Geordie expat | ExpatWoman.com
 

Geordie expat

Geordie expat
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Latest post on 03 February 2014 - 13:46
My DH gets part of his salary classed as housing allowance (not a very big part) and it's not a large salary either. He has been told that this year his housing allowance will go up slightly, but not his basic!!!
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 03 February 2014 - 09:02
It is still there, but please don't ask me how I found it. I spent most of the night pressing buttons to find what I wanted to watch ;) If I remember correctly I pressed the VOD button and there was a small menu on the left hand side which I navigated through - eventually.
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 02 February 2014 - 10:11
Congratulations, so pleased for you and when I finish with guests etc we will have that drink ( or 3) x Thanks and definitely up for a drink (or 3) x
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 02 February 2014 - 10:04
Did the DJ survive? I was looking forward to you reviews of the starve and sweat diet. Yes we even got all of our deposit back ;) Let's put it this way, the dress I wore on Friday will not go anywhere near me now. I think I need to do the 5:2 diet, with 5 low calorie days, but I honestly don't care. It was a great night for a great cause and I had fun :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 02 February 2014 - 09:57
yay - congrats Thanks Izzy. We also had a great night out on Friday at the black tie event. Celebrations all round :)
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 30 January 2014 - 14:50
Pompei is amazing we spent two very full days there, it's just so big. If you want to see something similar try Herculaneum, just as interesting but much more manageable. is there enough to do for the children at Pompeii? I'm concerned on how to keep two young kids entertained during our trip Little ones may get a bit bored with Pompei, which is why Herculaneum is better if the adults really want to see something like that. Also once you're out in the middle of Pompei it can be a long trek back to the entrance and if the weather is lovely (which I hope it will be) there is little to no shade. Herculaneum, you can find plenty of shade and it's nowhere near as big. One tip we were given regarding the price of food, was to find the restaurants the locals used, great food and very reasonable, something we've always stuck to wherever we go on holiday now. In Rome in the middle of the tourist area we just walked down what looked like a very dingy back lane and found the most amazing pizza and pasta place and got the last table :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 January 2014 - 13:28
Pompei is amazing we spent two very full days there, it's just so big. If you want to see something similar try Herculaneum, just as interesting but much more manageable.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 January 2014 - 13:24
Done Naples, Sorrento and Rome all lovely, just beware Rome at Easter, it will be packed with pilgrims. Also been to Capri which makes a lovely oasis in the middle of a full and busy holiday :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 30 January 2014 - 11:54
Thanks girls. I have not heard of Shop and Ship? Are they a safe company then? I may have to use them as probably not going home till the summer and I am desperate! lcoolie I like Origins too! Dubai needs to catch up lol! xx Shop and Ship is an account you open with Aramex You buy products online and use Aramex as the post address and delivery I use them constantly and you can track your parcels online The only thing you have to watch is the weight. The heavier the item the more the postage is I rarely buy clothes in Dubai now, I buy online from the Uk and ship them with Aramex You pay a one off fee to set the account up and its yours for life Certain liquids may not be allowed though so I would check with them before you buy Happy Shopping Don't listen to this woman she's a bad influence ;) But seriously, while living out here Shop and Ship is the only way to get what you want/need at a reasonable price and not end up paying way over the odds, or having to wait until you go home or someone comes out here. Have fun :)
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Latest post on 30 January 2014 - 09:00
I guess there are the terraces to make up for the lack of garden. They're quite big, non? I just called Ace to ask how much for those big interlocking mats and they are only AED 59 for 1m, so that a thought. Will go and look at the weekend. Quite excited, actually. I don't know about the townhouses in JVC, but the 2 beds in JVT have the same square footage inside as the villas and a large terrace over the car port. Hope you find something :) <em>edited by Geordie expat on 30/01/2014</em>
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 17:55
Thanks GE, but we have a maid :-( Just another suggestion. Our neighbours have blocked in the upstairs landing and made it into a lovely bedroom for their daughter, that might work. Oh really? That's interesting.. I can't remember the layout but I will look into that. Although just had a quick look and JVT 2 beds are 160k!!! Yes they're getting silly on JVT now, but exactly the same layout in JVC for less (at the moment)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 17:51
