Family Reunion

Today was probably my favourite day so far in Abu Dhabi. I had the pleasure of reuniting with my first-cousin-once-removed (please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin) Caroline, and meeting her delightful friend Louise (my new Dubai connection). When last Caroline and I met, it was London, 1983, and I was 8 years old. Suffice it to say, we've both grown quite a bit.

It was very easy to feel connected to Caroline. In addition to sharing the Sharma-genes, we are both teachers (although I am semi-retired at present), brunettes, and shorties. I found it so easy spending the afternoon with both Caroline and Louise-it was like we had known each other for ages. It also helped that A was very co-operative, and gave us plenty of time to visit.

After lunch (we went to this place next to the post-office...where there were very big portions of everything...I am SO glad that I locked both of these ladies into a pre-arranged dessert sharing contract) we spent some more time hanging out and catching up back in our room. Time flew by, and before I knew it, I was seeing off two people that I hope to catch up with again very soon.

P and I had plans to go and check out some furniture at Marina Mall (is it possible we are moving on Monday??? I'll believe it when we actually move on Monday), but we had to kibosh these plans when little A started to show signs of sleepiness. We can always go to the mall tomorrow.

Looks like things are getting rosier in my life in AD. Just the other day, as we were celebrating Diwali with a McDonald's meal (ahhh...the golden arches are the diwa of the west...always sharing their light with the masses...24 hours a day...7 days a week...perfect for a diwali celebration really), I discovered something WONDERFUL about the AD McDonald's. Wait for it...the apple pies are STILL deep-fried...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Anand's Indian Restaurant

On Saturday, sick-to-death of the hotel food, we (or I) decided we needed to venture out and try something new. Unfortunately, my timing for venturing out is never good, as my claustrophobia always peaks a little after lunch, corresponding to the hottest time of the day. P, always the supportive one, gripes a bit about the heat, and then carries on like a trooper, sensing my impending hysterical breakdown. So, growling stomachs and sweating, we head out towards Hamdan Street and Anand's Vegetarian Indian Restaurant (or was it Anand's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant....??).

Earlier on in our explorations, we had passed Anand's (although at the time, we didn't really take notice of the restaurant's name) and peeking inside, we found it was packed with Indians (always a good sign when the locals of a particular cuisine are willing to pay up for the food). It smelled good, and had it not been late and had I not had enough of the heat and Hamdan Street, we probably would have stopped in for a bite. Later, while reading the October issue of Time-Out Abu Dhabi (an excellent magazine for foreigners like ourselves), P discovered a restaurant review section, where they listed Anand's Vegetarian Indian Restaurant, as a good place to visit. As we head out on Saturday, we were hoping the two restaurants were indeed one and the same. We were so happy to see the S-D-N-A-N-A (in that order) on the sign.

The decor at Anand's is very simple: tables, chairs, and what appear to be bathroom stalls (with those wooden doors that they used to have in all the saloons in the Wild West) but are really just sinks with soap (hand-washing...good sign). We were seated immediately in the VIP section (or I like to think of it that way) in the back room. There were no menus on the table, and the white boards just listed 8-10 items. Confused, I got up to try and find someone to help out...but it was very difficult to tell the difference between the wait-staff, and the people who were waiting for staff, so, I head back to our table. Shortly thereafter, the very friendly fellow who seated us, showed up at our table with 3 thalis (pronounced 'tah-lees'), or round steel trays, filled with three little bowls of dahls and soups, puris and the always gourmet Indian salad (of cucumbers, carrots and cabbage). P declined his thali, saying he was not hungry (and seriously...we were already taking a risk in eating there...we had no idea what the food tasted like and had purposely chosen a lunch meal in the case there were some...er...repercussions). We clarified the price of the thali: 12 AED (about $3 Cdn), and were very happy to discover that the meal was 'unlimited portions' (although our server pointedly told P there was 'no sharing' allowed....don't think that stopped P from sampling most of my food). Very quickly, I could see that P was regretting his decision not to buy a thali, as our server and others came around repeatedly with more dahl, more soup, more puris...basically a refill of everything on our plate.

I could tell that our server was slightly disappointed that I didn't eat more. He kept reminding me that I could eat as much as I wanted to, and quite honestly, I did. I do not like ludoos (and so I only tasted it to get a sense of the flavour). I had my papadam (just like the ones my mom makes...and probably comes from the same packaging too), the dahl and 6 puris (they were very small...kind of like loonie pancakes). I gave A some of the salad (I'd like to see the guy that tries to prevent a mom from sharing food with her baby), and she was fairly occupied throughout the lunch experience.

All in all, it was good Indian food (although nothing like my mom's food...I'm telling you mom, 'The Sleeping Indian' restaurant would rake in some major dirhams over here). And, the best part...it all settled nicely, with no 'second acts'.

