a bit distracted

Life doesn't have to be a spectator sport

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Time Out wins 'most pointless article' award

In one of the world's most pointless articles ever, Time Out Dubai has helpfully published a ticklist to ensure people here do actually realise that summer has indeed arrived in the UAE. A whole 25 points, indeed.

A couple of them did make me laugh though:
- You can’t decide whether you should be covering up to survive the AC or wearing shorts and T-shirts to avoid boiling to death! Very true
- You get third degree burns getting into your car. Ouch yes.

However, if you'll forgive me for stating the obvious, surely the biggest clues might be:
- it's 41 degrees at 9 o'clock in the morning (like today)
- temperatures are expected to 'drop' to 31 degrees overnight
- everybody leaves town and goes to places like London where you get normal weather

Based on this morning alone, I'd also add:
- you seriously consider whether it's worth risking a 150AED parking ticket to reduce walking distance between car and entrance
- you get dressed in a nice cool apartment and, on stepping outside, very quickly realise there is absolutely no natural fibre content in your trousers
- your banana gets cooked in your handbag!

Monday, May 25, 2009

The key to a good omlette is a well fitting lid

At last, i've reached a point in my pursuit of Domestic Goddess-ry where I have tips to share. Knowing my history in the kitchen it's a proud moment indeed.

Some of you know what a fan I am of a good old fashioned omlette. With beans, with wine, with friends - omlette rocks. But making one myself that fits the criteria of being firm yet fluffy, cooked but not burned, tasty and fresh, had eluded me for years. I figured I simply couldn't cook, which was also for years a pretty fair assumption.

But then - joy - I bought myself a mini frying pan especially for the job, and fitted it with a lid. What do you know, the perfect omlette. And it's no fluke. I've now made two perfect omlettes in a row (the latest accompanied by a tangy red pepper and tomato salsa on the side - woo)

At the end of a really crappy day at work -or maybe just a crappy day in life, since there was no specific catalyst for it - my omlette triumph tasted like the best thing ever and turned my day around.

Better yet, I have a big pack of Maltesers for desert.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Put the kettle on, I'll be there in two weeks

Before tackling the weekly Waitrose shop, I ducked into Nero's for a cheeky coffee and a skim through the newspaper. "Have you got a Nero's card?" asked the guy behind the counter. Well, yes, but wouldn't you know it's in another handbag at home.



Anyway I grabbed one of the comfy chairs - my luck was in - and texted Lawrence to see whether he fancied joining me.



Me: In Nero's. Fancy coffee?

Loz: Coffee? Great. I'll be there in just under two weeks.



Two weeks??



Remind me to write and thank Mr Nero for creating me a home from home in Dubai Mall. If it wasn't for the view over ice rink - rather than Wimpy's (did you know they sell beer in Wimpy's?)...or whatever has now replaced it! - and the call to prayer in the background then I could quite easily be back in Twickers right now.



I may be 3,500 miles and four time zones away, but some things stay stubbornly the same!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

One week on

If I promise not to harp on about this, would you tolerate one quick update on the wardrobe?! Ok cool.

I decided to give this stylist advice a shot and see what improvement it made to my life. Sadly I have to report that I haven't been swept away by the man of my dreams, offered a Vogue cover shot opportunity or spent a fortune on shopping for new clothes and - more importantly - accessories (not yet, anyway).

Normally thoughts of tomorrow's outfit is literally my last consideration of the day, and the pondering I submit myself to as I fall asleep. However, as advised, I have been thinking about the next day's outfit before hitting the pillow this week - there has been planning, accessorising and ironing all going on before lights' out. And you know what...it works! It makes for a much more relaxed morning too.

I have permitted myself some spending...lovely wooden bangles, a chunky wooden necklace and a lovely new turquoise handbag. All from bargain high street shops (which isn't exactly on message with the stylist) but they have really made a difference to my outfits. I think so anyway.

People at work have been most supportive - mainly because they are mostly women and have counselled me through my post-stylist experience!

I quite like going through the working day knowing that I have planned and put thought into my outfit, which may not be designer but has been put together with a bit more care than usual. This revelation came as a surprise to me...but a good one at that :-)

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Humps in the road

Heard on the radio traffic report today:
"Slow moving traffic on the 611 this morning due to a camel on the road"

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The style session


If waking up with a hangover this morning wasn't bad enough, I reluctantly opened the door to a very stylish Scottish lady who was here to do a 'consultation' on me. I hate to think what her first impression of my baggy eyes and bare feet were!

"I always wear black" was one of my first statements, whilst sitting there wearing white and going on to tell her all about the red dress I went out in last night.

It's fair to say that credibility was lost fairly early on, so I just opted for honesty: I love shopping, hate rummaging in sales, love shoes and lack any kind of forethought that would go into 'planning a wardrobe'.

The consultation started with a questionnaire that explored the style [I thought] I had and the style I [possibly unrealistically] aspired to. The two turned out to be not a million miles away, but that may just be attributed to a lack of creativity running through my aching brain.

We moved on to my wardrobe, which again dispelled the black theory by sporting red, green, blue, khaki... Hmm, I really have changed since moving to Dubai! I admit there has been a conscious effort to embrace colour, and in generally she seemed to approve.

