Our Travels

We went to Dubai for two nights for Harry and Elva's farewell as they are leaving Dubai for good. It was arranged by the Aiga Samoa(Samoan community) in Dubai which we're part of. It was lovely to catch up with our friends there. Stayed with Lala and Tim which was fun indeed with the late nights with Dan and Trish. The following day we caught up with Alex's sister for lunch and of course slept a lot as I was still recovering from my cold. The farewell was hosted by Mark and Tania in Silicon Oasis. It was a good time. Everyone made it which was nice however for some unknown reason it wassn't a very lively evening. We all left at one. However the food that was catered was fantastic. The presents for Elva and Harry were very nice. Anyway we slept in the following day said bye to Lala after breakfast and got dropped off at the Gazas' to catch up with them before we caught a cab to the airport to come home. We also caught up with Rich who is my best mate Nets' hubby....

Sniffling and blowing my nose every thirty seconds is not fun at all. I've been down with a cold for two days now and I hate every minute of it. Last night I couldn't go to sleep due to my runny nose and not being able to breathe properly peacefully. What a headache. It doesn't help when I wake up early too to more sniffling and blocked nasals. I hate this, I hate being sick. I hate how my eyes are also teary all the time from the cold. So I end up wiping my nose and eyes with the same yucky tissues spreading germs even more. Just darn great. I don't know what caused it, being around people that have a cold or when I went swimming early a few days ago. I was surprised to find the water was quite cool which of course is too cool for me!!! Yep I've got this thing from my Mom that if the chest, scalp or back area gets chilled then hullo cold. The thing is there are three pools on our complex and I feel so ungrateful every time I look out the window because we hardly ev...

Just saw Argentina beat France 34-10. What a brilliant game for Argentina. They played so well and really went hard out. The French didn't quite measure up. Argentinian defence was superb. The Pumas go home with the bronze medal which is well-deserved indeed. They have been an amazing team to watch. I must say the Kiwi referee Honiss is simply no good. In the first half he missed so many things going on and he just lost control of the game. In the second half there was a legal tackle by an Argentinian on the French Jabal who is The French playmaker and the Argentinian was sin-binned. I thought that was ridiculous. Anyway the Pumas scored a try with fourteen men on the field so no worries there. Alex parents left for Dubai today and then on their way home to NZ in two days. I practically slept most of the day today from fatigue! My appetite is all over the show which isn't very pleasant. I better get some sleep now I'm exhausted.(again)

It's the Eid Holidays here in Oman and the town is bustling again. It was quiet for the first few days and now people are returning from the short Eid breaks and so the traffic is back to madness again. The drivers here are just plain mad. Whenever I drive on the road it is just plain scary. I drive defensively everytime all the time. I think it's the only way to arrive to your destination in one piece. Yesterday on the road where it the limit was 100kmph which I kept to, behind me I saw a car gaining on me. It was just scary like watching a thriller except you're in it. The car just sped up right up to my @ss as in a few inches away from me. Of course I had already indicated to get off the lane if there was a clearance which there wasn't!!! I think the excitement of Eid is getting to some people. The result is like last nite we saw a car with it's front left wheel ripped off because the idiot ran right through a round-about!!! I assume he can see because he was beh...

Koko Samoa e silisili le manogi Pe a faapau e le Samoa moni Ta i le apa Sa'eu i le lapalapa Va'ai fa'alelei Ne iai ni palapala Koko Koko Samoa Koko Koko Samoa Koko Samoa Ma le faalifu fai Ma le pilikaki too. (Pese na tusia e se tasi pisikoa na i Samoa) So I made myself some Samoan cocoa (koko Samoa) that my sister Fotu sent me via my in-laws. What a treat! It was so exhilirating to finally inhale the smells from home. Lovely tasty Samoan cocoa that came through NZ, Aussie, AbuDhabi. Even better due to the long journey it took to get here.

Three more days to Eid here in Oman and other Muslim nations. It is equivalent to our Christmas and it's also the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. People of course are very excited and all out shopping for their families. There was something on at the stadium near our place last night and it was just packed. Drove by to throngs of people walking around and one could feel the festive atmosphere in the air. Alex's folks arrived last night and now they're out sightseeing and grocery shopping. Got my twisties that I was craving for and the Samoan cocoa from my sister. Got a nice package of goodies from my sister with lots of pictures of baby Maeva and the family back home. I will have to download all of them on to the hard drive and have a good look at them all. In the meantime Eid Mubarak to all who are celebrating Eid this year!!

Death: some of us shiver with fear when we hear this word or when it's visited someone we're close to! Recently I thought maybe it's society that has made us fear death so much. I'm not too sure how or why we associate death with fear and negativity but let me try. All my life, someone dying is always associated with much negativity. Why is it we're so afraid of something we don't know? All the afterlife going to hell stories has a lot to do with it. I thought that really we don't know for sure what really happens when we die but one thing for sure is we're all going to die someday. Like birth we die. Why aren't we afraid of birth and yet we're afraid of death? If anything we should be afraid for those born into this world that we live in today however we celebrate the birth of a newborn and commemorate the day we were born ourselves each year. So why don't we embrace death and think of it as just another step of life? This is how I've co...

I've been reading quite a bit lately. I read Marian Keyes 'Lucy Sullivan is getting married' which was good. First of hers I've read and its written like a diary which was quite realistic. However it gave me another perspective on British women! I'll have to ask a few British ladies if they can identify with it though before I make my conclusions! I also read 'White Oleander' by Janet Fitch which was quite interesting. A good read, the writer was excellent with words. Now I'm reading short stories 'Like the flowing river' by Paulo Coelho. He writes about his experiences major or not which is interesting and I thought somehow it's similar to a blog except he's published his blog entries! My journalist sister Relle is in Melbourne, Australia doing a fellowship concerning the Pacific and journalism and her blog is a good read. I'm listening to Bruce Springsteen 'Radio Now' which is quite good. His songs are soothing to the mind....