Health blog for a health puppy.

Hey, Everyone!

    To start here is an update on Dippy's leg. It's healing fine ( so far that we know.), but she has an appointment with the doctors today to possibly get the cast off. YAY!!!

   But other then Dippy's leg, there hasn't been much going on.  In a week or so we will be going to another brunch with friend. And they have told us it's like going to a night club, but with food and no loud music. Apparently the people treat it like a party! Dressing up, getting their hair done, just so that they can have a buffet and maybe attract somebody. All in all sounds like my kinda place!! High energy AND delicious food and drinks!! Sign me up.................Oh wait I did already!

   But in preparation for this feast of delights, I have been diligently going to the gym and trying to get back in shape. ( I once had abs and I will again!!!!). I have meet some cool people in the circuits class I take every now and then. also I workout with one of Dippy's bosses. Yay networking!

   So far I have lost ten pounds in two weeks and 6% body fat as told to me by my scale. I have been using one of Dippy's fitness monitors and doing well in my opinion. But ya, we will see if I reach my goal by next August.

 Yep, as I said nothing happening quiet yet. But stay tuned for more!

Hop-Along and the Tales of Brunch

So Dippy and I went to a Dubai brunch. which at first I thought should be peaceful............... think again, readers! Nothing about Dubai is basic or mundane!!!

First though, I should mention that Dippy's ankle got worse! Now she has a cast. Poor Dippy! But don't worry, I take good care of her!

The health care here is pretty amazing!!! ...As long as you have insurance (which we do!).
Sooo send your get well soons to Dippy.

But back to the topic of the day! We went to Dubai's famous brunch. Which should be called a "drunch" (portmanteau of drunk and brunch). We went to the Wafi hotel . Which hosts an amazing brunch; and as long as it's "culturally appropriate" they offer an alcoholic brunch as well.

You can only guess what Dippy and her co-workers picked!
So the deal is you can have all you can eat food from three of the restaurants of the hotel, and included, if you wish, is "house beverages". The stylish bracelets shows that you can order alcohol.
It kinda reminded me of when I worked for Club Med.
( shout outs to our Club Med Readers!)

Now this is where Dippy and I behave ourselves, of course.
But when the last call came around, without asking, the waitress came to the table with soo much alcohol!!!

I asked for one drink to end the day, and got three. La Cat asked for "a rum and coke, but can it be a half glass" and wound up with a half glass... of rum! (with a can of cola on the side). Another co-worker got brought a half bottle of wine!!!

So if your ever in Dubai. I suggest a brunch if you want to get your day drunk on.

Other then that I got a haircut to clean it up a bit. We got some wrapping paper for Christmas as well. Being so big about shopping, they rep Christmas here big time, just not quite as extravagantly as Canada does.

Which I like, since I am a twin to Santa Clause apparently.

My apologies for the lack of picture. we didn't stay long after the brunch.

National Day at Abu Dhabi

Dear Readers

Get ready for a long one!! Cause this post is covering everything from the Abu Dhabi trip!

National Day horses delay our return to the hotel

Let's start off with: be sure to not injure yourself before you go on a trip!! Dippy did just that! Of course it was an accident. But she was so blown away by our driver's new ultra-patriotic decals that she fell in a hole and sprained her ankle before even getting into the car! This meant no time for ice and rest. Her ankle swelled up real good! So we tried to keep her off the ankle for most of the trip.

My next warning is: Careful which hotel you book if you're going to Abu Dhabi on National Day. I'm not saying that it was a bad stay or that it was busy. On the contrary! It was wonderful! ... once the military lifted the lock-down in and around the hotel. We had trouble getting to the hotel because the military shut down the entire area around it. So after some talking, we were escorted by armed guards to the hotel and then told not to leave it for five hours. The whole area was closed down from 12pm to 5 pm due to special National Day events at the Expo Centre adjacent to the hotel. This put a bit of a damper on our plans for the day. But after waiting for two hours, we snuck out.

We had made it out and now were off to Yas Island for Yas Mall!
and here is were warning number three comes in:

Don't go to Yas Mall (yet).
Go sometime after April 2015.








The mall is big and it boasts over 300 stores... if the mall were finished. Much of the mall is unfinished and the stores haven't opened. The building is nice, but we had planned to shop a a few stores that you could only get back home. The store I wanted to go to most was the Under Armour store.
But as you can see from my grumpy expression, it was one of the many stores not yet open. The only store that was open that we particularly wanted to go to was Pie Face.

The store is all about pies, as you can tell from the name. both sweet and savory. The meat pies were very good! Next time I go, I'll be getting a bigger pie though! I could eat through all the small pies without any trouble.

While in Yas Mall we thought we would check out Ferrari World. Which is a huge indoor amusement park based solely on Ferrari cars. However, the tickets were really expensive, so we decided that could wait for another time.

This store is called On Time... alas, like many stores at Yas, it was not.

After Yas Mall, we came back to the hotel and decided to have sushi at their roof top lounge. Dippy enjoyed the sushi because in one roll (the "aloft maki") she got every single one of her favourite sushi ingredients. But unfortunately for La Chat. they messed up her order and the communication between servers seemed rather off. So we all went to bed and chalked that night up as a failure and would start a fresh the next day.

