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A Grand Week
It started 4 or 5 weeks ago with our last testing session before the ban on testing came into effect at Al Ain Raceway. We tested with the same engine and chasses that would be run in the Grand Finals Junior and Senior class, Briel and CRG respectively. On that last testing weekend an American junior driver showed up in Al Ain with a crew of seven mechanics, trainers and telemetry people! We were a bit shocked and wondered what the rest of the competition would be like.
The Grand Finals week finally arrived and Amanda and I had 5 people staying at our house, Suleiman, Abdullah, Sanad, Sultan and Noah. The hotels in Al Ain were at maximum capacity since 262 drives from 60 countries were in town for the Finals. Since each driver had what was likely an average of two or 3 people supporting them we had upwards of a 1000 people in Al Ain for the week.
After two days of registration and lotteries to receive the Karts the festivities kicked off with the Welcome party at the Hilton Hotel. Most people took it pretty easy since there was still lots of practice and racing to do but it was a good chance to mingle a little bit and check out the competition. Mojo staged tire change competition and a Japanese mechanic managed all four tires on the rims and then back off in 29 seconds! It was incredible to see this skinny guy smash the times of some of the larger bodybuilder mechanics! Maybe the best part of the night was the free drinks thanks to Gina.
The Mid week party and buffet was again at the Hilton. This time Suli and I put back a few more drinks as did a few other! Some I cant name since Islam and Ethanol don’t mix well, LOL. I don’t remember the fellas name but I had a beer with an engineer and longtime Tony Kart employee that ran Michael Schumacher when he karted as a youngster and now he does the same for Schuey’s his son. I also got to have a long chat with one of the three Emirati brothers that own Al Ain Raceway.
After the main practice day both of my boys, Sanad and Abdullah were ranked 8th out of 75 in each of their respective classes, senior max and junior max, no to freaking bad at all!
Trouble in qualifying. Sanad hit top spot for a few laps at the 7 minute mark of the 15 min qualifier but spun on a rumble strip (curb) on what he believed was his best hot lap. Later when we looked at his telemetry Sanad indeed was on pace to set his fastest lap since each sector of that lap recorded his fastest split time except for the last sector when he spun out. Sanad settled for 7th overall which is excellent since there were 75 drivers in his class but he knew he blew it on what should have been his best lap! Abdullah also had troubles. After being 8 out of 75 in practice he was feeling pretty confident on maintaining a top 10 in qualifying but had a bearing freeze on the rear axle which made a rear tire lift way to high and he was super loose. He is actually a very clever driver and still managed 15th over all were most kids would have not been able to drive around the problem and ended up last.
Back luck in the heats. Sanad and Abdullah both had two out of three heats with DNF’s or finishes in the bottom 30 due to being shunted from behind. Even though penalties were issued to the drivers that caused the wrecks it didn’t help the position of our two drivers who ended up having to try and make the Final via the last chance qualifier. Abdullah was actually the fastest (quickest lap) in third round of heats but more bad luck had him drop from 2 to 30 in the last chance qualifier
We also hosted a BBQ at our house and had about 30 people show up including all our friends from Oman, a bunch of local |Emirati drivers and supporters, even a sheik!. We had a feast of steak, chicken, humous, bread, salad, olives, and cake for birthday boy Mohamed Al Dhaheri. Suli and I can prepare a damn fine BBQ if I don’t say so myself.
On the the second to last day of racing I got to take a spin in my dram sports car a 2010 Nissan GTR. This isn’t your normal GTR as this on looks stock from the outside (other than being lowered) but this one puts out 840hp, that’s at least double the amount from stock. The owner Ali Al Dhaheri really let it rip to, I was in heaven and it was the fastest street car I have been in. We just happened to come across a Hyabussa sport bike and had a little street race! We killed the bike.
We didn’t qualifying for Finals but that didn’t stop us from having a nice Desert BBQ. Mohamed, Ali and Sultan put on a feast in the middle of the desert. One of their friends brought a Falcon. We had goat and chicken for dinner and of course Arabic coffee and tea on the camp fire.
