It’s good to see the environment is starting to get some attention in the UAE. Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Ali Al Nuaimi, from the ruling family in Ajman calling himself the Green Shaikh, helps promote the cause.
“two-thirds of the youth in the UAE — Emirati and expatriate — have no idea about their carbon footprint and what they could do to minimise it.”
My wife is still on cloud nine. Myles really made her day yesterday. He sweetly said to her, “Mum, I love you, even more than a camel”. While all her friends liked it, and commented on how sweet he is, isn’t anybody worrying about the feelings of the poor camel?
There was another funny moment when we were at a friend’s house. She got their pet tortoise out to show us, Myles was initially a little frighted, But he became more brave when it was put in my hand, and he even started to pat it. But right at that point of time it began to impressively urinate all over my hand, and onto Myles’s shoe and foot.
“Oh, gross!” was the response. And as I took him to the bathroom to get cleaned up, he protested that he should have been told it’s a Weeing Tortoise (perhaps it’s Indian name?). And he added, the tortoise definitely should have been labeled a “Weeing Tortoise” at the pet shop.
We’ve started toilet training Lewis, from around 1 year and 3-4 months of age. He has been a real natural. From the first time I put him on the seat, he’s been pretty much able to Number 1 on demand.
This afternoon he went without a nappy for a while. It’s interesting how he seems to dance a lot more when he’s nude.
I was a little paranoid he was going to wee on the floor, so I asked him if he wanted to wee on the toilet. He nodded with conviction. So we went to the toilet, where he managed a little trickle, which I applauded in the interests of encouragement. Incidentally, he occasionally sneaks into the toilet when Elle or I are in there doing our own business, and it’s interesting to see when we’re done he now claps us too.
A little while later he was running around the couch I was sitting on, and when he was standing behind me I asked if he wanted to wee on the toilet again. I turned around and saw him nod again, and was excited that he’s starting to communicate it so well. But then I spotted him looking down. Oh no! I looked to where he was looking, and yep – he wanted to wee alright. He wanted to wee all over the floor. There floor was covered in litres of yellow. It caused me to think the first one on the toilet was him actually holding it in, so he could get maximum effect later.
Oh well, we’ll keep trying. It’s all progress I guess.
Yesterday a number of Tecom families gathered downstairs on the Floor 1 terrace to celebrate Easter. We had a well-received egg hunt for the kids – large and small, as well as a BBQ lunch and a few drinks with good company. Interestingly some of the kids didn’t go crazy with the chocolate. Lewis was the obvious exception, he had half his face, and pretty much his entire t-shirt covered in a mixture of chocolate and baby slobber.
It’s probably the first time my kids participated in such a big Easter egg hunt. And a few good lessons were learned. Probably none more important than Myles learning no matter how full your basket of eggs becomes, NEVER put chocolate eggs in your pockets if the temperature is warm.
The kids enjoyed playing football, hide and seek, and chasing each other on bikes. But once they grew a bit tired of these games, they seemed to go their own ways. It was interesting to see Myles walking up and down the garden speaking some “foreign” language. I had to ask what he was doing, to which he replied he was being an Indian. He was equipped with a spear made from a frong from the garden, so I figured he was the American variety of Indian.
Trying to fit the theme I told him about traditional Indian names (without mentioning the standard two dogs joke). We started with the animal, which he chose a Rhino. I was pleased, as it’s my favourite animal. But I would soon regret the whole activity. As he’s just five I simply asked what is the Rhino doing, as it would be the first part of his name. He responded it’s Pooing. So “Pooing Rhino” it was for the afternoon.
Some friends set out to eat fish, in compliance with the tradition. It encouraged me to also get some prawns for the BBQ which was a very nice touch. But the longer we stayed down there, the hungrier we were, and they conceded that fish was just not to cut it. So they walked across to Carrefore and bought a full leg of lamb to throw on the BBQ. It was delicious, even if a little heathen.
Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, Choice, have surveyed Aussie air traveller’s levels of satisfaction, and the results are in. Dang it, Singapore Airlines came out on top for best airline covering the the UK leg, with my employer Emirates taking third place only (URL: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/australias-favourite-airline-revealed/story-e6frfq80-1225848328840).
I’d like to add, British Airways was voted last. And it seems there’s more than enough negative QANTAS press around presently to keep them out of the top places, e.g. A380 tyres bursting, and engineers striking over the Easter break.
One positive result, Emirates was deemed best for travel between Australia and “Unzed” (Australia’s neighbour, New Zealand). Thanks Kiwis! This is fantastic considering the huge number of carriers crossing the ditch these days and the fierce competition amongst them.
Come on Australia, get with the programme.
This evening I learned that His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been confirmed dead, regrettably too early at the young age of 42. For the uninitiated, Bin (or occasionally “Ibn”) means son of – so from his name alone you can tell he was the son of the founding father of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed; and the last name, Al Nahyan is Abu Dhabi’s ruling family’s surname. It turns out he was the younger brother of Abu Dhabi’s current ruler, and President of UAE, Sheikh Khalifa.
Sheikh Ahmed’s body was missing for 3-4 days after his glider crashed in Morocco, so it was pretty clear the story was not going to end well. I figured out that news had broke of his body being found as soon as I got in the car this evening and turned on the radio. All of the English stations were playing morbid classical music, and all other stations had Arabic prayers being sung. Within the UAE they routinely do this out of respect to the family. Depending on how closely they were related to the ruler, this mourning period can go for days.
