Moving house

I haven't posted recently as life has been very hectic the last 2 weeks. Work has been manic, and on top of that I had to move out of my apartment as my company was not renewing the lease with the landlord. I was all set to move into a new pad on May 1st as they had guaranteed that as the move in date. The building is new, still abit of construction work going on, and no electricity, but they guaranteed that they would get generators in and we could move in on the 1st.

On the 27th they ring me and tell me, sorry you can't move in until the 25th of May. That's it - no explanations, no acknowledgement of how unreasonable the situation was - telling me 5 days before I had to move out that I had no where to stay! THey did allow me to move my furniture in thankfully, so at least I did not have to put things in storage. I was planning to stay in a hotel for a month, but miraculously 2 days before my big move, a friend called and offered her apartment as she was going to be away for 2 weeks.

So I'm still kinda homeless now, but at least I have a nice apartment to live in and am able to wash my clothes etc...

It's funny, so many people who don't live here, told me how ridiculous the situation is, that i should claim compensation etc - but that just does not exist in this country. It is what it is, and you can't do anything about it. Simple. Deal with it. Move on.

There are tons of people who bought apartments in Abu Dhabi, and a year on from the promised handover date, these poor people are still waiting, and living in the meantime in rented accommodation. Oh well...you deal with the change or you go crazy. You choose.

Busy Moving House

I am moving out of my apartment next week. A little sad, as it's a beautiful unit in a good location and I've grown quite attached to how big it is!

I've been looking at units over the last few weeks and have been so tempted to live closer to the beach. Being close to the beach would inspire me to go there more often I think, though it would be an extra 20 minutes of driving to work in the morning. Unfortunately there is nothing I could find that was within my budget or ready in time for me to move.

So I've settled on a new pad closer to work, with a balcony where I can see abit of water, good enough I guess! There are 2 floors of retail space at the bottom which is great I reckon as I could just pop downstairs to the pharmacy or to the cafe. I hate driving out just to get a coffee, I think I was too used to Sydney where everything was just a short stroll away.

Next week is moving date. On top of having a Board Meeting, and my boss being away for a week - I cannot wait till I get over the next 2 weeks!

WOMAD Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi can be a great place to live sometimes. Last week I went to WOMAD - World Music and Dance Festival, it's an event that's held all over the world, that showcases world music. Last week it was at the lovely Corniche beach at Abu Dhabi, and the best thing - absolutely FREE. They had some amazing performances from everywhere - my favourite Jimmy Cliff, who did the soundtrack for Cool Runnings. He was amazing, and I am reminded how beautiful reggae music can be, especially by the side of the beach with a light breeze blowing under the stars. YUM!

127 car pile up in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi never ceases to amaze me. In 2008, there was a 60+ car pile up, leaving 5 people dead, and over 300 people injured.

This time, there was a 127 car pile up last weekend in foggy conditions. Amazingly only 1 person passed away and 59 people injured. I heard that people were driving at 120km/h in visibility of 5m. How stupid, reckless and selfish can one be.

Because of that, they are going to reduce the speed limit to 140km/h - now it's officially 120km/h but one can go up to 159km/h without getting a fine (and I am guilty of doing that too). I think it's good that they're reducing it, but the problem is bigger than lowering the speed limits. It's because people are so uneducated about the dangers of reckless driving. I had a conversation with a local colleague who said that wearing seatbelts are unnecessary unless there's a cop nearby. He's educated, been to university - and these are the guys who have so much money that imposing fines for going above the limits isn't going to change anything.

This country has a long way to go when it comes to road safety.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/emergencies/major-car-pile-up-in-abu-dhabi-1.786418

Do not look like tourists at airports

Since I've come here, I see gems of funny signs everywhere. With so many people from so many parts of the world, the level of spoken and written English isn't very consistent. Here are some classic signs that the Gulf News recently highlighted:

Online anomalies:

Traffic Sins -Typo on Dubai Police website, under a section stressing traffic signs as part of "Road Language"

Do not look like tourists at airports -Travel security advice on Dubai Police website

No need for stress, as all matters are beyond the control of anyone -Another travel tip on Dubai Police website

Traffic signs is the most important road signals that guids the driver to drive safly -Driving pointer on Sharjah Police website

Replace plastic bags with another friend of the environment- Suggestion for cutting down plastic pollution, on Ministry of Environment & Water website

Rolls and Regulations -Misprint on many occasions on Ministry of Labour website

Taking drugs or alcoholics
These should not brought to work, -says the Ministry of Labour website

for the full write up - see here
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/unintentionally-funny-classic-bloopers-1.774157

Horseriding is hard..

I never thought horseriding would be so difficult. Maybe I'm a slow learner and I'm not consistent in my practice but I honestly thought it looked really easy. Getting into the rhythmn is difficult though today I felt like I made some sort of breakthrough..It's still tough, with my instructor saying "Michelle, Sit softly, bum forward and down, softly softly softly!" Gosh, I wish I had a smaller butt, maybe then it would be easier..my thighs are aching, ego is bruised but I still enjoy it! Too bad I have to take another 3 week break so I'm gonna be back to basics once I go back..

Yoga yoga yoga

I am so so excited to be starting my yoga teacher training in a week's time. I've been wanting to do this for more than a year now, and finally, a chance has popped by and I'm not going to miss it.

It will be 12 hours of blissful and challenging practice for 12 straight days starting next Friday, and then another 10 days in May. It will be tough and I am investing so much of my leave in this, but I am sure it will be worth it!

Till then!