The Finals were good but less eventful than the heats with much cleaner starts. There were a few close battles but a few leaders got a break away win while larger packs battled for second spot giving the leader lots of breathing room. There were 262 drives in the parade which was quite the spectacle.
We all said good bye at the “Drivers Party” at the Intercon (Danat) in which more than 500 people attended a formal dinner and then night club style dance. It was a week we wont soon forget and we look forward to doing it all again in Portugal for next years Grand Finals!
Sand Safari
Well we have been living in the middle of the desert for more than 2 years now but have never actually been “into” the desert. Amanda and I finally got around to booking the trip with our good friend Paul Masterman. The trip started at the Hilton hotel at 4PM and went until about 10PM. We were picked up in a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser that was tricked out with roll cage, air compressor, jack, shovel, first aid and all the things you might need in case of emergency while exploring the dunes of Abu Dhabi. After a cruise 1/2 way from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi city we veered off in the middle of the farm lands and began our trek into the dunes! After stopping at a camel farm to let the air out of the tires in the land cruiser we started our roller coaster ride! It is a bit tough to describe but it is like a roller coaster except maybe not quite as safe. Luckily our driver had 18 years experience driving the dunes for tourists in the UAE. Some of the dunes are massive and it takes a full run at full throttle to get up on to the crest of the dunes and turn back down just before you feel like you are going over the top. I would say it is actually a cross between roller coaster, motor cross, surfing and skiing the way the truck carves back and forth through valleys and around bowls. The driver made it seem easy but you can tell that one wrong move or if you stall or stop the truck in the wrong place then you will roll down a 100ft dune! During our dune surfing session we stopped a couple of times to let the engine cool down and took advantage to take a few photographs. Once the sun set we headed to a makeshift fort/camp in the middle of nowhere and met about 20 other land cruisers full of tourists. I must say we didn’t see another vehicle or life form during our sand blasting run but it was tourist central back at the fort. The rest of the adventure was interesting but were all things we have experienced since living in the middle east, well with the exception of the snowboarding run that Amanda made on the dune beside the camp. There was a lebanese/arabic style bbq, sheesha, local dress-up area, henna painting for the ladies and then it was all capped of with a belly dancer spectacle. All in all a good time and something we will do again when family and friends come to visit. The picture here is during a rest in the safari action just before sunset. The shot is with the kit lens at 25mm on our canon 50D. Amanda took the exposure and I spent a little time in photoshop to clean it up a bit
Dubai Hotel
This shot was taken in 2009 in Dubai. This is the hotel that is adjacent to Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa. I used the kit Lens on a Canon Rebel XT. It was a single exposure only so the HDR treatment isn’t as good as it could be. I used Fhotoroom’s Dramatic plugin filter in photoshop. I didn’t know anything about HDR at the time but I believe that certain shots really make good candidates for the HDR style. To do it properly you should use a tripod and bracket your shots for three exposures. I am sure I will be back at this location in the future so I wouldn’t mind shooting the area again since there are lots of interesting things to look at at the foot of Burj Khalifa.
Old Muscat Souq
Both Amanda and I agree that Muscat Oman is one of the coolest places we have ever visited. It is also the home of of the my closest friends Sulieman Al Rawahi and his family which makes it an even more fun place to visit. One area of the city has been preserved in traditional style and architecture and has a very old souq that we love to visit and haggle with the shop keepers for perfumes, frankincense and clothes. This shot is again from 2009 during our first visit and is from the wall of a silver shop in the heart of the labyrinth like maze of the traditional souq.
K-bub
Kaleb at Kist Beach in 2011 during our trip home to Canada. We love visiting Melissa and Damien and their twin girls not only because they are great to hang out with and eat great food and drink fine wine but they also live in an area of Vancouver that is fun to hangout on a summer day! With kits beach a 2 minute walk and Granville Island not much further an afternoon walk is always a highlight. Here is Kaleb playing in the sand while Emily and Carter swam in the ocean. The shot is called “K-bub” as we call him that more than his real name thanks to our Niece Rylie who nicknamed him when he was only a month old and she was learning to talk!
