a Bunny on Wheels

News!  Big News!  Huge News in fact!

I have taken the big leap and am driving.  A Car.  On the road.
Yes, you read it here first (okay, I might have *accidentally* already told some friends and my family).

In actual fact, I had passed my driving test back in the last century, on 31.08.1992.  But, living in Hannover, Hamburg, Frankfurt and London I was generally blessed with brilliant and available public transport.  (We Europeans should really acknowledge how lucky we are in that respect.)  So, I never had the need to drive and therefore only gained a minuscule amount of driving practice, none at all after I moved away from Hannover in 1995.
All good and well until I moved to Abu Dhabi last year August, a mere 20 years after passing my driving test you might notice.  Here in Abu Dhabi public transport consists of buses, the use of which is discouraged for Western ExPats, and taxis.  Doesn't leave many options, does it?  Even my personally preferred mode of transportation -my legs- are of not much use as Abu Dhabi is a city made for cars not for walking.

So, here's my journey from one of Abu Dhabi's best taxi-customers to becoming an independent free-wheeling driver.
In January my friend Manu visited me for a long weekend and I rented a car for us.  During her 4 days here she was the dedicated driver but I had intentionally rented the car for a whole month so that I felt obliged to try my luck behind the wheel after her departure.  Manu had the brilliant idea that I should start practising in my building's parking garage and I actually did my first few laps with her in the passenger seat there.  I admit, at first I was shaking like a leaf and was very grateful for Manu's faith in me and confidence that I will make progress quickly.  Nonetheless, I carried on doing one or two practice rounds in the parking garage for a few evenings, also conquering going up and down the ramps.
After I had gained a bit more driving confidence I ventured out of the parking garage onto the road around our building complex, and a few evenings later even drove up and down some slightly busier roads on Reem Island (the island I live on, off the main Abu Dhabi island) and even made my way into the parking garage of the towers where the Waitrose supermarket is located.
Next step was driving onto the main island of Abu Dhabi on a Friday and Saturday morning when there was little traffic.  Might not sound like a big step to you, but for me it was.
So, as of this week Monday, I have been driving to and from work with my little rental hopper.  I am so incredibly proud of myself and suddenly feel like a grown-up.  Yet, I am far from being a pro or even enjoying the driving.  The driving standard here in Abu Dhabi, or possibly the whole UAE, is so bad, absolutely chaotic and unpredictable.  I strongly believe that a lot of these drivers found their driving licences in a packet of cornflakes.
Today I decided I'd try refilling my tank.  I had already a few days ago made sure I'd know where the lever is to open the tank cap.  The nice thing here is the convenience of having a service man filling up the tank for you, you just tell him which of the 2 petrol options you want and how much and off he goes.  He even asked whether I wanted my windows cleaned which I happily agreed on for the windscreen.  Here comes the best bit:  I bought ca. 35 litres of petrol and it cost me AED 57.  At today's rate that converts to €12 or £10!  How amazingly cheap is that!  No wonder everyone drives these huge petrol-guzzling 4x4's.
Tank filled, windscreen cleaned, I happily left the petrol station, having mastered another step along the way to being totally at ease with driving a car in any situation.

my little rental hopper, a Nissan Tiida

Watch out Dubai, you're next on my list!

Buckle up and drive safely.

Weekend Fun x 2

Hello my friends, near and far.  Or should I actually rather say far and further?
My last 2 weekends have been sooo much fun.

2 weeks ago, my friend Manuela came for a 4-day-visit.  It was wonderful having so much time together to catch up.  We went to the most important sights like the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Souk at Central Market, the Corniche and Mina harbour.  We had an exquisite Afternoon Tea at Emirates Palace and delicious dinners at Tarbouce @ Central Market Souk, at Prego's @ Beach Rotana and at Al Dhafra @ Mina.  We went shopping at Souk @ Qarat Al Beri, Marina Mall and Abu Dhabi Mall.  We had drinks on the 18th Floor Terrace of Hyatt Capital Gate and at the beach club of the Beach Rotana hotel.  Good thing Abu Dhabi is so small and even the airport is usually only a 30 minute trip by car from central AD.  On the other hand, there isn't really much more to discover in Abu Dhabi now, so for Manuela's next visit we will venture further out to Al Ain or Dubai or somewhere else in the UAE.

