sandCat

cloudy and dry

2012-02-02T19:01:00.002+04:00

It may not be something you associate with Dubai but we have had some cold weather this past month. Ok well cold for us anyway, and as you will see in the graph below the lowest lows seen here for quite a while. Is this global cooling? Not sure but I have to say I have enjoyed being able to bundle up in jerseys and socks for a change. It won't last and by April will no doubt be a distant memory,

Season's Greetings

2011-12-24T14:29:00.001+04:00

Merry Christmas to all of you from a sunny, and slightly chilly (yes really) Dubai. It's almost time for that fat old guy in red to make his annual visit - although we don't have a chimney - what to do? If you are travelling over the period I wish you safe travels and happy holidays. And may 2012 be a prosperous and wonderful year. Chat soon. [thanks to http://majikphil.blogspot.com/2011/12/

the flip side

2011-12-13T14:49:00.001+04:00

If you travel much on business then you probably also suffer with the over-plastic syndrome. That is, one loyalty card for each airline you may ever have flown with, one for each hotel you may ever have stayed in and perhaps even one for each car hire company you have ever hired from. If you are very careful and extremely organised you may manage to always stay at the same hotel chain when you go

Happy National Day

2011-12-01T20:11:00.001+04:00

The 2nd of December marks the 40th National Day in the UAE. Every year around this time people decorate their cars and homes with the national flag and images of the leaders (past and present). But this year it's more extreme than ever - 40 is quite a big deal as you know. People have been encouraged to upload images of the number 40, and other images that portray the spirit of the day. So I

an epic celebration

2011-11-06T14:48:00.000+04:00

Next year I will be celebrating my 40th birthday. Inshallah of course as one must always add here, because you never know, do you, what will happen between now and then. But that is the plan at this stage. And it's giving me grey hairs already - the planning of the celebration (celebrations?) that is, because as an expat my home is here (for now) but my family and oldest friends are not. So no

Gaucho - a sneak peak!

2011-10-30T17:09:00.000+04:00

Once upon a time, long long ago, I was a vegetarian. For eight years. But my dad always reckoned it was a "phase", and maybe he was right, because it didn't last. After reading "Eat Right for your Type" and suffering with never-ending allergies, which I blamed on my felines at the time, I realised I wasn't feeling great and maybe it was my diet. After slowly adding fish, followed by other meat,

NOT all its cracked up to be

2011-10-16T10:40:00.001+04:00

Unless you live in a cave you probably heard about, or even experienced, the Blackberry outage this week, which lasted a couple of days in some places. I have a Blackberry, and yes I have to admit that I am rather addicted to it, and felt like I was missing a limb during this outage (although it was somewhat liberating not feeling like I constantly needed to check my emails). I am a recent

where is home?

2011-09-26T15:56:00.001+04:00

We just got home from a two week trip...ah...home. Yes that sentence, although confusing, is technically correct. This is the eternal problem when you are living as an expat outside of your home country. It gets very confusing when you are visiting said country and then talk about home when you mean the new place you are living, but everyone you are talking to assumes you mean your original home

Eid Mubarak

2011-08-30T07:02:00.000+04:00

Today, the 30th of August, has been declared the start of Eid Ul Fitr here in the UAE. The new moon was sighted last night. Congratulations to all of you that have completed a successful fast. It's been tough this year with the summer heat. Well done! EID MUBARAK! عيد مبارك image source: http://tariqraheel.blogspot.com

the "O" word

2011-08-26T13:25:00.001+04:00

I was devastated when the organic shop that I discovered in April last year closed it's doors barely 3 months after I found it. I still get upset thinking about it. Yes yes, you still can get organic meat and vegetables here, the Organic Cafe has a good selection of vegetables (as long as you get there on the delivery day) and the supermarkets have some here and there. But mostly they are

the art of giving

2011-08-23T17:59:00.000+04:00

I spoke about fasting and Iftar earlier this week. Ritual fasting during Ramadan is one of three types of fasting (Sawm) practised by Muslims. Sawm is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. The other four pillars are: Shahada - accepting Muhammad as God's messenger Salat - the five daily prayers Zakāt - alms giving Hajj - a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca [great idea] Zakāt is

fabulous French fare

2011-08-21T02:00:00.000+04:00

This weekend we had dinner at one of my favourite restaurants in Dubai - Le Classique at the Emirates Golf Club. Okay so this is only my second meal at the restaurant, which may make the declaration that it's one of my favourites a little hard to believe, but it's true. When some good friends of ours visited last year I really wanted to take them there, but the club was closed for renovations

a taste of Islam

2011-08-20T15:48:00.000+04:00

This year Stu and I decided, well actually to be fair it was Stu who suggested, that we should try a proper traditional Iftar. We had been to Iftar last year at the end of our Fundamentals of Arabic course, but we wanted to do something a bit more interesting than the normal buffet-style meal that is on offer at most of the hotels during the holy month. Coincidentally Stu then read, and I also

