Wednesday Afternoon at the Dubai Airport

I'm finished in UAE, and on my way to Saudi Arabia now. I'll be in the Four Seasons Riyadh tonight.

Wednesday night at Starbucks

I'm back in Saudi, so Starbucks is my internet home again. Traffic from airport was terrible - an hour instead of 15 minutes. So, welcome back to the first night of the weekend here! And they have started letting kinds (gangs of them) into the shopping center attached to Four Seasons Hotel. Not an improvement!

Monday Afternoon at the Intercon

Tomorrow is last day of class here in Abu Dhabi, so it's two more nights here, then off to Riyadh on Wednesday. I'd better drink one more margarita before I go, 'cause I won't get any there!!

Friday at the Intercontinental Hotel

This place is a bit better than the Golden Tulip - and the price is almost the same!! Big pool and health club and a private beach. I'll check those things out today. Also, I need to find the seminar room, also at this hotel, for class starting tomorrow. I'm here until Wednesday then drive to Dubai and a flight to Riyadh. I pickup black pearls on Saturday night.

Thursday's Wadi Trip

Thursday (for Thanksgiving I guess) I went with Cyclone Tours to Hatta, a town about 2 hours away that has one part in UAE and the other in Oman. I crossed over into Oman, so now have visited that country, I guess. It was a good trip, with the same driver that took me into the desert last year this time. He is from Iran and has been in Abu Dhabi for over 20 years.

There were some mountains that reminded me of Turkey, and some almost green water from a rain several days ago. The water was nice and refreshing! You can also see the new pants I bought, they are not shorts, but dont reach the ground either. Sure cooler than long pants!

And for Thanksgiving dinner I had some type of bread-like thing that the driver had bought. I think fried turkey would have been better.

Wednesday Afternoon, Last Day at the Golden Tulip

Bought a BIG suitcase last night, so the wine glasses (that it seems like I bought ages ago) can go into it for the rest of the trip. I also now have a SIM card that works in UAE. My number to here from the US is 00 971 50 2367919 for either voice or text messages. I think. There's been a bit of discussion as to the exact format of the number to dial.

Going out tonight in search of black pearls for everyday wear. Lots more pearls here than there were in Bahrain. Maybe this is really the place for pearls. I've also decided you'd actually like a trip here (for a few days) as well as to Dubai. It would take you that long just to see the jewelry shops right around the hotel I'm in -- and there are hundreds more in other parts of the city.

Tomorrow I say goodby to the Golden Tulip and move to the Intercontinental -- after first going on a day of Wadi Bashing!! (I think that means driving in dried up river beds). That will be my Thanksgiving, I guess.

Monday Afternoon at the Golden Tulip

Not much happening here but work and sleep. No purchases, not tours booked. Guess I'll have to get busy. Class is over tomorrow and on Thursday I check out of the Tulip and into the Interncontiental Hotel.

Saturday, Just Another Work Day in Abu Dhabi

I'm back on the Saturday - Wednesday work week now. First day of class today - 8am to 2:30pm without lunch. Actually not a bad way to run a seminar. I've worked a deal with the seminar hotel so that I can use their pool and exercise room. So, after class I spent until about 6pm there, then got dinner at Chili's (with margarita) then back to the sleeping hotel. I think this way I can minimize my time at the Golden Tulip to just sleeping here! I'm planning on three more days of the same schedule, and even have a locker in the dressing room there so I can leave my "stuff".

I'm thinking about a trip to the desert for an overnight stay Wed or Thursday. Or maybe to Al Ain, which is near Oman. I can cross the border easily there and see that country. I'm told there is a very nice hotel high on a mountain there, and that tour companies run trips to there. We'll see.

Temperature in low 80's during the day here and 70's at night, so it is actually very nice weather.

