debliz

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Latest post on 04 February 2013 - 11:15

Full name is Dr Catherine Walsh ...

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Latest post on 31 January 2013 - 02:36

Has anyone got a DH who is a 'perfect balance' ? :):) Should I be apologizing if I say "yes" ? Well, having thought about it I guess neither of us has anything to apologise about. Thirty seven years together, not blessed with children but still having a fabulous life together - what more could we ask for?

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Latest post on 31 January 2013 - 02:19

FYI... it is Umm Sequiem Road until after you pass over the Bypass Road! :) Sorry, don't believe that is true. We lived at AR for seven years and once you were over the Ranches interchange the road has always been Al Qudra NOT Umm Suqueim.

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Latest post on 24 January 2013 - 01:25

Guess I must be way older that most of you but mine would be Omar Sharif - remember him in Doctor Zhivago? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=old4K4Tpo8c And Paul Newman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=old4K4Tpo8c and probably a few more as well .... ho hum - sweet dreams tonight!

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Latest post on 24 January 2013 - 00:46

Starcare is reasonably close to the Wave, but you would need to drive (about 5 mins) for your Dr's etc. The Wave has a little supermarket, coffee shop, book shop, pizza express etc that you *could* walk to depending on where you were in the complex, but again...when it's hot, it's stinking hot and it won't be comfortable. Theres also a nice playground and beach, so you would have all those good things on your doorstep as well. For bigger supermarkets, again, you would need to drive, but you have a couple of choices really close to the Wave. Agree with most of the above but WH Smith has been closed for a few weeks now so no book shop. We've asked and apparently it's going to be another cafe of some description. The Wave has a small Al Fair (ie mini Spinneys), Costa, Eeziclean (laundry and dry cleaners), Pizza Express, Shang Thai and Shakespear & Co (but the latter is only open from 4pm whatever the website says). Building work is ongoing opposite the Marina and the current small shopping plaza and this, apparently will be part of a larger shopping area which should include a Waitrose supermarket, other shops and cafes/restaurants, offices and apartments at some time in the future. Markaz al Bajar (sp?) is just up the road from The Wave before you get to the Highway and there is a somewhat larger Al Fair (Spinneys type store) there in that mall along with a Matalan store. However, Marks & Spencer used to be in the same space as the Matalan store but has now moved to Muscat City Centre which is just another few minutes up the road and just past the Starcare Hospital. There is, however, a Lulus Hypermarket just ten minutes up the road in Al Khoud (just before the Bait al Barka roundabout) which is far cheaper than either Carrefour or Al Fair and, before you get your driving licence, the cost of a taxi there and back would probably be covered by the savings on your shopping if you only go once a week or every ten days or so - or in other words if you plan your meals and budget accordingly.

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Latest post on 21 January 2013 - 02:44

I have heard that the British Consulate in Dusseldorf is closing on 31st March so they will no longer be processing British Passports. Has anyone heard similar? I need to send off my sons passport soon for renewal and not sure if the cut off date to send it to Dusseldorf has passed and if it needs to be sent to the UK now instead? Anyone know. From another forum I've found this: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=784417 Can't believe the the British Embassy hasn't told those who have registered on their expat site about this. And where the **** is the IPS anyway and what is their address and how on earth do we go about renewing passports? What are British Embassies/Consulates for if not to help expats? Oh, sorry, should have realised - they are all about trade relations with other countries, nothing about helping out nationals in other countries: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262294/Beatrice-Eugenie-drive-Union-Jack-branded-car-trade-delegation-Berlin-promote-Britain.html

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Latest post on 21 January 2013 - 01:21

Soy, I think your going the wrong way....forget about your DH being a cheater for a minute, but first, you need to think about the whole situation. My suggestion..TALK IT OUT WITH HIM. your kind of a cheater too, pretending to be unaware though your are not. May be things get better. Don't go too fast towards, divorce, custody, money. These are secondary things. First it's you and your husband. Talk to each other openly. Clear out the things. I'm sorry, but I read the whole chain of replies, which are totally negative. The person whose gonna bear the loss is Only going t b YOU. It's the father of the kids who makes a woman, The Mom.... !!! Think properly act like wise. May You get d best!!! All this stuff about " It's the father of the kids who makes a woman, The Mom" What total rubbish - entering into a marriage and deciding to bring children into the world is what this is about and, should, generally speaking be a mutual decision (although I know from a previous post that this doesn't always happen). Turn this ridiculous saying on it's head - "It's the mother of the children who makes a man, the Father" - really? <em>edited by debliz on 21/01/2013</em>

