Adding new touches

The main reason we went to Sharjah the other weekend, was actually to order some new furniture.
I felt like our new living room was lacking something, so I wanted to go back to Luckys, where we previously have got our entrance table, bookshelf, glass cabinet and sofa table from. They have a great selection of all sorts of furniture, and I had spotted some nice rattan things on their Instagram I wanted to take a closer look at.

I wanted to get rid of this IKEA glass table, as I didn't quite think it fit in that spot. We already have one the same next to the dining table so it felt like enough glass. I wanted something more organic here so - here is the this corner before:

Here is after! We got this beautiful rattan cabinet, which is not completely stocked yet, but it looks amazing, don't you think!

I also wanted to get something else instead of this IKEA laptop table that we have been using as a console table, first behind the sofa, and lately along the window:

My idea was a wooden side table, but as we browsed around in the Luckys warehouses, Nathan came up with a new idea. Why not get a high bar table, so we (well, he) could use it to sit there in the mornings and enjoy the view? Or for the time of the year when it's too hot to use the balcony and the furniture outside?
So ok then... we got him a bar table:

He's as happy as! Although we are still fighting over if I'm allowed to place "knick-knacks" on it or not...

Linnea actually also browsed through the furniture very quickly, and found a bookshelf in just the style she has been looking for. She had one of our old, small Billy shelves before; unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but here is after:

Looks really nice! The black matches her mirror, and the wood gives some warmth to her room.

In da hood

We keep on discovering new parts of our community, bit by bit. The other day my friend Karin and I set out to explore all of the gyms to see if one is better than the other, as each block has their own.
We walked all over to check each block out, and managed to find at least five out of the seven (?) of the gyms. We were happy to see that we liked both their A-block gym, and our F-block gyms the best.

We also went to check out the community library. Yes, we have a library!

It was actually surprisingly well stocked. Not in any particular system (as we could see), but full of many different books, all from travel books and cook books to novels and biographies; and much more. Fascinating to see how it reflects the community, with books in many different languages, even Swedish!

We do enjoy living here, for sure. I especially enjoy the greenery throughout the compound, and as it is still great morning weather for being outside, I get to enjoy the birds singing too. Can you hear them in this clip?

Sir Wilfred Thesiger

Last week I was working an evening shift for a special event at the museum, something that is indeed rather enjoyable. It is quite different doing tours after opening hours. It feels like "A Night at the Museum" when you walk the galleries as the only visitors!

My trusty sidekick was there too, and we were both happy to finally be able to enjoy the temporary image projections on the museum buildings, as they don't normally come on until after we have left work.

Louvre Abu Dhabi is celebrating and bringing the heritage to life by these photos. They are all taken by the famous British explorer, traveler and photographer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, also called Mubarak bin London. The images are displayed by the concrete beach of the museum, such a lovely way of using the blank walls.

Sir Wilfred Thesiger is considered as one of the greatest travelers of the 20th century. He is probably most famous for his two crossings of the Empty Quarter (Rub al Khalil), memorably described in his book, the classic Arabian Sands from 1959. These photos all come from the personal albums of Thesiger, now in the collection of the Pitts Rivers Museum in the UK.

International Ladies Night on International Women's Day

On Wednesday I went out with a group of ladies to try a new Ladies Night we had heard about, at Penelope's down in Yas Marina. Suitably it was also International Women's Day, so certainly a perfect day to get together!

Penelope's quickly impressed us, with lovely food, bespoke cocktails and a live jazz band! It felt like we were in a French brasserie somewhere on the riviera, super chic and stylish.

Our group of ladies was super international, my friends come from Italy, Belgium, Ukraine, Estonia, Irak and Mexico. A great mix for a fun night!

Mexican Vera here on the left, used to live in Abu Dhabi but left a few years ago. She happened to be in town for the week, perfect timing to join us on a night out!

