Random Thots

The Last night after supper I went to Mushrif Park with Julie.  She and three friends walk together every Monday  night to get caught up with one another.  It was a hoot.  One from England, Ireland, Kenya, and Australia.  They walk and talk...often with all four talking at the same time, with lots of laughter mixed in.  It was a hot and humid day so I was sweating profusely.  They do not have daylight savings time here, so it now gets dark by about 6:30.  The moon was full and golden...helping us see the path.  I had to take a shower when I got back to our room, but it was a fun experience.

It's just about the time of year when you turn the hot water heaters back on.  The water gets so hot in the tanks on the flat roof, you don't need to heat it in the summer.  Each bathroom has its own water heater - usually above the stool.

                            

All of the air conditioning units are up on the roof, too.  Pretty much one for each room.  It's a lot to maintain.  The one in our room we set at 25C which is about 78F.  It never, I mean never, cycles off.

Yesterday I spent considerable time getting airline tickets and applying for visas to visit friends in Bahrain.  We leave on Sunday and come back on Tuesday.  It's a short 1 hour flight north of here.  Should be very interesting.  We are coming up on the end of our 30 day limit on our tourist visa so we must leave the country and come back in for another 30'days.  Hard to believe!

Today I had to call both our credit card company and our debit card company...nice that they both give you a number that accepts collect calls.  I charged the visas for Bahrain on one and the company sent us a fraud alert  - even tho I registered with them that we would be traveling in the Middle East, even listed the countries.  Seems to me they should have sent a courtesy note letting us know they noticed we had charged something - not a fraud alert! 

I charged the airline tickets on the debit card so it would show up as US dollars without a transaction fee.  It showed up on the account yesterday, but disappeared today.  Wondered if it had been rejected and we lost our tickets.  Looks like it was just a fishing expedition by the airlines to see if we were good for the money.  It went away and they will actually charge us in a day or two.  

So, even after all the travel, I am still learning new things....

I think I have mentioned before the British influence in this area.  Turnabouts are one small feature.  The other day I had to go about 2 miles out of my way to get to turnabouts 3 times on three different streets in order to go back to the house.  

Made lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and Texas sheet cake this morning for dinner tonight...then took off for the mall to walk my four miles.  Looks like in all I walked 6 miles today...  Happy to report I have lost some weight since we came to Dubai.  I've eaten a lot of fruit for breakfast and lunch and have stayed away from most of the desserts and sweets around here!  

Today I discovered a second food court at the Mirdif City Centre...there's a north and a south food court!  Who knew?

I have seen a lot of young kids riding these in the malls here...so I stopped in the toy store to see how much they go for...about $775.00!  They do look like fun...

                       

This was in a very high end shop from New York. The window display theme was about being a foxy lady!  Very funny!

Most of the high end women's shops are in the large atrium square in the middle of the mall.  I haven't been in most of them...very trendy, fancy clothes with high price tags.  Just not my casual style!

                          

Nice lobby by the elevators...lots to observe and enjoy as I walk without sweating! 

That's all folks!  Any questions YOU have about life in Dubai?  Message me!