Baby Bash & Bangle.

On Sunday, Baby O turned 1 and I went along to his birthday party to celebrate with all his little friends. There were lots of cute babies and toddlers there, I wish I remembered to bring my camera! It was really nice to see all the kids playing with each other and also get to meet with and talk to lots of mothers.

Baby O's Mum did such a great job with making the cake and all the delicious food for the party. Gypsy Boy, who adores Baby O [I honestly don't know who wouldn't - he is the most gorgeous baby I've ever seen!], was meant to join us in the evening but couldn't make it as he had to spend the day working in Bahrain.

I was enjoying myself so much, I didn't notice how late it was and only just made it home 10 minutes before Gypsy Boy did! We took Gypsy Dog for a long walk and caught up on our day apart before he surprised me with a beautiful gold bangle he bought at Bahrain airport!

Happy Easter!

Gypsy Boy has taken one of his two religious days he's entitled to per year off work today. We plan to go to mass later this morning, then lunch and spend the afternoon shopping. There are some things we need to pick up and I desperately need some new clothes to fit my growing bump! I can't comfortably fit into any of my pants or shorts any longer.

Here's wishing you all a safe and happy Easter however you may be spending the day!

Good one, UAE!

The UAE won the Gulf Cup last week, and there was a parade held in their honour over the weekend. We didn't think to go, but were caught up in the horrendous traffic jam that resulted after it had ended.

Being stuck in traffic for 2 hours on Sheikh Zayed Road would usually be extremely frustrating. This time however, we had quite a bit of entertainment watching UAE nationals who had come from the parade and were also stuck in traffic.

No expense had been spared in decorating their [very expensive] vehicles, which were adorned with balloons, streamers, UAE flags, flower arrangements, and even huge soft toys. Oh and let's not forget the spray paint. Yep, since the win many have spray painted their cars with UAE in huge letters, hearts, dots and other expressions of national love and pride.

On top of these spray painted and heavily decorated cars many were proudly waving flags while hanging out of their car windows, some were perched on top of car bonnets while others were dancing on the rooves of their car. All while the cars were moving, albeit slowly, the roads were wet as it had been raining, and the 2 cop cars that we saw were observing.

It was, in a word, unbelievable.

Crappy Chilli Crab.

The ads and promos looked so good and the 5-star venue is just a stone's throw away from where we live at the Madinat Jumeirah. We both love and miss chilli crabs, so when we heard about the Singapore Chilli Crab Festival we were very much looking forward to a gastronomic weekend.

Advertised as being held from 1pm-10pm on Friday and Saturday, the weekend here in the UAE, we arrived at 1.30pm only to be turned away and advised it will start from 2pm. We decided to grab a quick lunch at the mall instead before going back to try again.

Low and behold, at 4pm we were turned away again to say that it was closed and would reopen at 6pm. We didn't want to hang around, so we decided to come back later and returned at 7.30pm. Of course this time, no tables were available and a shabby line had formed. We decided to wait for a table and were finally given one after 30 minutes. Although we were hungry, the wait was not too bad as there was a great jazz band playing live and so we sat back and enjoyed the music and atmosphere.

After 15 minutes of waiting however for a waiter we had to flag down and ask for a menu, let alone get someone to take our order or serve us, we decided we would go somewhere else and get some real food and service!

I was surprised when the following day, Gypsy Boy suggested we go back and try again! Off we went and it looked like overnight, they had gotten some of their act together. There were 2 queues, one where you place your order and pay for your meal in exchange for tickets and the second line where you take your ticket and pick up your meal.

Of course, it was a little too good to be true. We were quickly disappointed when we saw how just how much crab we got for our money. 100 AED (27 USD or 42 SGD) got us 1 tiger beer, a crab shell filled with shredded crab meat in more of a sweet tomato-based sauce [than a chilli sauce]! We were really glad we didn't get the satay, even though I was eyeing it up on the menu, when we found out that 35 AED (10 USD or 15 SGD) only would've got us 3 measly sticks!

What I don't understand is, why pour so much money into promoting such an event when there isn't anyone prepared to put a little effort into organising it. The worst thing is many people felt ripped off. One thing's for sure, if this is an annual event as they say it is, we definitely won't be going back next year.

Oh and the picture posted above is the one shown in one of the promotional ads for the event, the actual crab we got at the event looked nothing like this.

Happy 2007!

It's been a rather relaxing first day of the year for us. We spent the day talking to family on the phone and online, watching a bit of tele, attending mass and finally doing a spot of shopping.

New Year's Eve for us this year was also extremely low-key. Plans to spend the night camping out in the desert with friends were foiled due to a miscommunication between Gypsy Boy and I. Gypsy Boy failed to mention that we were actually staying the night and I thought we were just going for the evening and welcoming in the New Year. By the time we got our act together, it was just too late to organise a kennel for Gypsy Dog.

Instead, we had our own little private celebration at home where we cracked open our favourite bottle of merlot from NZ - Church Road, and made a wonderful chocolate fondue with pineapples and strawberries! Yum!

Happy New Year everyone, may it be a fabulous year for us all.

Eid Al Adha.

