How Old is Old Dubai??

It’s easy to come to Dubai and get caught up in the glitz and glamour of the place – I know I do on a daily basis. If you’ve only lived here a few years like I have it’s easy to forget that as few years ago, most of the skyscrapers weren’t here. It really was just a pile of sand. So when visitors come it’s nice to take them down to the older parts of Dubai, near the creek. (And when I say old, I mean 30 years old. Hardly ancient by our standards....!)

Bastakiya is a lovely area and one of the few places where you can see old-style houses and imagine Dubai ‘as it used to be.’ They were going to pull all the buildings down until a certain Prince Charles paid Dubai a visit and commented on how marvelous the area looked. Cue huge renovation project – and the end result, if a little too polished, is really lovely. It’s a small area and an intriguing maze of shady passages. I recommend booking a tour through the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding – without a guide to take you round you really haven’t got much of a clue what you’re looking at.

Our guide was a very lovely young lady called Khulood Al Atiyat. She took us all around the area, and then we stopped for coffee and had a chance to chat and ask her questions. Fascinating. I had to stop my mum from asking her what brand of mascara she used (she was stunning) but otherwise she took our nosiness with very good grace and chatted to us for a while about her friends, family, and life in general in Dubai. A very interesting morning.

After that we had a good rummage round the textile souk. As ever with places like this you do get a bit harangued by shop-keepers, but they’re generally pretty nice and not too intimidating. I have a favourite shop (at the very end on the right-hand side, if you’re interested!), where the staff are pleasant and they don’t mither you too much. Oh, and it’s huge. My dad is now rocking out a variety of Arab scarves and I have a couple of new pashminas to fight off the air con.

Next stop: an abra ride across the creek. I'm ashamed to say I'd never done this before! Abras for those not in the know, are small wooden boats which take people across the creek for the princely sum of one dirham (about 20p...finally, a bargain in Dubai!). If you're big on health and safety, look away now. They don't really moor the boats up so you have to fling yourself onto them from (my heart was in my mouth when my 72 year old grandmother launched herself onto it!). They're open sided and I didn't spot a lifejacket/buoy......and the creek gets a bit choppy at points.

Anyway, this is all forgotten once you set off. The breeze, the sunshine and the old boats that you sail past all combine to transport you to a different time and completely different way of life, all whilst still in Dubai, of course. LOVED it.

A quick sniff around the spice souk (dried lemons a big hit with the family) and it was time to catch an abra back across the creek and head home. As far as first days go, I think it was a good start to the family's holiday. I have to admit to struggling at more than one point. That's what yo get when you go out drinking the very night that you have to meet your parents at the airport at 3 am....and only get 3 hour's sleep before heading out. Whoops!

Phew!

Do you have hordes of visitors invading your house/eating all your food, and demanding to be entertained each day and night? Well worry no more, for I am a Dubai tour guide extraordinaire!

Yes, after a week of entertaining my family, I think I have a few interesting jaunts which I could recommend….I’ll post them as and when I’m awake enough to review them – took the family to the airport this morning at stupid o’clock and am still in a bit of a haze. Could also be down to the fact that I’ve averaged at least 5,000 calories each day for the last two weeks and my body is battling to digest them. Nice. January is going to be harsh....

Road Trip!

Day 2 of the family visit and I decided it was time to take them on a road trip. Granted, the road to Abu Dhabi isn't the most fascinating piece of highway, but it meant we escaped from Dubai for a day, and my parents can tell everyone that they've visited somewhere different whilst they're here.

The reason for the trip: the stunning Sheikh Zayed Mosque. I've driven past it many many times on the way to client meetings, and even spent a weekend looking at it from my sunlounger at the divine Shangri-la. It's open every day until 12, but if you want to go on a guided tour, you have to go on a weekday, and you have to be there by 10. At 7 in the morning when I was dragging myself out of bed (that's just wrong on a day off!) I did question my judgement, but once we arrived I knew it had been worth it.

Interesting point to note: it's one of the world's biggest mosques and as such attracts hundreds of visitors each day. So you'd think that it would be easy to find some directions to it, no? Or that it would be very clearly sign-posted on the main road in from Dubai? WRONG! This is the Middle East, folks. We like to let you work it out for yourselves!

