Scuba Scouser

So Many Changes

2011-05-06T05:50:00.001-07:00

It’s been a fair while since my last post, for many reasons.

I’ll skip over the past few months and summarise what’s happening now.

A bar on the beach is the main news – taken over at Geisum Marina, lots of work to be done and quite difficult balancing it with my main work, but it’s getting easier.

It’s a heavenly place to work and I’m sat at the bar now with a few customers, working on my main job and taking a little time out with a Stella to get this blog thingy going again.

All is well although there are few tourists here at the moment. No troubles from the revolution, it’s a perfectly safe place to come to.

I’ll get photos and info posted on here as we go.

Red Sea Life–White Tip Reef Shark

2010-12-03T01:48:00.001-08:00

White Tip Reef sharks are a fairly small species of shark, not growing to more than 1.6 metres usually.

They are usually found near drop-offs within the red sea and rarely in shallow water.

It is one of the most common sharks found in the Red Sea, but does not pose a threat to humans as although they are inquisitive and may swim around humans, they are not aggressive. They rest on the sea floor or in caves during the day, coming out to hunt in groups at night.

The generally stay within a small territorial area, only rarely travelling long distances and then usually to settle down in a new area.

And then there was none

2010-07-29T06:50:00.001-07:00

Bar not happening now.

Went to pick up my business cards last night and on the way home my phone must have fallen out of my pocket – there goes my entire contact list!

I have a backup of the contacts but no way to extract them at the moment.

Not been great past few days, angina and stuff playing up and it’s been rather warm! I have ordered an air conditioning unit though, something I should have done months ago.

I’m going to use today as my last day of recuperation, so off for a few beers at Shahrazad.

Normal Service Resumed

2010-07-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

Ok I’m feeling a lot better now, just a bit of a blip I think, all work and no play …

So I’m working on completing accounting software that Ashraf’s developed, for bugger all as most things out here in Egypt seem to be, but Rami asked me and I’ll do anything for that man, he’s helped me out a lot. Old VB6 system and weird coding but we’ll get there.

I’ve also done a design for St George Systems, so hopefully we’ll get that finished and online shortly.

Rami’s two websites need completing and I now have a ton more real estate on www.buyhurghada.com so get over there and buy something!

Took a break for an hour today – I’m going to make sure I get swimming at least 1 hour each day – and while I was down at the Geisum marina a pod of dolphhins came by to play. That sort of thing really sets the mood for the day :D

It’s not all roses

2010-07-07T01:00:00.001-07:00

Been working hard on a a website for www.Hurghada4trips.net. It’s a lot of work for very little money here, which isn’t that much of a problem as living is fairly cheap, but I’ve done so much work that I haven’t been paid for that I need to start getting a grip!

I’ve also been concentrating on developing the Real Estate side of things: www.buyhurghada.com and www.rethurghada.com and I’ve got my flyers and business card designs prepared, although not printed yet.

I have menu designs for St. Valentinos, www.abouthurghada.com/valentinos but my printer is out of ink and I can’t get Epson ink ANYWHERE in Hurghada!

The property management side requires me to make some phone calls, I’ve set up a page at www.abouthurghada.com/ss for it and there’s a guy who has an apartment block he wants managing, but I just don’t have time at the moment as :

Ashraf has imploded while writing an accounting system for AVA Safaris and after retrieving the source code from him I’ve been drafted in to get it working.

It’s a bizarre system and as I know nothing about accounting will be a steep learning curve. My brain is on meltdown at the moment.

I have a meeting today with a guy who owns a computer business – I think he wants to pass some business my way. I also have to see Ashraf to get this accounting system installed correctly.

I’ll report again once the fun comes back.

Catching up again

2010-06-19T13:16:00.001-07:00

It’s been a month since my last confession – people staying and places to see – it’s been a good month. I finally have my bike licence and driving licence!!!!

Egypt is definitely good for me, all I need now is an income. My depression is well and truly behind me and I continue to heal well.

I went down to Safaga one day with Sayid and snorkelled off the beach while he collected coral sand for the aquarium – while I’ve been on dive trips and boat trips out here I’ve never seen anything like the reefs off the shore there. 25km south of Safaga, nothing but desert and it was like swimming in a filled aquarium. I floated in serenity and peered back at a turtle who was watching me.

I also went out with Sayid when they were collecting fish for the aquarium. The reef wasn’t particularly lively, but Amgad speared a parrot fish and we cooked and ate that on the boat, and collected giant clams.

I’ve developed the software and website for Red Sea Dolphin now but they don’t have the money to pay me for it at the moment, so that’s on hold.

While visiting Steve and Marie at the Oasis Resort I pulled into their car park and hit a patch of loose sand, so I now have a wound above my ankle where I burnt it on the exhaust of the bike. It’ll be a few weeks before that heals up I think.

I’ll try and keep on top of the blog for those of you with an interest.

Mah a salama

It’s been a while…

2010-05-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

Christine came and stayed for a week and introduced me to Nabeel and her friends over at Geisum. We were fed and watered gratis all week and had a very relaxing time sitting and chatting to them all.

Nabeel’s one of the three brothers that own the Geisum but he doesn get on with the other two – he’s an adorable wacky little bloke with a huge heart.

We met up with Nasiya, her brother Adheel and his mate Lee one day on Mojito beach and chilled for a bit. Had a great Chinese at the Golden Dragon and spent a night at Rami’s with Karim, Alain and Nagy chatting away.

I’ve spent the past week ripping my hair out, but I finally have plates on my bike. It involved numerous trips to the traffic police, land registry office, metalwork shop, bike shop, insurance company etc but with the help of Rami it was eventually sorted.

Now the kick-stand is broken on my bike ;)

I also have to take my bike test on Sunday – apparently they’re not happy with my International Licence. I’m tempted to ignore them.

I still don’t have my flyers or business cards printed so I’m going to sod the printer that’s doing them and get them done elsewhere – 3 months is a bit much don’t you think?

Other than that, things are all good on the Gypto front. I may be a bit busy for the next 2 weeks, software and websites to be worked on, so catch up with you all soon.

All comes at once

2010-04-30T02:46:00.001-07:00

Had another 4 hour trip on the Red Sea Dolphin and got some snorkelling done – enjoyable day out.

I’ve been commissioned to do design work, website and some software for Red Sea Dolphin, so that is keeping me busy at the moment.

My bike registration papers are also ready. I went down there on Wednesday, waited an hour and was told to come back tomorrow with my bike. Wednesday the bike started first time so I headed to the traffic police and it broke down half a kilometre away from home. I called a mechanic out to take my bike to the bike shop but just as he arrived I found my little “fuel tank selector” was on reserve tank. Switched it to main tank and bingo! I was off again. Cost me 30 LE for the callout but gave me peace of mind about the future.

Another hour at the traffic police then they told me they were to busy and to come back on Saturday morning at 8am *sigh*

Went over to Alain’s and sorted out Mr Mohammed’s iphone, then back home, bath and off to the footie where Liverpool were unlucky to get knocked out of the Europa Cup.

Sat chatting to Amgad until 3am, then up and cleaned the apartment as Christine is on her way over today. Amgad offered to take me to on the airport run with him but it’s a 5 hour run around and I’m too busy, so I’ll get a cab around 4:30.

Where to begin

2010-04-21T04:40:00.001-07:00

Well it’s been 11 days since my last confession so I’ll try and keep it brief.

Managed to become ill for a week so I spent a lot of time in my apartment. During that time I converted the website to multi-language.

Met up with Alain, he’s quit his job at Sindbad group and gone to work for Red Sea Dolphin. Through him I have the commission to do the website for RSD and also brochure and advert design.

I had a day out on the Dolphin to see what it was all about and took a few photos (see below). Alain mentioned that Ashraf had turned down the job of IT Manager with the company, so I offered myself for the position and was accepted. The job isn’t available yet, but looking forward I’ll have something to keep myself occupied, even if the money is crap.

I have a meeting tomorrow with Brian from Solutions company, so hopefully something will come of that as well.

It’s been madness here, with the Icelandic volcanic dust cloud grounding flights across the world, people have been stranded here for 10 days. They finally reopened the airports last night, but the loss of tourism has affected everyone badly.

Still no news on my bike registration, but it looks as though Rami’s on the case again.

View Full Album

Football Heaven

2010-04-09T00:54:00.001-07:00

Stayed in all day Wednesday cleaning and rearranging the apartment, then headed out in the evening to Mandarin down by the Shedwan. All the restaurants down there have now moved to Siva Mall on Villages Road, so I walked up to Kanaria’s and had a lovely seafood soup and a lamb shwerma.

I dropped into Cacao Bar on the way home in time to watch Bayern Munich do just enough to knock the scum out of Europe – bliss!

Intended to get to the beach today, so after lying in bed watching Gran Torino (great film) I got up and readied myself, only to find that my bank cards were missing from my wallet.

I took a taxi to the bank and ordered a new atm card then sat in the Sphinx for an hour and read. I then went to Rami’s for an hour or so to say hi before heading home.

Out to the Sphinx again in the evening to watch my beloved Liverpool and I was joined by Glen and the gang, so we had a most enjoyable time watching the mighty Reds beat Benfica 4-1!

Bought a bottle of vodka (50 le) for the apartment and left it in the taxi!

Birthday Blues

2010-04-07T02:33:00.001-07:00

Went to El Mina restaurant for a lovely fish dinner for my birthday.

Up at 6 the next day, cleaned the bathroom, then off to the post office at 9.

Came back and had a nap in the afternoon then went to see Dr Mike the dentists and took some photos of his new equipment. Went walking through Dahar to try and find a longer switch-pull for the ceiling fans, but after 2 hours of wandering around I’d found nothing, but had come to know Dahar a little better.

Ate the leftovers from last night’s restaurant meal and had an earlyish night.

Countdown

2010-04-05T07:13:00.001-07:00

Thursday and Friday were spent in the Geisum on the beach again, some good snorkelling and lots of sun. I’ve been eating salads for 3 days!

Saturday decided not to go to the beach, instead went to the aquarium to see Sayeed as he’d had a brochure design from another company but wasn’t happy with it. I took his requirements back to the apartment and put one together, with the design critique of Corinne, then went out in the evening with Mel and the crowd for her birthday.

We started off at Mumbai, an Indian opposite the Grand Hotel on Village Road, which was nice but the portions were a bit scant.

A bar crawl followed, with us finally ending up in the Dutch Bar, much to Mohammed’s disgust.

Lots of drink, good music and a boogie saw us heading home around 4:30 when we took a quick detour to take a look at the villa that Mel wants.

I crawled into the sack about 5am and woke VERY hungover. Finally went over to Rami’s late afternoon before taking the design to Sayeed at 8pm in the aquarium. He was happy with it.

Up at 9:30 on my birthday today and lay in bed for a couple of hours, chatting on msn and looking out over the balcony at the sea. A friend was supposed to be taking me to pick up my birthday present from the post office but finally at 1pm I got in a taxi and headed over there myself. It was shut, so I went into Dahar and bought myself some shelves and a new shower, which are all fitted now.

Sat here trying to decide what to do with the rest of my birthday.

Beach Bum

2010-04-01T03:35:00.001-07:00

Tuesday : Went to Geisum and sat reading by the sea for most of the afternoon. Still not sleeping and didn’t manage to sleep on the sunbed either.

Wednesday : Back to Geisum and had a really nice day chilling on the beach, a bit of a swim and some lunch. Met Jitka, a Czech girl who lives here.

Afterwards went to see Rami and picked up some post that Clare had sent me. Ashraf was there, still looking better and still off the booze. Alain popped in and a pleasant hour or two was passed there.

On the way back I got into a non-smoking taxi! I decided to go to the Marina and had a drink in Papas, then back to Shahrazad for one before I headed home.

Slept well, sat here at lunchtime all ready to head back to the beach for the day. 29°C today and warming up more for the weekend.

Bike in progress

2010-03-29T07:10:00.001-07:00

Rami picked me up late morning and we headed off to the traffic police where the paperwork was sorted, then had to go for an interview at the FBI where they basically asked me why I was staying in Egypt and then let me go.

Apparently I now have to wait 3 weeks for a response from the UK as to whether I’m a bad’un.

Stayed at Rami’s for a beer then headed back to the apartment. Not feeling particularly on top of the world at the moment, as I’m not sleeping until the early hours of the morning.

I’ve been getting up late (due to sleeping late) and spending the day in the apartment, but on Friday night just as I’d got into bed, Amgad knocked so he came around for a tea and a chat.

We arranged to meet the next night to get some ceiling fans, so after he finished work I went out with him and we did acquire 3 fans for me, 1 for him, and a bathroom vanity light apiece. We then spent a couple of hours waiting for his sofa to arrive (which it didn’t) before I headed off to bed.

Sunday morning was spent waiting for the electrician, who didn’t materialise, so I went off to watch Liverpool vs. Sunderland (3-0) in Papas Bar. While i was there Amgad called and told me the electrician had arrived, so I headed back after the match.

Spent an hour in Amgad’s while Emad wired up his fans, then he declared he was too tired and would could back tomorrow at 2pm. I threatened to kill him if he didn’t come.

Another sleepless night, dropped off at 6 and woke at 11:30, so had a bath and then Emad arrived as promised and spent 2 hours putting the fans up in the apartment. Sorted!

Good to be back

2010-03-24T10:47:00.001-07:00

I had breakfast in the hotel and took a cab to the El Gouna bus station to get my ticket. As it was only 15 minutes until departure I didn’t bother with a visit to the museum and boarded the but for the 7 hour trip back to Hurghada.

Pretty uneventful, but I finally got home, dropped in to say hi to Amgad then popped over to the new fish restaurant across the road, King Fish, where i had a seafood meal.

Off to bed and slept like a baby.

Up early and spent the day tidying the apartment a bit. Sardines for lunch, then Amgad brought me some duck breast and mashi for dinner.

Downloaded the latest series of Mock The Week and stayed up until 5am watching it. Slept in until 12:30 when Debs skyped me.

Went to Rami’s and Alain turned up, so we chatted for a bit and then went and had some food. Rami arrived and we went up to Aquascope, a submarine company, where they had a bit of business and wanted to introduce me to the owner, so we had an impromtu business meeting. Nice view ;)

Back to the apartment and it’s a quiet night for me before attempting to register my bike again tomorrow.

Cairo

2010-03-21T11:31:00.001-07:00

If you can avoid crossing a street in Cairo, do so. It’s not safe. It’s more than not safe, it’s downright deadly. 5 lanes of traffic (on a 3 lane highway) jostling for position bumper to bumper.

If you really do need to cross the road, you need to think like them, crossing the road slowly, letting a car pass then slipping behind it to the side of the next car. If you see a gap, run for it!

That said, the traffic doesn’t actually move that fast. If you decide to take a taxi somewhere, pack some essentials: water, future wife, nappies for the kids you’ll have while in the taxi – the usual stuff. Going anywhere can take a while.

I went to the Great Pyramid of Giza today and was conned into a horse ride through the desert after an hour’s taxi crawl. I got him down from 300 to 150 but still felt a bit hassled.

That said, Hassan, the young lad who accompanied me, once I’d changed horses from the mad arab white I was originally given, was very nice.

We trotted through some local villages where many lads on horseback were mucking about and generally having a good time.

Into the desert and a quick trip up to the top of a dune to take some pics, then back into the local town.

I grabbed a taxi and had him take me to one of the big hotels where I knew I’d be able to watch the Liverpool – Manure match. After an hour he dropped me at the Grand Hyatt and boy did I feel underdressed walking in there. I was directed downstairs to the cafeteria where the staff kindly put the game on for me.

Unfortunately, we lost, so I took a cab (another half hour) back to the hotel where I changed and headed down to the basement bar for a refreshing Stella and here I sit now updating my blog.

Later on…

2010-03-20T03:08:00.001-07:00

During the football I was surrounded by a dozen kids, all staring at me and calling Mr Lee. I moved away, to take some photos, and they followed like they were attached to me by a string.

On of the football players came over and asked me if I was a scout for an English team.

After the game we headed back across the cemetery to Ahmed’s home, followed by the kids yelling “y’Lee” all the way back.

We sat in his house while a multitude of visitors came by to see me, his sister again and her husband, his brother and various uncles and children.

The house finally cleared about 11pm at which time Sameya, Ahmed’s gorgeous wife, brought in another huge tray of food. Ahmed explained that we had to wait for all the guests to leave before eating otherwise they would be obliged to feed them also.

We finished the food and had a shay, then off to bed. I finally dropped off about 1am.

I was awoken a few ties in the night by the ducks on the roof having a fit and by local time-dyslexic cockerels crowing away, then my alarm went off at 6am.

Up and showered, Ahmed and I bid goodbye to his mother and little Sameya (his niece) and walked into the village where we caught a tuk tuk to Abu Hamed where we bought breakfast (flatbread and foul) and boarded the train to Cairo.

Ahmed disembarked at the stop before Cairo and I continued on for 10 minutes.

Getting off the train at Cairo, I left the station and found myself in a bustle of taxis and traffic. I picked a direction and random and started walking, looking for a hotel where I could get onto the internet to find another hotel in which to stay.

After 15 minutes I grabbed a cab and asked him to take me to Giza. He asked “why Giza” – I replied “why not?” and told him that I wanted a hotel. “Which hotel?”. “Any hotel”.

He took me to one in Sphinx square where I went to the desk and they asked for US$100 so I promptly left and he took me to the Amoun hotel where I’m now sat in the basement restaurant and bar with a beer, having paid 410 LE for 2 nights.

Trains, Planes and …

2010-03-19T12:58:00.001-07:00

I boarded the coach for Sharqiya at midnight, having booked my ticket early and so having the seat behind the driver.

The journey was pretty uneventful, with a stop halfway after about 3 hours at a roadside cafe/shop.

Expecting to get fleeced, as the tourists generally do on their trip from the airport, I abstained from buying anything but then realised that I needed a bottle of water as I’d had a headache for most of the journey. I grabbed a bottle fro the fridge then enquired “b’cam da?” – how much is this? “Itneen w’nuss” came the reply – 2.50 LE. Ok, this was the same sort of place but it wasn’t for tourists and the bottle of water had cost me 30p.

We passed dozens of huge holiday resorts on the Red Sea – I have no idea which areas we passed through, but Zafira seems to ring a bell. I wondered who stayed at these resorts as it’s not a part of Egypt that is accessible directly from the UK.

We entered the outskirts of Cairo just after dawn and dropped off a few people, then passed by the national football stadium.

Another 2 hours as we entered Sharqiya, a large, sprawling town which was fairly quiet at 7am in the morning. After seven and a half hours travelling I finally alighted at the MCV bus station in Zagaig and collected my bags.

I called Ahmed and five minutes later he came strolling down the street. We grabbed a red and white taxi that looked as though it had just been rescued from a scrapyard and took a five minute ride into the centre of Zagazig. There we transferred to a microbus and had a 20 minute journey to Abu Hamed. Another change, this time into a tuk tuk and off we went to Ahmed’s village, Nazlett, El’Azeyzee. It’s a small farming community out on the East Delta and is surrounded by fields of crops.

At Ahmed’s I was then treated to a huge breakfast of bread, foul and some kind of vegetable stew. Luckily I’d mentioned to Ahmed when I met him in Sharm that I’m unable to eat large quantities.

A cup of shay (tea), and it was off to bed about 9am for a coupe of hours sleep.

I awoke around 2pm and showered (cold water!). Ahmed’s younger brother, Ali, is working in Sharm and his wife and daughter had given up their part of the home for me to stay in!

Another huge lunch followed, various kinds of mashi (stuffed vegetables) and a whole chicken stuffed with rice was on the menu this time.

Ahmed and I ate alone, served by the women of the household.

There are five kids running around, from Ali’s 6 month old daughter Rahhma, to Mohammed’s four, Ahmed the three month old son of Ahmed’s older brother Mohammed (still with me?) and his other three children.

Ahmed then took me for a walk to the next village (about 2 miles) across the crop-filled fields. The weather’s a bit on the chilly side at the moment, around 16-20°C, but it’s pleasant enough for a walk in the countryside.

In the next village we sat and had tea with more of Ahmed’s family (his sister’s side I think).

We then trekked back across the fields to his village.

We met a few people along the way, most of whom seemed to be related to Ahmed in some way – either aunts, uncles cousins, sister’s-husband’s-sisters or some such.

Back the his house it was time for more food, after meeting Achmed (who I had met in Sharm El Sheik and another friend – Mohammed I think). We then spent the evening with a packed room (just the blokes of course) trying to sort out Ahmed’s PC.

Then we went off to Abu Hamed in a tuk tuk, 4 of us! Probably the scariest trip of my life i the dark on uneven roads with an overloaded tuk tuk and no lights. Ahmed picked up his motorbike and I rode pillion back to his house.

I eventually managed to crawl into bed around 12:30 and slept in until 12:30, when I was woken by Ahmed for … yes, some food.

After lunch we spent a few hours working on his PC while various people came and went, his brother Mohammed included.

Ahmed then drove me into Abu Hamed and we clambered across the train tracks to catch a train from the wrong side! Hauling ourselves up into the carriage we found seats and enjoyed the journey to Zagazig, people occasionally jumping off when they decided they wanted to get off (yes, from a moving train). Various hawkers plied their wares up and down the train, watches, tea, baseball caps – it’s not just the tourists in the tourist cities that have to put up with this – it’s the culture!

In Zagazig we looked in a few computer shops but didn’t find anything suitable, so we then met Ahmed and another mate in the centre. Bought a pair of shoes for 39 LE and went to a coffee shop for a bit. We walked back to the station with them and caught a microbus to Abu Hamed where we went for kofta, kebab and liver. The takeaway food here is out of this world!

We then went to a computer store in Abu Hamed where Ahmed had his sister send his computer in a tuk tuk. They said it would take half an hour so we went, on his bike, so his sister’s house and had a cup of tea. The houses are generally kept very bare, apart from a rug and some cushions to sit on, or maybe a sofa. The hospitality is second to none.

Back to the computer store where we were sat until 1am, then a ride back on Ahmed’s bike with me holding 2 bags of shopping and a desktop PC on my lap, Ahmed refusing to use his lights on the bike and deciding to take a back route. Interesting!

Ahmed then decided to have me install all his favourite apps on the PC so I dragged myself off to bed about 2:30am.

Slept in until 12:00 when Ahmed woke me up – he was off to prayer (Friday) so I had a shower and started this blog.

When he got back we ate again – chicken, rice and a soup – really good. Then off to the hospital where Ahmed used to work “with crazy people” he said.

The mental health hospital was a bit of a sorry sight. Inmates were hanging at the bars of the windows and shouting to each other. The staff were lovely though, even though their office definitely needed a woman’s touch.

We walked around the grounds for a while then headed off for Ahmed to play football.

Took some video and photos, now back at the house, sat with the family and having tea while Achmed waits for me to download antivirus for his pc.

Hurghada Traffic

2010-03-16T03:35:00.001-07:00

Well, as it seems that merely documenting my life out here in Egypt is going to become tedious for the reader, I’ve decided to write my opinions and impressions down, when I have anything to say that is.

Let’s start with the roads here. It’s a bit disconcerting when flying through the streets in a taxi at night to find a cyclist with no lights on riding down the wrong way of the dual carriageway towards you.

Likewise with a donkey-drawn cart, three wheeler motorbike, in fact the side of the road on which to drive seems to be pretty much optional if you’re not in a car; even then some still take it into their own hands if the next turning point is too far away.

Taxi drivers love to reverse down the dual carriageway at you, in their quest to save 2 minutes on their travels.

When a car pulls out of a side street, looking for other traffic is something that is only done by us foreigners. They expect any traffic already on the main road to stop/swerve so that they can continue unimpeded.

A neat feature of the traffic lights here is a counter either in red or green depending on the colour of the light, telling you when the light will next change. Most drivers use this facility as intended, some just ignore the lights completely.

On a more mundane note, I finally managed to get myself a sofa and I’m off to Sharqiya tonight to stay with Ahmed and his family for a couple of days. I’ll take in a day ot two in Cairo whilst there.

Wasted Day

2010-03-13T08:45:00.001-08:00

Not quite sure what I’ve been up to over the past few days, mostly meeting Ashraf and other peeps and talking about the business. Definitely nothing that interesting.

I seem to spend a lot of time arranging to meet people then sitting around waiting for them to turn up.

Amgad dropped some business cards round for me earlier and I gave him his cat back, it keeps jumping across the balconies and into my apartment.

Went shopping at Senzo Mall yesterday and bought some more kitchen equipment.

Very hot at the moment, 33°C/91°F during the day, so I’m in need of some fans. Hopefully I’ll get some tonight.

Work starts to pay

2010-03-10T00:30:00.001-08:00

Sunday, went down to Rami’s in the afternoon to do some work on the site, add content etc.

While there, Rami introduced me to Michael, a dentist, who was interested in seeing the site so I showed it to him.

He wanted to advertise on the site so I arranged to go around to his surgery on Monday and take some photos.

Yes, I’ve already had the comments of “Yum” and “I wouldn’t mind in my mouth”.

Stopped of at Shahrazad for one which turned into a few before coming home, as I had my laptop on me and kept thinking of “one more thing to do”.

After a bit of a lie in, bathed, shaved and caffeine’d up, I grabbed a cab to The Church, as Dr Mike’s dental surgery is opposite. Grabbed a coffee in the coffee shop across the road while the sun was beating me with 30 degrees of loveliness! Popped up and took some photos of him, his surgery etc, then a cab back to the apartment where I loaded up the photos and added the information to the website. 300 LE in pocket (I gave it to him for half price and will receive discounted dental treatment ;))

Down to Rami’s in the evening to show my face, it was his birthday so I managed to procure a Zippo lighter for him. A few drinks and after arranging to meet Alan, manager of the Sindbad group, headed home to bed.

Tuesday morning saw me up early as Rami had offered to take me to the visa office. Ashraf had called me at 4:30 to say he was coming back, which he’d told me yesterday, so I set my alarm for 7am.

The snooze button is a wonderful thing and at 8am Ashraf called to tell me he was in Shahrazad. I got up, had a coffee, got my stuff together for the visa and headed down where I found him already on the beer.

I had a couple of coffees, lots of water and the odd mango juice while waiting for Rami (called at 9am as requested, he came at 9am Egyptian time – 11am ;) then headed off to the visa office.

Rami charmed the woman behind the desk and in no time we were being told “come back in an hour”.

I accompanied Rami as he stopped off here and there, doing favours for friends on the way back to Joli Pub, where I consumed another litre of water before we headed back to the visa office. Within 5 minutes I was presented with my passport complete with a 12 month visa and 6 month multiple-entry visa :) Result!

Headed back to Rami’s house which is a gorgeous villa entertaining fantastic views, then back on to Joli Pub.

No sign of Ashraf, had a beer then headed home to get some food, meet Amgad to give him my business card graphic and see what had happened to Ashraf.

Back in the apartment, he was sleeping so I cooked myself veal chops with mash, peas and gravy. Just as I was sitting down to eat he woke up, poured a glass of wine, washed and then went off to Joli Pub.

I had a fair bit of work to do for ATC so I sat doing that until Amgad woke up around 7:30, when we headed over to Joli Pub to meet Ashraf, as Amgad had found him an apartment.

We looked at that apartment and 3 others but none were good enough for Ashraf. Back to Joli Pub and first Alan and then Rami took him to see other apartments. Still not good enough. Rami and the other guys were getting very pissed off with Ashraf.

I demonstrated www.abouthurghada.com to Alan and he was very enthusiastic and gave me the numbers the Thomas Cook contact and also that of the marketing manager for Sindbad group.

I stayed with Ashraf until about 11:30 then headed home to bed.

Into my apartment to find that Amgad’s cat Rita was back on my balcony and no sign of Amgad, so she spent the night on my bed.

No sign of Ashraf this morning, cat’s still here though.

Coffee and eggy bread are the order of the day I think.

Relaxation

2010-03-07T01:56:00.001-08:00

Went the beach at El Geisum on Friday, it being the Sabbath here and all. Spent the day relaxing and read The Prophecy, pretty good book – finished it in one sitting.

Had a short swim, some lunch and mild sunburn.

Saturday I went to the Aquarium to take some photos for the owner who’s having a new brochure done by the guys at Papas. Took some really nice shots.

Decided to go out in the evening so after a bath and an online karaoke session with Corinne I took a taxi to Hard Rock and had a couple of beers and some nachos, then went to the Dutch Bar at 10:30. It was totally empty so I finished my beer and caught a cab to Papas.

Met Marcus in there and passed my number on to him, potential business there I think. It was Luca’s karaoke night so I sat with a beer or three and watched it all go on.

The taxi drivers outside their marina were up to their usual tricks, 30 LE for a taxi to Dahar! A local asked me if I wanted to share a taxi to split the cost, but just then a microbus pulled up so we go into that and I was dropped off outside Shahrazad at 1:30 where I had another beer, probably shouldn’t have.

Finished my beer and headed back home to bed.

Up this morning with a bad tum, probably the jalapenos on the nachos – I do love them but it’s unrequited.

View Full Album

Headache gone, situation normal

2010-03-03T09:13:00.001-08:00

Awoke without a headache this morning but that was only the start of it…

Decided to get out and sort out my visa extension. Got all the bits together then caught a taxi to the passport office. Waited 30 minutes then presented my papers at the window and was told “bukra” – tomorrow!

Oh well, took a cab to the Government Shop to find a sofa bed. Met a lovely couple in there, Debra and Wahid. Sorted out what I wanted, went to the bank to get the money and when I came back they were just closing up for 4 hours. Again, “bukra”.

Wandered through Dahar downtown and bought myself a duvet and some spices, then caught a cab back home and returned Ashraf’s call. He’s currently in Alexandria with a client, but the client needs their website sorting, so he’s passing that onto me. It’ll be peanuts, but all adds to the portfolio.

Amgad also called, wanting a price on a website for a friend of his.

Currently reading “Infidel”, an autobiography of a Somali woman. It provides a deep insight into how Islam is perceived and practised in different countries. Some of it is quite horrific.

No bike

2010-03-02T06:25:00.001-08:00

Can;t get my bike registered until I have a visa for more than 6 months.

Can’t get the visa until my current one runs out.

Ergo, no bike for a while.

Was going to the passport office with Amgad yesterday but I guess he was busy on his last day off work – also had a blinding headache so spent the day indoors and set up the router so that all my laptops can now connect to the internet from anywhere in the apartment.

Internet went off in the afternoon so I went down to the internet cafe last night to report it. Turns out I need to pay bang on the first of the month otherwise they’ll cut me off. I was having my haircut in the barber’s next door when the owner of the net cafe came in so I paid him and bingo, internet was back on. Still no satellite though.

Spent today working on the website, http://www.abouthurghada.com, added security to the admin pages and added a “directions/map” feature to the database.

It’s afternoon now so I may take a wander down to Shaharazade with the laptop and get some more content onto it.

Gypto Living

2010-02-27T02:34:00.001-08:00

Wednesday night just went over to El Hambra to have some food. An English lady walked in and was introduced to me by Mohammed as Elaine, so we sat and chatted for an hour before I headed home to bed.

Thursday – what the hell did I do Thursday?

Vague memories of meeting Amgad at the aquarium, taking some pictures inside for the new website. Met up with Ashraf in Joli Pub and caught up with stuff. Back and a quiet night working on the website and chatting.

Friday, lie in and Elaine called to see if I could find a flight a week later for her. Couldn’t find a reasonable one but got her the Thomas Cook number and she found one for £200, but her work bitched so she went home anyway. Went up to Joli Pub in the evening and met Yasser, the Tourism Director fo Hurghada, Rami, Alan, Yeceen and Ahraf and had a good chat, showed them the website, a Yasser offered to provide me with a lot of support in the development of the business :D

Saturday, up early to get my bike registered with the traffic police. Got to the meeting place at 9:25, meeting was at 9:30, left at 10:05 when nobody turned up and went to get a roasting pan from Abu Ashara market. Back to the bike shop at 10:30 and it still wasn’t open!

Met Ashraf in Shaharazade and loaned him a backpack for his trip to Alexandria today. Back here to update the blog and David’s just called from the bike shop, wants me to meet him and the guy who’s taking me to the traffic police at 4pm, and to get an oil change on the bike.

Just cooking chicken, mash and veg, so will update in a day or two.

Bedouins and boats

2010-02-24T05:42:00.001-08:00

Must learn to spell Bedouin.

Went the to coffee shop with Ahmed and sat smoking a shisha and chatting for a bit – thought he meant to go to a proper coffee shop bit it was basically an outdoor bar sat on cushions and chilling with a shisha – very nice.

Had a takeaway on the way back to the hotel.

Up about 11 and finished packing, checked out of the hotel and went over to see Ahmed. He helped me bring my cases over and then we had lunch of falafel and foul with the lads – very nice!

Went for a wander down by the beach in Sharm and popped into the Hard Rock Cafe to charge my laptop.

Back to Ahmed’s where he helped me take my cases and get a cab to the Ferry Port.

Had to wait 15 minutes outside the port for the gates to open and then I was first in and onto the ferry. Got a lovely seat but left it 20 minutes later when 7 very noisy Spaniards sat next to me.

The crossing was supposed to take 90 minutes but 3 hours later, after watching The 300 on the large TVs, and a very rough crossing, I finally arrived in Hurghada and got a cab home.

First order was a bath and change of clothes. Popped down to El Hambra for a snack and caught up with Mohammed – he’s finally had his 4 front teeth replaced after losing them in a bike accident. A lady walked into the bar and Mohammed introduced her to me as Elaine. We sat and chatted for about an hour while I ate my curried prawns. She’s here visiting a sick Egyptian friend – very nice lady.

Back to the apartment and was up setting up www.aboutsharm.com until about 4am and was just dropping of when the Call to Prayer kicked off.

Awoke about 9:30 thanks to some prat’s car alarm which continued for the next 2 hours. Coffee and a shave, and then some work for ATC.

Amgad popped round about 13:00 and we caught up on stuff. He’s gone for a shower and I’ve starving, supposed to be having some lunch somewhere but not made it yet ;)

Khalif helped me get my bike out so that’s all ready to ride. Started first time.

Bedouin Coffee Shop

View Full Album

Back in the M U S R

2010-02-22T12:54:00.001-08:00

After negotiating check-in at Manchester Airport and removing enough bits from my suitcase so that I wouldn’t be charged excess, I put the bits in a duty free bag and waltzed onto the plane with everything I wanted to take except a cake tin.

Arrived in Sharm, grabbed myself a visa and hopped into a taxi to Naama Bay.

The hotel, Bay View, is fairly decent, although they shoved me into a single room to begin with. Having none of that I was soon switched to a double. Shower, dinner (pretty decent, particularly the sea bass), a couple of drinks at the bar and bed.

Up at 7:30, or so I thought, shower, dress and off to breakfast. Oh dear, hadn’t changed the time on my phone, so missed brekkie.

Walked out of the hotel and was straight into a conversation with one of the locals who introduced himself as Omar.

Once in his shop he admitted his name was Ahmed and I sat there for about an hour chatting with him, drinking tea and practising my arabic. He sent his little mate out to get some ciggies and socks for me (forgot to pack any). He then arranged a taxi for me for the next day as I told him I wanted to go to Dahab.

Had a wander around Naama Bay, very much set up for tourists although quite nice. Beer in the Tavern Bar and noticed that the match was on at 5pm. Lunch at the hotel then headed back to the Tavern to watch a dismal game where Liverpool totally failed to stuff Man City. 0-0.

Back to the hotel for dinner, then sat on lappy in the bar chatting to friends and consuming red wine. Started chatting to a group of English outside and arranged for Sandy and Michael to come to Dahab with me in the morning.

Up early and into breakfast – just lots of juice, coffee and fruit salad, then realised I’d told the taxi driver “tamania” – 8o’clock instead of “tessa” – 9 o’clock. Sat in the courtyard and waited for the taxi to arrive, then off we went to Dahab, a coastal town 100km away from Sharm.

The desert mountains are stunning and the odd camel added a pleasant distraction to the hour-long journey.

We arrived in Dahab where it was very windy and the sea was too choppy for snorkelling, so we explored the length and breadth of it in about an hour, then had some drinks and headed back to Old Sharm, Old Market to be precise.

The taxi driver, Ashraf was good company and has invited me to stay at his house in Sharm when I come back.

Wandered around there for 45 mins, tried to get onto the beach but it was private, so got a taxi back to the hotel.

I went over to see Ahmed, but he was asleep in his shop when I arrived so I popped into the Tavern for one, then back to the hotel where I had another at the pool bar.

Back over to Ahmed’s after a shower and a lovely dinner of lamb tagen with rice, a dish made with peas, potatoes and a tasty sauce, a gorgeous soup with barley in it, and flatbread for plates :D All eaten in the company of Ahmed and his mates. Wonderful!

He then took me over to the port to get my ticket for the ferry. the official was just going home to El Hadaba so we followed him in the taxi and he sorted it out at his house.

He’s going back to his family home, a farming community outside Cairo, in about 20 days and has invited me up for a few days – sounds great to me!

Back to the hotel and I’m not sat in reception waiting to meet Ahmed at 23:30 to go to a Bedouin coffee bar for a chillout.

Has it really been a week…

2010-02-19T10:03:00.001-08:00

…since I last posted?

I’ve been running around everywhere saying goodbye to people and sorting out stuff like car insurance, doctor, hospital, benefits office – you name it I’ve been there.

Just been over to say goodbye to Herbert as it’s the last time I’ll see him. He’s so frail now but completely lucid and in good spirits.

Almost packed, off to see Steve and Cath and will finish packing later. Flying out early in the morning to Sharm where I’ll spend a few days before getting the ferry back home to Hurghada.

Weekend coming up

2010-02-12T02:25:00.001-08:00

Went to Carphone Warehouse yesterday and got myself an iPhone 3GS :D Round to John’s who kindly jailbroke it and unlocked it and then home to play with it for a bit.

Didn’t get anything done around the house and cancelled Steve cos I was so knackered!

Cleared the garage this morning, all looking good. Missing out on lunch with Dad and Martin as I have to be at the Job Centre at 12:30 for an interview. Lunch with John afterwards, which means taking the bus!

Off to see Steve and Cath tonight.

Shedload

2010-02-10T13:36:00.001-08:00

Cleared out Dad’s shed yesterday, so much junk from yesteryear! Startedd putting all my kitchen stuff in there which made me melancholy, all the time I’d spent building up a collection of kitchen equipment and now, in Egypt, I’m starting all over again and can’t take the stuff I’ve collected.

More clearing today and shelving up in place in the shed now. Moving stuff from the garage to the shed tomorrow.

Sat here watching the Red Men against Arsenal, we’ve totally outplayed them but we’re missing a striker so badly! Losing 1-0 with 5 minutes to go.

Web portal is coming along well, http://www.abouthurghada.com.

Going tomorrow to hopefully get a new phone.

Update

2010-02-08T01:42:00.001-08:00

Car will cost over £4000 to fix so that will be written off. Dad’s kindly put me on his insurance so I can get around a bit.

On a brighter note, went to the derby match and watch a 10-man Liverpool totally outplay Everton to beat them 1-0 :D Went into town with Paul and Tony afterwards and drank quite a few Guiness.

Sleep test last night, I was wired up to the hilt!

Twonk!

2010-02-03T14:14:00.001-08:00

Back and more…

Had a few too many vinos on the plane so ended up back in the UK a bit plastered.

Managed to prang my car the week before I was going to sell it, so need to sort that out now.

Cats re-homed and finally back at Dad’s, spent the evening working and catching up on emails.

Off to the doc’s tomorrow, need to call the insurance company etc. More updates soon.

Catching up again

2010-01-29T02:12:00.001-08:00

Well I have been neglecting this haven’t I!

I’ve been riding around Hurghada picking up bits and pieces for the apartment and generally chilling.

Spent a couple of days doing some web work for a client and put together a design for http://www.abouthurghada.com, a new web portal that I’ve started up for everything to do with Hurghada.

Went over to Mel’s on Wednesday night to play Buzz, Mary cooked a chicken roast and I had my first wine of the trip, quite a bit of it :D

Up at 1:30pm the next day and a leisurely drive back to Hurghada, got my bike chain tightened up, then met Nasiya in Papas for a mango juice or three.

Went to a coffee shop last night to watch the Egypt vs. Algeria match. Semi finals of the Africas Cup and there’s always bad blood between the Egyptians and Algerians as the Algerians stabbed a few Egyptians during their last encounter.

Egypt thrashed them 4-0, Algeria had 3 men sent off including the keeper and the bar was in uproar – I managed to get clouted in the head by the leg of a table that an enthusiastic fan was swinging around.

The celebrations were crazy, the whole town was driving around beeping their horns and partying until about 2:30am, so sleep was difficult ;)

Getting ready for my trip back to the UK now, my bike’s stored in the basement of the apartment and I’m tying up a few loose ends.

Zoom Zoom.

2010-01-23T16:32:00.001-08:00

Well that was interesting.

Took a cab to Sakalla, I think the driver’s name was Yensen Booton, he got me there in 10 minutes!

Had a look around the bike shop, walked out, walked back in and bought one! A 150cc Nitro (Malaysian) cruiser.

Back to the apartment and finally managed to get my satellite working with the help of Ashraf. Tried to get an early night but didn’t sleep well until 6am then slept through my alarm as the battery went on my mobile.

Up at 11am and called the bike shop. Picked my bike up at 12:15 and headed back to the apartment. Saw Ashraf in Shahazara so stopped off and had a mango juice. Drove the wrong way up the street to Cacao bar and had another mango juice in there. Went for a cruise around Dahar, got a rucksack and filled it with pots, pans, hammers and stuff then actually did go back to the apartment.

Had a bath, packed the rucksack and went to El Gouna for the evening. El Gouna is a gated secure community, absolutely massive but only 2 ways in or out with security at both ends. They refused to let me take my bike in as I don’t have a license plate yet so I had to leave it at the gatehouse and get a taxi to the marina.

Waited nearly an hour for Mel to turn up with Mary, Marie, Steve, Steve and Steve. Had a good Vietnamese meal then headed to Papas Island for drinks. Had a chat to Danny about the marketing job that had been advertised with Ministry of Sound/Hedkandi/Papas and Mel called Marcus and told him about me.

Marcus requested a cv so I have to get that sent off tomorrow.

Nice quiet drive back from El Gouna, the locals think I’m mad driving a bike in this cold, but to me it was a lovely balmy evening and I’m not the slightest bit chilly.

2:30 am so I’m off to bed with a vodka and fizzy blackcurrant. I’ve not had a drink al;l day so I deserve it.

Time Warp

2010-01-22T04:08:00.001-08:00

Wow was it really only yesterday I posted my last entry.

I seem to fit so much into a day here.

Wasted half the afternoon waiting for the satellite guy to turn up so mopped the floors in the apartment and tidied up a bit.

Finally gave up and went shopping around 8pm. Filled a trolley for less than £40 and had it delivered for 33p.

1kg fresh strawberries for 38p! 1/2kg king prawns for £1.75. 2 fish (unknown) for 13p! Much goodness.

Found a great kitchen shop – I could spend all my money in there.

Crawled into bed around 00:30 and woke up at 13:15 after some bizarre dreams. Managed to dress myself and have just finished my first coffee of the day.

I’m going to try and take a bus (not a cab) to Sakalla to look at some motorbikes.

Bloody Toe

2010-01-21T05:11:00.001-08:00

Cooker’s now installed, went out today and got a fridge and all the bits to sort out the cooker. I’m cooking with gas now!

Dresser top is now ensconced on the wall, that was a bitch to get up!

All I need to do now is sort myself out with a bike, seen a few but not sure whether to spend “that bit extra” for one I really want.

Was supposed to go to the quiz night in El Gouna tonight but it’s been cancelled.

Oh, the bloody toe? Khalif dropped the cooker on my foot as he was carrying it into the apartment.

Back Home

2010-01-19T20:31:00.001-08:00

Hmm, I’m getting lax with my postings.

After days of visiting people and getting myself down to Gatwick I finally arrived in Egypt after long delays.

In the airport I was waiting in the queue next to a lady who I got chatting to. Turns out she was the nutter. Turns out she sat next to me on the plane for 5 hours. Oh well, made the flight interesting.

Arrived at the airport and cabbed myself back to the apartment. There was water all over the streets and the cabbie explained that they’d had the worst thunderstorm for 14 years the previous day. Picked up a bottle of vodka for Khalif on the way. Let myself into my apartment and total darkness, but after 2 minutes of panic I flicked the fuse box switch and power was restored. Down to the El Hambra, a couple of beers and a curried prawn and I was ready for bed.

I’d just had a bath and readied myself for a good nap when Ashraf called me and invited me down to the Hard Rock Cafe, so I redressed and taxied it up to him where I had a couple of beers with him, tried to talk business over the loud rock music and gave up when I realised that it wasn’t the music stopping me from understanding him, he was too pissed to talk. He’d drank himself through a hangover from the night before. Lift home from a couple of Hard Rock staff and bed.

Up at midday after a good sleep, bath, coffee and then round to Amgad’s to catch up. He was just up and looked really tired. Coffee and arranged to go with Ashraf and his friend/customer Rami over in Sekalla at Joli Pub.

Went to change some money and get phone credit, met up with Nessim and dropped into the Caco Bar to catch up with the guys there. Ashraf called and met me in Shahrazara where he proceeded to down a couple of beers before we got a taxi to Sekalla.

Met Rami, lovely bloke, in his bar Joli. His friends Abu Ashara (owns some rather large supermarkets here) and the director of tourism for Hurghada were there as well. No business was discussed but Ashraf promptly got to work on a few beers.

I jumped a cab back to the apartment as Amgad had arranged for the local internet cafe to run a CAT5 cable across three streets to my apartment for me, so I met the guy there and bingo! I’m back on the internet.

Amgad called and arranged to pick me up about 10:30pm to go to Senzo Mall to buy some bits that I needed. He arrived in a minibus with Hani driving and said we were picking up Nasiya along the way.

At Senzo bought a 5 hob cooker, 1400W microwave, satellite receiver, 32” LCD TV (more than I intended), plates, crockery, mop bucket, you know the kind of stuff. Back at 2am. Khalif couldn’t manage the cooker up the stairs so he’s going to grab another Bawab tomorrow and get it in for me.

Crawled into bed with my book and fell into a restless sleep, up at 6am now so I’ve got some laundry ready to go and decided to update this little bloglet.

Limbo

2010-01-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

Not been up to much, recovering from the ‘flu.

Went into Alderhey to visit Clare’s daughter Meg who was having a brain op. Op went well but she developed a bleed on the brain and was really bad yesterday, but seems to be recovering well today and has just gone down for another MRI scan.

Brake lights have packed in on the car so I have to take it to the auto-electrics shop tomorrow to get it checked out.

Still snow and ice everywhere although it seems to have started thawing at last, bloody cold though.

Woke up this morning, looked out of the window at the white mess and booked myself a flight back to Egypt. I’ll be back in the UK at the start of Feb until about the 20th.

Dentists, Doctors and Sickness

2010-01-04T13:20:00.001-08:00

Up early to get to the Dentists, shower and into town. Booked in next week to get my two front teeth fixed. But they were all I wanted for Christmas!

Doctors at 2:40 followed by Nurse at 3:00 for jabs. Hep B 2nd jab and Flu jab, Doc signed me off for another 3 months and put me on a reduction plan for my antidepressants. Have to go back and see him in 2 weeks to get a prescription plan for Egypt.

Decided to pop into PC World and ended up getting a free (well, £40) lappy with a mobile broadband contract. Nice.

Feeling fluish again so not long for wakefulness.

Mazzy New Year

2010-01-03T06:34:00.001-08:00

Yep, ended up in the Mazzy after wandering around town and finding out that Liverpool had basically shut down for New Year’s day, but the good old Mazzy soldiered on. Met a lovely bloke in there, Elliot, who’s just bought an apartment in Sharm el Sheik. He reckons Corinne did a good job of making me look almost straight ;)

Big lie in on the 2nd followed by lunch at Estebans on Lark Lane, nice relaxed Tapas. A quick pint in the Fulwood Arms to wish Paddy all the best then back into town where we watched a band at The Cavern, then another one at Flanagan’s, then off to the Mazzy again before heading to Puzzle to finish the night off.

Woke up with a chest infection and aches all over, I’ve decided it’s probably my poor kidneys screaming for help, so I downed a couple of glasses of soda water.

Saw Corinne off and headed back to Dad’s where a nice hot bath was in order.

Just watching MNU 0-1 LEEDS and catching up on here.

The Eve of New Year

2010-01-01T10:53:00.001-08:00

Met up with Corinne for a Chinese buffet lunch then popped into the Britannia for a couple before heading back to Dad’s. Taxi to Allerton Road to meet Paul, Tracy, Ritchie, Tony and Max in the New York Bar, then back to Tracy and Paul’s to see in the New Year. Jolly good night :D

Took Corinne up to Goodison to see the ground but it was closed. Had lunch at Red Hot World Buffet in Liverpool One – very nice indeed! All you can eat Thai, Chinese, Tex Mex, Indian and stuff and top nosh besides!

Watched 1408, strange film, now back at Dad’s after bathing and getting ready to go out on the town with Corinne. Off to the Mazzy tonight I think.

Back in the UK

2009-12-30T16:11:00.001-08:00

Corinne was waiting at the airport and a treat of home made soup, champagne and a mezze was waiting back at the house. Damn it was cold arriving back.

Set off for Liverpool the next day but it was snowing in a BIG way so stayed over in Gloucestershire for the night, became rather drunk while watching Liverpool beat Aston Villa with a lucky injury time goal, had an Indian and then to bed.

Up at 8am then back on the road, weather not too bad, just steady drizzle. Back to Dad’s and a hot bath and change of clothes.

Met up with Corinne and did a bit of a pub crawl, with food at Wagamamas. Great evening, but sore and tired so back at Dad’s and hoping to sleep soon.

And then there were none…

2009-12-28T16:42:00.001-08:00

… no more days left that is.

I’m sat on the EasyJet flight back to Gatwick trying to remember where I got up to last time I made an entry.

After the drunken revelry that was Christmas Eve, a day was spent in recovery due to not getting to bed until 5am. Booked a cab to El Gouna as Mel said we would be meeting at Papas in the Marina.

Got to El Gouna around 6:30 and called Mel to find out where The Lodge (place booked for dinner) was. “Where are you?” she asked. “In front of Papas in El Gouna” I said. “Not THAT Papas!” she said, “The one in the Marina”. “This is a marina” I replied.

So it turns out that there are 2 Papas, in 2 different Marinas. One about 10 minutes from the apartment and the other in El Gouna which is about half an hour away. Luckily I managed to get hold of the taxi driver before he’d buggered off and headed back to the Marina in Sakkala.

A lovely Christmas meal in the Lodge accompanied by James Blunt and Macy Gray was followed by a free drinks night at Papas with a live band, pretty good but a bit heavy rock for an after dinner soiree.

The meal at The Lodge was an appetiser of smoked salmon crostini (it was on half a bread roll), veal with mushroom sauce (gorgeous!) as a starter and seafood pasta for the main (with or without scallops it said on the menu – it turned out that tonight it was without) and a cheeseboard to finish. Unfortunately the free glass of red wine was mulled, but a cool Stella went well with the cheese.

Boxing day was spent chilling before heading up to Mel’s place in El Khayam where a turkey roast was in swing. Sprouts in Egypt! Who would have thought it!

Played Poker with Mohammed and Steve and then played Buzz on the PS3 – all good clean fun. Mel’s house is lovely with the garden going straight onto the private beach. Also met Keefy – what a lovely guy. Had a great night before Mohammed provided a lift home.

Slept in late on Sunday and went down to the local bar for a few scoops before heading over to Kasanias for dinner and a drink in Cacao.

Intending to get up early today for the flight I crawled out of bed at 11am and went round to see Amgad and Ashraf. A few final beers in the bar opposite and the taxi was waiting.

Met Amgad at the airport and said goodbye, then was stopped when they scanned the bags as Amgad had provided a giant clam shell, the export of which is illegal. 20 LE changed hands and I was assured that as I was English it was a “present” from the customs guys.

Onto the Airbus 320 and there were 2 rows of seats near the front, each with one person sat in the aisle seat with two empty seats next to them.

I moved into an empty seat and the woman across the aisle started whining. It turned out that all these people were from the same family and wanted 3 seats each to themselves! Bloody southern chavs!

I’ll now be existing on red wine and Pringles for the next 5 hours (flight time 5:50 due to strong headwinds) and so the laptop is going away for a bit. Cold, wet England, here I come!

‘twas The Night Before Xmas

2009-12-25T05:19:00.001-08:00

and was spent mainly in the bar. Did some laundry then off to Ministry of Sound on the beach in Sakkala around 11pm with Ashraf. What a load of crap, pretentious club with repetetive music.

Moved on to Dutch Bar and had a great time there before a final stop off in the local Russian meat market, Calypso.

Grabbed a kebab on the way home, big enough to feed a small african nation with enough tahini sauce to swim in!

In bed at 5am, up at 1pm, now having a coffee looking at the sea and nursing a hangover.

Off to El Gouna later for Christmas dinner.

A New Dawn, A New Day…

2009-12-23T02:05:00.001-08:00

Had one of my “can’t sleep” nights so got up and went to the local shop at 7am and bought two huge bottles of water and some bits and pieces, including some incense which I currently have burning all around the apartment as I smoked myself silly through the night.

Bought some Liptons Yellow Label tea only to get it back and realise that it’s “dust tea”, so I’ll have to drink it like the Egyptians do.

Arabic for the day :
tea = shay
coffee = a’hwa
milk = laban
sugar = sukkar

Now you can go get your early morning drink of choice ;)

Catch Up

2009-12-23T02:01:00.001-08:00

What a busy few days!

Wednesday went to the public beach with Mahmoud and had a terrific lunch. Down to the hotel beach after and dinner is Kasanias. Top local family run restaurant, lobster for £6.50.

Went off to meet Mel and the ex-pats in Papa’s in El Gouna for a quiz night on Thursday. Drank copious amounts and for the first time, the Brit team (us) won!

El Gouna’s marina area is something out of a Bond novel. Multi million pound yachts all moored next to glitzy shops and bars. It’s a secure community and the taxi driver, after saying he’d wait, decided to go off and get some more business. He then couldn’t get past security when he returned so that was the taxi out of the window. Had to wait for the bar to close (4am) and travelled back with the staff in their minibus.

Up at 9am as I had my Emergency First Responder course – felt like … well, you can guess! Managed to get through the day though and passed the course.

Saturday I was off diving for the day and 10 minutes into the first dive at carless reef the divemaster tank-slapped and shot off ahead. I switched on the video camera and followed and suddenly I was nose to nose with a gorgeous turtle busy snacking on a fish.

A couple of minutes and a Moray eel later we were swimming alongside the dropoff and the instructor pointed to what I thought was a tuna swimming about 5m below us and 20m away. I watched with interest until i realised it had a sharp dorsal fin and white tips on it. It was a (small) white tip reef shark. Just after that I watched a dolphin shooting away into the distance. Great stuff to see for the first dive of the day.

The second dive was less eventful, shallow diving over a couple of lagoons with nothing much to see except schools of brightly coloured fish and a few large parrot fish.

Sunday was, I think, a day of rest, meaning I didn’t get up till the afternoon and wasn’t feeling great. Went to Barclays in Sakalla and tried to open an account. Off to Peanuts for a few scoops then met Amgad later on and went to Kasanias again.

Monday, penultimate day before leaving, was spent in Sakalla trying to open an account with Barclays still. Didn’t get much joy so went to HSBC and opened an account in about 10 minutes. Met Mel, Rita and Emily in Dahar and had a few scoops in El Hambra before dinner in Mandarine and then onto Cacao where we proceeded to get well and truly leathered and decided to stay on another week to get everything sorted.

Up at 11 on Tuesday to check out of hotel and moved all my stuff to the apartment when Amgad came knocking on the door and lent me his USB dongle to look for flights on the internet. Booked a flight for next Monday with EasyJet, so now I can relax and get things sorted. Bit upset about not spending Christmas with the family.

Went off to Sakkala for a wander then met up with Amgad again and took a trip to the Government shops in Dahar where I bought 2 small tables, a kettle and a water heater. As I write this the bawab and plumber are in the bathroom fitting the heater.

That’s about done with catching up, see you all soon.

Night Out

2009-12-16T07:22:00.001-08:00

Had a great night in Sakkala in the Dutch Bar, after visiting Hard Rock Cafe. Live singer and dancing followed by an African show,free nibbles, all good.

Lazy day today, picked up laundry and put bedding on the bed (went to Senzo Mall yesterday and had a look around). Bath plug mechanism doesn’t work, so Khalif replaced it with a plastic plug ;)

Off to a snake show in Cacao’s later.

Finally…

2009-12-14T09:37:00.001-08:00

… found a decent internet connection.

Met up with Amgad to view the apartment block he lives in – I’m now his next door neighbour.

I love the place, magnificent views, great location, but unfurnished, so spent an evening with Amgad buying furniture.

Apt is 1300 LE/month (about £150) with an extra 100 LE for doorman, electric and water.

Marble floors, 2 beds, 2 balconies, bought 2 beds + matresses, 2 wardrobes, 1 dressing table, two-piece kitchen dresser, dining table and 6 chairs. Cost about £650 secondhand and delivered :(

Need to get a water heater, fridge and cooker next. No chance of a dishwasher :(

Sun’s still shining :D

Hurghada

2009-12-10T04:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks so much to Corinne and Ian for overnight accommodation and a lift to Gatwick.

The flight was painless and the efficiency at hurghada airport left me breathless! Visas and bags obtained and outside in 10 minutes!

Private car to hotel, shower and a walk around the town. Average meal in hotel then sleeeep!

Up at 5:00 with the call to prayer so went out and found a 24 hour bar opposite the hotel with wifi and drank lots of great coffee.

Cloudy yesterday so walked around the town, had lunch at the sister hotel and then had a nap. Grabbed a taxi into Sakkala for £1 and had a wander around. Very nice but i think I prefer El Dahar where the hotel is.

Back to the 24 hour bar and up chatting until 3:30!

Woke around 11 this morning and was picked up by an estate agency to view some apartments. Very nice but out of the way and surrounded by building sites. Back to the 24 hour bar and sat here with Ismael, a bloke I’ve just met whose brother has 2 apartments for rent in El Dahar – off to view in 10 mins.

Pack, Pack and Pack Again

2009-12-06T11:04:00.001-08:00

Spent the past few days packing, unpacking and repacking my bags. I think I’ve got it all sorted now.

Missed the postman so I’ve had to put my trip down south back until first thing Monday as I need to collect my PADI training manuals from the sorting office before I go. Early start!

Woke at 4:30 this morning and every 10 minutes after scratching myself silly! The lyrics from Pink “I can't stay on your morphine ‘cause it's making me itch” seem to ring true. I was itching everywhere last night so tonight I’m going to take the pain over the itching.

Filled the day by having lunch out at Wagamama’s with Clare, then round to John and Dyl’s to drop off a few bits and catch up.

Going to chill for an hour or two then get myself off to bed.

Missed a few

2009-12-01T08:15:00.001-08:00

I seem to have made myself too busy to post recently, so here’s a catch-up.

Went to The Cotswolds on Thursday for a couple of days, did a bit of a photoshoot and had an early Christmas meal at Elly’s as she’s off to Oz for 6 weeks. It was a nice, relaxing weekend, nothing rushed, time to do things at my leisure and I thoroughly enjoyed it, apart from the incessant rain.

I’m really feeling positive about things now, got up Monday morning at 5am and arrived back just in time for my counselling at 9:00. Final session with counsellor and it all went well.

Came back to the house and sorted out some of my clothes, went to the gym and did an hour and a half, then a bath and off to Arabic class. I have no idea how I used to fit a job in around all this ;)

Didn’t sleep until gone 5am, too many things running around my head, but when I did get to sleep I slept through until nearly 3pm. I’m now sorting out the back bedroom to clear more stuff but they day’s almost over!

Might take Dad out for a curry and a pint tonight.

Tired Tuesday

2009-11-24T10:46:00.001-08:00

Couldn’t sleep last night, was willing my mind to shut off but it didn’t. Came downstairs twice to have a ciggy and another glass of wine but it didn’t help. Finally dropped off about 4:30.

Woke up at 11:30, landlord hadn’t called and still hasn’t, so he’s going to get the keys to the house through his front door, It’s not a shock, he’s just put on his usual (un)reliable display.

Cleared most of Dad’s dining rooming now and replaced his World Books Encylopedia collection with my cookbooks :D

Managed to do some damage to myself taking a complete set of encyclopedias up to the attic.

Another day of clearing tomorrow before my trip to Gloucestershire on Thursday. Quiet evening now.

Moved T+1

2009-11-23T12:22:00.001-08:00

Even though I’m now officially at my dad’s, 2 trips were still required to take stuff to the tip from the old house.

Spent most of the day rooting through the stuff I’ve brought here and managed to fill 3 binbags with throwouts.

Landlord called and said he wants to meet tomorrow to “go over the house” despite the fact it’s been cleaned top to bottom AND I’m leaving him with £200! Tosser.

Went to the gym and had an exercise schedule set up for me to get my stamina and strength back, then came back for a much needed hot bath to get rid of the aches. Didn’t work, but the morphine did.

More sorting tomorrow after burying the landlord in his own back garden.

Moved Out

2009-11-22T15:14:00.001-08:00

Went to watch the (not so) mighty Reds yesterday, very disappointing result and another day of walking away from Anfield feeling deflated. Shame everton didn't beat the scum, that would have brightened up the day.

After a long long week moving stuff out, with the help of Debs, Claire and her kids the house is now empty and cleaned top to bottom.

I’m moved into my Dad’s and knackered. Tomorrow I start sorting out the stuff I’ve inundated his house with.

Busy Day

2009-11-20T09:45:00.001-08:00

Didn’t sleep until 4:30 am, bad night for pain it appears.

Doorbell rang 9:30 but it was just the postman dropping off a final demand ;)

Phone reminder went off 10:30 so bounced out of bed, had a bath, loaded the car with yet more junk and drove to Dad’s to drop it off before heading out for lunch with John and Dyl, who very kindly treated me.

Back home and another carload to Dad’s. Stopped off for a pint in the Fulwood Arms to treat myself and met a mate there with his mate who was a diver, so we exchanged stories for a bit then headed back home.

Getting Closer

2009-11-19T06:01:00.001-08:00

So, moved the rest of the furniture out yesterday.

Doc has kindly written me a letter so that the leisure centre won’t charge me £47 penalty for when I cancelled my direct debit without notice. He then kindly charged me £13 for the letter.

All clothes bar a few scraps now packed and in suitcases and off to Dad’s shortly. Washed the curtains and cleaned the windows as landlord came round with a Polish family to view the house. Stupid cow bitched about me being a smoker.

Trying to work up the willpower to load a few more bits into the car, drop off at Dad’s, pick up letter from Doc’s, get membership at leisure centre then come back and start packing some more.

Coffee and a cigarette are in order I think.

Kitchen Clearance

2009-11-18T04:37:00.001-08:00

Cleared all the kitchen cupboards today and took 2 carloads of stuff to Dad’s. Feel better now I can see things happening.

Went to Sis’s for dinner, ended up cooking the steaks for her ;) Always nice to see them all but had to leave when “I’m A Celebrity..” was followed by “Living With The Hoff” ! There’s only so much a damaged mind can take!

Woke up with aches and chills – the jabs must be doing their thing. After a coffee finally managed to clear the loft which has necessitated a trip to the charity shop later.

I was going to clear the shed today but the awful weather has made me decide to probably stay indoors and pack some clothes instead.

Nasser’s kindly lending me his van later to shift the final bits of furniture and Debs has promised to give me a hand.

Weekend Over

2009-11-16T14:35:00.001-08:00

Great weekend away in Stroud when I had to re-home the cats.

They’ll have a great life with Elly though.

Fantastic meal Saturday night at JRools Bistro in Stroud, absolutely awesome food!

Set out at 5am this morning and drove through 3 hours of solid rain to get back for my counselling. All good news there, I have my last session in 2 weeks and am feeling very positive about things.

Victim support came round @ 11 to take some photos of my scarring and said my claim seems to be on a fast track so I may get my compensation before I leave for Egypt :D

Hep A and B jabs at docs in the afternoon, then Arabic class in the evening which I really wasn’t looking forward to but had a good time.

Now sat recovering from the early start and gearing myself up to clearing lots from the house tomorrow.

Thursday into Friday

2009-11-13T07:36:00.001-08:00

Went for lunch yesterday and decided after 2 bottles of wine that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to drive home, so made a very enjoyable night of it and slaughtered another 3 bottles of wine and half a bottle of very good port.

Arrived back home about lunchtime and got a call from Steve to see if I was going for lunch near work, so I popped along, handed in my security card and had a pint with him.

Back home and the car’s loaded up with stuff for tomorrow’s trip to Gloucestershire when I’ll be dropping off the cats at Elly’s :(

Probably won’t be posting this weekend, so catch up with you all after the weekend.

Later that day…

2009-11-11T08:45:00.001-08:00

Swimming is out for the day, the leisure centre hasn’t contacted me as they said they would. Don’t you just love the customer service in this country.

Took Dad to Costco and purchased his new freezer, then aman with a van called Billy came and delivered it later. Had to clear his shed out but it’s all looking good now and his new freezer’s installed.

While I was going to his anyway I took 12 bags of foodstuffs down to store in his garage. My kitchen really was too well stocked.

A night of True Blood series 2 and red wine awaits.

Kitchen Clearout

2009-11-11T03:49:00.001-08:00

Having cleared out most of the dining room, office, lounge and back bedroom I’m making a start on the kitchen today.

I’ve already taken tons of oils, vinegars and flours to my Dad’s, along with tins of food and condiments. The kitchen was just too well stocked! I’ll clear out another cupboard or two and take the contents round today. Have you noticed how I’m sitting here typing this instead of actually getting on with it? It’s hard to going after a night of no sleep.

I’ve started swimming each day to improve my stamina ready for my new career and I really should do some today, but I’m really not in the mood. Oh well, let’s see how I get on.

Starting a new life

2009-11-11T03:43:00.001-08:00

After an operation, I’ve been out of work for 6 months and then found myself redundant which obviously leads to homeless.

It’s all good though and I’m changing my life completely. Over the past few weeks I’ve been clearing out the house that I rent in preparation for moving in with my Dad for 2 months, after which I will be moving to the Red Sea, Egypt. I’m intending to train and work as a scuba instructor in Hurghada or Sharm El Sheik.

This blog is to document my experiences of moving to a new country and culture.