Phuket cont'd

A little bit o' Speedracer in a Thai downpour... I just missed it, but those three in the background are all about to spin out!

and some off-roading...

Oh, damn, these were flippin' amazing - banana milkshakes all around! And who knew that I'd even like it? HATED bananas not even 5 years ago...

OK, not the best pic, in fact probably a really bad one, but the only one I got of all of us on our rice rockets.

Phuket 10s with the Hurricanes!

The beach is THAT way!

We sponsored two children from the local town to be able to attend school for an entire year. I'm not sure which two they actually are, but they're supposed to be sitting with us somewhere...

After making it to the playoffs, we lost in the semi's to the Kukri Badgers, a UK-based team comprised mainly of semi-pro guys outta London. Seriously fit, strong, and big boys. They knocked us out, but then asked me if I wanted to play with them during the Championship game (I very happily agreed). I managed to get almost the whole game in with them, and am happy to say that I kept up with them, and even managed to get a couple of nice runs in myself. They didn't share their famous pink socks with me, but I managed to stand out just fine with my bright yellow ones! I've been invited to join their mailing list and will hopefully be able to join them for future tournaments (7s and 10s) this year.

DWS continued

From the right: Mike, Yon, Jenny, and Ben (?)...

Just outside of Masafi coming back from Dibba and trying a fresh date (quite tasty). Nope, can't remember this guy's name, though he did sell Mike a great looking watermelon for AED10.

Dibba Deep Water Soloing

So we headed to the East Coast this past weekend for a little deep water soloing. Hired out two speed boats from the local Omanis and shot up along the coast line for a few hours to get some climbing in. The fun part is getting to the top of the route and having no way back down except jumping! There were some great lines right along the water, with plenty of deep blue beneath for a safe bail out.

Special thanks to fellow Yank Mike Olver for organizing the trip.

Yon, Dave and Felipe all at once.

The approach to the pic below... Absolutely stunning cliff faces, ranging from smooth sandstone like this to jagged volcanic rock that can shred your fingers (and shoes).

Yes, we actually jumped this one (at least Mike, Tom, and I) - a solid 60 footer...

Pakky

In Taxila - about an hour outside of Islamabad - on the top of a hill and standing amongst Roman ruins. Less than 1km away there were some old Greek ruins dating back to Alexander the Great. Stunning. The two guys on the right are students at a local engineering school that offered to give us a bit of a tour. We would never have found this place without them. My colleague, Paul Wood from DMCC on the left, and our driver next to me.

The walk up to the Roman ruins took us through golden fields of wheat, just being harvested.

Psychedelic bus... only one amongst millions.

A little bit of wild pot... seriously, the stuff was growing everywhere. So weird to be driving along only to get smacked in the head with wiffs of stinkiness!

Brain Masala - seriously the best dish I had during my entire trip to Pakistan. And no, it does not mean that everything else sucked. Was an amazing dish, kind of reminded me a mabo dofu, and great with a half chicken and a 7UP.

Pakistan II

King Faisal Mosque, among one of the largest mosques in the world, with a capacity of 300,000 worshipers.

The grave and memorial to ex-President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq of Pakistan. Apparently the only artifact actually buried there is his lower jaw bone, though they haven't confirmed that it it actually his, and not that of the pilot or US Ambassador that was also on the plane when it swan dived into the mountains.

Lal Masjid, otherwise known by its more infamous name: the Red Mosque. I didn't get any more shots of the area, but bullet wounds on trees and lots of propaganda. The pic below is where the madrasah (religious school) attached to the school used to be before it was razed after the Red Mosque conflict and armed stand-off.

Pakistan

Press from the Championship

http://www.gulfnews.com/sport/Rugby/10207256.html

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/sports/2008/April/sports_April641.xml&section=sports&subsection=rugby

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080419/SPORT/857626083


http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080421/SPORT/479827276/1026

Arabian League Champs!!!

Sherrin, Mungo, me, and Sean...

Hools (coach), meself, Chris Gregory, and Brian ('nother coach) hold up four fingers for four trophies this year!

Some of the Hurricanes family.

Office Opening, and injured kitty

Colleagues Amin, Michelle, and Mark at Meat&Co. dinner...

EcoSecurities Dubai office, missing Bita and Charbel...

Came back from the beach this afternoon only to find a very injured Mewsif. Looks like she got herself into a bit of a scrap and had her belly ripped open. She's at the vet now for an extended convalescent holiday...

Toni and I heading to the Jumeirah free beach (he's chatting away with Em, his honey in Madagascar)

More Pano - 'cause he's my little bro