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Latest post on 14 January 2013 - 02:31

We used, I think, Green People some years' ago and were very happy with the product and the people who installed it.. However we were only replacing hard landscaping about 4m x 5m and were happy to choose fake grass which was on special offer because it was 'end of range' and was discounted and looked like grass which seemed to look like it just needed mowing but it was quite soft under foot.

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Latest post on 09 January 2013 - 01:08

Having fairly recently moved from Dubai to Muscat we've discovered a load of books we haven't really seen since 2005 when we moved from the UK to DXB. One of these is called "The Toilet Book" by Bill Oddie & Laura Beaumont - probably out of print now but it is in our guest bathroom downstairs (all kinds of tips to help in unfamiliar WCs such as how to do origami, learn tap dancing) - along with another book, "The Bathroom Inspiration Book" subtitled "Quips and Quotes for Commodious Contemplation", yet another book entitled "Lateral Drinking Puzzles". All of the above are kept in our downstairs guest bathroom, along with Schotts Miscellany, The Daily Telegraph's Weekend Wisdom, the most recent Time Out Muscat (which is only available quarterly - if that) ... On a more serious note have just read Clarissa Dickson Wright's autobiography http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1892318.Spilling_the_Beans. Loved watching Two Fat Ladies. Jennifer Paterson (RIP) and Clarissa were brilliant.

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Latest post on 08 January 2013 - 18:08

Definitely worth a visit - we loved it so much we moved to Muscat in June 2012. Lovely, lovely people, beautiful scenery and so much to see and do. Would recommend three nights if you can stretch to that. You'll then have two full days which will give you time for sightseeing and also some down time. Have a look at the Crowne Plaza - a bit old but a great location (definitely not quaint I'm afraid) but far cheaper that the Chedi, Al Bustan or the Shangri-la.

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Latest post on 08 January 2013 - 01:39

We once had this happen to us before we left DXB. Eventually we were told it was because we were late paying our bill - utter nonsense. We had evidence of the date the payment left our bank account but couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of having to go to their offices - ours was only AED100 though. What's the saying? "Life's too short to stuff a mushroom"? Guess that, apart from charging expats a surcharge on their utilities, they figure that adding something in the "other charges" section which is relatively small compared to the size of the overall bill deters people from having to go to their nearest DEWA office and contest the charge and that most people will just pay up. Edited to add that Emaar charged us a late payment fee for our community charge once - we'd paid in full for the whole year three weeks' before the deadline. Tried to argue this (with the evidence of the date the cheque was cashed - bank statement and email receipt from Emaar) and eventually decided that it simply wasn't worth it. Banging heads against very hard concrete wall and the headaches simply wasn't worth it. But it was only small amounts of money - relatively. Doesn't make it right though, does it? <em>edited by debliz on 08/01/2013</em>

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Latest post on 02 January 2013 - 17:22

Bu Qtair http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/food/bu-qtair-cafeteria-serves-up-great-seafood-and-unadorned-fun

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Latest post on 02 January 2013 - 00:46

I suspect that you have your visa approvals, not the actual visas but I may well be wrong. If this is the case you're going to have to to Immigration opposite the airport to get the actual visa stamped in your passports and to get your ID cards which will involve being finger printed and having a photo taken for your ID card. It's a case of going between the various buildings at Immigration to get everything done. PDO should have a PRO (or two as women have to go to a separate section to hand in the visa approval slip and pay for the visa, get the receipt and then go to the general office where the visa is stamped) to help you through all this and hopefully it will take you less than the four hours and a bit more it took us to do it on our own. Your ID card and civil number is really invaluable here in Oman. It ties everything together - driving licence, alcohol licence, car registration, residency, internet, mobile phone, bank account etc.

