Feb 9- Post by Charles

I am neglected this blog for too long, so today, I finally sat down for a few minutes to capture what we’ve done.

My last update was before Ramsey arrived, so as you can imagine we’ve been blazing through all the things to do in Dubai. The first week Ramsey was here hit up a few of the vast shopping malls. Choose your shoes wisely because it’s a lot of walking. Strangely enough, the malls are full of people, but many of the shops are empty. I do not know how many of them stay in business.

We have visited the Spice Souk, which sells mainly knock off watches, purses, luggage, and sunglasses. Occasionally strewn between the pirated goods there are some spices, without prices, and a blaring salesman encouraging you to try his spice. They Spice salesman explain all the benefits for your heart, blood, brain, sleep, pain, chi, feng shui, tai bo, and whatever else they think might help you buy. We ended up purchasing nothing having lost any will to after the full court sales press.

We have had a few nice meals since arriving, all of them pricier than any meal we have ever eaten in Houston. The atmosphere and quality are fantastic, and we are really enjoying ourselves. One night we partied on the world famous beaches of the “The Palm” at the Atlantis hotel. There were beautiful people everywhere, a fantastic DJ, all complete with Victorian era women walking around on stilts, jesters juggling fire, anything to keep up the energy. The drinks were expensive, our bar tab that night exceeded our grocery bill for 3 weeks, but a beach party under the full moon, overlooking the downtown skyline was worth every dollar.

Ramsey goes to the beach a few times a week, she’s pretty tan now. Rams is living a fully integrated ex-pat life, fearlessly waving down cabs to travel across town, to the grocery store, wherever she needs go. So far she hasn’t driven the car anywhere, but that will change soon.

More later- and pictures to follow- Charles

World's Largest

Right now it's Tuesday afternoon and I have been in Dubai one week and two days. I apologize for not updating the blog sooner, however I have been spending most of my time outdoors enjoying the cool weather while it lasts! The weather during this time of year is in the mid-to-high 70's during the day and falls in the 60's at night. Apparently in the summer, starting around May, the temperature can reach 120 degrees so you can see why I am enjoying the cool while it lasts! At least there is consistent cool breeze on the beach where I spend much of my time!

Now that I realize I have spent my first paragraph completely talking about the weather (I am indeed a farmer's daughter) I will move on to more exciting moments Charles and I have experienced together in Dubai. Last Thursday night marked the beginning of the weekend and thus Charles and I decided to do a little exploring out on the town. A contractor Charles works with and his wife, from Houston, joined us which was a treat to talk to for the night. We wound up at the Madinat Jumeirah which is host to little shopping stores, plenty of restaurants and a bar all lining a small creek. We chose Persian food for the night then found ourselves at Bar Zar to enjoy a final drink before calling it a night. It was a great evening out and I enjoyed seeing the night lights and having some good conversation.

Most of Friday was spent at The Dubai Mall which is the world's largest mall by square footage and boy is it! I thought I would want to spend 5-6 hours walking around and shopping but after about hour 2 1/2, I was ready for our movie. Inside the mall is a beautiful water fountain, a very large aquarium, an Olympic sized ice skating rink, the largest food court I have ever glimpsed at, a kid's play zone wing (don't get lost in that screaming section), a 22-screen movie theater, and hundreds and hundreds of stores to please every type of shopper. One of my favorite stores was "Candylicious" which of course, is the world's largest candy store! It had every flavor of Jelly Belly, every color of M&M's, cupcakes, popcorn, ice cream, candy bars, hard candy, chewy candy, sour candy, fudge, suckers, etc. It must have been embarrassing to my husband as I have already told you that I love cupcakes while candy and chocolate is of course right up there under my favorites! And who wouldn't love this store? With our candy in hand, we proceeded to the cinema where we picked out our seats on a screen when we purchased our tickets for the movie. Ticket prices were comparable to the states however popcorn, candy, sodas, etc. were about half the price which was a nice surprise! After the movie, Charles took me outside to get a great view of the newly famous"Burj Khalifa" which just opened as the world's largest tower. It looks like something out of a movie as it's architecture is absolutely stunning. This was the closest I had been to see the tower as I snapped away multiple pictures like your typical tourist. I would have never imagined that something as simple as a "building" could take my breathe away. If I wasn't already engulfed in complete amazement, we witnessed two different fountain shows which is set on the 30-acre Burj Dubai Lake. It's the world's largest dancing fountain (of course) and has water jets that shoot as high 500 ft in the air, equivalent to that of a 50-story building. The fountains spring up every twenty minutes daily and has over 6,600 lights and 25 color projectors. The show is set to music and creates an exciting sound of booming thunder each time the water rushes high overhead. Saturday was spent with Charles working in the morning, a run on the beach after lunch, then a trip to the Dubai Outlet Mall in hopes of picking up some great bargains. While the drive out to the mall was interesting, the mall itself was a dud and we walked away not spending a penny. Our tummies were craving some comfort food as we headed to TGIFriday's for dinner that evening.

