As I have mentioned on previous blogs, A. is mad keen on footy. I received a call (from his Mother's mobile phone) during a meeting today in which A. proudly announced that not only had he scored a goal but that his team had drawn 2 - 2 - this a considerable improvement on the previous results where they had lost 8 - 0 and 6 - 1. He was a little bit hazy on the detail of the goal but from what I could gather it sounded like the goalie managed to dive over the ball and then turned to watch it rolling over the line - I wish I had been there to see it!
In the far distant days of my own playing career I can just about remember my early performances for Holy Family under 8s although unlike A. my early appearances were as substitute albeit as a centre-forward (I think all little boys in those far off days wanted to be the glory hunting striker although wow betide any "goal-hangars" who skulked around the penalty area while play was down field in the hope that some one would boot it to them from defence). Now it appears that the 'midfield general' is in vogue. I cannot really remember my own first goal but having recorded it on the internet hopefully A.s first one will live in memory and I hope this is the first of many goals from A.
Stats
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Back Home
One of the problems of the Dubai/HK flight is that it is just too short to allow a decent night's sleep. We left about half an hour late last night on the Emirates overnight flight which gets in at around 7am local time. However, the flight itself is only around 6 - 6 1/2 hours so by the time you have eaten you meal and finished watching the film there is only really time for around 4 hours sleep. I was like a zombie when I woke up on landing.
With the London - HK flight(c.12 hours)there was plenty of time to catch a few films and (if you could get comfortable) a decent 6 hours sleep - the timings coming from HK also worked well - most flights leaving in a period between 11pm and 1am local time which got you in first thing London time.
Having said all of that, the 12 hour flight time (not to mention the 7/8 hour time difference) was very hard work and when we used to take the kids back for Christmas it used to ake us pretty much the whole of the trip just to get over the jet-lag. Our present 3/4 time difference and shorter journey time is a walk in the park by comparison.
With the London - HK flight(c.12 hours)there was plenty of time to catch a few films and (if you could get comfortable) a decent 6 hours sleep - the timings coming from HK also worked well - most flights leaving in a period between 11pm and 1am local time which got you in first thing London time.
Having said all of that, the 12 hour flight time (not to mention the 7/8 hour time difference) was very hard work and when we used to take the kids back for Christmas it used to ake us pretty much the whole of the trip just to get over the jet-lag. Our present 3/4 time difference and shorter journey time is a walk in the park by comparison.
Its a sad, sad situation
Force of circumstances that I have missed out the last few days blogging but here is something I composed on Thursday of last week while in London.
It is around 3.30pm and I am in one of the interior offices far away from natural light. However, even if I crane my neck around and look outside I can see that it is rapidly getting dark and this reminds me of one of the reasons I left the UK - the long winter nights. Don't get me wrong, as my post from earlier this week shows there is nothing that I like better than a crisp, bright November day. Equally, however, there is very few things that I dislike more than a cold, drizzly overcast winter's day with the wind whipping straight through you. Unfortunately, no guesses for which of these we get more of in the UK (and it is not as if it is even remotely evenly balanced - cold, crisp, November days are far from frequent).
When I first arrived in Hong Kong I did wonder whether I had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire - it was June/July 2004 and the middle of HK's typhoon season. A "black rainstorm" signal had been put up and - quite literally - day turned to night as the most ferocious deluge was unleashed over HK Harbour. From my office in Wanchai all I could hear was the mournful moans of the foghorns from ships in the harbour and this carried on for the best part of three days. No wonder HK was so green! Fortunately such prolonged downpours were (relatively) rare although during the Summer months HK certainly had it fair share of rain although not often for days on end and during the Winter months (and the summer months - subject to the high humidity which I did not really mind anyway) the climate in HK was excellent.
Rain is not an issue in the desert although we did have a couple of rain storms at the beginning of this year (putting the place under water due to the absence of any drainage). Like HK, one of the great things about living in the Middle East is that you can wake up with the sun shining and the sky blue the majority of days. Yes, it gets extraordinarily hot in the Summer here (110 degrees F was far from usual even towards the end of Summer) but at least the sun shined. In Mud Island, when the sun shines, it is beautiful. Unfortunately this is all too rare (at least whenever I am around!) but on its good days UK is beautiful.
