Saw this in Dubai and had to take a pic. Some poor old soul had nothing better to do with their time.

Ciao for now
Lanthie

So finally back home and will be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Got to the airport early this morning. Spent the obligatory 3 hours roaming about duty free. Eventually gave up on browsing and sat at the boarding gate till our flight was called.

As they called our flight, I once again found myself in tears. I was leaving my son behind again. Don’t know why women are so emotional about this sort of stuff.

The plane was filled with Chinese tourists – made for an interesting flight as non of the stewardesses spoke Mandarin – they did however speak about 20 other languages. After my little emotional outburst, I pretty much sat down and closed my eyes and slept through most of the flight.

Woke up about 3 hours before landing and picked a film to watch – watched Cool Runnings again. What a brilliant film. Have seen it so many times before and it is still funny and entertaining.

So felt much better by the time we landed. It is great to be back on home soil and my mojo is back.

Should be able to get back to blogging from my normal interface tomorrow and hopefully get to read all the recent posts of bloggers on my blog roll. Apologies for not commenting as much as I usually do but Internet connectivity whilst travelling is not ideal. I will catch up within the next few days.

Glad to be back home!

Ciao for now
Lanthie

So the time has come to say good-bye to my son. Thought I would be okay. Had all my feelings in order and accepted that he is here to stay in Dubai. Until I had to say good-bye. Found myself in tears no matter how hard I tried not to.

The last few days have been amazing. It has been so nice to see 3 of my 4 sons interacting and having fun. I am going home slightly bruised and battered from being caught in the cross fire of them play fighting, kicking, punching, and biting each other. (Boys will always be boys.)

The main topic of conversation over the last few days has been about boobs, or wanking, or jacking off or why their zippers can’t stay up due to the size of their you know whats. As a mother of 4 boys, I learnt to tolerate this kind of conversation a long time ago and now just smile.

It was great to be in Dubai again after leaving 4 and a half years ago. Nice to see that they survived the financial crisis and have managed to come out on top. This can only be a positive sign to the rest of the world. Dubai was one of the worst hit back then. It is definitely bigger and better and there is a lot more of a vibe here than there used to be.

Hubby keeps asking if we should move back. Hmmm – very difficult decision. I have become my own person over the last few years. I hate being told what to wear or how to act. I want to show my tits or shoulders off if I want to. Not to mention the number of blogs I have not been able to read over the last week due to them just being blocked. You would be surprised at how many sites are blocked here – and you have no recourse. It is not a democracy – you accept and do as you are told. Yes, everything works, you are in probably one of the safest countries in the world, you are looked after, everyone treats everyone else with respect. But is it worth it? Not so sure when you are a woman!

So I return to South Africa in the morning with a smile on my face. My heart is saddened about leaving my son behind, but I know he is in good hands. (Love you dearly my son!)

Ciao for now
Lanthie

Woke up with butterflies this morning. The day has finally arrived for me to go indoor skydiving.

I am not the most adventurous person and I really don’t like stepping outside of my comfort zone. However, I have opened myself up to trying new things this year and I have promised myself to at least try things. So indoor skydiving was on the list of things to try,

Got to the iFly centre this morning, paid and went upstairs. There were 2 chambers. I stood looking at them and my first impression was that this was going to be easy. The chambers are tiny and don’t look the least but scary – don’t know what I have been worried about. (Pic of a chamber below)

Watched their little instruction video, got changed into a flight suit, put in the earplugs and donned the helmet and goggles. Right – time to go into the chamber.

They would not let son no 2 participate as he has broken his clavicle in the past. Apparently he can go skydiving but the indoor version is a lot more pressure and he could injure himself. So it was hubby and I and son 3 and 4 in the chamber along with the instructor.

Then the doors vacuum lock behind you and the fans start up……. Now you understand what the earplugs are for! The pressure in the whole chamber is building up and the instructor looks at us all to say who is first?

