Shorter & Sweeter!

Hello Family & Friends,



Well as usual it has been a bit of a whirlwind this past month. We’ve been very very busy over here in Dubai and also travelling over 8,000 miles to the opposite side of the world.



Due to the hectic month, we have broken down the long long blog update to 3 shorter blog entries, we hope you enjoy our updates



We had only just recovered from the surprise visit by Andy & Karen, getting back into the routine of work and not waking up drunk, when Ashley & Aubrey (Two of Erin’s best friends from California) made a short 5 day stop in town. They are currently doing a world tour and had 5 days in Dubai. We planned lots of events for them including a Tuesday night all you can drink Mexican meal and the infamous Friday Brunch! This time the Brunch was booked for us as well as 30 other friends and acquaintances. So it was more like a big party & was lots of fun and very entertaining. On the taxi journey home Aubrey proceeded to feed the taxi driver chips, mark was asleep drooling, and Ash & I were singing random songs!






Whilst we were both at work, Ash & Aubs also did a desert safari and dune bashing, they didn’t enjoy this too much, but I think that had a bit to do with the hangover from the night before. They both had a bit of upchuck from the crazy dune bashing. We also made it to the Burj al Arab (World’s only 7 star hotel) and did the high tea in the Sky Bar which looks out on the ocean and the Palm Jumeirah Island. High tea was very enjoyable and much more than just Tea. We arrived to a glass of Bubbly, given a slice of fantastic Beef Wellington, then we moved onto the sandwiches, pastry and the tea, followed by a large selection of little cakes, scones and jam. I would thoroughly recommend this activity to any visitors of Dubai!



We showed them the spectacular fountains at the base of the Burj, had a great night in with the girls, few cheeky drinks, cup cakes and a very very competitive game of apples to apples! (pics from their visit: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270938&id=6402232&l=b8ec921b57)



We absolutely loved having them over to visit and were so happy they could see & learn about our life here in Dubai.



Once Ash & Aubs left to continue their travels and visit Sarah in London, we had a very busy week….we were both working extra long hours to complete all the tasks before going on holiday, we were recovering from our visitors, trying to pack for Cali and cleaning the house….(Mark did manage to sneak his next round of the Karting championship in) so the week flew and next thing we knew we were on a plane to San Francisco…………….





Lots of love & hugs,

Mark & Erin

xxxxx

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268569&id=6402232&l=76db0e9ab5

Hot Hot Hot!! - (Mid July Blog)!

Well we have been rubbish for the last 2 months and not managed to get an update out! Don't worry, we are still alive and kicking - just been super busy at work and especially at play!! Most of you keep up to date through our status on facebook - but those who dont here is the last 2 months blog summarised as much as possible!

The temperatures here in Dubai over the last two months well can only be described as BLOODY HOT!!! The lowest temperature we have seen has been 30 degrees C (thats at about 11pm) - It has been on average about 40-45 degrees everyday with the highest temp we seen at 51C!! Within the last 2 weeks it has become very humid and as soon as we walk outside the sunglasses steam up!

Some Big and Exciting News for us both was that about 2 weeks ago we received a phone call, with an urgent message to call HSBC - In Dubai there are strict laws about financing and going into debt and huge penalties, anyway, I phoned back quite nervous about what they were going to say..............and to cut a long story short - We had won 10,000 Dirhams, in a draw we were entered into when we signed up to the account. We picked up a cheque and had our photo taken yesterday. All very exciting and I have already spent the money in my head!

In May we were lucky to have Trish & Sarah visit us again!! It was SO lovely to see them and we had a great time. They bared the heat and did lots of sun bathing while mark and I were at work, so went back to the UK with a lovely tan. We also made it to the Burj al Arab for a high tea –asian style – Sar was in awe at the site she’s been wanting to see up close for so long. They made sure they were here on a Friday, so we could go to a Friday Brunch – we took them to the Yalumba brunch – which may be the wildest one here. Let’s just say ‘how good is Sambuca!!’