In this case it meant that I had to rely on blind luck and memory to get us there. And despite the fact that we were parked right nest to the mosque, this apparently wasn't the 'acceptable' way to enter it. Cue one jobsworth security guard facing me off for ten minutes refusing to let us in. After much cajoling and feminine wiles (sorry feminist movement!) he let us in. The sight of my parents and grandma running across the lawn at high speed will stay with me for quite some time!

They kit you out with an abaya and shayla and then you're good to go. I didn't catch our guide's name but she was a very lovely Australian lady who knew everything about the mosque. I don't know what it is about places of worship - churches/mosques/whatever - but I always find them very relaxing - and this place is no different. In fact it's so awe-inspiring that you can't help but be rendered silent for much of the tour.

I'm not a historian so you can find some background to the mosque here. To sum it up - it is stunningly beautiful, all white marble and precious metals. It contains three of the world's largest chandeliers. And the world's largest carpet. One of the most moving parts is that it's the resting place of the late Shiekh Zayed. his mausoleum is just outside the mosque, and as you walk past you can hear what sounds like a call to prayer. It's actually a series of people reading the Qoran. They're done this, every single day since his death five years ago, such is how much he was, and still is, revered.

If you get the chance to visit - I really recommend it.

Loving Strictly!

I know I'm not the only one watching Strictly, but it's still a bit embarrassing to admit how much I'm going to miss it when it ends this month. Quite aside from the over the top camp glamour of it all, and the wonder that is Ricky Whittle in a shirt slashed to the naval, it's a really great way to still feel connected to the UK and people back home.

My BBC iplayer stopped working last week which meant I temporarily missed my UK tv fix. I don't have much spare time to watch tv, so when I do have the odd hour, I want to watch something decent (now there's a challenge when living in Dubai!) After a few days of IT hell, I managed to fix it. After a very enjoyable romp through Strictly, I then worked my way through Gavin and Stacey, Jonathan Ross, and......Delia Smith's Christmas. Note to self: you're turning into your mother....

Ain't Misbehaving...

LOVE this post from a fellow Dubai blogger. It's about crime recorded on Dubai beaches. Dubai's Desperate Housewife sums it perfectly, so I won't repeat her points, but one of my favourites is: 8 offences for theft.....that's in ten months, folks.

Compare that to the UK, and Dubai suddely dosn't look like such a tough place to live, eh? I've been meaning to mention this in my 'defence of Dubai' posts recently - partly triggered by one of my dear friend's Facebook status updates last week:

Enjoyed a nice jaunt into town with the boys until finding out our car had been broken into. stereo, ripped out. ipod gone. personal items gone. Car door f*cked, . husband with red rage, children crying. happy christmas you selfish, lazy scroats.

Say what you want about Dubai, but the lack of crime and general feeling of safety is just one of the many reasons I love living here.

Those that know me, know I love the UK, and Manchester in particular. BUT: I don't miss having to think twice about where you park the car, remembering to remove anything remotely valuable about it, and turning the ipod volume down when walking down dark roads in case anyone tries to creep up on you.

Em, darling, hope the car is sorted. Big love to you and the boys...

Oh Snow!

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my family. In all the excitement and drama of the 'will they/won't they' BA strike, I hadn't even thought about the weather. As the UK got colder and colder, I laughed to friends, exclaiming: "No need to worry, it hasn't snowed in Jersey for at least 15 years." And then, of course, it did.

If you think that the UK grinds to a halt when it snows, then you haven't seen Jersey. Two flakes and the schools were closed. Three flakes and the buses and taxis stopped running. At this stage I assumed there must have been at least a foot of snowfall, but my dear mum assured me that not a flake was sticking to the roads. Pandemonium!

Anyway, this inevitably meant airport chaos yesterday. Jersey Airport is the size of a postage stamp and ill equipped for bad weather. Unfortunate really, as Jersey, despite being blessed with a lot of lovely sunny weather, also has a tendency to get fog bound. I've lost count of the amount of hours I've had to kill there whilst delayed. And even had to collect my bags and fall on the mercy of my parents for one more night when the entire place shut down.

I spent a good part of yesterday evening on the Jersey Airport website (surely the most traffic they've had all year!) and was just starting to panic when by 8 pm, not a single flight had taken off. Thankfully, my midnight, they were staring to clear.