Emirates Palace Afternoon Tea

Manu in abaya and sheila at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

sun-set seen from Hyatt Capital Gate

Wendy art installation on Corniche

     

After all, there was so much laughter that weekend, I am sure we have gained another 2 years in life expectancy, and I appreciated sharing some of my impressions and experiences with someone who knows me so well and has the same cultural background.  Manuela enjoyed her time here, promised to come back and she will spread the word for making the trip to AD.  Mission accomplished.  Here's to more visitors!


And last weekend I was back in London, Baby!  The city where my heart still lives (only really my body, and possibly my mind, moved to Abu Dhabi).
After a delayed departure due to thick fog in Abu Dhabi I arrived at London's Heathrow at 7am Thursday morning and went straight to my friend Karen's house in Wimbledon.  I hadn't seen her since the Royal Ballet School's Year End performance on the main stage last July and she was eager to quiz me about my Arabian life.  Later for lunch I met with my former boss Ann and colleagues Terrie and Matt in the City and spent about 5 hours in the London office saying hello to old work-friends and colleagues.  It was really funny being back and colleagues greeting me, then doing a double-take and greeting me again properly after realising that actually I am not a regular in the London office any more.
Then I made my way over to Covent Garden, my usual walk from the City past St. Paul's and Chancery Lane, enjoying the London buzz.  At the Royal Opera House I met up with Karen again and some more Royal Ballet friends and tweeps.  At the Royal Ballet in Rehearsal in the Clore studio we were treated to Christopher Carr rehearsing La Valse with Nathalie Harrison, Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, Olivia Cowley, Kenta Kura and Nicol Edmonds, with Kate Shipway on the piano.  Such a pleasure, Mr. Carr is quite a character, his rehearsals are intercepted with little anecdotes and although he seems to be a tough coach, I have the distinct feeling it's actually tough love and he in fact adores the dancers and simply wants them to excel themselves.
Friday noon I met my friends Carol and Roxana at the Hospital Club for the Now Is All There Is exhibition with photos of Royal Ballet dancers and we had lunch at the delectable Machiavelli restaurant.  Go there for breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake or dinner, I have not been disappointed yet, by either food or service.  Friday afternoon was spent with Carol chatting, falling in and out of shops (I may have made two or three purchases along the way... maybe including some shoes...).  After a quick stop at the Delaunay Counter for some mouthwatering Sacher-Torte we went back to the Royal Opera House for the Royal Ballet's Onegin (Federico Bonelli, Laura Morera, Gary Avis, Yuhui Choe, Nehemiah Kish).  Onegin is such a nice ballet, the costumes, music, choreo, it all works, Mr. Cranko created a true gem of a ballet back in 1965/67 and Londoners are very lucky with this ballet being in the Royal Ballet's repertoire (my impression is that the John Cranko Gesellschaft doesn't grant permission easily).  It was a very enjoyable performance, though the highlight of my trip was yet to come.
Saturday started early with breakfast with Roxana at Machiavelli's at 9am (!!!), after that I was meeting David to catch up properly before the Onegin Matinée.  So, here we go:  the original reason for this London-trip, Marianela Nuñez's debut as Tatiana in Onegin, dancing with her husband Thiago Soares in the title-role.  I might have mentioned in previous blog-posts how much I adore them, especially when they dance together.  There is that special connection of complete trust and great love and dedication (at least that's what I perceive it as).  Marianela portrayed Tatiana's journey from shy book-worm to love-struck teenager to sophisticated strong married woman as if she's danced this role many a times before, and Thiago's Onegin is also convincingly aloof and self-absorbed, realising all too late his mistake of rejecting Tatiana earlier in life.  In the final, tragic and heartbreaking Pas de Deux, where Tatiana sends Onegin away despite her obviously still having feelings for him, Marianela and Thiago had me in tears.  What an afternoon!
Again, a huge Thank You to my friends Virna and Liliana who generously gave me a ticket in the Orchestra Stalls, row F, with fantastic view of the stage close enough to see facial expressions without my binoculars yet far enough to see the whole stage (including feet) and no other patron's head blocking my view.  Due to this superb upgrade my original Stalls Circle Standing ticket could be used by my friend Max.  A bit like musical chairs.  I am over the moon that I made the trip to witness this fabulous début and I will always cherish the memories of this special performance.  Thank you Marianela and Thiago for your passion and awesome artistry!

