KateK

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Latest post on 16 July 2014 - 18:57

Hi, does anyone know of a driving school that will collect you for lessons from your villa and drop off again? Thanks!

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Latest post on 08 June 2014 - 21:46

Naomi at Up and Running clinic on Al Wasl Road is excellent. She has treated me during and after both of my pregnancies. I'd also recommend Laura Barrett at HealthBay who is a physiotherapist and qualified Pilates instructor - between Naomi and prenatal Pilates with Laura I was well looked after HTH

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Latest post on 09 May 2014 - 23:16

Try M7. They made one of my female friends a beautiful blazer recently. http://www.m7bespoke.com

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Latest post on 04 May 2014 - 22:15

Try Office Square. They will source anything you require for business/office needs http://officesquare.com/en/ProductListing.aspx?SubCatId=2903

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Latest post on 10 April 2014 - 17:15

Hi Shiree, Here is the number of a taxi company that has wheel-chair accessible taxis: 600 53 53 53. As a lot of the posters said July is pretty hot and humid, so I would plan for pool and beach early morning and indoor activities in the afternoon. Dubai Dolphinarium is wheelchair friendly - although there is no live entertainment during Ramadan, so I would check if your dates coincide with the Holy Month. There is also a totally accessible discovery centre next to the dolphinarium which is about 20-30 AED, you can explore space, visit different cultures, do science experiments - it's a really great trip out. Wild Wadi has a lazy river to float around. Most shopping malls have entertainment for the kids - Mirdiff City Centre has I-Fly and Little Explorer and indoor fair rides. Further a field I would check out Al Tamimi stables to see what indoor activities they have planned in the summer. There is also an indoor zoo near Sharjah - not sure of the details but maybe another poster can help out... As previously mentioned the snow park in Mall of the Emirates would be fun - go and eat at the Cheesecake Factory and you get a great view of the crazy kids heading towards you in those big inflatable balls! Yes Dubai is not that wheelchair friendly in terms of dropping kerb height but as most dining is in hotels there is lift access everywhere and staff are always very helpful in assisting if there are a couple of steps to navigate. My brother-in-law has been here for 20+ years and likes it just fine. In terms of childcare I would give Cooper Clinic a call. They are a health centre with an excellent reputation and may be able to help or advise you on nursing agencies. I wish you a lovely family holiday ;) Sorry I meant Health Bay PolyClinic - although I'd try calling Cooper too...as both have good paediatric care

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Latest post on 10 April 2014 - 17:11

Hi Shiree, Here is the number of a taxi company that has wheel-chair accessible taxis: 600 53 53 53. As a lot of the posters said July is pretty hot and humid, so I would plan for pool and beach early morning and indoor activities in the afternoon. Dubai Dolphinarium is wheelchair friendly - although there is no live entertainment during Ramadan, so I would check if your dates coincide with the Holy Month. There is also a totally accessible discovery centre next to the dolphinarium which is about 20-30 AED, you can explore space, visit different cultures, do science experiments - it's a really great trip out. Wild Wadi has a lazy river to float around. Most shopping malls have entertainment for the kids - Mirdiff City Centre has I-Fly and Little Explorer and indoor fair rides. Further a field I would check out Al Tamimi stables to see what indoor activities they have planned in the summer. There is also an indoor zoo near Sharjah - not sure of the details but maybe another poster can help out... As previously mentioned the snow park in Mall of the Emirates would be fun - go and eat at the Cheesecake Factory and you get a great view of the crazy kids heading towards you in those big inflatable balls! Yes Dubai is not that wheelchair friendly in terms of dropping kerb height but as most dining is in hotels there is lift access everywhere and staff are always very helpful in assisting if there are a couple of steps to navigate. My brother-in-law has been here for 20+ years and likes it just fine. In terms of childcare I would give Cooper Clinic a call. They are a health centre with an excellent reputation and may be able to help or advise you on nursing agencies. I wish you a lovely family holiday ;)

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Latest post on 28 December 2013 - 20:56

My friend trained there so myself and several other girlfriends have had our cuts and colors done there (both with our friend who was training and with the other trainees). We've all been really happy with the end results - in fact it was the best cut I've had since being in Dubai! The only down side is you will be in there for a lonnnggg time but that is made up by the fact that you only pay for the products used (so it's a fraction of the cost of a regular salon).

