Frugal Expat

An expat's journey in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Archive for the category “Events”

Adieu 2010.. Welcome 2011

photo credit: http://www.love104.org

Time flies.. It seems that 2010 just passed like a wink of an eye and now it is already 2011.

Last year has been very tough for me and my family. There were big blows of life’s challenges but still – a BIG thanks. One thing for sure, it made me a better person.

As for the new year, I am really excited about it. Though I wanted to share my resolutions and goals, I prefer to keep it to myself for it is quite very personal.

In the meantime, have a blessed New Year everyone!

2010 UIM F1 Powerboat World Championship – Sharjah Grand Prix

We headed to Corniche area in Sharjah this afternoon to watch the 2010 UIM F1 Powerboat World Championship – Sharjah Grand Prix. The weather was pleasant and the park was choked up with people who were keen to witness the powerboat show.




We didn’t bet for any team but Abu Dhabi won the race.

The event was followed by parade of mascots and stilts entertainers. It was really a good attraction after the race.


Eid Mubarak

Last night at past 9pm, I received a confirmation that indeed Eid is on Friday and not today though government offices are already closed for Eid holiday since yesterday while other private firms started today.  

Eid Al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.  The beginning and the last day of Ramadan is always determined through the moon (sighting of the Crescent moon) because Muslims follow the lunar calendar in which the year is shorter for 11 to 12 days compared to the commonly used solar calendar.

For this reason, the exact date, as to when the Ramadan will start or end, will not be known in advance. However, one thing for sure! Eid is always anticipated because it means public holiday for expat workers. (**Smile**)

Generally it is a 3 days off for government and 2 days for private firms. If the Eid falls on weekdays then followed by weekend, it makes a longer Eid holiday. Sadly, the Eid this year falls on weekend.

As of next week, normal working hours and workloads are back again. (**sad**)

Anyway, Eid Mubarak to everyone!

How We Were Kicked Out Of The Park?

The beautiful park on Friday afternoon

 

It was a great sunny and windy Friday yesterday. So my friends and I decided to have a late BBQ lunch at the park.   

Close to my home is an open park which is generally packed with kids and families on weekends. To our delight, the park this time was not crowded as there was only handful of “park dwellers” who were mostly couples.   

Anyway, we simply bought this instant disposable grill pack because we are only an occasional “park dweller”. Also, it is very reasonable as it costs approximately US$3 only for the small pack and there is no cleaning required.   

Instant disposable BBQ grill

 

Twenty minutes later my friend started to grill the pork bellies which she marinated in her special BBQ sauce concoction. All of us were hungry so we drooled for every piece of cooked barbeque meat. Half way to our BBQ cooking process, our attention (and hunger) was distracted by the police car’s siren. Then I realized that the people on the other side of the park were actually staring on our area. There were us and two other couples only on our side.   

Yummy pork BBQ

 

 So I turned around to see what they were staring at. Then I saw one policeman in a luminous green vest approaching the second couple while the first couple started taking their steps already to leave.   

Well, at that point of time, I just thought that perhaps the policeman sensed that the second couple was into some inappropriate intimate behaviour hence they were approached. Then maybe the first couple left too because it terrified them.   

Before I even found the answer to my curiosity, I saw this young handsome policeman walking towards us also.   

At that instant, my mind was already soaring with thoughts of possible offense which perhaps we committed.   

Maybe barbequing was not allowed in park (though impossible because we saw people grilling and roasting meats in the park on many occasions).   

Or maybe because we were grilling a pork meat.   

Eventually the young policeman came closer and informed us to leave. He said “not allowed”. We asked for any reasons but he didn’t replied.   

After he left, I saw the other handful of “park dwellers” packing their things too. And so we did.   

Then minutes later the park was empty.   

We could not fathom any other reasons for being kicked out from the park except that on that day, it was still the mourning period. The government declared a 3-days mourning due to the tragic loss of Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president’s younger brother. (Click here for details).   

As we walked past the park, we saw the UAE flags still at half-mask.     

So our BBQ lunch ended a lunch at home. We finished grilling the remaining pork belly meat in our George Foreman indoor grilling stove (luckily we had this!)   

Our George Foreman indoor grilling stove

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