Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 December 2013
In tribute
In tribute to the next chapter of our life, I got three of these cool Christmas tree decorations as the newest additions to our ever growing collection of tree ornaments, cool huh!
The best last day
We had the best last day in Dubai, or at least, the kids sure did - they got to spend all day at KidZania!
They've been once before, last time we were here, but they only stayed for about 3 hours that time. This time was a different story, I dragged them out of there after over seven hours... so they didn't even leave by their own choice!
Here, checking in and getting ready to go:
KidZania must be the best place ever for kids! Even after over seven hours, they hadn't done everything, they hadn't had enough by far. They all said it was the best day EVER, and were totally buzzing after having had such a great time.
Lucas and Malthe had been flying the simulator a few times and gone to university to get a degree; Daniel had worked at Coca-Cola and Linnea had made her own perfume and transmitted radio, amongst many, many other things. They had certificates, cards and photos to show for they good day.
And what did I do?
Well, I wondered around Dubai Mall the whole day... Let's just say, even I can get beat, I had had enough after about 3 hours! Should've done this on the first day when I was still starving for shopping, not on the last...
And I only bought Christmas tree decorations, two Christmas presents and a couple of books about Abu Dhabi!
I found these guys in a shop, anybody in Sweden remember "Drutten och Gena"?? And Monchichi, anyone?
I had my lunch with this view over the ice rink, thought that was fitting in Christmas time! Even Santa was out skating that day!
They've been once before, last time we were here, but they only stayed for about 3 hours that time. This time was a different story, I dragged them out of there after over seven hours... so they didn't even leave by their own choice!
Here, checking in and getting ready to go:
KidZania must be the best place ever for kids! Even after over seven hours, they hadn't done everything, they hadn't had enough by far. They all said it was the best day EVER, and were totally buzzing after having had such a great time.
Lucas and Malthe had been flying the simulator a few times and gone to university to get a degree; Daniel had worked at Coca-Cola and Linnea had made her own perfume and transmitted radio, amongst many, many other things. They had certificates, cards and photos to show for they good day.
And what did I do?
Well, I wondered around Dubai Mall the whole day... Let's just say, even I can get beat, I had had enough after about 3 hours! Should've done this on the first day when I was still starving for shopping, not on the last...
And I only bought Christmas tree decorations, two Christmas presents and a couple of books about Abu Dhabi!
I found these guys in a shop, anybody in Sweden remember "Drutten och Gena"?? And Monchichi, anyone?
I had my lunch with this view over the ice rink, thought that was fitting in Christmas time! Even Santa was out skating that day!
Here's the Migration Office where you extract the children from. You give their reference number, and a bracelet on their arm starts to vibrate. Funnily enough, none of our four decided to turn up, so I had to go in and look for them..! Well, all I can say is that next time I'm going to play in there - it's truly amazing!
It's open from 9am until midnight, so next time we'll see if we can beat the 7 hour record! :)
Yeah baby
Yes! I even managed to squeeze in a "gourmet dinner" one night with Anne - at IKEA!
A 5 DHS hot dog is just what you need after a good browse around the shop.
Later that evening I also introduced Anne to a Swedish special, gingerbread thins with blue cheese, mmm! She was skeptical at first, but actually really liked it!
A 5 DHS hot dog is just what you need after a good browse around the shop.
Later that evening I also introduced Anne to a Swedish special, gingerbread thins with blue cheese, mmm! She was skeptical at first, but actually really liked it!
Parents night out
Us parents managed one night out together Monday night, before Nathan set off back to Brunei later that night. It was really nice going out for a nice meal, we went to one of the restaurants in Wafi, and really got into the Christmas spirit!
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Burj Khalifa - At the Top
By the time Nathan joined us after his cycling adventure, we only had Sunday as our only day to venture about a bit in Dubai. We chose to go up Burj Khalifa, something we missed to do last time we were here. It's the worlds tallest building (829,8m/163 floors), so it's kind of something you should tick off your bucket list, whilst in Dubai.
It is a lot cheaper if you prebook your tickets online, so we did of course. We booked in for 10.30, so we had plenty of time to look around before lunch. (I had missed the memo about the green shirts!)
Before going up we had to wait in the vestibule for a little while, and could learn all about Burj Khalifa in their display there. Here's another photo for the "Grumpy-faced-Linnea"-collection:
The view of the Dubai Mall from up there was quite something! Obviously, it's huge, but when you see it like this, you realize just how massive it is!
As per Lucas' request, we had lunch outside facing the Dubai Fountain. We did that last time as well, and he remembered how nice it was when the fountain turned on it's display. Luckily it fitted in well with timings for lunch for us.
We took a walk in the Dubai Mall as well. Looked at the fish in the big tank of the Aquarium for a while. We did the Aquarium last time, so we'll wait a while before we do that again, but it sure is impressive.
It is a lot cheaper if you prebook your tickets online, so we did of course. We booked in for 10.30, so we had plenty of time to look around before lunch. (I had missed the memo about the green shirts!)
