When we lived in Dubai, I used to swim 2000m along the shore of the Gulf in the early morning. It is one of the few things about the Middle East that I recall with warm nostalgia (as opposed to rising gorge).
The first time I ever went for a power swim, thick mist shrouded the [...]
Archive for the ‘Dubai’ Category
A fish eye view
Posted in Dubai, Exercise, tagged beach swimming, burj al arab, Dubai, gnarly, lateral propulsion, middle east, rising gorge, sea, the gulf, triathlete, triathlon, uae on 03/08/2009 | 1 Comment »
Great lunch queue massacre
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged Dubai, great lunch queue massacre, hierarchy, immigration, management, process, rank, theory, uae residency visa, uae visit visa on 20/07/2009 | 2 Comments »
I am delighted to report that Husband has returned – only a week late. The excuses get more and more elaborate; I can hardly WAIT to hear what he will come up with next time. To maintain his current form, he will need to introduce an alien abduction or a great lunch queue massacre.
Husband’s UAE [...]
Proximity to Satan on the family tree
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged real estate, Dubai, uae, property, expat, spam, tenants, economic crisis, apocalypse, grapevine, urban myth, urban legend, lease, pyromania, real estate agent, dubizzle, direct from owner on 15/07/2009 | 2 Comments »
Even in NZ, we heard rumours of expats stampeding out of Dubai: abandoning their cars at the airport, trampling over fallen bodies at the check-in. Depending which reports you listen to, Dubai is an apocalyptic landscape of anarchy, looting, rioting and burning, home only to broken dreams.
In fact, the only thing thriving in the city [...]
Dendrophiliacs
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged beach, blunt axe, dead skin cells, dendrophile, dendrophiliac, Dubai, maintenance company, middle east, palm tree, rental property, renting, security deposit, tenants, tequila, uae, villa on 14/07/2009 | 1 Comment »
The main reason Husband returned to Dubai so soon after his last trip was to prepare our property for re-renting. He asked if I would like to accompany him. Optimistically, he presented it as a mini-vacation. He went for the beaches and palm trees angle.
I was more focussed on the 22-hour flight with two stopovers, [...]
Essay: How did you become a writer? – Discuss
Posted in Books, Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged antique desk, delayed puberty, Dubai, espionage, essay, frustrated rock goddess, great literary wrok, irish secret service, middle east, motive of revenge, niamh shaw, political figure, professional figure skater, rock star, sabbatical, school, shinsplints, smart casual, writing on 09/04/2009 | 5 Comments »
When I was a little girl, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up:-
A long-distance lorry driver.
That was until I decided to follow a glamorous career as a princess. Then, at the age of 9, I realised my skill set was more suited to professional figure-skating. Unfortunately I never found the right doubles partner, so I set my [...]
Bizarrely random and inexplicable emotional response
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, New Zealand, tagged auckland, chevrolet, crisis of patriotism, drive by, Dubai, gmc yukon, lumina, north island, physical contact, springs 2, taranaki road, The Springs, waitakere on 01/12/2008 | 3 Comments »
It is so good to be home. As we drove up Taranaki Road, Husband said, “Isn’t it funny how this house feels more like home than our place in The Springs ever did?” The sentiment did not make me spontaneously chortle aloud, but I gave him a sympathy laugh. Personally, I would be more inclined [...]
Practically airborne
Posted in Dubai, New Zealand, tagged back to normal on 28/11/2008 | 6 Comments »
Flying out this morning. It’s been a crazy few days in Dubai. Think sanity still intact, but dented in a couple of spots. Back to normal front line reporting from Monday x
Jetlag
Posted in Dubai, Friends, tagged break on through, dirhams, Dubai, dubai airport, garhoud, more restaurant, mustachioed men, other side, the wall on 24/11/2008 | 9 Comments »
For those concerned about my global whereabouts, I caught my flight on Friday due to a cosmic miracle involving planning, timekeeping and pure luck. I arrived in Dubai Airport at the antisocial-bordering-on-criminal hour of 06:30 hrs, where Husband collected me.
