Having a capital time

Am off to Justin Timberlake in Abu Dhabi tomorrow night! He's playing at The Palace which is apparently amazing, and I get to stay at the Sheraton hotel for the night too - yay! It's my first trip to the capital so am suitably excited ;-)

Went to Nik Kershaw last night, at Jambase, 'Dubai's only supper club', what an amazing voice that man has... All the old favourites had us singing along madly (well, mainly me and Ben, but we were LOUD).

Dubai Rugby 7's was fantastic, as expected. I am however, getting old, I didn't make it to the after party either night ;-) but instead went home and collapsed on the couch instead. What a nice change that was!

So I've managed an entire post without mentioning me being drunk, am uber-proud. But I have to end it now to ensure it stays that way, so I will post tomorrow on all the things that I have been up to ;-)

Gigging

So, I can't believe I forgot how much Fun Loving Criminals rock! And Arrested Development were superb too... Yay for Dubai gigs!

Off to Dubai Rugby 7's this coming weekend - can't wait to write about that too ;-) I will hopefully be sneaking into the rugby players locker rooms with (DJ) Sarah to interview them (or in my case, to perve over them), and I have some mates playing for Sharjah too so it should be an awesome weekend!

Come on SA Sevens team...

Pics of the car

My beautifull car, plus the scrapes from someone driving into me 3 days after I got it ;-(

Went to the Red Bull flug tag yesterday, what an absolute blast - Tanne and I took Tao and met up with gorgeous Carl the Kiwi, Jacques and some of Carl's friends. It was totally hysterical some of the machines that made it up onto the stage, and obviously subsequently into the Creek!

Won tickets to Fun Loving Criminals and Arrested Development on my mate Sarah's radio show, so am heading down there tonight with Del, yay!!

New bits and bobs

I am the proud owner of a brand new pearl white Rav 4. The colour is described by one of my friends Alison as 'making you want to lick it' - couldn't have said it better myself ;-) It had 9km's on it when I picked it up, and has all the trimmings, and I love it! Pics to follow...

I also went shopping for new 'girly' clothes that fit me - yes, I have lost weight and all my surfer baggy gear is particulalry unsexy - last weekend. I am a crap shopper, so took Leen (ultra chic Jordanian princess/clothes horse/stunner - you get the picture) and Vanessa (knows me best out of anyone here) to ensure that I actually stayed in the shop for longer than 5 mins without getting pissed off, and to help me select some somewhat stylish clothes, without changing my whole comfy look. Brilliant success, and cheap at the price.

Off out tonight, with awesome Sarah, in my new car and my new dress. Don't laugh, I actually am wearing a dress tonight.

Hee hee

Car trouble

So, no really exciting new news, except the fact that I'm still waiting for my new car (it is due to arrive today), and my credit cards and cheque book have been delivered to me, so I can start paying off/back the money I owe to all and sundry.

Went pub quizzing at Fibber Mcgees a couple of weeks ago, and my team, Horizontal Bob (long story where that name came from) is officially the reigning champions - out of approx 11 teams nogal! Sarah, Martin, Lisa, Rob (Bob) and myself rocked the party, and looked suitably dumbfounded at the results, mainly as we were wondering if there were indeed drunker/stupider people there than us ;-)

Saw Goldfish (CT duo) on Thursday - not as good as I've seen them before, but awesome enough that I got to say I told you so at least 10 times to my sceptical (mainly UK) mates ;-) Met them on Friday and had drinks with them, and managed to do a fair few Xmas pressies (bought 5 of their albums!), so that was cool...

Am trying to get my lazy ass out of Dubai this weekend, am uber-keen on seeing the beaches in Fugeirah, and getting in some suntanning and scuba diviing - watch this space. Fun Loving Criminals/Arrested Development Sat night so will definitely have to be back for that!