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Latest post on 31 December 2012 - 02:02

Having thought a bit further about your question I'd suggest that you fly to Oman and collect your visas and do whatever is necessary re ID card, driving licences, insurance for your cars and finding your home and then fly back to Dubai and sort out exporting your cars to Oman. I'm guessing that your visas will be cancelled when your husband's job finishes so you'll have the statutory 30 days to leave the UAE or change your status (that's what the form says which is added to your passport and means get another visa or leave for good). So, when you leave the UAE, either by road or plane you will have completed the process of cancelling your UAE visa on a permanent basis. This will make it even more important that you have Omani Residency, Omani ID, driving licences & car insurance etc before this happens As I see it the main thing is that your have your cars insured to be driven in Oman. (This also assumes that you own the cars outright and have no loans against them in the UAE.) Re the question about your dogs - sorry have no idea - but would think that probably by air. On the more than 35 plus crossings we've made at the border at Hatta the only dogs we've seen have been ROP dogs sniffing the suitcases of passengers on the Oman Bus service between UAE and Oman. Best wishes for a happy new year to your and your family and hope that, when you get to Muscat, you enjoy it as much as we do.

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Latest post on 30 December 2012 - 00:21

Quote ... our visa's are ready to be collected at the customs desk at Oman airport - but my husband is going to see if we can have that changed to the hatta border so we can drive across. If this is the case, I suppose we would need to drive over first on Dubai plates and then in a few weeks come back to Dubai and sort out the export plates and drive back across? Unquote You say that your visas are ready to be collected at the airport. Do you mean that your visa approval forms are ready to be collected or that your visas have already been issued and just need to be stamped in your passports? Have you all been finger printed and have you all been photographed, given civil numbers so that ID cards can be issued? If you can answer this then perhaps I can help further.

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Latest post on 29 December 2012 - 02:23

Everything you want to get done regarding registering your car, getting driving licence, telephone or computer connection in your home, alcohol licence etc is going to be dependent upon having residency and ID card. As we still have UAE residency we have kept our UAE driving licences and when we went for our Oman driving licences gave them our UK driving licence photocards. Be aware that passport sized photos for your Omani Driving licence have to have a blue background. My suggestion would be to have several passport sized photos taken with white and blue backgrounds. Anyway ... Once you have residency and ID cards: If you decide to export your car then you'll have to go the Testing & Registration Centre opposite the airport to get your car tested and get Oman plates. If you're approaching the airport from PDO on the highway take the airport exit but rather than go into the airport stay in the left hand lanes and carry on across the highway and down towards the Bank Muscat building. (As an aside this is the route you'll have to take when you have to get your residency visas. The PDO PRO will probably be with you throughout this but if not then when you cross over the highway stay in the right hand lanes and as you approach the Bank Muscat Building stay right which will lead you to a R/A. Go across that roundabout to the next roundabout and take the exit before you turn back on yourselves. This will take you to the Immigration Department - the largest building you'll see on the right.) Anyway back to the vehicle registration and driving licence question ... If you're approaching the airport from PDO on the highway take the airport exit but rather than go into the airport stay in the left hand lanes and carry on across the highway and down towards the Bank Muscat building. Again stay in the right hand lane and you'll have to bear right. At the first r/a go right, go across the r/a by the petrol station and the vehicle registration and driving licence offices are some way down this road on the right hand side once you've passed the Golden Tulip hotel. We are fortunate enough still to have both UAE and Omani residence visas which has allowed us to get things sorted out in our own time. I hope that the information we've provided is helpful. It may, however, be of use if you put your questions on the Dubai forum. We've noticed quite a few cars around lately in our neighbourhood with Dubai export plates ... you never know, some of them could be related to Expat Women users.

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Latest post on 28 December 2012 - 02:14

Dr Zhivago http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=4Yd2PzoF1y8&hl=en-GB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwYKYMAy6bk Bridge Over the River Kwai http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/fast_track/9748708.stm A Bridge Too Far http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKDPX8PEiVk

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Latest post on 28 December 2012 - 01:20

