.... photokina!
A long, longterm goal of mine has been to visit photokina, and today is the day!
I'm soooo excited! Have to go to bed now, as we have to be up at 4:15am to catch the 5:40am train from Berlin to Cologne.
It's going to be a long day, but worth it!
Will let you know what we see, although we'll never do the whole show in the limited time that we have.
It's going to be great!
27 September 2006
26 September 2006
The Berlin Marathon
I’ve got some posts coming up (as soon as I get the op to write them) that will make MamaDuck and Jin green with envy over the gardens and the historic buildings!
In the meantime, I’m going to share with you some images of the Berlin Marathon which was run last weekend.
With J’s house being so central, the marathon course runs within 2 minutes’ walk of her home, so it would have been silly not to take the opportunity to see some world class athletes in action.
The marathon proper is run on Sunday morning. On Saturday afternoon, the course gets its first taste of competition with 6,000 inline skaters racing over it.
On Sunday morning, the first to get off the starting line are the wheelchair racers, followed about 10 minutes later by the handbikes.
Shortly after, the runners are sent on their way.
We watched the start on TV and then walked up the road to watch the first runners approaching the 31km mark. A few of the handbikers were still going past, and then we could tell that the runners were nearing us by watching the helicopters which came ever closer, with TV crews hanging out of the open doors to record the action below them.
Here’s the eventual winner, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie powering down the road. This man is a legend. Already with numerous 10,000m records and wins under his belt, he has recently switched to marathon running, and the Berlin Marathon was his 4th event. He eventually won in a very comfortable time. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to break the world record time due to a strong wind which put a dampener on his efforts, but he wasn’t far off – 1 min and 1 sec away from breaking it! He’ll do it the next time for sure.
After the first 10 runners passed by, we went back home to watch TV and saw Haile cross the finish line. Later, we went back to cheer some of the other 40,000 participants and immerse ourselves in the cheering and supportive crowds who were lining the street and making as much noise as possible in any which way that they could!
It was fun to watch some history being made.
In the meantime, I’m going to share with you some images of the Berlin Marathon which was run last weekend.
With J’s house being so central, the marathon course runs within 2 minutes’ walk of her home, so it would have been silly not to take the opportunity to see some world class athletes in action.
The marathon proper is run on Sunday morning. On Saturday afternoon, the course gets its first taste of competition with 6,000 inline skaters racing over it.
Click on the images to enlarge them
On Sunday morning, the first to get off the starting line are the wheelchair racers, followed about 10 minutes later by the handbikes.
Shortly after, the runners are sent on their way.
We watched the start on TV and then walked up the road to watch the first runners approaching the 31km mark. A few of the handbikers were still going past, and then we could tell that the runners were nearing us by watching the helicopters which came ever closer, with TV crews hanging out of the open doors to record the action below them.
Here’s the eventual winner, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie powering down the road. This man is a legend. Already with numerous 10,000m records and wins under his belt, he has recently switched to marathon running, and the Berlin Marathon was his 4th event. He eventually won in a very comfortable time. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to break the world record time due to a strong wind which put a dampener on his efforts, but he wasn’t far off – 1 min and 1 sec away from breaking it! He’ll do it the next time for sure.
After the first 10 runners passed by, we went back home to watch TV and saw Haile cross the finish line. Later, we went back to cheer some of the other 40,000 participants and immerse ourselves in the cheering and supportive crowds who were lining the street and making as much noise as possible in any which way that they could!
It was fun to watch some history being made.
25 September 2006
Ramadan Mubarak to all who are celebrating and observing this holiest of months – may you be surrounded by peace, happiness and contentment.
Being in Berlin, it’s very weird for us. We're not seeing or hearing anything about Ramadan which is now happening in Dubai, the Middle East and all over the world for followers of Islam - apart from what we're reading on the UAE blogs of course!
There's one particular blog that needs special mention. Initiated by some people whom I'm proud to call our friends, Ramadan Kareem is bringing people together to share their Ramadan experiences. Good on you for starting this up!
Ramadan is the 9th month in the Islamic calendar and the holiest of months for Muslims. It starts with the first sighting of the 9th crescent moon for the year, and will last for approximately 30 days or until the 10th crescent moon for the year is sighted. There are always differences of opinions as to when the crescent is sighted, meaning that no one really knows when Ramadan will start until the Muslim clerics say that it will. There’s a brilliant cartoon over at Carmen’s blog which humourously illustrates the frustration of the public!
