Cooking Class

Last weeks activities for me included a cooking class at an Italian restaurant near Al Bateen port called Riviera. There were 16 women in the class, which was taught by the head chef, Vittorrio. He showed us how to make homemade pasta! (That will never happen). How to simmer bolognese sauce for nine hours! (Again, probably will never happen). And how to make lasagna topped with homemade bechamel sauce. (It was actually really good! I might try it at home.) At the end of the three hour class all 16 women were completely ravenous. At this point, they showed us how to make pizza and then served up the two small pizzas. I've never seen two pizzas disappear sooooo fast. Wow. At the end we got to eat our (their) creations, but I think I was so hungry at that point that I totally forgot to take pictures of the final product. It just looked like lasagna though, so you can use your imagination. :-)

Vittorio showing us the different kinds of tomato sauce.

The assistant putting the meat into the bolognese sauce.

Getting ready to pull the pizzas out of the oven

What $10 can get you

...In the produce section at Lulu's:

The apples are from "USA" (Washington), the potatoes from "China," and the bananas came all the way from "Phillippians."

Birthday Boat Cruise

Months ago, my friend Sinead and I figured out that our birthdays are on the same day! We sort of had the idea to have a big party together to celebrate, but never really got around to planning anything. Fortunately, we have amazing husbands who got together and planned a surprise for us!

On Thursday night, Pete got home from work and told me we were going out to try an Arabic restaurant that was recommended by a friend from work. I got ready and we headed out to Mina Port for dinner. When we pulled into the parking area, Sinead and her husband Dave were there too. I was SO confused! What were the chances that they would be at the same restaurant as us? (I had NO IDEA I was in for a surprise!) Once we were out of the car, the four of us boarded a huge dhow boat. At this point, I thought that we were just going to join up on one of the dinner cruises that goes down the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. Then, more friends started showing up! By the time we "set sail" I had finally realized that we had the whole boat to ourselves for our very own birthday party! What an awesome birthday surprise it was :-)

The party is just getting started - waiting to leave the port.

Pretty sweet spread, huh?

Our birthday cake had fireworks on the top of it.

They spelled Sinead wrong ;-)

The birthday girls

Completely stuffed and on our way back to land

The entire party - Waleed, Eric, Drew, Karma, Me, Pete, Pam, Julie, Damian, Sinead, Dave, Mandy, Jen, and Nick

Mariachis in Abu Dhabi?

Who would have thought that there would be a mariachi band playing at a British pub in the Middle East?

They even played Guantanamera!

It's finally nice enough to hang out outdoors! I believe that calls for celebration :-)

Day trip to Al Ain

I signed up for a day trip with one of the ladies groups that I'm a part of here. The trip was to a "palace" and to the zoo in Al Ain. When I signed up...October seemed a long ways off, and we were all pretty sure the weather would have cooled down by then. Hmmm...maybe, not so much! Anyway, it was nice to get away for a day and the company was good, so I'd say it was a fine day despite the HOT weather!

At the "palace" (which was really more of a museum, and not so palatial after all): Looking cooool in the sweltering heat. (Georgie, me, Ruth, Sally, and Sinead)

This one's for Pete

Just in case you were wondering

Such a small bed for a palace!

On the way out...back to the bus for some lunch and air-conditioning!

We watched the macaque monkeys cannonball into their little pool for about 20 minutes. It was pretty much the most entertaining thing at the zoo...

Pete's Birthday!!!

A few pics from Pete's birthday weekend:

Our new dining room table arrived just in time for the party!

Homemade cake...it's no Andre's, but I'd say it was still pretty good

Entire pack of candles ;-)

The following day we went out for brunch in Dubai with Norman and Eric

I wore the same thing...

Gummy lips from the "candy bar" at the brunch

After brunch, we went outside to enjoy a few drinks, a good view, and some gorgeous afternoon sun!

It was kind of hot though...

~~~Great weekend overall! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE!!!~~~

The Burj Dubai, on a clear day

This is the best view of this big building that I've had since we moved here.

A few pictures of our new place....

I know you all have been waiting to see where we live, so here ya go!

Me, standing at the front door on moving day

Our lovely backyard

Our room (thank you, Home Centre)

No bathroom is complete without a bidet

Pete happy to be sitting in his own living room, FINALLY! :-)

More pictures to come, when we get the place a little bit more settled.

Iftar at Bab al Shams

Last week, Pete and I made the trek out to the Bab Al Shams hotel for an iftar dinner with some of his co-workers. This place is about an hour from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, so it is pretty well out into the middle of the desert. It was really beautiful though! I hope we get to go back for a stay at some point.

We wanted to make sure and get there before sundown because trying to find this place in the dark could be very challenging.

We got to go take a look around the hotel grounds before we headed to the restaurant for iftar dinner.

We didn't realize that we would be sitting OUTSIDE! Yikes! It was a liiiittle on the warm side ;-) Thankfully, the staff kept everyone cool with a constant supply of frozen washcloths.

This pic kinda stinks...but you can kind of see that the Iftar buffet was huge! It kind of reminded me of a big desert carnival. They also had dancers and people playing music...but I forgot to get a picture!

A variety of dates.

I got some henna done!

There were camels around if anyone wanted to take a ride...or a photo.

My henna design, after the stuff peeled off.

Cartoon Network

I had to put up a pic of this TV show Pete and I saw today! The cartoon women in the show are wearing one version of the face-covering style that we see in Abu Dhabi - a metal faceplate (called a batoola). It is supposed to be one of the more traditional, old-fashioned versions of their headwear. I wish I had a photo version of what the real thing looks like...