Did you have an uneventful trip back to Phnom Penh?

Ha! Uneventful? The 'limousine' bus was infested with mozzies, the seat in front of me squeaked the whole time, I was sat next to a Singaporean woman with no idea of personal space, we hit a cow - don't know how much damage the cow sustained but we had a broken light and cracked bumper from the encounter
- and the best bit...we had to inhale noxious fumes from the engine coming through the a/c ducts every 20 minutes until the bus company finally sent another bus out to get us - one hour from our destination after a 5.5 hour trip!
Oh well, not much different to a trip I took on Virgin trains from Manchester to London once...except for the cow!!

The world's best passenger complaint letter?

Oh how I wish I'd thought of writing something like this on some of my travels.
It's your hamster, Richard. And it's not breathing.

How to sell kleenex in the Middle East

Have an advert of a woman tucking in a tissue to her husband's collar in a display of affection.
1. Why can't he do it himself? Does he no longer have opposable thumbs due to evolutionary regression?
2. Why does he need a bib in the first place? Is a grown man not able to eat without one? (The fact that it seems like he is just working on his computer at the time is even worse...perhaps he can't stop drooling onto his clothes.)
3. Does she not have anything better to do?
-Rant over-
PS Kleenex is one of the brands on the boycott list because of their sending money to Israel.

On the road again...

...sung a la Donkey in Shrek 2...

In 4 hours I'll be on a flight to China (well, actually, I'll be on a flight to Qatar, then wait around for about 5 1/2 hours, then I'll get on a flight to China, but same same yanni). Am I sad to leave Abu Dhabi? In one way I will be sad to leave; I've made some good friends who I'll miss seeing regularly and I'll definitely miss living in a big flat overlooking the Arabian Gulf. But on the other hand, the list of things I won't miss is too long to mention!

La Aguilera

Surrounded by screaming teenagers, I started to question my decision to see Christina Aguilera live in Abu Dhabi. When she was an hour late starting, after leaving the crowd to be warmed up by a seeming karaoke winner, followed by reggae from the local DJ, that sinking feeling just grew and grew. But, when she finally did appear she belted out the tunes and all was forgiven.
She danced and pranced in an array of outfits, from tasteful white suit to spray on leopard-print leotard. During the costume changes the audience got to watch videos of her. My favourite was the one where she was all but having sex with what looked like a hookah pipe. You've got to love a woman with the guts to show that in a Muslim country!
It wasn't long before she screamed 'It's hot in Abu Dhabi'. Funny 'cos we were just commenting on how nice the weather was. But then again, I suppose she couldn't feel the nice breeze under all those lights. After a short break to introduce the band and amazing backing dancers, she followed on with 'Hurt', hitting every note perfectly and facing a sea of raised lighters. She carried on with hits from her current and past albums and even treated us to a preview from her upcoming album, which I'm sure she mimed. In fact, the more time went on, the less she was singing, relying instead on belting out occasional words. It didn't make 'Fighter', the finale, any less brilliant with silver bits showering down all around. But with no encore I think it would be fair to say Christina Aguilera came, sang and melted.

2nd Middle East International Film Festival

MEIFF mark 2 has just ended here in Abu Dhabi and I was lucky enough not to have too much work on while the festival was in full swing. Here are some of the films I got to see (imdb links follow where available just for Shu ;)):

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a documentary that reignites your belief that you, an individual, can make a difference. It's all about the women's movement for peace in Liberia during the time of Charles Taylor. These powerful, brave women basically put an end to the civil war in their country. (imdb)

The Prisoner - an Indian film about a writer who is released from prison and hopes to start a new life after writing a new book. He loses the manuscript but finds a lot of cash and we follow him as the mix up leads him to redemption.

War Child made me want to go and build a school in Sudan. The incredible story of Emmanuel Jal and his rise to successful rapper from child soldier beginnings. (imdb)

Laila's Birthday was at times frustrating but ended brilliantly and was also awarded Best Artistic Contribution. A day in the life of a Palestinian judge turned taxi driver, we watch as events outside his control shape the course of his day. (imdb)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - simply marvelous. Enough said. (imdb)

Written. What can I say? I have yet to see a Korean film that isn't weird. This was not the one to break the pattern!

Henna was the UAE's entry into the competition for best narrative feature. If it had won, I would have picketed the jury until they changed the vote. Bad. I couldn't even stay til the end. And I'll watch anything!

