A Night Out

Last Thursday we spent the night in Abu Dhabi. We hooked up with a friend at Trader Vic's.

The first weird thing of the night was seeing a bar fight. Not so unusual? Well, that's the first bar fight I have seen in the UAE. I wondered what happens to people that are turned into the police starting a bar fight in the UAE, but we didn't get that chance. The bar staff was quick to react once the fighters knocked over glasses on a nearby table. They managed to push the fighters and their friends out the front door. The group was outside and as bar patrons looked on the fight moved back into the doorway. Eventually the whole thing was broke up and we moved on. How curious?!?

Later on in the night we were driving home. A line of cars were going through a green light when the light began to flash (an indication that the light will quickly turn yellow). The taxi in front of me thought it was a good time to stop, but half-way along the crosswalk (and Abu Dhabi gives tickets to cars over the line). I was far enough back from the taxi, so I knew he had enough room to move back. He put on his reverse lights and kept reversing, even while I was honking my horn (as a warning that he was too close) and then backed right into me! He sat in his car and did not even realize for a good 5 seconds that he had hit me, but then pulled forward a bit. I got out of the car to check for damage and he just quietly sat inside his car and watched me. Of course he was not going too fast so there was no damage, but there was no reaction from him, I couldn't believe it! I got back into the car and the driver finally leaned out of his car a little with his hands raised! What an idiot! He may be new to the country and maybe that was his second day driving, so hopefully he figures out how far back he can go next time! Grrrrrr....

Celebration in Dubai!

Here I am writing about the Burj Dubai (alternately called the Burj Khalifa) again!
Yesterday was the Grand Opening of the building and ThickBlackGlasses and I were lucky enough to fight the crowds to attend the ceremony.


Most everyone headed to Dubai Mall - mostly because the parking was ideal and the location perfect. Here we caught a great photo of the masses trying to use the escalator to the lower ground leading to the outside of the mall. We decided to go the long way and find a less busy escalator (after the escalator collapse at Coors Field in Denver Colorado we decided not to take our chances).

Everyone was at the ready! We found a spot along the outside of the mall, but far back from the water fountain and the festivities. We could see a sea of people in front of us, but we had a great view of the amazing fireworks show that was about to happen.

Check out a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxxv6AZ_xg

Here's a shot of the Burj after the fireworks - the lighting is incredible up and down this building!

After the festivities we found out that where we were standing was ideal. The sheiks and other VIPs were exiting right by us. The picture above is the vehicle transporting Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE.

Tonight we bought tickets to ride to the top! At only 100 Dhs (about $27 US) it was priced about right for a tourist attraction.

First, you ride along a travalator and see a screen filled with images of the UAE over time.

Then you ride an elevator from the Ground floor to the 124th floor. The ride takes about 60 seconds and then you arrive at the top of the world.

Here is a view of Sheik Zayed Road that goes right through the middle of the city. I have only ever seen this in pictures and could not believe I was seeing it in "real life" !!!!

I have written before (December 9th, to be exact) about how amazing this building is and what it represents to the UAE and to the world. It may be a long time before another building even attempts to beat the height of the Burj Dubai and if you ever get a chance I highly recommend a visit.

Burj Dubai

Everyday I see this beautiful building reflected in my rearview mirror. Usually the sun has just risen and it's golden rays are bouncing off the gleaming windows. This building is the Burj Dubai (or Dubai Tower) and it rises almost half a mile above the city It now stands as the tallest building in the world and certainly most impressive to stand beside and look up at (maybe soon observation platforms will open!).

Today as I was driving home this structure loomed up from the other buildings definitely making a statement. The sky was a little hazy after the morning rain, but it made the skyline look so much more impressive. I have to give praise to such a human-made ediface. Remember when God struck down the Babylonians for creating such a tower? And here we are today, continuing that uncompleted feat of our forefathers, what an amazing time to live in!

Turkey Day

Well this Turkey Day was rather hard on us. Since the government declared a 10-day holiday for Eid and National Day our co-workers fled the country and we were left to create our own fun - which we did! As you can see we had a whole table full of yummy traditions to tackle!!!

I took the opportunity this year to make my own pumpkin pie from scratch. We had bought two pumpkins to carve for Halloween but we didn't get around to it and I thought it would be a waste to not do something with them. I did some internet research and found that it's fairly simple to bake the pumpkin and go from there. Most sites recommended not using the "Jack-o-Latern" because it's too stringy but I had no choice and here's what happened:

I cut the pumpkin in two and cut out the seeds, then I placed it on a flat pan with about 1/4 inch of water and cooked it on 350 for a little over an hour...
Once it was cooked and mushy I scooped out the shells and pureed the pumpkin as best I could without a blender (the internet was right, it was a bit stringy but seemed like it would work)...

I made a pie crust, but I always have a hard time rolling it out and placing it in the pan, but as you can see below I managed to make it work!

Here's the pie crust and the filling ready to be placed in the oven.

Cooking away!!!! Yummy!

The final cooked product - not too bad!

The Wandering Monkey, Pepe, seemed to love it. He couldn't keep his paws off of it!

