Stage 9 - 21st February to 9th March

So back to Dubai! I am supposed to be doing some consultancy for the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank on Six Sigma but they decide they have too many initiatives underway so they decide to postpone mine until Q4 leaving me with the cost of hotels for 11 days in Dubai. I do have one day's work for Dragon Oil on the 12th March then I have to be in Abu Dhabi for the 18th March to deliver 3 training programmes for ADCB on service excellence so we decide to cancel the hotel booking in Dubai - it's a business hotel - and move to the Crowne Plaza hotel on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi for the rest of our stay.

The last couple of weeks has been interesting both professionally and personally. From the professional point of view it's been a source of satisfaction to deliver an operations management course for 17 delegates from so many different sectors and countries - one delegate was head of the Royal Saudi Arabian Airforce - and a Service Excellence Course for 21 delegates, 8 of whom were from Saudi Airline.

Dianne's birthday was on the 24th February but that was a working day so we postponed celebrations until the 27th when we had a table at the Amal restaurant at the Amani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa overlooking the fountain. Not the best food in my opinion but Dianne loved it and I agree it was a special experience but at over £500 for the night a bit expensive.

On the 6th March we went to an Eric Clapton concert at Media City, Dubai. An open air concert, standing only, but a great experience. I've seen him several times before in the UK and he never disappoints.

Last night, the 8th March, we met a friend of mine - Anne McDougal - who is an international trainer working in the Middle East. We met at the Grosvenor House hotel at the Dubai mariner, where the Bhuda Bar is. Another great night in a fabulous location. So today was a quiet day, pool, reading...oh, and one conference call for an hour with ADCB!

looking up at the tallest building in the world from floor 3

Dining table at the Amani hotel

and a rare picture of me!

The Dubai Fountain

The Fountain again

and again

The Saddhatar restaurant at the Grosvenor House hotel, Dubai Marina

The bar at the Saddhatar restaurant overlooking the marina

I bought this without reference to Dianne - I like it and it fits!

The Clapton Concert, Dubai 

The band

The slow hand!

Stage 8 - 16th & 20th February 2014

Bahrain is one of the few Middle East countries we have not been to so we were looking forward to adding a different stamp to our passports! We arrived in the afternoon of the 16th February and checked in to the rather grand Intercontinental Regency Hotel in Manama - probably one of the best hotels I've stayed in - and managed to upgrade so we had access to the Club Lounge - I'm a platinum member of this group of hotels so the upgrade was free! 

We didn't do much on the day of arrival except a quick trip to look at the Souk, which we heard was a bit special, and it was. In fact, Bahrain is a bit special: very real, very liberal, it felt, well, normal. I'd go there again.

The Souk in Manama, Bahrain.

On the 17th February we had a free day so did some site seeing - the Fort, the National Museum and the Bahrain Fort Archaeological excavations carried out since 1954 have unearthed antiquities from an artificial mound of 12 m (39 ft) height containing seven stratified layers, created by various occupants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Kassites, Portuguese and Persians. It was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization and awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. It was a good place for photographs though when we were there it was a little hazy so the results were not too good.

On the 18th February I started a 3-day operations management programme for a Bahrain Credit; my course was one of several delivered to a group known as 'future leaders'.  Nice group, enjoyed their company and feedback was good.

Dianne outside the National Museum

At the entrance to the Fort, which is seen in the background

Overlooking the Fort excavations towards Manama

Dianne at the highest point

Another view of the city from the Fort

More of the excavations

Time for home....

Stage 7 - 14th February 2014

We left Thailand with some reluctance, it's a very special place; we would love to stay longer but I'm afraid work is calling! I've had some changes to my work schedule so, instead of flying directly to Qatar we now have to stay in Dubai for a few days before travelling to Bahrain where I need to be on the 16th February.

The only flight from Phuket to Dubai is an overnight flight, overnight flights we always seek to avoid but on this occasion there is no alternative. The flight leaves at 12:30 am so we arrive at the airport in order to be at the check-in desk when it opens so we can ask about upgrading - we feared there would not be many seats available in Business Class and, if we left it too late, we might miss them. And, sure enough, there was only two seats left but the plan worked and we managed - after some debate - to book them, one with my airmiles for the other one we had to pay cash but we paid nowhere near the amount we would have paid if we booked Business Class originally.

So, as a result, the flight was comfortable - flat beds with Champagne and fine wine served with the meals. Dianne watched a few movies while I attempted to sleep or doze, with some success. After a 7 hour flight the time difference meant our arrival time in Dubai was about 4:00 am local time but we had a hotel car pick us up so we were in bed for a few hour's sleep soon after landing. We didn't sleep for long so managed to have some breakfast before the dining room closed.

The 14th February was St Valentine's so we booked a table at our favourite restaurant which I had a special menu which included drinks in the package - it didn't let us down.

We didn't do much in Dubai, just relaxed but Bahrain was working though we did manage a trip to the movies to see Gravity - great special effects, especially in 3D.

The Menu