 

After the show I had coffee with some friends at my beloved Pret a Manger, met with another group of friends at the Delaunay Counter (yet again some scrummy Sacher-Torte), managed to squeeze in dinner at Byron Burgers with Gilles before heading back out to Wimbledon to spend some time with Karen before getting up really early Sunday morning for my 9am flight back to Abu Dhabi.
But, my, how much fun did I have in these jam-packed 3 days in London.  I love and miss my friends there.  You know who you are!  I'll be back in April!  See you all there.
Until then, keep in touch via facebook, twitter, email and the odd Skype call.  What would I do without all these social networking sites?  Imagine still having to write snail-mail letters?  With the incredibly slow and unreliable Emirates Post I'd be there in person before the letters get delivered.

Anyway, as much fun as the last 2 busy weekends were, I today enjoyed a very nice and quiet Friday with a pampering session of massage and mani/pedi and just pottering around the flat.  Although, I do admit to being envious of all my friends back in London who had another chance of seeing the Royal Ballet with Onegin tonight, again with the marvellous Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares.

I don't think I could get away with more gushing and praising and positive comments about my past two brilliant weekend experiences without sounding like a demented lunatic, so I'll shut up now and simply enjoy my memories with a huge grin on my face.  Thank you for listening.

2013: new game, new luck

So, 2012 is done, 2013 has just started.
I have done my little recap of 2012 and this is the result:

- 42 Royal Ballet performances
- 4 Royal Ballet Final Dress Rehearsals
- 7 Royal Ballet In Rehearsal
- 2 Royal Ballet in Class
- 4 Ballet Association Talks
- 1 Draft Work in the Linbury
- 3 Royal Ballet Insights
- 3 In Conversation with...
- 1 Royal Ballet Cinecast
- 2 Royal Ballet School (Ursula Moreton Choreo Award & Year End Matinee)
- 2 LAMDA Performances
- 1 Birmingham Royal Ballet
- 1 New York City Ballet (in New York)
- 2 Kylie Concerts (1 London, 1 Abu Dhabi)
- 1 crappy Moscow City Ballet (in Abu Dhabi)

I think, this is a pretty good outcome, considering that the Royal Ballet season finished half way through July and I was rather busy covering 2 jobs from May to August.
And I then moved to Abu Dhabi.

Yes, it's been 5 months today since my arrival in the UAE.  5 months and counting.  Counting down the months to re-home back to the West.  My recent mood was one of resignation.  

But, I do like my job and the firm and am totally committed to both.  However, I don't think this little German Anglophile girl is really the right fit for an Arab country.

I miss my friends (in UK and Germany), miss being close to my family, miss London and its varied offerings (I love that city as much as it can drive me nuts).  Yes, I am homesick and not ashamed to say so.

Being with my friends and family for Christmas did not make it any easier to come back to Abu Dhabi.  Do you see that I'm not saying back home, but back to Abu Dhabi?  And that's coming from the girl claiming she's got several homes:  birth-home (and parents' home) Hannover, best-friends-always-feeling-welcome-home Frankfurt and of course my "spiritual" home London.
Anyway, I am happy to report (mostly for my own benefit) that my spirits are slowly moving up again.

Next week Manu comes visiting for a long weekend.  Whoop whoop!
I miss her!  She's my best friend, travel buddy, honest critic and great motivator.  Oh, how much have we already laughed together, if laughter really prolongs one's life we'll live up to 164.  I wish everyone to have a person in their life who understands you without words, finish each other's sentences, have the same values although not always the same opinion and deeply appreciate one-another.  I'd marry her in an instant (if we were inclined in that direction in any way).


