The art of delivery

One thing they do really well here in Abu Dhabi (apart from hummous and manicures) is lazy.

There was once a suggestion that they should introduce self-service petrol stations, but a poll revealed that no one would use them even if it was a little quicker. It is the expected and the standard that someone will come to your house and put your Ikea furniture together for you, no matter what it is. No one seems to wash their own car, but will stand by watching the man they are paying to do it, to make sure he is doing it properly.

So now, indulge me for a moment - if you will - and make a quick mental list of the things that you have delivered, but not posted!, to your home... it's ok, I'll wait...

...

Goodness me but I need to get my nails done again...

...

Got it? Ok. I think this sort of list will vary depending on where you live so I'm going to go by where I used to live, the UK. I'll hazard a guess that most of the things on the list will be food related:
Pizza
Indian food
Chinese food

Sushi - if you live in that sort of town
Erm.... well I'm out. I think that's pretty much all I ever had delivered to me while I still lived in the UK.

Here? Well, there's most of the above, although I've not seen a sushi place that delivers yet, and we can also get every type of fast food you can think of (KFC, Maccy Ds, Subway), but it doesn't stop there - oh no!

Forgot to get some coriander for that curry or ran out of limes? Call the greengrocers round the corner and he'll send a guy.
Need some cigarettes and some mobile phone credit? The shop under your building will speed it over.
Bread, milk, water, chocolate bar, shampoo? See above.
There are people who knock on your door with sacks full of fake DVDs.
Dry cleaning? Ironing? Not only will they bring it to you when you ring, but they'll pick up the stuff that needs doing as well!

The only thing I wish I could have brought to my door, that isn't, is the post. For that they make me go to the post office and open my post office box.

Really, once you step inside your door there is precious little to force you out again. It's a good thing the weather is nice.

Whirlwind trip to Europe

Ok, so I know that doing that whole "Europe" thing is annoying in an I've never left my own country before way, but really that's the only way to describe it!

We flew out of Abu Dhabi to London last Tuesday. I got to spend a fabulous day shopping with my mum and had a fantastic dinner with my dad, mum, sister and brother in law before we had to catch a flight to Glasgow on Thursday.

The flight to Glasgow was pretty groovy - for only £20 extra each we flew "business" on BMI which was fun, but not all that much to write home about for a 1 hour flight. We did have Russle Brand sitting behind us on the flight though - and I pretended I didn't know who he was *evil grin*

Some dear friends of ours from Derby got married in Glasgow on the Friday. The wedding was beautiful and I shed a little tear. We walked from the church to the reception through Glasgow led by a piper - it was a wonderful experience marred only by my heels getting caught in the cobblestones everywhere! He he he.

The reception was fantastic. We were sitting at a table with all our Derby friends, the food was delish and the band which came on after lunch was simply brilliant. We danced the night away, shedding more than a little tear when it came to saying goodbye to everyone again.

On Saturday morning we flew to Paris (somewhat less glamourously on easyjet) for another wedding, this time a cousin of O's. This affair was rather more extravagant than the previous day. Evening gowns, fois gras and flowers is how I will remember the evening. The bride was beautiful and the groom looked happy, if a little overwhelmed.

We then spent another two days in Paris seeing some of the sights and utterly catching the Paris bug, ensuring that we'll be back again and for longer.

The trip was very tiring but very enjoyable. It's nice to be back.

Here comes the sun...

After two weeks of nothing but sandstorms and the occasional downpour the sun finally showed his face today. Hooray!

It was a perfect day, no humidity (oh thank you Little Miss Downpour last night), clear blue skies and a deliciously cool breeze wafting in from the sea.

O and I decided to take full advantage of the weather and headed for our first trip to the public beach that is, fairly, new to the Corniche.

For a mere 5 Dirhams (about £1) you can chose between the Ladies and Families Only section or the Manly Man* section. Unless of course you are a single man/group of men in which case you may not venture into the ladies section - naughty naughty!

The beach is superb. Beautifully done with lots of facilities (by which I mean toilets, of course), showers and large beach umbrellas, some of which have seats and a little table underneath for picnicking purposes.

We camped out and ventured into the water straight away. It was still a little chilly for my liking but was so refreshing after an hour or so baking in the sun.

The beach is clean, the water is clear, the lifeguards actually pay attention to what is going on and I felt totally comfortable leaving our stuff unattended while we went for a dip. Not all that usual for me, on holiday I'm often anxiously glancing up the beach in the direction of my towel to make sure no one is hovering around with intent to snoop or loot, but not here!

I can see us making full use of that beach in the years to come, it's fabulous and so close to home - plus it doesn't come with a hefty membership fee that the other hotel resort clubs do.

Two thumbs up and a strong recommendation. Now we just need some visitors to whom we can show it off!

*Not the real name, but far more fun.

Busy busy busy!

Even though we finally have the internet now - which is fabulous! - what with working and everything I've been completely cream-crackered and have not had the energy to come up with something interesting to write!

Yes, I be working now - after a good few months of nothing at all and spending my savings up a storm I am in gainful employment. It is very nice to know that there is a wage coming in and to have something to do each day! Although I must admit, I'm not overly fond of having to get up at silly o'clock every morning and I do miss being the mistress of my own time. But as I've said, what is the point of having all the time in the world if you've no cash to do anything with it? And believe me when I say that out here, without the moolah you are really stuck for things to do.

In recent news, we've had horrible weather lately! Lots of rain and there's been a sandstorm hovering over the whole of Abu Dhabi for about a week and a half. So it's been a week of gritty teeth and the glorious balcony is now somewhat less than glorious. I just haven't had the inclination to get my bucket and giant squeedgie out to give it a good ole' clean. Will have to tackle this at some point after we return from The Weddings (TM) - more on that another time, with photos I'm sure.

I am on a quest to find the perfect pair of shoes to go with the perfect dress (for which I paid £70 more than I would have in the UK!) which is proving fruitless so far, and there is only one more mall to try - will it have the shoe of my dreams? Or will I have to risk it and drag my poor, long suffering mother out on a mammoth shoe shopping trip on my one day in London next week?

I almost can't bare the suspense!