It's Eid Al Adha today, our second in the UAE. This feast of sacrifice marks Abraham's (or Ibrahim's) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son.

Many Muslims here observe the act of sacrificing a goat and donating the meat to the less fortunate. Early this morning, I was woken up by the bleating sounds of a goat that's been locked up in the car park of the apartment block next to us! It's been there for the last day or so and I believe it's not got long to go before it goes to slaughter.

Eid Mubarak to all those who celebrate this feast.

Busy.

I've been a little busy of late with my aunt and uncle visiting from Malaysia. To those of you who've sent me emails or left comments on this blog, I'm sorry I haven't been very diligent in replying. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'm thinking of all of you, but just have not had the chance to respond!

I'm expecting that this will be the case until Christmas is over, so I'll take the opportunity now to wish all of you a very Happy and Blessed Christmas!

T'is the season...

Like other parts of the world, the Christmas season in Dubai seems to have arrived earlier this year. Christmas jingles are being played regularly on the radio and lots of shops and malls being decked out with the usual red, green and gold decorations. Shoppers also seem to be out in full force doing all their Christmas shopping.

Still, I'm finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I guess it's the fact that when it comes down to it, Christmas is just an ordinary work day here, and holds not much more than commercial value. For Gypsy Boy and the rest of the workforce, there's no wind-down period either, if anything work seems to be building up!

Anyway, I thought I should at least make a bit of an effort especially seeing that we will have family arriving in 2 days who'll be staying to celebrate Christmas with us in Dubai.

...Our little X'mas Corner...

I apologise the photo's not great, it looks like our little Canon Ixy4.0 is dying a slow and painful death so I only managed to take the one photo and I'm too lazy to dig the SLR out and transfer the flash card, so this will have to do for now.

Happy Birthday UAE.

Today is National Day in the United Arab Emirates, marking the 35th year the seven Emirates came together to form a country.

As it's on a Saturday this year, most of the private sector companies have chosen not to give its employees a day off in lieu tomorrow. So unfortunately for Gypsy Boy, it's back to work after a lovely short break away.

Out and about

Over the last couple of days [Eid], the streets were really quiet and the shopping malls have been absolutely packed! There was a festive feeling in the air that reminded me of Christmas as friends and families meet up to wish each other a Happy Eid and bring one another gifts. It was lovely to see children dressed up in their brand new outfits while the adults paraded in their 'Sunday bests'.

The Gypsy Family didn't get up to much over these last 2 days. The most exciting things of note would be:

1) Our trip to Al Ain. We enjoyed the drive there with chiseled and rolling sand dunes along the motorway and the mountainscape backdrop, but to be honest we didn't find much to do in Al Ain.

2) Booking our flights to Brussels. Unfortunately the flights via Greece were fully booked, but we managed to get a very good deal on Turkish Airways with a stopover in Istanbul on the way back. We've heard lots about how beautiful Istanbul is, so we're looking forward to our trip next month!

3) Meeting up with a Malaysian couple. We haven't really met many Malaysians here, especially not ones our age. So, it was fun meeting up with A & S for dinner and hear words like "cin cai" and the good old "lah" peppered into sentences!

Eid Mubarak

Selamat Hari Raya!

We have decided to take a last minute road trip today to the Garden city of Al Ain. It is approximately one and a half hours drive away and is part of the Abu Dhabi Emirate, bordering on Oman.

Safe and happy holidays to you all and your families!

Happy Diwali!

It's Diwali today, also known as Deepavali or the Festival of Lights. Gypsy Boy and I happened to be out and about last night trying to hunt down an Indian restaurant recommended by some of Gypsy Boy's Indian colleagues. While driving around the other side of town we saw lots of decorative lights adorning balconies of apartments, and at the restaurant many diners were wishing one another a Happy Diwali.

A very Happy Diwali to those of you who are celebrating this festival.

Eid Al Fitr

The month of Ramadan is almost over, and will be marked by Eid Al Fitr sometime next week. The exact date is to be confirmed and will be subject to change depending on the sighting of the new moon.

What's interesting is the private sector will get 2 days holiday while the public sector will be graced with a whopping 9 days off! Go figure...

Tomorrow night we're booked to have dinner at a Ramadan tent at 8pm. Figured we'd better try it out before it's all over till next year! Many restaurants that close during the day will open only at sunset for Iftar when the day long fast for Muslims is broken. We didn't realise that Iftar only goes on for an hour or two before the restaurants then close again. They will then reopen at 8 or 9pm for Suhour and will stay open till the wee hours of the morning before fasting begins for another day.

Ramadan: Week 2

More random thoughts and experiences so far in our second week of Ramadan:

• After that mad rush grocery shopping at our local Carrefour 2 weekends ago, we tried shopping after iftar. This worked out well in that it was much quieter, but the shelves were also much emptier. No chicken breast (again!), no asparagus, very limited range and choice of fresh herbs and vegetables that I usually pick up too. Might have to try doing a mid-week shop during the day this week.
  
• Switched from my usual chewing gum to Smints - much more discreet.
  
• Lunch at home before heading out to meet friends rather than going out for lunch.