Mark’s 6 month probation period ended at work & my 3 month probation ended. So this gives us a bit more job security and confidence. Poor Mark is still working his fingers to the bone, but he hopes to get a big part of his project agreed on in the next few weeks, which will be a relief. He’s been able to get his mind off work on some evenings by joining a karting Championship (at the Dubai autodrome: http://www.dubaiautodrome.com/general/index.aspx ) - This may allow him to qualify for a race in October against a few of the F1 drivers who will be here for the Abu Dhabi F1 race. Mark has also been golfing every Wednesday night at Emirates Golf Course.

Our friends whom we hung out with from our first week in Dubai, Dan & Gemma, welcomed their son into the world on 28 June. We have been lucky enough to see baby Ryan and hold him a few times – so precious!

We made it out to this place called the Irish Village a few weeks ago for a friends birthday celebration. It is a quaint area with cobblestone pavement and lots of bars & restaurants – literally like a village in Ireland. It’s very nice and we’ll defo head back there. (http://www.theirishvillage.ae/)

Mark and I were very sad to have missed the wedding celebration of my Uncle Tom and his wife Judee, but from the pictures it looks like it was a beautiful day! We were also sad to have missed Ashley’s graduation with her Masters in SLO, all the girls went down and we missed a great time – looks like they relived what we did last year drinking from 5.45am!

Last week, Andy & Karen surprised us! They booked their flights 2 days before and flew over from the UK for 5 days and we packed them full of the must do’s in Dubai. The top priority was the Friday Brunch, which we went to at the Shangri La hotel – this was a big hit and we had a fun and crazy day! We took full advantage of the 'all you can drink' arrangement that the Brunches provide. The boys (instructed by Karen) brought a whole new meaning to the Dubai Desert Classic! (photos and video to follow). We also went out for some lovely meals, saw the Amazing Dubai Fountains at the Mall and we booked them on a Desert Safari (andy did some Sand Boarding, however it was so hot in th Desert, that the sand actually blistered his skin - Ouch)! it was awesome just to see them and spend time with them, show them our lives and re-live a few Jagerbomb moments with them. Andy (after a few beers) has agreed to visiting us once a month from now on.

We have another set of visitors coming in a weeks time, 2 of my best friends Ashley & Aubrey!! They are doing a world trip for the next few months and are stopping here for 5 days! We can’t wait to see them and of course have a desert safari & a Friday brunch planned for their visit!!! (I'm sure there will be a great blog after their visit)!

On the 17th July we fly direct to SFO, Cali for 3 weeks! If you haven’t received the emails from my mom or myself, we will be at bass lake at a cabin from the 18-24 July – and we would love anyone to come to join us there! We also are planning a BBQ at the Durica residence in Morgan Hill on the 1st August – let us know if you need more info about either. We hope to see all that we can while we are in Cali! And we look forward to getting away from the HOT & very humid weather here in Dubai and look forward to time away from work. Mark never thought that he would be looking forward to flying to California to COOL down!!! hehe!

Hope you are all well! We love and miss you all!

Love,
Mark & Erin

double brunch=april fools ;)

Hello All,

Wow…well I know I say it every month that the time has been flying, but this month it has really flown!! I think it is going even quicker now that I’m working! We are both quite swamped at work, especially Mark, yet still enjoying what we are doing.

We have kept ourself busy outside of work as well. At the beginning of the month we attended Cirque du Soleil – Alegria, which was in a massive temporary tent at our local mall. It was a very impressive show and tantalizing act that has been travelling around the world! (http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/alegria/Tickets/dubai.htm see this site).

A few of mark’s friends from work have either been made redundant or are moving to other countries, so we have partaken in a few leaving-do’s….one involved an all you can eat and drink champagne brunch at the Shangri La hotel. We had a fab time, so decided to head out with the group of 25 to another brunch, drinks only, directly after the first one. This was a bad decision, we were in a taxi on our way home within 25 minutes of the second brunch. This was also the day mark’s phone ended up in the wash – so if you haven’t sent through your phone/mobile numbers to us, please do, for all mark’s digits were lost! Another couple, with whom we were friends with, are moving back to the states. L We were introduced by them to this lovely very Authentic Mexican Restaurant – so we had a nice leaving do meal with them there.