Thanks GE, but we have a maid :-( Just another suggestion. Our neighbours have blocked in the upstairs landing and made it into a lovely bedroom for their daughter, that might work.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 17:29
Such a hard decision. We have a lovely little garden here in The Springs. It's small but big enough to play football. Also we have the park and pool which is fab. But then we could also do with the extra room. I have a little business which I could probably run from home, if we had 3 bedrooms rather than the 2 we have at the moment... We just could not afford a 3 bed in The Springs. What about the new 2 bed villas in JVC. If you don't have a maid the maids room would probably fit a desk etc or otherwise the landings of the villas are huge and the garden is almost a football pitch :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 16:18
Depends on his age I would think, but DH gets his trousers from either Dockers, Gant or Sacoor and his shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt ordered from the UK
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 12:48
what about mens work suits ? is it worth going for them? DH has bought a couple from Sacoor and they were fine super never heard of that but will take alook thanks They've got shops in all the Malls and their ladies range is also quite good.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 12:35
what about mens work suits ? is it worth going for them? DH has bought a couple from Sacoor and they were fine
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 12:13
If they are coming from the UK or US everything here is more expensive than there Also the outlet mall is nothing like the type of outlet mall we have back in the UK. Although I do tend to go there if I want something from Sacoor, but apart from that it's not worth the journey. It's not as if you can make a day of it and have lunch In the UK I lived close to Cheshire Oaks! I loved it there :-) Last one I went to was the one in York, but don't know what it's like now.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 12:04
If they are coming from the UK or US everything here is more expensive than there Also the outlet mall is nothing like the type of outlet mall we have back in the UK. Although I do tend to go there if I want something from Sacoor, but apart from that it's not worth the journey. It's not as if you can make a day of it and have lunch
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 11:00
I just hope it doesn't end up like JVT. So nearly finished and yet so far :( Yes we have grass and tennis courts and what they like to call children's play areas, but the canals are still empty and as for the lake, well........ And there is no way we can get any answers on when they may finish it. Also our rental prices are obviously going through the roof too I can't believe how expensive JVT has become,nice big gardens but aren't they mostly two beds? As for JVC the original plans were fanciful to say the least,a canal linked marina?not in my Dubai lifetime:) The prices are becoming a joke, especially for us that live there. Majority of the villas are only two beds, but a lot of people have enclosed the landing to make a small room. A small number are now being extended but I dread to think how much they will want to rent those out for. And yes the waterways. Well we have a number of little canals, great to collect the rubbish in. The only time time they ever had wate in them was after that heavy rain we had a few weeks ago ;)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 10:41
I just hope it doesn't end up like JVT. So nearly finished and yet so far :( Yes we have grass and tennis courts and what they like to call children's play areas, but the canals are still empty and as for the lake, well........ And there is no way we can get any answers on when they may finish it. Also our rental prices are obviously going through the roof too
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 10:37
I would check with the postal carrier what you can and can't bring into the country. Certainly not live plants, veg, seeds etc, but dried or tinned foods shouldn't be a problem. What were you thinking of ordering and from where. The shop and ship guidelines are usually quite good at specifying what they are a postal service can carry and I would say this same applies to all. Sorry to hijack Question for TDB Can you shop and ship with Marks and Spencers? TIA never tried but would guess so, unless you have to use a UK CC to purchase. OMG if you could ship M&S and food then I would be ordering in those tubs of flapjacks by the dozen!! Just ordered two lots of clothes from M&S, wish I'd thought to try and include some food ;) Geordie can you use your UAE C/C for M and S? We used our UK c/c sorry.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 10:23
I would check with the postal carrier what you can and can't bring into the country. Certainly not live plants, veg, seeds etc, but dried or tinned foods shouldn't be a problem. What were you thinking of ordering and from where. The shop and ship guidelines are usually quite good at specifying what they are a postal service can carry and I would say this same applies to all. Sorry to hijack Question for TDB Can you shop and ship with Marks and Spencers? TIA never tried but would guess so, unless you have to use a UK CC to purchase. OMG if you could ship M&S and food then I would be ordering in those tubs of flapjacks by the dozen!! Just ordered two lots of clothes from M&S, wish I'd thought to try and include some food ;)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 29 January 2014 - 08:55