Earlier this year one of the elder Al Nahyan family members passed away, which took all modern music off the radio for a couple of days. We kept the radio turned off to avoid falling asleep when driving. And after waiting for a while, I thought I’d just switch the radio on just for a second to see if the mourning period had ended, the moment I switched it on Lady Gaga sang “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick”, so yep, it had finished. Although, the music was no improvement.
The question now arises, will we get days off. Apparently it’s quite common for public holidays to be issued when a royal family member passes away. And again the number of days off depends on how closely related the deceased was within the royal ranks.
One of the minor things we looked at when we were sussing out Dubai and our potential move, was the comparison of holidays between Dubai and our home city of Brisbane. At first glance it seemed they were very close in number. UAE misses Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas, but they have many single days off for Muslim occasions. And when you add the days off that happen when people die, it seems Dubai’s working days per year could be quite less than Brisbane.
One of the things that sealed the deal for us to agree to moving Dubai, was their love of sports. And horse racing is one of the more preferred sports. The weekend just gone was the Dubai World Cup – the $10M horse race – apparently the richest race in the world. Incidentally I thought the ‘Race that stops the nation’ – the Melbourne Cup had that title. We didn’t attend this year’s world cup, but it was hard to miss. The sports section of the paper was 12 pages, with 8 or so devoted to the event. It was hosted for the first time at the magnificent Meydan facility. I’ve only seen images on TV and in the papers, but I’m sure you’d have to see it to believe it.
Myles enjoyed marking off the horses that would win. Unfortunately we lost his picks, it would have been interesting to see his results. Besides since we couldn’t have a flutter on the event it didn’t seem the same. Myles’s criteria was the horse had to be Australian or American, and the owner had to be a Sheikh. I’m sure he would have more success with that system than I would have trying to follow their form, using statistical probability, and their odds.
Maybe next year. Although we seem to be saying that so much lately, 2011 may be overwhelming.
My Nanna passed away Friday 12/03/2010, at the ripe age of 91.
I was asked to say a few words from the grandkids – I did this nine years ago for Poppy also. The following is my tribute, based on various inputs requested and received via social networking – found yet another Facebook use.
It’s a real honour for me to be here today to join in the celebration of Nanna’s life, and to say some words on behalf of her 18 proud grandkids and great grandkids.
We loved the way when Nanna saw us she would always touch our faces with her two hands. We’ll miss her hugs. We’d get a hug and kiss every time we saw her. They were never the strongest hugs, and each year our arms were going further and further around her tiny frame, but her hugs always came from the heart. We were constantly reminded that big things do come in small packages.
We always loved staying at Shorncliffe on our school holidays, playing cards and board games. Being at Nanna and Poppy’s home felt like our home. Jetty Street breakfasts were legendary, with Nanna’s poached eggs out of an egg tray that fit on top of a steaming pan, served on toast and promite. And regardless of how miniscule the fish was that we brought back from fishing on the jetty, she’d always happily prepare it as a meal fit for a King.
We loved the heartfelt cards she’d write to us for birthdays, or any other special occasion which she’d never forget. She made it known she was very proud of us. She was intensely proud of all her family. In her words, we “came from good stock”.
And she really treasured her growing number of great grandkids. She loved holding them. Carrying them she looked truly happy, even though in her final few years a couple of those babies weighed almost a quarter of her own weight.Nanna thought the grandkids were such cute babies too, but, for a few of us she’d usually follow-up by adding how massive our heads were.
She understood how busy everyone’s lives were and never expected people to go out of their way for her. Every time we visited her, she would emphasise how happy she was to see us, rather than how long it had been since she had seen us.
Nanna was prepared for anything. She always had a handkerchief, which she’d often moisten with her tongue to wash our faces.
And we never went hungry. My goodness!She could always lay out a spread of food so swiftly, and would always offer seconds. You’d finish your meal, and then a skinny little arm would push another plate of food closer to you. No matter what our size, she always thought we needed more. To her we were all “growing kids”.
And she’d always serve herself last. She was born to be a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.Nanna and Poppy were also two of the most reliable people we’ll ever know. At their dinner time you could set your watch to 6pm with absolute precision.
And in these modern times, it’s uncommon for kids to have both parents attend their school parades, fetes, award nights, graduations, sporting events and anything else. We always had our parents there, but we were also quite unique and blessed to often have both grandparents there.
In recent times, Queensland has suffered two of its worst droughts in history, and was subjected to severe water restrictions. Nanna’s take on this was almost nonchalant. To her it was no big deal. She had naturally adhered to Level 7 water restrictions for more than 80 years. Whenever we stayed at Shorncliffe, Nanna would wash us in a bath with the tide out. She was an expert at how to be thrifty and make do – two very good lessons for us to learn.
At her 90th birthday it was touching to see Nanna cry at the memory of Poppy. But she was still able to show how much she loved spending her time with us.
Nanna and Poppy’s love story will always inspire us. Long-lasting or eternal love is an amazing story. Poppy was the love of her life, and she’s missed him so much over the last nine years.
That love they had for each other has passed on through the family.Although it’s sad she’s left us, we’re happy they’re together again.
Nanna and Poppy always danced so well. We assume they’re dancing together now.
When I returned from work, Myles boasted that he had eaten a colossal donut at the coffee shop that day, and a little disturbingly he added that it had made him do a colossal poo.
Last night I took Myles to the medical clinic. Without getting into any gory details, the outcome was we got some cream for him to apply.
When we got home he asked to see the cream, which had a lion as the logo. His face screwed up in a look of disappointment when he saw the packet, and he asked the imperative question “Why do we have to put it on a lion?!”