Son no 3 kindly volunteered (thank goodness). So in he goes and all of a sudden it does not look that easy. Every movement you make influences how the wind reacts and how high or low you go or if you go smashing into the sides of the chamber.

He comes out after about 2 or 3 minutes and hubby goes in. Same thing – and it looks like hard work. Then it is a toss up between son no 4 and me. GULP! Should I chicken out now? Luckily son no 4 gets up and goes in. He is like me – also not very adventurous. So if he can do it, I can do it. So once he finishes, I get up and take the first step towards the fan. Point of no return……

I fold my arms in and lean forward into the wind and I am “flying”. It is an amazing feeling. The instructor is guiding me and pulling me and telling me what to do with my arms and legs. It is noisy, there is a lot of pressure and all of a sudden I feel claustrophobic and I can’t breathe! After a minute or so I give the thumbs down. The instructor guides me out. It is definitely quite daunting and very overwhelming. All your senses are on high alert.

Hubby and son no 3 have another go. Son no 4 doesn’t want to go in again. That leaves me! Am I going to give it another try? I swallow hard and reason that I survived the first session so it can’t be any worse that that. I ask to go in for a short time only and once again fold my arms in and lean into the wind.

Finally my turn is up. (Thank goodness). After the second time, I had had enough and did not want to go in again. Definitely a once in a life time experience and I am so glad I did it. I have proved to myself once again that it can be exciting to try new things – even if they are scary.

Afterwards we went 10 pin bowling and had a load of fun. Walked through the mall and had fast food for lunch. Then we went back to the hotel.

This afternoon was spent at the pool again just being lazy and we went out for dinner this evening.

So we had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

We are going up the Burj Khalifa tomorrow morning – the tallest building in the world. Hope to get some good photo’s from up there and hope the cloud cover isn’t too thick.

Ciao for now
Lanthie

Another day in Paradise!

Woke up to a beautiful day – sun was shining and no wind.

We went to the Madinat Souk after breakfast. I was hoping to find a belly dance costume for my debut performance later this year. Spent ages browsing. Managed to find some nice coin belts so I can now make some noise when I jiggle. Eventually found some costumes but they were made for anorexic dancers – I tried one on and lets say that if I wore it, I would have to perform in a strip club – you would definitely get your monies worth! It was good for a laugh anyway. Will now endeavor to find a costume back home.

Went to lunch with family at the hotel which was very pleasant. Always nice to see family you have not seen for ages.

Then went back up to the room to put our swimsuits on and spend the afternoon at the pool. I put a sundress on over my swimsuit (have to watch what you wear here….). While going down in the elevator, I suddenly discovered I had my dress on inside out. Hubby and kids would not let me take it off and put it back on the right way in the elevator. They insisted that no one would notice. So for all those who saw some weird lady walking around the resort today with her dress on inside out – you were not suppose to notice! Managed to slink down to the pool and took it off very quickly. Felt like a right idiot!

Lounged at the pool for a few hours and then went for dinner to a local mall we used to frequent when we lived here. Not really a tourist joint so was nice to be away from the millions of tourists walking around aimlessly.

It is earth hour here tonight so it is almost time to switch off all the lights (or keep your curtains closed). Will be an early night as well for me I think.

Going to iFly tomorrow morning to do some simulated sky diving. I can’t wait. This is something I would not have tried 6 months ago so just goes to show how much I have come out of my shell and challenged myself to try new things. And having the time of my life!

Will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Ciao for now
Lanthie

Finally in Dubai and what a wonderfully city. It felt like home driving from the airport this morning. I lived in Dubai back in 2008 so it is all too familiar to me. It is a concrete jungle in the middle of the desert but quite beautiful and so clean.

When I left at the end of 2008, there was an abundance of deserted building sites after the financial crisis hit Dubai. Dubai was very badly hit back then and it is nice to see how it has recovered. It is looking as good as ever.

Back to my trip. Son no 3 had his 2 cans of AXE deodorant confiscated at check in last night. Had a good laugh at him! Spent 3 hours aimlessly wondering around the airport and finally boarded at 10.20pm. I was so ready for a good night’s sleep by then and in fact sat down, made myself comfortable and closed my eyes.

