I like to ride my bicycle

Matt: But I don't actually have one, so I'm hiring one (a mountain bike) from Wolfie's Bike shop and hitting the desert in the morning. No doubt there will be pain, tears, drama... and a whole slew of photographs. Stay Tuned...

in the News...

Matt: Cool, Kinda!! I was in the national newspaper out here in the UAE yesterday, The Gulf News!! Click Here This is the online version, I'm the ugly squiting one in the pink t-shirt!!! lol.

All for a good cause though, so shouldn't complain!!

Where does the time go??

Matt: I can't actually believe that 2 weeks has past so damn fast, I swear the Middle-East is on some kinds strange Fast Forward!!

I just wanna say a quick Happy Birthday to my Dad..Even though it was a week ago! He's a champ and a trooper! Keep fighting and stay strong Dad - you're an inspiration to us all & I love you!! Oh and read those books I bought you so we can discuss them when I'm home next over a fry-up at some greasy spoon cafe..

Well the lovely Verity has come out to visit!! So far we'd had a pretty hectic weekend - What's new? I hear you cry!
Poor thing arrived in Abu Dhabi at 8:00pm by 9:30pm she was at a house party with the whole crew!! Trial by Fire!!!
Friday we hit the desert again, what a wicked day. 7 Cars this time.. count-em!!

Count em again....

We have to thank Fiona Piper for being our photographer for the day. She took some great shots - I was busy driving again! Getting the hang of the Pajero in the dunes now! I even avoided getting stuck or grounded.



Maria Bonita's Taco Shop was the Desert Debriefing Point. Nice and needed. We were all pretty shattered after a long day in the dunes, so we chilled at the movies after dinner.

The fore mentioned Party was a surprise party for Fabiola, she's leaving us to educate herself in the big smoke of London baby!! She's a great friend and we all love her lots. She's gonna be sorely missed when she leaves. Stay in touch Fabi, or we'll send Steve after you!!! xxx

"Holy sleepless nights Mattman"

Matt: Chris and Annie, from Guernsey, decided to gate crash my weekend and force me to do many boring things... like dance all night till 4am, bask in the sun on the beach, throw my car over dunes in the desert, eat bar-b-q food, socialise till the small hours, bounce around the gulf in a speed boat and crash the executive pool at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel!! They are a bad influence and I shan't be inviting them out again, they're dull Dull DULL!!!

It was a great weekend and thanks to all those who added to it. Thanks Mowenna and Jon for organising Thursday nights fun, Thanks to Steve for leading the Desert convoy, for attempting ridiculous dunes that no one in their right mind would drive over and for taking us out on the boat, Thanks to Vanda for being my Co-pilot, Thanks to JQ for the house party and Bar-B...


The Desert Team...

Check out the mad swiss blog for more pics.

Ultimate Season

Matt: The Ultimate Season has started once again, We played last night for one and a half hours, sprinting and running like loons. It's been a while and we all realised how unfit we are. Was good to get back into it though and "The Shirts" Triumph!! result!! Coming back in the second game from 8-2 down to win 10-9..

more sweat than you can possibly imagine...Nice!!

Bend me, Stretch me...

Matt: After a busy week entertaining with too many late night, early starts and working everyday I'm shattered, so I thought I'd join some friends and try out Yoga for the first time. Ohhh... Arrrhhhg... Ouch...
After stiffling a fit of laughter when the lights dimmed, the candles were lit and our host Nelson began chanting "Relaxssssssssssss... Relaxssssssssss..." like Gollum trying to chill Sam Gamgee out, we managed to compose ourselves and begin. It was very good, lying in a darkened room with an Indian incantation melodically lulling you in the background whilst we bent and stretched into numerous unnatural positions and poses and tried to control our breathing.
It really was surreal and it bought a few things home to me. Here I was, in Dubai with the Burj Al Arab all lit up just outside the window, some really great freinds around me, i'm fit and healthy with a whole life ahead of me... Even with all the stresses of work - life is really good!!!

So, will I go again? hell yeah, it was great and in combination with my other fitness activities I imagine it's gonna be very complimentary. James, Lindsey, Naomi and Fabiola all had lots of fun too, I think we might make it a regular thing... Join us if ya wanna try something a little different!!

