I am going to try to keep a daily diary as everything that I think and what happens tends to fade over time. I then can publish the blog weekly and not every 8 weeks as the last one....
lets hope this "stategy" of mine stays in place.
Another hot and sunny day in Dubai awaits me....I love the sunshine and hot weather and you DO get used to it. I took Rossouw to the Jumeira Moske a few days ago (To get his knowledge to a better level of the UAE customs and religion) and I wore my Abaya. I is true what they say that the Abaya is cool. It gives a huge shadow around your body.....
FOTO AT CARLTON RITS HOTEL WHEE WE HAD IFTAR DINNER FOR RAMADAM
RAMADAM
It is the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It is a month of fasting from sunise to sunset for the Muslims to become aware of how it feels to be less fortunate and not haVe fooD and water. Also it is to concentrate on the spiritual side and not on body needs. As they work with the lunar calendar ramadan moves earlier by about 1 week each year. It must be very hard in these hot summer months not to have any water in the hottest time of the year. Thy also refrain form loosing their tempers and consentrate on being kind and good to all people.
For us expats we are only expected to have respect for Ramadan and refrain from eating and drinking in public in fasting hours. The fast in the evenng is broken by dates and water and then the IFTAR MEAL. Now this is a feast of note and all the previous hours of abstainng are taken care of. In the whole of Dubai are IFTAR tents and any one is welcome to go and share the experience. They refrain from dancing and loud music the whole Ramadan month. Some restaurants are open in the fasting hours but are screened off as to not offend the culture. Somehow I think Ramadan in South Africa is much harder as the daily routine stays in place and you have to work your fasting arund it. In the UAE the fasting is all comsuming. This is also the month when all Muslims go to HAJJ in Saudia Arabia. This year however it has very strict rules because of swine flu. No children or elderly people are allowed to attend.
We went to IFTAR dinner at the Carlton Ritz hotel (just across the street) and had a feast of all local foods. very high in lebaneese,Moroccan,Egyptian and Greek food.
At the Moske in Abu Dhabi they feed 20 000 people evry evening at no charge. It is for the people who do not have food but anyone can attend and is for free.
OUR IFTAR TENT
You do find cheaper prices BUT have to know where to go and how to barter..............Also every thing available here is available in SA. Some items are a little cheaper than home butoverall very expensive.
At the end of Ramadan is the time of EID AL-FITR. It s decided on by the full moon. Muslims are then to visit all friends and family and it is also the time to hand out their ZAKAT. This is the 2.5% of their yearly savings to less fortunate who really need it. In EID AL-FITR it is customs to prepare lots of food and one third is for entertaining family and friends and one third is given to the hungy and needy and one third is kept for home use.
WAIT....................WAIT...............WAIT................WAIT.......................WAIT................WAIT....................WAIT...................
OK OK OK my strategy did not work. It s now abut 6 weeks after the entry above BUT my intentions here there to do it so her we go again.
EID AL FITR will be in about 2 weeks time. Then there is 4 days of public holiday for the musims to go and visit family ad friends.
HOUSE WIFE AND HOUSE WORK
I have decided to get an ironing lady....WHAT A LEASURE.... I phone the agency and they send an ironing lady for me per hour as needed. There was some sacrifice on my behalf as I decided to not go to the spa and use that money for an ironing lady instead..... You see Hannes has put me on a budget for my housekeeping and I am hell bent to show him I can stick to a budget and make it work............. All the other housework is very easy. If I have a vacuum cleaner and windex(yes the window stuff...I just buy this brand because it reminds me of the movie my big fat greek wedding...) and furniture polish and a good mop I am well away. The washing and drying is so easy as the machine does it al. There is however one thing that I hate with a passion......wait for it.....TO MAKE UP THE BEDS..... What a terrible job. That is the only time I miss my staff from SA. I also do not htink I will take a full time staff memebr easi again as my house is my own at all times. Cleaning materials last 3x longer as well. I do a bg spring clean once a week. Now this si absolute fun........ You see I have all the utensils I stated above BUT the most important is my hose pipe. Hannes made a "connection" in the one toilet for my hose pipe to connect to. I do all the bathrooms with a broom and my hose pipe. Each batroom has a floor drain as well. I just carry the lose stuff outside the bathroom (washing basket, magazine rack and towels..... THEN i hose the whle place down and scrub the floor with the broom. very good excersize for the bum...................... The tile also get a scrubbing and then I move to the next bathroom. These Emirates have a toilet fetish.................. We have 4 toilets and 3 bathrooms in this appartment. When all bathrooms are done the first one is semi dry and just a mop to dry all the left over water from the floor. By this time I am soping wet an loving every minute. When was i ever allowed to lay with a hose pipe indoors............................The rest of the appartment is done by vacuum and mop in a bucket. Dusting is also done with the vacuum with a different conection that for the floors. Al in all a spring clean taks me 6 hours (washing done in between and coffee breaks too)
The rest of the week it is a vacuum a day and kitchen floor daily. The dishwasher handes the rest.... Easy peasy....
