Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
Honeymoon in Sri Lanka
Friday, July 2nd, 2010Wedding
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Wedding Planning
Monday, November 23rd, 2009We are currently planning our wedding and were checking the beach hotels in Dubai for their menues, prices and services. As we will do the ceremony in the Sri Lankan Consulate in Abu Dhabi, we decided it would be too far to drive all the way to a Resort in Fujeirah, as this would probably waste 4 hours of our wedding day.
Though the hotels in Dubai are not really doing well, but their prices are still quiet high. I think with round about 50 guests, my wedding reception is far too small compared to Indian and Arabic weddings with several hundred of guests. One hotel even asked for a minimum spend of 45,000 Dhs. (=9,000 EUR)! A good friend of mine works in a hotel and offered me a really competetive price for a wedding party on their roof top terrace. I know I can have a beach wedding in Sri Lanka as well, but this is our special day and I don’t want to be stingy, I just want it to be really special and enjoyable!
As usual I just needed a little bit of luck. Nayan was abroad at my birthday, so I decided to join some friends in Ras al Kheimah for a desert barbecue. There I met a lovely girl, who is a Sales Coordinator for The Cove Rotana, a newly opened beach resort with that very special touch of nubian style bungalows along a man-made cove with stunning beach.
Nayan and me visited her one day and she took us around everywhere showing us several rooms and villas from inside as well as their Spa. She invited us for lunch to try their delicious buffet and enjoy the view and fresh air. Of course a wedding here is not the cheapest option, but compared to what other hotels offered for that price, we get a much better deal here. They’ve set up a special BBQ menu and added some German delicacies and a huge variety of salads and desserts. They will put the buffet next to the beach, with the dining tables and dancefloor right into the sand. So we can dance without the uncomfortable wedding shoes.
The most important thing though is that our familys and my best friends from Germany, Sri Lanka and Dubai are attending our wedding. We really look forward to a great beach party with great people making this one of the happiest days of our life. The lucky couple gets a complimentary villa and massage, too, so now we only need to negotiate the rates for friends and family.
3 Weeks Holidays in Germany
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009After all these stressful weeks in Abu Dhabi completing my thesis, it was time for me to fly back to Germany for graduation and to visit my family. In the end of September I first went to Cottbus to stay a week with my mom. I also took the opportunity to attend the ASIM 2009 – the 20th symposium for simulation techniques hosted this year by the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus. It was interesting, but I did not attend most of the social events as I preferred to spend time with my family and old friends from school.
When Nayan arrived in Berlin a few days later, we visited our friends Jan and Ailton to dance some Zouk. Later we met with my dear friend Tim Pritlove from the Chaos Computer Club sipping some cocktails at the solarbar overlooking Berlin at night. Then we relaxed one more day with my family in Cottbus celebrating Silva’s birthday in the garden eating delicious self-made cake and grilling PORK sausages 
At the beginning of October we stopped by in Dresden for two days visiting my childhood friend Maja, who is studying there. Nayan and me did some sight seeing in the historic city center of Dresden, which was badly bombed during the 2nd world war and is now almost completely reconstructed. Saxony has a rich cultural tradition, beautiful churches (Frauenkirche), castles (Residenzschloss) and exhibitions display the finest arts and jewellery collected by the kings.
Then we took the train to Meiningen and visited my grandma for 2 days and Nayan went flying in a small aircraft again.
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Next stop on our tour through Germany was Ulm, where Felix my former flat mate was so kind to give us shelter. On the same day in the evening I had to present my master’s thesis at the university. We had arranged the Aula and about 50-60 people came: students, professors and people from the industry. Unfortunately we had some difficulties with the sound for the videos first, but it could be fixed. Overall it was a success, but I was so busy answering questions, that I could not even say hi to all my friends that attended. Some of us took the chance for a gettogether in Ulm’s nice bars and went out drinking beer and discussing how everyone made it through the past 6 months.
The last few days we enjoyed quietly, went for walks, did some shopping and danced Salsa. Before flying back to Dubai, we met my daddy in Augsburg. I had a great time and these three weeks passed by too quickly…
Nayan Graduation
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Nayan graduated as a Senior Flight Steward with Emirates Airlines after 3,5 months training period, tests and successful interviews with the leadership trainers. He is now in charge of the Economy or Business class crew, ensuring the Emirates standards, service and safety wise as well as dealing with valued customers. Furthermore the Purser and two SFS are conducting the briefing of the crew members before each flight and write reports in the crew performance feedback system. He is very passionate about his new position and wants to improve service on board for Emirates to stay in the very top of the airline ratings.
I went to the graduation ceremony in the Emirates training college and all the trainers made good speeches, motivating and encouraging the crew to give excellent service. Nayan, I wish you all the best for your career and in pursuing further qualifications to become a Purser. Few days later we celebrated his promotion with our friends in the Salsa club.
Last exam in Germany
Monday, March 9th, 2009In the beginning of March I returned to Germany for a few days to write my last exam of the Master’s program. The subject was Modeling Technical Systems and it was my favourite course. Unfortunately it did not go that well, but as I had only studied 3 to 4 days it was ok. Some chapters like Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic were not part of the exam, though I could have scored well on this. Anyway, good to know that I passed all exams and two additional courses. Last step now is to complete my Master’s thesis successfully.
I enjoyed some days with my family in Cottbus and met some good old friends over there as well. Lots of formalities had to be done: notifying my change in address, filling the form for income tax return, sorting out all the important documents for my mom to manage any incoming mail for me. Then it was time to pack my big suitcase and to select only the most important belongings to stay within the baggage allowance of 20 kgs. As I was living abroad several times, I start getting good at this.
Back for good
Friday, February 6th, 2009After the last but one exam I had 24 hours to sort out all my belongings and pack the most important stuff, as I could only take one bag to Dubai. I felt little nervous that finally the day has come to return to the UAE for good and start a new life over there.
I flew Turkish Airlines via Istanbul this time, because they offered the cheapest connection, but crew was very unorganised. Anyway, I landed safely and temperature is mild 20 degrees with a fresh wind.
I had a great party on Wednesday at Savage Garden with my friends, danced Salsa whole night and they made me feel homely again in Dubai. In beginning of March the final exam is coming up, for which I will need to return to Germany for few days. So I cannot go partying every night as I should do some studying as well… unfortunately 
Next day we enjoyed Sri Lankan lunch buffet at Chef Lanka. The traffic calmed down a bit, newspapers report that Dubai is cancelling 1,500 visas daily and workers need to return back home. The skyscrapers seem to grow slower because of the credit crunch as well, but BurjDubai Tower reached its final hight now.
A big new supermarket just opened up next door, which is very convenient to buy food, as I don’t have a car right now to drive all the way to the next mall. They also opened a small park with childrens playground and jogging track, so I go there in the afternoon to study a bit in the mild sun.
Freightworks, where I did my first Dubai internship in 2006/07, gave me a call, they now offered a placement for another student of my university on my initiative. They would be glad to offer me a position for their new projects ahead, but first I will finish my Master’s thesis and then see what options I’ll have in October…