During Ramadan, Muslims use this time to pray, reflect on their spirituality, do good deeds and spend time with family and friends. Charitable contributions are a large part of Islamic faith and even more so during Ramadan where Zakat (charitable giving, and one of the 5 pillars of Islam) is encouraged and widespread.
Fasting lasts during the hours of daylight and there is no eating, drinking or smoking. It’s intended to help teach Muslims self-discipline, self-restraint and generosity, and reminds them of the suffering of the poor, who may seldom eat well.
During Ramadan, Muslims are also encouraged to refrain from any negative emotions or actions such as violence, anger and gossip.
Each day of Ramadan starts very early before sunrise when Muslims eat a light meal called Suhoor. This is the last meal that they will eat until sunset when the fast is broken by the meal called Iftar. Iftar traditionally consists of dates and water, after which the evening prayer is said, and then the feasting begins in earnest.
In Dubai, many of the restaurants and hotels will hold Iftar buffets – often in specially erected Ramadan tents. It is said that during Ramadan, there is more food wasted than in the other 11 months of the year, because no host wants to run out of food or appear to be miserly when it comes to the amount of food that is presented.
For the month, shorter workdays are in place with workers heading home around 2pm – having worked through the normal lunch period. This is so that they can get home in time to eat Iftar and attend the evening prayer.
Ramadan ends when the 10th crescent moon is sighted.
A 3 day celebration – Eid Al-Fitr – then takes place. The Festival of Fast-breaking is a happy family and friends-oriented time, with special prayers and visits to family homes with gifts being exchanged, especially for the children.
Peace be with you all.
21 September 2006
TBTB
Sorry for the recent lack of posts – we’re TBTB™*.
Having arrived in Berlin and now ensconced in J’s gorgeous inner-city house, all of our time has been consumed with house and garden work as we prepare the property to be sold.
It’s giving us huge satisfaction to see visible results in what we’re doing – there’s nothing like manual labour to achieve this. Sitting on a computer answering endless emails and writing reports just doesn’t bring the same pleasure!
The weather has been great too – warm, sunny days, with a nip in the air at nights to remind us that Europe is about to fall into winter’s grip.
As soon as I get the chance, I’ll be back to blog – I think that there are at least 5 tags that I have to catch up with!
* TBTB™ (copyright of Keefieboy!)
Having arrived in Berlin and now ensconced in J’s gorgeous inner-city house, all of our time has been consumed with house and garden work as we prepare the property to be sold.
It’s giving us huge satisfaction to see visible results in what we’re doing – there’s nothing like manual labour to achieve this. Sitting on a computer answering endless emails and writing reports just doesn’t bring the same pleasure!
The weather has been great too – warm, sunny days, with a nip in the air at nights to remind us that Europe is about to fall into winter’s grip.
As soon as I get the chance, I’ll be back to blog – I think that there are at least 5 tags that I have to catch up with!
* TBTB™ (copyright of Keefieboy!)
13 September 2006
Our new temporary view
This is our view for the next couple of nights – not bad, is it?
We’re at the beginning of our next adventure which sees us leaving the UAE, at least for a few weeks.
The last 4 months in particular have been stressful. Through a series of events which I don’t want to go into again, (because we’re over it!), we are both jobless and looking for new opportunities. Over the same time period, our landlord decided that he was selling up and moving back to Greece, so our rented apartment is now on the market.
The past week has been spent wrapping up our responsibilities at our ex-work and also packing up the apartment.
Today, we moved out of the apartment which was made all the easier due to a fantastic removal firm run by the fabulous Mr Mohammed Ali. If you need a fast and reliable removing company, he’s your man – Ph: 050 548 1357. His team arrived at 7:30am, packed up all our furniture and moved it into U-Store Storage by 4pm. I’ve never seen 4 guys work as hard all day – they were fantastic. Our furniture is now packed so well, it could be moved anywhere around the world.
So we’re ensconced in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel until we leave.
Tomorrow, we’re going diving - I've been diving since 1992 and am finally completing my PADI Advanced Open Water certification which I signed up for in October 2004! It’s only 5 dives, but because of all the travelling and work that we’ve had to do over the past couple of years, I haven’t had the chance to finish it.
We fly out to Germany in the wee hours of Saturday morning. J has a few things to tidy up in Berlin, and we also want to spend some time with her kids.
We’re also planning what to do next. We really do want to come back to the UAE, but we’ll have to see how soon that can be.
Blogging will be minimal while we travel, settle in Berlin and get the internet hooked up.
We’ll see you on the other side!
We’re at the beginning of our next adventure which sees us leaving the UAE, at least for a few weeks.
