Pic of Oman
I posted a new picture of the sidebar to the right, Bug at the Sultan’s Palace in Muscat. This is Bugs first solo pic to be featured.
Sun
Incidentally I would just like to mention, we in the Emirates have passed out of the scorching inferno and into absolutely perfect weather. A man could not ask for better weather. Always sunny, not a cloud in the sky, never rains, dry as a bone, 85F or so. It really cheers a Cheetahhhhhhh up. I just got back from a pointless errand but I’m not annoyed, the weather is perfect out there. It’s like Tuscon on a good day.
RAK is actually the most fertile Emirate, and it’s quite green here. This is unlike the Hijaz desert around Yanbu, which was just sand and nothing else. The country here is more like the Sonora Desert around Tuscon. (I believe that is the “Painted Desert” of Ten Thousand Maniacs song…?) This Emirate is actually full of plants everywhere, it’s quite green. The plants are the usual desert scrub trees and many succulents. Anyway there are also mountains to the east, going to Oman via the coast. Vanessa caught some nice shots with her fancy camera. They’re not as impressive as Utah, but a pleasant drive. Apparently to the northeast, in an Omani enclave, there are fjords like Norway. This I would have to see. The problem is it’s a pain in the a** to cross the Omani border, even though this particular border is only about 10 minutes outside town.
On family anecdotes, I’m displeased to report that the Bug has learned cussing from his father. I really thought I had been cutting down and controlling my colorful language. The problem is that I enjoy colorful language, and so maybe it slips out just because I’m having fun. I enjoy old-fashioned cussin’, such as “Sweet baby Jesus!” partly because it has the least propensity to offend. The Filipinos or at least Vanessa’s employ old fashioned cussin’ such as “Hesus Maria Hosepa!” Anyway I mentioned in a previous post that Bug had started saying “damn” at toddler-appropriate moments, such as when he can’t open a box, or the door is closed. It has apparently stuck in his brain. We just ignored it for a while, on the theory that toddlers forget things easily. Generally they do, but he hasn’t forgotten “damn it” which he pronounces “mit”. Not sure what I’m going to do about that. Maybe ignore it some more, he might still forget.
Dubai pics
Bug birthday and close encounter
First of all, it was Bug’s birthday on Monday. He’s two now. God bless him. Our trip to Oman last week was partly to celebrate it with grandma. We had a little secondary celebration here at home on the actual day. If we were to ask Bug what was the highlight, I’m sure he would answer that he got a genuine Anas Ufichew (Thomas the Train). I would never have imagined his obsession with Anas could expand and grow. It seemed to have already hit a peak of obsessive possibility. However I was wrong, there was more possible Anas obsession.
Yesterday we went for a shopping trip to the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. Partly we went to shop for our anniversary presents. Our anniversary is the 8th. Vanessa has a box from Burberry waiting for her, and I have a box from Tommy. I will not spoil my gift but I will say this. I had decided to buy Vanessa something genuinely designer, by which I mean Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. I looked at Vuitton bags for her, for example, on the idea that every girl could use a genuine Vuitton bag. I’m not sure how precisely the gift ended up being Burberry, but I do have a story to tell.
Those who know the Cheetahhhhhhh well are probably aware that he’s not too impressed by celebrities. I would be pleased to meet a few of them, like Bruce Willis, I wouldn’t mind shaking his hand. But I don’t get all excited or anything. Well, I’m in Burberry in the Mall of the Emirates and I’m 99% sure Paris Hilton was next to me buying an AED1500 headband. I didn’t want to be a big nerd and totally check her out, so that’s why I say 99%, because I didn’t actually have a chance to study her face. In my sideways glances though, she sure looked, acted, and talked like Paris Hilton. Paris has put on a bit of weight incidentally, if that was indeed her.
Anyway at the Mall of the Emirates, Bug has some uncanny ability to sniff out Anas Ufichew. He found toy stores with Anas Ufichew play sets unerringly.
We were in the mall for about 5 hours, and by the time we left, Vanessa and I were, as usual, completely exhausted. You try chasing a toddler around the Mall of the Emirates for 5 hours. Just try it.
Oman trip
The trip to Oman almost got scuttled because it turns out I can’t drive over the UAE border without a UAE driver’s license. However my mom came to pick us up at the border. So we parked right at the UAE border and then took a taxi over the 1-mile no-man’s-land to the Omani border post. A big pain in the arse too, I might note. Anyway Oman is what you imagine when you get a hankering to visit the Arab world. It’s a first world country, but it has a lot of traditional flavor. For example, the buildings are all Arab style, not the American-style cities of the Emirates. Omanis are very laid back and friendly. I met my friend Corey, who is working there, and we went to the bar at the Hyatt, which was really fancy and was packed with just about every expat in town. I miss having a bar to go hang out at. There is one here in RAK at the Hilton, we need to go check it out actually. Anyway I met several expats in the bar and all were very happy in Oman. They all said that Muscat was the best place to live in the Gulf. I don’t doubt it, actually. Nevertheless I have to confess, Vanessa and I were glad to return to the EMirates. This is because we lead an ALMOST western life here. (Almost.) For example, I ate something in a little restaurant at the port in Muscat and my stomach is still very unhappy. I’m not afraid to eat here in the UAE. That’s a small example. But in short, my verdict on Oman is that it has flavor, which the UAE certainly doesn’t. If I lived in Muscat, I imagine I would spend a lot of time going around exploring. We don’t explore here in the UAE because there is nothing to explore. Anyway if you are curious, Vanessa has posted pictures of our trip in Facebook.
decorating
Favre
just for the record
On Oct 6th below, I predicted a substantial decline in world stock markets. Now, 4 days later, note that the RUT has retreated over 20%. The speed and scale of this decline has surprised me but yeah, just for the record I was right, and actually I would place no bets that this is over yet.
end of week 4
advice
My mom came to visit over the Ramadan holiday and we had a nice time. We went shopping in Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates, which is just a crazy temple of consumerism. This is the mall with the indoor ski hill. We saw it. It was amazing and crazy at the same time. The Bug loooooooooover Dubai because there was so much to see. We were not so keen, because we had to spend 97% of our energy chasing the Bug. That’s the continual problem with being the parents of a toddler. You can’t do anything. And anything you do do is actually invested in keeping the toddler out of mischief.
The only person I actually give financial advice to is my mother, and that’s only because she asks. Generally I would never presume to give advice, because of course, not even God knows what the stock market will do next. Nevertheless it has been pretty clear since the beginning of the year that we’ve hit a rough patch. Many people thought we were out of the woods in August. My mom asked my opinion and I said no, I expect a big decline. I don’t actually know if my mom followed my advice but I was certainly right. I will give my candid assessment of the situation. I expect a substantial decline in world stock markets. The operative word is substantial. I say this simply because that is the trend, and also because the news keeps getting worse. But of course I have been wrong before, and not even God knows what the stock market will do next.
