Road Trip in the Middle East
After my horse riding lesson last week I came home and quickly packed all our stuff for our trip to Dubai by car. Hubby worked and needed to sleep that afternoon. After I got everything together minus the kitchen sink I also needed to sleep after my early rise and since baby was knocked out I also joined the slumber party. Well when I woke up, it was almost 3pm so woke up hubby and we quickly packed the car and off we went by 4.30pm. We drove towards the Omani-UAE border and we were there by about 8pm.
The Oman side of the border is really nice and well organised. They have this huge building that you drive through but if you want you can park your car and go inside to use the toilets, order a pizza or have a cup of coffee and buy some necessities in the little shop there. This time around it didn't take long to get our passports stamped as I think they now have the Samoan passport in the system. I saw one guy add it to his poster for future reference. We always have problems with my passport because it's a rare one and usually people have never heard of Samoa....yawn sigh...same story over and over I'm so over it.
We got to our friends' place at 9.40 that evening and Tau was ready to play for a bit after being holed up in the car for such a long time. So he played with Kerry for a bit before I put him to bed. He slept well that evening.
The next day we went to IKEA at the Dubai Festival City. Our first time there and we really needed some shelving to organze our mess here at home. So hours later we emerged with shelves and other small things for Tau. The ride home was hectic as it was rush hour in Dubai and our GPS does not take into account all the road changes in Dubai within the last month!
Eventually we got home at 7pm and went off to Clara's for a bbq. Our friend Nick from Abu Dhabi was there with his parents visiting from Australia. It was great to catch up with Clara, Dan and their families once again. For some reason I thought Nick's folks were elderly, so I was shocked to meet this young fit looking couple. Nick's Mom had been baking all day so after the lovely bbq we proceeded to eat the pies and chocolate cake that was there. The pies reminded me of home and the pies there. It was delicious.
The next day we set off to Abu Dhabi via the Emirates Mall to buy presents. Once again the GPS was driving us nuts and called up Heather to guide us to their house. As we were confusing each other about where we were in the end Heather suggested that we stay where we were and she'll come guide us to her house. So that we did. 15 minutes later we were at Heather and Finian's house. It was lovely to meet little Jameson whom Heather was carrying when we last visited in March. They were also excited to meet Tau whom I was carrying then too. Rowan is the sweetest big brother as he doted over Jameson. He was also very cute with Tau which was just sweet. Tau and I went straight to sleep because Tau didn't sleep much the night before. I think it being a different house he gets restless.
We missed out on a bbq at F & Heather's friends' as I was just too tired. Enjoyed the food though that Heather was kind enough to bring back for me. Went to bed and was determined to stay put at home the next day to give Tau a break from the car seat.
We slept in and got up and lazed around all day. It's just very relaxing at F & H's it's just wonderful there. Hubby was determined to watch the NPC final between Wellington and Canterbury which Welly lost...to hubby's dismay. As the two fathers were worse for wear from the beers they put away the night before, we didn't have breakfast till about midday! Needless to say when we did it was yummy. Bacon and eggs with baked beans...yummyyyyy.
That evening we watched the sun set over the desert while sipping champagne in the front yard, pushing the babies in the prams while hubby kicked the ball around with Ronan and Finian was busy with the roast in the bbq out back and going in and out of the house to chill our drinks. Five star service it was. I was so relaxed...in a weird way it felt like being on a beach in Samoa watching the sun set and just being at peace. It was just beautiful out there.
That night we enjoyed the fruit of Finian's labour at the bbq
The Oman side of the border is really nice and well organised. They have this huge building that you drive through but if you want you can park your car and go inside to use the toilets, order a pizza or have a cup of coffee and buy some necessities in the little shop there. This time around it didn't take long to get our passports stamped as I think they now have the Samoan passport in the system. I saw one guy add it to his poster for future reference. We always have problems with my passport because it's a rare one and usually people have never heard of Samoa....yawn sigh...same story over and over I'm so over it.
We got to our friends' place at 9.40 that evening and Tau was ready to play for a bit after being holed up in the car for such a long time. So he played with Kerry for a bit before I put him to bed. He slept well that evening.
The next day we went to IKEA at the Dubai Festival City. Our first time there and we really needed some shelving to organze our mess here at home. So hours later we emerged with shelves and other small things for Tau. The ride home was hectic as it was rush hour in Dubai and our GPS does not take into account all the road changes in Dubai within the last month!
Eventually we got home at 7pm and went off to Clara's for a bbq. Our friend Nick from Abu Dhabi was there with his parents visiting from Australia. It was great to catch up with Clara, Dan and their families once again. For some reason I thought Nick's folks were elderly, so I was shocked to meet this young fit looking couple. Nick's Mom had been baking all day so after the lovely bbq we proceeded to eat the pies and chocolate cake that was there. The pies reminded me of home and the pies there. It was delicious.
The next day we set off to Abu Dhabi via the Emirates Mall to buy presents. Once again the GPS was driving us nuts and called up Heather to guide us to their house. As we were confusing each other about where we were in the end Heather suggested that we stay where we were and she'll come guide us to her house. So that we did. 15 minutes later we were at Heather and Finian's house. It was lovely to meet little Jameson whom Heather was carrying when we last visited in March. They were also excited to meet Tau whom I was carrying then too. Rowan is the sweetest big brother as he doted over Jameson. He was also very cute with Tau which was just sweet. Tau and I went straight to sleep because Tau didn't sleep much the night before. I think it being a different house he gets restless.
We missed out on a bbq at F & Heather's friends' as I was just too tired. Enjoyed the food though that Heather was kind enough to bring back for me. Went to bed and was determined to stay put at home the next day to give Tau a break from the car seat.
We slept in and got up and lazed around all day. It's just very relaxing at F & H's it's just wonderful there. Hubby was determined to watch the NPC final between Wellington and Canterbury which Welly lost...to hubby's dismay. As the two fathers were worse for wear from the beers they put away the night before, we didn't have breakfast till about midday! Needless to say when we did it was yummy. Bacon and eggs with baked beans...yummyyyyy.
That evening we watched the sun set over the desert while sipping champagne in the front yard, pushing the babies in the prams while hubby kicked the ball around with Ronan and Finian was busy with the roast in the bbq out back and going in and out of the house to chill our drinks. Five star service it was. I was so relaxed...in a weird way it felt like being on a beach in Samoa watching the sun set and just being at peace. It was just beautiful out there.
That night we enjoyed the fruit of Finian's labour at the bbq
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