I can't tell you

2011-08-09T17:40:00.001+04:00

I had a rather frustrating, and completely fruitless, conversation with a customer service person today on the phone. Unfortunately, as entertaining as this conversation may have been for you to read, I cannot share it with you. According to the law here it is illegal to "name and shame" companies that give bad customer service, in fact not only is it illegal but you can be prosecuted for libel

Ramadan Kareem

2011-07-31T11:01:00.002+04:00

The holy month of Ramadan begins tomorrow, the 1st of August. I wish you all a happy and blessed month. Ramadan Kareem رمضان كريم [Thanks to zaHitch for this lovely graphic]

it's a battle!

2011-07-27T12:54:00.000+04:00

The desert, as the name would imply, is a pretty hot and dry place. Dubai in the summer months (like at the moment) is an oven. Highs some days over 50°C - often combined with 50 or 80% humidity - makes it a tough place for life. And it's especially hard for stray animals, and gardens. We had an Arabian cat move into our garage about 2 months ago. A lovely, friendly little guy with a massive

roller gathers grass

2011-07-21T10:38:00.002+04:00

How funny is this? A Rolls Royce covered in astro-turf. Haha, just had to share it. Currently on show at Mirdif City Centre as part of the "collectors exhibition" for Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS). [source: 7days Newspaper]

"26,000 pages"

2011-07-14T13:49:00.000+04:00

I love this. ["26,000 Pages" by Hadieh Shafie is on the Jameel Prize 2011 short-list] Made up of ...26,000 strips of paper, each scroll is marked with printed and hand written Farsi (Persian) text then tightly rolled into concentric circles, concealing or revealing different elements of the text. The concentric forms of both text and material take their inspiration from the dance of the

fancy a date?

2011-07-13T10:12:00.001+04:00

When you think of the desert you kinda imagine miles and miles of rolling sand dunes, and little else right? But the reality is a little different. Whilst it is dry and dusty there are still plants that manage to eke out an existence on what little moisture they catch from morning dew and days of high humidity. Of course in the oasises (oasi? what is the plural?) there is a lot more water, and

glorious buildings

2011-07-10T12:29:00.002+04:00

[Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris] When you travel in Europe you have probably noticed that often the largest and most lavish buildings (historically) are the churches and cathedrals. In some cases you can even see where the style of the building has changed over its years of construction, sometimes a couple of hundred (like the Cathedral in Toledo Spain for instance). The inside of the building (

a shift-free zone

2011-07-02T17:11:00.000+04:00

No that's not a typo. And it's not a subtle way of not swearing. I really mean a shift-free zone. For those of you that don't live in Dubai you may wonder what the hell? Well for the uninitiated, shifting = moving (as in house). And happily this year, for the first time in 3 years, we are NOT SHIFTING. Woooohoooo. Yes it is exciting, not least of all because the average daytime temp is about 45

well done Maha!

2011-06-21T09:59:00.000+04:00

In writing this blog for the last almost-3 years I have tried to convey a little of what it's like to live in the UAE, share with you some of the more interesting or offbeat stories and generally give you an unbiased viewpoint on my life in the desert. Where-ever possible I have stayed away from political or religious judgments, comments or opinions, as it has never been my intention to offend or

"green" the new gold?

2011-06-07T10:35:00.000+04:00

There are some encouraging signs that things are changing in the Middle East. And no I'm not referring to the Arab Spring movement or anything political. No the thing that is encouraging for me is that environmental issues are slowly becoming mainstream and being talked about in the newspapers; all kinds of people here are taking steps themselves to have less impact on the planet. Stu and I do

rare visitors

2011-05-27T09:00:00.005+04:00

For the twitchers: two bird species never before documented in the Arabian Peninsula have been seen in the UAE in the past fortnight. [Franklin Gull / Source: The National] A Cory's Shearwater was spotted by birdwatchers on May 12 - the first sighting in the Middle East. The bird was found while the group were taking part in a boat trip off Kalba, the east coast enclave of Sharjah near the

it's the small things

2011-05-26T09:00:00.006+04:00

When you move to a new country there are a lot of things you have to adjust to. In some cases it's a completely different climate (check), or being far away from friends or family. Sometimes you have to learn a new language or moderate your lifestyle. But what-ever the change required you one day wake up and realise that you have done it, you've made the adjustment and you are more-or-less