Over years of business travel, I have developed a method I call ‘break on through to the other side’. This [...]
Stale hand towels
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged airline, cabin fever, Dubai, flight, lotto, schedule, scratch card, silly o'clock on 22/11/2008 | 5 Comments »
Am on my way to Heathrow. When I say ‘on my way’, technically I’m charging around Roisin and Tim’s house swearing at my suitcase (it appears to have shrunk – most likely all the Irish rain). When not unleashing invective at inert pieces of luggage, I’m updating my blog and fretting about whether I’ll catch [...]
How to lid your wody of toxins
Posted in Dubai, Friends, tagged arse, bathrobe, cleopatra's spa, Dubai, floating, lesbian, mud, nudity, seaweed wrap, sunrise room, swimsuit, uae, warm lake on 04/11/2008 | 9 Comments »
Three weeks ago, completely by chance, I bumped into an old friend. That is, somebody I have known for many years, as opposed to an ancient liver-spotted fossil who tells you repeatedly about her colostomy bag. In contrast, Jill* is young and lovely, and does not have a colostomy bag.
Today I met Jill again and [...]
Trip down sandy lane
Posted in Dubai, Friends, tagged 4x4, activity, arab, arabic, bashing, camel, desert drive, driving, Dubai, dune, four by four, middle east, tourism, wadi on 20/09/2008 | 8 Comments »
Being back in Dubai felt entirely surreal. It was unsettling arriving at the airport and not having a place of our own to go to. Raff and Carole donated their apartment on The Palm, which was tremendously comforting since we stayed there before leaving Dubai last year. The only thing missing was Raff and Carole.
Our [...]
Tremendously lovely
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged account, awful, balance, calculate, Dubai, emaar, erroneous, excel, figures, finance, fixed rent, inaccurate, interest, mortgage, property, rate, real estate, rubbish, shariah, spreadsheet, springs, statement, Tamweel, townhouse, uae, variable rent on 16/09/2008 | 3 Comments »
We arrived in Dubai at 05:30 hrs last Thursday morning. As we walked out the airplane door, the heat hit us like a freshly baked, warm rhubarb fart.
Because I wanted to remind myself exactly why I couldn’t wait to leave the Middle East, our first visit was to Tamweel, our mortgage company. You may recall [...]
Great taste in family
Posted in Dubai, Friends, tagged Dubai, holiday, london, travel on 16/09/2008 | 4 Comments »
Sorry about the blogpost famine. Husband and I left Auckland for Dubai on Wednesday afternoon. It has been three and a quarter days of intense socialising and administration. I got in some swimming along the beach on Friday and Saturday morning; only 1000m, which was quite enough considering I haven’t swum since leaving Dubai last [...]
Happy Christmas from the Demon Lord
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged demon lord, Dubai, happy christmas, party hat on 22/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Bloke with a modem
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged corporation, Dubai, investment, investors, manchester, middle east, modem, partner, presentation, sweatshop on 17/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
These two months leading up to our triumphant departure from the Middle East have been entirely surreal. Husband got increasingly caught up in work as he and David tried to identify investors/partners for The Company. This involved high summit meetings, gritty discussions, presentations, vats of coffee and what I considered an unnecessary amount of air-chopping. [...]
Packing day
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband on 16/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
This is Husband on packing day. Yes, that is his laptop
Fitz and Belle at the Montgomerie
Posted in Dubai, Friends, Hunka husband on 14/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Put that tongue away
Posted in Dubai, Friends, Hunka husband, tagged austin powers, cannas, christmas, party on 14/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Still on married terms
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged divorce, Dubai, leaving, married, middle east, packing, shipping, speaking terms, uae on 08/12/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Only two weeks left – where the hell has the time gone? – to organise maintenance and house painting; coordinate the shippers; close bank, electricity/water and telephone accounts; and the rest of the madness that goes with packing up a life.
Although Husband has had little to do with the leaving preparations, he liked to [...]
