Sandier Pastures

M had been asked to evaluate a hotel near Dubai creek for his work and we were invited to see the rooms overlooking the lagoon. It was such a great experience to see this body of water that is so much part of Dubai’s history. We have strolled along its banks but this was my first time seeing it from above:

~north of the creek~

Some have noted that this body of water was too big to be called a creek. I don’t know why they call it that way too, it sounds strange to me too as I have been used to seeing creeks that are dirty. Dubai Creek, however, is so clean the water is so clear. The government is taking action towards making it presentable for tourists.

~Traditional dhows for commercial and tourism use line up at the creekside~

The first settlement was built along the creek. On the Deira side, traditional wooden dhows still trade with the sub-continent, Iran, East Africa. You’ll see all kinds of goods being loaded from sacks of clothes to spices to trucks!

Connor, one of Jax’s three cute boys and Baby Bug, one of Kailani’s daughters in An Island Life has tagged Pristine, the tot living in Sandier Pastures to reveal 8 random things about herself.

Pristine Akari (her full name) has just turned 4 last month but since she types with a speed of lightning, mostly resulting in unreadable posts, Mommy has volunteered to type her thoughts for her blogging debut.

*****

My mommy says her friend from Hawaii (can we go there, Mom?) has asked me 8 things about myself. Here they are:

1. When I am sick, I only want Mom. I appreciate all the kindness of the people around, including doctors or nurses and dad but I want, I need my mom at all costs during these bleak times.

2. I love going to the park on weekends. Actually, it’s also a great way to make my mom exercise so I drag her on early weekend mornings!

3. I don’t have much toys. I only have one doll and she’s almost the same age as I am. Funny that she still remains tiny while I grew 10 centimeters more than last year! I am loyal to her and refuse to play with other dolls given to me. Sometimes it’s difficult when mom’s friends arrive on my birthday or Christmas with lots of toys since I rarely play with them. I prefer to play with mom or dad, draw, read books or role play with the adults in the house.

4. I love my grandma and grandpa who lives in Japan but refuse to talk to them on the phone at times because my Japanese speaking skill is slowly disappearing! I prefer to talk in English right now. Sorry grandma and grandpa!

5. I am just 4 but I have been on a plane for more than 10 times, in 5 different countries! I am a very good girl even on long haul flights and can entertain myself with the consoles but only sometimes, the flight attendant comes and mommy says sorry over and over. Oops, I must have pressed some wrong buttons and made origami out of the emergency leaflet!

6. I am highly energetic, I can stay up late, late at nights but someone’s gotta get hold of me and pin me to bed, sing me songs in the dark before I can sleep on normal days. I stayed up until 2 am on New Year’s eve!

7. I love to sing and know the lyrics to most Disney songs! I sing Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne songs inside the car, too.

8. I desperately want a baby brother or sister. It’s not fun to be alone, you know. Mom has 4 brothers and 1 sister and they all goof around when they’re together.

This is a fun meme so I am tagging mom’s friends’ babies:

• Matthew of Charmed Life
• Dante of Expat Mom
• Matt of Verb
• Maya of Munshi Family
• Lucy of The New Parent

Last updated January 13, 2008, 16:00, Gulf News: Monday, January 14, has been declared a holiday for public and private sectors in Dubai due to the closure of some main roads, bridges and tunnels.

I would suppose this is because of the bad weather and scattered rain showers all over the city since Thursday last week. Dubai’s roads are not made to sustain prolonged rain showers and a 10-minute rain would create “black and murky little ponds” here and there. Plus, the traffic!

~ the sun peeking at 7:30 am ~

I went to the Immigration Department today to renew my mother’s visa and I waited for three hours for taxi. All the roads were clogged and there was no taxi available so I got on a bus instead. It took me 2 hours when in normal days, the journey would be just 30 minutes maximum.

~ rain and heavy traffic on the roads ~

We’re one year here in Dubai today (sorry for bringing it up so many times!) so it would be a great way to celebrate it by not thinking about battling the traffic tomorrow morning.

President Bush is here in the UAE and if for any reason tomorrow is a holiday because of him, he should come and visit once in a while often!

Would you believe that since Friday, we had been experiencing overcast skies and rain! My prayers were answered. The news says that probably, we will not see the sun until Wednesday. Not seeing the sun in Dubai is a very rare event, it felt like I had been transported to another place when I woke up this morning.

Reports said that temperatures plunged to near freezing point in some parts of the country last Thursday. Jebel Jais, in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah was the coldest area in the UAE with temperatures dipping to as low as 1.4 degree Celsius! At this rate, it would not be surprising if one of these days, we’ll have something like the snow delight in Baghdad a few days ago.

One can dream of snow in the middle of the desert, right?

Today marks our first year here in Dubai. So much has happened and changed, mostly positive ones. We are ready to embark in another year of adventure.

This week’s theme: Skinny

~This shot above I took from afar~

~I got his/her attention!~

~…if I get near, he/she goes ballistic and aim for my camera!~

I found this skinny cat in one of Dubai’s dirty alleys. It’s very obvious that he/she is one of the numerous pets abandoned by owners. He/she is hungry as he/she ran towards me when I took this picture and attempted to bite my red camera.