A New Highway

Well, we've been laying low for the last month. I guess a lot is due to the fact that we're really homesick right now and so we haven't really been exploring Dubai as much as we should. Sassafrass' Sister is coming in December, so we'll get a chance to see more and do some exploring to boot.

On the up side though, I did get a chance to drive over the new expressway linking Abu Dhabi island, Yas Island, and Saadiyat Island on Monday night. I drove in for a meeting on Monday and then my uncle suggested I try the new expressway over the water and "island hop" as he called it. It was dark so I didn't get to see the water, but it is a huge highway that cut right around all of the busy traffic in the city and took me straight to the highway to Dubai!

After you leave the island of Abu Dhabi you drive over 1.4 km of Sheikh Khalifa Bridge (http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091014/NATIONAL/910149971/1021) to Saadiyat Island. This is where they are building all sorts of amazing museums - a branch of the Louve and a Guggenheim masterpeice (just like we have in Denver). To read more about it just click the link: http://www.saadiyat.ae/en/ It should be amazing when it's all completed!!!

There is another small bridge that takes you to Yas Island. Yas Island is where they just ran the Formula One Grand Prix. An incredible event for those that love F1 racing. After looking at the website I found that many other things are to be built on the island over the next year or so - including a Warner Bros. Theme Park! Check out the link to see some pictures and find out what else it will have to offer: http://yasisland.ae/Default_en_gb.html The picture at the top of my blog is from the Yas Island website and portrays the Yas Hotel, which was lit up when I drove past so I was able to see it.

When I returned home that evening I told ThickBlackGlasses that we must go to Abu Dhabi soon and take that drive in the daytime. If we do you can be sure that pictures will follow :)

An American MONKEY in London

Finally after a year of living in the UAE with my friends (Sassafrass and The Man with Thick, Black Glasses) I have been able to stow away with them as they wander the globe to the fantastic city of London.

Our first glimpses of the United Kingdom go whizzing by as we ride the train from Gatwick Airport.

I take a nap on Sassafrass to recover from the red-eye flight we took to get here.

We spent a lot of time riding the tube to get around. I'm glad I had help to "mind the gap" because it was quite a big one for a little monkey.

First things first: Go to a pub, drink a pint, eat some fish & chips.

Welcome to London!

"Allo, can I speak to Dr. Who?....Oh, he's not in. Well, can I get a ride to the Ministry of Magic then?"

One of the best things about travelling is meeting new people and making new friends. I met this charming bloke on the tour through Madame Tussaud's.

This was a dream come true for me. I can't believe I got to meet the star of my favorite movie.

Protecting the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London is serious business.

All I wanted to do was feel his fuzzy hat, but his machine gun made me think that was a bad idea.

We took a double-decker open-top bus tour around the city, saw a lot of interesting buildings and enjoyed the commentary of the guide. But most of it just went in one ear and out the other!

Here was an interesting find along the bus tour. What do you suppose they serve in a place like this? I would stay away from the chocolate desserts if I were you.

We decided to go to the original Hard Rock Cafe for lunch instead.

They had plenty of awesome rock memorabilia, but nothing from The Monkees. Can you believe that?

I still love the Hard Rock! Long live rock 'n roll!

We got to Buckingham Palace too late to take the tour, so we had to settle for peering through the front gates. More of the guards with the fuzzy hats were taunting me from the other side. We didn't let this setback slow us down though and continued our sightseeing with...

The Queen Victoria Memorial

Westminster Abbey

The Saint George and the dragon column and the Westminster School (to the left)

I needed a rest after all that sightseeing. Big Ben ain't all that big!

We continued on to a river cruise of the Thames.

Okay, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (which is actually the name of the bell inside) are pretty impressive and should be seen in person to truly capture their magnificence.

Other sights along the river included the HMS Belfast, Cleopatra's needle (an ancient obelisk imported from Egypt), Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and Tate Modern.

The perfect way to end a long day of sightseeing: a pint of Guinness and a traditional English steak pie in a pub topped off with a ride on the London Eye.

So, this is what it would be like if monkeys could fly?

The next day, we took a tour out to visit Stonehenge. A visit to England would not be complete without seeing this amazing site.

Can you imagine what the monkeys who built this were like? What ancient monkey purpose did it serve?

The long escalator to the underground trains which end our trip to London. It was amazing, enlightening, tiring and way too quick. I hope we have the chance to come back again some day to see and experience everything we missed this time. Cheers!

New Adventures in New Places

Well it's the start of a new school year and we find ourselves no longer in Abu Dhabi, but in Dubai. I have been reassigned to two schools in an rural community in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and so my company found the best and closest accomodations in Dubai.

So far we have been wandering the neighborhood and other areas around us to find our bearings. There is so much more to do in Dubai and we are looking forward to the new adventure.

We went with some friends to a restaurant called YO! Sushi. It's one of the few places I have remembered to take pictures of so far and it's by far one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been to. The food is placed in little bowls and set to rotate around the establishment on a little conveyer belt. As the food comes by you can have your choice. I felt that it was very futuristic.

As the year progresses and the pictures are compiled we will be sure to keep you updated on our new place!!!