Work is still hectic, but have finally been given permission to hire people, and an assistant, so am way happier than last week! Have also been told that studio integration (i.e all 4 BBDO studios) should be going ahead next year as initially planned, so will be in charge of 30 people by Feb, instead of the 15 I'm in charge of now - talk about swift promotion opportunites here, they weren't kidding!

As for the shits in Sunninghill that buggered up my parents' shop, and caused my mom to fracture her wrist, I say TWITS! (And that's because I don't want my parents reading the other word that comes to mind).

Laters

Being a resident of Dubai

I got my residency last week - finally! This means I can open a bank account, apply for a loan and a credit card, and buy a car. Managed all of that on Wednesday and today - and am feeing way more like I live here, rather than am on holiday ;-)
Arsenal v Liverpool tonight - go the Gunners!

New friends and a 30th (mine)

So have been having a very busy and very drunk time (sorry mom and dad!) here, hence the long absence from the blogscene... Having read my newest friend Carl's blog today, however, I was inspired (guilted? call it what you want) to write a little bit of news. More about him later.

I celebrated my 30th last weekend, by behaving like a 20 year old, something only I would find as amusing and fitting as I did, I suspect ;-) J and J are over from London and we have been squeezing in brunches (some sober-ish photos inserted) and Barasti, lush steak dinners, RUGBY - WOOHOO 2007 World Champs, braais and sun round the pool, a Filipino rock band - classic!!!, and obviously the 80's party. We nearly broke the DJ's previous record for cops being called out, 3 times in one night, but we placated them (I heard with a beer, which really scares me?) and everyone had a rather messy vodka filled (thanks to the 2 Russians, Slava and Sergy) night.

So I have met even more fabulous people here, most of whom I now see every weekend, sometimes twice a weekend. People are big into doing things in large groups, so there are often 10 to 20 of us out at a time, needless to say it gets bloody noisy! Annie and Del (both from UK) have been my funnest find in the last month - a mad couple who seem to, between them, be a perfect best friend. Annie I can drink with and gossip with, and Del I drink with and watch sport with, and sort of talk photography i.e he likes taking pics, and I like his pics, and want him to come do work for us - great combo! The photos on here are taken by him btw.

Carl, the kiwi, who had the misfortune of meeting us (through Jacques, who wasn't even with us - go figure) and watching rugby with us, straight after NZ had lost to France. He took the grief J and J were throwing at him, quite admirably, and eventually I had to throw the man a bone. I told him Jerome is actually a Wales supporter - he was way noisier after that ;-)

I keep reading back on the blogs and wondering when I will start having exciting non-drinking stories, but keep getting reassured that life settles down, and the novelty of saying yes to every invite will definitely wear off. Great stuff coming up in the next few months, so a promise is made here to have way more interesting blogs from here on in - about proper stuff' rather than partying ;-)

Oh, and 2 more things:

- THE BOKKE WON THE WORLD CUP 2007 - WOOHOO!
- TICKETS TO BRAZIL ARRIVED TODAY - WOOHOO!

Home time

So I'm off home tonight, for 6 days, for Vicky and Mike's wedding. And my pre 30th drinks of course ;-) Yay!!

It's Ramadan here, which is awfuly quiet, and takes some adjusting to! No eating or drinking or smoking permitted in any public places until after 7pm, no alcohol served anywhere until after 7pm. No live music allowed AT ALL in bars and clubs. Background music is permitted after 7pm, but only if it's BACKGROUND music.

The practicing muslims work from 10am to 3pm (we work 9am to 4pm during Ramadan) and seriously eat at as soon as they think it's sunset - approx 6.30pm - and I mean they prepare the food from aboout 5pm and heat the oven, and pour their juice and put everything on a tray on the kitchen counter, and it takes about 3 mins to finish cooking after prayers! Then they sleep until midnight, and then go for Iftaar, the traditional breaking fast celebration, which happens anywhere from on the beach, to in the malls to at peoples house etc. We had Iftaar at our house on Sunday night, for Eyad, the Saudi guy that lives with us. We had to combine tradition, as it was my other housemate, James', birthday as well, so Eyad let us drink alcohol at the table, and we ate traditional Arab food with him... What fun!

