We found one!

A fully vegetarian pub for a British Sunday lunch!

"Hove" actually...

While Geoff was back in Dubai, I had the chance to travel to Hove (not to be confused with Brighton) and Waldron to visit old friends, Nathalie and Sonja.

Apparently, I experienced the typical London train service, arriving in Hove half an hour late on a short one hour trip.  This didn't stop us ladies, however, as we enjoyed a chatty lunch by the beach and then some play time with Nathalie's young boys, Xander and Zach.

In the evening, Sonja lowered the roof on her mini convertible and we took to be country roads for a delicious Monday roast and some Pimm's at the Middle House in Mayfield.  

I sense Geoff's board meetings weren't quite as enjoyable...

Photo shoot in Wonderland...

For a photo club assignment, our friends, Janna and Nikki, decided to bring Alice In Wonderland to life.

I arrived at the photo shoot to find a whimsically dressed table full of delectable sweets, numerous elaborate costumes and tons of face paint (with accompanying "how to" YouTube videos).

For several hours we prepped the model and engaged in the most amazing photo shoot.  The transformation from innocent to wild Alice was almost more extreme than any movie could have concocted.

All in a day's walk...

Sometimes you encounter the most unusual things on your walk to the office...

Not just in Dubai...

It looks like this Strange store might be a chain.  We just saw this one in London.

Perhaps we will find one everywhere we travel...

With an eye on London...

We have just arrived in London for a visit and moved into a short-term apartment.  In the past 2 months, we have downsized from a four-storey house in Toronto to a four room flat in Dubai to a less than 400 square foot apartment in London.  I wonder sometimes if we are really moving in the right direction...

Regardless of the fact that we now store our luggage under the kitchen counter, do our laundry in the entry doorway and store many of our clothes in the living room coffee table, the view from our window (and relying on Big Ben to tell us the time) makes it feel like everything has worked out just fine!

Beach Party

Dubai has embraced its own version of the "drive in" movie.  A local company has set up a "beach in" movie where they have cordoned off a section of the beach, brought in some comfortable couches and set up a big screen on the back of one of the large buildings nearby.  Moviegoers are treated to food and drink service and some high quality headphones to hear the soundtrack.  It doesn't really matter what movie they are playing (the selection is not always the best), the gorgeous weather and relaxed environment can make any movie worth watching.

Definitely not dry...

Dubai has a unique approach to alcohol.  The locals are not allowed to engage in drinking and expats have to apply for a license in order to buy alcohol.  Most restaurants do not serve booze, with the exception of the hotels.  This all made sense to me until we went to our first comedy show where they not only sell booze but...they sell it by the bucket full!

London - Suggestions?

Okay, time for some audience participation! We know that you are a well-travelled lot. So, how about suggesting some things for us to do in London over the next 2 months?

Currently on our list are:
Ascot - Royal Enclosure
Wimbledon
Wicked the Musical
Importance of Being Earnest Play
The Drowned Man Interactive Play
Science Museum - 3D printing exhibition
Victoria & Albert Museum

What other suggestions do you have? What off-the-beaten-track things have you done and loved in jolly old England? If outside of London, we'll take those tips too! We'll be driving around the countryside in July, so anywhere in UK is fair game!

Diana Krall and Elvis Costello

Before the summer heat hits Dubai, people frequently engage in outdoor activities, including concerts.  We caught the last outdoor concert of the year, getting tickets to see Diana Krall, performing for the first time on the same bill as her husband Elvis Costello.  Information about local activities is not always the easiest to pull together but after reviewing various websites, twitter feeds and TimeOut Dubai, we realized that although the concert was scheduled to start at 4pm, Diana Krall would not be on until 9:15pm!  Thank goodness for the internet.

The backdrop for the concert was spectacular, with the neon-lit buildings adding extra ambiance to the lively event.  Elvis Costello proved too alternative for our tastes, particularly when he pulled out a megaphone to play ambulance siren noises during one of his songs, but Diana Krall was sensational, with a first class band and a smooth and sultry voice that sounds as good live as it does recorded.

View from the Sky...

The Burj Al Arab is the "World's only 7-star hotel".  It was built on an artificial island and is accessible only by a private road.  The hotel is designed to look like a dhow ship and the design and construction were actually managed by a Canadian engineer.

The hotel was so concerned with eager tourists flooding its grounds for a pic that it has cut off access to the public, allowing only those that are booked as guests of the hotel or restaurants to enter.  Even the Hop On Hop Off bus turns away from the area before it gets too close to the hotel!

View from the Sky Bar

Equipped with a reservation code in hand, Molly and Beth headed to the Burj Al Arab for a morning "afternoon tea" in the Sky Restaurant located on the hotel's top floor.  The views were exquisite as we sipped our very sweet date sparkling wine, chatting and watching the clock until noon hit and they could serve the real champagne.

Afternoon tea seems to me the most civilized of activities - an opportunity to sit back and enjoy a good catch up over a nice cup of tea and a meal comprised of several courses of cookies and carbs.

Below is one of my favourite pictures of Molly's visit.  The waiter took about 10 pictures of us and this is the best one he could get.  The only decent picture we got of us there was of us in the hotel lobby, with absolutely none of the view showing.  Perhaps this is part of their strategy to keep things exclusive??

Best. Coffee. Ever. For Hot Climates, At Least.

As many of you know, I'm a bit of a coffee addict. Some would say afficianado, while the cheekier amongst you would say snob. I've never really delved too deeply into the various methods of coffee brewing, with the exception of the basic at-home methods.

