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18 April 2008
The polo club next to our house organized a great event, including camel polo, inviting celebrity supermodel and poloplayer Jodie Kidd and hosting the first professional international polo match: England vs. Argentina  Guest player and supermodel Jodie Kidd  The 'Battle of the Sexes' match, which the ladies won!  Jodie Kidd ready to play camel polo  Pleasure or dispair?  The English and Argentinian teams arriving by helicopter  Game over Arne @ 16:09 | Comments(0)
16 April 2008
 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Arne @ 02:01 | Comments(0)
16 April 2008
I could tell you about it: the incompetent real estate agent, the wasting of time, the three-week deadline in the MOU, or loose half a year salary on deposit, the ill advice from the required life insurance broker, the endless delays this caused, the guaranteed back-up plan that wasn't quite so guaranteed when we needed it, the hundreds of phone calls to the bank, and visits to the bank, the clock ticking, another day passed without moving forward, a valuation report by a valuator who is clearly unaware of the housing market here, the sudden need for an additional half year salary to make up for the difference, or loose the deposit, the sleepless nights, fights with the real estate agency, the endless Dubaian "we'll call you back", "we'll call you back", we'll call you back", so when the f%$k are you going to call us back? Next year?, the clock ticks, 4 days left and we have gotten nowhere, fights with the seller while transferring the property, her sudden decision not to sell, the negotiation to change her mind, still nothing from the insurance broker, our shift from begging to threatening, demanding to see various people's boss, then the CEO, 1 day left and still nothing, desperation, another weekend passed, crying, cursing, exhausted, stressed beyond belief on the eve of loosing our life savings because of the incompetence and carelessness of the so-called experts.... but I won't, you wouldn't understand. But we had one piece of luck: the seller made a mistake in the transfer papers, which bought us two additional days. And halfway through that second day, we got a call from the bank: everything is ready, the cheque can be disbursed. That afternoon, we finally got the key. And some sleep!  finally, the keys!  Our house on the right. Now let me tell you about the move... Nah, let's not...
Arne @ 01:38 | Comments(2)
17 March 2008
It's amazing how fast this city changes. What was a construction pit just two years ago is a 250 meter-high skyscraper now. When I moved to La Riviera Tower exactly 2 years ago, I took some pictures of the view from the roof. I took the exact same pictures again now, two years down the road, on the eve of moving out of La Riviera Tower. Have a look at how Dubai Marina has changed since... (click on the images)
Arne @ 01:54 | Comments(0)
14 March 2008
There are few things in life more stressful than buying property in Dubai. Basically, you sign an MOU and a cheque with all your life savings, with no protection at all. In most countries, an MOU is subject to financing approval. Here, if the bank doesn't do it's job, you loose your deposit, which is 10% of the price of the house. It goes without saying that this is an amount of money no-one likes to part with. It's a bad deal but it's ours. We signed the MOU and the cheque and have bought a great house with wonderful garden! If the bank comes through in time, we will move in before April.  Artist impression of the house. Photos will follow soon. Arne @ 16:01 | Comments(0)
8 March 2008
The polo club had an interesting family day packed with numerous camel and horse polo games. A very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon
Arne @ 22:07 | Comments(0)
8 March 2008
The midnight ambulance ride was a lot more comfortable than the withdrawal symptoms I'm enduring now. A pneumonia and 4 days of hospitalization did the trick: I'm off cigarettes!  Many thanks for the beautiful flowers! Arne @ 02:38 | Comments(0)
15 February 2008
Streef found an innovative way to wake himself up after a night of partying. You have to hand it to him: he's got creativity!  My guess is Van Halen's "Eruption" Arne @ 21:50 | Comments(2)
15 February 2008
If your main hobbies are photography and racing, what's the perfect way to spend your day? Doing photography while going karting! What's even better than that? Getting paid to do so. I love my job! In my new capacity as Senior Manager, Corporate Events & Sponsorship, I organized a teambuilding event at the Dubai Kartdrome. A fun day on the job:  Photo: Syed Suhail  Photo: Syed Suhail  Photo: Syed Suhail Arne @ 00:50 | Comments(1)
14 February 2008
Egypt won the Africa Cup Football Championship, reason for our Egyptian colleagues to throw a massive after-work celebration party. In Holland, a football victory of this magnitude would warrant an instant and significant jump in Heineken stock prices and Andre Hazes CD sales, but in the Middle East, orange juice and Coca Cola, together with Hussain Al Jasmi MP3s seem to contibute equally to the amount of fun. My colleague Annemieke and I were invited to join the celebrations, and celebrate we did.  Annemieke and I enjoying the party
Photo: Syed Suhail Arne @ 23:47 | Comments(0)
8 February 2008
Our company sponsored the RAK Half Marathon, the richest half marathon in the world. Not wanting to miss the start, Mark and I woke up at 5 am and drove up to Ras Al Khaimah to see the event. We both agreed that we would rather watch it than run it.
Arne @ 20:22 | Comments(2)
8 February 2008
 His Heighness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al KhaimahArne @ 20:19 | Comments(0)
29 January 2008
Ken, Marlize and I went to the Al Ain Air Show to see some outstanding flying skills in the middel of the desert. An event I had been looking forward to for some time, and missed last year. While a bit cold, we very much enjoyed the show.
Arne @ 01:11 | Comments(0)
29 January 2008
I spend about 25 dirham per day on two cups of Starbucks coffee while at the office, without ever having wondered where that coffee comes from, or, much less, how much of those 25 dirhams actually end up in the pockets of the farmers that produce this coffee. While in Colombia, I visited the coffee plantations and was welcomed by the local farmers to see the coffee producing process and drink their coffee with them. I ended up with a wonderful insight in the world of coffee and a great pictorial:  Ripe coffee beans Harvesting the beans Peeling the beans Washing and selecting the beans Drying the beans The final product before it is sold to the Coffee Federation for distribution to Starbucks The roasted beans as they are sold on the local marketArne @ 00:55 | Comments(0)
28 January 2008
Cathy and I went on a 4-week trip to Colombia to visit Cathy's homeland and family, and to celebrate Christmas, New Year and the Pastuso Carnaval in the process. After a 34-hour journey, we landed in Bogota with no bags (thank you Delta Airlines for that and all the other misery you put us through) after which we quickly bought some clothes at 23:30 hrs, went clubbing and salsa dancing with Cathy's friends until 7 am and, sleep deprived and drunk as a skunk on local Aguardiente, boarded our next flight to Pasto in the southern province of Nariño. After 43 hours of traveling, I was finally able to take off my shoes and submit my socks to the local toxic waste disposal plant. Our 3-week stay in Nariño was spectacular, and Colombia is now ranking in the top-5 most beautiful countries I have visited. Thanks to Cathy's parents Dominique and Maria Isabel and the rest of the family, I have been able to see the entire province of Nariño, experience the agricultural highlands in the Andes mountains, enjoy the festive celebrations of Christmas, New Year's eve and the famous Carnaval, experience surgery (don't ask) and shoot 2 gigabytes worth of photos. We ended our trip with a few days in Bogota, a city I could very well see myself live in, if only I spoke a bit of Spanish. What a great trip. A photo impression:  Local musician, La Cocha Las Lajas The Galeras volcano smoking, view from Bonbona Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Pasto Carnaval Local market, Pasto Condensated sugar cane products, Local market, Pasto  Mummy, National Museum, Bogota National Museum, Bogota World-famous restaurant Andres Carne de Res Andres Carne de Res Enjoying our last night in ColombiaArne @ 23:38 | Comments(1)
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