Red Bull Air Race Abu Dhabi

Earlier last month, Mehdi, Florent and I went to the Red Bull Air Race in Abu Dhabi. It was pretty cool... The boys had the time of their lives!

Can't Thai us Down! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

Hi Everyone!

It seems that there is a little rumour circulating that Mehdi and I could be back down under and at Gambrey Downs for Noel... I cannot confirm or deny this report at the current time. You'll just have to keep checking the blog for more updates!

We should be able to give a firm answer before the end of this month.

Once again, Mehdi and I only did a couple of flights together last month.

Our last one was Bangkok! That was one crazy ride! As soon as we got there we went straight for a thai massage at a 'Strictly Non-Sexual' massage parlour! It was really physical, knees in you back type stuff. I felt like she was doing yoga ON my body. But I felt great afterwards. We left the massage parlour and got into a cab to the night market! At this stage a huge tropical storm was starting to unleash itself overhead! It was a real treat... the lightning was AWSOME. By the time we got to Lumpini Market the streets were like rivers! I'm so glad it was too dark to see what we were wading through, double glad that we didn't have any open sores on our feet! Haven't seen so many overgrown cockies since Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom!

So we did a bit of shopping (pictured above). We picked up this set of three for about 20aud! I bought some flip flops as well!

Next Morning we got up and went for a walk in the city, did a bit more shopping...

Here I am near a temple a couple of streets away from our hotel. All these vendors string flowers together to sell as offerings to take to the temple.

This is just one last pic to sweep you off your feet (my bad again! sorry).

Kiki in the UAE

Mehdi's Daddy, Kilani, came to stay with us in Dubai for nearly three weeks. He went home so dark that Ingrid may not recognise him! He did lots of cooking, sunbathing and a bit of shopping while he was in town. We loved having you here Kilani and hope to see you back in Dubai soon!

Here he is at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi.

Long time no blog!

Hi everyone!

Suprisingly, Mehdi and I are still alive and alot has been happening.

Although we haven't been flying together much lately (thanks to being on reserve for a month and least senior for bidding for the last couple of months) we have still managed to fit in plenty of time together.

It has been winter over here and shockingly it hsa been raining and coolish (not really beach weather). We have been doing a fair bit of shopping and looking around. We have been to Abu Dhabi and to the Omani border. Here is a picture of us on the ferris wheel at Global Villiage (a local theme park that opens for the cooler months).

Tunisia Day II

After a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, Mehdi and I hit the streets again for some last minute shopping. Little did we know that when we left the hotel to get a cab we would be meeting up with Aloui Abdelssalem, our new best friend. Aloui not only drove us to the market, but for a few dinars extra he took us to his favourite stalls and promised to get us the best price.
The view from our room at the hotel.

Mehdi (left) and Aloui (bending down) hunting for bargains. We bought some home made olive oil here, beautifully packaged in an old plastic water bottle, it's so green!

Fruit and vegetables in the market.

Ladies in traditional local dress buying coal (this is not a religious dress, it is designed to keep dust off garments worn underneath and is unique to the region)

A cat in the tobaconist.

On the way back to the hotel Aloui stopped off for us to take some photo's. Here he is talking to me about got knows what!

We managed to do alot in 24hrs! Can't wait to go back to Tunisia.

Tunisia

Last month (as well as Brisbane) Mehdi and I did Tunis together!
The hotel was so luxurious, the best part being the breakfast on the house. We had perfect weather, although a little coolish after the sun went down.
As soon as we arrived we had a quick shower and headed downstairs to get a cab. A few dinars later we were in the town centre buying the greatest baguette sandwiches in a little ally full of locals and stray cats. Then it was back in the cab and heading up to Sidi Bou Said to watch the sunset and eat our baguettes.

Here's Mehdi outside one of the many small shops at Sidi Bou Said selling locally made crafts. Mostly Leather, ceramics and textiles. You can get some beautiful artifacts, but you need to keep a critical eye out for authenticity and dont forget your bartering skills, its apart of the local culture.

The view from the top of Sidi Bou Said:

Mehdi inside one of the small shops where we bought some ceramics.

After a little bit of shopping we jumped into another taxi and headed to Mehdi's Aunty's house to meet up with the family and have an unbeatable home cooked meal. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. We headed home laden with food and gifts, some to courier back to belgium.

Ingrid and Cyrine in Dubai

Ingrid and Cyrine spent a week with us in Dubai. The weather was very nice (perfect for shopping). We certainly found time for lots of that! And the appartment has never been so well aranged! Thankyou Ingrid and Cyrine!

Christmas Day

We were lucky enough to have Ingrid and Cyrine with us on Christmas Day,
We had a great day and a huge lunch (we cheated a bit by ordering our turkey from the Shangrila). Florent even bought some champagne, so it was as close to a real christmas as we could get!

