A little shopping....

Jet lag is killing us. 

We still have our nights & days confused, so to help combat the "sleepies", we took a trip to Al Wadah Mall. We needed to order the white goods (washer/dryer/fridge/dishwasher) for the apartment anyway. 

Al Wadah is a huge mall..  I mean seriously huge! The entire bottom floor is a LuLu's Hypermarket, which is best described as a cross between a Whole Foods, a Khol's, a Best Buy, & a Wal-Mart. I'm serious. You honestly have to se it to believe it. There's a whole aisle in the produce section just for various types of bananas! 

And speaking of produce....You must "pre-check out" from one of the produce counters before continuing your grocery/clothing/electronics/household goods shopping. These produce ladies have the sole task of weighing/counting & then tagging your produce with a price for speedier check-out later. They accept no money. Their brains are reserved for recalling the difference in price between the various types of bananas, root veggies, greens... You get the idea. 

Wow! Just to try out the process, we chose a pineapple. There were 5 choices. Devin finally decided on the "baby pineapple" from South Africa. It smells yummy... I'll let y'all know later. 

I was curious if we could find peanut butter....

Yup. No problem. There's something like 10-15 choices, depending on whether you count low fat versions or not, creamy or crunchy, etc. And, Olivia found her favorite: Nutella! 

Now, if the PB section amazed you, take a look at the honey section!

I didn't even get them all! So many choices compared to what we'd see at a US grocery store. It reminds me of the cereal aisle. Oddly enough, the cereal aisle here barely takes up the same space as the PB section. 

But on to the white goods!... Same store, different wing....

We were able to get all 4 appliances (lots of choices in brands & functions) at LuLu's for just over 5,000 AED. That translates to around $1500. (Includes delivery & installation.) Not bad. On another note, however, the girls spotted a Barbie doll offered for $40. Wait...What?! We didn't buy the Barbie. 

Time for some celebratory ice cream!

 

There are three other floors (each with an extension) to Al Wadah Mall that pretty much offers everything you might desire. There is a Cold Stone & a Baskins Robbins... You can pretty much find any Food.... Clothing... Jewelry.... Sporting... Books.... Furniture... Cinema...It's ALL here somewhere. 

Recognize this?

TGIFriday's! The logo was also in English, but Arabic is so whimsical to me right now. 

Nando's.... It's no Cane's!

So, today was the end of the work week for UAE businesses. The locals work (& attend school) Sunday thru Thursday in these parts. It's going to take some getting used to. I mean, "Thank goodness it's Thursday!" just doesn't have the same kind of ring to it. You know?

Anyways, the hotel caters to the traveling business people which means "included" breakfast everyday, but "included" dinner only 4 (business) nights of the week. Seeing how the weekend revelers (ie shoppers) are here, no more hotel dinners until next week. 

Hmmmmm... Where to go? We gave the kids a choice of pizza or chicken. 

Now this might surprise you, but french fries are NOT the primary side dish in these parts; it's fried rice.... or fried noodles. I'm serious. There are noodles &/or rice offered at every meal, including breakfast. So, when we offered up tonight's dinner choices, it was more than just "pizza" or "chicken" that the kids considered. 

Nando's serves good old regular (American style) french fries... 

Nando's it is!

If you're not familiar with Nando's (you can google the wiki), it's a South African casual dining chain. They are known for their flame-grilled PERi PERi marinaded chicken. The food is hard to describe since the flavor is unique, but everything is grilled or sautéed in one of 5 PERi PERi sauses of increasing heat (spiciness). It sorta reminds me of a Buffalo Hot Wings... except nothing is fried & using your fingers would be frowned upon. 

Anyways, the kids tried it, gave it mixed reviews, & sucked down the fries. They did turn their noses up at the mayonnaise offered with the fries. LOL! At least Lindsey KNEW to ask for tomato ketsup. 

So similar and yet...

The kids are slowly venturing out to try a few of the rather unusual things on the buffet table. 

Bananas, oranges, pears... No problem. 

Frosties (Frosted Flakes sold under another name) with Low Fat milk... Not so much. (The milk is served room temperature & tastes a bit different). 

But, they did try & like this hairy fruit: 

It's a rambutan.... We had to ask one of the servers. 

Kid consensus: Good. Would try again. Fun to touch & peel. Reminds you of a very large peeled grape. Only negative is trying to hold it while having to eat around the seed. Results in sticky fingers. 

And that was only breakfast! 

The hotel also serves a free buffet dinner 4 nights a week. Tonight was Chili Chicken over fried rice with salad & ginger sauce (dressing). Not surprisingly, the kids stuck to rice & colas. But get a load of these cans!

The same and yet.... different!

Hot air....

We are safely arrived (with ALL our luggage!) in Abu Dhabi!

It was an exciting trip. 

