Perhaps its True

I registered for a gym yesterday. The building I've moved into is brand new and has lots of teething problems. For example, the internet cable is not laid right and most of the homes do not get internet or cable. There is a gym room in the building but its bare. When I asked the Nathur(watchman) he confirmed that the gym will not be equipped till the entire building is occupied. In India I'd raised hue and cry about it. But here I merely shrugged and got out to check out gyms in the neighborood.

And gyms, there are aplenty. I could find 3 gyms within 200 m radius. The first one I visited and a 1 yr membership for 1500dhms. But it had restriction on using the treadmill. I could use the treadmill for only 40 min and could not run beyond 9kph. 

Okay! I said and went off to the next gym. The yearly fee was 1800dhm and you could run for at most 30 min. Speed no limit.

I returned home wondering how I could get my time on the treadmill. I tired running over the weekend in corniche and realized how hot and sultry its become in just a month. I do not think I can run along the corniche dr for the rest of the season. 

Yesterday, while returning home from office, I went to google maps and searched for gym near me. It brought up a pointer right at Electra and Salam junction. I popped in. The guy there looked at my employee card and said, xyz bank! We have a special scheme for your bank at 1000 dhms a year. That was great, till I saw the notice on the treadmill. It said, restricted to 20 min during rush hours. I enquired about the rush hours and they said, till 8:30pm. You could run for longer time after 8:30 pm. 

It worked perfectly for me. I did my 30 min run today. The treadmill was in miles and I went to 7.5mph straight away to test the fallacy of 7 km 35 min (12 kph). Well to my surprise, it held up well. I actullay did 7.5mph for 30 min without running out of breath. So, its official. I can claim, I can run at 12kph for 30 min. Yahoooo!

Pasta Time

After an exhausting run I had to cook my dinner. And so I decided on pasta with Alfredo sauce. I love Alfredo and had got a bottle in the morning from the groceries. I was checking with my wife on how to go about it and she asked me to add garlic to the preparation. I actually tried frying it before adding it. Some of it got burnt. I was disappointed. But when I sat to eat my dinner the burnt garlic really added to the taste. I loved the pasta. I believe it was better than any I had in a long time

Getting Warmer

I've heard horror stories about Abu Dhabi's summers. I've been here in sep-03 and have faced the heat myself. Today again I felt the tremors of the things to come. 

I knew it was getting hot so I delayed my going for my weekly run to about 7pm. Finally, by the time I reached Corniche it was close to 7:45 but the temp was high,  no breeze at all. I huffed and puffed my way and struggled to complete 10k. Also,

Corniche is a little farther from my new place. It's almost 2kms and that added to the effort. Pretty soon I'll not be able to run there. The only chance I have is a gym. 

I visited a couple of gyms today. One restricts running on treadmill to 40 min and not more than 9kph. The other to 30 min with no speed restrictions. The latter is more expensive at 1200dhm for 6 months. I have a gym here in the building but there is no equipment here. 

I'll decide tomorrow on my gymming future. 

New Home at its bare best!

Settling into the new Apt

Yet again I move into another apartment. The excitement of moving into a new house is always very palpable, very real. The first house I remember moving in as an adult was in Chandigarh. Back in 1999. Fresh out of B school I had just joined a product company. The money was good but the city was expensive even then. Its wierd, but as I recall, whenever I've gone house hunting (rental), I've always liked the first house the most. Internet postings were not so popular then. I scanned the newspapaer classifieds and narrowed down the search. It was a studio right above the garage section of a bunglow. It was freshly painted, White. Cheap destemper but clean. The rent was Rs.2700 pm which I think is high even today. But after visiting about half a dozen other places I had finally selected the first one.

House hunting in Abu Dhabi was also old world. I tried looking up houses on dubizzle, but most of the places were either too expensive or too downmarket. I have a close friend living here and he looked up a few places for me. Somehow, I did not like any. In the end it was a broker and with 100dhms fee, the first place he brought me was a brand new building that was still not occupied. I checked out both a studio and a 1 bhk. The studio was too small, but the 1bhk was a dream. With glass facades across the living room and the bedroom, it gave me okayish view of the city. There were 2 toilets and an open kitchen, I loved the moment I saw it. 

We left the place and he took me around some 7 other places, but my heart was stuck on this one. In the end, after a couple of weeks of searching, the first love prevailed and I finally eliminated all others to settle for this one. With 80K a year rent, the 1 bhk was pushing the envelope. With dedicated parking, I thought it was worth it. And so I took it up. I'll try and post a few pics in another post, just for posterity. 

Running Feel Good

Ever since I landed in AbuDhabi I've eaten like a pig. The food for the entire month was on the company and I've gained no less than 3 kgs in the last 3 weeks. 

Though I've tried to burn it all by running, it's stuck to me. Perhaps the tread mills are rigged to give guests a false sense of achievement. In India, just prior to relocation I could not do 5 km @11 kph on the treadmill without stopping once for a breather. Here I just zoom. Today I did 7 km in 35 min. That is an incredible 12kmph for 35 min. I've never done this before. The very best I ever did was 5 km in 25 min on the Gold gym treadmill. I was totally blown away. 

Not surprisingly I'm not able to lose weight though I'm clocking more than 20km a week. 

Month 110

A lot of changes and a fast paced life. It seems I've just changed lanes and suddenly hit the freeway. Days go by in a haze. A lot of pending work. Housing not closed yet. My family's visa, my driver's license. Furnishing the house a long list of unfinished work.

It'll take time to get this under control. I'm missing my daughter a lot. Her mother is having a tough time managing her alone. Wish they were here.

Its a long way from how I felt about relationships exactly a year ago. I just have to look at my draft blogs that I never published and don't want to revisit...

Yet to prove self at work. Hope in time will be able to settle...