Hiccups

Well...it's been a few days since I last wrote. I've been avoiding it for two reasons:
1. There hasn't been anything great happening in my life here.
2. There has been a bit of a...what did P call it...'hiccup' in our best laid plans.

The good news (if you look hard enough, there is always something good): we went to the bank and now have more dirhams. We went shopping to Spinney's yesterday, got some more baby food for A, and I discovered organic products which are paraben, sulfate and perfume-free. Additionally, our shipping container has arrived. We have no access to it, or its contents (our stuff!!! woo-hoo!) but the fact that it is now here with us, is very comforting.

The not-so-good news: A and I have been here for almost a month now, and I don't think we are anywhere closer to moving out of the hotel. I keep hearing P say in my head that it should only take a 'couple of weeks' more. Apparently, the villa that we were APPROVED for, is not the villa that P was contracted to receive (according to the HR person...and now I'm starting to understand Michael Scott's attitude towards Toby on The Office). I guess there is this OTHER villa (smaller, condo villa) that they have apparently been waiting to get re-released for us. I knew there was a possibility that we would be getting a condo-villa, but the one they are now showing P is nothing like the ones that I have looked at on-line. So, I guess I've been a wee bit bummed out over here. Especially as we have made what appears to be no progress on our housing in one month. I have heard this is quite common here in AD. I was just hoping those might have been mean rumors spread by the anti-AD coalition. I guess not.

So, that's the update from me. Until otherwise posted, consider me a long-time resident of the Millennium Hotel. A great place to visit...but you wouldn't want to live here (or any hotel for that matter).

The Emirates Palace

I thought that today might be another ho-hum day in the life of Anu Dhabi: walk, eat, nap, eat, swim, eat, sleep....but as I was putting A down for her morning nap (and anticipating joining her), the phone (the one in the bathroom...apparently the only one that takes incoming calls in our room) rang. I picked it up quickly, pleasantly surprised that it was my new friend (from Edmonton, who is currently visiting her husband, also P's co-worker and name-sake) Kathy. I was more pleasantly surprised by her invitation to go to the Emirates Palace, especially as she had already toured it with her husband earlier on.

We made plans to meet in the lobby at 1 pm (and A co-operated with both her napping and eating which was wonderful). Though I have seen the palace many times across from the Corniche, and when we had driven by, I was completely unprepared and amazed at its truly majestic stature. I have never before seen anything like it in my life. Honestly, I don't believe we have anything comparable to it in North America. Not only was I dwarfed by the immense nature of everything (the palace gates and floating ceilings must be made for giants to comfortably walk through) but I was blinded by all the gold, everywhere (even on the cheesecake that Kathy and I shared).

The Emirates Palace is where everything happens: the Middle Eastern International Film Festival (just last week) has brought celebrities like Meg Ryan, Antonio Banderas and his lovely wife, Melanie Griffiths, Adrien Brody and of course, some Bollywood celebs (Priyanka Chopra...she is gorgeous, though I have never heard of her...wonder if I might be able to get the name of her plastic surgeon....). Christina Aguilera will be playing there on October 24 (a concert that P invited me to attend, before we actually arrived on UAE soil...seeing as we have neither a home nor childcare...I'm thinking it's doubtful we'll be getting Dirrty with X-tina)...and apparently my absolute favorite musical artist of all time GEORGE MICHAEL will be playing there next month (P will be the babysitter for this one as I've convinced him it would be er...a little bit strange for him to accompany me to a George Michael concert). Every morning I open the City Times to discover that yet ANOTHER exciting event has transpired at the EP.

I really enjoyed my afternoon and A was so great, even while Kathy (who was kind enough to treat) and I enjoyed our Latte Mochacinno's and shared a Lemon Cheesecake (topped with gold flakes). We passed on the house specialty of cappucino with gold flakes...it was 50 AED...and all I had was 35 AED (we truly are running low on dirhams) which I insisted Kathy take.

We also were able to check out future development plans for Abu Dhabi. We saw the plans for Yas Island, where they are developing an entire community for the Formula One Grand Prix race (the racetrack runs through the development). They will need to have this completed by November 15, 2009, as that's when they are booked to host the race!! Go to www.yasisland.ae/ for a peak. We also checked out Saadiyat Island http://www.saadiyat.ae/, which they are heralding as the cultural district of the UAE. Frank Gehry (the famous architect) is responsible for designing the Museum of Modern Art on this island (our very own Guggenheim) and it is an amazingly environmental design. I particularly enjoyed the building which looked like the Starship Enterprise, which I discovered to be some kind of pedestrian walkway. I think Micheal and Janet Jackson might want to film another music video here together in the near future (when all of the island development is complete).

I did take some pics, but as I cannot post them yet, please use the links I've posted (if you are interested). You can go to http://www.emiratespalace.com/ to have a look at the Palace, and all of the wondrous things that are there. We spent about 2 hours walking about, but I think there are still hours worth of touring to be done there. Maybe GM will be able to arrange a tour for me next month (after the show of course)...when I have more time!

