WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

It is so difficult to explain how upside down my life has turned. Mostly good but I have had some very tearful times lately. I seem to be fine when things are rough and a lot to handle but the calm after the storm is my nemesis. I just miss my boys and friends too much at times. Normally it is music that send me on memory lane...
I also have to adjust that Hannes is home so much. I am not complaining as it is very nice but I have to learn not to be on my own most of the time.We tend to go all over the show and then the blog is left behind and all the news accumulates. I have now diarised the log for weekly entries.... so lets hope I keep to that.
I want to be near when things go rough for my loved and dear one's.......BUT I keep on reminding myself how fortunate I am to be having this experience and boy oh boy that it sure is.......
My dear friend Clydene has gone through a vey rough patch and I can only hope things are sort of sorted out.
Gesi my other friend has had to cancel her trip to Mexico due to bovine flu. Luckily she has an alternative which is also good.
I miss my boys so much......I miss Jinny and chats....
Ok let's get to the update.
ABU DHABI MOSKE

I drove myself and a friend to Abu Dhabi to go and see this very mpressive moske. It can host 30 000 people for prayer....AMAZING is an undestatement. It is beautiful and has inlays in the pillars of mother of pearl and gemstones. All cut to make a very flowery mosaic. The chandelier in the main hall is apparently the biggest in the world. I won't be ordering that for our flat, and not due to size......It is a little too blingy for my liking but also made of precious stones and hundreds of globes.....I have to wonder who replaces the globes.
The whole moske is surrounded by water and fountains. It is amazing to see these Emiraties and water. never does it stop to amaze me as we are in the desert and water is every where. 90% of Dubai water is salinated... the grass and gardens are somthing to see.
Rina (the friend) and myself had a lekker day out and we did not get lost once....I was very proud of myself. We also went to A mall in Abu Dhabi. Not as mpressive as Dubai.....
Abu Dhabi is the richest emirate. Here they beleive the 7 emirates are one in good and bad times. So all work together to a better future for all.
The drivers in Abu Dhabi are terrible. I thought Dubai was bad but hey Abu Dhabi takes the badge.....I am getting the hang of hooting to show my annoyance (every one does it here and nobody takes offence) You must just never get abusive on the road or heaven forbid show the middle finger to another driver as that will give yu 3 months jail sentence and immediate deportation after term served. So nobody here gets bad road rage only hooters....
Rina even made a comment that I am better at driving n the UAE than her husband (He has been here 4 years and still gets totally lost......


LUNCH AT SOUK MADINAT

This is a favourite place of mine in Dubai day or night. Hannes and I had lunch at a small restaurant (thanks to our vouchers...)and it is so nice to sit and watch the abra's (small boats) tansfer people up the water ways. One of the "laniest" hotels n Dubai (hell there are so many here) is here. It also is very close to the Burg Al Arab. It was hotting up this day and we wanted to sit outside....We just dived for a umbrella. It is not high tourist season yet but you see so many tourists....
It is very high class and expensive at Souk madinat. Now to get to the vouchers. You buy a book here calld the entertainer. It gives vouchers to most eating and entertainment in Dubai. The deal is buy one and get one free.....We tend to carry this book all over and then try the restaurants who offer the deals. very nice as you get to eat at placs you might never have ventured in. Either due to price or unfamiliar tastes....

GIRLS NIGHT OUT IN DUBAI

My South African friend Marlene is on my left. her friend Terry is on my right. We decided to do a ladies night. We started at Buda Bar in the waterfront. WOW.....FANTASTIC......FLIPPEN EXPENSIVE.....Marlene paid the equivelent of R48 for a half full glass of wine. I had a lime daquiry at almost the same price. It is an amazing place and seems the hip place to be seen.....It is in a 5 start hotel. The music is different and the bar snacks on the table are never ending.....We decided to nurse our drinks and eat our fill so we do not have to go to a restaurant for dinner. I saw a girl at the bar chatting to a very interested man....,Boy he must have been hard up or very lonely. SHE(if that what she was) is like huge. Looked like a sumo wrestler with long blonde hair. Red shoes (dead give away) blue shiny TIGHT dress, and very very short, and the worst was het yellow plastic handbag.....Well she went to the loo and I followed. Wanted to see if she sits down or just to see her hands......No luck at any .....I did not want to look for trouble as she would have hurt me badly...So I could not put those puzzle peices together.
From Buda bar we went to the rooftop bar at "The one and only". The veiuw form the top was so good. All the lights and ocean.....Sitting outside under the stars and the smells of sisha around us I really felt as if I was again in a movie. The smells here are so typical of the middle east and nice.
I ordered coffee and the two girls had wine again....Prices much similar than buda bar.
We left after a good chat and they were closing so we went to marlene's house at abut 00h30. There we got stuck into more coffee and chatting. I looked at my watch again at 04h30....... NOW i have to get a taxi home. Wonder what it looks like. A lady well dressed going home alone at 04h30.....What the hell I don't care had a good night.
The taxi driver was a very "skelm" pakistanikanniverstani......He suggested he puts off the meter and only chages me a flat rate of 20 dirhams. The poor fool....I did the same trip earlier in the evening and only paid 8 dirhams....I told him "forget it pal" put on yur meter or I report you...he was very unhappy as he then realised this "lani" is not stupid. In the end he did not charge me anything and asked me please not to report him as he will loose his job. I was on a roll at 04h30 in the morning and gave him a speech on his conduct and explained that he makes all of us expats distrust taxi drivers.....I also told him that for 12 dirhams he sold his dignity.....
Oh well I felt better and krept into the flat as not to wake Hannes.
Marlene and I get on like a house on fire. She is an amazing cheerful woman and very good entertainment. Unfortunately she will not be in Dubai permanently and she only jets in to see her husband who is also at The City hospital.