Friday Afternoon at the Golden Tulip

I made it to Abu Dhabi just fine. Hotel is not the Hyatt, but is OK. Has a kitchen, of sorts, so maybe I'll cook. It's about a 15 minute walk to the seminar hotel, the Millinieum, so that's not too bad either. No gym here, so I'll have to see if I can work a deal to use the nice gym at the seminar hotel. Now I have to think about what to do Wed-Friday -- maybe an overnight trip into the desert. I can sleep with the camels this time, not just ride them!!

Thursday Night at the City Centre Mall

So this is where everybody goes on Thursday nights! The only reason everyone in Dubai isnt here is that their Rovers and BMW's wont all fit in the parking lots. I visited the movie theatre and bought a jumbo bag of popcorn on my way out.

Today was a hotel day. Worked out, then worked then went to the mall in the evening. Tomorrow I have car at 1pm to take me to Abu Dhabi. Then we'll see what the Golden Tulip Hotel is like. Class starts on Saturday there and runs from 8am to 2:30pm each day.

Wednesday After the Dives

Dubai is #1 in lots of things - construction, 7 star hotels, tallest building and biggest shopping mall - but it isn't #1 in Scuba Diving. I went to the "good" places, having declined yesterday to go nearby Dubai itself to the "cement mixer" site. We spent a total of about 5 hours driving, and dove two sites. Both would be about what I normally see in the quarries around TRH. Viz about 15 feet and water about 80 degrees - maybe these had more fish life. Wore a 3 mil suit, and still got cold. Everyone on the boat was commenting how good the dives were - so either I was on completely different sites than they were, or my expectations were higher. Anyway, I'm glad it did it, because now I know! Tomorrow I'll try golf or the Spa, or maybe work a bit at the hotel.

Friday I go to Abu Dhabi. I had a very hard time finding a hotel room, the client didn't make a reservation for me when they booked the seminar. I'll be in the Golden Tulip - and don't yet know how far that is to the hotel the seminar is in.

Tuesday on the Big Bus

Wow, today was lots of work. Eleven hours of touring on the Big Bus from one end of Dubai to the other, and back. There's even more construction than last year when I was here. I took lots of pictures, some of which were of the same stuff as I took pictures of last year, but now it's in a more finished state, and has more construction both.

This camel was on the beach-side of the Sheraton Beach hotel, and you can see the Burj Al Arab in the background. The other pic is the pool at the Park Hyatt - maybe I'll have to go out there sometime, but may choose Scbua and Golf instead the next two days.

I did run into one jewelry store today with stuff from some guy named Baraka. I think he's Italian.

Monday Afternoon At the Dubai Park Hyatt

I made it through another very early morning flight, and am now in Dubai at the Park Hyatt. It's very nice. The balcony and bathroom views are both impressive! Quite a change after a room for a week in Astana where they whole room was the size of this Hyatt's bathroom and noone spoke english. I am also in 28 degree temperature both yesterday and today, but yesterday it was in F and today in C. That a swing of about 60 degrees F warmer. I may need short pants before I leave on Friday to go to Abu Dhabi!

I'm near to the airport and to the City Centre mall, where I was last time I was here a year ago. And the Big Bus Tour Company stops right outside the mall - I may have to take an open top bus tour and see if the city has changed.

Lots of security around, checking taxi and car trunks, etc. as they enter. I think that's good.

I'm now +8 or +9 hours from TRH time - I'll figure it out for sure sometime.

Sunday on the Cable Car

Took a cable car ride today, to a park that overlooks the city. Well, I think it overlooks the city but it was mostly too foggy to tell. The cable car itself was a bit mature - that is OLD - but I figured if the guys running the operation would ride in the car then I could also. All went fine, but going over the towers was a bit like a roller coaster ride. My guess is they will take the cable car out of operation when it finally only makes it part-way through its last trip.

We also traveled over lots of residential areas - and I've changed my mind about this being a tourist spot. I'll compare it to Dubai tomorrow!

