Lucas's Arabian Adventures

Moro Frencho trippo photo... and Bahrain

2006-07-28T20:35:00.000+03:30

Hi All

Here is the LAST installment of the France trip photos - and I am also including some pics of my recent trip to Bahrain.

Olivier and Toma

I was really enjoying myself

Life in Dubai has been hot, damn hot - and humid. Work has been busy and interesting. Doing more telco than IT work at the moment. But that may change as the telcommunications, media and technology practice group is moving to Dubai Internet City and we are hoping to pick up more IT and media work. The name 'Dubai Internet City' freaked me out the first time I heard it, but it actually just a free zone, situated on Sheikh Zayed Road ( the big one in Dubai) near the Dubai Marina development. If you haven't already, it is worth googling some of these places just to see what they are doing here.

I have been to Bahrain twice in the last few weeks, working on business development and a client's project. Bahrain is a lot slower than Dubai. The car fleet is older, the buildings are older, and the roads a smaller. It was strange being across the cause-way from Saudi Arabia. Saudi scares and fascinates me. Rumour has it that it is thge largest importer of scotch whiskey in the world and yet it is a dry country. Regardless, it is a place I think I will have to see to believe.

Enjoy.

Phil, my boss

French nuptials

2006-06-24T19:21:00.000+03:30

Hi All

I recently returned from France where I attended Delphine and Olivier's wedding. Delphine was a Rotary exchange student who lived with my family in the 90s.

The wedding was in Alsace, a wine growing area that borders Germany along the River Rhine. It is a fantastically beautiful region. Delphine and Olivier's families live in Sundhouse and Baldenheim, and the wedding was basically held in Schoenau.

The wedding was incredible. It was 5 days of eating incredible food and drinking amazing wine.

In France, any marriage will only be recognised if the couple has a civil ceremony. Delphine and Olivier were married by the town mayor, in their civil ceremony, before the bride and groom and all the wedding guests walked to a 14th century church for the religious ceremony.

After the church ceremony, the wedding party joined the mega-wedding party (all the village folk it seemed) for the "aperitif", which the general free for all coffee, nibbles, beer and champagne party for everyone. After that (yes, there was more) we had the reception, which went from 7ish to 6am.

Now that's what I call a wedding.

There were games and speeches and dancing. There was drinking and eating and cheering.

The following day, the wedding guests had the recovery party which included the most delicious coq au rheisling I have ever tasted. I even managed to sample some 1982 Bordeaux Medoc Cabernet, which was sublime.

During the next few days, there were parties, BBQs and dinners. Everyone was the perfect host. Thank you to Odiele, Beatrice, Pappi and Mammi for having me to stay. Many thanks to Jean Luis and Simona (Olivier's parents) for having me stay the first night I arrived. Thank you to Ramond and Arlette (Delphine's parents) for looking after me so well and getting me to the airport on time. A merci massif to Bruno and Evelyn for driving me from gay Paris to Alsace at 3am in the morning. And huge kiss and hug for Delphine and Olivier for inviting me to the wedding and taking me into their family. Last, but not least, thank you to all the family and friends, who treated me like one of their own.

I will slowly continue adding photos below.

Canoedling in Khor Kalba

2006-06-19T20:30:00.000+03:30

Hi people

A couple of months ago I went canoeing with Dom and Pam (a couple of Norton Rose ruffians) in Khor Kalba, which is claimed to be the largest/oldest/hippest mangrove system in Arabia. It feeds from the Indian Ocean.

It is home to a very rare/almost extinct/endangered kingfisher.

So, with my cousin-to-kookaburra radar set to high, I paddled through the mangrove in search of the elusive little bugger. Everyone on the paddling expedition, except for me, spotted the avian rogue.

Need I tell you it was hot, damn hot. So hot indeed that I burned my bottom on the canoe seat upon re-entry from a river-bank sojourn. Why do they make black canoe seats and then attach them to canoes used in one of the hottest friggin country on earth?