The next day we went to a few of their other well-known malls. Al Wahda was a much better experience than Yas had been. We went there to have Red Lobster for breakfast/lunch. For a moment, I felt like I was back in Canada. Looking around that mall, we found a cute little Christmas tree for our apartment, and new shoes for poor Dippy's injured feet! Dippy's favourite brand of dress shoes had a whole shop there as well, so we all went and tried on new shoes. When we were done with Al Wahda Mall we took a taxi to the Gold Souq (also known as the

Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre & Gold Centre).

I have never seen so much jewelry in once place. Sooo much Gooooooold, and for really good prices, too! Bangles, earrings, necklaces, watches... every form of jewelry and gold that you can imagine!

The Marina Mall was the last stop of the day because they boast some of the best views of the coast in the area. I wish we had gone up their tower; it probably would have been a really great view. But we were tired and so we stopped at an ice cream shop that makes ice cream according to your specifications by hand with liquid nitrogen. You choose the milk base, the mix of flavours and add toppings or mix ins! It was called Sub Zero Ice Cream Shop and it was a lot of fun to watch. I remember being told to wear protective gear when dealing with liquid nitrogen, but these guys didn't!! They do it day in and day out, so I suppose that they know how to handle the stuff better then I could. The ice cream they made was very tasty too! We don't know if it tasted any better for being made so fresh; but it tasted exactly like we hoped it would!

To wind the night down we took a scenic drive past the Emirates Palace and went back to our hotel. We ate dinner at their poolside restaurant/bar/shisha lounge/night club, took a dip in the pool and spent the night watching "The Terminal" while having our own little spa night.

Once we woke up and packed up for our final day, we went to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Mosque was absolutely amazing! What a perfect way to end our trip! Ohh the marble flooring, ohh the delicate design! If you ever get a chance to come to Abu Dhabi, the Grand Mosque is a must see!

There is really no worlds to describe the place! the photos here do not do it justice, and that is saying something cause Dippy is great at taking pictures!!

What an amazing trip. Bumpy and slightly scary at the beginning. But it smoothed out in the end!

Best movie experience soo far!

Ya I know, I said that the next post would be about Abu Dhabi.

(Sorry no photos of that place. Didn't think about taking pictures).

Ya sorry, I lied. there is just to much fun going on that I had to right about it!! So last night I had a great time with friends. Went to dinner at this Korean chicken place called "Kim Chicken" in Dubai! All I have to say is look out KFC and Popeye's cause if this place decides to become a chain then they can take all my money! ( also I'd be fat. cause fried food make you fat). Then we went to a place called " The Irish Village" which made me feel right at home! All the green and pub atmosphere a little Irish boy could want!



But that brings us to tonight! where Dippy, Veronique ( who from now on will be referred to as La Cat.) and I went to see a movie in the most talked about way! Vox Gold experience! And let me tell you something, reading audience! It was the best way to watch a movie in theater I have ever had!

So here's the run down. Once you pay for your ticket you ,go to a private lounge, where you of course, lounge. But whilst lounging you pick out food to have during the movie! Then once it's time to get your seats you calmly find it. cause they look like this!

Such rich Corinthian leather!! Oh and they recline and there are only like 30 of them. So you practically get the theater to yourself. Soo quiet, So comfy. I went in with a backache and I didn't feel a thing from my back while watching the movie!








So once you are good and settled and the trailers are playing, you get a reminder that you had placed an order of food cause a ninja -like employee comes and delivers the food to your seat.
Even when they got La Cat's food wrong the first time. They delivered in the middle of the movie and I barely noticed an employee come back with the right thing.




The only problem I had was that the "eating light" that they have to help you identify the food on you plates kinda shone on my shoe. Which if I where a normal person I would have not worn my neon yellow running shoes.










But all in all was a good experience and I wish all theaters were like the Vox Gold Experience.I think while I am here I will strive to watch most movies in such a fashion!
















And to end this Blog post off I would like to here some feed back. Mostly about my hair. What do you guys think?




Does the long straight hair suit me? I think I have a good look here but lets hear your opinion.

Day to Day of a house spouse!!

So a friend recently asked when the next blog post would be ( you know who you are, and thank you.)
I was thinking of posting about being a house spouse in the U.A.E. mostly that I am male. and apparently to the mass here,  I should be " a proper man and have a job.
The wife stays at home and cooks!" literal quote from a local. It just shows how two cultures can collide in many ways. but I digress.

My life is amazing right now!! I really could not complain. Everything is going to plan and both Dippy and I are really happy! The facilities here are amazing.

