Zac's highlights in Dubai

I have decided to blog about Zac's stay in Dubai so next time when we look back, we are able to reminisce the time he was 3/4 in Dubai.

Zac was 3 when he came to Dubai. He went to Emirates Hills Nursery for a couple of months upon arrival. His teachers were Miss Kiran, Miss Amy and Miss Vanessa. Some of his friends were Oman, Mohammed, Seohyun, Sosei, Abdullah to name a few. He settled in alright for that few weeks he was in school. 

Then it was the school holidays. He went to play school (Dubai British School) for a few days and we decided that he was not ready for it. He then started swimming lessons with Hamilton swimming school which he enjoyed very much. Zac also enrolled him karate which he attended every now and again.

In July, he started attending Bradenton Preparatory Academy in Sports City. He was in Miss Kelly's class. His other teachers were Miss Azra, Miss Sarah, Mr Waldo and Miss Digna to name a few. Zac was in the green house (cheetah) and some of his friends were:

Zac blended into his new class very well and his teachers often say that he's the 'top student' in his class. He speaks fluently and eloquently and he is one level ahead of his peers. Zac was also given special classes on a daily basis for 15-20 minutes to focus on more challenging things in class to keep him interested.

Zac made many new friends in Dubai. He also celebrated his 4th birthday in Dubai. We invited Gavin, Seane, Alvin, Quain, Bryan, Sew Keng, Kendrick, Laura, Shinta and her three kids, Esther and chantille. On his birthday, we played games such as the rolling of car game, passing parcel and also dancing game. He had Spider-man theme for his birthday and had Spider-Man cake too. He was dressed as spidey for his birthday. There was also a car piñata at the end of his birthday party with lots of candies and chocolates for picking. Mum and I made the car piñata out of cereal boxes. All in all, Zac had a great day.

Zac seems to enjoy Dubai. In Dubai, he has been to many places; Al Ain Zoo, Abu Dhabi mosque, Kidzania - twice, Kiddieville, Burj Khalifa, Museum, Desert safari - twice, Ski Dubai just to name a few.

A few more days and we will be out of this country. In years to come, when Zac is older, I can tell him that he's had lots of fond memories 'growing up' in Dubai although it was only for 9 months.

3 more days left in Dubai

It has been a roller coaster ride since my last post. Good things happened that turned to bad and made my life upside down and left side right.

In September, we all went back to Malaysia to celebrate dad's 70th birthday. It all went pretty well and I am glad that we went back to do so. On dad's birthday morning, I found out that I was pregnant. I was in ecstasy. It was the first time after having Zac that we've had such good news - my pregnancy.

Dad and mum flew back to Dubai with us for a holiday and stayed with us for two months. 

In November at about 10 weeks,  when we visited the doctor for an ultrasound, we found out that the baby in my tummy stopped growing at 7 weeks. I was shattered to pieces. I wept for days and days and so did Dave. I haven't seen Dave cried so much in my entire marriage with him. We both mourned the loss for days. We then let go of our little angel baby and agreed that he/she is in a better place. I had my d&c on the Monday immediately after the scan. It was heart wrenching knowing that that day was the last day the baby was going to be in me, and the last day I would have anything to do with him/her. I was heart broken. Up till now, the loss is felt strongly whenever it comes to mind.

The house in Las Casas was also giving lots of problems to the point that I was paranoid that the house is haunted. I've had too many incidences in the house that up till today, I'm still convinced that it is indeed a dirty house. I believe in spirits and spiritual attacks and I definitely felt a strong presence of something that didn't welcome us in that house. The things that happened while living in that house is strange, weird and coincidental beyond words. I will not go into details here as those are painful and scary memories which I do not wish to remember.

The string of events led hubby dearest to rethink about our move to Dubai. He applied to move out of Dubai and got offers from Scotland, Malaysia, Italy and Singapore. We eventually made the decision that Singapore would be our next location due to the close proximity to home and family.

After the decision was made, life just got busy with packing, clearing, planning, researching, etc.. On the 10/2/2014, we finally moved out of the house into the Dunes apartment; the apartment we first lived in when we moved to Dubai. Life is so much better after leaving the house.