Work drinks - May

2006-06-03T15:38:00.000+03:30

We had works drinks at a partner's digs last month. It was a great party - finishing at 3am. I was not escorted from the premises. Nor was it sunny that night.

ahem

Anne-Marie, Tony, Anne and Steve

Angela, Mike and Rav

Tones

Lunno, Stocko, Tanners and Sammo

Yours truly, Stocko, Lunno, Sammo, Rav, Markos and Ant

Gratuitous kitchen scene

Markos and Lunno

Rav, Stocko and Sammo

Stockers and Tanners

Yasir, Noosa, Leeeece and Ant

My new pad

2006-05-31T19:56:00.000+03:30

I moved into my new digs about 3 weeks ago now. Here are the pics the day after I moved in. Sorry for the mess.

The main bedroom

The main bathroom

The kitchen

The front door

The lounge room

The hall from the lift

More ballooning

2006-05-31T18:47:00.000+03:30

Hi All

More ballooning pics for you.

Ballooning

2006-05-18T17:14:00.000+03:30

A couple of weeks ago I went ballooning across the desert. It was my first time in a balloon and will not be my last. This is a must do for those of you coming to visit.

Our day started at 4.30am in the Wafi shopping centre carpark. From there, we were driven 45 mins out of Dubai into Sharjah, another Emirate.

It was a cool morning - probably about 18 degrees - and predawn when the balloons went up.

Each balloon basket held 20-odd people and was very large.

I'll let the photos do the talking.

Internet withdrawal

2006-05-15T20:07:00.000+03:30

I'm back - its been a month and a half of internet withdrawal - apologies for the lack of updates.

Where to begin?

Golf on the creek

2006-04-08T21:16:00.000+03:30

The lads and I had a bash on the 9-hole at the Dubai Creek Golf Club on Friday. It was hot - around 35 degrees - but not too humid.

After a tight round, Lunno came out on top , followed by Stocko (after a play-off), and me 1 stroke behind both of them.

Lunno had the shot of the day missing a hole in one by a bee's nose.

The crew

2006-04-08T10:50:00.000+03:30

Last Wednesday the office troops had drinks and nibbles at Harvesters, a British style pub in the Crowne Plaza Hotel near work. I'll let the photos do the talking.

Not amused

2006-04-03T21:41:00.000+03:30

Just a quick one.

I was not amused by the range of goods on offer at this plaza.

The Pakistanis and the Fun Loving Criminals

2006-04-03T21:01:00.000+03:30

Who'da thunked it? Playing some Pakistanis on a public beach during the day - attending a Fun Loving Criminals concert that night at a venue called the Irish Village.

It happened.

The day started with a phone call from a couple of the English lads in the office - Stocko and Lunno - inviting me for a burger and a game of cricket at Jumeirah Beach. After the last Ashes debacle, I felt I had to redeem Aussie cricketing in the eyes of the Dubai public, so off to the beach I went.

We first had a burger at Johnny Rockets - supposedly the best burgers in town. We hooked up at the burger joint with another brit lawyer, Dominic.

Lunno left, Stocko right

After the burger, the four of us headed to the beach and started our game. Before long, a group of Pakistanis had wandered by looking keen. We invited them to play. I became Warney - I don't know if the Pakistanis were using that name as a term of endearment or an insult. Either way, I bowled like a banshee, like I had never bowled before - accurate, turning, full length - but failed to take a wicket.

Anyhoo, the sun was hot, wickets fell and fun was had allround - and all without a word of English save the occasional 'howzat!?' or 'bowled Shane'.

After the game, the lads and I went for a swim. The water was extremely salty and very buoyant. Rumour has it that the salt generated by the desalination plants is dumped just off the beach which adds to the salinity. Good luck Kurnell.

I went home showered and met the lads and some of their friends at the Irish Village where the Fun Loving Criminals played.

The criminals were loud and amusing. But my mild sun-stroke and the first beers I had had in weeks forced me into an early retirement. I returned home exhausted but satisfied.

The races and other oddities

2006-03-28T21:56:00.000+03:30

Howdy campers

The world cup was a spectacle. I have never been to the Melbourne Cup festivities, but I imagine it would be similar to the Dubai World Cup. Frocks, hats, fascinators (fascinating), suits, money etc etc. There was a $6million prize for the big race, care of the ruler of Dubai, which was won by one of his horses. Luckily for him there is no tax on winnings.

A couple of days before the race I met a local in the lift after picking up my ticket for the World Cup. He turned out to be one of the Sheikh's brothers. We had a great conversation, but foolishly I did not ingratiate myself and ask him for a gig in the Sheikh's private box on race day. So on the day I had to schlep it with the others.