Sunday, Last Day In Kazakhstan

Yesterday I rented a driver and went around the city and up into the mountains. Got to see snow in the ski mountains and in their skating stadium. Hotel said the opera house was a good place to see, so last night I went to an opera. Kazakhstan actors, in an egyptian play, singing in latin - program was in Russian. I think it was good - but I dont even know the english name for it!

They also tell me everything is 2x more expensive here - clothing, electronics, etc. So, I'll go out shopping today, but dont plan any major purchases here. I do already have two picture books, a stuffed camel, a water bag and a russian box from the class last week, so I think that will be the extent of shopping.

Flight tomorrow to Dubai is at 7am, so I am reserved on the hotel bus at 4:40am. So, another early morning flight is coming up. Maybe from Dubai I'll ship my overcoat and the Slovak wine glasses back to TRH.

Saturday Morning in Almaty

I finished class Friday around noon, then went on a tour with the audit director and the woman who interpreted during the seminar. After hitting four tourist sites, I picked up my luggage from the hotel and headed to the airport. Got to Almaty around 10:30pm Friday.

I'm at the Hyatt Regency, and they have quite a bit of security going on. Guards, checking cars, etc. The hotel certainly beats the hotel in Astana, and I think the city is a bit larger and more English-speaking visitor friendly. We'll see though. The picture is from my balcony, and I'm told one of those radio towers is the tallest in the world.

I'm here until early Monday morning, then off to Dubai. Maybe I'll ship my overcoat, wine glasses and several other things back to TRH once I get to Dubai.

Friday Morning - Last day in Astana

I'm packing the bags again. Class is finished at noon today, and I fly from Astana to Almaty tonight. Get to the Hyatt Regency around 10pm. Don't have anything planned for Sat and Sunday there - but everyone here says Almaty is the place to go! Then, Monday morning I fly to Dubai, and I can pack away my overcoat for the rest of the trip.

I used Skype for a conference call, over the internet, last night. It lasted 30 minutes, the connection was just fine, and it costs me about .5 Euro - less than a dollar. Pretty amazing. But, it does depend on having a good, fast internet connection.

Wednesday Night at the Comfort Hotel

It snowed most of the day today. The class said weather would get better in April. This is a picture from the office building I am working in, yesterday without the snow. Everything in the picture was built within last 2 years.

The hotel provides a buffet breakfast with the room. So far every morning every single thing has been the same - boiled eggs, french toast, sausage, and cheeses,cereal, toast, olives and tomatoes. And all in the same place. Today they switched the coffee and the tea to different sides of the table, and I almost got the wrong thing because I'm already trained. But, my table was empty - not taken by any of the other three guests that seem to be here.

Tuesday Night at the Comfort Hotel

I got to see the city, tonight, with the IA Director. I think this place may be just as impressive as Dubai, considering that Dubai had big head start. There is more construction going on than anyone can imagine, and the government has relocated 500,000 workers from Almaty to Astana over the past 5 years when they made Astana the new capital.

Tonight, I had horse meat, camel milk and horse milk. Guess what - the horse meat did not taste like chicken! You would not recognize it as being different than roast beef. The fresh milk - that was another story. I didn't drink it all because I was afraid my American stomach might revolt during class tomorrow!

Monday in Astana - and its Snowing

Well, I'm in my first snow of the season. Not much of a snow, but then again it was horizontal while it was coming down, so maybe it never even hit the ground.

I found another great headquarters building at KMG. As nice as any big company anywhere I've seen. It's in the "new" city - where they are building blocks and blocks of brand-new buildings. Certainly rivals the HQ's I saw in Saudi Arabia and UAE. Those countries that have lots of oil and gas seem to have something going on right now.

Got to the office at 8:30, but they would not let us in -- too early! -- and I was even with the HR director. Several cell phone calls later someone OK'd us to get in. By then, we must have had 20 security guards watching us. I just wonder who they had to call to OK an HR director to get in the building.

I'm thinking of venturing out in the dark tomorrow - daylight is about 8am to around 5pm and seminar ends around 6pm, so I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. Maybe I'll wait until Friday afternoon when I'm out at noon and don't fly to Almaty until 8pm and setup a tour of some type.

