EPC in place

Yes there is a lot of work, work, work, work, work, work being blogged at the moment. The WorldSkills 2017 competition is one of the biggest events that Abu Dhabi has ever hosted, and the whole town is busy.
Last night they had the big Opening Ceremony at the DU Arena, where they had purpose built huge grandstands to receive over 10,000 spectators.
I worked at one of the hotels as an EPC - Embarking Point Coordinator.

This involved sending and receiving delegates to the DU Arena, and being of assistance in the reception. Although while the ceremony was going on, we could take a little break and go and have something to eat. So I went for a quick dinner at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Did you know that the clubhouse there is built to look like a falcon? Look, it's holding on to the golf ball!

I spent the time waiting for the delegates to return watching the ceremony on the WorldSkills live feed on Facebook. It was just like the Olympics with all the different countries walking in waving their flags, so awesome! The NZ team even stopped to perform a haka!

I will try and go and visit the event this week in between tours. Looking forward to it!

Memories of a journey

In preparation for some upcoming guide tours, I went to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque yesterday afternoon to have a look at their new exhibition - Memories of a journey.
This exhibition celebrates the spiritual journey of Hajj to Mecca through the display of more than 180 artifacts on loan from a range of institutions as well as donations of personal memorabilia.

The exhibition has six different sections. The first one talks about the coming of Islam here in the Arabian Peninsula, and the second explores the Islamic rituals and the Holy Quran.

There is a big section on the evolution of the Hajj routes:

One section is all about Mecca, and another about Medina:

Finally a small part of the exhibition showcases some souvenirs and keepsakes that have been collected during personal Hajj journeys:

For those in Abu Dhabi interested in this exhibition, it runs until 19 March 2018, free for all to visit. It is build up in a big blue tent on the North Carpark of the mosque, and they also host a variety of free workshops on many different subjects related to Islamic art and design.

I also had to take some more photos of the mosque itself, as I was there just before sunset. This place is just so so beautiful, you can't help yourself. I mean, look at these shots..!

WorldSkills Abu Dhabi

There is a huge event taking place in Abu Dhabi this week and next, the 44th WorldSkills Competition. With more than 1300 competitors and 10,000 international guests in town, Abu Dhabi is b-u-s-y.
The WorldSkills Competition occurs every two years, and it is the largest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world. 77 countries and regions are represented, and they have sent the best of the best to compete in 51 different skills, such as f.e bricklaying, beauty therapy, bakery and aircraft maintenance.

Us tour guides have been booked up to work all through the event, helping out with arrival and departure transfers, manning information desks in each hotel, sightseeing trips and special events. I worked on Tuesday, together with a big team of guides, taking about 1800 of the experts out to a purpose built Desert Camp for an afternoon excursion.

We picked the guests up at the ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center), filled bus after bus and took off. In my bus I had experts from Finland, Latvia, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, France, Sweden, Norway, Canada and Bahrain. I loved it, so international!

After we had arrived to the camp and offloaded the guests to go have some fun, I helped out with the handing out of jasmine flower wreaths. It smelled super nice on the red entrance carpet!

Emirati hospitality: Arabic coffee was served upon arriving, and the incense burner was brought to each and every guest to make them smell nice. I really love this photo below that I took:

The set up of the camp was huge, obviously with so many guests! It was really fantastic, they could ride a camel, try dune bashing in some 4x4 cars, get henna decorations, Arabic calligraphy, weaving, try traditional clothing, hold falcons and much much more. 

Us Tour Guides had our dinner in the dunes, admiring the sunset. It is really something else out in the desert!

The guests were also treated to traditional dancing and music:

I felt really proud to be part of this event and I had so much fun together with both the other guides and the guests! Great evening!

Fika time

Abu Dhabi sure has a lot to offer when it comes to cool and cosy coffee shops and small restaurants, but sometimes it is just nicer to actually have some friends over at your own place - and serve them treats you have made yourself.

