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After a year full of blooms, the petunia has finally decided to take a nap. In the meantime, I've added a few other petunias to keep it company.
Meanwhile, there was a Mexican restaurant in London that had a basket of matchbooks at the host stand but instead of matches, there were five cardboard sticks with chili pepper seeds inside. When we got home, I planted them in our garden and just a few weeks later, they've sprouted. Magic!
I saw a photo of this beautiful twist of metal somewhere and when I saw that it was in Dubai, I knew we had to go on a hunt to find it. Early on a weekend morning, we drove southwest on Sheikh Zayed Road towards the Marina and we had a long walk on the False Creek-like seawalk, where people were having their morning coffees and lots of joggers were out for a run on the water (more joggers than I see in our neighbourhood). We talked about how this neighbourhood had been our other candidate for places to live here in the city and, while it has some neat features, we realized that we appreciated the shorter commutes to our respective workplaces from our current apartment. 10 minutes is way better than 35 to 40 minutes.
The seawalk is the nice advantage for the neighbourhood, giving a breezy scenic view and an excellent walking path.
And then we spotted the skyscraper in the distance and took a kazillion photos because it was really strikingly beautiful.
They renamed the highway that cuts through the Emirates, and it's now named after Abu Dhabi's crown prince. The rolling dunes are still the same. One surprise as we came across the huge ghost town in Ajman was that it appears to have progressed somewhat after sitting as a dormant concrete shell in the middle of nowhere for all of the years that we have been here. Nearing Ras al Khaimah, our directions told us to go straight at the clock roundabout, straight at the boat roundabout and then right at the seashell roundabout. Thank goodness for these landmarks, as they make navigation much easier in a land when street signs are less than standardized. On our way back to Dubai, we watched as jumbo jets cruised into the landing runway at DXB.
I took the metro last night, and look what was being set-up outside the station when I started my walk home. London has its Boris Bikes, Paris has the Velib, and Dubai now has its own happy blue bikes.
I carried my camera on my morning run to get some better photos, and took a moment to study the details. I usually take a cheap taxi to and from my office every day because it's convenient and the quickest way to get around. The metro is cheaper and environmentally friendly, but it's a 15-20 minute walk from the station to the apartment in the winter, and longer in the summer because I would cut through the air conditioned mall in a big loop. Now, with bike stations set up at the metro AND in the grassy park right near our building, I could easily rent one of these and ride it to our neighbourhood directly. If I try out a bike, I will report back for sure.
I love this half-marathon. Every detail, from the view of the Hajar Mountains at sunrise to the Arab pipeband to the presence of royalty at the start & finish, it's all fantastic. The course is flat and long, 13 miles past shops and the Grand Mosque and lines of Pakistani labourers in their plaid skirt-like dhoti, most watching blankly, some filming with their mobile phones (I waved to the cameras), and one cluster cheering wildly, jubilantly.
Most years, the RAK Half means a 3:30am wake-up so that I can get to the bus in Dubai, but this year we booked a cheapo hotel well in advance and cruised out the night before. This was a brilliant move. Not only were we able to walk to the start at a reasonable hour, but we were also then able to enjoy the breakfast and facilities after the run. Ahh, hot shower and yogurt & pastries. This also meant that James was able to see the start for the first time, since he usually drove out after I had caught the early bus, and as official team picture-taker, he captured all of the scenes that I've always wanted to photograph.
Like the band! In previous years, they were wearing long white Arab dress but they've since upgraded to fancy uniforms. Always a favourite moment to hear the band play, they're really good.
He also got a photo of the VIP stands - the man facing the camera in the front row is the ruler of this Emirate, and it has always impressed me that every single year, he has cheered on the runners at the start AND he has still been in the bleachers as I've crossed the finish line, wayyyyyy past the elite runners' finish. Sheikh Saud, that is really great!
The sunrise over the Hajar Mountains.
The elite runners sprinting at the finish. This year's contingent included the man who has run the fastest marathon ever. It's a huge race for elite runners because the prize money is massive, including a 125,000 Dirham bonus for a world record, which Mary Keitany won the first time I did this race. Beautiful runners, absolutely perfect, efficient strides.
One of the crazy costumes.