Before going up we had to wait in the vestibule for a little while, and could learn all about Burj Khalifa in their display there. Here's another photo for the "Grumpy-faced-Linnea"-collection:
We got up to the 124th floor by an elevator traveling 10m per second. Hurt our ears! The view from up there, and the highest outdoor observation deck in the world was - pretty spectacular! All the other skyscrapers look tiny in comparison.
The view of the Dubai Mall from up there was quite something! Obviously, it's huge, but when you see it like this, you realize just how massive it is!
As per Lucas' request, we had lunch outside facing the Dubai Fountain. We did that last time as well, and he remembered how nice it was when the fountain turned on it's display. Luckily it fitted in well with timings for lunch for us.
We took a walk in the Dubai Mall as well. Looked at the fish in the big tank of the Aquarium for a while. We did the Aquarium last time, so we'll wait a while before we do that again, but it sure is impressive.
Friday, 20 December 2013
Guest blog from the saddle!
Emirates Road Cycling Club Presents... - "The Percival Aviation World Cycling Challenge 2013".
Nathan tells his story:
10th December we climbed aboard BI097 to Dubai. Here we go! Early morning arrival into Dubai to be picked up by Flora Park transport. (These guys would be invaluable over the coming days. Not only did they put us up for FREE!!! but they made sure we were transported to where we were supposed to be. A big thank you to Sidek and his team.) Didn’t quite make it through arrivals before we stocked up. Some of what got consumed before our pre-breakfast sleep...
First day there Linton came to meet us, it was good to see our old friend. Then Freddy came to pick us up for a little drive around and some shopping. Rush back to the hotel and then off to the Dubai Autodrome for a few laps. It was a pretty awesome place.
They open it up to cyclists for a few hours on Wednesday nights to whizz around. Fun for everyone from serious cyclists to the very beginners. Plus it was really nice to get to ride with Linton again, it's been a while and he has been missed on the long trawl down the coast road. Then it was back to the hotel and off for dinner. A few more ales and it was time for sleep.
Thursday was a rest day before the big event. some of the other teams went for a ride but we decided that rest was best. By now Will was recovering from his cold, and instead I was well on my way to one. Achoo!
I spent the day meeting up with Boel and the kids at Mirdif City Center, while Jeremy and Will went off to fine tune Will’s bike for the big day. We later had a team meeting before the Team Captain was supposed to meet the other Team Captain’s for final meeting. Roll call: Mike Lee? Present. Jeremy Saap? Present. Will Turner? Present. Nathan Watson? Present. Team Captain?….. Team Captain?…. Where is the team Captain?! A few frantic text messages it was revealed that he hadn’t even gotten on the flight over... Oh well. Jeremy sorted it and then cooked us a massive feed of pasta energy goodness. (When going on to a cycle event, always take a top chef!)
Early to bed and up at 0315. Aw god, that was early. Bit of a snivel and “Top Chef” had prepared breakfast. Nice. So a quick break and it was off to the bus again. We arrived nice and early. It was a little cool, everyone was wearing their undershirts. Mike Lee was a little chillier and rugged up!
Last minute pits stops meant we were rushing to get tot he start line. No rush needed though, as the start was delayed due to lighting issues. They also announced that the race would be shortened by about 10km.
We finally got away and it was on! In the rising sun we headed off towards the city, it was a spectacular ride. The roads were quiet and we were heavily protected by the local Police. A big thank you the Dubai Police force for keeping us all safe. The pace was pretty high, but not exhausting.
As we neared the end we started to ramp up the speed. There had formed a small gap and Will and I were closing on them quite nicely, but then we looked up and already saw the finish line?? They had shortened it by 13km, not 10km. Bugger!
We came up short, but just in the back of the main pack. It was a little disappointing on a personal level, but we had ridden a good race, and with an average moving speed of 40.9km/h for 2 hours we were pretty stoked overall. As a team Royal Brunei came in 8th. We had to be happy with that.
After the race everyone was invited to prize giving and lunch at the JW Marriot. A fantastic afternoon with all the teams.
Saturday saw another early start for breakfast and then a recovery ride to Bab Al Shams. A bunch of pilots (egos), and bikes on an “easy” 85km recovery ride. What could possibly go wrong??!! Off we set, a few gentle miles and then down went the hammer. Oh deep joy. But the breakfast was pretty cool. It was then time to head back and call a concussion. After a few pretty hectic days I finally hit the wall. We all finally rolled to stop and I got to meet the legend that is Stephen Roche!!! Yeah baby, him!!
What a finish to a great experience!! Can’t wait to do it again next year. It was a blast.
Thank you Will, Jeremy, and Mike and a huge thank you Emirates Road Cycling Club. You put on an outstanding week, made everyone one feel very welcome, and set the bases for hopefully an annual event. Well done.
Nathan tells his story:
10th December we climbed aboard BI097 to Dubai. Here we go! Early morning arrival into Dubai to be picked up by Flora Park transport. (These guys would be invaluable over the coming days. Not only did they put us up for FREE!!! but they made sure we were transported to where we were supposed to be. A big thank you to Sidek and his team.) Didn’t quite make it through arrivals before we stocked up. Some of what got consumed before our pre-breakfast sleep...
