Doing what I do best!

So, I got down to being a bit creative over the last couple of days - have my moments of being inspired as I am so out of routine that I have to get myself motivated to get things done. Let me know what you think...

Still not sure what I am going to be doing with my business. At the moment I am still waiting for my resident visa to be issued (I have been speaking to a few people and it has sometimes taken up to 6 months for their visas to be issued!). Not sure if I am going to survive that long without having a car!
Peter is hoping to go fishing with the boys tomorrow so that will be a lot of fun for them. I will sit on the side, relax and read my book. That is if I can survive the weather. It is getting hotter here - today it supposed to be 33 degrees (feels like 40!) with humidity of 54 %! I heard Cape Town is also having a heat wave! Don't know if I am going to survive the summer! Thank goodness for airconditioning!!

Until later...

So its off to the zoo we go...and some other stuff...

Off to the zoo we go... in a town called Al Ain which is about an hours drive from Dubai. This is what we did last week Thursday! It was lots of fun but extremely hot! The days are getting hotter and hotter here so I am starting to experience what everyone that lives here has been talking about. On our way there the car registered 37 degrees and that was at 10h30 in the morning.







The highlight of the day was seeing the Bengal tigers - beautiful animals and HUGE in real life! I would hate to come across this animal in the wild! Don't think I would stand a chance! So after our stroll around the park seeing lions, pumas, South African gemsbok, rhino, giraffe, an ostrich and many more animals we went off to Rowan and Fiona's for some takeaways of pizza and chinese and we ended up watching the movie Hairspray. Must say Peter and my brother Vaughanweren't very impressed with the movie, I can't say it is the best I have seen but at least I can see I have seen it.

Bryce, Logan and Peter inside the reptile house
Vaughan and Ella Rose
On Saturday our stuff arrived from SA after about a week of red tape nightmare! The company here in Dubai would not release the shipment because we did not have the original bill of loading papers and after back and forthing to the company in SA we eventually got the right papers! (Ever need a shipping company in SA I can highly recommed the one we used) However, Peter spend about 5 hours at customs going from one cue to the other to get it released but it eventually all worked out! The only problem now is to store the stuff! There are no cupboards in the villa so we have had to do a bit more shopping for a cupboards to store all my scrapbooking and cardmaking goodies!
Some of the boxes!

Yesterday I was being creative and made 7 cards which I will post on my blog tomorrow!

Today we have had no water since 11h00 (so all countries have their problems!). It is now around 19h00 and when I phoned a few minutes ago they say it might take about another 8 - 10 hours! Fustration reigns!!! I don't know which is worse - having no electricity or no water!

My best friend Cheryl is probably in labour as I write this blog in Toronto! She has had to be induced! This is the first grandchild on both sides of the family so I am sure everyone is going to be excited when the new additoin arrives! I will post some pics as soon as the new little person has made its way into this world! Good luck Che, hope that you made it through the experience with very happy memories to follow!

So I think that's it for now...until later...

Okay, I am a bit behind on news...

Last week Friday (which a weekend day here in Dubai for some of you who don't know that), the boys, Peter, myself and my brothers with their wives went to a wonderful waterpark called Dreamland. It is situated about 1 hour's drive from Dubai but really worth the visit! Lots to do, so many supertubes to choose from and swim, swim, swim! The weather was really great - not too hot, no wind and the water park was not so busy which made the experience even more pleasurable!

So here are some pics which will give you some idea what we were up to!

Overview of the park

Bryce

Logan Fiona and cutie-pie Ella-Rose

Nicky and Vaughan

As you can see I am having a bit of difficulty getting onto my tube!

We did get our new car on Monday but haven't had a chance to take pics yet so will tomorrow. I am being also creative today so will try and get some pics up soon. I am off to a craft show tomorrow which will be interesting to see how things are run in Dubai and what sort of crafts are out there.

Chat soon...

Celine Dion was awesome...

I was extremely lucky to see Celine Dion last night in the golden circle (would never afford this luxury in SA) and in Dubai on top of that! It was an awesome concert and well worth the wait. I went with my very pregnant sister-in-law, Fiona (well done Fi for managing to stand so long and endure the wait!). Fiona and I set out at 16h30 by taxi to the Four Seasons Golf Club, near Dubai Festival City where Celine Dion was performing. The concert only started at 20h30 but we thought we would leave a little (a lot!) earlier to avoid the traffic, the queue's and the crowds! Well, there was no traffic, only a small queue and the crowds only arrived later! The advantage was that when they eventually let us through the gates at around 18h00 we got to be about 10 metres from the stage!

Fiona and I waiting patiently!

Albeit a very cold evening where the wind made the chill factor go up - socks and long sleeves where definitely the order of the day - Celine Dion sang her heart out. At least both Fiona and I brought along our jackets otherwise we would have been sitting in the public toilets listening from there! The time just flew by (unlike the last hour we had to wait for her to sing - that seemed to drag on forever!). She sang some news songs ie, "Taking Chances", "Alone", some tributes like the "Show must go on", "We will rock you" by Queen and some classics, "The Power of Love", "My heart will go on" which was her closing song for the evening in a beautiful flowing yellow dress to close the evening!

Hopefully this will be the first of many concerts to come in Dubai and I think next time I might just arrive only a hour before the concert! I suppose each one is different!

If anyone in SA saw the concert please give us your comments on how you experienced it! I heard that the organisation on the first night was attrocious! There were still a few people stuck in traffic still on the highway when the concert started!!

Tomorrow we are off to a water park for the day so I will let you know what we were up to there!

Our first sightseeing day...

