Monday rd August

 Shocked to note that it's very nearly one month since my last update, and this was supposed to be a weekly column? How slack can one get, well at least its not that nothing is happening, its been very busy as you will see.

The big news (for some) is that Flo and Joe came out to visit just for a week early August, (not the best time to visit due to very high temperatures and humidity, also the start of Ramadan).
Our first full day we took it easy and looked around parts of Abu Dhabi, including shopping malls, nothing like you see in Europe. During the week we took a day out in Dubai, Mall of the Emirates and a fab water theme park, Wild Wadi just by Palm Island and Jumeirah Beach; Dune bashing in a 4x4 (our vehicle got stuck and had to be pulled out and , no it was a local driving), also included camels, belly dancing, shisha pipes and sand boarding; Emirates Palace Hotel (7 stars) + exhibition;  swimming in the hotel pool and the sea; The Grand Mosque; Yas Island etc etc.
It was good to have them here and seemed very quiet here afterwards, they really enjoyed the heat, local food and customs.

Still living at the Vision, too comfortable but will need to find somewhere soon and have a nice pad to settle down in.

Work has been very busy, especially with several very large oil rigs/platforms moving out from Musaffah where they are built. In general we handle about 65  vessels a day there and approx 2,000,000 GT per month.
I'm still mainly based at our HQ in downtown Abu Dhabi but should move soon to Musaffah when the VTS tower is finished, just waiting on computer link now.

Since 11th of August its been Ramadan and will be until about the 9th Sept, to those who don't know this means no eating/drinking/smoking/naughty thoughts from sunrise to sunset, especially with the heat it must be hard for the Muslims, we can at-least have a nibble so long as it is out of sight. The other change is that we work shorter hours whilst the fast is on 0830-1430, but after that its very quiet until Ifar at sunset when everywhere opens until 0100 the next day. I was surprised to see the streets lit up with fairy lights, almost like Xmas decs at home.

Well my next task is to see if I can post some photos on here, atleast dear readers you should be able to see what its really like!

So long for now
John


A new update at last! Well its been a good few weeks since my last rant, so what's been happening? Not necessary in the correct order but still living in the hotel apartment, its very convenient and cosy, but now been out and about looking for somewhere to call my home. Many people at work tend to live near Dubai Marina but its 1 hours drive each way every day so that's not for me. Looked at small villas at Al Reef, nice houses but not much else there at the moment, will be looking nearer town from this Sunday on. The old Nissan Sunny has now gone and has been replaced by a Toyota Camray, big saloon and very comfortable, brand new and I believe is a temp car until the Quasquia arrives? Nearly 3 ltr engine but no idea how much mpg or is it Ltrs/km as you never get out of the car at the garage (also everyone leaves the engine running for the AC), nice man fills the car up, washes the windows and takes your money - cash only, still so far 70AED only to completely fill up (that's about 13 pound). A few weeks -ago had a friend came to stay for a few days and spent a fun day at Wild Wadi water fun park near Dubai. Also had my first haircut here, warning not for the faint hearted. Well sat down in the chair and the little "Bangladeshi" type man pumped the chair as low as it would go and then disappeared for about 5 min and came back with a set of steps to reach the top of my head! Asked him for a # 4 cut but that seemed to have got lost and hair was cut very very short but had an unexpected head massage and oil all for 2 pound, beat that on the IOM! Have just about recovered from a bought of "the runs" not sure what brought it on but 3 of us went down but could not identify anything in common except our accommodation (we don't eat there either), anyway just about recovered. Maybe its just getting used to the heat, the last week has been quite fearce with temperatures up to 50C and humid, thank goodness for AC. Work wish busy as always, lots of new projects, the latest a new city to be built next to Musaffah Port. Well that's a long ramble on and will try to do this every week, See you next time. John