More on SA when I'm there...
P

Beach parties

It was overcast this morning. That statement in itself is not that unusual, usually. But this is the first time in 70 odd days that it's been cloudy here!

Went to a wakeboarding competition in Jazira (at the Golden Tulip) on Friday and then a beach party afterwards (Jazira Beach club) which was awesome and is now my favourite pastime. I love the beach, and I love that I can go every weekend - or even every day - if I want to. Growing up I went to the beach once a year on holiday and really do feel like I'm holiday every weekend now ;-)

Getting cooler here - I still drive to gym in 31 degrees and 60% humidity at 7am, but it's only 42 at lunchtime now - positively mild I tell you ;-)

Oh, and I stll hate working on a Sunday - although can leave early today to catch the rugby which starts at 6pm here, so it isn't all bad!

Happiness

So I realised this morning that happiness, whilst never underrated, is not something one thinks about until they are either miserable, or exceptionally happy. I have never been an unhappy person generally, but am starting to realise that that doesn't mean I was happy all the time either. Today, I'm happy. And I think I will continue to be happy for a while to come. I am back at gym, I've lost weight, settled into work, love my new house and am making some of the most awesome friends ever over here.

I am going back to SA in 3 weeks for a wedding (and hopefully a carefully-planned-by-me 'surprise' 30th party - Wayne?), and will see the whole family again, which rocks. 2 of my best mates are coming to Dubai in Oct for my 30th, and the RWC. I'm off to Brazil for Christmas, a wedding and New Year in December, and will be seeing the Dutch side of the family in February for my brother-in-law's 40th, and my nephew's 1st birthdays. Life is fabulous today.

Don't sweat the small stuff

So, some things that are different here:

Only locals can get their windows on their cars tinted (go figure)
The driving here is appalling (ok, maybe that's not so different to home, but I mean WAY WORSE here)
Everything is covered in sand all the time (Pam, you're in the desert, with a beach as well, I hear you say - but really really didn't think it was THIS bad!)
No local is ever in a rush to do anything, the word deadline is a laugh a minute (you people in Advertising - I mean WAY WORSE than anywhere else as well). In fact, the most commonly used word is Inshallah (god willing). I liken it to the South African 'Just now' meaning, when I get around to it, if I feel like it.
The service here is appalling
I get called Miss Pam everywhere I go
You don't get speeding fines sent to you - you have to register your car every year, and when you go in to do that they present you with a years worth of fines, and you cannot re-register your car until you've paid them (so yes, some people have to shell out 10 000 AED in one go!)
Cars are ridiculously cheap
Petrol is ridiculously cheap (another obvious one, yes yes, but REALLY cheap)
You need a (personal) liquor licence to buy booze at a bottle store. And they are only allowed to sell you a certain percentage of your monthly salary, every month. Thank goodness I make OK money ;-)
There's no such thing as weekend drinking, everyone goes out any night of the week they feel like - especially Saturdays (before work on Sunday!?) and Sundays. Hardcore!
Everyone here does brunch on a Friday - starts at 12h00 and goes till 16h00. It usually ranges from 100 AED to 400 AED, depending on how swanky the venue is, and it's free food and booze for the duration. Needless to say, it's carnage ;-)

More to follow...

Plus and minus week

So this week has been both very good and very bad. I found a house, complete with pet - pics attached, and lost it 3 days later, I got a car, and haven't had an accident in it (touch wood) but it's the most horrific colour I can imagine - photos to follow for sure! I am loving my job, but missing the Loeries at home, and missed a dinner I was looking forward to on Thursday, but managed to find a tiny little beach bar in Jazira (border of Dubai and Abu Dhabi) with new friends, one of whom is a musician and plays there Thursday nights - all in all I think it broke even.

