Dubai exit – part two
It’s done. We have now left Dubai. Wow I feel exhausted I must say but happy to finally be on the other end, unpacked (well my suitcase anyway) and staying put for a while. I am the proud owner of a little town car here in Knysna (well fuel is pretty expensive here) and have just joined an Executive Hub so that I can work easily on a day to day basis (decent internet speed is not so common here). The weather is pretty chilly but its so pretty that I don’t mind.
The last few days in Dubai were quite hectic as you can imagine – trying (and failing in some cases) to see people to say goodbye to, wrapping up our accommodation and getting the deposit refunded (easy as it turns out for a change), spending time with special friends (thanks again Carol and John for letting me stay with you) and generally trying not to cry at the most inopportune moments. I feel truly blessed to have had the 6 year experience, and for the wonderful people I met along the way. Thanks to you all for being part of my journey.
I will be continuing my blog but with a different focus – so expect a few changes in the next few days as I move the Dubai section to its own subdirectory, and start with a clean slate and new look. Everything will still live here at catinthedunes.com so don’t worry I am not going far.
As promised I have finished my exit check-list (for those that requested it) and you can download this here in PDF. I may have missed some things so apologies for that, but I hope it helps you nonetheless.
Chat again soon 🙂
the Box Appeal is back
Please support this worthy cause and put together a box (or two) of essentials for someone less fortunate than yourself. Boxes can be collected from any of the participating Radisson or Park Inn hotels in the UAE from 1 September 2013.
self-service??! whatever next?
Living in Dubai can make you lazy. Actually no, scratch that, I think it is more accurate to say it most certainly does make you lazy. Not only do we have valet parking at every hotel, but you can also valet park your car at the shopping mall, the golf club and the hospital! And of course if you do happen to park your own car you can have it washed while you shop for less than 5 dollars. Inside the malls you can catch a ride on a golf buggy type thing if you really can’t find the strength to walk back to your car after all the shopping and lunching with friends. At some of the cinemas you can even order your nachos or pizza to be delivered to you during the movie.
Pretty much anything that has to be done from a red-tape point of view has a VIP option which allows you to pay more and sit on your behind whilst someone else queues for you and runs around getting hot and sweaty (well ok why not I say!). People take their maids along to the grocery store to manage the trolley, the food selection, the packing of the groceries into the car and of course to make sure the kids aren’t throwing tomatoes at each other. Not an easy task let me tell you based on what I have seen. Having domestic help is relatively cheap here and most stay-at-home mums will also have a full-time maid – well someone has to walk the dogs (*grin*).
The only time you really see some people getting involved and helping themselves is at brunch on a Friday.
self service petrol coming soon – image thanks to modernmechanix
sounds like home
When we first moved to Dubai we noticed that a lot of the streets have no names. Its normal here when getting directions to base these on land-marks versus road names. And sometimes the landmarks no longer exist but are so well remembered by those that have lived here for some time that they are still used. Took me ages to figure out where Interchange 1 is for example. Even the location maps that companies send you will show roads and intersections with other businesses as landmarks, but sans road names. And you will be told something like – turn left at the new Spinneys (opened in 2005), second roundabout right, third street left where the big boat is parked outside the house with the green roof. No wonder we all get lost all the time right?
[ thanks to The National today]
Dubai emergencies
Please take note of the following numbers.
- for General Police Enquiries (labour complaints, traffic fine info and birth, death & burial certificates) dial 901 or email 901@dubaipolice.gov.ae
- for emergencies dial 999
Using the correct number means the emergency switchboard does not get clogged up with unnecessary, non-emergency calls. Apparently half of the 2.3 million calls at the moment are trivial.