Hi there AussiePup - just seen your post. We moved here from Dubai in June 2012 although in rather different circumstances. We're both retired and our UAE visas were first obtained as we had bought a property at Arabian Ranches and we were sponsored by Emaar. When this option ran out our UAE resident visas were obtained by virtue of setting up a freezone company (a somewhat expensive option) but at least it allowed us to live in our home in Dubai until we got residence in Oman for the home which we'd bought and finally paid for in December 2010. It took nearly 18 months to get our residency here in Oman but that is because we are part of the new wave of people who, as expats, are allowed to buy freehold property on Integrated Touriism Developments. At the moment we both hold UAE and Oman residence visas and UAE driving licences. All of the above is background to what is to follow. 4) + 5) We exported our car from Dubai to Muscat. We were dreading it, thought it would be a nightmare but actually it was pretty straightforward. First step was to go to Bur Dubai Police at interchange 4 on SZR which was nearest to us at AR (its actually not in Bur Dubai at all but on the SZR by Mall of the Emirates). Thought we'd have to get the car tested but, as it had been tested in May we were told this wasn't necessary. Parked up, took off our registration plates and went into the office and inside on the right is an express service desk - love these. For, I think, AED170 they filled out the forms, took our car registration plates and arranged for the export plates to be fitted. In the meantime we had to go the insurance office around the corner to get insurance to drive on the export plates as normal insurance doesn't apply once on export plates. Can't remember how much this cost - perhaps AED100. Drove the car around the back of the offices and had the export plates fixed to the car and that part was done. When driving through to Muscat a few days' later we parked up at Hatta to get our exit stamps and there was a police car next to where we parked. One of the officers obviously picked up that we had export plates and asked to see the export papers, driving licences and passports - he was charming and I guess he was just making sure that we hadn't picked up any parking, speeding fines or whatever before the car left the country. He told us that we'd have to get insurance for the car (even though our AXA insurance covered us to drive in Oman but this was only valid on the Dubai insurance, not for export) and we got this at the Dhofar Insurance office just before you get to the Omani Customs centre between Hatta and Wajaja - opposite the petrol station. Can't quite remember how much this was but it wasn't a great deal. As you get to the Oman Customs checkpoint there's a coffee shop on the left. Try and park up somewhere before you get to the place where they check your car. Go into the coffee shop and get your export papers, insurance and any other papers you can think of ready. The guy in the shop knows what needs to be photocopied and will do it for you. Then proceed to the customs checkpoint. The officer there will take the photocopies (and probably ask to look at the originals) and direct you to park in an area off to the right. He or another officer will then come and check the car - see what's in the boot. We'd had a major shopping trip in Dubai (Dyson hoover included) and he laughed and said "been shopping have you?". Once this was done, and it only took a couple of minutes, Mr H was directed to a building behind us. He went in, with all the paperwork and, as is his wont, looked lost and confused. Within a minute or so an Omani gentleman asked if he could help. MrH explained and gave him the paperwork and was taken to one of the desks. Everything at this stage is done in Arabic - all the paperwork - so the help was invaluable. (Some people have gone to the trouble of getting the import duty certificate before exporting their cars - from what I've seen on various forums most have still had to pay import duty at Customs when bringing their cars into Oman. We didn't bother with getting the certificate as we were sure that we'd have to pay import duty anyway. Ours was a seven year old Landcruiser and I think we had to pay around AED2,000 or so.) This latter stage at the Omani Customs took around 20 minutes and that was it. We'd exported our car. There is a bit more help we can give but, I'm sorry, it's late and I need my bed. Will continue tomorrow. If you're even half as happy as we are when you move here then I'm sure you'll be very happy!

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Latest post on 20 December 2012 - 17:36

Did your turkey (assuming you're cooking turkey) come with giblets inside? If so take them out of the bag and drop into a large saucepan of water. Cut off the wing tips of the turkey and add them, too. Chop a large onion in four (leave the skin on), roughly chop a carrot and a stick of celery and add these to the pan with a bay leaf and 8 black pepper corns. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 40 minutes. When cool skim off any fat, remove the giblets, vegetables etc and reserve to supplement your pan juices on Christmas Day. If you don't have the giblets, use the wing tips and a pack of chicken wings instead. hth

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Latest post on 18 December 2012 - 02:20

If you're talking about defrosting a frozen turkey for Christmas then it could take as long as three days or even more in a fridge and that's the only way I'd ever do it. I'd never leave it out in the open to defrost. I never defrost meat in the open, always in the fridge. It might take longer and maybe takes a bit more planning but its always the safer way to go, assuming that the meat from your freezer was still completely frozen when it was placed there or that the meat placed in your freezer hadn't previously been thawed and frozen again without being cooked.