Charles has been very busy working quite hard during the day and is usually at the office 12-13 hours a day. I have become quite acquainted to the local area shopping at the grocery store, picking up more cupcakes, then going for a run at the beach and working out at the apartment gym to work off those cupcakes! When I'm not eating or trying to burn it off, currently much of my time is spent at the beach soaking up the sun. Everywhere we go in Dubai we hear what seems to be every language imaginable but this is especially evident at the public beach. You can see all sorts of different cultures evident just by the way people act and the way they dress at the beach. Everything from the local women who dress head to toe in black with the elders covering their faces, the local men dressed in white, many Indian men who are most often dressed in street clothes, European families where the women will often wear a thong as I call it, the men in the tiniest speedo's, and let their kids run around completely naked while in the long process of packing up and changing, and the Americans who like to keep their distance a bit more and talk softly. However it's no wonder why everyone flocks to the beach as the sand is soft and cool to the touch and the water is clear and a beautiful blue-green shade.

Plans for the near future include going out to a nightclub on Friday night for a little dancing, attending an information meeting to volunteer at the local canine adoption place, and in February meeting up with the American Women's Association here in Dubai for a brunch. Charles and I miss everyone so very much and we love hearing from everybody! Please send us pictures and keep in touch with your lives back in the states. Thank-you again for all of your love and support and God bless!

Ramsey's First Post!

Hello hello everyone! I'm so excited to be on the other side of this blog for a change! Bare with me as I'm not near as talented as writer as Charles, but I look forward to detailing my time here in Dubai.

I arrived in Dubai on Sunday on time from a long 15 hour flight. Charles was right, Emirates airlines has such great entertainment! When I wasn't sleeping or wishing I was sleeping, I watched three episodes of Grey's Anatomy, two chick flicks, listened to an opera, and read about everything Dubai has to offer. The airport in Dubai was very easy and simple to navigate through where I found my husband waiting for me with open arms and a smile that's unforgettable.

As Charles welcomed me home in our beautiful apartment, it's still hard for me to believe this is our home for the next 6-8 months! Our apartment is perfect size and Charles picked a great location to live in. Monday morning I awoke early, suffering a bit from jet lag, and brought Charles a little breakfast in bed. Little did I know that he would have so many surprises for me as he presented me with my own local cell phone, day planner, local currency, a love letter, and a backpack for the beach! I truly have the most loving and sweetest husband any woman could ask for and more.

After Charles decided to take the day off and just do a little work for home, we were off to experience my first full day in Dubai! We went and got mochas from Starbucks across the street, walked around the neighborhood, and went to the public beach and walked the running track. We took a quick stroll through the nearby grocery store called "Spinney's" and the rest of the morning was spent with me unpacking and Charles doing a little work. We had lunch at a nearby cafe called the The Lime Tree Cafe where we sat outside as I enjoyed seeing all the ex-pats coming in and out. Charles informed me that Dubai's population is comprised of just 12% locals as I have heard so many different languages spoken here since landing. After a very tasty lunch, we were off to the beach to soak up some sun! Charles went running as I stared out at the beautiful blue water with my tanning oil glistening and my toes tickling the soft soft sand. The water was still a bit chilly for me as I think I'll wait another month or two before I emerge myself past my ankles!

Our evening was spent watching "Ratatouille" in our robes and slippers then venturing out in our rental car for a little Domino's pizza. My sweet tooth soon got the best of me as I had to delight myself with a cupcake from a little shop called "Sweet Stuff" which is right next door to our apartment lobby. For everyone who knows me well, pray that I don't gain 20 pounds from eating too many cupcakes as they are my favorite as this little bakery produces amazing tasty sensations! Just walking into the shop it smells like heaven! And to make matters worse, there is another cupcake place just right across the street!

This morning I am acquainting myself with the internet quite well then off to do a little exploring on my own! I hope to update our blog with my two cents every few days as I open my eyes to a whole new world. The weather here is amazing and the views are breathtaking and rest assured I will be posting pictures soon. I hope everyone is doing well back home and until next time, take care!

Emirates Towers

Big City living his very busy, which is why I haven’t updated my blog as often as I would like. I wish I had Ramsey here to help with the updates, but she arrives around January 10th.

The work in the shipyard has been full throttle, which is fine with me as I would like to slow it down a bit when Ramsey arrives. I might even take a day off when she gets here. If your wondering, I am not going to work a full day Christmas. I am going to try and find the church and the starbucks. The church is across town as best I can tell… so it should be an adventure.