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Latest post on 23 November 2013 - 22:00

Good Baby are the distributors here for Lascal. They have a branch in Bur Dubai and Deira http://www.goodbabydubai.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=148&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=1534&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=179

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Latest post on 22 October 2013 - 12:44

We went to the dolphinarium at the weekend and there were plenty of free seats so I don't think booking online is necessary at all. The arena is small so the VIP seats don't give you any better view - they were selecting kids (2) from the VIP area to stand at the front and greet the dolphins. Hope you have a lovely time - we had a great day out. I'd recommend Children's City there too.

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Latest post on 04 October 2013 - 07:44

Found this.... http://m.thenational.ae/uae/environment/future-green-2013-cancelled-over-failure-to-make-the-mall-grade

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Latest post on 03 October 2013 - 23:28

Was looking forward to this but have heard its been cancelled. Is this true & why?

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Latest post on 05 August 2013 - 00:09

I can highly recommend Nicky Mclean. She specialises in newborn photography and took some amazing photos of my baby at our home. She has some great props and is very creative. Her website is www.nickymclean.com

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Latest post on 26 May 2013 - 19:40

I was informed that recently City were not accepting women in labour at less than 38 weeks as there was a lack of space in the NICU so this may be why they have cancelled your C-Section Andrea :( Yes, after speaking to my doctor it seems the NICU at City is full so they are not accepting any high risk deliveries. Still frustrating but at least there is a reason. My doctor also said the facilities at Al Zahra are excellent and it is a great location for new Dubai so if I had more time I'd look into it too. Good luck. Good luck to you too Andrea! Where are you now delivering? Who is your doctor? (Am hoping he/she is not the same as mine, then there are recommendations from 2 medical professionals ;0)) I'm off to see Al Zahra this evening....

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Latest post on 25 May 2013 - 21:51

I was informed that recently City were not accepting women in labour at less than 38 weeks as there was a lack of space in the NICU so this may be why they have cancelled your C-Section Andrea :( I am due to deliver in a couple of weeks and my doctor has suggested I also look at the new Al Zahra (sp?) hospital in Barsha. Apparently their facilities are excellent. There current staff to patient ratio is low so you will get a lot of care and unlike City they have wireless monitoring so you can move around the room freely. (American have wireless monitoring too). Have heard mention that they will be doing water births too...? I had my 1st baby at City and was disappointed with my midwife - wasn't in the room much, gave no advice on different positions, when I was asking for gas and air at 7cm told me it was too early(!)....but I have heard great things about City from other friends who have delivered there so i think I was maybe unlucky. I found the facilities good at City though and would be happy to have my second baby there but I have ensured this time I have better support through my labour.

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Latest post on 10 May 2013 - 20:14

Some lovely ones at Luxe Little and they'll deliver http://luxelittle.com/component/virtuemart/girls-clothing/24.html

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Latest post on 07 May 2013 - 15:06

There's a charity in Africa that takes lightly used bras for women to resell. I am currently looking into how to get the bras over to them. As soon as I have heard back I will let you know - so save those old undies for the time being!

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Latest post on 06 May 2013 - 12:18

We're a household of 3 adults and 1 toddler and spend 4500 - 6000 AED per month. Mainly at Carrefour but with the odd Spinneys run. When we have the time we do go to HyperPanda at Festival City as it's cheaper than Carrefour and IMO has better quality meat/fish.

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Latest post on 01 May 2013 - 16:28

Can you sell items from home? I thought only Emirati people can do this for legal reasons( I may be wrong) I wouldn't and do not buy any branded makeup here as it is so much more expensive than the UK and US and we can all get it online here? Sarahlou123 is right - it is illegal to sell items from your home. You need a trade licence to retail in Dubai, plus a customs account to pay import duties and an online store or retail unit, plus a business address . Your cousin needs to think carefully before trading illegally, she could face a pretty hefty penalty...

