A hot day with a nice ending....

It got a little warm today ......

... that's 127F in old money! Really felt the heat today, I think it must have been the hottest day of the year so far. August was not as hot as last year, but I think 53 for Sept is out of the ordinary.

This evening we went to our cultural night and Iftar with Ali Al Saloom, sponsored by The National. It was a really good night and we learnt a lot from Ali. A lot of the main editorial staff from The National came, so it was good to meet them.



We had a short opening presentation from Ali followed by a guided tour of the Heritage Village. It was good to get a personal insight into some of the traditional ways from someone who remembers it from their childhood.


We then had the Iftar meal. The meal was very traditional with local Arabic dishes, starting with dates and drinking yogurt. Then the Muslims went to pray (Isha prayers) and left us eating for 10 mins. Then when they came back we were brought more dishes, including lamb from a whole lamb on a platter with rice and vegetables. All of this took place in a traditional Majlis (which is kind of like a living room, for welcoming guests, seated around the walls on cushions).



All in all a great night. Great to meet Ali as we have read his column with interest in the M magazine and The National. And good to get some real Arabic perspective on some local traditions and culture.


If you ever you get chance to attend one sometime, I would highly recommend it......


Here's some pictures.....

Early start for a Saturday

Caz was at work yesterday and today. This morning when the alarm went at 6.30am I got up too and decided to go to the beach. I dropped Caz at work and was on the beach by 7.30! At the moment it is the best time to go, before it gets too hot. The gulf waters are really warm during the summer, so it feels a bit weird not to cool off when you get into the water. Had a good swim and did some exercising in the water (half way to losing my first stone by the way!) , then got out and read the paper in a chair on the beach. By the time it got to 9 I had had enough and it was by now 38C. I'm guessing it probably reached 45-48C today (so stop whinging about a heat wave in England!) . Went to McD's for brekkie, where they now do the proper McD breakfast menu - yippee!


Took my new car for it's first car wash later on. Promised some piccies so here we go.....








It's nice to be back in a car rather than a 4x4, at least the bus I had! It actually has some pick up (for those interested it's the 1.8T engine) and so I can now drive like the locals! It has an AUX socket from the stereo, so today I sourced a kit to connect my iPod, with a wireless remote that fits onto the steering wheel, so the car now has good sounds too! No more crappy local radio!

Finished the day off by cooking a lovely (even though I do say so myself) lamb roast dinner for when Caz came home - with roast pots, fresh veg and Yorkshire puddings (7 pounds back on!). Nice to have some taste of home though.....

Food to avoid

We recently stopped at an ADNOC (petrol) station to grab something to eat as we had been travelling a while and it was the only thing around. Caz bought a chicken and salad sandwich. See below said sandwich.... please note the "salad" ......













.... 'nuff said!!!