Friday, August 17

every home should have one

courtesy of mr page and the sharjah blue souk comes the newest in home entertainment... oh yes just like the real thing... a flashing and spinning (ok the real one doesnt spin) burj al arab.

qwality.


posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Friday, August 17, 2007 2 comments  

the capital

so what is there to do at weekends when it 45degrees outside you ask...??

well, time to call the driver, jump in the 7 series and take a trip down to the nations capital... Abu Dhabi.

its taken me 16 months to make it the hour and a bit's drive to have a look round and there really wasnt too much to see. though we had an expert guide who did very well to slow down for all the speed cameras and show us the locations of all the main 'attractions'.

it was a bit of a hazy summers day but i managed to brave the heat on a couple of occasions and jump out of the car to get a few snaps.

one massive flag (biggest in the world apparently)



one chuffin great big palace that was build for the late great sheik zayed but was too fancy for him to live in so they made it into a hotel instead. after seeing this im thinking maybe going to the burj wasnt such a big deal after all!



and one of a very hazy AD skyline.

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Friday, August 17, 2007 0 comments  

Sunday, July 22

war...!

blogs are like buses for me at the moment... not one for ages and then all of a sudden along come three...!


been rather quiet the last few weeks though so not really had too much to write about. though after getting home in the wee hours of saturday morning and finding out about all the rain back home it inspired me to post this photo of what i was doing while you lot were sat in your car in big puddles or stuck at home/work. mmm sunshine.






oh ok i'll admit that was actually the weekend before. a few of us went over to the east coast to have a day of watersports fun. all was going well until i got lost on the way there and the hotel wouldnt let us in when we got there after our 3 hour journey. luckily we got in to the hotel next door where a nice lady read out a list of the water sports that they offered. sadly though sheikh mo was next door with all his buddies and they shut the sea. oh yes. only swimming allowed and nothing else. grrrrrrrrr.



what i actually did this saturday while you lot were filling your sandbags and syphoning off the last of the tapwater was going to war with the ant colony that decided to take up resindence in my balcony. the lovely little darlings have been resident in the pot of my only surviving outdoor plant outside my bedroom. both sides suffered losses as alas my plant had a ride down the garbage chute but i think it's safe to say they are the ones who suffered more. they just were not prepared for the piff paff spray and the bin liners. 1 nil to me!



anyway to help get over the passing of my plant i rushed straight out and got a new one. i've decided to stick to the indoor variety and although my track record isnt great i'll do my best to keep it alive. and heres a pic as evidence of it surviving a whole 2 days in the flat. nice.



posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Sunday, July 22, 2007 0 comments  

little box of wii

so.. as the memories of my brief trip back to the uk in june started to fade i soon realised that we were going to need something to keep us busy over the long hot dry (sorry had to fit that one in) summer. so i got me a nintendo wii. i figured it would keep me entertained and help my flatmate loose a little weight all at the same time. perfect.

little did i know it would bring out chris's so far hidden competitive streak or cause already competitive unles to stay up half the night trying to beat my tennis score (busted boathy!).


it's proving highly entertaining already and i only have one game! heres me showing off my tennins skills during wimbledon week. as you can see i got a little carried away with the accessories.



now i'm just waiting for the online games to come out so i can thrash people outside of my apartment too. sweeet.

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Sunday, July 22, 2007 4 comments  

more burj photos

have dug up a couple more photos from our outing to the burj a few months ago.. thought i'd share.
jon ' ra ra ra ra'.. me 'oh realyy, ra ra ra ra'


mrs p scoffing some sort of cake....

and the whole gang just before we tucked in to the grub.

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Sunday, July 22, 2007 0 comments  

Monday, May 14

more tea vicar..??

well, after just over 13 months i finally managed to get myself in for afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab...! yes thats right folks they actually let me in to a 7* hotel for a spot of tea and scones.

i've wanted to do this since i got here and boy i wasnt disappointed. to be honest i was expecting it to be far more posh but it turned out to be a really relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.

now youre not allowed to just wander into this hotel and have a mooch round in your jeans and flip flops which you can actually do in most of the other flash hotels out here. infact you cant even get across the entrance bridge onto the little island without a reservation. soooo once inside we did our best to act as complete tourists taking lots of snaps and standing aorund 'ooh-ing' at the fancy fountains and fish tanks.


to be honest the inside is pretty bloomin hideous as you can see but it was very entertaining. we took our tea at 3pm in the skyview bar.. which is the long thin bit that goes across the top of the tower facing the sea. the views werent half bad from up there.. with the palm in one direction and the rest of dubai in the other.


