Thoughts on Farewell Parties

I want to share with you my few thoughts on Q's farewell parties (Apr 27th and 28th). From the party at Pallas pub, I must say both Q and I were pleasantly surprised with the great turn-out and overwhelmed by the amount of TLC that night. Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I particuarly appreciate your effort of getting to know me better. For those of you who couldn't make to the event, I want to share the video clip with you - it's called "Q is Good for You!" and it contains a series of photos from Q's "terrible past". I hope you will enjoy it! :) And for some actions from the party, here are some photos taken by Jeroen.

Another great party was hosted by Wads and Bart (N.B. Q's parents) in their house. Oh, you should've seen their wonderful spring garden, so many bright colors, different layers and scents - such a feast of senses! It was very warm to meet with the close family friends who watched Q grow up. My apologies to the guests for being so tired that night, I felt bad that I couldn't talk with you more and get to know you better. Oh, and please do share some stories of Q's "terrible past" with me next time. :)

Final thought. It was interesting to realize that even though Wads, Bart, Q and I were together for the farewell party in Den Haag, yet a week later when Q was flying to Abu Dhabi, Bart was on his way home from Paris, I was already back in Toronto, and Wads was in Den Haag still. So from one location to four within a week - such an exciting and dynamic time in our lives!

The big day!

May 4, 2007, the *big* day... I slept very little, basically because I wasn't done packing, what else is new :)

Woke up at 6 and started finishing the last few things, we left for the airport at 10.30. We rode 2 cars, my mom with Mark and me with Cindy. But that was not all. What can I say... touched by so many people who came to see me off, or was it just to make sure I'd leave the country? ;) thank you, my mom, Isabelle, Sandra, Hassan, Cindy, Maarten, Donny, Lizzy, Kathy and Mark, for making it so special. I later learned that the whole group went for lunch at Maarten's place. Gosh, making me jealous already :)

I was a little (understatement) worried about my luggage. I had 'quite a lot' of stuff to bring, although I had tried to pack as much stuff in the container that was going to be shipped to me by sea. All in all I checked in 36 kg (I was allowed 30 kg) without a glitch. Glad they didn't weigh my handcarry. I had two, one was around 13 kg and my other (with all my camera equipment and laptop) was around the same.... hehe... I managed to get away with it, luckily.

After going through customs the next thing was duty free shopping. Going to a muslim country it is always tricky how much, if any, alcohol to bring. And since alcohol is difficult to get, and if you can get it: expensive! I decided to see what I could bring and stock up! 4 litres in total! You betcha I brought the full monty. Mark can be proud of me, I also got a nice single malt Macallan whiskey sample pack and a nice bottle of Jameson 18 yrs. I've tried 2 out of 4 so far, and yum! Mark: you know what to bring when you come over...

I flew the national airline, KLM and had a good seat with plenty of legroom. It was almost direct, it made a quick stopover at Bahrain, very close to UAE. After that to Abu Dhabi.

Welcome All!

Welcome everybody!

This is the blog that Shu and I will use to keep you posted on what's happening in the sandpit! For those who don't know us: we are Shu and Q, two 'Chinos' (as the Cubans called us when we met there in 2004) moving to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates!

If you wish to be e-mailed when this blog is updated, please leave a comment or mail either one of us!

Enjoy!