1. My favorite past-time of 2007 was spending time in the beach with a book.
2. I’m most tempted by the mall promotion to buy a Nintendo Wii!
3. Today I want to reorganized my clothes cabinet.
4. The last thing I took a picture of was of a camel at Nad Al Sheba roadside.
5. You and I have memories we don’t want to speak of.
6. The most recent movie I’ve seen that I really enjoyed was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to rest, tomorrow my plans include going to work (not a plan, just a normal routine) and Sunday, I want to be absent from work but can’t!

Thursday Thirteen banner courtesy of Harlekwin.

After one year, you know when you’re in Dubai when: 

1. The beauty salons have painted doors that you can’t see what/who is inside. Sometimes, it looks like a plain wall until the someone opens the door!

2. People bid millions of dirhams for a car plate.

3. Overt shows of affection between a man and a woman are frowned upon but no one blinks and eye at two men holding hands.

4. Someone says “yes, no problem, I’ll get it done for you in 20 minutes” and you know it’s going to take 3 days.

5. You can’t find any pork products even a simple bacon on major supermarkets like Carrefour.

6. But there are over 100 brands of catsup occupying one entire lane of the supermarket.

7. The malls are open until past 12 midnight!

8. Children are more awake than you are at 10 pm inside the malls on Thursday/Friday nights.

9. Your laundry basket has no socks in it because you never wear them!

10. Going out for a barbeque on any day is possible, without the worry of rain.

11. You see a woman in a g-string and a woman covered in black cloth all over in the same beach spot, wading in the same waters!

12. You woke up at the call of prayer at 5 am.

13. You get excited when it rains!

It’s exactly one year since we stepped out of Emirates Airlines at Dubai International Airport on January 13, 2008. It’s just remarkable to think how time went so fast. I guess this is what happens when you blink.

Oh, I am still in Dubai.

I went out to walk after lunch this afternoon to keep with my promise to walk and move more. The office is still freezing and I though I could use a little sun but what met me outside was a strong wind and a very cold one too! The weather is as fine as ever but it’s really cold outside, maybe below 15 Celsius (lower 50’s F). If that is not cold for you, well, I was under-dressed, no jacket and with no socks.

This morning the radio announcer said there’s a good chance we’ll see rain but the skies cleared up by noon. My mother would have been excited to see some rain after 8 months of stay here. It rained last November but it was more like a spray than a real rain.

We want fat drops of rain with some gushing sound. Is it too much to ask?

On January 28, it’s exactly one year since I first posted on this blog and to (ahem) commemorate my blogversary, I am holding my first contest here in Sandier Pastures!!

Can you tell I’m so excited?

Revka of RS Designs is generously giving any of my readers a choice of either a pre-made template which can be adapted for many blogging platforms other than blogger or a Gold Design Package (valued at $100) where the lucky winner can get to choose 5 options from a list of 8 below to renovate their blogs.

1. Custom header
2. Custom signature
3. Custom divider
4. Custom button or advertising banner
5. Custom background image
6. Color coordination (change your blog’s text colors to coordinate with your custom images)
7. Add or delete a column
8. Custom navigation bar

RS Designs specializes in website and blog design offers custom designs at an affordable prize but if you win this contest, of course it’s for free. Sure there are lots of themes and templates available but isn’t it cool to have one that you can call your own?

TO ENTER
1. Just shout why you need a blog makeover. Oh, not to me, write it in the comments! (1 entry)

Double check your email address when you write it in the comment section so I can contact you if you win.

For extra entries,

• Mention this contest in your blog with a link back here. (1 entry)
• Subscribe to my feed (1 entry)

Please let me know if you have done the extra credits so I can enter you correctly.

DEADLINE
Entries will be accepted until midnight Dubai, UAE time, January 28, 2008 (Monday).

DRAW
A winner will be drawn by random on Monday, January 28, 2008. Goodluck!

If you don’t win, Revka is giving a $10 discount off your RS Designs order of $20 or more.

**This contest is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. You need to have a blog though, to make use of your prize in case you win! **

2008 is just here for three days and I am feeling that this is going to be an exciting year. How can I be wrong, I started the year with some excitement so the whole year should be full of it.

Yesterday, we went out to buy some wardrobe for winter. Winter. You read it right and I am so not kidding anyone. It’s starting to get cold and we are not equipped with clothing to warm us up. All our light winter or autumn pieces are left in Japan and lately, going out with short-sleeves is not the best idea, especially at night and in the mornings. After the almost unbearable summer just months ago, I couldn’t believe here we are trying to get something warm.

Anyway, after grabbing the stuff we need, we passed by a section where a Nintendo Wii is available to try, for free of course. No one was there. M called me and asked me to try. I am never fond of games. I don’t own any game console except for Nintendo DS where I play Brain Age (ahem). Grumbling, I tried to play tennis on the Wii. Guess what? I am instantly hooked!! I was there, unmindful of the people around me, swinging the gadget, hitting the imaginary ball and immensely enjoying myself, to my own surprise. Before I knew it, I even had my footwork match my strokes!

I won the game and I heard claps from around me, including my daughter who looked at me like I just won the Wimbledon cup. Yikes. When I turned back, there were people there. I put the gadget down and walked away. When we turned back after a few minutes, so many locals were carrying their Wii boxes to the counter.

Note: M actually thought of buying the machine when he went for business trip in Japan when he thought I might be interested. He called me up when he was in Akihabara. However, our talk was cut short at the mention of the words Nintendo Wii. “Are you crazy? It’s a waste of money and not to mention, my time!”

Ok, you can slap me silly now.