Another Night in the Desert

What do you do when you have already been on a desert safari but your best friend hasn't? You go again! So I did. Here are some pics.

About 5 minutes into dune bashing we lost a tire. 

My Life on Cloud Nine

Okay, maybe I don't live on cloud nine, but sometimes it feels like it. Especially living on the 25th floor when there is low-laying fog at sunrise. The other morning I woke up early and opened my curtains to this view. I had to grab my camera. It was pretty unreal. These were taken from my balcony. Enjoy!

I Drink Champagne in the Hood, I Drink Champagne with Tiger Woods. Tiga Tiga Woods Ya'll!

Soooo.. I went to a golf tournament last weekend and had a blast. So much so that we have decided to go to another one in Dubai in a couple weeks.. Anyway, I guess pictures will do.. Not a whole lot of descriptions for this one..



We followed Justin Rose for most of the morning.

Oh, did I mention that this Golf Tournament occured right next door to the apartments I used to live in that had a sinkhole that swallowed my car??!? Yep, that's Al Rayyana in the background..

Then, we saw a big crowd and knew it was Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Tiger basically had to sit on my lap to hit his ball.

Area with a ton of people just enjoying the day and watching it on the big screen.

Finishing the day out on the 18th hole.

My Big, Fat Desert Safari

After traveling home to the USA for the holidays, I was harassed by several friends and family members for not updating my blog often enough.. Man, I didn't know anyone even read this thing. My aunt even told me she checks daily to see if I have posted anything! HI AUNT JUDY!!

When I found out I was moving to Abu Dhabi, I was excited and there were so many things on my mind to write about. When I got here, everything was new and different and there were so many things to share with everyone. Now that I have been here several months, I am still enjoying myself, but everything has become more common-place to me. I guess I have adjusted! Nothing seems too surprising anymore, and I have fallen into a "normal routine". Work, Eat, Relax, Sleep, Repeat. While routine is a good thing, it makes for a pretty boring blog.

My friend Kirstin and I have a New Years resolution to do more stuff! We go to Dubai a lot, but we plan on doing the things around Abu Dhabi that I still haven't done. So, in the next few weeks we will be going to Emirates Palace, the Grand Mosque, and other such places. That should spice up the ol' blog.

So, I am also resolving to blog a little more often. I thought blogging would be "therapeutic", or maybe something I could turn into a hobby. Like some people scrapbook for fun. Well, it's not therapeutic or really that much fun, but I will keep going because I guess a couple people read this..LOL.. As you may have noticed as time has gone on, my blogs are more picture based than word based... Be warned, this will continue!! In the meantime, I need suggestions for a hobby.

Anyway, onto another "Middle Eastern Experience".. The Desert Safari! Picked up in Dubai, we were taken on a 40 minute dune-bashing where you are pretty sure your 4x4 is going to flip over, snap your neck, and leave you to die alone in the desert. Luckily that didn't happen. After the dune-bashing, they stop in the middle of the desert at an oasis where you can ride a camel (disappointing because it was a short ride, similar to a petting zoo), then you can pay to hold a falcon, pay to rent a 4 wheeler, or pay to have your picture taken. No wonder they have money around here. Needless to say, my stingy self didn't pay for any of the extras.  We got a meal, and henna tattoo that were included. We also got entertainment, which was a man twirling around in a glow in the dark dress, and then a belly dancer. All and all a fun night! In case you are wondering who is in the pictures with me:
Eartha- Taught at MLK in Atlanta with me, now lives in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi.
Jaden- Eartha's son
Monica- Another friend from the Western Region
Jaden- Monica's son
Yolanda - A friend of Eartha and Monica from the Western Region
Ian Michael- Yolanda's son
Tyrone- Yolanda's nephew who was visiting from ATL.


Now that you know the cast of characters, here are the pics. Blogspot makes it a pain in the you-know-what to caption each picture, so I won't be doing that for all these! Oh yeah, and they are all kinds of out of order, but you get the point!

Our Neighbor, Dubai!

Dubai is about a 1 hour drive from Abu Dhabi... I have been there three or four times now and I absolutely love it. In fact, I may end up moving there when my contract here ends. It has a totally different feel. It's so clean and bright and shiny. Dubai seems to be much better planned and laid out than Abu Dhabi and it seems to have a lot more green space and parks. It is amazing to think such a place didn't even exist until after I was born. I made a little photo collage just to illustrate how quickly this place emerged.. The three photos depict the same road in Dubai.

I have actually been to Dubai several times now and I will try to roll all the pictures into one post..
So without further ado, heeeeereeee weeeeee gooooooo!


A cool photo I took of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building!

Me in front of the Burj Khalifa:

Shiny and pretty:

Here's an awesome video about the Burj Khalifa:

Camel in the mall:

An awesome waterfall/fountain in the Dubai Mall:

Those are most of my Dubai pics so far. Stay tuned for my next post which will show pictures from my first desert safari!

Oman Part 2 in Pictures

Well, I loved Oman so much I went back! This time with a different friend and we drove the 5 hours instead of flying. We also had a groupon for the Millennium Resort in Mussanah, so we stayed there, which is about a 1 hour drive from Muscat. I went back to the souk to finish my Christmas shopping, as well as get a couple items for myself that I had scoped out on the first trip. All of my family and friends are getting hand-made gifts this year that I found in Abu Dhabi, Oman, or Dubai..  They are mostly made in those places, but a couple were made in India and Turkey. I hope they like them, and I hope they make it to the USA in one piece!
Here are some pictures from my return trip:

Sultan's Palace Entrance:

 View from our hotel balcony:

 Out front of Sultan's Palace:

 Artistic Photography at the palace:

 Greenspace outside the palace:

 Palace entrance again:

 Outside the palace gates:

 Gold gatework:

By the Sea:

The Sultan's huge yacht:

Doesn't look so huge anymore!

The intricate design in the dome top of a park gazebo:

The gazebos in the parks:

Some more artistic photography:

 Fort atop a mountain:

 Walkway outside the palace:

 Artistic photography of Kirstin as we sat in a Thai restaurant on buffet day. This was before we ate. We had some sort of delicious peanut sauce dish. She was commenting how good it was and how tender the meat was. Hesitantly, I told her that the texture and taste of the meat reminded me of beef tongue. She got a disgusted look on her face.. We decided to ask the manager what meat it was.. Thank God it wasn't tongue, it was only intestines!!!!

 The amazing oil paintings I bought a the souk:

 A lantern that was handmade in India that I bought at the souk:

My lantern lit up (although blurry):

That's all.. until my next trip!!