Back in Dubai

Matt: A well spent wet week in the UK has passed. It was really great to see everyone and a shame to have missed a few people. A massive thanks to those who provided the Wilson Private Taxi service, it really helped and was very much appreciated. You know who you are!! A very special thanks to the lovely Verity for fetching from Gatwick and dropping me back to Heathrow... You're a star!! xx

While home, it was my little nephews first birthday, Happy Birthday Kalani!! Such a happy smiley kid. A real little charmer.

Trying to go home

Matt: The plan is to fly back to the UK tonight for a visit. But in light of the foiled terrorist plot at Heathrow, I'm thinking things might go a bit fruit-shaped. Luckily my flight is to Gatwick, but there is bound to be a knock on effect, from diverted flights and paranoia.
If I do make it back in the next 48 hours, I look forward to catching up with you all over the next week.
(now if only I kept my parachure from last weekend, this trip could have been a lot easier)

Just go ahead and jump...

Matt: My beautiful housemate, Naomi, in her infinite wisdom and thirst for life experience, decided that for her birthday she'd like to throw herself out of a plane!! Naomi roped a few of us in to do it with her..
Arrhhhhhhhggggg - Why did I say yes??

Why? Because it's amazing..

A daredevil troop of 5 of us, Jumping Jo Raybould, Free-falling Fiona McDougall, Mad for It Maria Crellin, No Fear Naomi Moore and myself, crammed into Maria's Prado and took flight (literally) from Dubai and drove to Um Al Quain.
The tension was pretty high as we chewed up the kilometers of road before us, the sign for 35km came into sight and the car went silent, as all our thoughts turned inwards, one and all questioning the decisions we'd made weeks before when Naomi casually asked if we'd like to do a Tandem Sky Dive.

The dusty Um Al Quain Airfield eventually came into sight, nervous laughter and silly jokes abound. After completing the insurance waiver, that mentioned "chance of death" far too many times for my liking, we were guided across the tarmac to the hangar and packing room, where our brief training commenced.

We were then taken up in a small prop-plane one-by-one to jump from 10,000 feet, 6,000 of which was in freefall. What an amazing experience!! I highly recommend it. The sheer thrill of hanging out of an open door on a small plane when the ground below you seems like looking at ordinance survey map, with the wind racing past you is enough of a rush for anyone, but then tipping yourself over the edge and falling into the void kicks your adrenalin to an incredible level!! At over 200 km per hour, you start to appreciate speed, 6000 feet in about 30 secs..WOW!!!
enjoy the pics..
Fiona practices freefall...

Naomi all geared up and ready to go, Our first Victim - Well she was the birthday girl

Yes it's time, Yes you have to get in the plane

She did it..

Jo, so brave!!! Nice suit too

Maria's turn

Our taxi to the sky

Awaiting my turn.. I was voted to go last.. GREAT!!! NOT!

Decided against the clown outfit.Getting strapped up!

Walking the line

I did it!!! It was incredible - such a rush...

Thanks to our support team: Christian, Ben, Andy and Leanne who came with supplies and cake for the Birthday Girl. Also thanks to all those who met us at Apres for a great meal after the Sky Diving - it was really appreciated and great to know we have such a good crowd of friends.

Happy Birthday Naomi - That's one not to be forgotten, Loads of Love Always.

Open the Box

Matt: Thanks to my friend Tanya, I discovered a very interesting online radio station the other day. Panadora allows you to select songs that you like and then constructs a personalised radio station around song of a similiar theme or genre. You can confirm if you like the songs it plays or not while they are playing to keep them in the 'playlist' or remove them. It's very clever, very good and free.
Go check it out and get listening.

Happy Birthday Karen

Matt: It is lovely Karen's Birthday on Tuesday, but we decided to celebrate on Thursday with a cocktail party. After arriving at the party Ramie and I were sent into deepest darkest Mirdif to stock up on ingredients. It was bizarre indeed, the shop assistances were most helpful, I think in all we had 5 maybe 6 of them help us find things by the time we left, at one point we had 4 with us searching an aisle. The party was good fun though, god knows what went into some of those drinks, needless to say lots of colourful concoctions were consumed. Sometimes I am so greatful I don't drink.