So as not to keep this too long, I have gone to a few restaurants, driven around town, seen all the iconic buildings, and generally felt like a tourist. One particular night we went to a beautiful restaurant called “Vu’s” in the Emirates Towers. It is posh and pretentious, so it fits in well in Dubai. I wasn’t complaining.

The bar is located on the 51st floor, overlooking Dubai and the beach. The bar was trendy, and possibly the nicest place I had ever had a drink. Sticking with my usual business drink I had a glass of red wine, the pour was on the small side, but again, I wasn’t concerned. I did a quick scan of the glass front refrigerators, just to make sure there was no Shiner.

If dinner wasn’t going to be enough of an experience, I secretly decided that if I had never heard of anything on the menu, I was going to order it. My selections for the evening was wagyu, lamb, and red. Pop Quiz- Does anyone know what Waygu is? Me either.. So I ordered it.

Apparently it is impossibly thin sliced Kobe style beef. In this instance, it came with plenty of other fine ingrediants, with the perfect presentation. A more discerning diner would have considered twice destroying the presentation, I have no such reservations, and after one bite decided it was the best thing I have ever eaten.

It was mind blowing. The second thing I thought about was the hundreds of cows at the Meitl farm… and how they could all become Waygu, and how I could eat it everyday for the rest of my life…..

The main course was lamb loin, which was perfect, but needs no long explanation.

Finally desert arrived. Appropriately named, everything on the plate was red as the name suggestd. It must have had 6 different little pieces of desert, all very nice. It would not have been enough desert for Ramsey so if I ever take her here, I will be sure to order at least 3 deserts ahead of time, as that’s her favorite part of any meal.

Truly it was a great meal, apparently the highest restaurant and bar in Dubai. On that note, anyone who comes to visit, I’ll buy the drinks at Vu’s.

More information here:

http://www.jumeirah.com/Hotels-and-Resorts/Destinations/Dubai/Jumeirah-Emirates-Towers/Restaurants--Nightlife/Vus-Restaurant/The-World-with-Vus/

SAKI

My days so far has been pretty uneventful, We have been working pretty late nights, and the hotel is less than half a mile from my office, so I have been walking back every night.

Last night however, we went to dinner with the shipyard personnel. We went to a Hyatt a few miles from here to a Japanese restaurant. There were 8 of us, so they sat us at the hibachi, where an Indian national prepared our Japanese food. It reminds me of Ichabon, where a Mexican national speaking in a terrible Japanese accent cooks the food and makes the same jokes every single time.

Regardless, they served about 7 courses of food, one course at a time… about the 4th course, the gentlemen I was with decided it wasn’t going to be enough food, and ordered no less than another 4 courses for each person… It if swam in the sea or crawled on land, it was ordered. Fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, steak, chicken, pork, were all ordered in addition to the original meal. After course 7 it was plainly obvious we had over ordered. The meal took 3 hours, and cost over 200 dollars a head, but it was amazing.

We took a taxi from the restaurant back to my hotel. It was about a 10 minute taxi ride, and it costs about 16 dirhams, or less than 6 dollars. Cheapest taxi ride of my life, so Ramsey should be able to move around town rather affordably.

I should have a car in a day or two, and an apartment in a week or so. More to come.

Arrival Dubai

Today I arrived in Dubai, my new home. If you wish, you can draw painful comparisons and laugh about, that in about 8 weeks I will have lived in Dubai longer than I have lived in the house I purchased last year. Life is unpredictable, and I never thought I would be living in Dubai in 2010, but Ramsey and I are really excited for the chance.

I flew out of Houston on Friday night, on packed flight. There was not a single empty seat which I thought was odd because I booked my flight only three days prior on Tuesday without any trouble. I flew on Emirates air for the first time, their terminal in Houston is rather plain, lacking the glitz and glam of Continentals terminal C. What Emirates lack in Houston, they make up for in Dubai. The airport here is brand new, and tastefully done. It’s as modern as airports get, with signs in Arabic and English, I am not worried when Ramsey travels here alone in January, she should be fine.

When I arrived last night the temperature was about 70 degrees and it was raining slightly as we walked towards our waiting car. In Dubai, license plates for cars were issued first to influential families starting with the royal family, who were issued number 1. I was curious to see how low a license plate number I could see, and thereby see someone of influence. The minivan taking us to the airport was parked next to plate number 3, a white Mercedes S 500… effectively ending any eye-spy license plate game.

I am staying at a holiday inn express near the shipyard, it’s a nice hotel about 7 stories, and is very clean. The rooms are nicely appointed but small. Imagine living in one of the “example rooms” at Ikea, where they place a queen bed, couch, tv, bathroom, office space, and a closet in about 150 square feet. Its comfortable.

Dubai is a city built smack in the middle of the desert, and ironically enough it has rained all day today, a steady hard rain. I suspect in a few months I will dedicate 1000 words comparing the Dubai heat to the hellish Houston heat.

More updates coming.