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Latest post on 13 December 2012 - 21:22

Our old neighbour has a dyson which went wrong and she took it to Jumbo at MoE. There was a problem with the motor and, because it was still under warranty and she still had the receipt, they got it fixed for zero cost.

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Latest post on 13 December 2012 - 01:40

Am guessing that this will affect those who have property in the UK and bank accounts, too. Seem to recall reading something about this earlier this year but can't remember where I read it. There has been ongoing consultation on this for a couple of years now and it appears that HMRC (or whatever they call themselves now) have put forward a white paper to the UK government finally to decide what constitutes residency and what does not constitute residency for tax purposes. It would appear than an intent to return to the UK after a period of being non resident for tax purposes (ie owning a property and still having a bank account in the UK or being on a fixed term contract) may make the tax authorities look a little closer at people's monetary activity in the UK - such as, perhaps, renting out property which they own (whether mortgaged or not). And obviously being non resident and being non domiciled are two very different things. Being non resident with a UK passport means you are subject to all UK laws regarding inheritance tax etc (we've both just made new wills which will be applicable here in Oman and, hopefully, worldwide). Being non domiciled means that you give up your UK passport - BIL and his wife have done this and now live on Sark in the Channel Islands. I believe that their passports are issued by the Guernsey Government but are recognised as UK passports but I can't be sure. I guess they are as they actually travel to France occasionally .

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Latest post on 12 December 2012 - 02:38

When we were in Dubai we had a Zanussi oven (bought new when we arrived in 2005) - four gas hobs + two electic hobs on top and an electric oven. It worked well for us for seven years and is still working well for our neighbours in Dubai to whom we gave it when we left. They had issues with their gas oven over a few years and, if the tank ran out of gas in the middle of a meal it caused problems. Not least because you may not be aware that this has happened and anything cooking in the gas powered oven simply stopped cooking. Hope this helps a bit but I'd always choose an electric oven (I'm not a great fan of them) simply because it will always work and not cut out if the gas bottle runs out half way through cooking a meal.

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Latest post on 10 December 2012 - 02:08

I was blessed with a wonderful MIL. We had several topics upon which we agreed to disagree but we enjoyed the arguments we had - one mind against another but there was never the thought that one was better than the other - we both agreed that we each had valid arguments. Edited to add that upon her death DH's brothers had a massive fall out and haven't spoken since - pathetic. <em>edited by debliz on 10/12/2012</em>

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Latest post on 05 December 2012 - 18:52

Ever thought of Oman?

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Latest post on 05 December 2012 - 01:21

Wouldn't give up the passport - why should I? Am proud to be British but in other ways, with what I see on the news, read in the newspapers (not just the Daily Wail) and on the television on documentaries etc, there is often very little of which to be proud. Corrupt politicians and media moguls aren't confined to the UK are they? Everything these days is "global" - politics, industry, manufacturing, shipping, production, transport ... you name it it's global. And along with everything else global comes unrest, demonstrations, more corruption, more bids for government control etc etc Not sure where I'm going with this ... it's just making me feel more depressed :(

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Latest post on 02 December 2012 - 00:10

"Dear citizens & residents of the UAE. I am delighted to congratulate you, and my borther Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, as we all celebrate the 41st anniversary of the UAE. This is a day of joy & pride, in which we remember the inspiring journey of our founding fathers and look ahead towards a bright future of endless possibilities. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum "

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Latest post on 01 December 2012 - 00:55

When we lived in UK before we moved to DXB July 2005 it was also pretty impossible to see the white lines on the road during rain, especially in rural areas which is where we lived so - invisible white lines on the roads and huge invisible potholes full of water. Our two visits back to UK since then haven't shown any improvement - roads in a dreadful state of repair, all but worn away white lines etc - but loads of road furniture - signs for speed limits, road humps, rumble strips ... the hedgerows were full of them. Anyway, we're in Muscat now and this evening have had our second serious rainfall. The first was on 18th October (I think) and lasted about an hour and was quite fun. Tonight's lasted around five hours and after the first hour the fun had gone, especially having seen what's been going on in the UK over the last few days. Thankfully our roof is watertight - well so far anyway. Remember being at AR in Feb 2006 when the heavens opened. Cars abandoned in about a foot of water or so on the roads leading to the retail centre, seeing some guy wading around the r/a at the junction of Saheel Street/Street 5/Street 4 in water up to his knees. It'll be interesting to go out Saturday (we need to go shopping for food) and see how much flooding there is/has been. And apparently we may expect more rain - it would have been a real bonus if it had reduced the humidity level but, even though the temp is only 18c, the humidity is at 98% - how can it be so cool/cold and yet be so sticky?

