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!