The last 4 months in particular have been stressful. Through a series of events which I don’t want to go into again, (because we’re over it!), we are both jobless and looking for new opportunities. Over the same time period, our landlord decided that he was selling up and moving back to Greece, so our rented apartment is now on the market.
The past week has been spent wrapping up our responsibilities at our ex-work and also packing up the apartment.
Today, we moved out of the apartment which was made all the easier due to a fantastic removal firm run by the fabulous Mr Mohammed Ali. If you need a fast and reliable removing company, he’s your man – Ph: 050 548 1357. His team arrived at 7:30am, packed up all our furniture and moved it into U-Store Storage by 4pm. I’ve never seen 4 guys work as hard all day – they were fantastic. Our furniture is now packed so well, it could be moved anywhere around the world.
So we’re ensconced in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel until we leave.
Tomorrow, we’re going diving - I've been diving since 1992 and am finally completing my PADI Advanced Open Water certification which I signed up for in October 2004! It’s only 5 dives, but because of all the travelling and work that we’ve had to do over the past couple of years, I haven’t had the chance to finish it.
We fly out to Germany in the wee hours of Saturday morning. J has a few things to tidy up in Berlin, and we also want to spend some time with her kids.
We’re also planning what to do next. We really do want to come back to the UAE, but we’ll have to see how soon that can be.
Blogging will be minimal while we travel, settle in Berlin and get the internet hooked up.
We’ll see you on the other side!
9 September 2006
We're especially proud...
...of M's no-so-little little brother.
D is a Porsche mechanic extraordinaire, and just recently, his company which he started upon returning to New Zealand from San Francisco played a key role for the team that smashed the 10 year old New Zealand Endurance Distance record.
D's crew was responsible for the preparation of the car and also its servicing during the 24 hour event.
Driving a twin turbo Porsche 996, the 6 driver team took 2 hour turns behind the wheel and battled through heavy rain, strong winds and appalling driving conditions to break the record, with 2 hours left to spare. On the way they set new 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hour endurance marks.
The record-breaking twin turbo Porsche 996
The new 24 hour distance now stands at 2,942.13 km which was achieved at an average speed of 122.66kph, surpassing the previous mark (set in October 1996) by 188.17 km.
Check out the full PR details of the event on D's company website.
You can also view the TV news coverage of the event - it will give you a great indication of how bad the conditions were.
M met the interviewed driver of the diesel VW, Maurice O'Reilly, when he was in Dubai at the end of last year racing in an endurance event at the Dubai Autodrome.
She also knows the interviewed driver of the Porsche, Ray Williams, and a few years ago had the extreme thrill of being a passenger in his Turbo Porsche as he took it through its paces on the Pukekohe track in Auckland, NZ. There's nothing like it for adrenaline - a high-powered car in the hands of a master driver - it's truly awesome!
Congratulations to both teams and to all the people involved - and we especially want to congratulate bro on his spectacular return to the NZ Porsche scene!
Hmmm.....that's both of M's brothers with websites - this one with his Motorsport business and the other mentioned in this post with the gorgeous B&B!
D is a Porsche mechanic extraordinaire, and just recently, his company which he started upon returning to New Zealand from San Francisco played a key role for the team that smashed the 10 year old New Zealand Endurance Distance record.
D's crew was responsible for the preparation of the car and also its servicing during the 24 hour event.
Driving a twin turbo Porsche 996, the 6 driver team took 2 hour turns behind the wheel and battled through heavy rain, strong winds and appalling driving conditions to break the record, with 2 hours left to spare. On the way they set new 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hour endurance marks.
The new 24 hour distance now stands at 2,942.13 km which was achieved at an average speed of 122.66kph, surpassing the previous mark (set in October 1996) by 188.17 km.
Check out the full PR details of the event on D's company website.
You can also view the TV news coverage of the event - it will give you a great indication of how bad the conditions were.
M met the interviewed driver of the diesel VW, Maurice O'Reilly, when he was in Dubai at the end of last year racing in an endurance event at the Dubai Autodrome.
She also knows the interviewed driver of the Porsche, Ray Williams, and a few years ago had the extreme thrill of being a passenger in his Turbo Porsche as he took it through its paces on the Pukekohe track in Auckland, NZ. There's nothing like it for adrenaline - a high-powered car in the hands of a master driver - it's truly awesome!
Congratulations to both teams and to all the people involved - and we especially want to congratulate bro on his spectacular return to the NZ Porsche scene!
Hmmm.....that's both of M's brothers with websites - this one with his Motorsport business and the other mentioned in this post with the gorgeous B&B!
