Good Morning World!

Good morning world!

I love my journey to work. Aside from the fact that it's 8 minutes by car (used to be the same on foot) it's a really great route. 

After pootling through some of the oldest residential streets in the city, I head down a large main road. Although this is sparkling and well groomed (as are all of Dubai's roads) you can tell it's been around for donkey's years. It's flanked by trees: big trees, not the skinny, newly planted ones in Downtown. These are so wide you'd struggle to get your arms round them, with branches so vast you could get the cast of Fame in the shadows they spread. 

The palm trees are old too. Like the gnarly older brothers of the Downtown Boulevard palm trees, their knotted trunks and oh-so bushy tops make them look markedly different to the usual sanitised Dubai palm trees.

At the end of the road I turn onto the huge highway that takes me into the office, and am met with the (always) resplendent sight of Sheikh Zayed road, complete with skyscrapers, the Burj Khalifa, but also piles of low rise villas back from the days when Dubai was a pile of sand with no electricity and A/C. Oh, and 99.9% of the time there's a backdrop of blue sky and sunshine. Joy. I love love loved my walks to work through the Manchester streets, but it's hard to beat this view as I head to the office each day...

Always impresses me...

Purr.......

Very stressed by the move, yeah?!

I’ve blogged before about the bundle of furry goodness that was the famous (!) cat, Molly, who lived in the Rydges Plaza Hotel in Dubai. 

When the hotel changed hands (it’s now the Chelsea Plaza, in case you didn’t know) the new owners, not being feline fans, ousted her. It was a sad evening when we popped in for a drink and realized that she’d been given the boot. The kindly F and B manager took her in as a short-term rescue solution but it couldn’t ever be permanent.

‘Molly-Gate’ became a frequent topic of conversation amongst the Rydges Plaza locals…and I’m sure that you can tell where this conversation is going! Yes, Molly is now living out her retirement years chez moi!

Despite only moving in a week ago, she’s already striding around the house like she owns the place. She’s remarkably chilled out and has thus far spent a large proportion of her time sleeping. To the point where I’ve actually asked: “Is she still breathing?!”

She’s staying indoors for a month until she gets used to the place, then and only then will she be allowed out. Dubai has very strict rules about pets – not only is she micro-chipped, but she also needs to wear a tag at all times with a municipality number on it. This is a sign to any cat catchers (yes, they do exist) not to scoop her up off the street and take her into their lair.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a furry, purring cushion next to me on the sofa. An absolute treat!

The Joy of Satwa

What's not to love?!

Those who know me know that I love nothing more than an afternoon strolling round Satwa. It’s such a diverse area and the antithesis of the glitz and glamour of Dubai Mall. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dubai Mall, but there comes a point at which you can only dodge so many rude, overweight, offensively dressed tourists before you want to run screaming from the building.

Satwa also my solution for almost everything. Can’t find something? You’ll find it in Satwa. To prove this point I thought I’d share with you a few things that my lovely friends, colleagues and myself, have giddily purchased/sorted in Satwa this month:

• Fabric
• Buttons
• Studded shoulder pads (oh they are SO now)
• Sticker of Sheikh Zayed for car
• Miniature Burj Khalifa
• Bike chain
• Books
• Oud burner for car (No, really)
• Bucket and mop
• Fancy dress outfit
• Abaya
• Bukhoor burner in shape of palm tree
• Shelves
• Bedding  plants
• Ribbon

It sells a lot more besides, but I think list goes some way to proving my point. If you can’t find it in Satwa, it probably doesn’t exist.