I feel like Avengers: Infinity War is getting enough press but Burj Khalifa

My heart always soars when I see AEDs (not dirhams, defibrillators) in public places. This has only happened in the last few years and it's a huge development. Years ago I wrote about losing my friend Rob Evans, who died out on Yas Island at the age of 37, for no real good reason. By all accounts those who were with him that terrible night say it happened quickly, but I always wonder whether if there was a defibrillator nearby... would it have made a difference. Either way, I think of Rob when I see these and thinking of him always makes my day, because he was a hilarious, gentle, kind and imaginative soul. You can read all about him here and here. 

It's 2018 & now we are all paying VAT. Also, I was on the radio

Hey there. Happy New Year. I was real ready for it to be 2018, because 2017 was basically the best of times and worst of times for me – 2016 too, come to think of it – and I'll be writing a little bit more about some of those adventures in the coming weeks. I've got a bit more free time these days, and I'll be writing about that too. New beginnings, and all.

For now though, one of the new things I started doing at the end of 2017 is reporting for CBC Radio's programme The World This Weekend. I used to be an Ontario Morning correspondent for CBC back in the day, and later filed reports for Ottawa Morning and I have to say, it's a real thrill to be back on radio. As a foreign correspondent-type person. (I always dreamed of being a foreign correspondent, but I kind of took a different route in my career) Anyway, it's a medium I love and will be doing more of. So stay tuned for that too.

For now, you can still check out the report I did this weekend on the five per cent value-added tax that launched today across the UAE.

As Alia Yunis, a Californian I interviewed for the report, puts it: "Taxes are one of those words that you never want to hear, but they seem to be getting inevitable so you can run but you can’t hide from them, as much as people try to." 

Courage + 'when are you coming home'?

I love this Anais Nin quote. This quote always makes me think about my life in two parts: before my mom Christine died of cancer when I was 27 and she was 53, and after.

Not only did it lurch me into adulthood in the three short months she was ill - like so many women, I wasn’t so much an adult who made my own decisions as a person who leaned on my mother in every way - but it brought something else into sharp focus. What if I died? What if I only made it to 53?

What if my mom knew she was going to die then? What would she have done differently? I know one of the paths she didn’t take, using her nursing degree to become a flight attendant, was something she thought often about. I know she was great at living in the moment and getting immense enjoyment from silly things, and lifelong learning and growing, and challenging herself, and that she loved being a mom. What else, I won’t know. But life from that moment changed forever for me, and ordinary became impossible.

It's back! It's back! Get ready for the Terry Fox Run 2018

Go here to register for this 8.5km track along Abu Dhabi's Corniche on Friday, January 19. See you there!

Today in firsts: Standup paddle boarding versus kayaking

Eastern Mangroves Corniche.

I've been meaning to try standup paddle boarding for 5 years now. During an interview with an expat website literally five years ago, I indicated that I was going to be trying standup paddle boarding imminently. 

And the thing was, I meant to. I really did. I don't know where the time goes on these things, but I guess it's the same gaping hole that swallowed my book and my screenplay. But you can't really compare something that would take two hours and is a five-minute drive from my house to something that would take hundreds of hours to complete. 

Breaking news: Are cigarettes being pulled off (or flying off) Baqala shelves in Abu Dhabi ahead of the big tax hike?

This guy posting on Abu Dhabi Q&A, the endlessly entertaining Facebook page, seems to think so. 

"So no more selling cigarettes in baqala near to my place as municipality told them to remove all cigarettes from the shelves," he writes. "Is this happening all over Abu Dhabi?"

Snapchat Day: Opening night of Bounce at Marina Mall

I swear this place is the cure for the summer grumpies. Get there! The entrance is a bit strange and hard-to-find (it's at the back upstairs, via the restaurants) and I wish they would turn the music down. But just try not to giggle when you are bouncing around on a trampoline. And it's hard work! There are also loads of other things too, besides 100 trampolines in this 3,500 sq m space, like two slack (zip) lines, a two-story freefall and a pretty zippy 40-metre slide.  There's also loads of slushie flavours if you don't mind a cold headache.

Open 10am-10pm Sunday to Wednesday and 10am-midnight on weekends. The price is Dh80 for the first session, Dh70 after you get that pair of fancy socks. Go to Bounce.ae for more.