Princess Ball
The Princess (and Prince) Ball is a fundraiser for a local start-up school, Sunflower Nursery, here in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. Amanda was actively involved in this event for a couple of reasons but it all initially came to be because our Daughter Emily who is handi-capable with Down Syndrome was accepted to enroll in this school. A really long story short is that kids like Emily do not have a lot of opportunity to attend school here and you have to work hard to make it happen. In the end Sunflower was not able to expand in size and enrollment as we had hoped so Emily could not officially attend this year. However the owner of the school is kind enough to allow us to use some space, unofficially, at the school for Emily to receive private tuition and for that we are extremely thankful. The Princess ball is a dance and activity day for kids and they get to dress up in their best dress to have an enchanted day at a Royal Ball. I took these two shots of the kids just after they got ready for the Ball and were still waiting for Amanda to get dressed. I was staying home with Kaleb that day. The pictures were taken in Amanda’s natural light studio we have started to work on in a well sun-lit room upstairs in our villa (also known once as Jody’s office!). I’ll be honest, Carter is easy to shoot and Emily is extremely challenging so I was very happy to grab these candid shots in the first two takes! This was with our Canon 50D and kit lends, no flash, no lights, window light only.
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Posted in fun
Kits Beach
This shot of Emily at Kits beach was taken in the Summer of 2011 while we were visiting Amanda’s sister Melissa and her husband Damien and their 4 month old twin babies in Vancouver BC. They live in a 100 year old character house on the block right next to Kitsilano Beach. It is a great spot to live and is also only a short walk from Granville Island Market so it is not only fun to visit family but the location makes it fun to do lots of things while visiting. This picture is actually a composite of two shots. I wanted to have Emily as the main subject in the foreground but to get her to fit the frame the way I wanted it required a focal length that was quite wide. The first exposure was decent, she looked good, great color and the sand looks crisp but the hills of North Vancouver and the buildings of the downtown Vancouver core we very small and were almost unnoticeable as they disappeared into the distance. While I was still standing in exactly the same place as the first exposure focusing on Emily (at 20mm) I zoomed in to 85mm and took another shot of the downtown core and North Van. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and grey to the North so combining the two shots didn’t work perfectly but the result is satisfactory. I would actually like to try the same type setup again on a clearer day but that will have to wait until I am back on that side of the planet. In Photoshop I selected the waterline where it meets the sand and cut out the water and background from the first shot of Emily. In the second shot I did exactly the opposite and cutout the foreground sand. Because I took both shots from the same spot one right after the other the shorelines lineup nicely and made combing the two shots easy. The result is a good shot of Emily and having the boats and downtown Vancouver larger than life and more visible. I can’t wait to visit Lissy, Damien and the babies again in the Summer of 2012 so I can get a few more cuddles and take better advantage of the picturesque location. The shots were taken on a Canon 50D and 17-75mm kit lens.
Work hard, eat clean (II)
Ok so here is Part II of the “Work Hard, Eat Clean” post. Last time I talked a bit about what to eat and specially WHEN to eat. I lost weight by initially keeping portions low but since shedding a few pounds I wanted to gain some lean muscle mass and strength and then the when becomes just as important. I try to be religious about pre- and post-workout meals and my workout intensity. If you don’t bust your ass in the gym you are wasting your time from a hard-gainers perspective. So before I get into a generalized workout I want to list some bullet points regarding the philosophy and attitude I take with me to the gym…BTW you wont see a bunch of cardio routines here, this is because I have two intensive rugby training sessions a week (1.5 hours each) and usually one 80 min game per week. If I was not playing rugby I would incorporate spinning or skipping using the HIIT principle (google it). The picture here is of Kaleb taken with my Canon 50D and kit lens. The depth is again faked off in photoshop with focalpoint since my lens is only capable of f5.6. The picture is relevant to this article because I plan on being healthy enough in my 50′s and 60′s to out-lift this “little” guy in the gym and to knock him around on the pitch or on the court until he is well into his 20′s (well at least late teens, LOL). (click to read more about the workout) Continue reading
Desert farm
One of my male students from last semester offered to take our family to his farm. All Emiratis have an opportunity to have a farm and land subsidized (or free). So I took him up on it and he drove us 30 mins out of town towards Abu Dhabi to what was literally the middle of the desert. They have a huge plot of land, likely 5-6 acres, tonnes of date palms, probably a hundred goats, a few camels, cows, chickens plus a bunch of different vegetables. The kids loved it and they got to run with the goats, hold baby goats and chicks etc. The picture on the left of the camel was taken with the kit lens on my Canon 50D, the depth of field is faked off in photoshop with a plugin called focalpoint (since I cant achieve that depth with my f5.6 kit lens)
After the farm we went back to his family’s house in Al Ain. He has seven sisters and his mom and dad staying at the house. So they have a team of maids, drivers and gardeners etc. About 5 of my other students also showed up and we had a traditional feast. The house is gigantic, I only saw the reception room (majalis) which was massive and the adjacent dining room which is also very large. 