And then...  The week after...         

               
I'll be flying to London for a long weekend.  3 days in London, 3 Royal Ballet events.  Is that efficient or what?  The original reason for this trip was Marianela Nuñez making her début as Tatiana in Onegin, dancing with her husband Thiago Soares (my favourite Royal Ballet couple) at the Saturday Matinée.  Then I saw that on Friday night Laura Morera and Federico Bonelli are cast for Onegin, with the added bonus of the wonderful Gary Avis, so I got a ticket for that performance too.  And last but definitely not least I managed to snatch a ticket for Thursday night's Royal Ballet in Rehearsal in the Clore Studio.  It is always such a privilege to be sitting so closely to watch dancers being coached/rehearsed.  Oh, and not to forget "Bodies in Motion", the Royal Ballet Dancer's photo exhibition which happens to be on exactly the weekend I am visiting London.
I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this trip: Catching up with my lovely UK friends, seeing the Royal Ballet and possibly even squeezing some shopping in  ;-)

2 splendid weekends to look forward to!
I'll report back!

Moscow City Ballet's "The Sleeping Beauty"

I am very starved of ballet since I moved to Abu Dhabi 3 months ago.  So, today I went to the Emirates Palace to see a performance of the Moscow City Ballet with their version of "The Sleeping Beauty".
Well, well, well, where do I start?  I was in fact debating whether to let the whole thing drop as if it had never happened, but it was so ridiculous that it actually deserves a review to be shared with you esteemed blog-readers.

Before the performance my colleague Nawal and I went to Le Café at Emirates Palace and had a snack, I chose the scones with different jams and what a good choice that was!  This was the deciding factor that when my parent come to visit I will take them to the Palace for an Afternoon Tea.  Absolutely delicious!

For the ballet Nawal and I opted for the cheapest tickets at AED 95 (~£18) which in hindsight was exactly the right decision.  The seating in the auditorium at the Emirates Palace is so well designed that one has a great view of the stage from every angle, we were in the plush balcony seats.  Unfortunately the same focus on quality of the seats wasn't applied to the sound system, this I have experienced here before when attending film screenings.
There was no orchestra, the music was played from some recording on the tinny sound-system the Emirates Palace's otherwise wonderful auditorium is equipped with.  As you might have guessed this awful sound only added to the ridiculousness of the performance.
Also, the lighting left something to be desired, the spot-light wasn't necessarily following the main soloist on stage and sometimes some of the dancers were even left in the dark completely.  I am not sure if this was Emirates Palace's fault or lack of attention of Moscow City Ballet company's lighting technician.
Now, I am still trying to sort my thoughts into something comprehendable but am struggling slightly, so please accept my apologies in advance if this post seems a little mumble-jumble (in that case it's actually just in line with the performance in general).

During the overture the curtain opened (25 minutes late btw!) and we saw a Lilac Fairy standing there for about a minute or two before she started simply walking around the stage, intercepted with a few port-de-bras and some pointing to something in the wings (I have no idea what/who it was she pointed at).  All along people were still taking their seats in the auditorium and taking photos despite a vocal announcement prior to lights down in addition to clear signs outside the auditorium.  Rude, just plain rude of these patrons, no matter the quality of the performance, such behaviour is just disrespectful of the dancers.

Prologue:  The Lilac Fairy did not exude the confidence and wisdom you'd expect of such a prestigious role and was in fact outshone in technique and stage presence by the girl who danced the Songbird Fairy.  Little Songbird Fairy was probably the highlight of the evening.  Although, none of the choreography was the Petipa-version known to anyone who's ever seen a classic Sleeping Beauty.  In fact, the choreographer must be a very dull person if his creative output is anything to go by.  In my opinion any Liam Scarlett choreography for White Lodge students is better: more varied, more logically put together, more sophisticated, much more musical, not to mention better executed by the students.
The Carabosse character was The-Little-Hobbit-meets-Little-Britain's-David-Walliams-for-a-Red-Nose-Day-sketch.  I just call it character as I'm not sure what it represented, I think it was a male dancer in some kind of cape-y dress with a walking stick.
The mime wasn't very clear throughout the whole ballet (luckily Sleeping Beauty is a well known fairy tale) and especially when this caped, crouched over character just stomps around the stage one feels one has blundered into a British Christmas panto-performance without the audience interaction.

