Oops, Nearly a Month Since My Last Post

It has somehow been almost a full month already. Between weekend courses and workshops, life settled into the necessary routine things for a while. Exploration took a slight back seat to marking, preparation, and the general humdrum that comes with keeping everything moving.

But Abu Dhabi has a way of quietly rewarding you when you do get the chance to look around.

One of the standout discoveries has been the Mina Fish Market, and calling it simply a fish market hardly does it justice. The scale alone is something to marvel at. Endless displays of freshly caught seafood, varieties you recognise and many you definitely do not, enormous prawns, crabs with attitude, and fish so fresh you begin questioning everything you previously accepted as fresh.

The best part is what happens next. Buy your selection, and it can immediately be cleaned, cut, seasoned, and cooked for you. Grill it, fry it, spice it, then head outside to one of the surrounding seafood eateries and enjoy your meal right there. It turns supper into an outing rather than an errand.

Just nearby sits another gem, the Mina Zayed Vegetable Market. Rows upon rows of fruit and vegetables stacked in spectacular colour make the place feel alive. Prices are excellent, quality is superb, and wandering through the spice and date vendors feels like stepping into a living pantry of the region.

The aromas alone are worth the visit. Spices piled high, nuts, grains, dried fruits, and dates in more varieties than one knew existed. Shopping here becomes less about necessity and more about discovery.

Then there is the unexpected joy of zipping along the Abu Dhabi Corniche on an e-scooter. It feels a bit like Beach Road back home, just vastly longer and smoother. Kilometres of pristine pathway hugging the coastline, sea breeze on one side and skyline views on the other.

Photographic evidence is still pending. Trying to take scooter photos while moving at speed turns out to be slightly challenging, especially when you are concentrating on not rediscovering gravity the hard way. It also raises the uncomfortable question of when exactly one last did the whole scooter thing, probably sometime in childhood.

Today also carried a slightly different undertone. News filtered through the marking, marking the start of escalating conflict involving Iran, and with it the quiet awareness that events unfolding in the region are no longer just distant headlines. A missile or two has reportedly struck a military base here in Abu Dhabi, while others have been intercepted and shot down. And yet, perhaps the strangest part is how life simply continues.

Traffic still flows. Families stroll along the Corniche. Markets remain busy. Coffee shops are full. Apart from the occasional news alert on a phone screen, everything feels remarkably normal. The contrast between global tension and everyday calm is difficult to describe unless you experience it firsthand.

Naturally, it does make one glance at upcoming travel plans a little more carefully, and I am hoping the tickets for my home visit will still quite literally fly when the time comes. ( in 14 days)

Despite headlines and incidents in the wider region, the city itself remains calm and orderly. There is a quiet resilience in how routine carries on.

At present, I am deep in marking so that Sunday can properly be taken off, even though it includes a cardiologist appointment. Entirely routine, thankfully, and simply one of those sensible maintenance checks that come with adulthood.

So life at the moment is an interesting mix: markets filled with colour, freshly cooked seafood, scooter rides along the Gulf, marking piles on the table, routine health check-ups, and an occasional reminder from the news of how interconnected — and sometimes fragile — normal life can be.

Somewhere between fish markets, spice stalls, evening rides along the Corniche, and distant events unfolding beyond the horizon, Abu Dhabi is slowly starting to feel familiar.