And this morning, my family were airborne! They still have another flight to catch from Gatwick, but I'm sure the universe knows just how much they want to be here. See you soon!

Another New Kid on the Block

Went to a launch party at a gorgeous new hotel last night - The Address down at the Marina. The hotel is stunning, as are the other Addresses, and they do know how to spoil their guests.

Sitting on v comfy beanbags next to the infinity pool whilst a dj played house classics brought back memories of too many launch parties in Manchester. The ones where one glass of warm wine and half a canape made it to you if you were lucky.

No danger of going hungry last night - numerous cooking stations, free flowing wine, and lovely staff really made for a very good evening. Thanks to Karim for the invite and also the updates on the Armani Hotel in the Burj Dubai. Now THAT sounds interesting. Readers, you'll be the first to hear all about it...

Tinkling the Ivories....

I walked past a man tuning a piano this morning. I should just qualify this by saying that I’ve started walking to work again – the temperature is cooler and I’m embracing any opportunity to whittle my waistline. My journey takes me through Dubai Mall. There’s a variety of routes I can take, and when I feel the need to look at beautiful things, I stroll through ‘Fashion Avenue’. As it sounds, it’s populated by big name fashion brands, hence gorgeous window displays.

This morning I had a neb at Chloe, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Temperley and Missoni. And for some reason, which I’m sure will become clear next time I walk past, they’ve installed a grand piano outside Ralph Lauren, hence the aforementioned piano tuner.

I was instantly transported back to being 11 years old and piano lessons. The thing with the piano is that it requires a lot of practice. I could blame my poor skills on the fact that we didn’t have a piano, but if I’m honest, the lack of practice is what did for me. I did remember that the one tune which I can belt out is: Noel. And it’s Christmas! Any venue with a piano – watch out – I may not be able to control myself!

Dubai Bashing

Contrary to popular belief, no Dubai isn't slipping off the face of the earth. And there categorically isn't a feeling of 'the last day's of Rome' as one journo in The Times stated.

As usual the UK press just loves to build them up, and knock 'em down...and nowhere is this more true than where Dubai is concerned.

One of the worst articles I read was this piece in The Sun. Clearly the idiot bus had pulled up alongside the journalist in question when he was looking for comments.

Quotes like this from a munter called Paul : "It's a fantastic place to be a single bloke. Tuesdays is ladies night in the bars and its wall-to-wall women. Loads of air hostesses are based here" should really alert you to the fact that this might not be your average decent person. Clearly a munter - and they're everywhere, not just here. Scroll down to check out Paul's photo and I'd be surprised if he ever gets lucky on a Tuesday....

Another article compared hotel prices in Dubai to those in Doncaster - apparently it's cheaper to stay here than in that gorgeous (!) UK city. What a load of tosh. The hotels they used as a comparison are budget and nowhere that you'd be in a hurry to stay. And I'm not being funny, and at the risk of offending the people of Doncaster - I know where I'd rather holiday....

Built to Last?

It's been raining for the last few days here in Dubai. Yes, I know. As it's gorgeous for the other 360 days a year, I really shouldn't moan. So I won't. I will say that I'd almost forgotten what an effect terrible weather has on my mood. I couldn't put my finger on why I had a niggling feeling of moroseness (is that a word?) all weekend - despite getting up to all sorts of festive fun. It can only be the weather. Grey skies, rain, eurgh.

Anyway, my observation this morning is that buildings, whilst looking pretty good in Dubai, have go to be questionable on the quality front. Yes, I appreciate that it doesn't rain often here, but still, is that an excuse for the gallons of water that were pouring through the ceiling of the car park this morning? Or the 10 (yes, 10) large buckets placed strategically in the souk near my apartment, all with water pouring into them....

Despite all this rain, I still walked to work this morning (cue gasps of horror from colleagues.) It may be raining but it's still in the 20's, so it's a more pleasant stroll than my Manchester days. Days when you wouldn't dare leave the house in the rain without gloves on as your hands would freeze to ice whilst clutching the brolly handle.

I'm hoping that this is going to stop before Christmas Day - it has two weeks to pull itself together. Fingers crossed!