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Latest post on 24 April 2013 - 13:00

I've tried a fair few and La Cafette in Town Centre Jumeirah (next to Mercato) is amazing. They do versions with and without icing - I'd go for with!

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Latest post on 20 April 2013 - 19:18

The Cobbler in DIFC make custom made shoes and inserts. They are traditional French trained cobblers - very good quality but likely not cheap!

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Latest post on 09 April 2013 - 22:06

Thanks TMac for sharing your experience. Everything I've heard about having a doula present has so far been really positive. I will definitely get in touch with a couple of women. Thanks again!

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Latest post on 30 March 2013 - 21:28

Just wanted to say hi to you all and hope your bumps are progressing nicely. I'm 30 weeks now and starting to get a bit more tired and breathless (although running around after a 2 year old may have something to do with this!). I haven't managed to get to a Monday coffee morning yet - when is the next one & who is planning on going. It would be lovely to meet some of you. :)

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Latest post on 24 February 2013 - 23:38

I went with my LO last week. It's really pretty to have a wander around but not too much shade. We were there for an hour and would definitely visit again with a picnic. Friends went this weekend and said they are now charging 20 AED entrance fee (they were even charged this for their 2 year old). Also if your LOs get too close to the flowers (not touching them) the guards have whistles and are not afraid to use them!

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Latest post on 14 February 2013 - 17:03

Thanks Freckle38, Yep am chugging the Gaviscon! It would be good to meet up with other expectant mummies. Can't make this Monday at Costa - hopefully next week or failing that an evening would be great

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Latest post on 14 February 2013 - 00:18

Hello! Congrats to you all. I'm now 24 weeks pregnant with our second baby - we've decided this time around to have a surprise. I think it may be a boy as am feeling different this time around, but watch this space....! My daughter is 2 and I had her at City with Dr Amir Nassiri. He was great so am sticking with him this time around. All seems to be going well except heartburn has just set it....any remedies much appreciated! I'm also working Mom2b so would be interested in meeting evenings although will try to pop along one Monday morning to Costa. Great list by the way Freckle38 - it's so easy here with so many baby products to go a little crazy and forget the basics!

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Latest post on 26 January 2013 - 20:33

Hello, does anyone have a baby gate for sale. I need it to fit a 90.2cm gap. Have checked the classifieds but there's nothing available on there. TIA

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Latest post on 25 January 2013 - 16:35

Have you tried the shop on the opposite side of Umm Suquiem street to LuLus and MoE on the corner next to the lighting store? Not sure of name but they have several brands. I'm trying to find a Myer's mattress so please let me know if you see this brand on your bed hunt. We bought a Tempur a while ago which my husband loves but I don't so have decided to sell this and get something firmer - such a shame as they're so expensive

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Latest post on 14 December 2012 - 19:45

www.luxelittle.com have some nursing tanks. They're a Dubai based site

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Latest post on 27 November 2012 - 15:05

Thanks glb - got your address

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Latest post on 25 September 2012 - 20:51

i gained whopping 28 kgs in my pregnancy!! ice cream, which i never used to eat,potatoes in any form! but after delievery i lost 17 kgs in 9 days.most of my weight was water weight. gained 1-2 kg again. now i have to loose 10 kgs :( i have given myself a year. but i control my food for half day then eat anything. with a high demand baby who does not leave for 5 min i just keep on picking whatever i can to eat. thanks for the advice. i'll see to Laura. BTW which insurance did you have? :) I never touched ice cream (or anything else sweet) before getting pregnant either - unfortunately I still have a sweet tooth now :( Sounds like you're doing really well with the weight loss. The last 10kg is definitely the toughest. As I said I lost a lot, stayed the same weight for ages, then suddenly dropped the last few kgs. Insurance is Allianz through Arab Orient. Saw Plumie's post I have heard lots of good things about Pure Fitness too. Good luck x