Act I:  The 4 princes all wore the same outfits, no distinction between them, no wonder Aurora is not taken by any of them, I personally wouldn't want to marry some nondescript, bland numpty either.
Well, Aurora, what can I say, she had super-high extensions but only danced the steps, she didn't put any heart and soul into the role.  The Rose Adage was a very shaky affair, there were literally no balances.  Yes, the only original choreo-bit that had been kept were the 2 attitude balances when Aurora meets all the princes.  Only tonight our Aurora did not hold a single balance, quickly grabbed (!) the next prince's hand and still looked very uncomfortable.  Maybe she "returned the favour" as the main-partner-prince seemed to manhandle her more than actually partner and support her.  During Aurora's partnered pirouettes he stood in a wide second position almost in a grand plié and spun her around like a potter spins his wheel.
At no point during this act did the Lilac Fairy soften Carabosse's spell from death to long sleep.  A big FAIL in my opinion!

Interval:  No Emirates Palace staff knew how long this interval was going to be.  So, Nawal and I made sure not to stay out too long and get back to our seat promptly.  Good thinking that was, too, as there was one announcement "Act 2 of the performance is about to be" (sic!) the lights went down and the performance commenced.  Again, patrons were streaming back into the auditorium whilst the dancers did their bit on stage.  Very weird, wouldn't happen in Covent Garden.

Act II:  Prince Florimund appeared on stage and this guy immediately reminded me of Thomas Anders during his 1980s Modern Talking heydays, and I am sure Thomas Anders would have been as good a Florimund as this guy of MCB tonight, possibly even with more charisma.
And, as flexible as Aurora was as stiff was this Florimund, his arabesque did not even reach a 90 degree angle (he made me think of him as a croaky attic door), plus he walked around the stage as if he was doing his weekly grocery shopping, no grace, no inspiration, just doing a chore.
The vision scene wasn't lyrical and imaginary at all and I suspect that a big chunk of the audience was wondering why he was dancing with Aurora already before even having kissed her (she was still wearing her pink birthday tutu).  Ach yes, the kiss... was there actually a kiss?  I don't think there was, but that might be because of the ban of public displays of affection in the UAE.

Act III:  Puss in Boots had forgotten to put on his boots, he must've left the house in a hurry and was still wearing his comfy bedroom slippers.  Blue Bird had definitely had one (or two or ten) caterpillars too many.  At this point I was oh so very close to a laughing fit, especially when Nawal leaned over and whispered "this guy is FAT".  Indeed, he was more like a blue elephant than a blue bird.
Seriously, the men in this company are terrible, no turn-out, stiff as a board, no stage presence, bad partners, all in all rather misplaced on a stage.

a grainy BlackBerry photo of the final tableau

As soon as the final tunes of Tchaikovsky's otherwise beautiful music faded out, Nawal and I were out of our seats, leaving the auditorium.  I have not applauded once during the whole performance.  Am I mean?  No, I don't think so.  I just know what a good dancer looks like, in fact the Royal Ballet School would have shown this troupe up a million times.  Any RBS Linbury performance (Lower and Upper School) has more oomph than tonight's show.

Ah well, we'll file this under experience, not necessarily an experience I need to repeat, but we gave it a go and now know that Moscow City Ballet is not a company I will rush to see again.

On the other hand, the food before and the view of Emirates Palace after clearly make up for quite some rubbish in between those two.

Furthermore this evening confirmed my love for the Royal Ballet and the knowledge of how spoilt Londoners are to have Royal Ballet and English National Ballet on their doorstep plus regular visits from other renown ballet companies at Sadler's Wells.
Royal Opera House Covent Garden, be ready for my visit in January, 3 days in a row.  Whoopee!