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Latest post on 26 November 2012 - 01:17

Can't help with schools etc but on your basic question, yes we did visit Dubai before we moved there - for ten plus years and made many friends. We retired there but that was in the good old days when the developers could sponsor freehold property owners.

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Latest post on 21 November 2012 - 00:04

When we lived in The Ranches we were 'egged' several times and it wasn't just during Hallowe'en. It was any time during school holidays and/or when the evenings were cool enough for groups of young teenagers to wander around causing all kinds of mayhem, including throwing sunloungers into pools, pulling down shower heads in the community pool bathrooms etc etc. Guess they thought they were being clever. However, I do remember some years' ago one person catching them on his own CCTV and showing the police the footage. Boy, did those kids - and their parents - get a really big wake up call when the police came knocking on their doors late one night. We now live in Muscat and fairly recently there was some vandalism - spray painting on walls and palm trees - but this was caught on central CCTV which is obvious (there are signs everywhere) and the culprits were (somehow) identified and their parents have had to pay for the repainting of the walls and for the replacement of the palm trees. Haven't seen much sign of anything like this since.

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Latest post on 19 November 2012 - 00:54

We have an old photograph taken just before or after WWI of our old home in Sussex in our guest bathroom downstairs here in Muscat - in our old home in Dubai it was in one of the guest bedrooms. It nearly always provoked a question along the lines of "what's that house in the photo?". Interestingly enough, to us anyway, the front of the house hasn't changed at all since the photograph was taken and neither have any of the houses which are also shown in the photo. The only difference is that the road is now tarmac and not just a dirt track. Oh, and we also know the descendents of two of the people pictured in the photo. We also have a rather eclectic selection of reading material in our downstairs guest bathroom - including "Wrinklies' Wit & Wisdom" (Humorous Quotes about Getting on a Bit), "Lateral Drinking Puzzles", The Daily Telegraph's "Weekend Wisdom" (Home advice, tips and timesavers) and "The Bathroom Inspiration Book", (Quips & Quotes for Commodious Contemplation), the most recent Time Out Muscat (only seems to come out twice a year) and a selection of crosswords and sudoku puzzles on a board with a pencil provided, too. We do like to make our guests feel at home :)

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Latest post on 14 November 2012 - 01:29

There's this one big thing that I've learned after nearly 36 years of marriage - husbands often appear to "listen" but, you know what, they don't "hear" what you're saying. Once you've accepted this fact and have reckoned out a way to deal with it life becomes a great deal easier.

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Latest post on 14 November 2012 - 00:56

Lucky you if you never felt unsafe in your own home or garden at Guy Fawkes. You obviously never had the "pleasure" of living next door to our one time idiot neighbour who thought it was hilarious to make his own fireworks which he used to fire out of one or two metre long lengths of tubing dug into his back garden. And it wasn't just Bonfire Night - any occasion would do, his birthday, friends' birthdays. We lived in a fairly rural area and our gardens backed onto farmland. Eventually one of the local farmers whose ewes aborted their lambs due to the fireworks called in the police and he was taken to court, found guilty on whatever he was charged with (can't remember now) and made to pay compensation to the farmer concerned. He moved away shortly afterwards. Perhaps he's still terrorizing his new neighbours but with the new laws regarding explosives and the regulations in place regarding the purchase of anything which may constitute part of an explosive material I very much hope not.