It is around 3.30pm and I am in one of the interior offices far away from natural light. However, even if I crane my neck around and look outside I can see that it is rapidly getting dark and this reminds me of one of the reasons I left the UK - the long winter nights. Don't get me wrong, as my post from earlier this week shows there is nothing that I like better than a crisp, bright November day. Equally, however, there is very few things that I dislike more than a cold, drizzly overcast winter's day with the wind whipping straight through you. Unfortunately, no guesses for which of these we get more of in the UK (and it is not as if it is even remotely evenly balanced - cold, crisp, November days are far from frequent).
When I first arrived in Hong Kong I did wonder whether I had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire - it was June/July 2004 and the middle of HK's typhoon season. A "black rainstorm" signal had been put up and - quite literally - day turned to night as the most ferocious deluge was unleashed over HK Harbour. From my office in Wanchai all I could hear was the mournful moans of the foghorns from ships in the harbour and this carried on for the best part of three days. No wonder HK was so green! Fortunately such prolonged downpours were (relatively) rare although during the Summer months HK certainly had it fair share of rain although not often for days on end and during the Winter months (and the summer months - subject to the high humidity which I did not really mind anyway) the climate in HK was excellent.
Rain is not an issue in the desert although we did have a couple of rain storms at the beginning of this year (putting the place under water due to the absence of any drainage). Like HK, one of the great things about living in the Middle East is that you can wake up with the sun shining and the sky blue the majority of days. Yes, it gets extraordinarily hot in the Summer here (110 degrees F was far from usual even towards the end of Summer) but at least the sun shined. In Mud Island, when the sun shines, it is beautiful. Unfortunately this is all too rare (at least whenever I am around!) but on its good days UK is beautiful.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Boozin' in the Smoke
I am supposed to meeting up with an old mate this evening somewhere in central London for a drink. Time was when I would have been able to name at least two or three possibilities without really having to think too hard. However, as a result of being away for the best part of the last 6 years, I am completely bereft of ideas. I will also be transporting around various bags so am reluctant to suggest an achingly trendy bar in Hoxton or Peckham (or wherever is regarded as being achingly trendy these days).
Part of me feels that I ought to take full advantage of being in old London Town and to choose a pub redolent in history and interest. Another part of me looks at the rapidly darkening skies, the plummeting mercury, and remembers that a lot of these "olde worlde" places have bags of character but poor draught exclusion. My walk up to the office this morning through the biting wind (straight off the Urals I suspect) was not my most pleasant experience since arriving back in UK so in the interests of keeping my extremities reasonably warm I will probably plump for something that has a blazing fire combined with a little bit of historical charm. Any ideas?
In former times my stamping grounds tended towards the City of London/Fleet Street/Covent Garden side of things. I have always fancied a visit to the Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden (which apparently was rather better known by its customers as the "bucket of blood") but have always rather suspected that it is more of a tourist trap than a quaint London boozer. The same could not be said about the 8 (or possibly 10) Bells in Spitalfileds which is notorious as being one of the pubs visited by one Jack the Ripper's victims shortly prior to her ill-fated meeting with him. When I was working around Liverpool Street Station this place was still an absolute dive and probably the last place any one looking for a quiet beer would wish to visit.
I will also be heading over to Docklands this evening which will be my first visit for ages (in fact probably since I visited the ill-fated Millennium Exhibition at was is now the O2 arena. I am not sure quite what to expect but hopefully the transportation will have improved since my last visit.
Part of me feels that I ought to take full advantage of being in old London Town and to choose a pub redolent in history and interest. Another part of me looks at the rapidly darkening skies, the plummeting mercury, and remembers that a lot of these "olde worlde" places have bags of character but poor draught exclusion. My walk up to the office this morning through the biting wind (straight off the Urals I suspect) was not my most pleasant experience since arriving back in UK so in the interests of keeping my extremities reasonably warm I will probably plump for something that has a blazing fire combined with a little bit of historical charm. Any ideas?
In former times my stamping grounds tended towards the City of London/Fleet Street/Covent Garden side of things. I have always fancied a visit to the Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden (which apparently was rather better known by its customers as the "bucket of blood") but have always rather suspected that it is more of a tourist trap than a quaint London boozer. The same could not be said about the 8 (or possibly 10) Bells in Spitalfileds which is notorious as being one of the pubs visited by one Jack the Ripper's victims shortly prior to her ill-fated meeting with him. When I was working around Liverpool Street Station this place was still an absolute dive and probably the last place any one looking for a quiet beer would wish to visit.
