Anyone for Tennis?

New Years Day and I receive a phonecall from a kiwi friend asking if I'd like to go to the tennis?

Every year they have the Mubadala World Tennis Championship here for Jan 1-3.  Six top players attend and it is an event the locals flock to annually.

I'm due to pop down to my other kiwi whanau for lunch but as the tennis doesn't start until later in the day and the ticket is free I agree.

After a great catch up downstairs I meet in the lobby and we head off in a taxi.  The weather is good but I expect it to cool down once the sun sets so grab a jacket.  I can't believe how many times my hoodie has been on me this year.  In three years it's the first time I've worn it and I'm wearing it daily.  I think this winter is cooler than previous years.  And the fog has been late starting also.

Arriving at the tennis we are in time to see several of the stars signing autographs.  Crowds line up and the queue snakes around the complex.  Not being interested in autographs we attempt to fly a plane, get photos of myself as a champion, pose with a huge racket and generally soak up the atmosphere.

I am stoked to see that bubbly and strawberries are on the menu.

Our seats are nearly at the top and the steps are narrow so care is required, especially when climbing down later after a few bevvies.

Our first game is Andy Murray vs Feliciano Lopez.  What a game!  The excitement mounts as the players go back and forth points wise.  The game continues for 2 hours 45 minutes with Murray taking out the win, but only just.

The second game is nowhere near as exciting.  I feel a bit for the players as they have a difficult time to play to the level of the first game.  Also the crowd has dwindled as people left either to find food or because it was getting cold.

As we leave there is dew sitting on the cars.  We have to walk across the road to the hospital to get a cab and even there there are none.  So we walk some more, past a family park full of locals having BBQs on little portable stoves with coals burning brightly.  Eventually I flag down a cab and head home for a well earned rest.  Who knew I'd enjoy tennis so much I may become a regular.
Roll on 2015.

New Years Eve. Goodbye 2014 - Hello 2015

New Years eve seemed to be upon me before I'd had time to recover from Christmas.  This year I was determined to get down to see the fireworks so had organised with some friends to meet up and head to nearby Maryah Island which houses the Galleria Mall.

Planning for an early start we meet up at my apartment for 6.30pm.  After a few disruptions we head over around 8pm and find a car park.  The mall is teeming with high end designer shops and most locals look like they've just come out of them.

One noticable occurrence is that the men are nearly all dressed in coloured kandoras when they normally wear white.  This is because it is winter and the darker colours attract the heat.  The high heeled stilletos are out in force along with expensive jewellery.

We amble around the mall to the food court and decide on Buriyani Pot to eat at, which my friend had recommended.  I order a combo which gives me two curries, two breads, pickles, salad & yoghurt for 38 dirham.  Adding a soft drink to it still means it's a cheap meal.  Kiwi giant Burger Fuel sits alongside and is a popular option.  By the time we've finished we are being hassled for our seats as the mall has filled up and everyone wants to eat.  Feeling the pressure we eventually vacate and head outside to check out the stalls that are set up on the waters edge.

Thinking we will wander aimlessly along, stopping to meander in and out of tents looking at goods, we are sadly mistaken.  Once we are in the throng we can't get out and have to keep moving as best as we can along the pathway with the masses, all the while looking for a seat as it's still an hour or so until midnight.

I eventually spot one marble plinth cordoned off with tape.  Being bolshy I walk through a garden and seize the seat.  Once we are there all sorts of people come wandering over hoping to take advantage of our prize.  But no way!  We are keeping this to ourselves.  As the marble seat is cold one of our group makes an amazing find, deck chairs stacked behind a wall.  So we settle down in comfort, still guarding our marble seat against newcomers.

Kiwi connections.

Time seems to stand still and I hear the call of the nearby hotel...  Gaylene, Gaylene, Gaylene.  I deputize two of our group to go up and check it out.  Only one returns.  Briefly!  To grab her bag and inform me that my drinks are bought and I need to get up there.  3rd floor outdoor deck, prime spot for fireworks.  Feeling bad to be leaving the young couple I'd invited with their baby in a pushchair, I delay my exit for another 20 minutes or so until I get a phone call telling me to get a hurry on.

Once I arrive upstairs at the bar I find a raging outdoor bar full of young, successful, trendy people, well liquored by this stage.  All night we'd been trying to get a head dress with greetings on it and they were there for the taking.

Initially unable to find my friends I wander, lost in space, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the short dresses, high heels, tuxedos, suits & ties.  I try phoning but the music is blaring.  Finally I get a call and jive my way through dancers to find my friends have scored a cabana with couches, lights and a table.  Wow!  Right beside the barrier.  We are in a prime spot to watch the fireworks.

Merry trio!

And did I mention the fireworks?  Wow!  Incredible.  A pyrotechnics dream.  An amazing spectacle bursts forth from the middle of the water.  Evenly spaced from five floats the display goes on for 8-10 minutes, each explosion better than the one before.

Finishing a bottle of wine, we wander home, dodging speeding taxis (all full), crazy locals, joyous expats, through sand and tarmac.  Who would have thought somewhere so close would feel so far?