Dubai is like a huge passenger liner. Nobody here is permanent and they embark and disembark from time to time. Maybe that disturbs me also as you find very good people and know they are fleeting in and out of your life...You then tend to take everythig to and from that relationship as you know it will not be permanent.

SOUK BAHAR

This place is another wow. It is next to the new Dubai mega mall and also the Burg (that very "hightest in the world" tower....)
The mall is so big that when you enter the mall from the parking bay, you print a card form a machine that tells you where to find your car again. I promise you without that "Parking ticket" you might take days to find where you parked....
The whole area in the Burg vacinity is very nice and even has housing developments in old arabic style and again lots of water.


ENTRANCE TO SOUK BAHAR

The bridge goes over water to the souk from the mall. To the left in the picture are the appartments. It is called down town Dubai. Very nice but too far from the ocean for my liking.

Sorry this foto was placed incorectly in sequence but this was Hannes at lunch at Souk Madinat.

CARLUCCIO'S AT DUBAI MALL

On one of ouroutings we had lunch at Carluccio's. Why you might wonder is it in the blog......I always enjoyed Carluccio on the carlton food network on TV. Now I get to lunch at his restaurant.....Food was good but not better than Clydene's home made pasta or Nonna's GNochi...or even la Casa Nostra in Umdloti

I was impressed with the cuppachino's as you can choose your blend...either Milano or Napoli....and strength.

Lunch was good and we had to laugh at ourselves as we are very critcal of any restaurant. It even irritates us ......

Carluccio also has a deli where you can buy the products. I thought of buying some home made pasta BUT will have to wait until we have finished the pasta we have as I do not have space for 1 packet of pasta extra.....

That reminds me I will have to start searching for a new appartment as our lease ends in August. We want a little bigger and more space but want to stay in the marina.. The rentals have come down nicely due to the credit crunch....So now the rentals are high but a little more realistic and not so out of the fricken ball park.

The rumour that Dubai is bankrupt is absolute untrue. There have been lots of expats leave Dubai and all are in the building sector as most new projects have been shelved for later. Also most of the visa's cancelled are labourers in the building industry. Pakistan will suffer....

That is why the real estate sector has been hit due to more empty appartments so we can now choose a little and not be forced to take what is available. You can see in the traffic that Dubai has lost expats but in the malls it is still very crowded and in the streets there are still plenty of people. Most people who have lived in Dubai for years prefer Dubai this way than the over crowded one of last year.I do not think it is any different than to any other country. Everybody has been affected in one way or another...

Hannes even got an increase at work.....

Abu Dhabi has come to sponsor Dubai with some projects BUT that is how the UAE works. Every one helps out for a better tomorrow for all.

I struggle to know what day of the week it is as here Friday is the religious day (like our Sunday) and only the malls are open for bussiness and everybody is off.

Saturday is like our Saturday. It is just the second day of the weekend.

Sunday however is the first day of the week. Like our Monday..... So I never have a clue what day it is as I try to keep up with where my boys are in the week and mostly I get it wrong. Also April was hell with al the public holidays in SA.....It is like standing with each foot on a different vibraion.

We went to the SA embassy to vote. It was a long lie of South Africans chatting away and I must say most were afrikaan speaking. We only needed coffee and rusks or milktart............. I am glad the elections went off with out any hitches.

I found a jeweler in Dubai. I needed one of my chains to be fixed and charms from Jordan to be added to my charm bracelet..... Daunting to find some one after so many years of knowing your jeweler. In the end I was recommended to a juweler in the gold park and he was fantastic. gave all in and fetched 3 hours later. They encourage you to sit and watch when your jewelery is cleaned or fixed to show you that they do not switch stones and to show you their workmanship. The jewelers here do not like our 9ct gold as all jewelry here is either 18 or 24ct.

Hannes and I go to the beach on his off days. The sea here looks like mauritius. very clear and that colour too. To swim now is nearly like getting into a cool bath. Summer is starting and it is hotting up very nicely. We are at 39C already. I am waiting for the dust storms which should start in a month. I cannot beleive the foto's so I will have to take some myself.

My dental experience went off well. The tooth was removed and a bridge put in. I had some pain for about 2 days in the area but all fine now. Hannes should have done dentistry as they are so expensive here.............Just so nice not to have that crown that would fall out at very inconveniet times. I did loose it....................Not telling how..................but found it again..................so all that is now over.

So the settling starts and all new adventures continue.

MY FABULOUS FUDGE

I found a fudge recipe in my recipe book that Myrtle always used to make. I tried it and violla.....fantastic fudge.....Everybody who has tasted it is up in arms to how nice it is. I am contemplating in making the fudge to sell as nowhere in the UAE is decent fudge to be found..... Might just give me some nice pocket money..... have to consider this is a muslim country so will have to check on halaal status and rules.

Well that is all for today. Keep in mind that spell check does not work from the UAE on the blog.

Could be interesting to read hey...........Have to keep you all onyour toes.

L