That was as close as I got to any sleep though. There was a family sitting in front of us with 3 young children. The youngest was about 18 months old and didn’t stop whining all night. There was no crying – just the uttering of the same word over and over and over “mama, mama, mama, mama, mama”. And on it went. I was really ready to throttle the child (I am very tolerant when it comes to kids so this kid was extremely annoying for me to say this).

Landed at 8.30am and was at the hotel in no time. The weather is dreadful. It has threatened to rain all day and has been very overcast. There was no wall of heat that hit us when we walked out the doors of the airport.

Rooms were ready when we got here as well. Unpacked, had a bath and then my son appeared – With a bag full of Cadbury Creme Eggs and Twisters. (So I will be having many happy thoughts over the next few days!)

He looks amazing. It was so good to see him. Has been so nice to see him and his brothers interacting all day and has made me feel like a really proud mum today.

Met up with Hubby’s brother and a friend for lunch at the pool. Pity about the weather and it even started drizzling when we were down there.

Didn’t do too much today and didn’t venture out of the hotel. We are all a little too tired but have a full day planned tomorrow. Hubby already asleep and I suspect kids are asleep in the next room as well – all a bunch of wusses!

No pics just yet as I haven’t ventured out of the hotel. Will get down to taking some pics over the next few days.

Hope you are all having an amazing day!

Caio for now
Lanthie

Making last minute preparations for my trip to Dubai. Still got an hour before we leave for the airport so doing an idiot check. Packed my comfy shoes in the bag and wore my high heels today so thought it may be wise to swop now. (Im one of the few women who dont own 200 pairs of shoes – only a few favourites!). Hubby and kids all ragging me about having to unpack a bag to get my comfy shoes out. They can’t understand what’s the matter with wearing my high heels at the airport and on the plane. Must admit I should have thought about it when I packed at 4am – but then the brain was not quite awake yet (don’t tell them this).

It hasn’t set in yet that I’m going away – felt like a normal day today at work. But suddenly it has kicked in – I’m leaving on a jet plane (there’s a song there somewhere). And I’m going to see my son in the morning. Been an awesome week and doesn’t get much better than this!

I will be blogging about every minute so hope you will all join me on my journey. And please keep the comments and messages coming – makes me feel like you are with me 😉 😉

Caio for now
Lanthie

I am going to Dubai on Wednesday – so excited I feel like blogging!  I have got a load of paperwork to  get through before I leave so a little stressed at the moment.  But not an issue as I am going to see Son no 2.  I have not seen him for quite awhile.

So today I received a call from Emirates Airlines – Firstly confirming my booking on the 20th.  And then asking if we wouldn’t mind changing our booking to the 21st!  Huh?  Really – why would I want to do that?  Anyway – apparently the plane is overbooked and they are trying to bump people. They offered me free tickets to go another time as well.  I stopped and thought about it, and then gladly declined.  I am not going to Dubai for very long and we already have a hectic schedule of things to get done there.  So we are taking bets on whether they bump us anyway.

Schedule currently looks like this:

• Thursday – Relaxing day at the pool
• Friday – Relaxing day at the Atlantis Water Park / Kids going to a beach party in the afternoon
• Saturday – Shopping at the Souk (for Belly Dancing gear)
• Sunday – Simulated Skydiving – Yes you read this right.  I am once again challenging myself to come out of my comfort zone and do something unusual.  I am actually looking forward to it! (Will post pics)
• Monday – Burj Khalifa – Have made a booking to go all the way to the top!  (Will take pics from the top of the world)
• Tuesday – We come back home

I am sitting here reading this out to my sons – Son no 1 and his wife are over for dinner tonight.  He has just asked where he can get the ransom money from as I am posting exactly when and where we are going and he is concerned we may be kidnapped!  (PS – ask for South Africa Rands – we have no dollars!)