Visit to Aldar HQ

Graham, Charlie, and I finally had a chance to see the Aldar HQ building up close and personal.  We have been calling this the "Coin Building" from Day 1 since we arrived in Abu Dhabi.

A good friend of ours works in this building which is how we managed to get access to it.  There is a valet service and the attendant wouldn't take my car until I told him which company our friend worked for!

Happy boys!!!  We were not able to take any photos inside the building so we spent lots of time taking photos outside :-)

Graham actually had a Home Learning project to write: "Write 5 facts about an interesting building in the UAE."  I think this building definitely qualifies as "interesting"!

We-fie opportunity!

Graham had a fun time playing with the reflection of the building:

Charlie on the other hand enjoyed walking along the railing:

Thank you to our friend John for the tour of Aldar HQ!

International Week at school

The boys' school celebrated International week last week.  There was a food festival this past Wednesday and the children were able to dress up in their national outfits or flag colors.  What a lovely sight with all the vibrant colors!  I managed to borrow a Baju Kebaya - a traditional Malay outfit.  Graham represented the USA with his red, white, and blue colors and Charlie represented Malaysia with his printed shirt from my home-state of Sabah (Borneo).

The boys had a chance to parade around the field.  Here is Charlie. He did such a great job waving his flag and waving to the crowd:

After that was over and done with, we were waiting for Graham's turn to parade around the field. So many kids representing so many countries! While we wait, time for a selfie.  Cheeky Charlie!

My camera battery ended up dying when I was trying to take Graham's photo. So I took one with my phone after he was done with the parade. Happy camper despite the heat!

Once all that was said and done, we hit the Malaysian food stand:

So much food!  These Malay moms can really cook!  I did not contribute last year so I decided to try and make some pineapple tarts this year - supposedly quite a popular treat during Chinese New Year in Malaysia.  Wow... didn't realize how tedious it was! It takes quite some time to cook down the pineapple puree, but I finally figured it out after an earlier test batch. Larger pan and higher heat!!!

And then, it's a matter of making the perfect dough to fill the pineapple:

Charlie did help (a little :-)

By the 200th pineapple tart, I think I was really starting to get the hang of it!  

Although, I think this might be it for the rest of the year. Ha ha ha!  The boys really did enjoy them though. The dough has a shortbread consistency - made with lots of butter, condensed milk, and flour.  I think I gained a few pounds this past week eating these!

What a great experience for the boys (and me too!) to be able to taste food from other countries during this food festival. And perhaps someday, we will be able to visit the real Sphinx!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Rooster!

This year, we are back at the Galleria Mall for CNY celebrations.  Such pretty decor!

I need to work on Graham's smile!

We invited another family to join us for the night but instead of Chinese, we opted for some Italian for dinner.  The food was actually quite yummy but service was not so great.  Charlie LOVES calamari!  Here he is squeezing in the lemon:

After dinner, we catch a little bit of the acrobatics and then, ice cream at Haagen Dazs.  YUM!!!

Quite the crowd in front of the stage:

We managed to keep the boys up late for the 9pm fireworks.  It was spectacular! And quite loud... poor Charlie:

Graham and Charlie wanted to stay and watch the next stage performance.  Traditional lion dance and modern Rooster dance??!?

If anything, the view by the water is spectacular with all the CNY lights and lanterns:

Abu Dhabi skyline in backdrop:

The next day, it is the first day of Chinese New Year.  Bobby and I have golf in the afternoon but I was determined to hand-make some dumplings for dinner. So it seems that I am able to make about 50 dumplings in under 30 minutes :-)

I had to make the next 50 dumplings after golf.  Yummy in my tummy!!!

Graham only eats the meat part and not the dumpling skin. And thankfully Charlie eats the entire dumpling now. He used to only eat the dumpling skin.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! May the Rooster Year bring prosperity and good health to all!!!

Random photos of the week

As usual, lots going on in the Pridgen household.  Last week, our home course - the Abu Dhabi Golf Club hosted the HSBC Championship for the European Tour men's professional golfers.  At the Championship Village, they also had the trophy for the European Ladies Tour - Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open, which I had participated in last November.  I really wanted to wrap my hands around that one! :-)

Dustin Johnson in close proximity.  He's such a tall and fit fella!

