Following a few hard days work in the heat, we have a weekend and the rotation fell this time to allow us a 2 day break. NICE ONE!.
A friend from Cambridge was on holiday staying in Dubai with other friends so it was the perfect opportunity for all of us to meet and have a "girly" few days!
Friday we messed around by the pool at The Greens complex over near the Mall of the Emirates. Having had a dose of UV light we decided we needed to be touristy!!!! and headed to the HARD ROCK CAFE!!!! was soooooo exciting always wanted to go to one!!!! The place is FAB! really recommend it...i know its basically fast food but the atmosphere is great.....We just had to buy a T-shirt for posing factor! ;-)
Finished up taking lots of photos and decided to go and see what the deal was with the Skiing at the Mall. Looks massive! Hornet has been to the Birmingham snow dome......but this is bigger. by the time had left the HR Cafe and got to the mall we were a bit thirsty so sat with a drink watching people having snowball fights!!!!! was very surreal!
On Saturday..... we went back to The Greens to meet up again and headed to an antique market....it was a proper little aladins cave! anything and EVERYTHING under one roof! tourist tat to traditional wears! was great and will definately be going back! It was really enclosed and after an hour it was a little uncomfortably hot...so the decision was made.......WILD WADI HERE WE COME!!! Wild Wadi is a water park with flumes, shoots, wave pool, lazy river and rubber tube rides.....it was AWESOME FUN! but very tiring......especially as there was one ride that hornet and friend didnt really want to go on but CJD was up for!!!!!! it was called Jumeira scarer or something.....you know those high water shoots where you cross your arms and legs.......for good reason!!!!!! it was a definate close your eyes moment.....CJD loved it though!!!!
we finished the weekend with a Maccy Dees on the beach watching the Burj Al Arab change colour........and its back to work for a week!....................

OK so EID.....two day holiday after Ramadan.
went shopping and found CAMEL MILK......had to try that so got the smallest bottle we could find.it tastes more sour than cows milk....i dont think it would be nice on the cornflakes......for the ATC lot.....please note the TROLL!!!!
We decided to go on a road trip......grabbed the explorer book and hit the road to Al Ain.....VERY PRETTY......beautiful mosque and roundabouts with different features....ie the Zoo had plastic animals on it and some had water falls. the main one in town had a Very large water feature!
all the shops were closed as it was the holidays so we continued on to Jebel Hafeet, the highest mountain in the UAE.......well my Civil Engineer buddy describes it as a lump of rock in the desert......as a geologist i was in Awe all the way up the twisty road...... Great views of Abu Dhabi Emirate......we could just make out the mountains over in Oman's direction. We also got our first view of PROPER desert sand dunes.......Still not found any camels yet!!! THE HUNT CONTINUES!!!!.........It was a long day, returning via Al Ain again to stop at the Rotana Hotel for a lovely meal.........and trying in vain to find the Oasis....well......we had to give up in the end....just could not find it!........back into Dubai and we noticed the humidity again....not to mention the traffic jams..........
totally chilled in the evening had a few drinks and watched a DVD......ready for the second day of the holiday where we sat by the pool!!!! well..........we have to kick start the tanning at some point!!!!!

Ok so the first day off was Fri 20th. we moved into the Apartment and hit the supermarket, to clean the apartment and get food!!!! We are Totally impressed by this place. It is Huuuuaarrge.
nice views of the mosque and of the tall buildings on the Sheik Zayed Road in the distance.
In the evening we took a drive.....couldnt wait any longer had to make the pilgrimage to see the Burj Al Arab. have to say it is an awe inspiring structure!!!!! you have no idea how many photos it took to get this one!!! it changed colour a number of times and this is the best photo we got!
We even drove along to the Palm near Jumeriah and ended up on the construction road.....UH OH no turning back.....we followed another few cars equally as lost before getting to a construction checkpoint...the guys smiled and waved us on to a road to get us back to civilisation! The buildings on there are MASSIVE and there are sooooo many of them!
We just had two days Holiday for the end of Ramadan and went on a road trip. will update when we have downloaded the pics!

The flight was Ace, food was great...even managed to get three films in EACH! It is pretty warm and quite humid....something i am sure we will get used to. Hotel is luxury! pool on the roof....not been in that yet! First day was quite tiring and on 4 hours sleep! Look who robbed a blanket!!!! CJD!!!!! tut tut tut

What an eventful day today!
We had our crash course in driving here today…….it involved…….copy passport, sign for car, get keys, RIGHT WE ARE OFF!......to say the driving is creative over here is an understatement! Lanes, wots the use of lanes when you have the whole carriageway, Indicators….they are just pretty flashing lights! Steering wheel. the round thing in front of you that means you have the right to place your big moving machine anywhere you want, including in the airspace occupied by another BIG MOVING MACHINE!!!!! They seem to use the horn for any reason under the sun…..you just don’t take offence because you haven’t done anything wrong usually…..you get beeped for thinking about pulling out of a junction or even for not pulling out of a junction into heavy traffic……you get beeped for not pulling off the traffic lights fast enough, or for being in the correct lane and wanting to go round the roundabout….in fact it’s a beep for every breath you take while behind the wheel….. those that know Hornets style of driving in the uk, may be surprised to hear she was more than nervous at the prospect of getting in the car! HOT SWEAT, forget that, practically bricking it!
We have Chevrolet saloon things…….. Not only that but ITS AN AUTOMATIC! OMG!!!!!!!! ...... is good as you seem to spend circa 80% of your time stuck in traffic!
Hornet is coming round to the fact that it is the easiest driving she has ever done! POINT AND SHOOT! photos of car to follow!
Right we are off for dinner!

Ok so it is probably a good idea to show you info on the project.
Google: Dubai Metro, and many sites pop up............but look...i have been kind and given you a couple of links.......not long to go.......so much still to sort.....
http://vgn.dm.gov.ae/DMEGOV/dm-mp-metro
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/dubai-metro/

very nervous, but gettin a tad excited now!!!!!!

Sept 27th 06, the announcement of an exciting opportunity for junior engineers in Dubai.
6 months working as an Engineering Geologist in the UAE........to good an opportunity to miss!
CV in.......................Secondment sorted!!!!

The blog will commence on 16th Oct 2006!!!!!