USS Stennis: Not Your Average Cruise Ship

Dubai is a pretty nautical town, so it's not uncommon to be invited out on a boat for the day by friends and colleagues, but when the US Embassy asks you if you want to join them for a reception on a boat - and you find out that that "boat" is the aircraft carrier USS Stennis, you definitely say yes!

In honor of the Dubai Airshow being in town (check out "Boeing Secures Record Emirates Deal") there are a lot of government officials and current and ex military folks who have all converged upon our little city for the next week for all things - flight!  So Matt and I were pretty delighted to keep them company while we hung out on floating city that's over three football fields in length.  USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) is the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier in the United States Navy, named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi. She was commissioned on 9 December 1995.

Supercarrier?  I'd say so.  The experience of being on the carrier was like none other, because, of course, I have nothing to compare it too!  We had a great evening exploring the boat with our Navy escorts, who gave up their leave to attend as staff for the event.  It was all fun and games for us, but I have to say it really gave me pause to think about the men and women who live aboard that ship and the time they sacrifice with their family and friends to sail around the world doing good work for the US.  It made me very proud.

The ship wasn't too hard to identify in port - oh yeah, it was 10 times the size of anything around it!

Matt thinks is this funny.  I didn't realize that I'd have to go below deck for the ladies room, and let's just say a pencil skirt and heels didn't make the ship too easy to navigate.  I wonder if they have any standard issue stilettos?

 There were a lot of impressive guest in attendance including our own Ambassador and Consul General, and foreign defense ministers from the UAE and Italy (to name a few).  As an aside, I've never been called "ma'am" so much in my life.  A gal could get used to that kind of thing.

And there was cake.  Every hear the phrase "it's enough to feed an army?"  This was the Navy, but you get the idea.

The Stennis broadcasts her identifying number for all to see.  Imagine my surprise when I thought carriers had around five to ten aircraft on board.  Yeah, it's a plane parking lot and I had no clue.  In this case it's the boat that make the planes look small.

Big boy toys.

I asked Matt what this plane does, and twenty minutes later I was still learning about the nuances of radar.

It was really cool to be able to go on deck to get up close and personal with the planes.  It was every thing I hoped it would be after seeing Top Gun.

You can't see it in the picture but I'm humming Kenny Loggin's "Highway to the Danger Zone".

Go on you know you want to:

Now you enjoyed that, didn't you?

Oh yeah, the cool kids get to park inside of course, a dozen planes and 500 guests - no problem for a boat that can double as a basketball arena ("Hoop Deck").

You never know when you are going to meet a hero.  (Check out Matt's grin!)  I was standing at the end of the gangplank thanking the sailors for a great evening when Matt took off from my side and ran, literally, after a side-burned man in leather jacket.  One minute later he reappeared and yelled "Katie come quick!"  He looked like a kid on Christmas morning and I couldn't imagine what had him so enthralled.  That's when I was introduced to Burt Rutan.  I can't say that I knew exactly who he was, so here's the wiki brief:

Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He is famous for his design of the record-breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 for becoming the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space twice within a two week period. He has five aircraft on display in the National Air and Space Museum: SpaceShipOne, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, Voyager, Quickie, and the VariEze.

Geez, why is this guy such an under-achiever? Matt's idolized him for a long time and this was an extra, extra, special treat.  He was a very friendly guy, for a total genius, and Matt was delighted.

Moral of the story, when someone invites on to an aircraft carrier, you say yes!

HGTV: Living Abroad!

Lights, camera, action!  When I visions of being on TV as a little girl I pictured delivering a line like, "I'm ready for my close up Mr. Deville." and not "I really love our granite counter tops!"  Alas, when the small screen came calling we decided not to be picky.

Back in August we were approached by a casting agent who contacted Matt and I through the American Business Council, to see if we might want to participate in a program that showed how Americans live abroad, how we make homes in far away places and adjust to different cultures.  Any follower of this blog knows that we don't miss a beat to share our experiences however weird or wacky, so of course we were happy to oblige.