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Latest post on 14 November 2012 - 00:29

Years since I've done this and it was in a taxi but the best help I can give is to get onto the road which goes past Jebel Ali Racecourse and carry on towards Umm Suqeim Road with Lulu on your left. Go straight across the Umm Suqeim junction and left at the next T junction. Road bends around to the right and stay on this road. Go across the first set of lights and it's somewhere on the right. If you get to the Kanoo building you've gone too far. Here's a phone number in case it helps: The phone number is +9714 347 9935

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Latest post on 11 November 2012 - 01:55

I was fortunate in that both my grandfathers made it through WWII although my great-aunt wasn't so lucky - her husband was killed in Normandy. DH's father was in Coventry during the blitz there and was fortunate enough to survive (we have a brass shell case from one of the ack-ack guns fired) but then was sent to Poland at the end of WWII to help deal with what is nicely called 'displaced persons' but which actually means those that survived the concentration camps - he never spoke a word about it when he came back to the UK - ever. Anyway, I've bought us both poppies and at 11am (UK time) we will observe the silence: They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

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Latest post on 10 November 2012 - 02:19

We're in Muscat now but have recently bought a Lakeland steam mop for something approaching equivalent of AED 400 or so I think. It's Lakeland's own brand steam mop and is working absolutely brilliantly. Uses no chemicals, comes with three velcro fitted pads which are machine washable. As usual, if floors are particularly grubby, say in the kitchen, it's still a case of hands and knees and bleach but for general cleaning of our floors, the Lakeland steam mop is doing a great job on all our floors, some of which such as our bedroom floors are polished tiles and the ground floor tiles are textured. To keep our polished bedroom floor tiles shiny we've bought a Karcher polisher/vacuum which is also doing a great job. Anyway, don't know how many shopping airmiles you have but we had quite a few before we went back to DXB in September and converted them to vouchers for Tavola and bought Global (Japanese) knives. More than happy to have bought the steam mop from Lakeland and to have 'free' knives from Tavola at MoE.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 02 November 2012 - 14:04

Thanks for the tip - will try and remember next year :)

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 01 November 2012 - 02:12

Our doorbell rang here in Muscat at around 5.30pm and there must have been at least 20 youngsters with their parents/maids outside our gate. Thankfully we keep a dish of sweets on a table just inside the front door to which anybody can help themselves. The thing that we really appreciated was that almost without exception every child said thank you. PennyLane, I sympathise. With regards to hallowe'en in the Ranches which is where we used to live there used to be a system where if you had your outside light on it was OK to trick or treat and if the outside light was off it wasn't OK. It never worked for us. If we ignored the doorbell we'd more often than not find that eggs had been thrown at our door. Occasionally we'd look through the peep hole and if it was children then we'd open the door and offer them sweets. On other occasions the doorbell would ring incessantly and it would be teenagers (well I guess they were, maybe they were as young as ten yrs old - I can't tell these days) asking for money and when that 'request' was denied our front door (or first floor windows) would be 'egged' again.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 31 October 2012 - 01:37

http://www.dubaichronicle.com/2012/09/17/dubai-begins-issuing-residency-visa-to-real-estate-investors/ Have read another article about this but, for the life of me, can't find it. However pretty sure that the cost of the 'trade licence' was a great deal more than AED2,000, maybe something like AED17,000 which is what it costs to renew a trade licence in many of the FZ areas which is what, effectively, affords you residency.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 29 October 2012 - 16:31

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224411/Hurricane-Sandy-2012-update-Misery-UK-holidaymakers-flights-US-cancelled-New-York-City-shuts-down.html

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 26 October 2012 - 23:56

We bought a new iPad from Sharaf Mirdif City Centre back in September when we were visiting from Muscat and it was sold as having FaceTime on it. Haven't ever been able to access/log in to FaceTime or iMessage since we bought it either in Dubai or Muscat. We've tried doing this in both Dubai andMuscat and both are legal here in Oman. However when we upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion in Oman on our MacBook Pro, hey presto, we have iMessage and FaceTime on our MacBook Pro for the first time ever and our MacBook Pro was bought in Dubai in 2009 - but FaceTime and iMessage are legal herein Oman and appreciate that this doesn't help those of you in Dubai. I really do not understand how this does or doesn't work. It really doesn't make any sense to me at all. Edit to add that we were staying with friends in Dubai when we bought the new iPad and and they are with Du and use their UK bought iPads and use FaceTime all the time with no problems at all. Against that we have another friend who has a non regional bought iPhone and was able to use FaceTime until about two weeks ago and can now only access FaceTime calls via a veepee enn. Go figure! <em>edited by debliz on 27/10/2012</em>

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 26 October 2012 - 14:48

You're more than welcome. Good luck and enjoy the holidays :)

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 25 October 2012 - 10:54

Ruthm - You are, of course, correct. I didn't look at the MBP announcement that closely as I already have one!