Three days from today, we will be boarding the plane to Perth for five days and we will say adios to Dubai for good! I am so looking forward for that day to come. 

Just as in Norway, people are the hardest to say good bye to. But as always, I believe that our paths will definitely cross again in the future. 

New life, new country, new memories, I am ready for you!

Karate

Zac's having his fifth karate lesson and I'm out here waiting for him. He still wants us to go into class with him fearing that we would leave him here himself. But he's enjoying his lesson heaps though.

A junior from convent named Esther just arrived Dubai to join her husband here. I'm so happy to know someone from my hometown. At least there are stuff that we can relate to. Common friends, familiar places to talk about and similar lifestyle growing up in JB. Have yet to meet her yet, but I'm sure we will soon. She's just in the next suburb too.

Life has been tiring as usual. Dave brought us down to Al Ain and we stayed in the Hilton hotel resort, visited the zoo and went up to Jebel Hafeet. The zoo is pretty amazing. Well kept and we could spot most of the animals on display. The time away was a very good one. We played on the water slide in the resort and we also had good Japanese food there. All in all it was a very good getaway.

I'm looking forward to our next holiday.

Down...

Nearly mid August now. Feeling rather down in the dumps at the moment. August is meant to be a good month usually, but this month, it's exceptionally gloomy.

Sis will be having a procedure at the end of the month and I pray that everything goes smoothly and she'll recover in no time. 

As for me, loads of rubbish clouding my mind. It's like I'm in a middle of a storm and the wind is blowing hard. All I can see ahead is darkness and I can hardly keep my eyes open because of the rain and wind. Behind, there's a fierce animal chasing me forcing me to keep running regardless of my circumstances. Ahead, there's the end of a cliff where it's a dead end. I'm getting panic attacks but I just have to bite the bullet and keep running forward. I reach the end of the cliff and the animal corners me. Question now is, to jump or not to jump?

A weird imagery of what I'm going through now, but that's exactly how I feel at the moment.

Dave got me some roses which did brighten up my day abit. I hope this storm passes soon. In the mean time, ill hang in there and not jump.

In total darkness

Laying in bed, unable to fall asleep, I've decided to blog. 

It's close to three months now being here in Dubai. The biggest question I have for myself and Dave is, are we happy here?

Upon arrival, Zac managed to go to school for a couple of weeks to keep him occupied and entertained, while I was able to sort out the new life here with Dave busy at work everyday. A routine was established and things were manageable for a while, until the school holidays started.

Before the school holidays started, I researched summer camps and all for Zac to attend so that he will not become a hermit at home with me. Secured a place for him, but come the first day of it, 

Zac had separation anxiety and wouldn't attend it unless I was in the class with him. I persevered for a couple of days but to no avail. I concluded that I've been too anxious for Zac to fit in too quickly without considering how he felt. New environment, new country, new people and all. He misses his friends and also Norway itself. I should have been more sensitive to his little heart...

Staying home with me and running out of activity ideas, we decided to try some shorter classes so he can interact with other kids and have some fun. We tried karate. Zac enjoyed his classes, but the uncertainty is still there and he expects us to be in the class with him. Hopefully he breaks out of this soon.

We also managed to enroll him in swimming classes which he enjoy heaps. That's really a relief. Now he is so eager to attend swimming lessons that it makes me so happy...because at least we found something he really enjoys. It's a joy watching him swim. 

Is Zac happy? The question can yet be answered because every now and again he still says that he misses his friends in Norway and he wants to go back.

Dave wakes up at 6am everyday to prepare for work and gets home about 5ish 6 everyday. Whenever I see him waking up so early, I feel really sorry for him that he can't sleep in longer. He has lots to learn at work, so that is a consolation for me plus he mentioned that McDermott is a good company to work for. Weekends, he tries to take Zac and I out to do stuff. He is a really brilliant husband in that he provides for us very well and we live I would say quite a comfortable life without much to worry about. The big question of whether Dave is happy or not here...from my observations, I don't think he is that happy being here. Given a choice, he would prefer to stay back in Norway or live in Europe.