After two months passed and we survived several casting rounds but hadn't heard anything more, we weren't counting on the call that happened at the beginning of last week when HGTV called and asked if we were ready to shoot at 7:00am in four days time!  Well...that pretty much put a stop to our weekend - let's put it this way, there is clean and then there is ohmygosh there is a camera crew coming to my house "clean".  After making sure you could eat off our floors, and stocking up on some fresh flower we were ready for our close up!

A crew of 10 arrived bright and early to set up all the equipment necessary for the shoot.  I have a new respect for how much work it must be to produce these shows.

All the additional lighting was great around the house, I was sad to see it go!

Cameras and crew everywhere!

Matt getting mic'ed up for his interview.

Apparently the mic gets clipped to your ankle - clever.

With the host Chi-Lan Lieu.

Cool big boy toy alert - get a dolly to roll through your living room!

Trying to look natural (and not 10 pounds heavier) on camera!

The crew asked if we could show them the conveniences available in high rise living in Dubai.  I told them I could order a cup of coffee at Starbucks and their eyes lit up!  Not only did they want to see us make it happen they decided to film a segment on it - 45 minutes later we had Starbucks, Burger King and Tasti d-Lite delivered to our door.

We had a blast with the filming and are looking forward to seeing how the 30 minute show turns out.  It's set to air around March so be sure to keep an eye out on your basic cable channel and hopefully we didn't say or do anything too embarrassing!

The Burj Residences Block Party

Welcome to the first annual Burj Residences block party!  We've been residences in the Burj Khalifa/Downtown area for four years now (spanning two decades!), but this is the first time that we've been able to get the neighborhood together.

Credit goes to our new homeowners association, one of the first in the area that can actually stand up to the all-powerful developers!  Of course, as with all things Dubai, it wouldn't be an event without merchandising, merchandising, merchandising!  Burj cupcakes and pizza (thank you Marzano), Burj moon bounce (thank you MoveOne), and my personal favorite, Burj cholestorol and blood sugar tests (thank you Burj Dubai Medical Center!).  It's been a while since I went to a neighborhood block party as a kid, but I definitely don't remember needles!

If you're wondering, we passed with flying colors (but I would recommend against having two cupcakes right before a blood test).

The kids seemed to love the party, with balloons flying away every few seconds, bingo for the adults, and of course, great weather.  Now we just need to make sure that Tasti d Lite sponsors the next event...

Mad for Mad Men!

Every morning I wake up and think of my mantra - WWJD - what would Jackie do?  The epitome of high-style, grace and poise, I like to channel her when I throw on a pencil skirt for work, or attempt to bring wearing a hat in public back in fashion.  Jackie O aside, I love the swinging sixties look, which is why I was jazzed to receive an invitation to a Mad Men Affair party this weekend.  I immediately found my teasing comb and gloves, while Matt pulled out the grey suit (it really helps to own your own suit making company) and skinny tie avec tie clip, of course.

While I don't really look like any of the Mad Men gals I was hoping to embody the style of Betty, the assertiveness of Joan and the brains of Peggy, and Matt - he just actually makes a pretty good Don Draper, lucky him.  We felt very chic as we left the house and then quickly realized that we might have looked a little out of place when we stepped directly into a crowded elevator!  27 floors later (and a few weird looks) and we were at our destination.  With a martini in hand, we joined the rest of the Mad Men fans and had a great night.  Hot topic of the night  - who are you going to vote for Kennedy or Nixon? 

Our host and the man of the evening - Rooman "Draper"

Don, is that you?

Stepping back in time for the night.

SocialCirclesUAE.com - Just When You Thought You Couldn't Have More Friends!

It's always great to know that you can meet someone new in Dubai.  After four years gallivanting around town, we are lucky to have a good group of friends and acquaintances - who without any prior planning you are pretty much guaranteed to bump into during a night out on the town.  Dubai can sometimes be a small town that can act like a big city, so it can be easy to fall into a comfort zone.