I found some more soap the other day which I thought was brilliant. By the way, it doesn't work. For some reason I felt dirtier after using it.

And I found this announcement in the local paper that I thought you might find amusing. I prefer to use 'dude' in my announcements, but each to their own.

Be good.

Abdelilah's house and family

2006-03-18T19:53:00.000+03:30

On Thursday night (end of the work week) I visited Abdelilah (the righteous Sudanese dude I share my office with) and his family. His brother's name is Lu'ai and his mother is Noor (transliteration!!).

Me, Noor and Lu'ai

We had strong sweet tea infused with fresh mint - probably the best I have ever had - and biscuits that reminded me of Arnott's Nices.

Abdelilah, his mum Noor and his brother Lu'ai

We talked about Sudan, Australia and Islam, and swapped English and Arabic words. It was a refreshing and eye-opening. Abdelilah and his family are extremely welcoming and gentle and I felt right at home.

Madinat Resort

2006-03-18T19:35:00.000+03:30

Hi campers.

Last weekend I hooked up with Mike McCready, a family-friend of a lawyer I worked with at Optus on secondment (Terence Bonner) and Mike's mate, Simon. Mike is a lawyer at EITC, Dubai's second carrier.

Burj Al Lucas

Mike

As you can see, we went for a beer (actually a long island tea) at the Madinat resort, which is next to the Burj Al Arab - the fancy schmancy hotel everyone hears about. It is fancy schmancy.

After, we met up with Simon, had a bite to eat and went to a Shisha cafe. Shisha is the stuff Arabs smoke in those amazing water pipes. I don't smoke, but thought I should try.

Simon

When we arrived at the cafe there were no seats, so Mike secured a table with 3 Moroccan ladies - Ebtissam, Monia and Maryam. We shished with them for a few hours until their friend turned up and another table became vacant.

From the left: Mike, Simon, Maryam, me, Ebtissam and Monia

Holey Moley

2006-03-15T07:56:00.000+03:30

SORRY - PREVIOUSLY HAD PROBLEMS UPLOADING PICTURES - NEW PICTURES BELOW

Hello campers. Boy have I been busy. Apologies for the lack of posts.

Let's take a step back.

My work bulding

I worked last Friday (my first day of the weekend) but on Saturday I went for a walk with Richard Pascoe (G+Ter in Dubai for work) and Simran Raina (aka Rimran, another G+Ter here on secondment with one of my clients, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company - the second carrier in UAE).

On the creek

Our walk took in the old sections of Dubai. It is interesting to note that Dubai, as a city, is younger than Sydney - the oldest sections of the original wall are circa 1800.

One of the ferries (abbra?) we took acroos the creek to get to the souks

Anyway, we walked along the south-east side'creek' - they actually call it the creek, which makes me think of 'Mulga Bill's Bicycle' - then had lunch at a joint on the creek, jumped on one of the local ferries and chugged to the other side of the creek, and continued onto the 'souks' or markets.

Mannequin in the souk - it made me feal uneasy

The ferry - incredible - you will see one in the photos. They are deisel boats designed to pack 30-odd people onto a deck without rails and with only 2 life-buoys. Richard and I were fearful that we were the 3rd and 4th life-buoys.

A Mosque tower in old Dubai

Once onshore, of course, Rimran bee-lined for the gold souk, so Richard and I hit the variety of shops in the area. By the way, Rimran spent 2 hours haggling in one shop for her belated, self-purchased bday prezzy - happy 21st bday Rimran.

Something told me - don't buy glasses from this shop

Observations of souks:

awesome! lots of people (mostly men) hanging around smiling and gawking; clean; sweet smelling; being tagged by hawkers selling fake watches, handbags and boom-boom movies (Richard and I didn't know if they wanted sell the movies to us or if they wanted us to star in the movies); distant haze; echoing calls to worship in the mosques; coconut juice; spices, herbs, incense (or 'incest' as I heard); pashinas, of differing quality; Rimran haggling on behalf of Rimran for Pashinas; bargains.

I avoided this like the plague

After the souks we walked back to our cars, drove to a lebanese restaurant called 'Automatic' - yum - had a yummy meal, and went home.