Al Mahatta Airport Museum

I had planned to go visit the Sharjah Art Foundation after our Rain Room experience last weekend, but Nathan had heard of an "airplane museum" somewhere in Sharjah; so we swiftly googled, and changed our plans. I'm easy, I'll go do anything - exploring new things are fun!

So, we went to the Al Mahatta Airport Museum!
This was indeed the first airport in the region, built in 1932. It operated until Sharjah International Airport opened in 1977, and has since 2000 been turned into a museum that highlights the history of flight here in the UAE.

First stop inside the museum was the aircraft hangar. The aircraft in here either flew with Gulf Aviation or is representative of the type used by Gulf Aviation and Gulf Air.

We started by checking out the inside of the Vickers Super VC10 aircraft, developed to take off and land in high altitudes. This aircraft is second only to Concorde for fastest crossing of the Atlantic.

So many buttons..!

This is inside the DH 106 Comet. This was the first Jet Airliner to land at Sharjah:

The Rolls-Royce RB.80 Conway engine, the first turbofan in the world:

The Douglas DC3, the same type of aircraft as our favourite DC3 - the McDonalds restaurant in Taupo! Above it you see the DH104 Dove.

The second part of the museum was this Photographs Gallery.
The museum is housed inside this rest house, previously known as The Fort, which was built to accommodate crew and passengers while on overnight stops here, on their way from Britain to India in the 1930s. The building is a 20th century fortress, built in a combination of modern style military architecture and traditional local 'fortified' construction.

Later on it became a major airfield, through the agreement between the Ruler of Sharjah and the British Government. Imperial Airways used this airport for its shipping routes, but later on also as an RAF base during the WWII. A big area of salt flats near the sea was rolled smooth, to create the runway.

Al Mahatta was also the first meteorological office in the UAE and Oman. Weather records were collected here from 1934 until 1976.

The museum also houses a display of the first cinema in the region, which was inaugurated in 1945:

The galleries showed photos of the airport throughout its history, of passengers and crew coming through; but also of pilot's log books, flight tickets and aircraft parts:

One part of the museum talked about the very first landing here at the airport by the first Imperial Airways passenger flight, on the 5th of October 1932. A flight returning to Britain from Karachi, India.

The routes that were taken from Britain to India in 1932:

One part showcased the history of Air Arabia:

Finally, we discovered the part of the museum that showcased the whole science of flight, all from the first flying creatures on earth... to modern day jet planes - and further into space travel!

Some of these first flying pterosaurs were the size of a bat, but some were as big as a light aircraft, with a wingspan of 12 meters!

Flight has evolved four times in the natural world, first in insects, then in reptiles, birds and finally mammals. The collectibles show for example man's first attempts to fly, from taking to the skies in balloons and so one:

I highly recommend a visit to this museum! It gives a great insight into the importance and development of the emirate of Sharjah, as well as a lot of interesting and fascinating information about the history of flight. Entrance fee is only 10 AED, so what are you waiting for?

And yes, even though nobody ever takes any photos of me - I was there too!

The Rain Room

On the weekend we decided to do a little day trip, since we finally had a day when all three of us were free - together!
I had a few things on my bucket list of things to discover, so we started with one that I have been wanting to visit for quite a while - The Rain Room in Sharjah:

This is actually an immersive installation, by Random International, a European art group. It was first created in 2012 and has been on view before in MoMa New York, in LA, in London and in Shanghai. This Rain Room here in Sharjah opened in 2018 as a part of the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection and it is the first permanent installation of this project.

Yes, it is exactly what the name suggests. A room. With rain.

You are invited to walk through the big "square" of pouring rain, and if you walk slowly enough, you don't actually get wet! The installation is responsive to the environment, there are sensors that are triggered to stop the falling water when someone is entering the rain. You become completely enveloped by the rain, it is quite a surreal experience.

We were lucky enough to be there alone, because even though it is a fairly quick visit to make, it made for really spectacular photos..! Just look at these!