Oddities and Observations

"Is it just me or is this weird?"  That's what I'm often asking myself these days.
I have definitely stepped into another world when I moved from the Occident to the Orient.  Not only the weather required some getting used to - I've been here very nearly 3 months now and have not experienced a single drop of rain, unheard of in Germany or the UK - but also various other customs.

(1)  In Abu Dhabi most streets have at least 2 to 3 names, for example the main road from my home on Al Reem Island to work is officially called Hazaa Bin Zayed the First Street, but is also registered as 11th Street, also commonly referred to as Defense Road.  Obviously this confuses anyone, not just newcomers like me but taxi-drivers, couriers and delivery-men alike.  Even less helpful is the sheer lack of any house-numbers.  This means you always need to give some kind of landmark (e.g. opposite Al Wahda Mall, next to Marks & Spencer, in the same building as Jones The Grocer etc).  Our temporary office is in Al Odaid Tower, a name no-one knows, and directing someone there is easiest giving the name on the big company sign attached to the building.  Right, here's my predicament:  the company's name is Al Wifaq.  Try saying it to a taxi driver without blushing, I always kind of mumble the "faq"-bit and hope he still understands whilst I point and say "the blue sign, the blue sign on the tall brown building" (remember, Abu Dhabi is the city made of Fifty Shades of Beige)  Here's proof that I'm not making this up

(2)  There are no taxi ranks to speak of in Abu Dhabi, so taxis keep roaming around (unfortunately not so much on Al Reem Island where I live) and are seldom stationary.  This is surely a city built for cars, pavements are rare and very crooked and usually only found in "central" Abu Dhabi.  I've always been an avid walker and would've rather walked for 30 minutes in any kind of weather than say going down several flights of stairs and squeezing onto over-crowded stuffy tube trains.  However, walking or running home the 5km is not an option without pavements or even cycle routes plus totally and utterly completely mental drivers on these roads, to call it reckless speeding would simply be an understatement, too many nationalities and ways of driving don't mix well.  So, I try to walk to the nearest mall at lunchtime or even towards home in the evening to stretch my legs.  Yet, these leisurely strolls are frequently disturbed because taxi-drivers seem incredulous that any person would actually chose to make use of their legs.  It's not that I look around with a helpless look on my face or stand on the kerb frantically waving my arms about trying to flag down a cab, no, I'm minding my own business and am walking straight ahead.  Nevertheless, some taxi-drivers see me walking and assume I am in dire need of their service, so they honk their horn and pull up beside me.  I have already given up indicating that I am not interested in a taxi-ride and just keep striding on ignoring them.  I just mutter under my breath "where are you when I actually do need a cab getting anywhere from my home?"  tsk

(3)  I am still oh-so-very-German in the sense of bringing my sturdy reusable bag when grocery shopping instead of using the supermarket's plastic carrier bags.  So you can imagine the little battle I regularly have to fight with those bag-packer-helpers at the registers.  Despite saying that I do have a bag, they happily start packing away my shopping into the plastic carrier bags.  But this packing is not even done economically or with any sense.  You could find the washing powder on top of the nectarines or, if you are "blessed" with a generous helper, you get one carrier bag per item, which makes me wonder whether this chap gets a kick-back from the company providing the supermarket with the carrier bags.  Yet, I will continue to bring my own bag for grocery shopping to make my small contribution to saving the planet and will shoo Mr. Shopping-Packer elsewhere.

(4)  One thing I have come to really appreciate:  delivery- and maintenance-men will take off their shoes before they enter your flat.  this is a normal action and they don't even seem to think twice about it.  Only once, when my shipping from London was delivered, they walked into the flat with their shoes (quite understandable as they were still unloading the lorry) and I could see the dirty shoe-prints clearly marked on my white floor-tiles.  I didn't like that!  Maybe this socked/barefooted apartment-access is a custom other countries' handymen could adopt as well?

I'm sure there will be more than these 4 things I'll find noteworthy to point out as being different.  Keep your eyes peeled...