For me, life is pretty hectic at the moment with Zac being on school holidays. Dubai is a huge city and to get from one place to the other, you'll drive at least 30 minutes. Sunday to Thursday, he's got swimming lessons. Anytime during the week he can attend karate too. Everyday, it's a driving feat of getting Zac on time for stuff. Apart from that, the household chores like washing and cooking and cleaning need to be completed daily. Before Zac had lessons, I had to think of things to do with him at home to keep him entertained too. Life can get pretty hectic like that. Similar to this blog, my life is pretty much a mess at the moment.  There's no fixed routine for doing things and everything is impromptu. Until Zac goes back to school, I believe that the topsy turvy life will stay. 

People might get me wrong thinking that I don't like spending time with Zac. On the contrary, I love being home with him and spending time with him one on one. The closeness that I have with Zac is something I have now which I may never have gotten if I didn't give up my career more than a year ago. It is something I will never exchange anything with. The bond I have with him now is so strong and I cherish every moment I have with him. Why do I keep talking about wanting him to go to school though people might ask. Zac staying at home with me might be good for our bonding, but not so much his social skills. I prefer him to mix around with his peers more rather than 24/7 with his old mum at home. I prefer him to learn together with his peers new things and embark on different things in his life that he might otherwise not be able to being home with me. I prefer him to release all his pent up energy running and climbing and playing with his peers in a friendly environment. I just love him to bits that I want the best for him. Zac going to school also means that I will have a little bit of time to recharge myself too before giving my all to him and also hubby afterwards. 

As it is 123am in the morning, my mind is all over the place and same with this blog entry. To answer the question of whether I'm happy here, my answer at the moment is a direct and definite NO. I will blog more about the life here in my next blog...

Good night...

Kiddie Ville Al Barsha Mall

It's a hot Tuesday. 44 degrees today and we decided to go to the mall for some super cold aircond and play.

Zac is in Kiddie Ville today for the first time. Similar to Capella Play in Norway. 

As usual he went on the slide first. He was so excited when he saw the playground. The poor thing has been deprived of it for a long time since we moved to Dubai.

Love the excitement on his face when the balls launched into the air. It's such a joy to see him happy. 

Zac shot some balls too. He had loads of fun.

All in all, Zac had heaps of fun. He ran to me and told me 'mummy I stood my ground', which means he stood up for himself when people pushed him around. We always told him that people shouldn't and cannot be mean to each other. When there are mean people, he has to stand his own ground and tell them it's not nice to be mean. 

It's nearly time to go and I'm so glad that he had heaps of fun. 

We'll probably come again. :)

16.5.2013-9.6.2013 Move to Dubai

Ending our adventures in Norway, we boarded KLM business class flights from Stavanger to Amsterdam and then to Dubai. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the driver who dropped us to the Dunes apartment hotel which became our home for 3 weeks. The journey from the airport to the apartment opened our eyes to the impatient driving of the residents of UAE. The driver was flooring the accelerator and drivers were speeding and overtaking left and right without indicating.

The first week was jam packed with orientation and house hunting. Driving around Dubai made me realize that I may not be a big city girl after all although I was excited at the many different things that I've missed living in Norway. We managed to secure a house. 

On the Wednesday of our first week here, Zac also attended school for the first time in Dubai. He shed some tears on the first couple of days, but was asking to be sent to school as he enjoys it so much after. I was really glad that it didn't take too long for him to settle in to the Emirates Hill Nursery.

On the Thursday of our first week in Dubai, we were provided with a rented car by Dave's company. I drove around for the first time in the dark grey Toyota Camry in Dubai. Clocked crazy kms on the first day itself! Dave is not allowed to drive until he gets his visa and hence, I am the sole driver available under a visitors visa until he gets his visa and UAE license. To date, I have clocked close to 3000kms which is the longest distance I have covered in a three week period.

Day one of driving...

On the 6th June, we officially moved in to our villa in Jumeirah Village Circle. We bade goodbye to our temporary home in the Dunes, without much emotions. 

Week four in Dubai now, and we are still in the midst of turning our new house into our new home...