Sunday in Astana

I arrived in Astana as scheduled, late Saturday or early Sunday, whichever way you look at it. Not only did the client's driver meet me at 2am, but also the HR manager and her brother were there. So, three people met my plane at 2am - that sounds like going beyond the call of duty!

Cold and wet here - mid 20's and misting when I arrived. They say it may snow later this week.

Lots of building going on - there must be 12 new buildings under construction that I can see from my hotel. I didn't venture out on Sunday, but will try and get more than a block from the hotel tomorrow.

I'm +11 hours from TRH in time. So, it's almost always tomorrow here.

Saturday in Business Class

I can get used to this - 16 seats and 2 passengers. They bring me as much Turkish wine as I want (Turkish Airlines flight). But, several passengers have on shearling coats, and I have a Tumi windbreaker. Pilot just said Astana temperature is -4C - guess I'll dig for my overcoat whenever I get there. But I can't send this email until then anyway, so maybe I'll delete it!

Regardless of what the timestamp on this message is, it's 6pm IST time as I write it on the plane.

Later note, and I added this comment at noon Sunday, from my Comfort Hotel in Astana. I made it!!

Saturday Afternoon in Istanbul Airport

I think I've been here before. I did find the airport hotel this time - though I didn't need it. The Turkish Air lounge is better than the BA lounge here, I've decided. Much bigger! I have about three hours here, then its a five hour flight with five hours of time difference to Astana. So, I'm still hoping to be there sometime very early Sunday morning.

Saturday Morning at the Vienna Airport

First leg of this day's trip complete. I can report that Vienna Airport looks like any other big-city airport in the world. I guess I did not need to fly here to find that out.

I hoped to Fedex a box of wine glasses I bought in Kosice back to TRH, but no such luck. They will have to follow me for a while. Fedex would likely cost me more than I paid for the six crystal Slovakia wine glasses anyway.

Last Night in Kosice

Friday night, and I'm all packed and ready to go. Taxi at 4am, airplane at 5:15, and in Vienna in time for breakfast at 6:30. At least that's the plan. After 3 hours its onto Istanbul, layover for another 3 hours, then on to Astana, Kazakhstan. I think I arrive there about 2am Sunday morning if all goes well. It should be a really fun way to spend a Saturday.

Its not all that bad on getting in late, as I think it's about 5 hours later there anyway, so its a 5 hour flight and 5 hour time change between Istanbul and Astana........ I think .... I think I'll really just figure it out on the way.

I've had free, high-speed internet access in my hotel room here in Kosice; that's been nice. But I have no idea what type access I'll find in Kazakhstan.

Thursday evening at the Bristol

Day 4 of this session is complete - everyone is worn out! We are all going to dinner tonight, and I'm betting some will drink a bit.

I just found out next week's course in Kazakhstan will be simultaneously translated into Russian, and the materials are being translated. Sounds like the course I did in Korea in January - it makes for a long week. Maybe if I drink lots of vodka I can talk like a Russian!

Tuesday Night at the Bristol Hotel

Lunch is the big meal here, and by law companies must pay everyday for about 65% of every workers lunch tab, or provide similar meal facilities on-site. So, guess how big our lunches are at the seminar I am giving - VERY BIG! Makes the afternoons pretty long, in a small room. We can regulate the room's temperature by opening two large windows at the front of the room - when open, the people in front freeze, and those at the back are comfortable. When closed, it is comfortable in front and hot and stuffy in the back. At least it provides constant work for everyone to keep adjusting the windows.

I'll go to a crystal store Wednesday or Thursday - I understand that Slovak crystal is a really good thing to buy here.

And, I can finally almost pronounce the name of the city I'm in - Kosice is "Ko SHEETZ a" - I knew going to all the Sheetz gas stations back home would come in handy some day! But, how a guy from Texas is supposed to know to pronounce "Kosice" that way, I'll never know!