I will also be heading over to Docklands this evening which will be my first visit for ages (in fact probably since I visited the ill-fated Millennium Exhibition at was is now the O2 arena. I am not sure quite what to expect but hopefully the transportation will have improved since my last visit.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Maidstone Calling
Now back in my old stamping grounds in the UK for the a few days. Lovely day today - blue skies and a crisp bright day. As usual Emirates provided a very smooth ride and the Limo service door to door certainly helped. Had a very pleasant day with Dad and my Sister and her children J and N. There is something quintessentially English about visiting a garden centre - even in the late Autumn and after a visit to the cemetery to see Mum's grave (and transporting half the mud of the Kent countryside back into the car!!) we went to a place called Highgrove which I had passed numerous times but had always thought was a plant research centre. In fact it had pots, plants, vegetables and a small cafe and made a great lunch venue.
Thereafter we had a drive through the Kentish countryside trying to discover the village green in Hunton (no success but Hunton itself has some beatuiful houses).
When I arrive yesterday I was confronted by around half a dozen boxes of stuff E. had ordered over the internet so have just spend the last couple of hours trying to fit everything into the various suitcases I have brought with me. You will also be relieved to here that I tracked down some Match Attax cards (although the main supermarket was sold out so I bought up pretty much the entire sock of a corner shop newsagents!). Up to London tomorrow so will report further then.
Thereafter we had a drive through the Kentish countryside trying to discover the village green in Hunton (no success but Hunton itself has some beatuiful houses).
When I arrive yesterday I was confronted by around half a dozen boxes of stuff E. had ordered over the internet so have just spend the last couple of hours trying to fit everything into the various suitcases I have brought with me. You will also be relieved to here that I tracked down some Match Attax cards (although the main supermarket was sold out so I bought up pretty much the entire sock of a corner shop newsagents!). Up to London tomorrow so will report further then.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Time Flies
When I was in HK - particularly in the last 2/3 years we were living there - I tended to do a farr amount of travel for work - towards the end around once or twice a month on average. Whilst the novelty of this soon wore off, one of the great advantages was that my packing skills became sufficiently honed to the extent that I could get pretty much all I needed for a 3 day trip into a carry on bag. This included swimming trunks in case the hotel had a pool (but not a towel), casual clothes and enough work clothes for three days of meetings. It has to be said that the bag (one of Samsonite's finest) occasionally groaned at the seams and I was generally forced to take full advantage of the dispensation that allowed a briefcase/laptop bag as well as a carry on bag into the cabin.
In practice this also meant that I could indulge my penchant for arriving "just in time" for my various flights and meetings as I avoided the need to queue to deposit luggage for the hold (which generally requires an earlier arrival time at the airport and obviously delays departure at the other end).
Here in the desert the airport is if anything even easier to get to than in HK (where my record was to make a flight while leaving our office in Wanchai 75 minutes before the flight time - which is definitely cutting things fine). The airport here is less predictable but since investing in an E- Gate card (which bypasses the passport control queue for non-emiraties), I can generally budget on leaving the office 90 minutes before departure as a bare minimum.
Obviously if the traffic is bad this can considerably increase the stress levels of the trip. However, this is nothing compared to the stress I used to suffer when travelling with a colleague in the Far East who was notorious for insisting, regardless of the time we arrived at the airport or how proximate the flight departure was, in visiting the business lounge to take advantage of the facilities.
On occasions I was forced to leave him to it - and as usual he would literally be the last person on board as the doors closed - he seemed to take a perverse pride in this all he did tell me of the (admittedly surprisingly few) occasions when he in fact missed the flight as they wouldn't let him past the boarding gate!
For today's journey, however, I will need to leave myself a bit of time given the 2 huge bags (as well as carry on luggage) that I am transporting back to England.
In practice this also meant that I could indulge my penchant for arriving "just in time" for my various flights and meetings as I avoided the need to queue to deposit luggage for the hold (which generally requires an earlier arrival time at the airport and obviously delays departure at the other end).
Here in the desert the airport is if anything even easier to get to than in HK (where my record was to make a flight while leaving our office in Wanchai 75 minutes before the flight time - which is definitely cutting things fine). The airport here is less predictable but since investing in an E- Gate card (which bypasses the passport control queue for non-emiraties), I can generally budget on leaving the office 90 minutes before departure as a bare minimum.