The house - not too much to say, moved in and bought all my furniture for my room - got the bed delivered same day but too difficult (much effort?) to put together so didn't bother with that, instead settling in on the mattress as IKEA was delivering everything else today so I figured they could assemble it for me. My very cool parents shipped my stuf for me last week to be fetched today, and I was figuing on being settled and moved in and unpacked and happy by Sunday morning. Now I have 4 days and counting to find somewhere else, for various reasons that I won't go into on here... But every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, as I figured out the people I'm living with, were maybe not the best choice of housemates for me, as they wash dishes after every cup of tea and have to scour the kitchen after cooking a (vegan!!!!!! Shame) meal. And they never go out on school nights either, and frown upon anyone who does - yes, me in other words... So am house hunting again. As always, more to follow on that! The car, well there's no explaining the decision to award me with the shittest gold/green Nissan Tiida ever made, so we'll move swiftly along from that too ;-)

Loeries, well Loeries is Loeries and will be there another time I'm sure - the fact that I'm already at the beach, sitting staring at the sea from a Starbucks (ok - Air con is indeed addictive here, as I was warned, you start having panic attacks if in the sun for longer than 3 minutes and you can't see an aircon 'vehicle' anywhere, which is what the Starbucks is for me) is consolation enough for the time being. Dinner - well dinner was a catch up with a new friend (Blake - see earlier post) as he just got back from Islamabad and Beirut, but is so ill he barely managed to phone and cancel before collapsing again - so will see him later this weekend if he recovers in time! So I called Kat - again, see earlier post) and went with her and her boyfriend Jeremy, and a friend of hers, Jess to Jazira. Jazira is just across the border into Abu Dhabi (the actual Emirate, but 88km's or so from the actual city) to a watersports complex, with hotels/bungalows and apparently all the watersports you can imagine... There, in the middle of nowhere, is the tiniest beach bar you'll ever see, with miles and miles of sand and water all around, as it's technically on an island. What a chilled out, amazing night - the tunes by Jeremy were superb, and the conversation (between several SA Harley guys, the bar owner, an incredibly funny called Phil, and the girls) was scintillating. That, and the fact that I got to see Patti, and meet her fiance last week, saved the week for me. Totally.

Patti flew in from Kabul, Afghanistan last Thursday, on her way to Croatia for 2 weeks holiday, and spent some of the day with me, and the rest sleeping in my room at the B&B, before we headed to Le Meridian for dinner. Her fiance, Rich, joined us there, as he flew in on his way to Thailand on holiday. The dinner was Thai, and fabulous - I ate not only shrimp, but lobster as well - I am uber impressed with myself ;-) Patti managed to order an 850 AED bottle of wine - 200 dollars we worked out, as it on the recommended list and she forgot to check the price ;-) so we giggled all the way home about that too. I can't wait for their wedding (in Brazil - woohoo!), and may even see them again before that as they are so close to me! And having not seen Patti in 4 years or so, and not actually having spent any more than 5 hours total in her company before that, in no way stopped the mad and excited chatter that only ended when she left for the airport! And her fiance rocks, the girl done good. Laters

Some pics to catch everyone up

PS Yes, this PS is at the top, so I can explain the post, without re-writing the whole effing thing! So having posted this (pics carefully in order) I realise that pics need to be posted backwards to get the order right, as per the writing, and also, you cannot rotate images or DO ANYTHING TO THEM once they are posted. Other people with blogs, please jump in here and correct me, for once in my life I'd love to be wrong, as this just pisses me off!