And just to show that I am still connected with the goings on in the rest of the world:

1. I would like to send out a loving 'G'day Mate' to all of my family who are currently down under. I hope you had a relaxing flight and are not experiencing any jet-lag. Enjoy some vegemite and listen to some Men at Work for me.

2. Go-bama: To all of my American friends who have the power to vote: PLEASE...the rest of the world is BEGGING you: Vote for 'that one', Barack Obama. It's definitely time for change...and if you need a little laugh (and your internet connection is faster than mine) check out this PSA - http://mccainfreewhitehouse.org/

CATS...

Last night we discovered that instead of being moved to a 'Club Room' we have been bumped up to 'Club Status'. This means: free internet to our room, free breakfast downstairs and access to the Club Lounge (where I plan to spend a lot of time with A). I feel I should maximize this time, as I'm almost positive somebody in the hotel is going to eventually claim that we were NOT upgraded to Club Status, and therefore must incur all these additional expenses out of pocket....

So, this morning we all got up early (A earlier than everyone else just b/c she's a morning person) and headed down to the breakfast buffet. Note to self: 6:00 a.m. is too early for breakfast for me. This put A and I ahead of schedule for our Corniche walk, but the weather just seems to get more and more lovely in the mornings...there was a refreshingly cool breeze coming in from the North, so that's the direction we headed. And that's where we ran into the 'Cat-Lady'. She was sitting in the grass, along the tall flowers, feeding the stray cats. Apparently she comes from far away and brings food for them, as she feels very sorry for them. These cats she had rescued from an umbrella further down. She said they were scrawny and covered with ants. She cleaned up the cats and started feeding them and feels good in her heart, as the cats have grown. She tells me they wait for her every morning, and she brings them food and water.

On the mornings she cannot come, she leaves extra biscuits for them in the tall grass, and they munch on those.

She has a sister in Toronto who runs a beauty salon. She told me that Canada is a good country, as in the two months she visited with her sister, she did not see a single stray cat. I didn't have to heart to tell her that for all the strays she sees wandering around here, in Canada we 'humanely' euthanize the same number (probably on a daily basis). I know that AD has a spay and neuter system, where they try and fix all of the strays, and then leave them to fend for themselves...a notched ear on a cat, is a sign the cat has been fixed, and is free to walk to streets. I think this is a step in the right direction....but there has got to be more we can do...I just am not sure what it is.

On a lighter note, the two-teethed one is eating again. It seems that every meal, she also has to be given her own bowl and spoon, filled with puff wheat and milk (okay...not filled..just a wee bit to make her THINK it is filled) which she either will feed to me, or herself. This is very tricky to do, b/c she also wants to HOLD the bowl and spoon herself (might I add that we have no high chair here, and A eats on her First Years Travelseat...what a WONDERFUL baby gift we received) strapped to the plush chair that the hotel has set up for our desk (which I have considerately covered with plastic bags). Plus I have also decided to feed her sans clothes...it's just easier that way. I'll admit, it's a bit of a challenge...but I am up for it (and many more challenges of that ilk...this is why I'm a HOUSEWIFE by profession...which is apparently what my AD passport will say).

City Times

In our newspaper here (The Khaleej Times) we get an insert called "City Times" which is an entertainment section. Usually there are updates about all the big celebrities (East and West). I know more now than I EVER wanted to know about Bollywood. Amitabh and Aishwarya are my new best friends (yes...we are on a first name basis).

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I opened the City Times and found a picture from EDMONTON, AB, CANADA!! There were these two men, without shirts, with pumpkins on their heads. There is no Halloween celebration over here, and so I perked up, because this was the first time I had seen anything Halloween-related. Apparently they were Edmonton Eskimo fans, and they were dressed up for a game against some other football team (was it BC??) that must've taken place there on Saturday. Perhaps they were the guys who live in that Eskimo's fan house around the corner from our old house??

Seriously though, how crazy is it that photo made it into the City Times in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and ended up on my coffee table here? I wish I had a scanner, so that I could post the picture here for you.

The second coming...

Congratulations to our little A on the erruption of her second tooth! It finally made it out of her gums! Now she has her two middle bottom teeth!! To think...we've been saying 'she's teething' since January, and all we have is two teeth (one and a 1/4 really) to show for it! Now, if I could only get a picture of the second tooth...

Coincidentally, the teeth that A has grown are the same teeth that my nephew has just lost (see picture).

Spent the whole afternoon at Marina Mall, where I forced P to walk me around the WHOLE mall. I have actually seen the skating rink and the ski hill (neither of which of ready for business as yet) and am impressed by the hugeness of the mall, and its many varied retailers! This mall also has a taxi stop, so it was easy for us to get a taxi back from there.