London Again

Mehdi and I have been back to London and back to Harrods.
We just cant keep away from the food hall! Plus we wanted to see all the christmas decorations, which were beautiful...

We went with two other crew, Gilli (from NZ, left) and Lorena (from Argentina, right).

Mehdi and I are flying together again this month. Our other layovers are Singapore, Brisbane and Tunis. We're really looking forward to it! Mehdi's Mum and Cyrinne are coming for Christmas, so we will be lucky enough to see some of our family for the holiday season!

Sapin Noel

Well, it's that time of year again! Yay!
We're getting right into the festive spirit.... Here is a pic of our very pretty Christmas tree


Its a huge 180cm and cost 199dhms (70aud) from the supermarket. That price includes decorations!

Back in DXB

When we landed at about 6am on the 27th of Nov. The captain made a PA announcing that it would be 21Degrees outside. We thought that he had made a mistake and it was actually 31 (It hadn't fallen below 30 for the last 6 months). But to our utter shock, it was coolish outside! Even more earth shattering, latter on that afternoon it RAINED!!! and continued to do so (on and off) for the next 5 days.

Mehdi and I have been back from our leave for about two weeks now. We got straight back into it, doing five flights in that time (including two UK layovers). Sorry Pip, no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt sell my Birmingham and Kuwait to any of the grade two's on the Perth... :( I wish SO much that I could have been there! I hope all of your Birthday wishes came true!

Back in Town

While back in Ausralia we;

-Ate everything in site
-Caught up with almost everybody
-Got a tan
-Ate some more
-Went to J&A's house warming party
-Slept at home (in our comfy little room)
-Sat around the pool
-Rode the Jetski
-Sold the Jetski :( Bye Bye Jetski....
-Hung out at home with Mum, Dad and Hobbs


Bye Bye Jetski...

We ate everything in site... (the ribs not the Kamado. BTW: Thanks Dad!)

Got a tan... (Mehdi, Mum, Jess and I went to Byron for the Day)

And before we knew it, our two weeks were over and we were on the plane heading back to DXB.

Catching Up!

On the 9th of Nov, Mehdi and I flew back in to Dubai (DXB) from Dussledorf. We had a great (but short) time in Belgium.
On the 10th we were back on the plane heading to Brisbane. We arrived in Brisbane on the 11th. Jessie and Ayden came to pick us up and we got to meet Ayden for the first time! Yay! We went straight back to Jessie and Ayden snazzy new joint to join the four day fiesta that had been going on since Amanda and Ryan were down from Cairns. Ayden cooked us a customary Aussie BBQ breaky and we were back into the swing of things down under!
We had a quiet coldie with the gang at J&A's and decided that the beach was calling. So we headed straight to the surf! So began our two golden weeks in Aus!

Foire Liege

Mehdi, Sami, Dorothee, Mehdi 2 and Me at the Foire Liege!
I think we went on one too many rides that spin around 'cause we all were a bit dizzy. It's lucky Wajdi could stand up long enough to take this photo of us!

Deutchwagon

This is me outside Mamy's house with the hire car.
Big Bizous to Mamy!

The Boys

Mehdi and I came back from Belgium this morning.
I went on the 2nd and Mehdi came to suprise everybody on the 4th!
This is Mehdi, Mehdi 2 and Valere in the park across from Mehdi 2's house.

Dolce Vita

Mehdi and I have just come back from our Italy trip.
We went to Rome via Milan. Layover in Rome for 24hrs. Then a qiuck shuttle to France (Nice) and back to Dubai via Rome. Quite a Long trip!
We arrived a bit late in Rome, so by the time we got into the city it was dark. And it was raining!
But we had a beautiful evening, we strolled around the city, we walked to the Colloseum, we ate Pizza and Gellati.... mmmm the best gellati ever! We even managed a trip to the supermarket to stock up on our luxuries!
We cant wait to go back! The city is like a hollywood set with ruins and stone streets and small bridges... The people are as beautiful as the food. Che Bella!

Wild Wadi

Today we went to Wild Wadi Water Park with our friends Jin and Florent.
It's starting to cool down over here so it was great sunny weather, but not too hot.

Here is Mehdi on top of the waterslide tower with the Burj Al Arab in the background.

This is us on one of the rides... So much fun!

Ooh Aye!

Aye, we've just come back from Scootland. And ooh aye, it rained the 'ole time. But they gave us a wee umbrella at the 'otel and we went oot for a stroll!
This is Glasgow! It was drizzling and about 15 degrees! But refreshing... The people were lovely and it was nice to get some fresh air! Some of the crew went to Edinburgh (about 50min away) But seeing as though it was our first time, Mehdi and I decided to explore the city of Glasgow! It was really cute... our hotel was about 5min walk from city centre!

