A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Burj...

Dubai is nothing if not random.  On any given day in Dubai you are faced with series of random events that just puzzle the mind.  It's not uncommon to have things like this happen to you: "What do you mean road closed?  This is the way I've gotten home everyday for two years!" or "Hey is that Victoria Beckham in the steam room?" or "I can buy date juice but I can't find orange juice?"

The fast-paced life of this city means that when you step out the front door you truly never know what you are going to see.  Especially in our neighboorhood.  The Burj Downtown area used to be this sleepy little construction site when we moved in, and now maybe you've heard of it?  We've got the world's biggest mall, largest fountain, and tallest building?

Over the weekend we decided to take a stroll around the block and ended up at the mall for some gellato (where all good exercise regimes end...) and we found this set up:

What's that?  You don't know what it is?  Well isn't it obvious?  It's an offical Guinness Book of World records site, where the young man on the stage is going for the record of "most consecutive bounces on the top of the foot with a tennis ball".  Duh.

It was interesting I guess, if you follow the sport, er..activitiy?  It was entertaining for a few minutes, but when I started getting dizzy watching him, I can only imagine how the acutal competitor was feeling. 

Also note the MD in the lab coat closely obversing his phsyical health.  What is the worst that could happen?  A crammped toe!?  I wonder if they'll send one for me when I decided to go for the "most chocolate covered pretzels consummed on a Christmas Day between 1pm - 4pm" record.  I might actually need the doc when I got into a sugar coma!

Although to end on a high note - he set the record!

Then, on the walk home we were confronted with this:

Just to add to the total randomness of the day.  I guess they are trying to turn the sidewalk in front of our building into Dubai's very own 'Walk of the Stars'.  I had no idea.  It was strange though just to have one of these plaques sitting in the middle of the sidewalk by itself.  Monica Belluci is a little lonely out there, we need to get her some more friends!

A Dose of the "Best Medicine" in Dubai

This weekend Matt and I got our fair share of laughs when we attended a stand-up comedy show headlined by Jon Lovitz. It's pretty challenging to write a G-rated review on what was a decided R-rated show, but I'll give it a go!
American Hal Sparks was the opening act and he had us rolling in the aisles a few times. He was funny! His bit started out with a few observations about the renaming of the Burj Dubai to the Burj Khalifa which illicited alot of nervous laughter from across the room. (It WAS funny.) In one of the moments I can actually quote he demanded that he will no longer stand for being called a "non-smoker" and that smokers should be called "non-breathers". Bravo! He put on a great show for us, and if I dare say, was alot funnier than Jon Lovitz.

Jon did a pretty good job, but his stage-presence was pretty lack luster. He had us laughing for the first half of the show, as he drew comparisons between all different types of religons and ethnic groups. However, the second half of the show seemed to be dedicated to making fun of Bob Saget (of Full House fame). Yeah. Odd.

Jon talked alot about being raised Jewish, and had a few funny things to say on how he felt as a boy when Christmas rolled around. Watch Jon discuss the mircale of Hannukah below:

Eat All the Butter You Want, Life is Too Short...says Belgian chef

Who doesn't like diet advice that includes butter, cream and beer as part of a healthy routine?
This was just some of the 'interesting' healthy food tips we received at the Expat Woman "New Year, New You" breakfast. The ladies at Expat Woman always put on a nice event, and to kick off the new year they brought together a variety of vendors from fitness instructors, spas, jewerly designers, and contining education courses to help us all kick off the new year in the right way.

Lisa and I, along with our friend Meredith enjoyed some breakfast (note: danish is not a good way to kick off a diet!) while we perused the stands and took advantage of samples. My sister was even lucky enough to nab one of the free haircuts they were raffling off. However, the highlight of my morning was the speaker who was headlined as a local chef who was going to share some healthy food tips with us.

He was the chef at the Belgian Beer Cafe (located in the Grand Millenimum hotel who was hosting the breakfast) and although he was a nice guy I'm not sure if his advice could compete with that of a dietician. Here are a few memorable quotes.

I think he would have inverted the food pyramid if he could. 9-11 servings of heavy cream a day, anyone?

"They first started focusing on 'healthy food' in the US. I'm not sure why. I think it is because alot of them are getting really fat."

"Eat tomatoes they are good for the heart attack."

"Strawberries are ok, but too many can be poisonous."

"You can eat anything as long as you do the sport. Look at me, I'm skinny."

And my favorite, "Life is too short, eat what you want and be happy."

After his talk/comedy routinue which had all the ladies laughing. He shared with us a menu that he prepared for us, if we want to make a healthy meal at home. Amongst the suggestions were endive salad with blue cheese dressing and French onion soup with a cheese top!

Whew! If this is diet food sign me up!

The Beach Becomes a Drop Zone

Welcome to Dubai's worst-publicized sporting event! While ESPN 8 (the Ocho) might have been carrying it, we were surprised to take a nice weekend walk on the beach and come across the Dubai Parachute and Skydive World Championships. I can somewhat understand - the title didn't fit on any sign at the event, so how would it fit in a newspaper? Smooth move, promoters - but it was cool event nonetheless:
It was a pretty nice event, though - we walked in and ended up in the practice/launch area with all of the international teams. Now that it's over, I don't think we supposed to be back there, but the promoters we probably also in charge of the crack security. We even got a behind-the-scenes sneak at the early scores. Who was in 1st and 2nd place with 100 and 99 points, respectively? That's right, good old USA (sorry Russia) - you heard it here first! Here's a shot of the formation teams practicing:
Aside from crazy people jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, there were also crazy people who stayed inside their airplanes. Just check out Peter Besenyei (of Red Bull Air Race fame) doing a sideways pass feet from our heads and feet from the ground - THROUGH A GRANDSTAND:

There were also hot air balloons, and other airshows - check it out below:
Inverted Fly-By at 100 feet:

And another knife-edge pass with a vertical corkscrew:

Announcing the Burj....Khalifa!