The rest of the weekend was good fun too. Up early for run on Friday morning with James, we did 7k in the heat which was pretty good going, considering I had 5.5 hours sleep and there was a shamal. Ali will be pleased to hear I finally managed to see Superman Returns, it was entertaining, but felt it could have been better. Maybe the next one will improve upon the good foundations they've now set in place.
Vanda is back safe and sound from her 3 weeks home to Portugal, she's come back suitable tanned too. I was really nice to see her, Sami is most pleased to have his sweetheart back - bless!! She bought me some really nice prints of Portugal as a present, they will be going up in "Villa Moore Wilson" very soon. Thanks V. x

Free straight from the top of my dome..

Matt: Scott, Sami and I went snowboarding last night, it was "freestyle night". They open up the slope, remove the netting and open all the jumps and rails. Helmets are required.
We had a great time jumping and generally larking around! Damn I'm glad i was wearing a Helmet though, wiped out a number of times on the big jump, one particular fall smacked my head into the hard packed snow (verging on ice), Thank you Red Helmets, you saved me.


Scott and I, Larking around on the ski lift


Show me your boarder angst!!



Check out Sami's Blog for the blow-by-blow coverage!!

Blog Crazy

Matt: It's seems this blogging thing is really catching on, people are starting Blog for anything and everything. More interestingly some of my close friends are starting to get the fever, Naomi started one (Hmmmm dried up a little rapidly), Now Sämi has started one, I say one but I think he has actually started 3 so far!! Crazy, slightly unhinged Swiss Dude that he is! But a great friend! I've added the link under my useful links section!! Check it out.

Off topic: The lovely Alison 'V' Methven appears in the Gulf News supplement, Tabloid, today. Cause she is the biggest Superman fan I know..she's 'special' in more ways than one!! Click Here

Feeling Hot

Matt: Temperatures are rising fast here in Dubai, it hit 46 degrees at the weekend. So you would have thought the sensible thing to do would be to stay inside, in the Air Conditioning.. No!! James, Naomi, Sami and I decided a great start to the weekend would be to go for a run on the beach at stupid o'clock on Friday morning! Well it ended up being 9am that we started, as didn't get home the night before till 3, and the heat was ready for us. 5k, without sufficient water prior to running and deciding to leave the water we had with us in the car so it didn't interfere with our running, wasn't a good plan. Needless to say running on the sand in the heat was pretty exhausting and probably a bit stupid, So we're doing it again next week!! Maybe a little earlier this time though!

Snowboarding, proved fun again!! Declined the competition invite once more!! I'm sure they'll force me to do it and probably kill myself soon though!

Jeremy and Helen are leaving Dubai to start a new life in Doha on Friday, so we took them out to Asha's restaurant for a nice Indian meal. Remember "Cornershop: A brim full of Asha" the record? Well Asha's is Asha Bhosle restaurant , the lady the song is about, a south Asian singer famous for her amazing voice and her versatility, she sung over 900 playback songs (voice over singing) for Bollywood film. Anyway, we had a great evening was nice food and perfect company. It will be very sad to she J&H leave us. Good luck in Doha guys!!

My endurance was tested for a second time over the weekend, Naomi and I went shopping. The girl needed some new clothes and I wouldn't stand in her way - it was a fun day actually even though we started at 11:30 am and didn't leave the Mall until 6:30 pm (See? Endurance). Sami joined us for lunch as did Tanya (James' sister) so the shopping was broken up considerably. Still not sure how I walked out of there without having bought a thing. Hopefully Naomi was satisfied with her many purchases!!
A much needed rest during the shopping.
Brokeback Island: The boys entertain themselves in River Island.


Alessia has left us!! She left this morning to head back to Roma. We went out to Bar 44 last night for a few drinks to say farewell. We're hoping she sorts out things back in Italy and returns to us soon! I hope everything goes ok Babe, in bocca al lupo.

Well another week has started, I'm gonna try and catch up on sleep this week as I seem to have been out late too much recently! Luhimba plans progress also check that blog too!

Fair Comment

Matt: Vanity Fair have published an article on the 9/11 Conspiracy theories, it's an interesting read. They don't try to discount them or back them up, but just bring the theories to peoples attention! Click Here

Other news: Congratulations to Amanda for getting offered a new job, an executive PA position for a large international company!! Well Done Poppet.

Next Stop Luhimba

Matt: Plans are underway for the next adventure. You'll find a link on the right of the page, to another blog I have started. Go there and see what's happening or click here.