Neither of us have had a bank account here in Dubai for the 6 months that we’ve been here, but we have finally been able to obtain all the documents necessary. Mark no longer gets paid in cash, and I have had my first pay check into our account, which was very exciting!!!

Another very important thing we’ve been waiting for, for ages, is our Alcohol License!!! We finally were issued the card. It allows us to spend up to 1000 dirhams a month on booze – which is about $275 or 185 pounds. We haven’t had to use it yet, for upon receiving the license they gave us a free crate of beer. Plus we have drove to the next emirate over Umm Al Quwain, to buy booze at a place that doesn’t require a license – and it is much cheaper! So we stocked up and have a full bar of drinks – take your pick.

Since we have been here 6 months now, Mark is now off probation at his work. This means, if they do decide to lay him off (make him redundant), then he will get at least 2 months notice. So this allows us to be a bit more relaxed about the situation, for before his probation was up, he could have been laid off one day and that’s that.

We have been doing quite a bit of car research over the past month, and finally found one we loved! We purchased a used Land Rover-Range Rover from a fellow expat who is leaving dubai. I’m sure some of you have seen some pics on facebook, and we’ll put some more on soon! It is called “The Beast” – and as for now we are rotating weekly who gets to drive it to work! We’ll see how long that rota lasts. Hehe

Pepsi, sponsored this Autism awareness campaign in Dubai and a go-karting event was held for all the sponsors. Because the event was very last minute no one from my office was able to partake in the go-karting, so both mark and I did. I was a bit hesitant at first, but once I got driving I loved it! Of course mark loved it as well (for it’s one of his favorite sports) and it is defo something we will be continuing to partake in the future.

Later this week we have visitors, Mum & Sarah are coming for a week! So we have been making plans for their holiday in the heat!! Which we are very eager for!! Speaking of the heat – it is pretty much here! It’s been about 100 or hotter for just about a week now – so the summer heat is coming!!! Kind of scares me!

Marky and I have booked our flights to Cali – we will be flying direct to SFO on July 17-August 5 – so very excited about that as well! J

I think that is it in regards to our life to date….now we wanna hear about yours…..send us what you have been up to, we’d love to hear it!

All our love,

Mark & Erin
Xxxx

Hi Again from Sunny Dubai

Hi again from Sunny Dubai,

We have now been out here living in the Desert for just over 5 months and it really is amazing how the time is flying – Seems like only yesterday when we were out in Manchester and busting out some moves on the dance floor at our leaving do! As per every previous month here, March was again very busy and also lots of fun! We had the Durica Invasion for 2 weeks!!

Wow, what a fantastic fortnight it was! It started with a very long 24 hours of traveling (helped by horse tranquilizer strength sleeping pills and the obligatory Bloody Mary’s at the airport), they were here in Dubai!!!! They brought lots of booze and pressies – and we had a Durica Christmas in March! :) We did so much when they were here and loved it all! Mark and I had some time off work and acted as complete tourists again.

Few highlights of the two weeks were:

The big bus tour is a great way to see all the sites and form their boundaries of Dubai.
We were able to relax at Aquaventure (Huge Water park) at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah Island.
We attended an event called the Taste of Dubai, where we saw celebrity chefs Gary Rhodes and James Martin, we consumed lots of food from all the popular and posh restaurants in Dubai and enjoyed some wine tasting as well – (the wine imported here is defo not as good as the Cali vineyard wines)!!
One of the highlights was definitely the desert safari – all the screaming as we flew across the dunes was quite entertaining-we have some good video footage that we will try to get online soon!
Mark and Dad enjoyed a few hours in Ski Dubai – ripping up the powder – getting big air and loving the snow and being on a (fake) mountain! Lol
The five of us toured the ‘old town’ area of dubai seeing and learning the history of the emirates. We also did lots of shopping in the Souks, buying lots of nick-knacks and testing our bartering skills!
The Friday Brunch we enjoyed at Madinat Jumeirah, Mina Al Salam, had loads of gorgeous food and lots of free drink that we consumed – the strawberry margaritas were defo a big hit! Me and Amber achieved a full on Brain Freeze – Marky was very proud! We also sat on the table next to Jim Davidson (A famous comedian from England)