Snap caption: Someone's confident

Thank you Expat Woman.com

I was thrilled to hear from the lovely ladies over at ExpatWoman.com, who named A Canadian in Abu Dhabi among their list of 9 of the capital's best blogs.

They pointed out I've been blogging since 2008, kindly not mentioning how much I've slowed down in recent years as life here has become my normal, writing:

"That's almost a decade of first hand experiences, advice, thoughts and tips on what life is like in the capital of the UAE."

To celebrate, I give you this post, which I wrote at the end of the year I became an expat. It was nice to read all that I learned in those early months, just for perspective, all these years later, when I often forget.

Thanks ladies! Keep up the good work.

There are some other cool blogs on the list too, a really nice cross-section. Check them out here. 

Canada Day in the UAE: Hocky Night in Abu Dhabi

Overheard in the newsroom: Justin Bieber's is it too late to say Sorry? edition

It's an apology bear. It should be bigger.

What it's like to live in Abu Dhabi, summed up nicely by a New Yorker

A writer and PR representative living in the capital, Christine Hinz has written a really good column about life here. It was top of The National's website all day, so you know it resonated. You can check it out for yourself, but I give you my favourite line:

For the most part, people who live in Abu Dhabi don’t like the idea of living in Dubai, and people in Dubai wouldn’t dream of living in Abu Dhabi.

Gutsy #CANADIAN Lysanne Richard wins the women's 3rd Fina Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi

On Sunday the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the UAE Swimming Federation brought high diving to the capital for the first time.

I wish I could have been down at the Abu Dhabi International Marine and Sports Club to see it. Instead here are some pics we grabbed off Abu Dhabi Sports after Lysanne Richard, a 34-year-old who hails from Chicoutimi, Quebec, nailed her 20-metre jump to grab gold.

Overheard in the newsroom: Chicken edition

I know people say Antman isn't a superhero because he's too tiny, but I disagree. 

I'm an expert dragger. It may be ridiculous it I am proud of it. 

I had chicken for breakfast. 

Oh, I know my mangoes. 

I think he's trying to watch Sharknado. 

Overheard in the newsroom: Zayn Malik, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups edition

Last night I dreamed I met Zayn Malik and we worked on a horse sanctuary together.

That's part of a social observation from 10 years ago when I had hair and dreams.

I've never eaten peanut butter, except in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

He's delusional. I don't think he's well.

Can you imagine how much fluff that would pick up?

He was body-shaming my cat. In his defense, he isn't a very good-looking cat.

Humid in the city: When the heat gets to you, give it a month

Lots of Abu Dhabi windows look like this right now.

You can’t really go outside. You haven’t been able to do so in as long as you can remember, not really, not in a way that gives you any relief. Any fresh air. Any respite from the oppressive heat that has enveloped us for months.

What does that do to a person, really? Terrible things. Probably very unhealthy things, mentally and physically. Fresh air grass, water, sand, green things, nature: they all seem so terribly far away right now. What do you do when you can't escape the wet, foggy blanket that is enveloping you at every turn? That's basically smothering your face? 

Not much, I'm afraid. Not for another very hard couple of weeks.

I had a beautiful vacation in Bhutan at the start of August, one of the most amazing experiences of my life and ever since I came back, life has been hard. 

And so the person on the phone who doesn’t understand me bears the brunt. The shop keeper who seems to know nothing about the product I need - but they so should - is the recipient of my quietly simmering fury. It doesn't matter what the issue or the person the heat makes it worse: The irritating co-worker, the job that’s not going that well right now, the wobbly relationship, the child who needs that last ounce of patience no one has at the moment. 

The last few days here have been among the most horridly hot most people have experienced. No one can quite believe it, even those of us who have seen it repeatedly. The humidity is beyond belief. The simple trips from the car to work to car to home drain the life out of you. Knowing that it will drain the life out of you drains the life out of you. September in Abu Dhabi is like a long, dark, Ottawa, Canada winter, except you can bundle up against that, put on your snow pants and your toque and your boots and walk through the snow, and get yourself some fresh, clean air in those cells and when you get back home, rosy-cheeked and tired out, the world is right again. There is no way to do that in the depths of an Abu Dhabi summer. 

And because of that, you question everything. 

I see the havoc this weather wreaks emotionally every year, in myself and others all around me, see it playing out in all sorts of ways, watch as we all get pulled hither and thither, reacting, not responding, despairing, but not really knowing why, and still, knowing intellectually what’s happening, I have myself have succumbed yet again to the September crazies. 