The living room had enough couches and big chairs around the outside to seat about 35 people or so. For dinner there are cushions around the perimeter of the room but essentially no furniture. We sat on the floor and ate in the middle of the room. We had goat. I mean a whole goat, all parts of the goat! It was served on enough rice to feed 50 people (not exaggerating) on a platter that was at least 1 meter in diameter. We also had tabullah and fatoush of course (Lebanese-style salads) as well as yogurt and vegetables. The best part is that everyone just kneeled down and started digging into the platter and salad with their bare hands. No plates, no cutlery! It was a bit crazy and took awhile to get used to. We at best ate about 10% of the food. The guys teased Carter with the Goats head. We also had some interesting talks, like how photo radar causes accidents and how enzymes from your hands help with digestion. After dinner we had mint tea and dates and a game of cards. Amanda was able to join us (the boys) for lunch but also spent time with all the women in the house, who of course I did not see or hear. The second picture is of Carter in his dishdash walking to see the animals with my student Abdullah.
Triple victory!
It was a wild weekend for both the Al Ain Amblers 1st XV RFC and the Oman Karting Team. Unfortunately my rugby season and my Karting team have huge scheduling conflicts this year so it killed me to miss the Karting trip to Dubai to play rugby at home, but apparently the Al Rawahi’s didn’t need me as both Sanad and Abdullah won their classes at the Dubai Kartdrome for round two of the UAE Rotax Max Challenge. Both drivers put in near flawless efforts while notching up pole positions and Final event wins in their respective Rotax Max classes, Jr. and Sr. Max. After Sanad’s win in Sr. Max and a perfect day in all rounds he was quoted after trophy presentations, “I had a very good day today. Our kart is new so we were getting used to it, but I am very happy to be able to win all three races including the final. I feel we can get even better as we play with setup. So all in all very happy with this win and the way things went today.” Abdullah had a bit more work cut out for him in Jr. Max as there are several talented drivers all capable winning on any particular day with no less than three previous karting champions in the pre-teen categories. In qualifying, reigning Rotax Max Junior Champion Abdullah Al Rawahi set the pace and claimed pole. In the heat race Abdullah had his hands full and came home third, however Abdullah regained his intense focus and took the Pre-final victory as well as the Main event win! Al Rawahi said at the end of a tough day, “I want to thank my father and the whole team. They gave me a great kart and I am very happy to win here at the Kartdrome.”