BAKING
I love my new oven and try to refrain from baking something every day.............BUT the urge does not go away. I think I am playing "house house" and loving it. It is the first time in my life that I am a full time homemaker. I love the time to myself to plan what I want to do today and to have the freedom to do it. No deadline awaits ( I am sue yu have noticed this...........) exepts to have dinner on the table.... Ysterday I made cupcakes to bleddie die for.......Hannes will have to get to a gym soon as he loves all I make and eats it as well.
I bake meringues and rusks and now even baking my own cookies.....
MAGAZINES AND READING
This is a very expensive hobbly to keep (Magazines) I now try to read most of them online and always have a real book to read. It is very difficult fr me to sit for hous and ead as I tend t get bored...........but it is getting easier daily. The huisgenoot is the only magazine I will not read online. I buy it. It costs the equivalent of R58.00....
HAPPY 51ST BIRTHDAY HANNES.
I got this very sweet gift box to wrap Hannes pezzie in. It looks like a huge slice of cake. The gift was such a struggle to get............. Hannes got a "regulator" for his braai. I initialy ought him a gas braai for the verandah. Now when I bought the braai I had no idea that it needs a regulator.....I bought the braai and gas bottle and was very happy with my find (it was on a uge discounted special) but totally useless as we could not connect the gas bottle to the braai....... I started phonng CADAC fo the connection and was repeatedly told that this thing i out of stock and will only be available ib 3 weeks....... I got very pissed off and insisted to speak to the manager....(This is at CADAC head office ib Dubai... A very patient man ( by this tme I was walking on my oenails I a sso mad and had total verbal diarhoea......... He then suggested to connect another regulator from a braai item he had in stock. He sent his driver the same day with the regulator and it was in time for Hannes's birthday This took 1 week instead of 4.......................
HERE HANNES IS BRAAINGON THE VERANDAH.....MISSION ACCOMLISHED
We now egurlarly have braais and it is great. We just have to keep the verandah door tightly closed so hat the smoke does not set off the fire alam in the building............. Holy Cow all you have to learn in this relocation....................................but people are super adjustable
DUBAI METRO OPENS.
The slogan is MY METRO MY DUBAI.. here hannes and Rossouw are on one of the stations boarding the train. It is super clean and very up market. No eating or drinking allowed on the trains at all. It is avery good thing as here it is not uncommon for rubbish t be thrown aywhere. Camains are now starting to keep the UAE clan. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are spotlessly clean but the other emiarates are not so. Lots of educatin is still needd in this regard.
VIEUW FROM THE METRO
It is a very good way to see Dubai overaal and a very good photo opportunity. The metro does not move very fast as it has staions all over so you have lots of time to take pictures. It is also a WI FI zone in the metro so all the young ones ar on there cell phones on the net.Mind you here to see cell phne sticking to sone one's ear is very common. The cell phone rates are very cheap and encouraged to use.
VIEUW INSIDE THE TRAIN.
As yu can see it is spotless clean. Fully airconditoned (I wonder why !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) We were obe of the "kaydahs" and it is fun to a tourist in your own city........
ONE OF THE STATIONS.
Some of the stations have 4 floors as it is built over the city and entrances t all major mall from the sttions. All the stations have a theme as well. All the feng Shui elements.
MULTI TASKING
I could not resist this foto. Rossi is doing cell phone, tv remote and sleeping on the same time. Check his finger on the remote button.. All ready for action. The tv remote in our house has very strict rules....When Hannes is home he is incharge of the remoe and dcides what is watched. When he is not home the boys are incharge.....That is also which makes this foto so special.....The remote is his now...
