Hello from Oman!

We took a border run on Friday to get Quyen's passport restamped for another 60 days. Her residency will be through by mid next week. However, that's the same time as the old visitor visa expired. So, we headed to Oman! A whole 150km away. It was a beautiful drive through sand dunes, amazing mountains and the most breathtaking scenary.

We got plenty of pics and at one point were driving up to the top of the mountain range when we came across about six camels on the roadway. It was a great experience. We stopped the car and watched them for a while. Mind you, we didn't have a choice as they were blocking the narrow road with a cliff on one side and a border fence on the other. this place was about 30km off the main road and is the border of Oman and the UAE. The Emirate of Dubai stretches up to the border from the coast.

Enjoy the pics!

Britney Spears' undies

I scan through the Aussie news each day and when I see an article on the NSW election update reading:

"Treasurer Michael Costa spent 20 minutes this morning explaining why the national accounts figures aren't relevant to whether or not NSW is in recession, but managed to spice things up with a mention of Britney Spears' undies."

it reminds me of why I made my decision to take me off the electoral roll when I left Australia.

Onya Michael Costa!

Shaks meets U2

Picture this scene... oh you don't have to coz you have a video to play!

This was taken while I was driving home along Sheikh Zayed Road (aka Shaks) this afternoon. I had the sunroof open, 6 lane freeway with all cars doing 120kmh and aiming for home. The song - U2,Vertigo! So apt, I had to capture the moment and share it with you. This strip of buildings is about one third of the tall buildings in this strip. I will get another video further down the track when the sun is up.

Post comments to request the background song and I will see what I can do.

UAE Male & Female Dress

Fashion in Dubai

Fashion in Dubai Though the locals (Emiratis) are expected to dress a certain way by their community, it is accepted by the Emiratis that expats have their way of dress too. But long term expats do respect the conservative dress code and don’t wear singlets or shorts in public unless at the beach or at popular shopping centres where it’s accepted from tourists and expats.

In Islam, men are obliged to cover from their navels to their knees. Whereas Islamic women are to cover all their body except what is essential - hands and face. These rules are still adhered to in large parts of the Muslim world. In more secular Muslim countries like Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, many women are choosing to wear the hijab, burqa, niqab etc. as an act of defiance against the secularisation of society, but also because of the widespread growth of the Islamic revival in those areas.

The main religion here is Islam and Emiratis are easily distinguished:

- Men wear white head wraps and full length white gowns.
- Most women wear a full length black gown, and a black head scarf revealing the face.
- A portion of women wear head wraps only showing the eyes.
- A small portion of women wear head wraps fully covering their face with black gauze across the eyes.
- There is the rare occasion when you will see women from a certain sect wear head wraps showing the face but there is are gold metal strips cross the mouth and around the eyes.

For local men the fashion accessories to go with the white head wraps and gowns are sandels accompanied by a hands-free ear piece for your mobile as you strut your stuff down the mall.




Women do wear regular clothes beneath the full length black gowns. Since only their face and hands are allowed to be seen at most, the local women do their best with what they are able to express themselves with in public. They tend to wear a lot of eye make up to accentuate their features, wear hand jewellery - bracelets and rings, buy exclusive brand and highly ornate hand bags and wear platform and high heel shoes. So it’s still funny to see women fully covered only revealing their eyes yet wearing platform shoes and a Louis Vuiton handbag.



Though there is the odd expat who think just because they’re in a different country no one knows their age, hence they can dress way younger then they really are and it’s not very easy on the eyes my friends!

Shopping Centres

Girls, is there such a thing as too much shopping?

The United Arab Emirates is famous for its crazy love of shopping. Most if not all shops are opened from 10am til 10pm 7 days a week….keen for a taste of that gals? Just be cautious that girls have gotten sick from too much shopping, Quyen can vouch for that after our ten hour stint at IKEA setting up the apartment!

Two shopping malls stand out, Mall of the Emirates and Ibn Battuta Mall. Mall of the Emirates shopping centre is well known due to Ski Dubai inside, the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East. You can either keep an eye on the kids through the glass walls but don’t worry if you want to go in but were only dressed for a little shopping because:

- Rental of equipment and clothing included in the ticket price.
- Ski Dubai is the equivalent to 3 football fields of snow.
- The ski field is 85 meters high (approximately 25 stories) and 80 meters wide.
- 5 different runs of varying difficulty and length, longest run is 400 meters.
- Full capacity of 1500 people.
- Quad chairlift, tow lift and flying carpets.
- Snow School instructors.
- Rental of equipment and clothing included in the ticket price.

Ibn Battuta shopping centre would have to be one of Mall of the Emirates major rivals. The architecture of this mall is based on the travels of 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta. Shops in the mall are located throughout six courts, each reflecting the culture and architecture of the six regions he visited: China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia. Only one tip when you go shopping here, take note of where you parked the car and which entrance you walked into – otherwise you will never be able to find our way out again, I kid you not!

Flying over Canada

This is video from the window of the plane of the snow on what looks to be the farms over North-Eastern Canada. Courtesy of my Nokia phone. Yes, I know... mobiles should be switched off...

It might be boring for you... but, hey, i was excited!

Empire State Building

I have decided to devote a special post to the ESB alone. Here are a few pics from the top. Well, level 86 of about 104- almost the top.

Enjoy the pics :)