May 04 2011

Birthday Post

Category: Anna's Photos,Eating Out,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 12:07 pm

As referred to in a recent comment, I appreciate that this blog has been left a little messy since my birthday. What with lots of individual tweets, and no linked media embedded, the page looks a little bare right now.
I’m going to condense a few tweets into summary posts, then get back to posting Anna’s photo and videos.

What seems to be becoming a birthday tradition is Ira, Anna, Ira’s Mum and me all heading down to the local TGI Friday on the eve of my birthday. There is a lot of choice here in Astana for nice restaurants, however the burgers, garnishes and cocktails seem to keep me coming back for more, even if it is only an annual event.
The first thing I noticed was that the TGIF staff training (or perhaps it is just as simple as hiring different/extra staff) seems to have improved their customer service skills exponentially since last year. Without being too sycophantic or constantly hovering near our table, our waiter was eager to answer all questions, spoke some English, and even ran down the road to a local shop to grab me some cigarettes when I discovered the restaurant didn’t sell them!
I unfortunately was too distracted by the tastes to take a photo of the starters, but I managed to snap the other courses – see below. TGIF is obviously still quite pricey compared to some places, but I’d definitely classify it as a nice treat when you can afford/justify it.


Apr 21 2011

Buddy Bears Brought Back!

Category: Anna's Photos,Friends,Kazakhstan,PicturesChrisM @ 8:45 am

It took a while (see here for previous mentions of them), but I can finally present a few photos taken of the Buddy Bear exhibition that was in Astana last year. DanC was back in town at the time, and so most of us managed to meet up near Baiterek and have a look around. It was a good afternoon out, though I wish Anna had already become used to her sunglasses, as she seems to hate bright sun in her eyes even more than me. This meant she probably wasn’t able to get a good look at some bears.

For more information and photos, Kazakh Nomad’s blog entries from last year are worth checking out.

[edit]
Forgot to put the date from these photos – 15th May 2010


Apr 20 2011

Victory Day 2010

Category: Anna's Photos,FriendsChrisM @ 5:39 pm

The 9th of May is Victory Day here in Kazakhstan, and last year (2010) Irina’s parents had family and friends over. The day is celebrated because it was on the 9th of May 1945 that Germany surrendered to the USSR (I’m pretty sure of that, though doubtless someone will be happy to correct me in the comments below 🙂 ).

This will just be a short post with one picture. I know it is not great quality, but it was the best I could do with the source material. The picture is of 3 or 4 generations sat together, with almost everyone smiling at the same time, often an issue with group photos 🙂

Family And Friends

Family And Friends


Apr 19 2011

Rainbows, Tools, Swing & A Dog (Off-Frame)

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 4:58 pm

A few days after (8th of May 2010) the birthday party celebrations at the Attila restaurant, we have Anna in the back garden at the in-laws’ house. Proudly sporting her rainbow coloured dress (I wonder if it is too small already 🙁 ?), the day was spent working in the garden, apparently mis-estimating the height of the swing (which has a raised seat not to give us heart attacks, but to keep bums off the dirty original seat) and saying hello to the guard dog, Aynak.

This day also has some videos on YouTube somewhere, once again I’ll find them, label them correctly, and embed them soon.


Apr 17 2011

Korean Man’s Birthday Party

Category: Anna's Photos,FriendsChrisM @ 1:01 am

The 6th of May 2010 saw us attending Ira’s Dad’s friend’s (hmmm, that many apostrophes looks weird, need to double check the rules on that sometime) birthday party. I should probably point out that his nickname in Russian is in fact Korean man, it isn’t just that I’ve forgotten what his real name is.
Anyway, we were all invited to Attila (a restaurant we often end up at for celebrations), and Anna behaved very well. I think I have some videos for the event somewhere, so once I’ve scheduled this post, I’ll have a look around on my YouTube uploads.


Apr 14 2011

Hot Day And Ira’s Friends

Category: Anna's Photos,FriendsChrisM @ 5:57 pm

The next day (25th April 2010) saw us still in Chubary, and spending some more time in the garden. Ira’s friends came over with their kids, and we shot some pictures and video. I’ll find the clips and put them in a post later. It looks as though Balzhan had a rake, though I’m not sure if that was for posing with in a picture, or actually to be used in the garden. Anna’s Dedushka (Ira’s Dad) must surely have been inside, as she is walking around without a t-shirt at all. This April’s weather isn’t too far off last year so far – I’d be perfectly happy if it didn’t actually get any hotter than it is right now, but I doubt it’ll plateau just yet.


Apr 12 2011

Twelve Days Early

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 3:08 pm

So, this is it, catching up with Anna’s photos has officially begun. This photo was shot on the 24th of April 2010, meaning I’m a full twelve days away from being a year late in publishing them! Looking at this picture really has bought into focus just how much Anna has changed in a year, something which others have commented on. However, when you live with a person everyday, I guess it is harder to notice the gradual changes in your little baby/big girl’s appearance. Just as it is right now, the weather must have been pretty good for Ira’s Dad to not be concerned that she only had a short sleeved shirt on whilst outdoors!

Anna And Irina In Chubary Back Garden

Anna And Irina In Chubary Back Garden


Mar 27 2011

Anna going to Dan & Lara’s gir…

Category: Anna's Photos,TweetsChrisM @ 5:16 pm

Anna going to Dan & Lara’s girls’ party this evening.Clothes before getting ready – http://post.ly/1oClE & after

Pre Party Clothes

Changed And Reading A DVD Insert

Dedushka Supervises Proceedings

Ground Floor Of In-laws With Her Handbag

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Feb 23 2011

Almost -30C outside again. Ann…

Category: Anna's Photos,TweetsChrisM @ 10:42 am

Almost -30C outside again. Anna (inside) playing with her new train set. http://chrismerriman.posterous.com/43900914

Anna With Her Train Set

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Jan 31 2011

Anna at Ira’s birthday meal wi…

Category: Anna's Photos,Eating Out,TweetsChrisM @ 7:10 pm

Anna at Ira’s birthday meal with family, in Melnitza http://post.ly/1YYy2

Anna In Her Pretty Party Dress And Bolero (Thanks Mum!)

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