My Itinerary for day to day is thus:

9-10 - Read ( Anything, Dippy got me Cockpit confidential. Which so far is a great book! If Patrick Smith flies to Sharjah I would love to talk to him. Also Naruto)

10- 12- Cleaning. ( Which includes scrubbing the toilets. I could get a maid. But then I would be bored)
12- 1 - Lunch with Dippy and her co-workers. ( We have really bonded with them! they are really cool friends)

1-3- Gym and swimming ( But lets be honest. I end the work out after an hour. Cause you can only watch two episode of archer!! lol But I have lost ten pounds so far!! YAY)

3-5 - Free time/ prep for dinner. ( Most of this time gets take up by Wow or whatever is new in my life. Cause I have a short attention span! lol)

5- Until bed time.
This point in my time I spend time with Dippy. Cause I really have the personality of a puppy. I miss her when she's gone and get excited when she comes home. Sometimes we will play wow together or read whilst cuddling in the bed. But as of 5, it's time to spend quality time with my girl! Cause she provides an AMAZING life! Seriously if you don't believe me have a look at the pictures!!






Bonus pics!!! Caught this guy the first week of being here!! as you can see he/she was set free unharmed!!!

Hop-Along the Wonder Pup Catches All the Readers Up

Bigitty blog, bi bi bi bigitty blog time!!!

This is a time rewind blog post to fill you in on what happened between the trip to Britain and now in the U.A.E

Last time we left our intrepid heroes they were tripping across the Britain.

But here's were I catch you up! including picture! YAY! Sooo after the trip to Britain, Dippy moved to Montreal to do her Masters degree. and I promptly followed her and proposed like a good doggy...................I mean man. like a gentle man. any who! That's when I got the call to travel, and left Dippy to her own! Traveling to Turks and Caicos was amazing! I learned so much! and had soo much fun! Met so many people ( which I probably should still keep in touch with............ oups).

Club Med is a blast! Everyone should go! Specially Turquoise if you have no children!

I learned that I'm better at french then I thought, Scuba diving is awesome, crabs dig holes in the beaches and much more!

Dippy came to visit me this time in Turks & Caicos. I showed her the sights and then she left. but about a month later I got an email to be a manager at a hotel in Montreal.So I felt Club Med, but didn't get the job. But it meant that I was with Dippy. And that always makes me happy.

After Montreal we moved back to our home town. ( unfortunately with Dippy's parents.) And hung out with our friends again! But nothing happened in that time. That period was fun. But not Adventurous.

It continued like that for a few months. Dippy and I taking jobs where they came. Dippy worked in the Canadian Broadcast Corp for a little while. Got to see Chris Hadfield. ( That man is my new personal hero! ) and hangout and see some/ be in some recordings of  George Stroumboulopoulos. He's pretty cool! Then just after the CBC. Dippy got a few job offers, one to Palau. to be the Director of the library there. Had it payed more we would be there instead. But the other was the job in U.A.E. and you can guess what offer we took.

But getting the job meant that we had to pull together a wedding that we were pushing of to save up money! So with the kindness of  friends, family and even some strangers. We pulled together our wedding in a month. It was a fantastic wedding. Then just as fast as the wedding, we skipped off to Sharjah!




And now to your regular posting!
Stay tuned for more Adventures of Dippy Jones and her Wonder Pup!

 *Spoilers*
Abu Dhabi, Yas Island!!!!!

Dippy Jones and Hop-Along Take to the Sands

For the Al Hijra long weekend, we finally made it out to the great wild west of U.A.E.; the desert! We went for a BBQ and bonfire with a bunch of other people from the campus. Maybe it should have been obvious, but we hadn't really made the connection that oil rich also means tons of awesome fossils. But the spot they took us to was covered in fossils!

 We figure it's some sort of sandstone. But we left our resident geologist back in Canada. When he visits, I'm sure we'll all know more about the rocks around here. But as you can see, the fossils were everywhere!! I guess that's what we get for moving to a oil rich land. Dino Bones every where!







When we were driving out, Dippy pointed something out to me that I couldn't make out. Turns out, it was a huge rock structure that I would have never seen back home! Probably because it would have been covered in trees and grass... But still! HUGE! You could see this mountain for kilometers! (or miles for the American readers out there).

  

       The sand was so soft. I thought it would be coarse because there wasn't any water to buff it. but as I got explained to me and felt first hand, air does a great job blowing it around and making it very soft. I sat down on the top of the dune and within minutes i was covered. There was a fine layer on my skin and being that my shoes were practically all mesh, I now had a dune of my own in there! 

       Our host quickly told us that we would have to get our selfies now since we'd have no light in ten minutes. and he was right! Once the sun started to set, it didn't waste any time! Soon it was completely dark! Like can't see in front of you dark. We didn't have and flashlights of our own but our host, Ali, and his family had brought a few. 

Then we built a fire and started barbequeing our stuff. 

          There was so much food being shared that I was stuffed very quickly. After talking and eating for three hours we started to pack up and leave. However, as we were driving away, our SUV decided that it's had enough of this sand stuff and broke down! We weren't completely stranded since we were diving caravan style. The moment the vehicle stopped everyone else stopped too and we made plans to switch vehicles and left the SUV in the desert for the night (or at least until the tow showed up). 

When we got home, we had another shower because you could just feel the sand everywhere! I mean, we took our shoes of at the door and these small little sand dunes appeared on our tile floor...