YAS LINKS IN ABU DHABI

It was a great day for a road trip!  We loaded our golf bags in the back of the car, made a necessary stop at Starbucks for much needed "fuel", and off we went.....to Abu Dhabi for a day of golf at the Yas Links golf course!  WOOHOO!

There is nothing better than a good road trip in my book!  And it proved to be a great one -- the weather was perfect, the crazy drivers were still sound asleep, no loops of shame for me, and a car full of laughter. 

Once we arrived we were greeted by some gentlemen who took our bags and got them all settled into our carts.  Ahhh, they took such good care of us!

That's Ferrari World behind us.

What does golfing at the Yas Links golf course in Abu Dhabi look like?  Well, see for yourselves!!!

No, no, NOOOOOO....look closer!!!!

Yup, that's the big guy (Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan) who once ruled the UAE.  Now it seems he rules the fairway!

Yas Stadium, where the Formula One will be held next month, was LOUD with cars practicing for the big day! 

All in all in all, it was the perfect day!  A great road trip, a fun nine holes with friends, a wonderful lunch in the beautiful clubhouse......

Yas Links......we will see you again......SOON!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!*!

LOAD LOST!

It happens often here in Dubai.  Traffic comes to a standstill for no apparent reason.  That's what we thought until we came closer and saw that someone had lost their load!!

And you thought you were having a bad day!!

(It was not funny and I did not laugh -- I promise!)

HAPPY OKTOBERFEST AND DIWALI EVERYONE!

A huge benefit of living in a multicultural place like Dubai, is that there are sooooo many holidays to celebrate!

Happy Diwali (festival of lights) to our friends from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc......

And Happy Oktoberfest to our friends (and family) in Germany....

...we thought of all of you when we enjoyed a wonderful o "beer festival" a couple of evenings ago.....

It was a beautiful evening to be outside....a gentle breeze was blowing; the music was delightful (UM PA PA) -- (darn, I have a great video clip of the music that won't load -- maybe later);

the Germans were appropriately dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen;

and we got to share it all with good friends and new friends!

Oh, and did I mention that there was beer.....lots and lots and LOTS of beer!

And this Oktoberfest Celebration took place across the street from where we live!  It just doesn't get better than that!

HAPPY DIWALI EVERYONE! 

HAPPY OKTOBERFEST TOO!

(Sending thoughts and prayers to our dear friends back home.  Love you guys.)

WHEN NO OTHER WORD WORKS!

And what, pray tell, is this?

 

Well, I guess when no other word does the trick (duh, how about escalator?) you simply go with "travelator"!!  Makes perfect sense.....here in Dubai!

THREE WEEKS.......

I think it likes our balcony, don't you?

Three weeks.....it only took three weeks to go from this.....

.....to this....

Hmmmmm, I wonder what it will look like in just three more?

EMEG TURTLE RELEASE!

I was THRILLED when a friend sent me this email.....

....and immediately put it on our "MUST DO" list for last weekend!  (Right after the "GET SCUBA CERTIFIED" notation!)

We stopped at Java U for two cups of hot delicious coffee and headed south to the Ghantoot Reserve.  Once off the highway, it became a bit dicey (as my English friends would say) driving on a BUMPY (very, very, VERY bumpy) and sandy path along a fence line topped with barbed wire.  Hmmmmm, wonder what was lurking behind those barbs? (Never did find out!)

Finally (after spilling most of that hot delicious coffee), we arrived at the water!  We were one of the first cars to park (as I wanted nothing less than front row seats for the turtle release) and had plenty of time to enjoy the sights and sounds!

It wasn't long before people started arriving with their kids in tow!

There ended up being lots and lots and LOTS of people -- we were all gathered together and had to wait until the announcement was made to cross over a small bridge to the main beach of the Arabian Sea.

The photographers were ready......

...and the adults were made to stand BEHIND the roped off area (John and I got our "front row seats"), and the kids were grouped together on the sand (those lucky dogs).

Finally, the turtles arrived (in blue totes) and were placed along the water in the sand.  Everyone was soooooo excited!

Then the children got to rally round the totes for their first glimpses of the rehabilitated turtles!  (Wait a minute -- what about us?)

The lids were taken off and finally the turtles were taken out for everyone to see!!

They were placed on the sand pointing in the direction of the bright, crisp, aqua sea!

And off they went!  The crowd couldn't contain itself -- people jumped over the rope that held our "first row seats" in place and moved in to get photos of the turtles.  Here is my one and only picture of a released turtle swimming away.  Geeze, how in the world did the crowd control disappear so quickly?

After all the rehabilitated marine turtles were released we crossed back over that little bridge.....

...and made a beeline to the barbed wire path outta there!

(Note to self: Next time, be prepared to be the first one there; the first one across the bridge; the first one behind the rope; AND THE FIRST ONE TO JUMP OVER THAT ROPE AND RUN TOWARDS THE TURTLES SO AS NOT TO MISS THE AWESOME PHOTO OPPORTUNITY!)  Lesson learned!  But all in all, it was a very good morning!

WE DID IT! WE DID IT!! WE DID IT!!!

It almost didn't happen...AGAIN!

The Atlantis Dive Centre called and told us that due to weather our Open Water Dives were cancelled.

OH NOOOOOOOOO!!!

We were told that we could either reschedule them for next weekend (NOOOOOO!!) or we could do the dives off of their beach....in that wonderful, murky, zero visibility water that John loved oh so much!

I left it up to John.....it was in his hands....

and he chose to "JUST DO IT"!!

So we spent from 9AM until 4PM in the murky water completing our last two Open Water Dives!

WE DID IT!! 
AND WE COULDN'T BE HAPPIER!!!

MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED!!

My fingers are crossed.....
Let's just say that we are finished (woohoo) with this place....

....and we're ready for.....

Yup, my fingers are crossed,

and my toes (is that even possible?),

and my arms and my legs (you get the picture!)

HAPPY TGI-TH everyone!

It's gonna be a GREAT weekend in Dubai!*!

BRING IT ON, WINTER!

The last few mornings I've gone to look out my newly washed windows only to see this......

Geeze, they just don't stand a chance at staying clean, do they?  I know I'm in trouble when I walk outside and my sunglasses fog up .... and stay foggy for 10-15 minutes.  Yep, that's been the last few days.  UGH.  Golf on Sunday was fun but we were literally DRIPPING WET after nine holes!

This morning I drove John to work.  On my way home this is what the fog looked like!  I mean, buildings literally DISAPPEAR in this stuff!

But there is hope in sight (I keep reminding myself)!  The temps really are slowly dropping in Dubai these days (at least they were) and I am sooooo excited!   We've had several where the highs were not in triple digits any more!   And the evenings.....well, they just get better and better.

Here we are -- not even halfway through October -- and John and I sat OUTSIDE for dinner for the very first time since summer hit Dubai! (And, oh man, did it ever hit!)



Notice -- not a drop of sweat could be found on either one of us!   Bring it on, WINTER!  PLEASE, OH PLEASE, bring it on!