Yesterday evening while walking Gypsy Dog [around iftar time], I bumped into one of our Arab neighbours that has a Bichon Frisé. He was with a friend carrying grocery bags, obviously heading home to prepare for iftar. I found the conversation that followed rather amusing:

Neighbour: Hi! How are you? How is Gypsy Dog?
Me: Hi! We're fine! How are you? How is Brandy (the name of his Bichon Frisé)?
Neighbour: Good. Are you fasting?
Me: No, no...
Neighbour: Why?
Me: *Speechless and confused look* Um... why...?
Neighbour: *Grins* You should, it's very healthy for you.
Me: *giggle* Ok. I will give it a try...
Neighbour: Ok, see you later... and remember to fast - it's healthy!
Me: Ok. See ya later, bye!

Where shall we eat?

Cafés, restaurants, foodcourts - the choices are endless. Well, usually anyway. Yesterday, I was hoping to take Joy out for a special Birthday lunch and we ended up having a bit of an adventure looking for somewhere [anywhere!] that was open for business.

Ramadan is here and I knew that some cafés would be closed but for some reason did not expect everything to be shut, especially not at the Mall of the Emirates. It's our first Ramadan here in the Middle East, and we really didn't know what to expect. Apparently, some cafés and restaurants need to get approval from the Dubai Municipality to stay open during the day in the month of Ramadan.

As we walked through the mall we noticed it was strangely quiet, then realised there was no music playing anywhere - not in the shops and not in the mall itself. It was so quiet I could even hear some of the shop assistants chatting to each other as I walked past! It's funny how you never notice something, but once it's gone, it's so obvious? Throughout the month, music is not played in public until iftar, when only soft background music is permitted. Live bands and dancing is forbidden during this period so nightclubs usually just shut down for the whole month.

It's lucky that I just live one street away from the mall, because we had no choice in the end but to buy a couple of salads from Carrefour and taking it back to my place to eat! Not what I had in mind at all for treating Joy to a Birthday lunch!

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan starts today. As it's our first experience of Ramadan in the Middle East, we're being extra careful to observe this special holy time for Muslims fasting during daylight hours here.


During this time, one should dress more conservatively than normal and should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum in public during the day. The restaurants or few cafés that are open are extremely discreet with entrances screened off and windows blacked out so you cannot look in from outside. The usually bustling and busy terrace areas are also empty and closed off during the day so at first glance one would think the eatery is closed for business. Foodcourts in malls are also screened off, with food only available for take away. Finding a spot to eat it away from public view is another thing.

This afternoon, we did our usual grocery shopping for the week at Carrefour at the Mall of the Emirates. Expecting the usual weekend crowd also doing their weekly shop, we were instead faced with a crazed frenzy of shoppers packing their supermarket trolleys to the brim with meat, fruit and vegetables like there is no tomorrow.

I was a little taken aback when I passed refrigerated meat section. A handwritten sign was stuck on to one of the near-empty shelves I'm so used to seeing stocked full of pre-packed chicken breast, thighs etc. It read: Please refrain from taking excessive amounts. It's just as well I don't need to get any chicken this week! As for beef, well that's a different story. No NZ beef left on the shelves so we got some 'Low fat beef mince' [from who knows where!?] instead.

Needless to say, the queues were diabolical and we ended up queueing for 20 minutes at the checkout counter. I think we'll try to do our groceries next week a little later in the day during iftar, when the crowds should be home breaking their fast.

Thus we spent our first day of Ramadan in Dubai, what an interesting and special time to be here. Ramadan Kareem to you all.

Hari Merdeka

I've finally published a rather lengthy post on our time in Paris that I typed out a few days ago, but for some reason my internet browser of choice, Mozilla Firefox kept crashing on me whenever I was in the middle of uploading images. Frustrating, to say the least. Anyway, I finally managed to get some of our photos uploaded using Internet Explorer.

Today is Hari Merdeka - Independence day, commemorating the 49th year of independence for Malaysia from British colonial rule. It just so happens that Beachcombers, one of the restaurants at a hotel here in Dubai is celebrating this event by putting on a Malaysian feast, can't wait!

Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!

Dubai Summer Surprises

The famous DSS, similar to the Dubai Shopping Festival, is an annual event where shops, shopping malls and the like get together and put on Dubai-wide co-ordinated promotions and sales. Every week there is a planned themed surprise, starting with an 'Ice theme'.

- Modhesh, the Dubai Summer Surprises mascot -

The opening ceremony - yes, there was one! - was held at the Mall of the Emirates yesterday. We did not go as Gypsy Boy was busy working and I was busy hunting down a hotel in Budapest. We will however be going today to have a nosy as there will be performances and no doubt, some good bargains too.

ANZAC Day

Yesterday, was ANZAC Day. Every year on the 25th of April, New Zealand and Australia commemorate members of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps and those who have served their country.

In Dubai, there was a dawn service at which 300 attended.

Happy Easter!

A very Happy Easter to you all!

It's not a public holiday here in the Dubai, but there are Easter eggs for sale! The Easter Bunny brought me a huge mint dark chocolate easter egg that came with a pack of After Eight chocolate dinner mints - yum, my favourite!

May the Easter Bunny be kind to you too!