Yesterday a number of Tecom families gathered downstairs on the Floor 1 terrace to celebrate Easter. We had a well-received egg hunt for the kids - large and small, as well as a BBQ lunch and a few drinks with good company. Interestingly some of the kids didn’t go crazy with the chocolate. Lewis was the obvious exception, he had half his face, and pretty much his entire t-shirt covered in a mixture of chocolate and baby slobber.
It’s probably the first time my kids participated in such a big Easter egg hunt. And a few good lessons were learned. Probably none more important than Myles learning no matter how full your basket of eggs becomes, NEVER put chocolate eggs in your pockets if the temperature is warm.
The kids enjoyed playing football, hide and seek, and chasing each other on bikes. But once they grew a bit tired of these games, they seemed to go their own ways. It was interesting to see Myles walking up and down the garden speaking some “foreign” language. I had to ask what he was doing, to which he replied he was being an Indian. He was equipped with a spear made from a frong from the garden, so I figured he was the American variety of Indian.
Trying to fit the theme I told him about traditional Indian names (without mentioning the standard two dogs joke). We started with the animal, which he chose a Rhino. I was pleased, as it’s my favourite animal. But I would soon regret the whole activity. As he’s just five I simply asked what is the Rhino doing, as it would be the first part of his name. He responded it’s Pooing. So “Pooing Rhino” it was for the afternoon.
Some friends set out to eat fish, in compliance with the tradition. It encouraged me to also get some prawns for the BBQ which was a very nice touch. But the longer we stayed down there, the hungrier we were, and they conceded that fish was just not to cut it. So they walked across to Carrefore and bought a full leg of lamb to throw on the BBQ. It was delicious, even if a little heathen.
Ryan Adventures, Family news, Interesting, Woops Easter, Myles
I made my first faux pas today, and lived to tell the tale.
Well actually it’s my second faux pas if you count the time I was walking out of thesupermarket and inadvertently made eye contact with a prostitute, then looked curiously when I noticed she was beaming a massive, suggestive smile at me. This resulted in me doing a quick about-face, then almost running away before ducking into a different shop to escape.
And actually, it’s my third faux pas if you count my error in judgment when I thought that in my spare bathroom I had a second shower which turned out to be a jet/bidet thing. Boy did I feel silly, and dirty once I learned how wrong I was*.
But getting back to my stuffup today. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised, but it’s entirely conceivable- infact, quite likely - that I walked all the way home from the office with my fly/zipper down. I thought it was a little cooler than usual. And people were pointing and laughing at me more than usual*. Honestly though, it was quite embarassing. I know there was at least one look I received that made sense once Irealisedthe errorof myways.
D’oh.
* This was certainly exaggerated for comic effort.
Ryan Woops
It should be unsurpring but today I just noticed that the Dubai escalators are around the opposite ways to what I’m used to. They still go up and down, but like their roads people go on the right. I noticed, however, there is no consistent (or any) convention followed while walking generally. Actually from some reports, this is more like their roads.
I also did what I’ve said I’d never do and visited an internet cafe in my first week of going somewhere. At least I waited til after the airport arrivals section, and nearly got through the second day. The only reason I broke this was I’ve been without a phone and wanted to get some info to family. There’s a wireless router upstairs, so I may not need to do this once I get a computer - whenever I find to research that one.
I visited an electronics and home entertainment store. Despite the loud speakers broadcasting at full volume from the nearby mosques early in the morning, I thought I should get an clock radio or something to make sure I wake up at the right time for work. My sleeping patterns haven’t yet matured to sleeping in anyway. But anyway, at the shop I heard the beautiful voice of a woman obviously demonstrating the karaoke machine. As I got closer I realised that the female voice was actually coming from a short pudgy Arab guy with a moustache. Woops.
After shoping in a few clothing stores I’ve learned Dubai’s not great for Australian guys concerned about their waist size. Pants here are labelled an average of 2 inches larger than at home. OR, I made more of a pig of myself in Business Class on the way over than I first thought.
At the moment I can’t help but feel a bit like Guy Pierce’s character in the movie, Memento. I’m in my apartment all by myself so I constantly have monologue running in my head, and being in a strange new country I’m unsure of everything. It hasn’t yet got to the stage where I need to tattoo words to my body, or photograph people’s faces - but I have certainly been writing names down, and making loads of other notes. Those who love Indian cinema may be interested to know a Bollywood version of Memento has been released. No, honestly!
Ryan Ponderings, Woops shopping