Perhaps if I'd watched Sleep Dealer on a different day, I might have appreciated it more, but as it came hot on the heels of a rubbish film I guess I wasn't really in the mood. I did see Jane Fonda on the way to the screening, though! (imdb)

Quiet Chaos is a slow moving Italian film about a man whose wife dies. The story focuses on how he and his daughter cope with the loss, or rather how they seem not to notice it much. An enjoyable film but there is a totally incongruous sex scene in the middle which just doesn't fit. (imdb)

What happens when you make a documentary about the Iranian women's football team? You're banned from showing it in Iran. Football Under Cover. (imdb)

Wild Blood (Sanguepazzo) should be given its Italain title as there were no subtitles to help me! The wonderful performances by the lead actors were all the help needed to bring back my rather rusty Italian in this tale of toing and froing among partisans towards the end of World War 2. (imdb)

Gulabi Talkies made me feel really sad. In a small community why must people still have bias and mistrust just because of religion? Why are women still treated like chattle even in our 'modern' age? That doesn't mean that you shouldn't watch it, though, because it was very good! (Click here for a full on review)

O'Horten - who'd have thought a film about an old geezer (called Odd!) who retires from his job as a train driver would actually be entertaining?! A very enjoyable Norwegian film that looks firmly in the face of old age. (imdb)

Frozen River tells the story of a trailer park mom whose husband runs off with the money for the family's new trailer. She tries to keep things together by getting involved with smuggling. You just know that that kind of a story is going to end in tears, don't you?! (imdb)

What I liked about Beirut Open City is that it tries to dispel the myth that Lebanon is an open and secular society. The main character is an Egyptian filmmaker who is trying to confront the truth about the Arab world, believing that he will be able to do so in liberal Lebanon.

I can't really give you a full review of Time of Comrades because the (dreadful) subtitles disappeared and unfortunately my Moroccan Arabic is not good enough to follow the plot without them ;) What I did understand looked OK...

Terribly Happy - my personal favourite of all the films I saw. The Danish director's style has been likened to the Coen brothers'. Possibly. What is for certain is that this film deserved its win at Karlovy Vary and should have got more credit here. In my humble opinion! (imdb)

Disgrace, winner of the Black Pearl award and a big chunk of cash. Based on the book of the same name. A sometimes uncomfortable look at post-apartheid politics in South Africa, this film deserves praise...but I wouldn't have given it the prize! (imdb)

Yoga

I have been a trainee yogi on and off for a number of years and have normally enjoyed the classes that I have been to (except for that one Iyengar class in Edinburgh I tried!) but recently I have discovered it again and I don't enjoy the classes, I love them.
Despite initially being put off by the surly receptionist, I tried calling the Yoga Tree Studio again a couple of weeks ago and went along to 'a gentle introduction to yoga' class. I am so out of shape right now (and have never been a pro ;)) that I thought it was probably the best option. I was not wrong. One month later and I'm totally hooked. I had wanted to get into Pilates with the studio next door and had even booked private lessons to do it, but comparing the two there is no competition. It's yoga all the way. I cannot recommend this studio enough. Although I might regret it when classes get busy and there's no space for me…I can already see the numbers increasing as people start to come back after Ramadan.
One day I hope to be able to do this!

Facial

When you think of having a facial, how do you imagine you'll feel? Relaxed? Tranquil? Sore? I just cam back from having a thorough, if somewhat painful, facial. It started out well enough with the therapist asking questions about my medical history and what I hoped to get from my treatment, all while I was wrapped in a duvet on a therapy bed. I could answer those questions with ease. Although she did make me feel like a naughty schoolchild when she told me off for not drinking enough water every day.
She cleansed my face which turned out to be how she found out about all the 'problems' under the surface of my skin. Next came the steam. I was just starting to relax and it felt very calming when she put patches on my eyes but she didn't warn me to expect hot steam to be blasted all over my face and up my nose. Thankfully, she left me alone in the room so I could wiggle about and peel one of the eye patches off to have a look at the contraption. Suitably satisfied that it would not melt my face off, I tried to breathe normally until she returned.
Well, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have prefered her to have stayed away because when she came back, she blinded me with a magnifying mirror and said, 'I'm just going to do some extraction, OK?' What she actually meant was 'I'm just going to squeeze all the spots I can see on your very spotty face and make you squirm on the bed.'
To be fair, she didn't actually pick the red spots that I already had. She electrocuted them! I couldn't see from my prone position but if I had to put money on it, I'd bet you could see blue sparks flying between face and machine.
Instead of massaging my face (because I have the type of skin to breakout at the slightest touch), she massaged my shoulders. She spent quite a long time trying to work out the knots in my shoulders but I'm pretty sure they were only there due to the stress of having the facial.
Anyway, I've already booked my appointment for next week…masochist or what?!

Back in business

Hurray! After months of waiting, we now have internet at home again. Watch this space for updates from the past months...