And here she comes! I had a decent run, with my time falling pretty much exactly in the middle of all my times ever, not my best, not my worst. In the first 5 km, I was running a steady 6:30min/km pace, and I pretty much kept that going for the whole distance. The conditions were nice, cool and none of last year's hot wind and sandstorm, and I just plodded along to the finish. I had some good energy for a strong finish, and felt like a million bucks when I saw James near the finish - there he is! I'm almost done!
Edited to add: I love this recap of the race, "athletes smoked the flat desert course in Ras Al Khaimah at the 7th RAK Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates producing sensational results. The top-3 men — Kenyans Geoffrey Kipsang, Stanley Biwott and Geoffrey Mutai — all broke 59 minutes, the first time that has ever happened in a single race. The top-4 women all broke 67 minutes, including winner Lucy Kabuu of Kenya, whose 1:06:09 was the #2 time in history."
Our first night in London was spent at a hotel on Edgware Road, which is a Muslim neighbourhood (signs for Hajj travel packages, halal fish & chips, head-to-toe veiled women, men yelling in Arabic while they talk on the phone and gesticulate, a man sitting at the shisha cafe every single morning as I run by). We were starving and wanted a light snack before our nice dinner later that night with Marco. And so our first meal in London was a falafel. We joked that we were feeling "homesick" for Dubai.
Later, we wandered through Harrod's so that I could get a birthday present, and there were women in abayas gliding past, accompanied by their Khaleeji husbands in thick puff ski jackets, jeans and snazzy sunglasses. "Our people," I joked to James.
Running in Hyde Park, I watched as people let their dogs run loose on the wide expanse of grass. Little dogs going crazy in their moment of freedom. A line of people runs past me in the opposite direction, a bootcamp class being yelled at by an instructor in camouflage.
At the Arsenal game, a cold wind whipped across our section of the Emirates. In front of us, a father and son clad in matching Arsenal scarf, Arsenal toque and more, called out the chants with everyone else and poured steaming cups of milky tea from a thermos at the half.
We later stayed at a place near Green Park and we stopped at the M&S one night to get some snackies: a container of kalamata olives, small trays of sushi, a little package of popcorn and a bottle of cheap red wine. I wrote in my notebook, "J&J do amazing picnics." That same night, to fight the chill in the bones, I took my glass of wine and the excellent book that James had bought me at Daunt in Marylebone (Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan) into the bath and soaked away the cold.
Walking all the way back to Green Park late at night after seeing the play Old Times at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and discussing the plot points and twists and turns. Settling into Ye Grapes with a pint to talk about the play some more.
In Cambridgeshire, so many nice moments. The sound of the pigeons flapping out of the tall windbreaker trees as we wandered out into the fields to see the enormous flock of white swans that had landed. The bunnies, only a few. The snowdrops. A walk from the Maltings into a field, on a nice paved path, where two folks threw a tennis ball into the water for their dog to fetch, and the dog emerged right next to us, all coiled and ready to shake off the water before the owners pulled him away.
Pub dogs. A true neighbourhood pub always seems to have a few patrons' dogs relaxing underfoot near the bar.
James had a work trip back to London and so I tagged along to work from my work's office in Canary Wharf during the week so that we could enjoy the weekends around the city. Oh glorious cold refreshing air. Because I was working, I didn't carry my camera the whole time, which meant that I missed some great shots one morning when my boss and I headed back to the office from an event in Belgrave Square (la-dee-dah!) via Thames Clipper instead of Tube. Nevertheless, these photos capture some of the highlights and then we have happy memories of the rest: running in Hyde Park and Green Park in the morning, an evening at a Harold Pinter play, dinner with favourite NY colleagues who just happened to be in town, a quick trip to sunny Ely, riding into work with James in his suit as if we were living there, catching up with friends in the evenings, and lots and lots of walking around the city in the cold. Edgware Road, Islington, the Southbank, Marylebone High Street...
Oh and *this* was a major highlight.
The chant: "One-nil! To the Arsenal!"
Well hello there! After a work trip to London, let's get back into the posts with my Dubai Diaries for January.