The flight to London went well, but we almost missed our connection! We landed in Heathrow's Terminal 3, but the connecting flight had us traveling by bus to Terminal 5. After another security check, we still had to take a tram to the gate. We were quite possibly the LAST people to board the plane. I'm not exaggerating... The gate attendant asked if we were "the Williams passengers" as we approached. They were ready to close the gate just as we arrived! LOL! 

The kids were completely tuckered out after that quick dash so it wasn't difficult for all of us to sleep on the second flight. 

Everything went smoothly.... Well, except for a small miscommunication error between Lindsey & I about transportation from the airport. I blame the cell service. My phone didn't pick up the new provider quick enough so I missed Lindsey's texts. Doesn't matter; the kids & I, plus all the luggage, just beat Lindsey to his hotel! 

Lindsey had to go into the office this AM, so the kids & I are hanging at the hotel. We've been watching local TV (mostly Animal Planet, since it's in English), making balloon animals, & swimming in the hotel pool. 

FYI. The hotel pool has a chiller!  The water feels a good 30 degrees cooler than the air temperature. The girls asked to get out after about 20 minutes because they were too cold! LOL! We heat our pools in TX (at least in the winter), but Abu Dhabi chills their pools in the summer. 

Olivia is getting good at the balloon animals. She's just about mastered the mouse & the swan hat!

We plan to visit the apartment tonight. The kids are dying to see their future rooms. But it looks like the jet lag may have caught up to them.... 

The calm moments....

I will be the first to admit that trying to remember EVERYTHING you will need for the next year... for two residences... worlds apart... is a bit stressful. 

I know I have forgot something. 

It will be okay, however. I have an amazing network of friends & family. You humble me with your offers of help, a quick hug, child entertainment, "girl time", & love. As I take a few hours to decompress before boarding the first flight, I am struck by how cherished I have felt over the last few weeks. 

It's been terribly stressful... & I've shed my fair share of tears... But my kids are now sitting in the airport, smiles on their faces, & truly happy to take on this new crazy adventure!  

It will all be okay.... Let the adventure begin! 

Beat down by luggage....

Seriously. Everytime I do major packing for a major move there is always major cleaning involved. My husband doesn't appear to suffer from this ailment.... His "junk drawers" were still "junky" as he handed over his boarding pass. 

But me, I suffer from "must take advantage of empty rooms to throughly clean carpet" & "It's the perfect time to clean out kid closets/room/drawers". And

 I ask myself, "Why?!" Why do I kill myself? Why do I feel compelled to clean out every last drawer? Why on Earth did I think we couldn't possible leave the house in the care of the house sitter until the patio had been power washed?

(BTW, the boy child did an excellent job!)

I don't know.... But the patio looks fantastic, there are actually empty drawers in every room of this house, & all the dead light bulbs have been replaced! Yes, even that halogen security lamp some 25 feet up the back side of the house! 

I was pooped BEFORE I started packing the luggage today. 

Packing luggage is an art. No, really....

We are only allowed 4 large bags, 4 carry-ons, & 4 personal items between the 4 of us. Sounds like a ton of space, right? Wrong!

Have you traveled with 3 kids over the age of 8 lately? They come with more wires, plugs, devices, & headphones than they have appendages. It's hard enough packing 10 days worth of clothes & shoes, toiletries, bits to tide us over til the air shipment arrives, 6 months of Rx medicine & diabetic pump gear (that arrived 1 day AFTER Lindsey's flight left TX... Grrrrr!), important papers, etc... 

But the absolute killer is balancing the amount of toys, books, & devices the kids consider "absolutely vital". 

Remember, gotta keep the weight of the checked bags below the magical 50# limit. 

It's a dance... It's an art. I bet I packed, weighed, groaned/complained, repacked, then reweighed at least 4 times tonight. My suitcase is the closest at 49.2#. Yikes! 

Somehow, after 6 hours of folding, rolling, & shoving, we managed to zip up 4 large & 2 small cases. Each kid has a backpack. They must carry their own devices, wires, chargers, plug converters, & toys.  I think I only have about 3 or 4 small details left for the morning. 

I would probably be excited ... If I had the energy....

It's like a game of Tetris....

So I guess all those years of playing Tetris as kids could have been considered "job training" if you wanted to be a professional overseas packing & shipping company. 

The movers took this... 

And fit it into this 20 foot "can"...

... with room to spare! They had it packed from floor to ceiling in an almost perfect Tetris-like way. I was extremely impressed. After they tied it all in snug & tight (shifting during transit would be bad), they closed it, locked it, & had me witness the placement of "the seal"... A little yellow locking pin that must be cut with bolt cutters to remove. 

So, now it's off on its own sea adventure as we campout inside our own home for the next few days. Flights are on Monday. We can hardly wait!