Just hyperventilating
Posted in Dubai, Outlaws, tagged cancer, DEWA, dishwasher, Du, Dubai, multiple myeloma, rent, renting, tenant, The Springs, uae, villa on 27/11/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Although we had agreed to leave the Middle East at the end of 2007, realistically we were looking at January, possibly February 2008. When I was in Ireland, Husband rang me one night to give me a pep talk on stress management:
“Niamhie, I know we said the end of the year, but does it [...]
Teeth
Posted in Dubai, Friends, Hunka husband, tagged dental on 19/11/2007 | Leave a Comment »
David was a bit plastered when he took this . . .
. . . and when I took this
I have no idea what Husband’s excuse is
Operation Muppetation
Posted in Dubai, tagged bank, bbme, deira, do not hesitate to call, Dubai, finance, have a nice day, hsbc, interest rate, middle east, niamh shaw, staple, stapler, uae, yanno on 15/11/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Over two years ago, I closed my bank account with HSBC because they were not so much unhelpful as scrupulously useless. You can actually smell the apathy and unfulfilled potential from the street.
I wasn’t looking forward to persuading the bank to give me a clearance letter stating that my car loan of six years [...]
I have, we go, come
Posted in Dubai, tagged chicago beach village, Dubai, gmc, middle east, police, selling car, taxi driver, uae, yallah, Yukon on 14/11/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Over the years, the Yukon attracted a certain amount of interest. In a way, it was like a mobile landmark – after all, you couldn’t miss it. Practically speaking and on the surface, you could interpret as insanity the fact that a car the size of a jumbo jet featured only two doors, but I [...]
Reason we will not regret departing Dubai #32,557
Posted in Dubai, tagged business, buttocks, bypass tap, customer service, Dubai, efficient, emaar, Emrill, expletive deleted, maintenance, Murphy's Law, property, The Springs, unclench, villa, water pump on 12/11/2007 | 12 Comments »
Our water pump in the villa has been broken for about a year. At one point Husband tried to fix it, but instead he broke the bypass tap. Now that we plan on renting the villa, we realise we have to address the problem, so it fell to me to call Emrill and schedule an [...]
Recognise anyone?
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged dic, Dubai internet city, sheikh zayed road, tecom, uae on 24/10/2007 | 1 Comment »
http://www.dubaiinternetcity.com/press_centre/press_releases/
Andrew spotted this while browsing the DIC website this evening
Reason we will not regret departing Dubai #32,556
Posted in Dubai, tagged Dubai, finance, middle east, mortgage, post dated cheque, property, real estate, springs 2, statement of account, Tamweel, uae, villa on 22/10/2007 | 1 Comment »
Amongst the mail waiting for me when I returned from Ireland was the first Statement of Account we have received from our mortgage company in two years. According to the statement, we have paid off a sum total of about US$ 200 over the course of twenty four months.
When I signed with Tamweel, I [...]
Bat attack
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged concrete block, cycling, dent, headlamp, lorry, mongoose, teeth on 21/10/2007 | Leave a Comment »
We decided to bike to DIC last night to watch the Rugby World Cup final. We agreed that I would cycle behind Husband with my flashing rear light and reflector jacket. In return for covering his back (as it were) Husband would not perform any wheelies/sudden stops/stunts of any nature.
He totally reneged on the terms [...]
Nostalgic Middle Eastern snapshot #22
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged aerodynamics, beach, crash landing, jumeirah, kite, lightweight, middle east, minarets, mosque, spars, the gulf, vandalism on 19/10/2007 | 1 Comment »
For the first time in ages, we went to the beach with Danny today and he brought his kite. Dan’s kite is no shabby paper box with bows on its tail. NO, it is a Man Toy: a three-tiered miracle of lightweight aerodynamics.
Within a short while, a group of children gathered beneath the kite, [...]
Whiff of fried motherboards
Posted in Dubai, Hunka husband, tagged fried motherboard, hair, tequila on 19/10/2007 | Leave a Comment »
Sorry about the lack of posts; I have had the usual issues with my muse. She appears to have eloped with Andrew’s imaginary friend, and the two of them are shacked up somewhere in the desert with a bottle of Tequila.
To date, I have successfully put off writing for a quantity of months that [...]
