29 July 2007
We flew to London on the 27th arriving late in the evening and meeting up
with Alex.
A few updates:
The biggest shock arriving in London is the gbp60 tax ride from
Heathrow - that is US$120. And is just an early sample of how expensive
the UK has become for anyone on a US$ or US$ pegged salary.
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Getting a Salik road tag card in Dubai is still a problem I had to go
to five garages on Friday before I could find a tag.
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This is Dubai airport and there is no escape from the dreadful Modesch
- the symbol of the Dubai summer sales. He does look a little like a
yellow version of the old Michelin man. He is the one on the left of the
picture!

Tai is still thrashing me at Reversi. Here is the inflight evidence!

26 July 2007
Here it is - Tai and I with Sam Knight - the Mercedes sales guy.

25 July 2007
Its 3.30am and Tai will be home from Nagoya soon. I am off to the
airport as the official welcoming committee. Nice time of day to drive. No
traffic!
24 July 2007
How hot is Dubai - well this is the weather
news for today:
Weather forecasters have warned that
yesterday’s hot and uncomfortable conditions are likely to be repeated
today. High level of humidity is expected to combine with temperatures of
more than 43C to create unpleasant weather.
The maximum
temperature in Dubai yesterday was 44.7 C and the minimum was 33.3 C.
Strong
north-east and easterly winds blowing at 5 to 10 knots
yesterday resulted in low visibility. Dust everywhere was the result!
Similar
‘hot and uncomfortable’ conditions are expected to continue for the coming
few days.
23 July 2007
I forgot to mention the other big event of the weekend. I have a new
hairdresser - or at least a hair dyer! And here we are about to start out
on my surgery! Actually it looks very good. A bit darker than I am used to
- it was rather darker than the light brown that was promised on the box.
But it will probably fade a little.

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Tai is in Nagoya - her first ever visit to Japan. Lucky girl. And a
nice easy flight with a light load on both flights.
22 July 2007
Sunday morning - and back to work. Tai and I had a good weekend - even
bought our first car! This colour and with the sunroof as well!

But I am tired this morning ! It was a good weekend. And nice for us to
be together for the weekend.
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Some retail therapy at Deira City Centre yesterday evening - as though
buying the car was not enough!
20 July 2007
I feel like having a rant. Some things in life always seem wrong or
profoundly unfair. But this is not the place to rant.
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From the novel Bangkok Haunts:
Inspector Sonchai to his female FBI colleague from the USA - "Do women
experience extreme passion the way men do?"
She replies: "Total psychic dissolution, identity annihilated, ego
shot, not sure if you are one person or two, no sense of security when
you're not in bed with them, precious little when you are? Sure."
That just about sums it up !!!
19 July 2007
Two years ago, in that amazing summer of cricket England won the Ashes
series with a bowling attack of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Andrew
Flintoff and Simon Jones. Now all four are out through injury and England
play India with a seam attack of James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris
Tremlett; the only class act being the exuberant spin of Monty Panesar.
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Have not felt so good today - headache and a dodgy stomach....and not a
great start to the morning either. I hate anything, however insignificant,
that can jeopardise the present and future with Tai.
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Must remember to clean out my ears - yuck !
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And Tai is due to land at DXB at 5.03 am so I had better have an early
night!
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Dad would have been 75 today. I wish he was still with us.
18 July 2007
I am tired. But it has been a busy week. Tai and I took her flatmate to
Madinat Jumeirah on Sunday night and had a good dinner at the Meat Factory
steaks for everyone.