Rossouw has secured a job i Dubai and will be here for the next year. he is a swim instructor for the Australian swimming acadamy. After his injuries in the MVA this si such a good job to have. He also is paid a very good salary. He has settled into Dubai well but is still very lonely as he does not have any friends. He had to go back to SA now for 30 days as his working visa was not ready and his visitors visa has very strict rules. The company will be flyinghim back to Dubai in 30 days. he ws very excited to go to SA as he now has time to say goodbye and has something to come back to. He can also fetch his clothes that he needs here. He has it so much easier than JC as he has a gap year with his parents to guide him and help him. I can just hope he realises this, BUT he is erninghis own money AND paying rent.......................
With his first salary he bought a I PHONE. He was super excited and guards it wth his life.
MIKE (DOK) ESTELLE AND ANDRE VISIT.
Them all in the desert on safari.. It is still oneof my favourte excursions. I think they enjoyed t as well.
ESTELLE SAMPLING MY HOME MADE CAKE..............
Her smile says it all. I love you Essie...............
It was so good to see them and to show my Dubai to them The time was so short...(2 days) as they only stopped over after a visit to Thailand. One only ealises how much you really miss family when you see them again. I took Dok to gourmet station but I think he can get all it offers in JHB too. he was not impressed with the shoping experdition as he was very hot (high summer here) and bored.
THE AUZIES VISIT.
SONJA, LINX, LUCY AND DAWN
My auzies arrived the day Dok and Eselle left. It was super great to see Sonja and Linx again. They were our neibours in Richards bay and Linx and the boys played together al he time. Rugby and cricket and building "stuff" were the craze. dawn is Sonja's friend and Lucy is Linx's friend.
Well the five of us took Dubai by storm. These girls hardly had time to sleep.....I did the full Dubai trip with all the sights and sunds and smells. It was fantastic o see Dubai through teir eyes as I have become accustomed to most of it. WE had many laughs..............and to go day by day will keep me behing this laptop for weeks.
DHOW TRIP IN MUSANDAM
These are our toys on board the Dhow. We bought every type of inflatable animal at a road side stall before the Dhow rip....I though it will be fun to lie n these and tan in the water...........The are freaking useless.....You cannot for all the love and time and tea in china get nto this animal or stay ontop. It kept us bus for hours on end. The other tourist onboard thought we wee raving mad.....
BONFIRE ON THE BEACH
The Dhow trip was an overnight excursion and we were treated to a bonfire on the beach. We wee the only people spnding the night on the Dhow. I cannot understand the day trip on the Dhow as the nights are so special. To sleep under the stars with just the essentials is so nice. It is also very quiet and all he strs are to be see. Yu are treated like royalty by the Dhow staff and waied on hand and foot. We had our "jingly" skirts on and di belly dancing and laughed and talked.
It was so special but very very hot.....I spent every moment i the water. True to my star sign. I love water and it keeps me calm and relaxed.
At home I go for a swim every evenng at about 8 and just lve it.
FACE PAINTING.
SONJA MYSELF AND DAWN saw 2 ladies doing face painting for kids in the Dubai Mall. We stood on line and had our faces paintd too. My lis are not lipstick but paint. We oked fab and got a lot of laughs and stares. All good. This was early on in the evening and we kept our faces on the whle night. It even got us a table in a very osh Thai estauant which is fully booked for weeks ahead. This foto just shown how much fun we had.
I feel so special that family and friends do the effort to cne and visit and I love t have all here and show yhem Dubai. wE HAD 9 DAYS OF ABSOLUTE FUN FUN FUN.
These Auzies bught me such a fantastic gift...........I now make my ow ice cream. They bought me an ice cream machine. It is so good to make and so easy and really it is delicious. From ice cream to frozen yugurt to sorbet.....I am the queen of the lot.
HANDS AND FRANCI VAN KOERT VISIT.
My next visitors were Hans and franci. They are rotary friends from Richards bay. We also did he full rounds of Dubai and by this time I was like a tour guide as I had it all down to pa and knew where and when to go. Be warned if you come and visit I have itinarary's to chose from. Super busy to super relaxing.......... We had loads of fun and aughs and he 2 of them are such easy guests. hans brought me coffee every morning and they are not early risers. About 7.30 every morning and sometimes even later. I thught they were just havig a "lekker" hliday....but later ealized they are so tired from the previous days trips and doings............. I then slowed down a little and we did a beach visit every mornig befoe the day staRts.