Treasures

Last weekend I received some horrible news:  My cousin-in-law in Colorado Springs was killed in a motorcycle accident.  Mark was only 39 and a really lovely person, sometimes I really don't understand the man above and His plans for us.  I have cried many a tears but realised they weren't actually my tears (despite being incredibly sad) but my heartfelt sorrow for my cousin Meike who has lost her partner, her husband, her best friend.  I will always remember Mark and feel blessed to have known him.  R.I.P. Mark!

Being out here in Abu Dhabi, so far away from my family and friends, I felt quite alone and really appreciated the messages sent to me from friends via twitter and Facebook   Thank the Lord for Skype too, a wonderful way to stay in touch with family and friends.
So, yesterday morning we had an email from our Office Manager informing us that our office will be closed next week Thursday (Arafat Day) until Sunday (Eid al Adha).  You see, here in the UAE the Islamic public holidays are based on the sighting of the moon and can vary a day prior or after the originally announced date.  Don't ask me why, since the moon doesn't change its course all of a sudden, but hey, it seems to be a relic from olden days and we just have to go with it.
Well, to be honest, reading about the 4-day-break I was a bit at loss at first as I didn't want to spend 4 days just bumming around in Abu Dhabi.  However, I then looked up flights for getaways, also flights to Germany amongst others, just for a laugh, but it turned out to be a happy laugh.  I immediately got in touch with my 3 best friends in Frankfurt and my parents what their plans were for next week, and I can happily report that they're all looking forward to welcoming me, no matter the short notice of my visit.  Thank you Etihad Airways for having this amazingly reasonably-priced flight-combination for me to book.  I will be flying out 2am Thursday to Frankfurt (arriving there 7am), spending Thu and Fri in Frankfurt with my friends, taking the train up to Hannover Saturday morning and enjoying my parents' and brother's company Saturday and Sunday.  The flight back leaves Hannover just before 6pm Sunday, via Munich back to Abu Dhabi (arriving 7:15am just in time to get to work).  I cannot wait, haven't seen my Mutti und Papa since my birthday in April (I don't really count Skype video-calls as seeing).
I truly value my friends and family and try my utmost to stay in touch with these loved ones.  Thank you for being there for me through thick and thin.  You're real treasures!

Swedish Delights

I really wasn't sure that this blog-entry would see the light of day.  After having nearly finished the entry my blogger account crashed last night, and took the whole essay into cyberspace, untraceable despite continuous intermittent savings.
But, today I decided that this anecdote in my little life should be told especially as it's about a certain Swedish furniture manifacturer that often gets slated and ridiculed.  I had a very positive experience and am of the opinion that it needs to be told.  So here I go again...

What does any Westerner usually do on a Friday?  Under normal circumstances one would got to work, wrap up the week, finalise any weekend plans and possibly go out in the evening.  Right?  Not so much in the Arabic world where Friday is the holy day and first day of the weekend (the work week here runs from Sunday to Thursday).
So, this was my second Friday in Abu Dhabi, and also my second Friday morning I made a trip to IKEA.  Abu Dhabi's IKEA offers a shuttle service from Marina Mall (Abu Dhabi's biggest and most swanky shopping mall) out to its store on Yas Island.  The shuttle bus departs once an hour and takes approximately 40 minutes, even on the empty highway.  The lunch-hour varies between Fridays and all other days and also during Ramadan, so you might want to confirm with the driver the return-shuttle departure times before getting off the bus.
Little geek fact, by the by:  IKEA has its most stores in Germany (46), that's even more than in the USA (38) or even Sweden (16).  Us Germans seem to love a bit of self-assembly furniture.

So, here we are at IKEA on a Friday morning, 15 minutes after store opening.  The 4 people, inluding me, (all expats) of the shuttle bus most likely being the only customers in the whole store.  Bliss!
I, being ever so German sometimes, had a shopping-/wish-list compiled on IKEA's website with and printed it off for an easy shopping trip.