Despite its proximity to Yemen, coffee's birthplace as a drink, I never expected to further this knowledge while I was in Dubai. However, much to my surprise, I discovered (in a restaurant called Leopold's of London; much to my disappointment, there is in fact no London branch) what is now my favourite method of brewing coffee for hot climates.

The Cold Brew method steeps the coffee for up to 12 hours in room temperature or colder water. This allows for the flavours of the coffee beans to be extracted. It is the use of hot water that makes coffee quite acidic, so this method results in a much lower-acidity brew. To me, it tastes very creamy and sweet, without any milk/cream or sugar added at all.

In this case, the coffee was brewed in a coil-tubed contraction that apparently was developed in Kyoto, which for reasons that I would love to learn but do not know, developed very elaborate cold-brew machines. Confusingly, the Japanese refer to this type of coffee brewing as Dutch coffee, while most of the English speaking world refer to it as "the Kyoto process" and most of the non-English speaking world just call it "cold brew", which is not to be confused with iced coffee, which is generally just drip-brewed poured over ice.

During the winter, I think I will still prefer a piping hot, high-acidity cuppa. My preferred extraction method for this I have come to learn is called the Moka Pot method - named after Moka, Yemen - but many call the Italian or Bialetti (or other brand name) method where the water is boiled in a lower chamber and steamed through a middle chamber of coffee grounds to be trapped in an upper chamber.

However, my new preferred method for hot climates is definitely the cold-brew or Kyoto method. I just need to develop the patience to wait 12 hours for it to brew!

Our first visitor!

We were thrilled to have our dear friend, Molly, "drop by" for a few days from Singapore.  As she said, it is "only" a 7 hour flight...

It has been just over a year since we last saw each other so it was particularly fun to reconnect and to get a chance to experience some of the highlights of Dubai together.  Whether it be visiting the world's largest mall and then the world's smallest outdoor farmer's market, to watching fountains dance to Whitney Houston tunes to overstaying our welcome at an 11 am "afternoon tea" at the Burj Al Arab, we really did try and do all of the tourist sites of Dubai.  Lucky for us, even the most aggressive schedule for touring Dubai's hot spots still left us lots of time to hit the different hotels for a meal every few hours to relax and refuel and escape "that desert sun"!

Habits & Routines

One of the exciting parts of our journey is the opportunity that it affords to evaluate our current habits, break the bad ones and start new ones. As we did with our possessions, we were forced to shed most of our habits and routines, taking only those that are most critical and important, and hopefully breaking the worst ones.

Unfortunately, this also meant giving up many things that would not mesh with our new lifestyle, even if we would choose to continue doing them if we could.

What this results in, is a clean slate of sorts. The challenge is how to choose what to fill this slate. We all have a latent group of things that we would like to do, if only we could find the time. We want to exercise more, eat better, read more, learn more, exercise our creativity more, etc. But, even with this new clean slate we can't possibly fit everything in, especially if we want to turn these things into new habits or routines, which requires real dedication to ingrain.

So, how to prioritize? Should we focus on improving our health through exercise and better eating? Should we focus on improving our minds through reading the stacks of books that have been piling up or taking those courses that we've always wanted to take? Should we improve our careers by building those networks that we always wanted to build or by undertaking those projects that we could never seem to fit in before? Should we focus on experiencing new things and places? Or, should we start by focusing on retaining those things that we had that we are now worried about losing - friends, activities that we enjoy, etc.

It is a real blessing to have the opportunity to remake substantially how we spend our time and to create a new lifestyle that we think will make us better, happier people. But, boy is it stressful too! We've got to balance constant self-improvement with the need to not mess with a good thing.

What could be better??

Just in case you happen to forget your gold bars at home...

Building castles in the sand...

At the steps of our new apartment is The Walk.  It is a bustling promenade of shops and hotels paired with a gorgeous white sand beach.  Scattered along the beach, they have massive sandcastles showcasing a variety of different animals, fairytales and attractions.  Our favourite is this one...a replica of Dubai itself.

A little bit of Canada with a UAE twist...

We feel nicely settled in our new home of Dubai but it is always nice to see a little piece of Canada sometimes.

Kudos to Dubai for giving a Canadian donut its own flair...

Our new home...

We have moved into our new home in Dubai and are getting settled.  We are in the bustling and buzzy area of JBR, which is right next to the beach and full of incredible restaurants.

Below is a picture of the view from our kitchen window.  Perhaps this is the inspiration we need to actually start cooking more regularly??

Strange?

The architecture in Dubai is amazing but the store names need a bit of work...

Dubai's Towering Buildings

To get a better sense of the overall city, we ventured out on a bus tour.  Although unseasonably cold here (a cool 35 degrees), it is still very hot in the top part of the bus, making the very long street lights more than a test of our patience.

The views, however, were well worth the heat.  There are new developments exploding all over the city and developers are experimental and artistic, trying out new styles and looks with each of the building.  Our favourite so far is Cayan Tower (aka. The Infinity Tower) which at 80 storeys high is the tallest high rise building with a twist of 90 degrees.

Below are some other pics of the magnificent architecture around numerous areas of Dubai.

Canyon Tower is in the centre

The Awesome A380...

A welcome surprise (and a real treat for Geoff) - enjoying a ride in the Emirates' new A380 airplane.

Purging, purging, purging

After trekking through the airport with our few remaining possessions, we realized we may need to do some additional purging.  Next goal - cut out one more suitcase!

And it is down to this...

Five weeks of purging - selling a house and all its furniture, two cars, two pesky kayaks and donating most of our clothes and other possessions - and this is what we have left.  Three suitcases, two rollaboards, a knapsack and some tennis rackets.  Dubai (and our new minimalist lifestyle), here we come!