I meant to have a clear out well before this session and, if I'm honest, could probably have avoided much of the cull that followed as she ruthlessly cast aside items that "added bulk to my hips" or were clearly boredom buys from Top Shop that would be more suited to a sulky 19 year old than a (sulky) professional 30-something. She laughed at a blouse I had bought from M&S in an effort to look like a grown up, but which actually transformed me into a telephone operator from the 1940's. And she barely bothered to comment on a linen skirt that fortunately I rarely wear anyway because I can't be bothered to get it dry cleaned very often. The blouse bit the dust with great speed; the skirt - too expensive for such treatment - will now take up valuable hanger space and never get worn again.

All in all, it was an interesting and very worthwhile exercise. Of course I say that while clutching a lengthy shopping list and awaiting further instruction on compiling an outfit from a mix of designer pieces (which are on said shopping list) with high street chic. I have a renewed mission...oh, and also need shoes.

Sporting a beautiful monochrome outfit (far too sassy for a Saturday morning I thought), my advisor didn't seem to agree that a Tiffany's necklace and diamond earrings are classy and go with everything, and smiled sympathetically at my idea of accessorising being a different bracelet now and then. It turns out I am useless at this bit of getting dressed. She made me promise to team the beads I say I can't wear because they 'hang funny' with a cobalt blue sweater for work tomorrow...and maybe one day I will graduate to a stylish neck scarf. I was duly warned off jumping straight in with the scarf though - that's more of an advanced manoeuvre.

So if anyone is looking for me, I'll be in the shops!

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Metro rumours

As the Dubai Metro nears completion, a frequent topic of conversation is who will actually use it. Will it take cars off the road? Won't it be too hot to walk to for most of the year?

It's funny that on my recent trip to Istanbul I was all too happy to hop on the Metro instead of using cabs. And in London, even when I shun the tube, I love to take the bus...or, preferably, walk.

For Dubai Metro there are rumours of different carriages for women & children, upper class and workers. And we await with interest the revealing of a pricing strategy that must be make or break for the project.

In conversation with a colleague yesterday, he mentioned a theory that instead of reducing car ownership, the Metro will actually double it. Why? Because people will need one car to drive to the metro stop, and another to leave at their work stop to drive the rest of the way to the office.

Add to this a point on the radio today that low income earners might be banned from owning cars, and another rumour on the grapevine that the Government will raise Salik (the road toll) by a dirham on opening of the Metro...and it's clear that the country is yet again falling back on money as the disincentive tool of choice. Why not make it beneficial in ways not related to the wallet? Encourage people to walk, take exercise, enjoy the city instead of rushing past it at a 100k/h.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Hamam: a survivor's report

What could be better to round off a weekend of excess than a good scrub in the bath? In essence, that is what the Hamam is all about.

Having become acclimatised to the modest ways of the Middle East, with its strictly single sex spas, conservative dress codes and laws against PDAs (public displays of affection, not the mobile devices), I was more than a little dubious to receive a scrap of material and a towel without any specific instructions on how this ensemble was supposed to cover me up! Especially when I peered tentatively through the gap in the changing room door to see that the pool area on the other side was unisex. Horror struck, before I remembered I am in fact British and regularly wear less by the pool.

But obviously this modesty has permeated my mindset, because I was shocked to discover a unisex steam room where one man was doing very bizarre leg stretches and, on entering the scrubbing area, another guy happily lathering up. Fortunately he was cleared out and the door firmly locked before my treatment got under way.

From there onwards, it was a slightly surreal experience that has to be tried to be believed. At the same time invigorating and relaxing, I came out of the treatment room feeling like I was all brand new but ready for a good kip...though that might have also been as a result of the weekend. After sharing with the therapist (female - phew - and no moustache!) my three and a half words of Turkish, and the five phrases she knew in English, there was no needless chatter as my knotted muscles were pummeled and lathered. With all that soap around it took a fair amount of concentration not to go sliding off the marble slab though!

I left for the airport a layer of skin lighter, but feeling brighter and more relaxed for the experience. Much recommended.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Fancy takıng a ferry up the Bosphorous?

No? Me eıther. But next tıme I have the pleaure of vısıtıng Istanbul ıt's goıng to be top of my lıst.

In a 48-hour madcap gırly dash to Istanbul (joıned from London by my valıant partner-ın-crıme, Cathy) we feel we have quıte successfully 'done' the cıty. What an amazıng, energetıc and excıtıng place! And what a collectıon of moustaches.

There was no ferry up the Bosphorous thıs tıme - use of the word 'perılous' ın the guıde book put us off a bıt, even though that doesn't even begın to descrıbe the abra trıp across Dubaı Creek! But we explored the Sultanahmet wıth ıts awesome Ayasofya, wındıng lanes, cafes and shops; the bızarrely wonderful Bazaar Dıstrıct; and the vıbrant nıghtlıfe ın Beyoglu. Dıverse doesn't even begın to descrıbe ıt - from flashy vıew-over-Golden Horn restaurants and wıne bars, to a warm and frıendly cellar restaurant boastıng home cookıng and beer ın bıg mugs...wıth every Madonna-playıng, turkısh dısco dancıng joınt ın between.

Havıng waved Cathy off to the aırport thıs afternoon and taken a short stroll to explore the cıty walls, I'm currently waıtıng wıth some trepıdatıon for my hamam. I'm more than a lıttle worrıed about the descrıptıon ın the Tıme Out guıde book and am hopıng that there are no moustachıoed 'burly, near-naked strangers' ınvolved or too much scrapıng, kneadıng and pummelıng of flesh, for that matter. But when ın Rome...!

So post-hamam, what's left of me wıll be hot footıng ıt to the aırport and back to Dubaı. My lıver and I are lookıng forward to a good kıp!