Obviously if the traffic is bad this can considerably increase the stress levels of the trip. However, this is nothing compared to the stress I used to suffer when travelling with a colleague in the Far East who was notorious for insisting, regardless of the time we arrived at the airport or how proximate the flight departure was, in visiting the business lounge to take advantage of the facilities.
On occasions I was forced to leave him to it - and as usual he would literally be the last person on board as the doors closed - he seemed to take a perverse pride in this all he did tell me of the (admittedly surprisingly few) occasions when he in fact missed the flight as they wouldn't let him past the boarding gate!
For today's journey, however, I will need to leave myself a bit of time given the 2 huge bags (as well as carry on luggage) that I am transporting back to England.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Place your orders please
As usual my return trips to Blighty generally involve me doing an impersonation of a pack mule with ferrying of used clothes(for my Sister's children), Christmas/Birthday presents and sundry other packages that cannot for some reason be sent by mail. The return trip is usually as bad if not worse with presents coming the other way and various parcels arriving courtesy of Amazon and computer based retailers as E. feeds her on-line shopping habit.
This time I am going back with a carry on bag and two large suitcases for the various presents. A. has also put in a special request for as many packets of Match Attax cards as I can carry (I have had to tell him that like bringing duty free into the Country Match Attax are strictly rationed).
I have written about these cards previously and A. remains an aficionado - there are apparent 460 cards to collect and they are sold in 5 card packs - however there is no guarantee that you will get the cards you need and often you will get 2 or more of the same players. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective) there has been a shortage of Match Attax in the desert (the shop keepers must be doing their collective nuts given the number of small boys who must be continually pestering them about the next delivery). This of course gives us the ideal opportunity to reduce our outlay on cards (at AED5 per pack they are not cheap) and my return to UK gives me an opportunity to stock up for Christmas (they are around half the price in UK and seem to be in plentiful supply). Judicious rationing means that we will have "bribes" for A. for a least a month after I return and enough left over for a Christmas present!
As a non-parent I suspect the bribery aspect would have filled me with distaste. As a parent of a football obsessed son it is manna from heaven particularly when it comes to incentivize him for school and home work. It has also some unexpected side benefits - A. has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of premiership players which drives E mad but I find quite endearing. Also it prompted him to write in his neatest and clearest handwriting a note spelling out precisely which cards he would like (indeed it prompted a couple of fairly lengthy list identifying the particular player cards he wants - this from a boy who is generally reluctant to committ pen to paper unless it is absolutely necessary).
Weather in UK is a bit on the chilly side so I will go back to packing (should there be any space left) some warm clothes for my sojourn in the Docklands and in Kent.
This time I am going back with a carry on bag and two large suitcases for the various presents. A. has also put in a special request for as many packets of Match Attax cards as I can carry (I have had to tell him that like bringing duty free into the Country Match Attax are strictly rationed).
I have written about these cards previously and A. remains an aficionado - there are apparent 460 cards to collect and they are sold in 5 card packs - however there is no guarantee that you will get the cards you need and often you will get 2 or more of the same players. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective) there has been a shortage of Match Attax in the desert (the shop keepers must be doing their collective nuts given the number of small boys who must be continually pestering them about the next delivery). This of course gives us the ideal opportunity to reduce our outlay on cards (at AED5 per pack they are not cheap) and my return to UK gives me an opportunity to stock up for Christmas (they are around half the price in UK and seem to be in plentiful supply). Judicious rationing means that we will have "bribes" for A. for a least a month after I return and enough left over for a Christmas present!
As a non-parent I suspect the bribery aspect would have filled me with distaste. As a parent of a football obsessed son it is manna from heaven particularly when it comes to incentivize him for school and home work. It has also some unexpected side benefits - A. has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of premiership players which drives E mad but I find quite endearing. Also it prompted him to write in his neatest and clearest handwriting a note spelling out precisely which cards he would like (indeed it prompted a couple of fairly lengthy list identifying the particular player cards he wants - this from a boy who is generally reluctant to committ pen to paper unless it is absolutely necessary).
Weather in UK is a bit on the chilly side so I will go back to packing (should there be any space left) some warm clothes for my sojourn in the Docklands and in Kent.
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