NORMAL DESERT THING...
ROSSOUW WAS THEIR GUIDE TO THE DESERT AS i WAS TOTALLY BUSHED AND TIRED.
They came back with lots of smiles and tals to tell and loved it.
TIRED FRANCI AND HANS.
On their last night in Dubai we still had not been t the old Souk and had a Abbra ride. At 22h30 (Souk closes at 23h00) I realised I will not drive to the souk in time. So I parked the car on the other side of the creek and flagged down an Abbra (small boat used as water taxi over the creek) He charged us the earth as he knew we were in a catch 22. I paid and he took us over the creek to the sok. We arrived a the souk with 30 mnutes still to shop. We all scattered into different sirections as Rossouw and I anted a Shisha and Franci and hans wanted to see they could. We got al we needed and all he shop keepes will stay open until you have finished shopping........
I the foto, the light in the back ground are the souks lights. After all dne we got another Abbra to take us back over the creek to where our car is parked. THIS TIME I had time to haggle the price as I was in no hurry to get thee. We paid a quarter of the original asking price. As we eached the other side Franci just had t sit down and could only find this pillar.
I eally think in my previous lif I was a working girl as harbours and boats just excite me too much !!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE I PHONE
Rossouw with his new phone. He was super stokd when he bought this for himself. I cannot use it at all as it is too higher grde for me. I just want aphne which says hello, goodbye ad lave a message.............,
OUR PUPPY
i AM ON VERY STRICT ORDERS NOT TO BUY ANY MORE PETS.....HANSIE BABES SAYS SO
Rssuw and I found a pet shop ( by accident ....really) and we saw the most devine puppy's...We ha a cuddle and a play with them all. There was this Pug which just stole our hearts.....When I asked the price I nealy fell over backwards...(I did how ever say "fokit") This puppy was 12000 dhs. x2 to get rand amount. R24000.00..... Holy sheetttttt.
We politely declined and lft and knew our pupy dreams are shattered.
The next ay I was In a mal anf sa this puppy and it was only 150.dhs. R300.00. ehat a bargain. I had to buy it immaditely. When Hanns cam home Rossouw and I had the pupy n Rossouw rom to wai fr the right mment to ell Hanns about our new family edition. He was so very not impessed until we fetched the puppy for hm to see and pick up.....
This si such a clever puppy as it does not pee poep or eat................. It is a stuffed toy from a toy store and now proudly lles where ever I put it down. I tend to move it daily and sometimes just sit ob the couch and hold it..., SUBSTITUTION or SENILE????????????
THE REGULATOR
How this foto ended up her I have no clue BUT this was Hansie babe's birthday prezzie............It was a super mission to get it....Now you all now what it loos like as well.
BOB IN DUBAI
Bobby and myself catching up at dinner at The Ritz. Shisha is the national sport here in Dubai....Nice...very nice...Bob did not like it but I tried a new flavour (Rose) It tastes like turkish delight. We had a great evening but Bobby as tired and di not want to join us for a night cap at the roof top bar. Hanns als bailed so Rossow and I hit the streets.... We started at 44. It is a bar on the 44th floor. Devine veiuws and very up market. Drinks too expensive so we went to our next destination which was bach party at Atlantis on the plam.
It is so lively and the 2 of us stayed there until 4 in the morning. Dubai is fantastic to have teen agers as all clubs abd bars are strictly 21 and the booze is so expensive they can have 1 or 2 drinks tops..................
BUULS AND CHEETAH'S RUGBY GAME.
Here Bob s havng a chat to Gesi i SA just after the bulls won the cheetah's..... All the boys at the table were frm SA and here for the F1 the next day. We had lots of laughs and fun and drinks during the game. We watched it at a bar whick is run by SA NZ and AUZ. All rugby is on big screen and a noisy (but bleddie expensive) bar. Now what hapens in Dubai stays in Dubai..............
I will try to update the log more often..................INSHAALAH
MAASALAAMA (Goodbye) GHALAS(finished)
