but we visited the office early in the morning and crowds weren't too bad because it was the holidays. Darcy got hers delivered Saturday and mine should come on Sunday. That should take care of us for three years until our residence visa runs out.
Christmas came and went very quickly but we got some nice presents. Darcy baked some goodies but unfortunately I only had a normal two day weekend. Unfortunate news is that Darcy's father passed away on December 27. So we flew to Edmonton for the funeral. Things weren't any easier with us trying to book tickets within 24 hours of leaving Abu Dhabi. Plus I had horrendously long layovers and missed flights because of winter weather. My roundtrip flights were about 70 hours door to door.
However, it was comforting to be home for a short time and visit with family and some friends. We had not visited Edmonton over Christmas in five years so the extremely dry and cold weather (averaged about minus 20 celcius) caught us a bit off guard. We returned to Abu Dhabi on January 12 severely jet lagged. I often wonder how politicians can fly around the world, attend conferences, make speeches and not appear jet lagged.
So the last few months have been bitter sweet for us. But we'll visit Edmonton in the summer and Darcy's mother may visit us after the baby's birth. We'd like to fly home for Christmas too. 2010 will be an exciting year for us!
We've bought and received some baby books and baby clothes. We also bought a car seat in Edmonton and shipped it with us back to Abu Dhabi. But we still have a lot of things to purchase plus baby proof our apartment before the birth. Few boy and girl names have caught our fancy but we don't want anything too old Testament or New Agey sounding. The photo below is the Team Canada 2010 Olympic hockey jersey for our little one. No, I didn't buy it - Darcy did! It's very cute and appropriate since the baby will be born in the same Olympic year. Maybe I should get it framed once s/he outgrows it.
Our November 25 to December 10 trip to Paris, Bruges and Brussels was fantastic. The weather was cool and rainy most of the time but it didn't dampen our spirits. Our hotels were in great locations and were within walking distance to many places. Paris highlights were Notre Dame, Versailles and the Louvre but we saw wonderful places every day. The medieval city of Bruges was incredible and we filled our share of Belgian waffles, chocolates and mussels. The Grand Place in Brussels was very interesting too. We did a lot of walking and took the convenient subways. If you have a Facebook account then you can view photos of our trip here.
On December 21 we renewed our National I.D. cards. The process only took an hour but we visited the office early in the morning and crowds weren't too bad because it was the holidays. Darcy got hers delivered Saturday and mine should come on Sunday. That should take care of us for three years until our residence visa runs out.
Christmas came and went very quickly but we got some nice presents. Darcy baked some goodies but unfortunately I only had a normal two day weekend. Unfortunate news is that Darcy's father passed away on December 27. So we flew to Edmonton for the funeral. Things weren't any easier with us trying to book tickets within 24 hours of leaving Abu Dhabi. Plus I had horrendously long layovers and missed flights because of winter weather. My roundtrip flights were about 70 hours door to door.
However, it was comforting to be home for a short time and visit with family and some friends. We had not visited Edmonton over Christmas in five years so the extremely dry and cold weather (averaged about minus 20 celcius) caught us a bit off guard. We returned to Abu Dhabi on January 12 severely jet lagged. I often wonder how politicians can fly around the world, attend conferences, make speeches and not appear jet lagged.
So the last few months have been bitter sweet for us. But we'll visit Edmonton in the summer and Darcy's mother may visit us after the baby's birth. We'd like to fly home for Christmas too. 2010 will be an exciting year for us!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Trick or Treat
My week long business/leisure trip to London was great! I visited the Tate, National and National Portrait Galleries, British Library, British Museum, and London Museum. Plus I did a lot of walking. The weather was a bit cooler than I expected but at least it wasn't uncomfortable walking around the city like it still is in Abu Dhabi. I hadn't been to London in over nine years and I met up with an old friend too.
Darcy finished her last day of work on Oct. 29 and is looking forward to a break. She booked our hotels in Paris, Brussels and Bruges for our two week trip in late November and early December. The weather here is still fairly hot as we head into November but it should be a bit cooler by now. The Formula One race here has dominated the local news this weekend. I'm not really much of a F1 fan but it is interesting to see all hype behind this event.
Although Halloween is not a big day here we still bought a carved a pumpkin. It was expensive since it had to be shipped from either North America or Europe. But it was huge and looked neat lit up. Check out Darcy's Facebook profile for a photo.
Whale shark springs big surprise at beach club we stayed one night our first summer here.
How should a mosque look? The mosque has a 21st century design. It's not very large but it took years to build.
At last, another way off the island and another article about the new bridge.
New route halves time commuting to Abu Dhabi I drove it last Thursday and the new highway is fairly quick to reach from our place.
Single card for residents next year - I hope there's more success with the implementation compared to the first national ID card attempt.
UAE is top Arab state to live in The full report is at http://www.prosperity.com/rankings.aspx and Canada is ranked #7.
Clinton to meet Abbas in Abu Dhabi They'll likely meet at the Emirates Palace which we'll drive close to on our way to the mall today. I wonder if we'll see any black limos.