This morning a few Swedish friends came over for 'fika', and we had hazelnut and nutella dreams (made by Emma), ginger bars, bliss balls (healthy, made with dates) and a liquorice and raspberry frozen cheesecake (not so healthy...). Om nom nom!

Chilled afternoon

On Friday we were lucky to get invited out for a day at sea with our Irish neighbours.

We were invited out last weekend too, but obviously couldn't go because of Linnea's cast, so now we jumped straight on this opportunity to get out on the water for some sun!

We didn't go far, we camped up on the small island just over opposite Yas Beach. Perfect place for a bit of a swim and play, and Rory also towed the kids around on the donut for a while.

It really is perfect temperature right now, both in the air and the water. We had a great afternoon, thank you Irish!

Hello Chef

A couple of years ago I tried out a food delivery service here, and even though it was a great experience, and a totally stress free cooking week, I never used it again for the simple reason that it this kind of service is really expensive here.

Recently I got a voucher for 100 AED off my first order of another, similar service, so I thought I'd give this one a shot too.
Meal planning is such a never-ending, and boring, cycle and more often than not I have neglected to plan dinner, let alone had time to go to the shop - cue tuna pasta... again... So this week we have tried HelloChef, and indeed, another pleasant experience!

We had a big box of four meals worth of ingredients delivered last Sunday; everything from the stock cubes to the spices, vegetables and meat we needed; along with recipe cards and instructions on how to store the food and prepare each meal.

Bear with me that my plating might need some work, but here is this weeks menu. Fish fajitas with Pico de Gallo:

Meatball marinara with zoodles for me and spaghetti for the kids:

 Chicken stuffed with brie and walnuts and tricolore rice:

 Vegetable curry with rice and cauliflower:

All the dishes turned out pretty well, the kids ate (most of) it, and the menu was varied and healthy. Although - the price, again, it is just way too pricey to justify for us. I also couldn't help but thinking of the environment. Sure, the box looks fantastic, and of course it is easily dealt with when packed and delivered like this; but it feels absolutely crazy to have all this food individually packed in tons of plastic containers and bags...

So, meal delivery is once again tried and tested, mostly for fun and to have a little project for the week - but back to my own creativity, the trusty cook books, meal planners and shopping lists it is!

Two weeks later

Most of the time I'm mighty impressed with the health care here in Abu Dhabi, sometimes I get confused by it.
We were told by the Doctor when he put the full cast on Linnea's foot to come back to have it removed in 10 days. Although today when we turned up we were asked why we wanted it off..?? As if it was our decision..? How would I know?
I mean, wouldn't there be a certain amount of time you should have a cast on for this specific injury - after which you take it off? That's what I thought. Or that an actual Doctor would do the assessment of the foot and the injury, not ask the patient or the parent to self diagnose? Hm.

Anyway, the took the cast off (finally!) yesterday, and it's all good.

I think being on crutches was "fun" for the first day or two, to get all the attention and get to use the elevator at school. But by now she had had absolutely enough.

The foot is still a bit blue and the Doctor said it would take a few days for it to feel normal, so she is still on her crutches at school today. We don't have many plans for the weekend, so she will have plenty of time to rest.

Cinnamon Bun Day

Yesterday, the 4th of October, was as close as we get to a national holiday in Sweden - it was Cinnamon Bun Day! My Instagram feed was absolutely littered with cinnamon buns, and I was also lucky to have some yesterday, even though I hadn't had the time to bake some myself. I took part in the yearly SWEA event!

The cinnamon bun is a staple diet of the Swedish 'fika' tradition. While the French have their wine and cheese, and the British their tea, in Sweden people stop what they're doing to have a 'fika' at least once a day, often twice. This almost sacred tradition designates a moment to enjoy a cup of coffee and eat something sweet (usually a cinnamon bun), and it is factored into everyone's daily schedules whether they are at home, at work or running errands.
The cinnamon bun truly is the best symbol for Swedish home baking. There are not many Swedes who doesn't like them.

The lady hosting us lived in the  Landmark skyscraper on the Corniche. Such a bonus to get to visit this very cool high rise and enjoy the fabulous views from the 53rd floor.