Foooood!

Tonights dinner! Burgers and lemon meringue pie... Very healthy!
Florent, Omar and Khalil joined us for desert!

The Royal Mirage

Here we are having Souhour at the 'One and Only Royal Mirage' (that's actually the name!?)
We went with Omar and Florent. This is the rooftop bar with a veiw of the Jumeirah Palm (currently under construction).

Zurich

Mehdi just came back from Zurich. He said it was fabulous! He's had his dose of fresh air for a while!
He bought me a small pink swiss army knife as compensation cause I got sent to smelly Manilla (It really does smell!) Actually Manilla was fun too! I got a manicure, pedicure and a facial for 1000 peso's ($30aud)!
We were supposed to go to Kuala Lumpur together but we both got pulled out and rostered on other flights!!!??? Oh well, lets hope they don't do the same with our Glasgow!

The View

This was the veiw from the Jumeirah Madinat Ramadan Tent.
There was even a traditional arabian guitar player to complete the atmosphere!

Souhour

This is Mehdi and I with our friends Florent and Jin.
We are having souhour (the meal eaten between iftar and sunrise) at the Jumeirah Madinat Ramadan Tent.
We had Tabouleh, Saj, Homous, Kebbeh and we even tried apple Shisha! These tents are set up all over the city during Ramadan. So we'll be trying as many as we can!

Ramadan Kareem!

It is Ramadan all over the world for all Muslims. Ramadan started this lunar month.
The food is great! It's amazing that the food gets better during the month of fasting! Muslims wake up before the sunrise and have breakfast, then they fast all day, then break the fast at sunset with iftar. So at around six everyone is rushing home to break the fast. Most of the hotels and restaraunts put on huge iftar buffets (consisting of traditional ramadan foods) and entertainment.
There are a few rules that we need to follow; No loud music during the day, No alcohol is served before 7pm, Dress code is more conservative, No swearing, No eating in public during the day.
Generally life doesnt change much and it's a rare opportunity to experience some local food and customs.
PS: this is the Burj Al Arab (the 7 star resort) taken from the Madinat Jumeira (a resort inspired by local architecture).

A Day at the Beach

Mehdi and I have had a few days off together!
This is Mehdi at the Grand Habtoor Resorts' private beach club. It's a hard life!

This is me in the bathlike water! It's almost too hot, the most refreshing part is the cool breeze after you get out! But it's so clean and clear!

Here we are together (awww) in the beautiful gardens at the Grand Habtoor.

Athens

I just came back from Athens.
What an amazing city, I think this is one of the best destinations I have visited so far.
A little lonely though, I was on my own. But I can't wait to go back with Mehdi.

This was the view from the roof of the hotel. It's the Acropolis!

Wining and Dining (without the wine...)

Here we are in a local Spanish Restaraunt.
We had Paella and Sangria.
Not exactly Gulf Cuisine, but the paella was great and the sangria went down a little too easily!

Meet Fulla

Here I am with the Middle Easts answer to Barbie.
Her section is the biggest in the toy shop!

Allah Awakhbar!

Here we are at the Jumeirah Mosque soaking up the local culture back in Dubai.
Mehdi nearly got arrested for not respecting the one metre rule! Just kidding...

Chicken or Beef?

Here we are in our uniforms together. This was taken in our London hotel getting ready for the flight home to Dubai.

The Beast

Mehdi's new Clio Sport! (you can't leave off the 'Sport', people will think it's a girls car)
It's not quite a HSV ute, but it'll do for now.... Right Mehdi?
I haven't seen him much at home lately. I think he's found a new french girlfriend (with 4 wheels)!
He's been out chasing a Holden driver to race! Somebody forgot to tell him that there are no Holdens in Dubai! Oh well, we'll have to bring her home with us so Mehdi can kick some Holden butt.....

Our 1st Flight Together! YAY!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for all your great comments! It's nice to know that you are all thinking of us!
InchaAllah, Mehdi and I are coming home in November so we'll be catching up with as many of you as we can in 2 weeks! So, chill those beers and break out the barbie!

Mehdi and I recently did our 1st flight together!
EK001 to LHR (London Heathrow) on the 1st of September. We had 24hrs in London together so we went to Harrods, Hyde Park and Sloane Street. The underground map looks like the monopoly board! We had lots of fun and managed to eat lots!

Here we are in the Underground....

Mehdi eating a pie (!?!?) in Harrods. Sauce Mehdi?

Me with a Dr Who phone box!

Stay tuned for more great adventures! Miss you all xoxoxox