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Showing posts from November, 2022

Dinner at Atelier M

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  Pleasantly surprised by tonight’s choice of dinner venue. Atelier M is French Mediterranean (approximately).  I had the seafood pizza which included scallops, lobster (sort of), shrimp, and unagi (eel).  Still don’t know what the “M” stands for but everything was outstanding. This place is located next door to our apartment building. Located on the top floor of Pier 7, a cylindrical building on the water with restaurants on every floor, Atelier has 2 floors, the second of which is rooftop dining with disco lights.  It appears to be quite a happening place later in the evening! From their website — “Atelier M's founder and Chef Mohammad Islam entered the world of luxury dining through the Ritz-CarIton Chicago, then with the French icon Chef Jean-Georges and followed by a successful stint at the renowned Chateau Marmont. Under Chef Mohammad Islam's vision, Atelier M has no other ambition than to become the most beautiful place in Dubai to enjoy all the pleasures of c...

The Perch

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Just scored these sweet chairs on our recent shopping expeditions.  Many a new adventure will be planned from here!  Not much sightseeing lately. Most of our activity has been settling in - unpacking, organizing, furniture shopping, etc. Been spending a lot time in Ubers and below are car pics taken to and from our shopping trips . . . . Dubai is full of interesting buildings, most of which have been built in the past 20yrs. Building approval is only granted to unique designs that will add to the skyline. Below are a few . . . . The Taj Hotel at Jumeirah Lakes Towers. Never been there but I see it all the time on our excursions. It always reminds me of a Lego building.  This is another residential tower - 23 Marina. At 88 stories, it is the 4th tallest building in Dubai and is the 6th tallest residential building in the world. It has 57 swimming pools! HQ for the Landmark Leisure Group, a division of a major retail conglomerate that includes Benetton, Guess, L’Oreal, and ...

Persian Gulf Fishing

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Spent the afternoon and evening fishing with our friends on a charter boat.  That’s me holding a 4ft yellow tail barracuda. We caught many other fish as well, including emperors, bream, catfish, and an impressively sized squid. Our crew grilled our catch on the boat at the end of the trip and we enjoyed some very fresh seafood. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

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  Today is a day of thanks. So, before I start, let me first say how grateful Julie & I are for our friends and family. Your engagement and support means the world to us. You make the distance tolerable and ground us with a sense of home.  The opportunity we have been given has been extraordinary.  We are experiencing something incredible and are getting spoiled.  Our area is a bit like the Seaport in Boston, which will make this tough to match at a reasonable price when we finally return home.  Tonight we celebrated American Thanksgiving  at the Chicago Meat Packing Bar & Grill (CMP) out on the outer Palm. We were treated to a show of lighted dancing fountains every 30 minutes set to a variety of music from around the world.  I’m told these are the largest dancing fountains in the world . . . .  but a few weeks ago, I was told the fountains 6 miles away were the largest in the world?  . . . Hmmm? . . .  Our meal wasn’t quite hom...

Creating “Home”

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  This is the ceiling of one section of the Mall of the Emirates (where they have the ski slope). I wasn’t here today but it was a cool pic related to shopping. Today, I bought a kickass desk - boring as it sounds, it will be the staging area of my fledgling photography hobby. Also scored a couple of killer ratan balcony chairs so we can survey the Marina at night from our perch!

Dinner at Cargo

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Sunset dinner at Cargo, our Asian restaurant next door.  That’s our building on the left. Below is a pic of me holding the largest glass of Hoegaarden outside of Belgium, along with the yachts below our table. We finally got our “sea shipment” delivered yesterday (ie. all of our furniture).  Also, had a productive visit to IKEA to supplement what we have. Lots of unpacking in store for tomorrow while Julie figures out the finances for the Middle East!

The Palm Jumeirah

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  Probably the most iconic image of Dubai, the Palm Jumeirah didn’t even exist 22 years ago.  Started in 2001 and completed in 2006-2009 (depending on one’s definition of “complete”), it now boasts some of the most expensive real estate in Dubai, which is saying a lot!  One villa on Frond G sold for $82M last July, setting a record.  Over 60,000 people currently live on the Palm Jumeirah, whose name loosely translates to “beautiful palm” in Arabic. It also boasts over 32 hotels, including the famed Atlantis (yes, the same company as the one in the Bahamas. Also, almost identical architecture with Arabesque arches added for good measure). “The Palm,”as we call it, is one of the largest land reclamation projects in history, comprised of enough sand and rock that could circle the earth 3 times over at a height of 2 meters!  The Boothbay code enforcement officer would definitely not approve!  The Palm was built at a cost of $12B using GPS satellites to exact it...

Our Week in Boston

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  Had a whirlwind trip back home, our first since moving to Dubai 2 months ago.  Lots of laughs and great visits with family and friends, culminating in our niece Katie’s wedding. Sharing some pics of our visit. The photo above was taken on Commonwealth Avenue (aka Comm Ave) with the John Hancock tower in the background.  Have to admit, it doesn’t seem as tall as it used to! Whoa!  You don’t see that in Dubai. In a lucky moment, I caught a glimpse of my beer truck pulling up to the hotel. (They knew I was staying for a few days!)  And yes, Andre, that’s Belgian beer, made in Maine.  Apparently, this is now a thing. It’s a new building on the outskirts of Boston, up past Fenway. Not sure what it is but they are taking a page out of the Dubai playbook.  The Eliot Hotel with the Harvard Club on the right. We stayed here the last 3 nights and celebrated the wedding St. Cecelia’s church in Boston. Wedding venue City Bar in the Back Bay.  Note the dozen...