On Amber’s last day here, we had a special treat of entering into the Burj al Arab for the first time!! The only 7 star hotel in the world-the sailboat looking hotel for those of you who don’t know! It is much bigger than it looks from afar, taller than the Eiffel tower, and the interior décor was pretty and very bright colors, yet tacky at the same time. We had an lovely Asian tea and 7 course meal there, and then admired a beautiful sunset over the palm islands at the Burj al Arab.
We ventured out of Dubai to some of the surrounding emirates: Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm al Quwain, as well as Oman. Making our way around the sites and visiting the Heritage villages. We also stayed overnight in Ras al Khaimah (another emirate) at a beach resort, soaking up the sun by the infinity pool and with drinks in hand!

It really was a fab two weeks, with far too much food and drinks ‘most’ nights! Now its time to get fit and lose the weight, ready for the next visitors! (Sarah and Trish for a week in May).

Other BIG NEWS this month…………..I am no longer a Lady of Leisure!! ……………………. – Marky made me “Get my Ass to work” – hehe!

I started at PepsiCo on March 18th and I’m really enjoying it, meeting lots of nice people, working for a huge Multi-National organization and it seems like a fantastic company, with good benefits with great opportunities and so far the perfect start to my life as a working woman!

Mark is keeping extremely busy at work and is now working on 2 projects – Long long hours but still enjoying it and the work is pretty exciting, with regards to the fact, once the fountains open officially, they will be seen all around the world as twice (maybe 3 times) the size of the fountains at The Bellagio in Vegas!

To balance those long working hours he is getting to play more golf with some of his mates at work. So he is starting to get good use out of his top of the range Taylor Made R7’s! (clubs)!

Two weekend’s ago I had a softball tournament. The Dubai teams threw a tournament for teams from all over the middle east. There were 10 male teams and 10 female teams competing…..our team didn’t do very well at all, but it was still lots of fun watching and participating in a tournament. Reminded me of the good old days when I played tournaments every weekend when I was younger. Mark also enjoyed the beer and a huge rack of BBQ Pork Ribs – (Pork is not normally sold at restaurants in Dubai)

Mark and I now are officially Residents of Dubai, UAE. We are now trying to sort out all the paperwork and processes needed to be done once we became residents – ie. Alcohol license, bank acct, drivers license, etc.

Since the family left, the weather has been crazy here! Tons of flash flood rain and thunder & lightening storms! Even Hailstones (which most of the locals didn’t know what hail was)! I do not enjoy them at all, but mark is loving storm watching!!! I think the rain and cooler weather is passing, and the hot summer is on its way! It is heating up daily now!


We miss you all dearly and hope to hear from you soon!

All our love,Mark & Erin
xxx

For those of you who don't have facebook, here is a link to some pictures of when the Durica's were here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2242843&id=6402232&l=c016a0640f

Fantastic February

Hello again People,
Yes another month has flown by and its Blog time!! It is incredible how quick time is flying for us our here in the Desert, and that is with me not having a job……..but guess what, I finally got one!!! :) After about 6 interviews and psychometric testing, I finally got the contract from Pepsi, so I am now an employed woman! I will be working for PepsiCo International as an assistant for the Regional Planning Director of Finance. All the paperwork and visa processing is now going through and I officially start work on March 18! So unfortunately on St. Patty’s day I will have to stay away from the green beer. I’m really looking forward to my job and the start of my career. So as I mentioned last month, the spiraling economy has now hit here. Lots of people are departing Dubai, mostly due to redundancies (laid off), but now that I have a secure job we are a little less on edge.