Rimran and Richard haggling

Change

2006-03-10T22:30:00.000+03:30

Hi All. Just to give you an idea of the rate of change in this part of the world, below are 2 photos of Sheikh (actually pronounced Shekgh) Zayed Rd. The first photo is circa 1985, the second photo is circa 2005. I am currently living in the building that is pretty much in the centre of the second photo. The photos were taken from the World Trade Centre.

Oops

2006-03-07T19:56:00.000+03:30

Sorry, here are the rest of the photos. Again, note the spelling of 'Lucas'.

Lunch

2006-03-07T19:30:00.000+03:30

Hi All.

I ordered lunch in today.

Actually, there are 3 ways to have lunch in a Dubai office:
1. bring your own - not practical for me as I don't have a kitchen as yet;
2. trek to a local eatery - it's going to be a bitch in Summer; and

3. order a delivery - there are squillions of restaurants that deliver, including not only the ubiquitous fast food joints, but also kebab shops, indian restaurants and an assortment of other eateries.

For about AUD$9 I ordered a skewered chicken plate (it came with chips!!??) and a massive salad. So I saved the salad for dinner. I reckon that's cheap. Especially because it's delivered.

A real estate agent emailed today to offer me a 2 bedroom apartment for AED7,500 per month, which equates to about AUD$2,800 per month. Another real estate agent said that was a bargain. Thank goodness my work is subsidising my rent.

I took some pictures today of my office, the view from my office, my room mate, and a colleague. They are below for you viewing pleasure. Note how they spelled my name on the delivery docket. He he he.

Dubai - the office

2006-03-06T21:10:00.000+03:30

Hi All. Today was my second day at work. I arrived on the Saturday and started work yesterday, Sunday - our work week is Sunday to Thursday. It was the usual drill on Sunday - setting up systems, learning the ropes, introductions.

The office has a great spectrum of nationalities. I share an office with Abdelilah, a Sudanese lawyer. Next door is Warren (Aussie) and Yassir (another Sudanese lawyer). There are oodles of aussies, brits, indians, Canadians and locals. It is quite surreal. Everyone is friendly and welcoming.

I have been thrown into the work today - drafting a business acquisition agreement and related documents for the managing partner, Tom Deegan . I am beginning to come across local legal quirks asociated with the free trade zones.

My supervising partner, Phil Reynolds (ex G+T circa 1993), has me getting my head around Middle East telecommunications policy and drafting upcoming presentations.

The office is an 8 minute walk from my hotel (the Crowne Plaza). I don't have a car and I am quickly realising that I will need one to get around Dubai. The public transport system is non-existent but the road system is vast.

Tomorrow I start searching for an apartment to call home.

Dubai - Day 1

2006-03-04T07:44:00.000+03:30

Hi all. I have arrived in Dubai!

The plane trip was 14 hours. My entertainment system didn't work but luckily I sat next to Geoff Hermon, a pagoda builder extraordinaire from Dural, who had had a very interesting life - so the conversation flowed free and fast and I forgot about the missing movies. Ultimately, Geoff fell asleep (I sometimes have thet effect on people) and I read until it was time for me to dose up on sleeping pills and try to align with the UAE time zone. The plane landed at 5.45ish.

View from my hotel room - the Persian Gulf is in the distance.

Customs was a breeze as I had a special assistant/chaperon to lead me through. The customs officer had a flick through my passport to confirm I hadn't travelled to Israel ( a no-no), Transport to the hotel (to be home for 2 weeks) was waiting outside in the coolish but warming Dubai winter morning.

I felt how I looked.

Whenever I arrive in another country I always perform the sniff test as, mostly, each country/place has a unique smell. To my surprise, Dubai did not have a distinct smell. Maybe it was the desert environment.

Another view from my window with a mosque in the centre.

After having a shower and unpacking, I called Warren Thomson - a friend who I used to work with at G+T. Warren picked me up just before lunch. The day had started to heat up but was absolutely beautiful with a light breeze. Warren took me back to his place where I met his wife and son. We then drove the Mall of the Emirates that houses the world's largest indoor ski field.

It is huge. The photo below is of the central hall. This is just a fraction. We all had lunch at TGI Friday, wandered around the acres of shops, and I grabbed a power plug adapter.

After visiting the mall Warren dropped me back to the hotel. I crashed - exhausted but exhilirated.