Sugar

What a great idea to have a beauty salon where you can watch back-to-back Desperate Housewives while having a pedicure :)

Bride show

Who would have thought I'd be the type to go to a bride show?! But where else in the world do you get more abayas at a bride show than wedding dresses? Dubai apparently!

Chamas

Vegetarians look away now!
We went to a Brazilian restaurant tonight where you get a coaster which acts as a signal for the waiters to bring you food or not. Turn it to green and you soon get tired of them turning up, switch it to red and you actually have time to eat. And what food do they bring? Meat. Lots and lots of meat. Here madam is a big hunk of cow, how much would you like? Fabulous!

In The Name Of The King

Please, please, please do not be tempted to ever watch this film!

Catching up

I know I haven't posted on here for ages, but it doesn't mean I haven't been writing the posts. I have just uploaded posts from the end of Nov until now so you can catch up on what has been going on here ... if you're interested! :)

It's raining, it's pouring

Last week was cold. I had to go and buy a jumper (oh the hardship). But this week has been a washout. It started raining a little a few days ago and gradually got worse until half of Dubai had to close because it was flooded, and the number of businesses closed here was catching up. Unfortunately for me, the BC in Abu Dhabi remained open as usual even though all the computers in the reception had to be moved and the lights switched off for fear of electrical fires from the amount of water leaking through the roof!

A good book

I've just finished reading "Selling Olga" by Louisa Waugh. It's a bunch of stories about human trafficking - not a cheery subject, I know but I would really recommend it as it is very interesting and well-written.

New Year 'Fancy Dress'

I bought a beautiful new dress for NYE. A red one from Mango that I had seen months ago and drooled over but resisted from buying. Anyway, I spotted it in the sale last week and snapped it up. Karin also bought a red dress but it wasn't planned that we would both be in red. Nor was it planned that we would end up in a sports bar that had a fancy dress theme of an enchanted forest! What a great start to the new year!
Actually we had lots of fun as you might be able to see from the photos :)

Christmas

The annual nightmare of what to do for Christmas struck again. It's great to get a break from work, but every year it's the same panic, plan and , generally, anticlimax as you feel like you have to have a good time because surely everyone else is. This year it was even more last minute than normal. I arranged to go to some friends' house for dinner almost the day before Christmas Eve and while there rang a hotel to book for Christmas lunch the next day.
Christmas Eve was quiet - just 4 of us - very civilised and grown up. The shopping beforehand was slightly less civilised when we couldn't find risotto rice, but it was a very pleasant evening. After dinner I went out with another friend and we met our good friends Jim (Beam) and Jack (Daniels). The after party we went to seemed like such a good idea at the time.
The "mega buffet" sounded good and it wasn't too expensive so it all seemed like such a good idea the night before. That was before the copious amounts of alcohol and the random after party that lasted until 5am. Getting out of bed felt like the worst idea in the world when my alarm went off at 11am. But I managed it - just! Karin wasn't quite so lucky and had to throw up on the way to lunch. Not a great start perhaps.
But the buffet was one of the most random experiences ever. First, it was in a massive ballroom so the atmosphere was more like a school canteen than a nice festive lunch. Next were the mainly Asian waiting staff with Santa hats trying to look busy. Then there was the Colombian band playing Latino music. But the piece de resistance was definitely the Philippino Santa and his band of out of tune carollers. They seemed to stay on the stage for an eternity and in my hungover state I was incapable of getting away!
All in all a very random day.

Driving licence

I'm not quite sure why you have to convert your UK licence to an Emirati one when there is no test involved and the eye test can hardly be called that either. It must just be another one of those money making scams the government has of taking your dosh without you actually paying tax. Oh well, I am legal now so my dad had better watch his car key!

Justin Timberlake

Is he bringing sexy back? Oh yes!
So, as an antidote to all the cultural things I've been doing laely I had to go to the Justin Timberlake concert. When I bought the tickets ages ago I thought I'd easily be able to find a couple of people to go with, but what with friends already having plans or not wanting to spend money on seeing the Trousersnake (shocking, I know!), I started to think I was going to be going alone. Fortunately I managed to persuade Mohamad (a guy I have been seeing lately) to come with me. Oh yes, and I sold the other 2 tickets I had for a slight profit which bought us MacDonalds afterwards ;)
Well, on to the concert. It was fab! I can't claim to be a JT fan but I recognised a lot of the stuff he sang and he even did a cover of a great INXS track. The most impressive thing about it was his musical talent. He played piano, guitar, some strange keyboard/guitar hybrid and even performed a drum solo. He was on stage constantly for about 2 hours and danced his little socks off the whole time. The only negative for me was the amount of sweat visible from about 5 minutes into the whole show. I mean he could easily have solved the problem by taking his clothes off. I'm sure nobody would have minded!