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Latest post on 25 September 2012 - 16:31

I would recommend getting professional advise when exercising and of course a balanced diet. I did a brilliant Post Natal Pilates class with a lady called Laura at Up and Running on Al Wasl Road. She's a physio and specializes in women's health so did a through assessment & knew exactly what I should and shouldn't be doing. It wasn't cheap (I was lucky as my health insurance cover it) but definitely worth knowing I wasn't doing more harm than good. BTW It did take me 12+ months to lose the baby weight - once LO starts crawling it will drop off believe me! i wish i could join somehwhere. i am missing gym too much :( but no babysitter or maid.its just me,dh and ds. as for eating right as all of you suggested i think after 9 months of eating everything it would take that much time to control too :D specially with brestfeeding as an excuse. i used to control my diet before pregnancy and was always in the optimum weight limit. but during pregnancy i charged through food like a bull :) I think Laura does home visits....? It may be worth having an assessment and getting her to teach you a few exercises that are suitable for your at this stage. Good luck and don't push yourself too hard - your body has been through huge changes and you are still breastfeeding. I really believe in the old adage "everything in moderation"! (I did make an exception with the ice cream when pregnant though - went through that by the bucketload :( ) After the initial month after birth I found that I didn't loose a great deal of weight, even though I was exercising and eating well. At around 12 months though I had a large drop in weight - almost like my body was rebalancing.

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Latest post on 25 September 2012 - 14:01

I would recommend getting professional advise when exercising and of course a balanced diet. I did a brilliant Post Natal Pilates class with a lady called Laura at Up and Running on Al Wasl Road. She's a physio and specializes in women's health so did a through assessment & knew exactly what I should and shouldn't be doing. It wasn't cheap (I was lucky as my health insurance cover it) but definitely worth knowing I wasn't doing more harm than good. BTW It did take me 12+ months to lose the baby weight - once LO starts crawling it will drop off believe me!

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Latest post on 25 September 2012 - 13:48

Have any of you had a problem with the Nespresso Aeroccino machines? I have just returned my 3rd one with the same problem... Each of them seem to last about a year (just till they're out of warrantee) then they start burning near to where the attachments fit inside. I wouldn't mind but I only drink coffee about once a week and have followed all the care instructions - it's working out to be a very expensive weekly coffee :( One of the sales assistants in Dubai Mall told me this was a common problem but Perfectos head office said they will not replace it. I would be surprised that they would replace. This happens when they are not washed properly. The problem is that once this happens, it seems to happen every time in that same spot and yes, they are difficult to clean. This is one of the reasons I bought a new one and am monitoring the cleaning of it closely myself. The first time this happened, yes I put it down to it maybe not being cleaned properly. After that I made sure I cleaned it myself after each use. As I said the machine only gets used occasionally (once/twice a week tops - definitely nowhere near 10 cups a day!) and I have definitely not misused it. Unfortunately each time I have this problem it is just outside of the warrantee - typical! This time around I am going to try a different milk frothing machine - which is a shame because I have the combined Citiz & Milk machine, but after 3 milk machines with the same problem after the same amount of time I don't want to shell out another AED600.

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Latest post on 24 September 2012 - 18:13

Have any of you had a problem with the Nespresso Aeroccino machines? I have just returned my 3rd one with the same problem... Each of them seem to last about a year (just till they're out of warrantee) then they start burning near to where the attachments fit inside. I wouldn't mind but I only drink coffee about once a week and have followed all the care instructions - it's working out to be a very expensive weekly coffee :( One of the sales assistants in Dubai Mall told me this was a common problem but Perfectos head office said they will not replace it.

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Latest post on 22 August 2012 - 10:55

Niaomi at Up and Running (Al Wasl rd near junction with Al Manara) treated me whilst pregnant. Cannot recommend highly enough. Also Laura, the physio there runs brilliant pre and post natal Pilates classes. Compared to the other Pilates classes I took I felt in very safe hands and it improved my sciatica no end - aaahh the glamours of pregnancy!