So, the first group of piccies show the B&B - the garden, swimming pool, (some of the many) loungers, my room, my bathroom etc - I apologise in advance if I really haven't gotten any better at taking pictures, but having seen some of the pics my mates have taken with my camera, I am going to blame the camera ;-)
Then we have the drive on beach, the Monster Toy truck, us getting stranded and the little rescuer car with jumper leads ;-) The next lot is the Madinat SOUK where we went drinking, just the outside area, along the (fake) promenade.
So, I found a place to live - in Umm Al Sheif, between the Burj (7 star hotel thang with helipad/tennis court on top - pic included) and the Mall of the Emirates - I think the 3rd biggest mall in the world, behind only 2 other malls in Dubai. Ok, that's a made up stat, but it is the mall with the largest indoor snow slope in the world. Close to the beach, 20 mins from work (in traffic) and sharing with 3 other people (Australian/Irish/English). We all have our own en-suite rooms, and there's a huge garden, and swimming pool - pictures to follow when I move in (hopefully Sat).
In the meanwhile, I get to go to IKEA (woohoo!) and spend a large amount of cash (loaned by work thankfully) on furniture for my new and soon-to-be awesome room.
And lastly, the view from my (now apparently temporary, and shared with Vanessa) office.
Laters

A little about my new and exciting position at work

So, today I started work work. Yes, it's been 2 weeks since I landed, I told you I liked the laid back approach to starting a job here ;-)
So, I am officially the new Studio Manager at Impact BBDO. I have a staff complement of 17 at last count, although at the rate they are hiring I will soon have 30! 'My Boyz' as they are already affectionately known are... you guessed it... all men, mostly older than me and are made up of 8 Indians, 2 Egyptians, 5 Syrians and 2 Filipinos - hell of a mix, but all awesome, friendly guys. I think they are just grateful to have to have someone look after them for a change (this is a newly created position)! The office is a total shambles as we are 3 companies (250+) people over 2 floors of a rather badly designed triangular building, and still have to wait another 2 months before our 3rd floor (21st floor) becomes available for us. I was feeling rather smug about my (uber-tiny!) office, but the Operations Director arrived back from Australia today, and is now comfortably (?) ensconced on the other side of my desk, in my uber-tiny (and also now apparently temporary) office! Luckily it's Vanessa, a very cool Aussie girl that actually interviewed me before she went away ;-)
So, The Emirates Hotel. Damn, I wanna be rich when I walk into that lobby, or into the shopping mall below it - Jimmy Choo, Prada, Michael Kors (for everyone who is a fan of trash reality tv ie Project Runway) etc etc. There is a lady playing piano in the hotel lobby every afternoon, and people sitting drinking and eating and generally looking very relaxed and did I mention rich?, every day I walk through there.
More about the work after a couple more days, suffice to say the space issues here make this place absolutely chaotic, the air-con really unreliable, and the people generally not as exuberant as I think they would like to be!
Today is my last company sponsored day in the beautiful B&B - bugger it, it's getting a punt here www.fusionbandb.com so have paid until the weekend and am now searching for suitable and affordable digs with something approaching zealousy (can't think of a better way to say it grammatically - help anyone?) If anyone from the amazing villa I saw in Um Al Sheif is reading this (miraculously of course) - PICK ME PICK ME!
See you on the flip side.
Oh, pics to be added asap - once I have worked out the tricky situation involving digital camera conversion from MAC to PC - again, help anyone?

It's been a while since my last confession...