While Peter had to unfortunately work yesterday, Saturday, the boys and I took advantage and went sightseeing. Our first stop was at Children's City, a eductional project that offers children their own learning zone, they had lots of fun because there was a lot of interactiveness with different projects that the venue had to offer. Surrounding Children's City are beautiful, well maintained gardens with big trees and areas where you can picnic and the kids can play on the various jungle gyms scattered throughout the park.

After our visit we walked in the park and then went on the cable car which is also situated in the park. It runs along the creek side of the park and stretches about 2.5 km, it took about 35 minutes. Wonderful views of the creek and the park and as far as the eye could see!

After all this fun and excitement we set off for Jumeirah beach, our first trip to the beach since we arrived! Bryce and Logan passed out in the back seat for a catnap along the way but as soon as the car stopped they both perked up to see where we were.

Here is a pic of some lucky person who owns that beautiful boat in the background. Logan was the only one who decided he wanted to swim - I must admit the water was lovely. Not like Cape Town where your toes just about freeze and fall off! It was cool and clear - we will be definitely returning for another visit.

So a busy day all in all - oh yes, we also bought a new car last night. After we picked Peter up from work we decided to go car shopping. We have a hired car at the moment. First time we have a car "out of the box" so to speak so very exciting stuff! Details to follow as soon as the details have them finalised.

I can't believe we are into March already! Until next time...

We have arrived...

The boys on the flight

The back and front of the house. The park where the boys play.

I know, I know you have all been patiently waiting for me to give you some details about our move to Dubai, well here you go...

The boys and I heard that we would be flying from Cape Town to Dubai on 06 February 2008 after our visas were eventually issued. We had two days notice! So sorry to those people who wanted me to say goodbye but there really wasn't any time left. I was panicking slightly about the luggage because I had 3 big suitcases and 3 overnight bags which I would have as carry on luggage. Having, which I thought, was 20 kilograms each we might be in for a bit of a trying time to persuade the check-in counter person not to charge us. My Dad and I weighed the luggage before we left and the 3 big suitcases were 69 kilograms and that was just the check in luggage! Not, bad I thought considering we are moving to another country! Overweight a bit but was still feeling nervous about it we left for the airport. When we got there, nothing to feel nervous about at all, I found out we had 30 kilograms each and sighed a huge sigh of relief! I even managed to check one of the extra pieces of overnight bags through as well!

We flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg and had a lot of walking to do between the domestic and international departure halls to fly from Johannesburg to Dubai. Once you are through customs there is no trolley! So the boys had to walk all the way to the gate we were leaving from, with a lot of moaning going with it! It's too far, I am tired, etc.

We flew Emirates and what a lovely plane and airline to fly with! Very spacious and each seat had its own TV with a lot of video channels and games to keep the boys entertained! I eventually got them settled at around 22h30 only to wake them about 4 hours later so that we could get ready for the landing. I think I slept about a half an hour. So you can imagine how tired we all were when we arrived! Going through customs was also a experience with 2 very tired boys and not knowing the airport. Luckily Peter organised a company to meet us off the plane and they were fantastic! It took about an hour and a half to get through though even with their help!

Eventually waiting for us on the other side was Peter and my two brothers, Rowan and Vaughan (who now both live in Dubai as well, Rowan for the past 3 years and Vaughan arrived the middle of January). It so great arriving in a country where there is family waiting for you! We went to Rowan's house first as he lives in an area called Mirdiff which is near the Airport - he drives a Chryslar Voyager so we managed to get all our 6 pieces of luggage and 5 people in!

From Rowan's, after seeing my two sister-in-laws and my 1 year old niece, we then set off to our new home in The Springs area - we stay in The Springs 3. It is a lovely area with palm trees lining the streets. We stay in a 2 bedroomed villa with a very small study/3rd bedroom. Downstairs is the study with lounge and kitchen area and upstairs are the two bedrooms both with en-suite bathrooms. Although it sounds very luxurious the bathrooms are very small with showers above the baths. Our bedroom is quite large though. We have a very nice enclosed garden which is great for the boys but they are yet to play outside in it. They are mostly in the front riding their bicycles or going down to the park!

We have been so busy shopping our first two weeks for things for the house so I haven't done any sightseeing yet. So basically it has been starting from scratch. Things are reasonably priced here and prices compare quite a bit to SA. Clothes and chocolates are extremely cheap! Schooling is extremely expensive here as the schooling is mostly private.

Bryce has started in his new school and settled in nicely. He goes to school by bus in the morning and afternoon. Traffic in Dubai can be really bad! so thats why we decided to send him on a bus.

Lots and lots of development going on wherever the eye can see in Dubai with lots of desert pieces in between.

Logan is still home with me but we are looking at sending him to a nursery school as soon as we can find one in our area. The way of life is very different here. In South African you get used to the Pick 'n Pay down the road, Mr Price home stores for duffets, etc and a Post Office (there is apparently one about a 20 minutes drive away - in SA there are at least 3 to choose from that are near you). I am still waiting for a resident permit to be issued so I cannot drive at the moment unless it is a hired car. As soon as my recidency permit is through we are hoping to get a car so at least I will have more independency! Driving is on the opposite side to SA and I had to drive for the first time yesterday by myself to Bryce's sports day at school - an experience but I made it back to home without any incidents. Drivers in Dubai have a very bad reputation!

So that is it in a nutshell for now! I am putting my feelers out to see what the arts and crafts scene is like here in Dubai, so will keep you posted as to what I will be getting up to creatively. I cannot wait for my boxes to arrive from SA so that I can get going!

Until next time...

Still moving...

Okay, so I still haven't a clue as to when we will be leaving for Dubai. The moving company came to collect the boxes this past Monday and myself and the boys are still waiting in limbo. I am hoping that we will eventually know in the next day or two when we will be flying! In the meantime I am figuring out how to use my blog so that I can keep you updated as to what is happening in Dubai and our experiences. I will keep you posted...