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Latest post on 16 July 2012 - 18:41

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/561010_10150896504511783_929811181_n.jpg x

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Latest post on 25 June 2012 - 14:15

We hired a driver for a couple of days (which was only slightly more expensive than a car). He was fantastic - really knowledgable. It seems that as tourism is such a huge industry all of the drivers were well versed in the history of the island etc. We then hired a car and had a bit of an explore on our own - including a trip to the Casela Nature park where we walked with the lions, which was an amazing experience.

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Latest post on 06 June 2012 - 15:32

We requested a taxi with baby seat to take us to the airport and when I phoned to confirm with Dubai Transport, 30 mins before leaving for the airport they informed us that there was none available...so we ended up driving and spending a fortune on parking. Have you thought about the chauffeur services that will drive you in your own car - can the driver then drop the car with a friend/neighbour? Alternatively can you hire one of the private taxi companies (there are loads operating at DIFC) and request that after dropping you they take the seat back to your house / to a friends?

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Latest post on 28 May 2012 - 22:54

Hi The Russian, I am a UK qualified optometrist. The reason the doctor would have suggested contact lenses is because the -5 spectacle lens will make the image sent to the brain from this eye much smaller than the image from the "good" eye. Think of it like each eye sending exactly the same picture to the brain - except 1 picture is much smaller than the other. Because of the size difference of the 2 pictures the brain will find it hard to put the 2 pictures from each eye together to form a single image and your child will not tolerate the spectacles. (At the moment the image from the -5 eye is blurry so the brain finds this easier to ignore.) Contact lenses do not cause the same level of minification - i.e. the difference between the image size in each eye will not be as big - therefore your child will tolerate better the difference between the 2 eyes. I recently took my baby to see the Paediatric Specialist at Moorfields and was impressed with her and the Orthoptist (Dr Claire and Kate - I think). I'd definitely recommend seeing them to discuss the options. I hope this helps.....

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Latest post on 16 March 2012 - 22:34

Congratulations! We went straight to the OBGYN as soon as we found out. The first time he scanned me (at about 2 weeks) it was too early to see anything. A week later I was rescanned and could see that the pregnancy had progressed. We were really happy with our Doctor (Amir Nasseri). He has a private clinic 9Medical and also works at City.

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Latest post on 25 February 2012 - 21:23

Hi SD, I have a never used anti-bark collar somewhere in my tip of a store cupboard - let me know if you want it (I'm in Dubai though)

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Latest post on 23 February 2012 - 21:38

Hi all, I'm sure Laura won't mind me sharing- she has had a tough week this week with scans showing that the cancer may have spread to her liver. Obviously this news has knocked for six but I'm sure she'll be blogging again soon. Let's send her lots of love and positivity to get through this battle.

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Latest post on 19 February 2012 - 20:01

We are really please with the Angel care monitor. We tried another monitor before buying this but returned it because there was too much static. The angel monitor is really clear and I find the temperature monitor really helpful in the summer months.

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Latest post on 16 February 2012 - 22:29

Cake lingerie have great flexiwire nursing bras and are stocked by The Australian Breast Feeding Association.

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Latest post on 11 February 2012 - 22:05

Thanks Southern Star - will give them a call tomorrow

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Latest post on 18 January 2012 - 12:29

Sorry for the delayed response. It is the called the AXA local policy and is 2333 AED up to the age of 30 and then the cost increases for every 10+ years upto 6300 for over 60s. I was dealing with a lady called Janet Kabeke. Hope this helps

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Latest post on 10 January 2012 - 20:23

I heard the same from the company PRO. AXA has a reasonably priced local policy.

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Latest post on 09 January 2012 - 22:31

I'm sure you will have met with Dr Amir by now but just wanted to say he took over my care mid-way through my pregnancy and delivered my DD last year. I was very impressed with his level of care, especially when I fell sick around week 27. I know several other people who are patients of his and all are similarly happy.

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Latest post on 09 January 2012 - 22:16

I order from Feel Good Contacts in UK as they are much cheaper than the stores here.

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