Managed to get Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett's autographs on the hat. And managed to have Pablo Larazabal sign the golf balls that he had given the boys the day before:

Here's the familiar spot for Charlie.  Poor kid is always so tired after school!

Graham on the other hand, is never quite like this.  Although here is a rare sighting of Graham fast asleep in his carseat just yesterday.  I guess this is the only way for his head to feel comfortable and why is it that he always crosses his legs?

More questions when it comes to packing his lunch.  I guess he is sending a clear message as to what he wants to go into his lunchbox!

By the way, Graham lost another tooth!  He said it popped out when he was eating his Cheerios during snack time at school.  Good thing he didn't swallow it!

And just this past week, I think I found a new girlfriend for Charlie's Leo ;-)

I am glad Charlie is not in charge of getting the henna on my hand.  Good effort though!

Maybe he needs to just stick to taking his tricycle apart!

Last but not least, strong winds = dust and sand all over the place today!!!

Crazy to think that I played golf this morning. Thankfully this type of weather does not occur too often. It was a terrible round! :-P

Exciting HSBC Championship!

What an exciting finish to the Championship!  The tournament was held at our home course - the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. So it was really neat to watch how the pros approached the golf course.  I had a chance to watch some of the pros practice and on the last day, I decided to just watch it on TV. Too much sand blowing around! I know,... I am such a fair-weathered golfer :-)

The week started out with the excitement of having taken a photograph with World #4 Henrik Stenson.  Bobby was not too keen on his hand on my shoulder.  Funny enough, Bobby was the one taking the photo. Guess he missed his chance on telling Stenson off!

 A friend of mine from college, who is also from Sweden - played a lot of junior golf with Stenson and his wife. What a small world!

Another one of my favorites - Martin Kaymer. Of course, Leo had to tag along in the photo op this time :-)

And yeah... even the men have some fashion sense.  No, this is not Ricky Fowler:

But the eventual winner - Tommy Fleetwood!  What a great swing! These guys are so strong and stable.  They probably work really hard to get there too:

The boys are keeping themselves busy at the Championship Village as usual.  The Golf Trick Shot Boys were back again this time but there was also a playground and sand art.  Graham and Charlie love that stuff!

Charlie especially couldn't get enough of this.  Graham would have been done with 2 art pieces and Charlie would still be on his first one!

Some ice cream before the end of the night:

And here's the other exciting part of the golf tournament.  Bobby won a chance to hit a tee-shot on a Par 3 during the tournament proper itself!  I still don't understand how the organizers came up with this idea but obviously, it is very exciting for the amateurs that were given this opportunity.  Bobby said he couldn't sleep the night before at all!
Well, here is the day of.  Our good friend John was his caddy.  John was supposed to actually have his chance as well but something happened along the way. Feel so bad for him as he was super-hyped up about it too!

Bobby got to warm up at the range with the rest of the pros.  He was definitely soaking up the atmosphere,  In the meanwhile, Graham and Charlie spotted one of their friends from school:

Okay, time to get on the cart to get to the #15th hole!

Once at the tee, the boys found lots of sand to play on, which was a really good thing because Bobby had to wait about 5 groups until it was his turn.

Hmm... Charlie trying to start a fire???

And here they come!  Bobby's group to hit with was Pablo Larrazabal of Spain, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, and Paul Dunne of Ireland.  The big breathe before the big shot! ;-P

Here's the video that I was able to record.  I thought he did great!  And the boys loved every minute after it too:

And here is the live telecast on TV: Bobby's video  

Oh, I forgot to mention that the TV crew were filming their shots live, which is probably why he was also super nervous about the whole thing!  I do love what the commentator said about "... and the key is, his wife is a professional golfer". HAHA!

Graham and Charlie soaked it all in as well. Everyone was able to walk down the fairway to pick up Bobby's golf ball:

Larazabal was really nice to the boys. I thought it was very polite of him to take his cap off whenever he approached us:

What an awesome experience for Bobby! Definitely a HSBC Championship to remember!!!