the food didnt disappoint either. we had to pick our tea from a big menu and the first course of food (yes there was more than one) came out on some fancy stand thing. finger sarnies with the crusts off, mini focaccias, cakes and more cakes...little did we know that when we'd cleared the plates the waiter would then just go and re-fill it. now we'd all been starving ourselves (apart from chris) all day so were really going for it and in hindsight maybe it wasnt such a great idea.


more tea.. and then out came course number 2.. some warm scones, clotted cream and jam. loverly. followed by course number 3, some petit fours. urrggghhh. i know some people who could do some serious damage at this place.. namely my ma... oh and jase.. oh yes you know its true. 2 hours later and ready to pop we left the bar and headed home for a well deserved afternoon nap.

two days later and i think i've just about recovered from all the sugar and caffene...!! hardcore.

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Monday, May 14, 2007 1 comments  

ohhh man

so then.. its may already. how nuts is that..??

things are hotiing up out here in the desert with temperatures now creeping into the 40's.... summers on it's way so a few of us went for a little expedition to Oman to see the sights while it was still bearable to go outside.

we stayed in muscat and travelled round a few places in the daytime and explored a bit of the fantastic coastline.. i cant tell you how different oman is to the uae.. its so much more relaxed, a much nicer place to be.. and so many locals!! also they have normal roads and can even drive better than their emirati neighbours.. its mental.

anyways here are some pics of one of the beaches we went to... not too shabby i think you'll agree. definitely worth a visit if any of you are ever out this way or fancy a relaxing holiday. be quick though as i have a funny feeling it will soon be developed into posh hotels and fancy holiday homes.. perhaps even some gof courses. who knows...!! ;O)

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Monday, May 14, 2007 0 comments  

Tuesday, May 1

they're not aunt bessies, they're mine..!

just thought i'd share with everyone my triumph of a roast dinner last saturday. the very first one ever attempted in our flat and only my second in the UAE. and how yummy it was. not sure how its taken me so long to do but soon remembered just how much mess they make in the kitchen!! handy hint though.. invite people over.. feed them a lovely dinner... and then let them wash up..! thanks mrs p!

couple of pics of my yorkshires a risin and of the finished product.


told you may was going to be a quiet month... ;O)

ola.

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Tuesday, May 01, 2007 1 comments  

Friday, April 20

oooooo arrrrrr

this month saw my second set of visitors out, and the gloster girls descended on the UAE..!

after a few days spent on the beach and in shopping malls i took them on a little trip along the coast into the mussandam to a place called Khasab to do some dolphin spotting.

the top of the mussandam peninsular is hailed as 'the norway of the middle east' as the scenery is supposed to be identical to the fjords.. i'll let you decide for yourselves whether this is hype or fact but i can tell you that it is stunning and we had a jolly good time.

after a 3 hour drive and a dodgy toilet incident that emily would rather i not mention we went out on a 4 hour boat trip to spot dolphins, snorkel and generally just lie around on some cushions in the sunshine. some pics are attached of the scenery and of the beautiful ladies doing a spot of snorkeling.
i'm now having me a little rest for the remainder of the month and catching up on some sofa and beach time. plans for next month include a trip to the Burj Al Arab for afternoon tea so i'd better start saving my pennies.

laters.x

posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Friday, April 20, 2007 4 comments  

Sunday, April 8

lets off road...!

me again. on a bit of a roll with these blogs at the moment but have been busy and theres lots to share...

this weekend me and the monkster were invited to join our mate gregor and his folks on a 4x4 trip through wadi bih in the mussandam.

quick bit of geography needed here i think. the mussandam is the little bit of land poking out the top of the peninsular nearest iran and splits the persion gulf with the east coast. its also part of oman so you have to take your passports and everything.


anyway we hired us some 4x4's, drove east from Dubai and headed to Ras al Khaimah where we ditched the road and hit the dirt tracks. frrom here we drove into the mussandam and up and over some mountain thingie and down into wadi bih. wadis are the product of flash flooding in the mountains and are raging torrents of flood water that form big old rivers after it rains.

this wadi in particular is one of the biggest around and is very popular with off road enthusiasts. as you can see from the pictures the scenery is pretty stunning. we drove up to the top of the mountain and had ourselves a picnic and then headed down through the wadi and across to dibba where we had a little paddle on the beach before heading back to Dubai.

it was a top day and my first taste of driving off road in a 4x4 (and on road for that matter) got a bit carried away at one point and went sliding all over the shop but nowhere near as metal as the crazy scots in the car infront...!

enjoy the piccies.. i'll be back soon with my next installment. x







posted by Dozy Lil Sis @ Sunday, April 08, 2007 0 comments