It's just like watching a baby being born. The Burj Formerly Known as Dubai (TBFKAD) has become the Burj Khalifa, and opened for business. Our building had a great view (see the picture at the top, shot from the balcony) for the festivities, and our friend Tom threw a party from his even better view six floors up. I'm sure you all know the deal by now - 828 metres tall, the highest pool, mosque, and observation deck. With all 18 mechanized building washers running, it would take 2-3 months to get the sand off the building.

I think it'll be best if we let Tom speak for himself in his Gulf News interview:
http://gulfnews.com/business/property/spectators-witness-a-slice-of-history-at-burj-khalifa-1.562422?localLinksEnabled=false
A host of ‘Burj Khalifa parties' also took place at the apartments of those lucky enough to have balconies offering superb views of the opening.

Tom Arnold, originally from the United States, threw a party in his Downtown Burj Khalifa apartment. He said: "The Burj Khalifa is not only a feat of modern engineering, it is also a symbol of mankind's relentless pursuit of innovative achievements.

The event I am hosted included guests from around the world who defy the destructive myths of this region and live together in one of the most peaceful cities around the world. This is truly a global city, and a universally appealing experience to witness and share together.

"As expats living in Dubai, we have come to consider this place our home, and we are proud of the city and what has been accomplished here in recent years. We are here working, not as individuals, but as part of a collective higher purpose.

"Today is a proud day for Dubai and my friends and I appreciate the magnitude of this historic achievement."

Good parties were had by all, but we haven't had a spare minute to get up to the top yet. More to come when we try out the lines for the world's tallest elevator, but check out some of the shots of the Burj we've grown up next two for the past two years:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the edge of the earth! Matt and I were very lucky to spend New Year's Eve on Waikiki beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. It was fabulous! Before you tell us that we are getting a little to travel-happy you must understand that I had 300,000 Delta miles that were due to expire at the end of the year. After a quick look at the miles map it became pretty clear that the best 'domestic' deal was Hawaii, so off we went!

We started NYE day off at Pearl Harbor. The weather was beautiful and the shine was shining. It was hard to believe we were looking at the scene of the most deadly attack on American soil. Matt and went through all the exhibits and even had the chance to climb through the USS Bowfin, a WWII sub that is moored in the harbor.

Sitting on a torpedo at the front of the Bowfin.

Doing my best "Rosie the Riverter" on the decks of the submarine.

From Pearl Harbor we headed to our dinner cruise which was sailing off the coast of Honolulu, Waikiki and Diamond Head. We saw a magnificent sunset and for the first time in our lives - the green flash! I was thrilled with the lobster dinner, I just didn't know I was going to get the whole crustean on my plate...Matt had to help with that.

I guess if I am going to eat them, I should learn how to crack 'em....next year....

Hanging out on boat just before the last sunset of 2009.

See ya next year Sun! Matt managed to catch this shot just as a sail boat got in front of the light.

2009 was such a good year we just decided to make it last as long as we could, and by celebrating it in Hawaii, we were some of the last people to countdown the clock in the whole world (only Midway celebrates later than us)! By the time we sang Auld Lang Syne it was 5am on the US East coast and 2pm in Dubai the next day.

We rang in the New Year at a huge beach party on Waikiki complete with a spectacular fireworks display. Our only resolution is to make this year even better than the last - Happy New Year everyone!

The scene at the beach front.

A very special blue moon just for the New Year!

The picture at midnight. Cheers!Happy New Year!

What's Cooler Than Being Cool? ICE COLD!

Brrrrr...after spending a wonderful Christmas day with both of our families, we took a Shaver-Mueller family outing on the 26th. We returned to the original site of the wedding festivites, the National Harbor, and took in the Gaylord National hotel's ICE! experience. It consisted of a carved winter wonderland that included many holiday scenes, an ice sleigh and even racing ice slides. The ice world was created by 40 Chinese artisans over 6 weeks. They hail from a region in China called Harbin, located in Northeast China, where relentless winter winds blow across from neighboring Siberia. The average winter temps fall dramatically to an average of only 2 degrees... sometimes plummeting to -36. Harbin stays below freezing for almost half the year. They have honed their skills by cutting ice blocks from a nearby frozen river and creating ice sculptures.

We had a blast! Although we were less than fashionable in our standard-issue blue parkas, they were necessary in the 9 degree enviroment! It was definitely a unique experience and it was fun to share it with the whole family.

Family shot in front of the ice sleigh.

The Jefferson Memorial...one of our favorites! (And Matt's proposal site and groom's cake)

Hanging out with the peguins. The dye the ice with food coloring which, if you are Matt, ends up all over your hands.

The smurf Shavers (minus Lisa)

The ice palace was awesome! Complete with racing slides.

Matt's Mom shows off the 15 foot tall ice angel.

Mom and Wade race down the slides!