Then on Monday Tai and I were back at Salmontini at the Mall of the
Emirates. I want to go skiing there again. A 2 for 1 voucher made the cost
of dinner less painful!
And yesterday was an early evening of sleep before we went to the
airport for her flight. Though I did not sleep so well when I came home.
Was back in the gym tonight - so should sleep better - subject to the
building site noise !
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Work is busy and one day I should write more about that. I am not very
productive at 7.30am. I find getting up is not too bad. Getting focused
take a while.
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Sorry I have been quiet. Tai is on her way to Perth - I am always
a bit down when she leaves. It is quiet when she is away.
15 July 2007
I thought that maybe I should find a Thai language school in Dubai so
thought I would start with the Thai Consul web site in Dubai.
It is 15 July 2007 - here is the web site's list of upcoming events:
there are no 2007 events and certainly no upcoming events.
Upcoming Events in Dubai for Thai
Community
Friday, 17th November 2006:- Takraw matches
Friday, 24th November 2006:- Bowling matches
(13.00 -17.00 hrs) at Dubai Bowling Centre opposite Safa park Badminton
matches (15.00-18.00 hrs) at the Royal Thai Consulate-General
Friday, 1 December 2006:- Celebration of Thai
National Day in Abu Dhabi, Thai Ambassador residence from 15.00 - 20.00
hrs
Friday, 8th December 2006:- Celebration of Thai
National Day in Dubai, Royal Thai Consulate-General office from 12.00 -
18.00 hrs.
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Yesterday was also an anniversary date for Tai's family. There are
times when she will say something to me that I do not expect - and it
touches my heart. July 14 has taken on a new significance.
There are people that will always be in our thoughts and whose memory
remains a powerful force in our lives.
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We had a nice dinner last night with EK's finest crew....and debated
many of the rumours that inevitably circulate around an airline the size
of EK. Like many big companies it is the lack of transparency in salaries
and benefits that can cause the most frustration.
14 July 2007
It is Bastille Day in France - someone should consider storming the
French consul in Dubai.
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It is also the birthday of my Bangalore reader. Happy birthday.
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I am a bit out of sorts - it has not been much of a weekend - too much
time on my own. Not really in the mood to go back to work yet. Next
weekend will be better as Tai and I will have more time together after she
gets back from Perth early on Friday.
Did at least get to the gym last night - that felt quite good. It is
just too hot outside to run around the building sites.
13 July 2007
Trawling around for videos on the web....thinking about the start of
the new football season...and here is John Barnes - a Watford protege who
moved to Liverpool and was probably the best footballer of his generation;
at Watford he was a raw and special talent; at Liverpool he could be
mesmerising. If only he had done the same for England - some of his best
moments are her:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1034468560910239001
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Does anyone miss my golf reports? I have played once in seven months.
And I used to be playing or practising a couple of times a week. Strange
how priorities change.
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With Tai in Beijing I hope she does not use the hotel toothpaste or eat
the pork buns: from the South China Morning Post:


Add this to the list of baby milk formula
made of chalk dust; toothpaste containing antifreeze and Thomas the Tank
Engines with lead paint. And China has a problem
Embarrassed authorities this week
executed the former head of its food and drug watchdog yesterday for
approving untested medicine in exchange for cash.
The occasional firing squad is unlikely to stop profitable
counterfeits.
***********************
Meanwhile it is a lonely Friday in Dubai. I don't enjoy weekends on my
own. Have come to work as there are things that I can usefully do.
12 July 2007
Tai is on her way to Beijing as I write this. She is excited - and so
she should be. My first trip to Beijing was in 1994. I was expecting greys
and browns and Mao suits.....and it was reds and greens, people flying
likes and couples walking in Beijing's lovely Behai park.
Now as the city rushes to build in time for the 2008 Olympics much of
the city is changing but it is still one of the world's great cities.
Meanwhile I have another weekend on my own in Dubai. We don't have
enough opportunities to spend a whole day together - and a holiday in two
weeks will be good for us.
11 July 2007
Going to have to get through today on less than 3 hours sleep and with
a headache before the day starts.
A good day yesterday all seemed to go wrong at the end of the day.
No more entries until later tonight. Laptop will stay at Falcon for
now.
Tag-board appears to be down today - apologies. It is a third party
site so I cannot fix it.
10 July 2007
Tai and I were up late last night watching "The Joy Luck Club." I had
not seen this movie for many years.
I still find it a very touching and quite emotional film.
The movie is based on Amy Tan's 1989 best-selling novel
and tells the story of four mothers who meet once a week to play
mah jong, and compare stories of their families.
All have made harrowing journeys from pre-revolutionary China to the
comfortable homes in San Francisco where they meet.
But those old days are not often spoken about, and sometimes the whole
truth of them is not known.
The film gradually unravels how they grew up in a time
and culture so very different from the one they now inhabit. Theirs are
stories of tragedy, sacrifice, humour and survival which contract so
strongly to those of their four American born daughters.
It is hard to comprehend just how a mother could
abandon her first-born twin girls by the roadside? Suyuan, starving and
sick, was sure she should die, and felt her girls would have a better
chance of survival if they were not linked to the "bad luck" of a dead
mother.
While the film does let us comprehend why, it never lets us forget how
the memory haunts the mother for life. At the end we celebrate the
survival of the twins and their meeting with their American born half
sister.
It is a film that with great dignity celebrates our ability to overcome
adversity and how families bond in love and respect through generations.
It is a film that makes me grateful for all that I have. It is a film
that says we are stronger if we understand and share the stories of our
families and the choices and sacrifices that they made to give us the
opportunities that we enjoy now.
09-07-07
Tai made me close my eyes before putting this on my finger when she
came back from BKK on Saturday:

It is simple, elegant and every time I look at it I know that I am
where I want to be. Thank you hon. I know you are always with me as I am
with you.
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Tai had a Tehran turn today - early start - we were on our way to the
airport at 5.45am. But it was a pretty sunrise; the traffic is light and
the drive is easy. Back to the airport at lunchtime - it was hot ! but the
salik toll is keeping traffic off garhoud bridge and it was an easy drive.
07-07-07
Triple seven day. The next set of numbers like this will be 08-08-08 -
the opening day of the Beijing Olympics - a very auspicious date for the
Chinese.
You can follow the Live Earth concerts here:
http://entimg.msn.com/i/ExperienceData/p1-7/en-us/x.htm?sh=LiveEarthLive&g=fd3116b3-ebc3-439e-a9a0-2bb5dbf305cb
This is the live MSN feed. But the website is sponsored by Chevrolet -
who make big gas guzzling SUVs. It is a funny old global warming world !!
Some easy suggestions:
Don't fly in private jets - see 30 June. Enviro-Boy is of course quite
right about this !
Bath or shower with a friend. Save water.
Use energy efficient lightbulbs.
Turn off appliances.
Pay your bills online.
Don't print unless you really have to.
Recycle and reuse. Make your workplace green.
6 July 2007
Friday is the weekend in Dubai - and when Tai is not around it makes
for a fairly lonely day.
It was a busy day of housekeeping. Cleaning and laundry and some
shopping.
I have started car searching. Been to the Mercedes showroom - both new
and used - and went to Toyota and Lexus today. Someone to talk to !
Watch this space for car updates !
Tai is a little late out of Bangkok - a 4.00am departure is tough on
the body.
There was a nice blue sky today. Made a change from the dust and smog
of the rest of the rest of the week.
5 July 2007
Feeling very out of sorts this morning. The building sites at the back
of Falcon Tower both seemed to be working flat out through the night.
Sawing and hammering. Woke up too often and am tired this morning.
The only restriction on overnight construction is that noise levels may
not exceed 45 decibels. That increases to 55 decibels in the day. Trouble
is that the restriction relates to each construction site. Take two sites
each putting out 45 decibels; and sandwich my Falcon Tower apartment in
the middle and the noise level must be higher than the supposed official
limit.
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Not sure if you have seen this picture before- this is the Burj Dubai
and surrounds of the future. Executive Tower is at the far left of the
picture. The Old Town is at the bottom and the Burj Dubai is that big
phallic thing in the middle!

4 July 2007
And a happy independence day to my usa reader(s).
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I am so tired this morning. I did not sleep well....work started on the
building sites outside my apartment at 5.30 this morning. When you dont
get to sleep until nearly 1am this is not a good way to start the day.
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Alex is in Geneva on a four week camp. Although he is there with one of
his friends from Hong Kong this is a brave thing for him to be doing.
Effectively a four week summer boarding and activity school in a foreign
country a long way from family and his friends.
He will adapt to it very well.
3 July 2007
Tai is on her way to Bangkok today - and has an 80 hour layover; a nice
time to see family.
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I did my medical for my UAE residents visa this morning. But it was not
much of a medical. Firstly the application form has to be typed - AED 10
at any of the local typing shops. It shows where everyone comes from when
the automatically typed my nationality as Indian.....
Then a 45 minute queue for the cashier. And another AED 410. Then go to
the XRay room where they take one look and decide if they want to do a
chet XRay or not. Not. And then join the queue to give a blood sample.
They must take over 1,000 samples a day. It is quite a profitable little
business!
Large crowds there; mainly Dubai's construction workers. And me,
standing out as the only person there in a suit. 98% of applicants are
male. Says a lot about Dubai. But nothing that we dont already know I
guess. Strange place.
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Honestly - wish i was sitting on EK386 and heading for a few days in
BKK. I miss the colour, smell, energy, food, buzz, noise.
1 July 2007
Sunday and back at work after a nice restful and generally sociable
weekend.
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Events in London and Glasgow over the weekend are alarming; and
security will become ever tighter through the summer months. Expect the UK
airports to be even more miserable than usual.
30 June 2007
Life on an executive jet! This is the Dassault Falcon. I preferred the
Gulfstream. Bigger windows!

End of the month today - and half way through the year. So much has
changed. Mostly for the better but I do miss Bangkok.
It has been a nice weekend - have not done much but it has been a very
sociable and relaxed weekend.
Ten years ago I was in HKG watching the British hand back Hong Kong to
the Chinese. It was a wet, gloomy and uncertain day. The fireworks all got
lost in the clouds and rain that had enveloped the city.
It is a vivid memory. As a child growing up it was one of the few
future events that I was curious about - where I would be and how it would
be. The Millennium was one, the HKG handover another and my xxth birthday
another.
For so long I thought of HKG as somewhere that I would stay. It is a
great city and I was fortunate to have been able to live there for as long
as I did. My memories of it are now very mixed. But Alex is still there
and part of me will always be with him.
But this year was the year that I moved on; that I made a real
commitment and made promises that I know I will keep.
Dubai may not be the greatest place to live; but my heart is here and
there is no where else I would rather be.