Debate over Arabic instruction heats up Ironically many Arabs in schools say they don't get very good instruction with learning English!
Waypoint on the old silk road
Darcy finished her last day of work on Oct. 29 and is looking forward to a break. She booked our hotels in Paris, Brussels and Bruges for our two week trip in late November and early December. The weather here is still fairly hot as we head into November but it should be a bit cooler by now. The Formula One race here has dominated the local news this weekend. I'm not really much of a F1 fan but it is interesting to see all hype behind this event.
Although Halloween is not a big day here we still bought a carved a pumpkin. It was expensive since it had to be shipped from either North America or Europe. But it was huge and looked neat lit up. Check out Darcy's Facebook profile for a photo.
Whale shark springs big surprise at beach club we stayed one night our first summer here.
How should a mosque look? The mosque has a 21st century design. It's not very large but it took years to build.
At last, another way off the island and another article about the new bridge.
New route halves time commuting to Abu Dhabi I drove it last Thursday and the new highway is fairly quick to reach from our place.
Single card for residents next year - I hope there's more success with the implementation compared to the first national ID card attempt.
UAE is top Arab state to live in The full report is at http://www.prosperity.com/rankings.aspx and Canada is ranked #7.
Clinton to meet Abbas in Abu Dhabi They'll likely meet at the Emirates Palace which we'll drive close to on our way to the mall today. I wonder if we'll see any black limos.
Debate over Arabic instruction heats up Ironically many Arabs in schools say they don't get very good instruction with learning English!
Waypoint on the old silk road
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Planning trips abroad
I'm off to London on October 14th to attend a two day conference. Then I'm spending four extra days to sight see the city and hopefully meet a friend that I haven't seen in seven years. I'm staying in a low budget hostel that is close to Hyde Park. Meanwhile Darcy's last physical day at her job is October 29 and her separation day is Dec. 23. She's going to use up her remaining vacation time in between so we're going to visit Paris and Belgium for a couple of weeks. I have a bunch of unused vacation too that I need to use before the end of the calendar year.
The weather is slowing cooling off and I braved the elements and did my first evening corniche walk earlier this week. The corniche beach extension project has extended all the way to our neighborhood. So there will be almost two kilometers of beach. But the grand opening of the entire stretch has been delayed (no surprise!)
Motorists blind to dangers of tinting - we have 30% tinting for our car and it's fine.
Drivers face fines and seeing their cars impounded but they still want tints
License plate I 44 fetches 2.3 million Dirhams - that's about $626,000 USD
Police call for ban on passenger minibuses
Life after the meltdown
Parking problems the space race - luckily we don't have to pay in our neighborhood....yet! I guess we should keep an eye on the parking permit website.
DNA database set to start in a year
Burj Dubai not quite a tower but a free-standing structure
The weather is slowing cooling off and I braved the elements and did my first evening corniche walk earlier this week. The corniche beach extension project has extended all the way to our neighborhood. So there will be almost two kilometers of beach. But the grand opening of the entire stretch has been delayed (no surprise!)
Motorists blind to dangers of tinting - we have 30% tinting for our car and it's fine.
Drivers face fines and seeing their cars impounded but they still want tints
License plate I 44 fetches 2.3 million Dirhams - that's about $626,000 USD
Police call for ban on passenger minibuses
Life after the meltdown
Parking problems the space race - luckily we don't have to pay in our neighborhood....yet! I guess we should keep an eye on the parking permit website.
DNA database set to start in a year
Burj Dubai not quite a tower but a free-standing structure
Sunday, September 20, 2009
EID Mubarak!
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has come and gone since our last posting. EID began Sunday morning so I have three days off while Darcy has the week to relax. We had wanted to return to the Bab Al Shams hotel where we stayed last year. However, the rates had gone up significantly. There was a newspaper article recently written that said many UAE hotels charge more if rooms are booked directly through them versus using travel sites like travelocity and booking a package. That's unfortunate so that might deter us from staying in many hotels here.
Hard to believe that fall starts in a day or two. Perhaps we've become more tolerant of the climate here over the past three years but this summer did not seem as oppressively hot and humid as past ones. However, we've had to contend with more water leakage problems and putting up with extremely dirty windows.
Darcy and I will drive to Dubai during our break to see the new Dubai Mall. There is a huge bookstore that is supposed to be the biggest in the UAE. I can't remember when I last stopped in Dubai but it's probably been at least a year. I have a new co-worker and it's a chance for all of us to see some new sights. Speaking of traveling, we booked tickets (online deal with Lufthansa) to spend two weeks this fall in Paris, Brussels and Brugge. We're looking forward to it and friends of ours here went there last year and loved it.
Abu Dhabi plans to build 17,000 villas for Emiratis
The spy who came in from the sea
Riddle of fasting in land of the longest day
Controversial Canadian ferries bound for new duty in the gulf
Metro chaos prompts information campaign
Large colony of flamingoes found
Going for a swim? Bring your wallet
Survivors of our spiritual past
Hard to believe that fall starts in a day or two. Perhaps we've become more tolerant of the climate here over the past three years but this summer did not seem as oppressively hot and humid as past ones. However, we've had to contend with more water leakage problems and putting up with extremely dirty windows.
