While we’re in the subject of fangirling and bands playing in Dubai, here are a few more photos I took from that very hot evening spent singing along with and watching Boyzone in Dubai. Dear me, this was 3 years ago!
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Tag Archives: 85mm
More BZ20
Wordless Wednesday #34
The money shot! Also throwback to a lovely Thursday evening in May 2014.
Luca-licious post
Let’s switch things up a bit.
After 15 weeks of sharing us and the house with two foster kitties, Luca is once again an only child. He is the centre of our attention once more. Not sure if he’s happy about it or not because he was a little more quiet than usual when we got home after dropping the kitties off to their new home. Maybe he just had too much to eat and needed a lie down. Whatever it is, he is king of the manor once more!
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It’s that time of the year again
It’s Johann’s birthday – yay!
Feels like only a while ago when we attended his super cool airline-themed birthday party. This year’s theme, however, is bowling. Yay! So you can imagine, I brought along a pair of handknitted socks so that I could play too. I wouldn’t pass up a chance to knock down some pins whenever I can. For the knitters out there, this was the lucky pair I wore to the bowling party. Love me some STR and Cotty!
BZ20
Before we begin, may I remind you that…
You’ve been warned.
In May 2014, Bernie and I had date night to see some Irish lads in concert. The first time they came to Dubai, with two more than now, I could not go see them. Because I just had a baby and it was summer, it was hot and I couldn’t be bothered to put on decent clothes and step out of the house. Anyway. So when i found out they were doing a one-night-only show in Dubai, I did not hesitate to buy tickets. It actually presented a dilemma when Justin Timberlake also announced a show in Abu Dhabi the night following Boyzone’s show. I decided not to go see JT and I don’t regret it. I would not have been able to sing-along because I don’t know most of his songs.
So the evening of the 22nd May came and thank goodness it was not as hot as I thought it would be. The tennis stadium was not fully packed but it was a decent crowd. Shame that Mikey could not join the show, due to a bereavement apparently, but these guys were quite impressive on their own.
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Bellissimo
When Joji asked for test knitters for her tunic design, I hesitated. I actually did. Not sure why. Maybe I was intimidated because up until that point, I have not knitted any of her gorgeous designs. She needed another knitter for the 38/40 size. Just perfect for me!
So the next step, after reading the draft pattern in its entirety, because of course you HAVE to read the entire pattern before casting on or else you might miss something crucial in the notes! Yes, I was totally being sarcastic there because I would have cast on rightaway if I had the yarn ready that very minute. But, alas, with the hundreds of fingering weight skeins in my stash, I had not enough of the same colourway to knit my Bello. Good thing I grabbed 12 skeins of that undyed Wollmeise Pure when it was on offer! I dyed three skeins to make sure I have enough for a me-sized tunic/pullover. Dyeing was fun! I love these colours and they are probably one of the best I have ever dyed, if I do say so myself.
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The Luca Edition
Luca is our nearly 4-year old tabby. He was a rescue. He was in foster care for a few months before we met him at an adoption day at a local vet clinic. I don’t remember life without Luca. It’s like he has always been a part of our life here in the UAE.
He has such a great personality! He makes a lot of funny faces, especially when he’s asleep. His vocal range is quite impressive, although he wasn’t very “talkative” at first. It all started last year and he’s at it all the time. Specially at night when we’re ready to go to bed.
Patrick loves snuggling with Luca. Sometimes Luca snuggles back.
But most of the time, Luca just wants to lick and bite Patrick. Can’t say I blame him, because I like biting Patrick’s chubby cheeks too!
And yes, Luca’s feet work too. It’s just that, being a cat, he likes to nap. A lot. When he’s on all fours, he’s either running around rampant from sofa to floor, from one room to another, from coffee table to the top of the TV to the top of the book shelf. He’s everywhere, really! I usually wake up with his warm, soft body on the top of my pillow.
Life’s never really boring with this crazy, funny cat around.
Saturday at the Grand BelleVue
Ever since we started eating healthier, we have not gone to any brunches at all. It’s both easy and difficult. The three of us prefer simple things and, after re-introducing proper food into our diet, we now prefer a good meal rather than the smorgasbord of everything that’s not good for us. It’s difficult to avoid, however, because Dubai has 101 brunches happening on any given weekend. Okay, so maybe it’s not 101 but I bet you if you include the rest of the UAE, there are probably a hundred brunch events in total. Can you imagine all that food being prepared and consumed every weekend?! And that’s not including buffet theme nights at most hotels either.
Anyway, so we did brunch for the first time in a long time. It was from one of those Cobone offers which are really hard to resist because they are such good value. This one is for a lunch buffet at the Grand BelleVue in TECOM http://www.bellevue-hotels.com/en/hotels/1 including pool and gym access on the same day. Needless to say, it was the pool access that won my son over!
We arrived at a little after 10am on a Saturday which meant it was dead quiet. Just how we like it. But wait, the menfolk have a separate pool and gym from the ladies. Not exactly odd considering the hotel chain is Saudi-owned, but odd because it’s in Dubai. I didn’t stay long anyway because the pool was up on the rooftop and I didn’t fancy getting more colour on me. So I packed up and sat in the lobby with my knitting.
Patrick took this photo of me and Bernie. he had to take a few because he is not familiar with the 85mm lens. I should have taken my glasses off as that glare does not look good.
Me and my baby. After just under two hours in the pool/sun, he got a lot darker! I’m glad I didn’t stay out there longer than I did!
It doesn’t show but by this time, they were starving! The restaurant had not opened for lunch yet but we could see them arranging the platters of salads and the rest of the dishes. The salads, by the way, were the highlight of the buffet, specially the prawn salad. I pretty much stuck to the salad and the soup.
It was a good day. Parking was no hassle. The other hotel guests were still sleeping the previous night off so we had the pools to ourselves. The restaurant was very pleasant and the food was good. Every now and then, there are still little gems like this in Dubai if you looked closely enough.
