Good one, UAE!

The UAE won the Gulf Cup last week, and there was a parade held in their honour over the weekend. We didn't think to go, but were caught up in the horrendous traffic jam that resulted after it had ended.

Being stuck in traffic for 2 hours on Sheikh Zayed Road would usually be extremely frustrating. This time however, we had quite a bit of entertainment watching UAE nationals who had come from the parade and were also stuck in traffic.

No expense had been spared in decorating their [very expensive] vehicles, which were adorned with balloons, streamers, UAE flags, flower arrangements, and even huge soft toys. Oh and let's not forget the spray paint. Yep, since the win many have spray painted their cars with UAE in huge letters, hearts, dots and other expressions of national love and pride.

On top of these spray painted and heavily decorated cars many were proudly waving flags while hanging out of their car windows, some were perched on top of car bonnets while others were dancing on the rooves of their car. All while the cars were moving, albeit slowly, the roads were wet as it had been raining, and the 2 cop cars that we saw were observing.

It was, in a word, unbelievable.

Snowboarding in Dubai

It's so surreal. It's 2230 and Gypsy Boy and I have just come home from Snow school! We've both been skiing before but it was our first time snowboarding, just so weird to have this experience here in the middle of the desert!

We've been wanting to try snowboarding for awhile, and so when Gypsy Boy came across a special promotion in a magazine yesterday, we decided to give this a shot! The promo included a snowboarding [or ski] lesson for 2 including gear hire and a 3 course meal at St. Moritz café, all for 220dhs or approx. NZD100.00!

...inside Ski Dubai...

As we live just behind the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai is located, we've been past hundreds of times but have never been in. I have to say they've done a fantastic job with the place, it really is huge and everything was clean, new and felt pretty authentic. The place was huge and comes complete with the world's first indoor black run, lots of cafés and restaurants set up with a Swiss Alps feel.

...The Mall of the Emirates...

It's also really cold inside! After going in from outside temperatures of 40 degrees C, I was freezing! The snow was also really good quality and it wasn't icy at all as I thought it would've been.

As for snowboarding, I don't know that I'd like to do it again. It was ok but not as easy as I thought it would be? I am not a good skiier by all means, but I think I prefer skiing. We do like Ski Dubai though and plan to go back again soon, especially when it's right at our doorstep!

Kiwis vs Aussies

On Friday, we went to watch the IRB Under 19's 2006 Championships. New Zealand was playing Australia in the finals.


With tickets at a mere 40dhs per person, it was a great and cheap night out! There was a good range of food stalls and you could also grab a beer or a wine while you watch the games. The entrance fee entitled us to a whole day of rugby, but we were just there to watch the final match.

The crowd was mainly made up of other Kiwis and Aussies and the atmosphere was fantastic. Unfortunately though for the guys in black, the team in yellow and green took the championship with a score of 17-13.

Harlem Globetrotters

Last night we went to watch the Harlem Globetrotters. These guys are absolute entertainment. They played a team from New York, but before during and after the game they do all sorts of tricks. You definitely get to see some awesome basketball and get lots of laughs at the same time.


A couple of the guys from the team and the ref have microphones on and you get a running commentary of what's going on, on the court. Lots of audience participation, it's more a show with comedy, athleticism and great entertainment all round.


Fan or not, if you do get a chance to see these guys, you'd be in for lots of laughs and good times.

The Dubai World Cup

The richest horse race in the world was on here in Dubai last night, The Dubai World Cup.



Unfortunately, we were not able to go see the races live, but it did look just amazing on TV. The horses were beautiful, as were some of the hats and dresses! There were fireworks and dance performances - truly the social event of the year, as it is said to be...

Electrocutionist, a 5 year old locally owned horse won the race, taking the winnings - a whopping $6,000,000 USD. Wow.

Dubai Tennis Championships 06

Our first live tennis match was nothing short of amazing. We got tickets to the Men's ATP Semi-Finals hoping it would be Agassi vs Federer. Unfortunately Agassi got knocked out and we watched Federer play Youzhny.


The match was not as exciting but it was good tennis all the same and the atmosphere was great. It was just amazing watching Federer play live and I'm sure most of the girls out there would agree with me, he is one fine looking guy.


Youzhny proved no match for Federer and the game only lasted a little over an hour with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

...the scoreboard...

...the speed of one of Federer's serves, 200kph...

This saw Federer up against Nadal in the final last night. What an exciting match! It was so close, and in the end 19 year old Nadal won the championship after a two hour battle with Federer.

We are already looking forward to next year's tennis and will definitely be getting our tickets early!