Mark has also been put on another project, so we feel quite secure with what he is doing as well. It all changes here very fast, but as for now we are ok. Of course with this extra project mark is now doing, he is working a lot and lots of over time. I don’t think he’s had one Saturday off this year yet.

It definitely feels like home here now. We see the beautiful sun, the burj al arab, the burj, the busy roads, the beach, a few sandstorms, etc every day and now have got used to the fact that this is our home and that we aren’t just on holiday. It is a good feeling, for we feel comfortable and used to Dubai now!! And our apartment is coming together as well into a nice home! We even have our own plant, we call him Chesney. I wanted a doggie, so this was a compromise.

We went to this insane place called dragon mart – which is this huge shopping complex with loads of retailers selling everything and anything you could possibly think of, but at the just imported from china value! They have everything from bath tubs, to electronics, to plants, to restaurant size fryers, and even fork lift trucks. Mark and I were very overwhelmed, but we managed to find a few nice lamps for our house there (courtesy of Mr & Mrs G Foden)

We celebrated our first valentines day – actually together! Made tons of sushi from scratch and tempura! It was lots of fun learning a new type of cooking! We will defo be making sushi rolls again in the near future – they are easier than we expected! Mark has decided he is going to take up golfing again. So he got a very nice full set of Taylor made irons – well they were supposedly from me for v-day! Hehe So he’s been heading to the driving range, and considering taking some professional taught lessons.

Marky Wakeboarding

We drove out to Umm Al Quwain (another emirate) to this marine club. And relaxed in the sun by the ocean and pool all day. Mark then had wakeboarding lessons from a professional wakeboarder (ex world champion, Emma Jones)! This was a gift from me from Christmas. He managed to get up right away and was riding the wake and loved being on top of the water. He now wants to take up wakeboarding, and get a boat, etc! Sounds good to me, I could drive or ride in a boat on the weekends!! :)

We still don’t have our residency….but it literally should be through in the next week! We had to go through the treacherous process of getting a medical…imagine going to a clinic with 100s of Indian men waiting to get their medical as well! Just not a fun part of the process!

The girls at the shower!

Our friends Dan & Gemma are pregnant and due in a few more months, so I decided to throw a surprise baby shower for them. There were about 10 of us, with lots of food, drinks, cake and balloons! Some of the brits/guys don’t really understand baby showers, so it was more just a party, instead of a pressie and game event. (as I don’t think many traditionally baby showers finish at 4.30am with all the guests wasted)! But was lots of fun and they were happily surprised!

My parents and Amber are heading out here in a few more days, so we’ve been busily planning a schedule for when they are here! Really really looking forward to seeing them, for haven’t seen them since September! Mark has off work while they are here and I start after they have gone! It’s gonna be a blast! Can’t wait!

Well I’ve blabbed on for way to long once again…hope you managed to get through it!

Hope this finds you all well, happy and healthy!

Send us an email of what you’ve been up to and what is happening in your lives!!!

We love and miss you all!

Love,

Erin & Mark

Xxxx

P.S. we finally have an address here in Dubai, so if you would like to post anything to us (copies of Viz, Nuts and Zoo for Mark) please send it to:

Erin & Marky

PO Box 487029

Discovery Gardens

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

For those of you who don’t have facebook or haven’t seen our albums, here are some links to picture albums from the last few months:

A fine start to 2009:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2228158&id=6402232&l=f3d87

Dubai desert classic & Al Ain air show:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2233096&id=6402232&l=79a91

Chinese state circus, global village, home additions, valentines day:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235516&id=6402232&l=297ce

Mark is a pro wakeboarder:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2236685&id=6402232&l=bde4a

Gemma & Dan’s Baby shower:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2237450&id=6402232&l=cc60b