Ok, so I succumbed to the dreaded Air-con lurgy (yes, that is the medical term for it) last week Wednesday which is why news hasn’t been flying thick and fast – and to those of you who thought I was lazy or had lost interest already – hah! I managed to lie outside in the sun for Wednesday morning though, to try get out of an air-conditioned environment – almost impossible to do here, feel free to applaud – and so on Thursday when I woke up 4 shades darker, couldn’t go back to work as they would have guessed I had been tanning, and thought I wasn’t sick ;-) (I did still feel crap on Thursday everyone, I promise). So we had another braai Thursday lunchtime, and I went to bed early – as I was sick – and then went to the beach for the first time on Friday morning. It was fabulous – helped of course by the fact that Peter took us in his ‘ginormous hummer bakkie type thang’ which for ease of reference will now forever be referred to as GHBTT – love that car – and so we went to the drive-on beach (I’m sure there’s a name, or a more technical term for it, but please, you get it) , which is white and very flat and there are no waves, so you can tan in the water, floating. Because you can’t lie on the beach in 40 degrees for more than 12 minutes at a time, without getting in the water (30 degrees) so you may as well stay in it! Friday night I went to Jumeirah Madinat for dinner, with a friend of a friend who I hadn’t met yet – Blake, 39, English chap. Nice chap – bloody naughty, but loads of fun. Of course there was no dinner eaten, as the beer was far more delicious than any of the menus offered up by the 40 odd restaurants in the SOUK ;-) Anyway, 2 bars later we left to go to Barasti bar – on the beach, part of Dubai Marina, 2 separate bar areas, 3 swimming pools and about a km of white sand, couches, loungers, palm tress – blah blah blah – you get it, I’ll take pics next time if you’re not jealous yet!
So fun night, and pretty well behaved, was in bed by 2am.
Saturday we watched rugby, and that is where that conversation ends.
Saturday afternoon I went back to Barasti – this time for some live music, with Hayley and her 6 yr old daughter Tao – yes, this is my favourite place in Dubai so far ;-) The music was fab, we met some incredibly funny/interesting characters, and end result is that a group of 6 of us are going sailing on Friday, on Stuckey’s sailboat. (Stuckey is an American so I believe the ‘sailboat’ is a fuck off big yacht, but I’m not going to complain!)
Other people joining us : Bob – South African, approx 150kg’s, approx 50 yrs old, with the longest beard I’ve seen since being here – and I remind you all I am now living in the Middle East so if you weren’t chuckling at that, laugh damnit!
Kat – Australian girl, 26, stunning! Editor of Etihad in-flight magazine, her Irish boyfriend Jeremy, the lead singer of the band, and also a journalist for Time Out (talented bastard, I’m a leeeetle jealous here), Hayley, Stuckey and myself – how much fun?
Again, very well behaved, except that I hadn’t eaten by 9pm so went for the lazy option of McDonalds on the way home – the taxi drivers here will actually drive you through the drive thru and order for you, how hilarious!
So, all good, except I’m back at work on Sunday – and am never going to get used to that, no matter what anyone says.
Oh, got my Dubai temp drivers license, so get to go rent a car tonight and drive home on the wrong side of the road – groan – and then will be looking at some villa’s to stay in tonight, and tomorrow – will keep you all posted!

Bring on the weekend!

I woke up slightly earlier than yesterday - 08h30 instead of 10h30 - and made it to work at about 10h00. Love this laid back approach to starting a job! Met some people from my B&B yesterday, and this morning - Rob, the Aussie, who is living next door to me. Pete, the South African who owns the place with his wife Stacy - he's the Group Head at Proximity over here (part of BBDO for the non-advertising Philistines out there), Indy - another bloody Aussie, and an Argentinian guy whose name I will never get right. They have invited me to a fancy dress party tomorrow night, at someone's villa - I like to think they're not taking the mickey and it really is a fancy dress party, otherwise the outfit Rob the Aussie is taking me to buy tomorrow will be a waste of money ;-) Am off to Lauryn Hill (ex Fugees and amazing solo artist, for the non-music Philistines out there) & Guests at some arena on the beach tonight, which should rock! It's 'Friday' for me, tomorrow is w/end!

Getting settled (or drunk?)

So I'm sitting in my new office, with a view of the Sheiks palace (I think), the race track (camels or horses?) and the desert - on the 17th floor with a window office so I feel quite special ;-) They told me to come in at 11am today - which is good because the sushi I had for dinner last night apparently had to be eaten in the company of Mojitos and while I'm not hungover (whatever!) I certainly enjoyed the extra sleep... The B & B is awesome - I will post pics after the weekend, when we have our braai etc so I can show you everything - and the people who work there (all Filipinos, except the owners who are South African) are the sweetest, most helpful people ever! They even brought out breakfast again for me at 10h30 this morning ;-) I was able to make a sandwich for lunch (ham/cheese/mayo light) and I took an apple/cranberry/muesli breakfast drink - looks like a yogi-sip - but I'll keep you posted on that one, I'm not convinced!