5 September 2006
Where did that come from?
Wow, what a dust storm this afternoon – it looked like rain sweeping across the city!
The following images show it coming in from the east across the Emirates’ Golf Course. With about 15 secs between exposures, it was moving fast on a driving wind.
This is the normal view that we get from our apartment.
This is today’s view during the storm!
Looking outside now, everything is back to normal. We can see down to the Emirates' Towers - it's like the storm never happened!
The following images show it coming in from the east across the Emirates’ Golf Course. With about 15 secs between exposures, it was moving fast on a driving wind.
Click on the images to enlarge them
This is the normal view that we get from our apartment.
This is today’s view during the storm!
Looking outside now, everything is back to normal. We can see down to the Emirates' Towers - it's like the storm never happened!
4 September 2006
Through Wadi Bih
Update: I notice that a lot of people come to this post after googling to find out if there is a passport control between Dibba and Ras Al Kaimah. At the time of writing in 2006, there was a control at the RAK end, but since then I have heard reports that this route has been closed to through traffic, and only UAE (maybe GCC) nationals are allowed to use it.
I'm not sure how you would check that information, but entering it from the Dibba end and expecting to turn back would be the best bet, if you did want to go ahead and try it. At least you'd get to see the most stunning bits through the wadi and on the high mountain route - and carry your passports just in case they let you back in through RAK!
Don't attempt driving through Wadi Bih if it's been raining or looks as if it's going to rain. Flash floods rip through the wadi, taking everything away.
Also read:
Rocky Hajjar Picture Show
The Long and Winding Road
************
The last time that we tried to drive through Wadi Bih, the road had been washed away in the heavy February rains as we wrote here.
We tried again on Saturday, and yippee – it’s open again! The effort by the roadwork gangs to cut another road is admirable, as the boulders they had to move to level out the ground again were HUGE.
The new road running to the left of the Wadi
It’s a different scene from last November when we drove through this area for the first time. With all the rock and water damage, the cliff faces have changed shape along with the road. The low-lying plants have all gone too.
Have we told you how much we love our Honda MR-V?!
However, it’s still one of our favourite roads and a nice easy 6 hour round trip from Dubai – depending on how many stops are made. As well as getting out of the car in various places in the wadi, one of our best stops is on the top of the mountain ridge which separates Wadi Bih from the Omani Border Post.
From here, we can see down the Rawdah Bowl over and up to Jabal Harim, picturing that on the other side is another extremely picturesque route that leads to Khasab. The quietness of the surroundings is a joy, as we stand and look at the impressive scenery.
The road leads down to the Omani Border Post, the buildings in the lower middle of the image. The road behind the Border Post leads to the Rawdah Bowl and ultimately to Khasab over Jabal Harim, the tallest peak in the Musandam, and which towers in the far distance.
Outings like this are when we most of all acknowledge how fortunate we have been to live in the UAE.
I'm not sure how you would check that information, but entering it from the Dibba end and expecting to turn back would be the best bet, if you did want to go ahead and try it. At least you'd get to see the most stunning bits through the wadi and on the high mountain route - and carry your passports just in case they let you back in through RAK!
Don't attempt driving through Wadi Bih if it's been raining or looks as if it's going to rain. Flash floods rip through the wadi, taking everything away.
Also read:
Rocky Hajjar Picture Show
The Long and Winding Road
************
The last time that we tried to drive through Wadi Bih, the road had been washed away in the heavy February rains as we wrote here.
We tried again on Saturday, and yippee – it’s open again! The effort by the roadwork gangs to cut another road is admirable, as the boulders they had to move to level out the ground again were HUGE.
It’s a different scene from last November when we drove through this area for the first time. With all the rock and water damage, the cliff faces have changed shape along with the road. The low-lying plants have all gone too.
However, it’s still one of our favourite roads and a nice easy 6 hour round trip from Dubai – depending on how many stops are made. As well as getting out of the car in various places in the wadi, one of our best stops is on the top of the mountain ridge which separates Wadi Bih from the Omani Border Post.
From here, we can see down the Rawdah Bowl over and up to Jabal Harim, picturing that on the other side is another extremely picturesque route that leads to Khasab. The quietness of the surroundings is a joy, as we stand and look at the impressive scenery.
Outings like this are when we most of all acknowledge how fortunate we have been to live in the UAE.
3 September 2006
Back to school blues
Tee hee - for all those experiencing their little ones going off to school today in the UAE and tomorrow for the rest of the Northern hemisphere!
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