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!

Enchanting Syria..

I took a 5 day holiday to Syria last week with my mum and a friend. I did not really know what to expect, except that everyone i met who had visited the country said that the Syrians are one of the most welcoming and hospitable people they had ever met. I heard stories of how Syrians went out of their way to help foreigners, of how foreigners would be invited over to their house, to meet their families and shown their beautiful country.

And..Syria was all of that and so much more. It is a beautiful country, filled with historical sites, a place where one gets transported back to biblical times. Damascus and Aleppo are reputed to be the oldest inhabited city in the world, dating back to 2000 BC. It has all the elements that people associate with the Middle East - the old souks, the spices, scents, the chatter, shisha, tea, paintings, buildings. It's also so peaceful...while the souks are bustling with activity, nearby there is always a deserted cobbled alleyway, or an empty courtyard that one can escape to.

We made our way around Syria - from Damascus, Syria's capital, site of the Old City filled with souks and beautifully restored courtyard houses, to Palmyra, home to ancient Roman ruins. From Palmyra we made our way to Crac des Chevaliers, one of the oldest, best preserved castles in the world, and north to Aleppo, home to the oldest medieval souk in the world. Along the way we met amazing locals, who invited us to their houses, who struck up conversations with us in bus stations, or airports, or just along the street...always telling us "Welcome to our country" or "Wish you a good stay", or who went out of their way to help us (most Syrians do not speak English so taxis were a big problem!). We met a nice Syrian English teacher at a local coffee shop, where an ancient storyteller still tells a story every night. She came by herself to have her shisha and asked if she could sit with us, and told us so much about Syria and their lives and the education system. We also met a nice local lady who walked with us for 20 minutes trying to get us to the right entrance into a famous mosque in Damascus. We were also exempted from paying entry fee into the same mosque as we were "malaysians"..We were also so fortunate to meet 3 malaysian ladies travelling on their own staying in the same hotel we were (WHAT ARE THE ODDS!), who had a friend who was local, and he offered to bring us around. So, we got to see another layer of society that was so different to the typical tourist areas.

To round it all off - the food is AMAZING. I've travelled around the region quite abit, and most of the food appears similar but Syrians have found a way to make the same food extra special and tasty. The place is filled with wonderful cocktail stores selling fresh juices for 30US cents, with shops selling mountains of baklava and yummy sweets, and small hole in the walls dishing out hot toasty bread and snacks. Definitely the best food experience I've had in the Middle East!

I wish more people would head to Syria to see how beautiful the country and the people are, instead of believing the media and government hype about how dangerous it is there. Everyone I spoke to said there would be no protests in Syria as people were happy with the government, they were contented in their jobs and they were just getting along with their lives. Definitely a place I want to visit again, especially now that I have invites from such nice locals I met along the way!

My photos are up on http://www.flickr.com/photos/michelle_d/ - it tells the story much better than I can!