Thankfully SocialCirclesUAE.com was able to remind us that there are more fish in the sea!  We were delighted to receive an invitation to their annual anniversary party and after two years they have built up quite an impressive group!  Social Circles is the brain child of fellow American (woot) Rachel Morton, who started the group two years ago to connect people with like interests across the UAE.  They host great events for working professionals and socialites alike, and even have special interest groups for people to participate in like - I Love Movies, Dubai Party Lovers and Flirty 30's.

If the party was an indication of how fun this group is - then sign me up!  It was a fantastically organized event at the brand new Republique lounge.  It was elbow to elbow action as people participated in raffles, raced to compete in a few fun games and enjoyed some great gift bags.  If our camera reel is any indication, we had a great time!  Four hours later we had not taken one photo, we were so business meeting the great group there!  Thankfully, fishfayce had us covered.  A local fun photographer who can keep things lively.

The evening was a great reminder of how many future friends we have yet to discover and just how much fun it is going to be to find them!

With some new friends!  I've always wondered what I would look like with silicone lips!

Warning: these glasses might be regularly sized if my 3rd grade photos have anything to say about it.  Matt with the 'stache might work if he always pairs it with the fez.

The lady of the evening, with Social Circles founder Rachel Morton!

Kyoto: The Final Stop

Kyoto is the crown jewel of Japan and one of the world's most culturally rich cities.  It's where you will find the Japan of your imagination: raked pebble gardens and bamboo groves, arcades of vermilion shrine gates, geisha disappearing into tea houses, and temples that float on water.  Kyoto has 17 Unesco World Heritage Sites, 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines.  Most of the sites that make up the popular images of Japan are from Kyoto.

Here are just a few of our favorites.

The formal dining room in the Nanzen-ji is a beautiful example of bring the outside in.

The evenings in Kyoto were simply stunning.  The weather was warm and it was a great time to stroll along the Shijo-Qhashi bridge and enjoy dinner on the water.  The lights twinkled on the Kamo-gawa and it has a great effect on illuminating the tea houses that hovered over the water

We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary while we were there and these was our divine desert!

The zen garden at Kyoto's Imperial Palace was, you guessed it - zen!

Our guide, Tammy,showed us the best udon place in town and  we learned all the tricks of chowing down the homemade noodles - slurping is not only tolerated but encouraged!

Kyoto's Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) was originally built in 1397 but in 1950 a young radical monk set fire to it because he believed that the temple would be most beautiful in fire!  This reincarnation was rebuilt in 1955 and it is completely covered in gold leaf from Kanazawa.

After cruising downtown I turned my back for one minute and Matt was gambling!  The Japanese are big fans.

From one vice to another, we checked out the local sake breweries.  It was fascinating to learn about the process of turning rice into liquor.  It is a lot more complicated than you might think!  I'm standing in this picture just for scale - check out how big those special occasion bottles are!

These are just of the varying jugs that they need to complete the many steps in making sake.  They are all bigger than her!

There were a lot of taxis driving around down with "M&K" in a heart on the top.  Apparently that is the name of the company, but I thought it was just a nice way to celebrate our anniversary!

Not real geisha - but wannabe geisha.  Still love the outfits though.

In front of the steps leading to Kiyomizu-dera temple.

The old neighbors in Kyoto have lots of surprises.

The Fushimi-inari Taisha has over 30,000 individually crafted vermillion torii.  It's like an optical illusion!

We couldn't have passed up a chance to learn a little about Japanese cooking and we found Emi!  She runs classes right from her own home in Kyoto and we had an amazing afternoon with her learning how to prepare rice and fish, tempura, and grilled veggies.

If you are ever in Kyoto make sure to visit Emi at www.kyotouzuki.com.

The puffer fish is extremely poisonous to humans, but the Japanese like to live a little dangerously and remove the poison and consume the fish (which can still end in fatalities if not done properly), I like them better with this friendly look.

The Nishiki market was a great place to pick up anything your heart desires, fresh food is everywhere.

A parting view of Japan, Kyoto by day...

...and by night.