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 25 October 2012 - 01:50

Perhaps it would be worth walking up your road to another type 10 and asking them? Most people are more than willing to help and, you never know, you may make a new friend - we certainly did when we came across this kind of situation.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 24 October 2012 - 14:16

Technically there is no Apple store in Dubai. There are Apple shops which are independent of Apple and are either stand alone stores or have dedicated Apple product areas within a bigger store. Be aware that a lot of Apple products bought in Dubai do not have FaceTime or iMessage. If this is your first Apple product then think about where you want to have your Apple App Store based as the UAE one does not have as much as say a US one. If you base it in the US you will need a US based credit card. There is a workaround to that but I'm not 100% sure how it works. Also note that Apple updated the MacBook Pro range last night. It may be that existing stocks will be discounted. They will not have the new stock likely for a few weeks. http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ <em>edited by debliz on 24/10/2012</em>

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 21 October 2012 - 01:42

TBH if I were you I'd be doing the visa run before the weekend, perhaps even Monday or Tuesday, simply to avoid the weekend/Eid rush. We got caught up in this a few years' ago and it took us about three hours or so to get through the border (we were actually travelling on from Dubai to Muscat) so didn't have the hassle of joining the queue of other people at the UAE border on their way back to Dubai/UAE who were on visa runs or travelling from Oman to the UAE and who may have faced an equally awful long queue to get their tourist visas stamped. It's also probable that the checkpoints in Sharjah before you get to Hatta will be just as busy and, because of the number of people going through those checkpoints, they may well be a bit more vigilant than normal and may check everybody's ID/passport rather than just wave you through.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 19 October 2012 - 04:22

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2214173/Health-tourists-come-Britain-free-NHS-treatment-cost-taxpayer-40m.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/23/health-tourist-nigeria-manchester This policy may be 'right' in some peoples' minds but why should some expats who have paid their contributions in the past be denied access while there are many many thousands who have never contributed a penny, live on benefits and have no intention ever of contributing to the system upon which they live and depend and which has, to a degree, been supported by the contributions of those who are now abroad and who have no access to treatment? Is this fair?

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 19 October 2012 - 04:01

Perhaps there is a relatively simple solution to the issue of LLs not paying service/community charges. This assumes that tenants are paying rent on the basis that the LL is paying these charges (which are included in their rental fees). This is obviously happening but the LL isn't passing on that proportion of the rent to the developer/facilities manager or whatever. How about all tenants having to pay these charges themselves and LLs aren't allowed - by law - to include these charges in the rent they ask of their tenants? There could be a two-fold benefit to this - not only would tenants be able to find out exactly what the service/community charges were for their property thus enabling them better to decide whether this was the property they wanted to rent or not but they would be able to get the services/amenities provided by payment of these charges/fees themselves.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 02:48

Again, I could be wrong but I think the new road to Fujeirah is to Fujeirah city. I believe that Al Aqah (where the Rotana is) is a further 30 or 40 minute drive along the coast towards Dibba from Fujeirah city.

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EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 01:59

It's a couple of years since I did this so apologies in advance if anything is incorrect. Get onto the Dubai Bypass (E611) and stay on it until you can see the Sharjah Cement Works on your right ahead. Turn right off E611 onto the road which goes past the Cement Works on your left towards Al Dhaid. You'll go past the Sharjah Wildlife Centre on your left and a very large monument on your right. Carry on into Al Dhaid. Once there (my recollection is a little hazy at this point) I think you have to go left at the first r/a and then second exit at the next r/a which should be signposted Fujeirah/Masafi. Either way follow signs to Masafi. When you get to Masafi (you'll go through the Friday Market - which is open every day) you'll come to a T junction/roundabout (watch out for goats wandering around and even sleeping in the road). Fujeirah is signed right but you should turn left and head towards Dibba. If I remember rightly once you are in Dibba hotels are signed from this point so it should be fairly easy - just keep heading towards Fujeirah and you should be fine. Fujeirah Rotana is on the left immediately before the Al Aqah Meridien Hotel which at 20+ storeys high is hard to miss. Hope this helps and that you have a great visit.

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