Happy New Year.  May 2015 bring you health, wealth & prosperity.

Christmas Day 2014

I love winter in Abu Dhabi.  And I love Christmas anywhere.  Even here where Christmas isn't celebrated, huge expensive trees adorn the malls and hotels.  Christmas food and trappings are in the supermarkets and advertising is rife with must-haves for gifts.

The plan (or in this case, non-plan) was to have another large gathering here at home with our core group of kiwis and hangerson.  But I'd had a sore throat before we finished work and couldn't seem to shake it so spent the first week of my precious holidays lying on the couch, sleeping and resting.  So nothing was done at all.  I hadn't bought any food, although that wasn't really a problem with a supermarket downstairs, even open on Christmas Day.  I hadn't bought any drink.  And I hadn't bought any gifts.

So a couple of days before the big day, the son and I decided to take up an offer to the 'parents-in-laws' for Christmas dinner.  I offered to make deserts, my speciality, and thought I'd give the mini cheescakes another go.

So for two days I slaved over a hot stove, or should that be a cold fridge, to produce a few staples.
I'd found a fabulous looking pav that I just had to made.  The fact that I have made one pavlova in three years didn't deter me.  Never mind it ended up being a 10 egg pav.  6 eggs in the first one and then I decided I didn't have enough mixture so had to whip up a four egg mix.

 10 egg pavlova shaped into a wreath.

 Pavlova ready to cook and lolly cake rolled for chilling.

 Decorated pav.

 Beautiful table setting.

The other 'must-haves' at Christmas consist of coffee fudge cake, lolly cake, and shortbread.  So a double recipe of shortbread took shape.  The lollies were cut and formed into rolls.  The biscuits were crushed with the rolling pin for the fudge (still my favourite & a family favourite).  I wonder if they still make it down in the cafe in Blenheim?  The lolly cake is only made twice a year as I have to wait for supplies of fruit puffs from New Zealand.  I still haven't found any suitable substitute here.

From top: shortbread; lolly cake; coffee fudge cake; mini lemon cheesecakes.

The mini cheesecakes were made with a couple of alterations to the recipe.  Unfortunately they didn't look as good, but tasted even better than the first lot.  And so easy.  I don't usually make a baked cheesecake but this one may become a firm favourite.  They looked a bit bleak on Christmas Day due to lack of topping (that's another story) but overall were a success.

The lack of topping came about like this.  I wanted to offer the alternative option of either cream or yoghurt to go on the cheesecakes.  I know from past experience that if using yoghurt you need to do so last minute, hence the topping was left until arrival.

So I purchased a lemon flavoured greek yoghurt and a small tub of whipped cream to sit on the platter with some strawberries.  Of course the strawberries had increased in price to be more than diamonds so I left them on the supermarket shelf.

I also got a 500ml pack of 'whipping cream'.  Not cooking cream, whipping cream.  Now anyone would presume that this meant it would whip and I could top the pavlova with it.  But no!  No episode like Christmas Day in Hamilton many, many years ago when the cream turned to butter.  Yes, I was thinking about a certain sister while standing at the sink whipping the cream.  But it wouldn't whip.  Another 10 minutes and we were late leaving, still liquid.  So I throw it in the fridge and decide we'll grab some whipped cream from a nearby shop once we arrive.

Here I am on Christmas Day wandering around the streets over the other side of town looking for cream.  No!  It isn't a staple here.  I found more whipping cream but no whipped cream.  Finally finding one small tub (we're talking the biggest pav I've ever seen in a while) I concede defeat and head back.  I could have driven to the mall but we'd got a carpark right outside the apartment complex and knew we'd never find that again so opted to stay put.

Back with my minature tub of low fat cream, I combine with the cheesecake cream and lightly smear the resulting mix over the top of the pav.  I've never seen a pav with so little cream but it suited me as I don't eat cream.  Some homemade raspberry coulis drizzled over the cream hid the lack of cream, then the lavish fruit (blueberry, blackberry, red currants, pomegranate, fresh mint leaves, and chocolate mint leaf decorations made it into a masterpiece.  Even I was proud of the finished effect.

There was quite a crowd for lunch and while finishing my desserts a couple arrived with their daughter.  While being introduced to the wife I'm thinking to myself that I've met her before then the husband turns around and we both say the same thing immediately.  I cast around in my mind as he suggests places that we may have met then the wife pipes up in her Irish accent with...

Wait for it!  Of all places we met in Tiberias at the Sea of Gallilee in Israel.  Small world.  They had just arrived at the hostel and were waiting to check in while I was waiting, perhaps to check out.  We started chatting and found we were all living in Abu Dhabi.  There were heading off to cycle around the lake while my friend, her son & I were heading back to Tel Aviv.  Then we meet again at Christmas dinner at our mutual friends' place.

I had a fabulous day with new friends from around the world (Irish, Brits, Turkish, Scottish, & Kiwis).  Lunch consisted of traditional Christmas turkey with all the trimmings: roast potatoes; mashed spuds; swede & turnip mash (my fav); brussel sprouts; stuffing; carrots; cauliflower; gravy.  All washed down with some lovely beverages from around the world, plenty of mulled wine, a few games and plenty of laughs.