First day there Linton came to meet us, it was good to see our old friend. Then Freddy came to pick us up for a little drive around and some shopping. Rush back to the hotel and then off to the Dubai Autodrome for a few laps. It was a pretty awesome place.
They open it up to cyclists for a few hours on Wednesday nights to whizz around. Fun for everyone from serious cyclists to the very beginners. Plus it was really nice to get to ride with Linton again, it's been a while and he has been missed on the long trawl down the coast road. Then it was back to the hotel and off for dinner. A few more ales and it was time for sleep.
Thursday was a rest day before the big event. some of the other teams went for a ride but we decided that rest was best. By now Will was recovering from his cold, and instead I was well on my way to one. Achoo!
I spent the day meeting up with Boel and the kids at Mirdif City Center, while Jeremy and Will went off to fine tune Will’s bike for the big day. We later had a team meeting before the Team Captain was supposed to meet the other Team Captain’s for final meeting. Roll call: Mike Lee? Present. Jeremy Saap? Present. Will Turner? Present. Nathan Watson? Present. Team Captain?….. Team Captain?…. Where is the team Captain?! A few frantic text messages it was revealed that he hadn’t even gotten on the flight over... Oh well. Jeremy sorted it and then cooked us a massive feed of pasta energy goodness. (When going on to a cycle event, always take a top chef!)
Early to bed and up at 0315. Aw god, that was early. Bit of a snivel and “Top Chef” had prepared breakfast. Nice. So a quick break and it was off to the bus again. We arrived nice and early. It was a little cool, everyone was wearing their undershirts. Mike Lee was a little chillier and rugged up!
Last minute pits stops meant we were rushing to get tot he start line. No rush needed though, as the start was delayed due to lighting issues. They also announced that the race would be shortened by about 10km.
We finally got away and it was on! In the rising sun we headed off towards the city, it was a spectacular ride. The roads were quiet and we were heavily protected by the local Police. A big thank you the Dubai Police force for keeping us all safe. The pace was pretty high, but not exhausting.
As we neared the end we started to ramp up the speed. There had formed a small gap and Will and I were closing on them quite nicely, but then we looked up and already saw the finish line?? They had shortened it by 13km, not 10km. Bugger!
We came up short, but just in the back of the main pack. It was a little disappointing on a personal level, but we had ridden a good race, and with an average moving speed of 40.9km/h for 2 hours we were pretty stoked overall. As a team Royal Brunei came in 8th. We had to be happy with that.
After the race everyone was invited to prize giving and lunch at the JW Marriot. A fantastic afternoon with all the teams.
Saturday saw another early start for breakfast and then a recovery ride to Bab Al Shams. A bunch of pilots (egos), and bikes on an “easy” 85km recovery ride. What could possibly go wrong??!! Off we set, a few gentle miles and then down went the hammer. Oh deep joy. But the breakfast was pretty cool. It was then time to head back and call a concussion. After a few pretty hectic days I finally hit the wall. We all finally rolled to stop and I got to meet the legend that is Stephen Roche!!! Yeah baby, him!!
What a finish to a great experience!! Can’t wait to do it again next year. It was a blast.
Thank you Will, Jeremy, and Mike and a huge thank you Emirates Road Cycling Club. You put on an outstanding week, made everyone one feel very welcome, and set the bases for hopefully an annual event. Well done.
Sankta Lucia
Friday was Lucia day, an important day to any Swede during the Christmas preparations. Unfortunately my children don't have a big connection to this day, despite my many attempts at making sure we celebrate it, one way or another. (See here when we saw a real Lucia procession while in Sweden; here when we watched it on TV; here when we celebrated in NZ, and here, how it usually goes f.e.)
I suddenly thought, that in Dubai with such a big Swedish community, there must be a Lucia celebration somewhere. So I started to google, and yes, there was!! In the Norwegian Seamen Church!
So Anne and I packed all the kids into a big taxi and off we went. She had never been there either, so it was a bit of an adventure.
We arrived just in time and was lucky to get some seats. There were a bit on the side, but we could at least hear just fine. The procession was made up of both children and adults, and it was very pretty.
The church was filled to the brim with Scandinavians, mostly Swedes. Our two big ones weren't that impressed though:
The girls were more into it, and seemed to enjoy it, although they don't have the same feelings about it as I do of course. At least Anne and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very beautiful.
Afterward there was a big line to the lussebullar, pepparkakor and glögg. Mmm!
I suddenly thought, that in Dubai with such a big Swedish community, there must be a Lucia celebration somewhere. So I started to google, and yes, there was!! In the Norwegian Seamen Church!
So Anne and I packed all the kids into a big taxi and off we went. She had never been there either, so it was a bit of an adventure.
We arrived just in time and was lucky to get some seats. There were a bit on the side, but we could at least hear just fine. The procession was made up of both children and adults, and it was very pretty.
The church was filled to the brim with Scandinavians, mostly Swedes. Our two big ones weren't that impressed though:
The girls were more into it, and seemed to enjoy it, although they don't have the same feelings about it as I do of course. At least Anne and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very beautiful.
Afterward there was a big line to the lussebullar, pepparkakor and glögg. Mmm!
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