First stop:  Living room furniture, or to be more precise:  sleeper-sofa.  Unfortunately my sofa-bed of choice was not in stock.  However, the helpful staff member checked the system again and then took my mobile number and promised to call once my wanted sofa-bed is back in stock.
Next stop:  Dining furniture for table and chairs.  Here I was met by a super-nice Kenyan who remembered me from my previous Friday visit.  We got chatting as I noticed the German flag on his name tag in addition to the British one, I asked him about his German skills and where he had acquired them, he told me that his parents live in Friedrichshafen am Bodensee (Lake Constance) which is very near my mom and dad's holiday home and that he is in fact trying to move to Germany to be closer to his family.  He then went through my whole list and checked and confirmed availabilities and locations in the self-serve area, not only for the dining furniture but also the bed, plus he investigated a tad further as to when the Moheda sleeper-sofa might be delivered.  He found out that there are currently about 10 of these sofas in some container on their way to the UAE and should be in store within a week.  He suggested that I should call the store this week and if the sofa is in the warehouse to make a booking which means the item will then be held back from further sale until the end of business (10pm at the Abu Dhabi store) that day.  How good was that?  A one-stop-super-accommodating IKEA staff member whom I would love to recommend to Mr. Ingvar Kamprad personally.

Anyway, onwards and upwards on my swift IKEA visit, quickly going through the lights- and bathroom-textiles-sections where I knew what I wanted and readily found.  I arrived at the self-serve warehouse where I was greeted by more friendly staff who were happy to assist me in gathering all the different flat-pack-boxes and load them onto the trolley(s).
The girl at the registers was the only fly in the ointment.  My credit-card was declined.  Twice.  I knew for sure that I was still far from reaching my limit despite having made quite a few larger purchases with my card recently.  So I called the Amex customer service number in the UK and after hearing various announcements and pressing many a numbers I finally managed to speak to a representative who assured me that it wasn't Amex declining the transaction but in fact the store's system itself cancelling the charge immediately after authorisation.  The check-out-girl then tried a different terminal and guess what... it worked a treat.  All the while I was getting rather impatient as this (unnecessary) delaying episode left me with only 5 minutes until the departure of the return shuttle bus and I hadn't even seen anyone for the home-delivery.  I should mention here that due to the lunch break the next shuttle after that would've been 2 hours later.
The check-out-helper and I rushed over with our fully laden trolleys to the home-delivery counter and I anxiously asked this customer service guy whether he thought I'd make the shuttle bus.  He restored my good experience of before the check-out-incident by phoning down to the bus-driver and asking him to wait for me and then very efficiently noted all the required information for the home-delivery.
Having done that, leaving behind all big items to be delivered to the new flat next Saturday, I took my blue tarpaulin bag with all smaller purchases and rushed down to the shuttle bus, actually making it only about 3 minutes late for departure.  Incidentally the 3 other customers from the shuttle to IKEA were on the same return shuttle with me again.

From Marina Mall I took a taxi back to the hotel, deposited my Swedish purchases in the room and went straight back out to Lulu Hypermarket where I bought £50-worth of cleaning products, mop, cloths, bucket etc.

Hopping into another taxi with all this cleaning stuff and IKEA items I was off to the new apartment (for which I had collected the keys a week before the rental contract actually starts) for a spring-clean in autumn.  Since I will be the first occupancy in the flat there is still so much builder's dust you could "catch" asthma.
The only down-side of having access to the flat before official move-in date is that the utilities aren't fully connected yet and I didn't have any hot water.  Nevertheless, cleaning with cold water only is still preferable to moving into a dirty, dusty apartment.
3 hours later and I was quite pleased with my cleaning efforts though rather sore and tired.

Bring on the 1st of September and the deliveries of bed, table, chairs, washing machine and TV.  Hopefully by then I will also have decided on a good (affordable) mattress to make sleeping more comfortable than lying on the slats  ;-)
Oh, I forgot to mention that I will get a gas-cooker in a little while as well, buying it 2nd hand from another German expat who I was put in contact with through my lovely estate agent Anne.
The only big purchases left on my list (apart from the sofa) that I still need to decide on are the fridge-freezer and a car.  Big purchases indeed.  I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading my little happy story about the often ridiculed flat-pack-furniture-heroes of IKEA.  Tack så mycket!