Back home in Al Ain I started for the 1st XV at #5 (lock) and had a punishing game against Trevor Leota’s Dubai Wasps. The teams were evenly matched and it took a lot of tough tackles, hard drives and heavy contact by our forwards to stick to our game plan. We drew first blood but the wasps quickly answered with a try and penalty to take the lead. We have been focusing in training on a very simple set of plays designed to draw in the opposition and setup our backs while at the same time allowing us to slow the play down so our forwards can reset after each breakdown. It all payed off and we kept control of the game for pretty much the entire 80 mins and answered the Wasps mid game surge with back to back trys of our own, by former New England Patriot and 2001 SuperBowl ring owner Scott McReady. In the end we held on to win 19 to 18. Last week I secured Man of the match with some descent play and this week, while the MOM went to McReady, I was again was honored with a beer during the post-game awards for Dedication on the Pitch with a series of heavy hits which sent some of the opposition off teh pitch and for playing hurt (shoulder) for the last 40 mins. The picture here from the 2009/2010 season is with my Rebel XT and cheap 70-200 tele lens. The exposure is 1/2000 sec (super sunny) at 200mm f5.6. I like the shot because it captures both Sanad and Abdullah from two years ago when they were both in the Jr. Max class. In this shot Mohammed Al Dehari is also in the picture with his DD2 and their number plates are all lined up nicely as they exit the last corner of the 1.6 km track and head down the front straight toward the start/finish.
Work hard, eat clean!
I have had a few requests to publish what I eat in a day. Not that I am in elite shape or anything but for those that have known me for longer than 5 years or so, they will know how out of shape and fat I was. I think at my heaviest I was about 290-295 lbs. I stopped getting on the weight scales at about about 280 and I know I got heavier from there. At a point about 5 years ago I said enough is enough and buckled down and changed things. I have always been going to the gym, at least part time, but my diet was not great and my intensity in the gym was lame. I ate anything I wanted and my portions were massive. Today I am about 225-230 lbs, stronger than I was when I was 18 or 20 years old and able to play Premiere Division and Gulf Conference rugby games for 80 mins at 40 years of age, so I must be doing something right. As I mentioned I dont claim to be a super athlete by any stretch of the imagination but people are curious about how I did it so here it goes…. this is Part I, the diet, (stay tuned for the workouts later in Part II). This inst really a “diet” in that this has been going on long enough to consider it my lifestyle rather than a temporary “diet”.BTW the picture of Carter here having a Guinness at the Al Ain Rugby Club is actually relevant since a few pints contributed to my old belly. Continue reading
Man of the match
On Friday my rugby team, the Al Ain Amblers 1st XV, had our final pre-season test match. It was a home game against TOA Dubai and while we lost the match by 5 points we put on a great show for the fans watching at the Al Ain Rugby Club. I played pretty well and lasted the entire 80 mins which has been a goal of mine since I started last year. Not only did I finish the game out but I secured player of the game for my team, or more commonly refereed to as Man of the Match. That honor felt pretty good as I am 40 and one of the oldest on the team and playing 1st division rugby, even in the UAE, is a bit tough on an old guy like me. A few good tackles, being in the play most of the time and a setup for our only try earned me the MOM. title! The picture here is one I took last year at a Vets game in Al Ain in during a line out. This picture was with a Rebel XT and a cheap sigma 70-200 tele at 5.6, 1/2000.
Posted in sports
Desert BBQ
The weather has been below 40 degrees Celsius for close to a week! This means our winter is almost here and that BBQ season is upon us. Winter here is about5-6 months long and is absolutely beautiful. In the morning and evening you might need a hoodie but you can sport sandals and shorts all day, it really is ideal weather for half of the year. Yes the other half is bloody hot but the winter makes up for it and you can put 360 days of sunny weather to pretty good use. The picture on the left was taken with the kit lens on my Canon 50D while Suli and I were having a few beverages and some grilled meat in the desert sand just outside the Karting facility. With the Rotax Grand Finals coming to town in Nov, I hope to have a few BBQs in the coming weeks with my Omani brothers.
Posted in fun
Dubai mall
Welcome to my blog. I hope to update it often and share some of my photographs, graphic design work and some thoughts and on life here in the Middle East. The Picture on the left is one of the first shots I took here in the middle east with my older Canon Rebel XT back in 2009. It is a single exposure so it has the “HDR” treatment faked-off with PhotoShop. The shot is a group of apartments that is attached to the Dubai Mall at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on earth (and a very large mall, you may of heard of it because of the huge aquarium). They do everything BIG here, well except doing homework, funding research, enforcing safe roadways, having common courtesy in any situation where humans have to queue-up, accountability and work ethic, everything else…is big. That was my passive-aggressive rant for the day!