Darcy and I will drive to Dubai during our break to see the new Dubai Mall. There is a huge bookstore that is supposed to be the biggest in the UAE. I can't remember when I last stopped in Dubai but it's probably been at least a year. I have a new co-worker and it's a chance for all of us to see some new sights. Speaking of traveling, we booked tickets (online deal with Lufthansa) to spend two weeks this fall in Paris, Brussels and Brugge. We're looking forward to it and friends of ours here went there last year and loved it.
Abu Dhabi plans to build 17,000 villas for Emiratis
The spy who came in from the sea
Riddle of fasting in land of the longest day
Controversial Canadian ferries bound for new duty in the gulf
Metro chaos prompts information campaign
Large colony of flamingoes found
Going for a swim? Bring your wallet
Survivors of our spiritual past
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ramadan Kareem!
Marhaba everyone!
We've been back in Abu Dhabi for two weeks now and we're back into our routine. Saturday is the start of Ramadan and one of the nice things is that our work day is reduced to six hours. I'll leave my office a bit earlier to exercise twice a week and I'll stay late on the other three days. So I'll end up working more hours a week over Ramadan but still fewer than the normal 40. After that is the EID break and then I'll need to start figuring out when to begin using my twenty work days of vacation this fall. It will be nice to have all these breaks this fall in the midst of another busy semester at work. I finally have a new co-worker so it will benefit the library and especially public services!
Our vacation in Alberta and B.C. was great and naturally too short. It was great to see my brother and sister-in-law after three years. Another highlight was seeing the Pacific Ocean on Vancouver Island. We really enjoyed staying at the Middle Beach Lodge. The $35 seafood dinners were great, view from our balcony and beaches were wonderful. The weather was unseasonably hot and we got a sunburn despite wearing sunscreen, sunhats and keeping our shirts on.
The long 25 hour journey from Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto to Frankfurt and finally Abu Dhabi was luckily uneventful. I'll mention that the Frankfurt Airport is not a very attractive or comfortable place. They are doing a lot of construction but I don't know how it can improve things. It felt like one was in a prison by being rather dark and having few windows.
Below are some interesting stories from our neck of the woods:
A bygone age brought back to life
Love that stands the test of time
Saudi ready to unveil its future
Shoe repairer's soul is in the souq
The poetry in personal messages
Abu Dhabi's last wind tower to be preserved
We've been back in Abu Dhabi for two weeks now and we're back into our routine. Saturday is the start of Ramadan and one of the nice things is that our work day is reduced to six hours. I'll leave my office a bit earlier to exercise twice a week and I'll stay late on the other three days. So I'll end up working more hours a week over Ramadan but still fewer than the normal 40. After that is the EID break and then I'll need to start figuring out when to begin using my twenty work days of vacation this fall. It will be nice to have all these breaks this fall in the midst of another busy semester at work. I finally have a new co-worker so it will benefit the library and especially public services!
Our vacation in Alberta and B.C. was great and naturally too short. It was great to see my brother and sister-in-law after three years. Another highlight was seeing the Pacific Ocean on Vancouver Island. We really enjoyed staying at the Middle Beach Lodge. The $35 seafood dinners were great, view from our balcony and beaches were wonderful. The weather was unseasonably hot and we got a sunburn despite wearing sunscreen, sunhats and keeping our shirts on.
The long 25 hour journey from Vancouver to Edmonton to Toronto to Frankfurt and finally Abu Dhabi was luckily uneventful. I'll mention that the Frankfurt Airport is not a very attractive or comfortable place. They are doing a lot of construction but I don't know how it can improve things. It felt like one was in a prison by being rather dark and having few windows.
Below are some interesting stories from our neck of the woods:
A bygone age brought back to life
Love that stands the test of time
Saudi ready to unveil its future
Shoe repairer's soul is in the souq
The poetry in personal messages
Abu Dhabi's last wind tower to be preserved
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Ila Aliqa Abu Dhabi!
Well, we made it though another academic year and it's vacation time! This is our third time flying home for summer vacation and it always seems surreal when the departure day arrives. A friend is going to drive us to the airport so we'll have plenty of time to relax for our 2 am red eye flight to Frankfurt. Then it's on to Calgary and Edmonton. So another 24 hour flight home. Luckily I can earn Star Alliance airmiles. So we'll be back blogging in August!
Aggressive plan to increase university enrollment
Retail rents fall for first time in at least ten years
Air conditioned bus shelters on the way
Tourists are beckoned to the Gulf
Emiratis explain why they resigned
UAE birthrate falls by nearly 50%
Scientists finish tests on UAE's first satellite
Abu Dhabi to extend length of school day
Aggressive plan to increase university enrollment
Retail rents fall for first time in at least ten years
Air conditioned bus shelters on the way
Tourists are beckoned to the Gulf
Emiratis explain why they resigned
UAE birthrate falls by nearly 50%
Scientists finish tests on UAE's first satellite
Abu Dhabi to extend length of school day
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