2013 began with one of my busiest and craziest months at work ever. I don't talk work here, but let me just say once again: it was CRAZY. Part-way through the month, we had a weekend where we saw Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty in a J&J-mini-film-fest, and I loved the Jessica Chastain character in Zero Dark. There's a moment when the head of the CIA says to another guy in a packed room, "who is she?" and she answers, "I'm the motherf'er that found the place." That was what I was channeling at work this month. Kicking butt and taking no prisoners.
Aside from those shenanigans, I moved to a new section of our office and now sit among some friendly Indian and Sri Lankans who joke around and are quite chatty. I drop by the Lebanese friends' section to catch up.
We had some really fun excursions to begin the year: a roadtrip to Al Ain to see the camel market and oasis. I didn't bring a camel home with me, though some of them were really sweet with big cow eyes and eyelashes. We packed a picnic that day and ate under a tree in the oasis, which smelled of thick lush palm and earth. Driving in Al Ain is always crazy - there are these beautiful long palm-lined roads that are almost Californian but the signage is really hard to follow, if it appears at all. The Lonely Planet guide even talks about how it's easy to get lost there, with all of the roundabouts. Thankfully before this roadtrip, I drew a map and wrote the names of all the streets we needed, the long multiple names of Sheikhs. "This... should... be... Sheikh... bin... Khalifa... al... Zubair... YES, this is the street, we're going the right way!!"
There was a super windy day, with the paper reporting huge surf. The next afternoon, the view of the Arabian Gulf was crystal clear, all of that sandy stuff blasted away.
The weather was actually a little chilly all month, and James was able to walk to work every day. Said the friendly man from Uganda whom I usually exchange greetings with when I'm outside our building, bundled up in a thick toque with WASHINGTON written on the brim: "This weather. It's not working for me."
On the morning of the Dubai marathon, we walked out to get to the 10k start line and were greeted with a thick fog blanket, very cool. James was cheering me on, and we almost wished there was a coffee stand set-up for him. The run was excellent, my fastest 10k... ever? Since I started recording my times. Surprisingly good (for me, I'm still the slow-steady type and always will be). To keep warm, James just headed back to the apartment during the race (since it was *right* there), and then he popped into the grocer to get me a chocolate milk at the finish. Yum.
Speaking of the grocery: I had a funny experience there that I wanted to capture because it's something that you sometimes run into as an expat, where the craziest things end up being inexplicably more expensive than anticipated. Like, you know to expect it when you buy truffle blahblah caviar whatever, but pine nuts? Yes, I wanted to make a recipe with some pine nuts so I found a little package and brought it home with my groceries. Yet, the grocery bill had been a lot more than my quick mental ballpark estimate, so I scanned the receipt. And those little dinky pinenuts were 50 Dirhams (like 12 bucks!!). Groceries here tend to be reasonably priced and I do generally pay attention to the prices, but in this case, it was sticker shock. See also: a bag of that prewashed spinach costs about nine bucks, while a wedge of mediocre Parmesan cheese was once priced at ten bucks. I put the cheese back, and now buy frozen spinach, way cheaper. And have now learned my lesson with the pignoli.
Oh Dubai - the ad in the photo below says "A Luxury Car with Every Luxury Hotel Apartment."
One night, we went out for good Mexican food, the kind where they mash the avocado for guacamole right at your table and serve it with chips. When we were hailing our taxi on Jumeirah Road after the meal, cars drove past noisily honking away. Turns out the UAE had won its match in the Gulf Cup football tournament.
Another night, we hit an Argentinean steakhouse that was really fantastic. My colleague in Buenos Aires was pleased as punch to hear what I ordered.
Our local gallery had a neat movie on exhibition; it was a man who put on a blindfold while on a plane here and he spent his entire visit to Dubai in the dark, reacting to the things he could hear and touch.
We got out air conditioners fixed and the guys asked when we last had the filters cleaned. Um, never, and I doubt any of our many landlords even know they have to do this.
And a few moments when I felt like, wow I really *have* been here a while: I got into a taxi and the driver knew where I was going (must have ridden in his cab before), and I went to Starbucks (quite a few times this busy month, with no time to cook) and the barista whom I hadn't seen in 6 months greeted me by name.
Places to remember:
I've been reading some excellent books this month:
