Temptations

This is a shout-out to my friends at the Cypress Creek YMCA and in First Place. No matter where you go in the world, you can't escape temptation. Unfortunately, it's everywhere! I miss you guys and can't wait to get back to my routine.

Bangkok pictures are coming, but they are uploading very slowly. I'll try to get them up when we stop in Taipei.

Beautiful Bangkok!

Bangkok is a beautiful city! On Sunday I was very blessed to be taken on a sightseeing tour that was just wonderful. Our first stop was the Grand Palace, which is no longer a royal residence, but which is still quite grand. There were intricate carvings and gold work all over the place and the flowers in the gardens were quite exquisite. The climate in Bangkok is tropical and is pretty much the same as Houston - hot and humid. After visited the Grand Palace, we spend some time shopping with the street vendors on our way to a boat ride through the canals of Bangkok. The river itself is not very appealing, but the homes along the way were very interesting.

Many of the homes included elaborate shrines to buddha. There were amazing orchids and other flowers everywhere. At one spot, we stopped to feed the fish. They were sort of like catfish and they splased water all over us in their attempts to beat each other to the bread we were throwing out. There were stops along the way as different businesses tried to get us to come in and buy their wares and services - Thai massage is supposed to be very relaxing - but we always declined and went on our way. I guess the business owners give a kickback to the boat drivers.

After we finished our boat ride, we proceeded to the MBK market for some lunch and shopping. What a place! You could find every knock-off imagineable and at amazing prices. The others in our group were particularly looking at purses and shoes. I bought a few souvenirs but decided against fake Coach bags. Finally we made our way back to the hotel and had a nice snack before heading back to our rooms to relax before bedtime. Oh, did I tell you about my room? Ha!

I was booked for a Jr. Suite, but when I checked in, I found that I had been given a complimentary upgrade to the Executive Suite. I found out later that one person in the group is typically selected for this honor because the company does so much business with this hotel, and I was the one selected. The place was just amazing. It was bigger than my first apartment! Thankfully, I slept quite well that night and was ready to face my last presentation before heading home.

First Day of Winter (in Cape Town)

I know that I haven’t updated my blog in a couple of days, but there just hasn’t been time. I arrived in Cape Town around 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and only had a little time after arriving at the hotel before it was time for dinner with the group. After dinner I made it back to my room and got in bed. We had a full day of training on Thursday and then another group dinner. Friday was a half day of training followed by a group lunch and then it was time to head to the airport for my flight out of Cape Town.

Sadly, I have no pictures from Cape Town. Today is the first day of winter there, so the days are short. The sun didn’t come up until around 8:00 and it was already setting by the time I was heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. The weather in Cape Town both days was cold and rainy, quite a change from what Houston is experiencing right now. The hotel itself is in a lovely setting on the waterfront. However, on the drive from the airport to the hotel, we passed by the slums and the living conditions there broke my heart. The homes are almost like small storage sheds, and the conditions are very grim. I prayed for the people living there as we passed by.

I would have loved to have the opportunity to explore the area a bit more, but the timing just didn’t work out this trip. Maybe someday I’ll make it back. The training went very well on both days, and I very much enjoyed getting to know the people who work in this region. They deal with a lot of interesting and difficult conditions in the Africa sub-Sahara region of the world.

After an overnight flight from Cape Town to Dubai and then a 6-hour flight from Dubai to Bangkok, I’ve made it to the last leg of my trip. Tomorrow will be a sightseeing day, so hopefully I’ll end up with lots of pictures.

Snow in Dubai

Did you ever do something that you never in your life expected you would do? Well, that's just what happened last night for me when I visited Ski Dubai. You heard it right - Ski Dubai. Yep, it seems the ruling sheik is so keen on turning Dubai in a tourist mecca that he has built an indoor ski park complete with ice sculptures, fake snow, snow board trail, ski trail and tubing run. They even have smaller runs for the kids. It was certainly interesting to see all of these people in traditional Arab dress trying to negotiate the slopes. I have several pictures to post here, but really the best one was one the professional took of me as I was tubing down the slope. I'll have to see if I can get it scanned when I go to the office tomorrow, so you can see it. I don't guess I ever in my wildest dreams considered that I might be snow tubing in Dubai in the middle of the summer.

This morning I got up very early and got on the plane for the next leg of my journey. I've made it to Cape Town and it's rainy and cold. I met up with all of the participants in my training session and we've had a nice dinner. Tomorrow will be a very full day of training, so hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

Thanks again for all of the prayers that I know are being said on my behalf. I'm praying for all of you too!

Construction City!

It is said that 70% of the world's cranes are currently in Dubai. After spending just a couple of days here, I believe it. There's construction everywhere - new highrise apartment buildings, new roads, new train systems, new office buildings - all are under construction. The goal is to turn Dubai into the tourist capital of the world. And all of these construction projects have people working on them around the clock.



I made it down to the beach on Sunday. Most of my pictures didn't turn out because it was so hazy and bright. But I did get one good picture of an interesting sight. This is a private beach for hotel guests, so there are nice cabanas for people to sit in while they are visiting the beach. I had gone out to play in the waves. It was such a windy day that the waves practically knocked me over and I didn't even go out very far. I then walked up and down the beach trying to take pictures. After a bit I went back to my cabana to relax and read. At one point I looked up and saw a couple of people crossing the beach on camels. Now there's a sight you don't see every day. At least my picture of that came out pretty good. The construction off in the distance is where they're building an island in the shape of a map of the world. The twin island is already done. It's in the shape of a palm tree. Yep, it's construction city!

After relaxing for a bit, I got some work done and then met the group for dinner. It was a nice dinner and they even knew how to prepare everything gluten free and brought me gluten free bread to go with my meal. The service here is amazing!

Comments, please!

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First Day in Dubai

Reposting my first day's post since it didn't work with the Arabic.

Okay, I'm here and I hope that I can figure out how to post this blog. All of my commands are in Arabic and, well, I don't really understand Arabic. Anyway, I made it to Dubai and it was a very nice flight. Who knew 15 hours on an airplane could actually be pleasant. I'll post a picture of my seat if I can figure out which of these commands uploads a picture. If I can't figure it out today, I'll try later. Anyway, my seat was a nice space with enough room for me to fully extend the leg rest and the person next to me could still get out. Another nice feature was my own private video screen which was probably equivalent to a 19" computer monitor. I could select from over 600 movies and TV shows or I could play games or read up-to-date news. I was even given noise canceling headphones with full stereo surround sound. When it was time to sleep, the seat could extend out to a flat bed and the flight attendants handed out these nice comfy little mattresses to go on the seat. Oh, and the seat had a built-in massage function. Yeah, flying business class was a whole lot better than my last 15-hour plane ride in coach. I actually got some restful sleep.

I can tell you that God's hand is already evident on this journey, so thanks to all who are praying for me. When I arrived at the hotel there was a problem with my American Express card. Last week I called to inquire about my new card as the old card was set to expire this month. I told them that I was about to go on this trip and they assured me that I would be able to use my card through the end of the month and that they would send me another new card. The problem is that when the replacement office was notified that the card they had previously sent was not received by me, they cancelled the card number to keep anyone who happened to get that card from being able to use it. They then issued me a new card number. I try not to carry a whole lot of cash when I'm traveling like this because the exchange rate is so much better when you use a card. But, I didn't panic. I knew God had this whole thing under control and that He was not a bit surprised about my predicament. I had the hotel contact American Express for me and they were able to force the approval of my card and they will be sending a replacement card on to my hotel in Cape Town, so that I will have something to use for the rest of my trip. Whew! God is good ALL the time! Oh, I have to tell you that before I went to bed I went out on my balcony and sang praises to God out loud. This is a place where God is not acknowledged, but His presence is real and very evident to me.

I had a good night's sleep, and I will be spending some time out at the beach today. I've already walked down to it and it is beautiful. I'll take lots of pictures to share as well. Then I have a bit of work to do before meeting up with my colleagues here for dinner tonight. Tomorrow I'll be busy doing my presentation. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I definitely miss my Dad on this day especially, but I know I'll get so see him again one day.