Sure, many of us choose to live here and there are benefits that take us far beyond some heat, but that doesn’t make it any easier, does it? 

So what to do? The only thing you can do: give it a month. It will pass. Promise yourself you won't do anything drastic, like yell or quit or make any big changes you can't be sure you actually want. 

In the meantime, do anything you have to do to grab some patience and peace: have a long hot shower in the a/c, go to bed early, swim, do something amazing for yourself, go outside, even if it feels terrible, come back in and sigh gratefully at the cool, sweet, inescapable air conditioning, stop and breathe when you can (I like overly dramatic meditations myself), watch something gently funny, like Jerry Seinfeld interviewing some of the world's best comedians, seek out cold places, like movie theatres, the driver's seat of your car or the best Abu Dhabi summer antidote I've come across, listen to some gentle tunes to help you relax - I love this one - and just hang in there and do whatever you have to do to get through it. 

A friend and I sat outside for several very uncomfortable hours the other night by the pool at the Eastern Mangroves Resort & Spa by Anantara (I love that place, it's like my local hangout, can you imagine?). One of those giant mobile fans was blowing hot air on us, but not doing much other than drying our eyeballs out. We were very uncomfortable physically, each of us sweating profusely, but somehow, we just muscled through. I'm not sure it made anything better, but we needed it. 

On a trip to Dubai over the weekend, another friend and I realised we needed butter to complete dinner. The store was around the corner, and we walked. It was the hottest 10-minute round trip in recent memory. We actually panicked. But coming back inside? That was one of the most amazing chills I've had in quite some time. 

It will get better. I’ve been here for seven years. I can tell you with absolute certainly that it always does. 

So give it a month. Just trust me on this. It won't take that long. One morning you are going to go outside and there will be a sweet, gentle reprieve floating in the air, and you will be very glad that you did. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Ramadan

Lululemon headed to the UAE

Andrea Marcum, a totally ripped yoga teacher and founder of U Studio Yoga from Los Angeles, did more than teach a couple of really tough but inspiring yoga classes at Bodytree studio in the capital last week.

Marcum stopped me in my tracks before we started a Thursday-morning hip-opening session when she said 'Lululemon is coming here. They wanted me to tell people'. She said a store was due to open in September, but didn't know whether it would be in Abu Dhabi or Dubai.

Now, Marcum is an official Lululemon ambassador, so I consider this some pretty good intel. I'm checking with the company officially, too, and will report back.

I feel like this has The Dubai Mall written all over it, but time will tell. Lululemon is famous for its store-opening stunts, so that will be fun to watch out for too. At the moment there isn't anything on the website about a UAE location. There is a Facebook page, UAE Loves Lululemon, but it never really took off, with just 85 likes.

If ever there was a brand that would do gangbusters here, it's this much-loved (and mocked) Canadian chain of yoga clothes. Yoga classes are filled with it here, so people obviously already buy it like crazy when they are traveling. I remember marvelling at how much there was in my first Abu Dhabi yoga class. And then later, giggling at this exchange.

Even with more and more yoga gear available here, from sites like TheHotBoxKit.com or yApparel in Dubai, it's seems to still be that one little symbol yogis seem to strive for.

Bets on where the first store will be? Let me know if you see, please?

(Marcum also teaches at the portal My Yoga Gaiam, a US$10-a-month site I use to cut down on the crazy-high cost of doing regular yoga classes in the UAE).

UPDATE: I tweeted this blog at Lululemon and they favourited it. Hmmmm...

Canada's beloved Tim Hortons in the UAE: You know it's a big deal when...

...the launch of a new coffee flavour is billed by the PR as "one of the biggest events of the month", held at SkyDive Dubai hosted by Virgin Radio's Kris Fade. Not to mention the proliferation of outlets in every mall and gas station since 2011 and this 2013 marking of the thaw in Canada-UAE relations.

(As an aside, when my father was visiting over Christmas, we stopped to take a picture of him at the Dubai Mall outlet. A nice Arab man who noticed us stopped and said "welcome home". Aw.)

Remember how excited we got about the first few in Dubai and Abu Dhabi?

UPDATE: Okay, yes, it was the launch of the Dark Roast. Slightly disappointing.