Other than that, had a good weekend, although frustrations of Dubai reared their head. Sometime getting what you what in Dubai proves to be tricky, I went shopping on Friday and Saturday in the hope of finding some snowboard boots, but alas, no joy! The ones I want in my size aren't available. Can we order them? Hell no! The next stock should come in September and there are no guarantees what will be in this shipment!!

Online shopping here isn't much fun either as nobody delivers here without an extortionate price tag. Hmmm what was plan C again?...

Share the knowledge

Matt: As I'm sure lots of you have been to see United 93, the film about the 911 flight that allegedly didn't reach its intended target, I thought I'd put this out there for you! Loose Change www.loosechange911.com is a conspiracy theory documentary, about 911. It raises a lot of questions and is well worth watching. I'm not saying you should believe everything they are saying, but I am saying have an open mind and question some of the details about this tragedy that we are fed. Too much evidence is controlled. Just watch and question it all.

Another very interesting documentary for you to see in "Invisible Children" it is a brilliantly film documentary by 3 US college kids, who went to the Sudan with no plan but they wanted to find a story in this war torn region, boy did they find one! Why we, the public, never hear of these things happening in our world amazes me. We think we are an informed civilisation but all we really know is what the media let us know. So much more is happening beyond media coverage!! The civilian death toll of the Sudanese Civil war is one of the highest of any war since 1945. We are talking over 2 million lives and 4 million who have fled their homes. Yet how many of us even know details of this conflict? Just check the website www.invisiblechildren.com, if you want a copy of the DVD let me know and I will get one to you!!
Even letting others know, is doing something to help..

So Fast

Matt: The weeks just fly by out here, already Amanda has been and gone, but lots of fun was had by all. Was great to see you Darby! See you in London soon.

Had a slightly less active week this week, working hard but still getting out and about socially!
We went for Friday Brunch at Yulumba, which was really nice and lots for fun. I've included a few photos.


Jo and Fiona: The Pout Queens strike a pose.

Ladies (at this point) drinking Champagne

Boys turn to pose.

The Hardcore croud, who made it to the end.

Fun Weekend

Matt: Amanda is back YEY!! and it shows in my eyes!! Miss Darby has come back to Dubai for a vacation. Say goodbye to sleep!
That being said, only one of my late nights has been her responsibility, so far!

Had a great week though - I was just off out Snowboarding after my last post, so I have enclosed a picture!! Starting to get the hang of it now!

Sami turned 32 and Vanda turned 21 (again)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEEPS!!

So we celebrated with a big party on Thursday night (which was really nice) and we also went out for something good to eat last night (Sunday). Added to the birthday list was Chris, we went Go Karting to celebrate his, which was lots of fun! Lindsey is a very determined driver and good too!

Jeremy, Helen and little Tom are packing up thier lifes to move to Doha, so we had a leaving bash at thiers on Friday night, Wishing you guys lots of luck out there. You're gonna be missed!

Also went to Wild Wadi for the day, with Andrea, Giuseppe and Alessia. Climbing with Mark, Chris and Aimee.. So another eventful weekend! Back to work for a rest...

Normality

Matt: Back to reality! It's been a while since I got back from Sri Lanka now and life has pretty much returned to normal. I haven't posted in a while as I figure you had enough to read with my babblings about Sri Lanka.
This last week has been, different! Work has been good, very productive, although one of my good friends at work is leaving, Helen, which is sad!! She'll be missed! She was a great girl to work with!

The weekend has been very busy so far. Thursday: Went out with James, Lindsey, Sami, Vanda and Lindsey's brotherr and his Girlfriend who are over on holiday at the moment!! We had a nice meal at Al fresco an Italian joint in the Crown Plaza then headed to Emirates towers for a few drinks and onto Harry Ghatto's *smirk* has to be seen!!
Friday: Was eventful - had a late morning as didn't get in till gone 2am. Then went for brunch with a bunch of friends from work, 12hours eat as much as you like!!! :S
Only stayed for 3 hours though as I was heading to a beach party with Naomi and the Italian crew. Then we skipped on from there to join another party our friend was having!! Geez another late one.. Today: I've been to the gym and chilled by the pool for a few hours, now I'm heading out to go snowboarding and then the Italian crew have invited me over for an proper home cooked Italiann meal - Result!! Can't wait! Hope all is well with you all.. the slopes are calling, going from 44 degs to -1.. Shocker!!

Alessia meditating in the back of a Wrangler...

Naomi, Me and the Italian Crew..