I ended up with some lovely presents - a real variety.  Body shop products featured heavily and I'm now set up for a while with nice smellies.

A couple of planters with potting mix and plants are still waiting to be planted (my lovely tulip bulbs are in the fridge chilling).

On Facebook I'd spied an offer for NZ peanut butter so ordered one for the son.  Of course, with slow delivery, it didn't arrive in time for Christmas but was a welcome New Year surprise.  It took so long to arrive I'd forgotten I'd ordered it.

A special parcel arrived in the New Year from New Zealand with my annual dose of kiwiana calendars.  All in all, a good end to a good year.  

Carols in the Desert

With a different take on Christmas carols this year I finally got to attend carols in the desert.  In preparation I bought some fish to throw on the BBQ, hummus, bread & salad.  For desert I made my first attempt at mini cheesecakes.  More on those later...

I was picked up by friends in a 4WD at 2.30pm then we headed out to a central meeting place, on the way picking up two more passengers - 5 of us in total.

On arrival at the meeting point we joined scores of others all with the same intent, a night out singing christmas carols. Each car was given a sticker to display in their rear window so you knew who to follow.  After half an hour or so the klaxon horn sounded and everyone jumped into their cars (mostly 4WD).   On the second blast from the horn we set off, or tried to.  Slowly, slowly was the name of the game as numerous vehicles all attempted to leave a car park at once and converge onto a main highway.

Once underway we drove for some considerable distance, way out past the airport, past my work, and into the desert proper.  Thus we continued for about 40 minutes and eventually turned off and continued on a truck road for some distance before another turn saw us come to a fenced off area which we (and the entourage) entered.  In the distance I could see tents set up, hundreds of cars parked on sand dunes, and people everywhere.  We joined the throngs of vehicles and followed an off road track to some semblance of parking.  Upon exiting the car we loaded up with deck chairs, chilly bins and bags, BBQ tools, bags of drinks and food, blankets and all the other gear required for an evening in the desert.  And we weren't even staying the night.

Laden, we trudged up the nearest sand dune (boy was that tough) and joined some others who already had a prime spot saved for us.  By this time I was wishing I hadn't brought so much stuff.  However, as the evening progressed I was glad to have warm clothes, hot drinks and food for the BBQ.

We were treated to an incredible sunset over the sand dunes.  Cameras flashed as most people tried to capture the moment.  But sunsets are immensely difficult to perfect.

On dusk the BBQs were lit within a taped off area and although we were among the first to head over, we had a wait while others cooked their food.  As one fellow cook put it - every expat in Abu Dhabi must be here.  Too true!  The variety of accents around the barbies was familiar and apart from the intense heat from the coals (no gas babies here) it was a familiar feel and reminded me of large gatherings at home.

One major difference is the use of grill cages (I have no idea what they are called and I'm sure they have a name) to hold your food together so you don't lose it down the grill.  There are no solid hot plates like I'm used to on our wood barbies.  Only grills.  So you usually put your food inside a double handled 'cage' and shut it to keep it in.  I had wrapped my fish in foil so it was even easier to handle.  The negative side was I couldn't see if the fish was cooked and due to the intense heat and crowded BBQ I was unable to open the food to check.  Luckily it was cooked beautifully and tasted delicious.

Retiring back to our campsite we settled down to join in the carol singing which began around 7pm.
Photocopied song books were available so there was no excuse, unless you had forgotten your torch.  A makeshift stage had been set up with a three piece band.  Song numbers were called over the loud speakers and then everyone launched into song.

Kids ran everywhere, overnight campsites were set up in the midst of the thousands of carolers.  Some regulars had a flashing light atop a tall pole so the kids could find their way back again.  People were wrapped up in blankets as the desert did get cold once the sun went down.  Free hot chocolate helped warm us up.

While all this was happening, in the distance bonfires flared while locals did what they do best.  Drive and socialise.  Once the singing began various vehicles began racing up the dunes.  This was concerning as kids were running around playing in the dark.  But hey!  This is how WE do it!  During the carols a dune buggy revved repeatedly just by the band with lights on high beam dazzling the campgoers.

Just as we thought their behaviour was crazy, I'm sure they thought ours was also.  Thousands of people turning up in the night with torches to sing.  No wonder they wanted to come and check us out.  They were probably all young boys, teenagers, who spend their weekends racing around the desert.

It made me very wary of camping out and I'd think twice about taking up an offer to join others.  Many park cars around tents or set up a perimeter of lights to indicate they are there.  I'd be lying awake wondering if every sound was a car coming.  I'm sure this wasn't a problem when they rode camels.

My mini cheesecakes were a hit, especially topped with honey yoghurt & a raspberry.  They looked and tasted Christmassy.

Drinking hot mulled wine from a flask and a beer or two, it was a pity about the trek down to the porta loo.  Getting back up the dunes was a mission as there were bodies everywhere, even a tent in the middle of the track.  I don't know how many of us tripped over this tent (with bodies inside) while we were leaving.

Carols in the desert - priceless!