Oh, so there will be parks eventually? Can you get straight into JVC from Khamila Street? Sorry for all the questions! I had a look at this on my way home last night. If you're coming up Khamila Street towards Al Khail road, you'll need to go on the Al Khail and round the loop, back down the other side and then into JVC. As for dog walking, when we had a drive round people were just walking their dogs around the streets, although we did see some allowed off leash on the sandy areas.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 17:15
It sounds like JVT was two years ago, but now the rents are going up even though we don't have any facilities. As long as you can bear with the dust and noise of the construction work it should be ok.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 10:26
I would say yes. Follow the instructions on the packet.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 10:02
Damas trees! I knew it! I said to my husband last night it might be something to do with Damas tree roots and he looked at me like I was mad. LL did not come round last night, qu'elle surprise. Our Lease is up for renewal in June and he will not be able to rent it as it is, that's for sure. Thinking maybe we will use this as an opportunity to move to a bigger place... GeordieExpat, what is JVT like? Apart from the leeks ;-) We like living there especially now that majority of the issues have been sorted. As you probably know there are no facilities and the parks etc aren't finished yet, but the sizes of the villas and gardens more than make up for that. Hopefully we'll be getting a shop within walking distance in the not too distant future.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 08:57
Just as an addition to give you an idea of the size. DH and I have two dogs and three cats out here and we couldn't have lived comfortably downstairs in one of these.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 08:51
I asked around a few friends last night as we have had one or two similar problems in JVT with water leaks. They were informed by DEWA that if the pipe leakage is inside the property it is entirely the LLs problem and if outside the boundary obviously theirs. I hope you've managed to sort something out by now, but please check with your LL as it should be covered on his insurance.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 12:48
I used to buy them at the market in Sharjah where I chose the chicken pecking around and they would slaughter it, pluck it and prepare it for me in 15 mins. But I can't be dealing with driving to Sharjah all the time! Try Park'n'Shop at the Green Community. I haven't tried their chicken, but can definitely vouch for the rest of their meat. OK so the steaks were a little more expensive, but well worth it :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 12:35
Although I do buy the stuffed chicken breasts from Spinneys or Park'n'Shop and use them with a couple of days max. I bought those a few years back, OH & I ended up with food poisoning, never touched again - we actually stopped eating chicken in the UAE for about 2 years because of it. Sorry to hear that. I know that chicken is one of the worst types of meat for food poisoning. Hence why I have never actually bought a whole one out here. I will though stick to these as they have been ok for us (so far)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 12:22
Polly I noticed this too recently - there is a small selection of "fresh chicken" which is about 40% more expensive. The rest, is defrosted chicken breasts - and should not be re-frozen. Which means technically it should be used the same or next day (I wouldn't defrost meat and then let it sit in the fridge for 3 days). I bought some frozen chicken in the frozen aisle - never done this before, it was a big bag of Sadia chicken breasts. Has anyone used these before? I would say that if they're proper frozen chicken breasts, like you can get back in the UK, where you can just take out what you need at the time, they should be ok. I've never actually liked the look of the pre packed chicken you see here on the meat counters. Although I do buy the stuffed chicken breasts from Spinneys or Park'n'Shop and use them with a couple of days max.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 12:11
I agree. I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten chicken here. Also do you not think that when the meat is frozen, they don't always keep it seperate from other food stuffs?
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 11:15
Don't think they can increase by more than the RERA calculator, or all LL would try to do that :( How many cheques do you pay with now?
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 11:12
Sounds horribly like a water leak. Can you turn everything off and check to see if your meter is still going round?
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 11:09
This is the one I'm trying to persuade DH to buy, but it costs around AED 3,000 :( http://www.severin-s2.com/gb-kva#!S2-One-Touch Our De Longhi is lovely though http://www.delonghi.com/en-GB/products/coffee/coffee-makers/automatic-coffee-makers/magnifica-s-ecam-22110sb-0132213038/ Unfortunately we bought it in the UK a few years ago, but if I remember correctly it cost about GBP 500 then.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 10:53
do you have a leak? Definitely sounds like there is water down there that shouldn't be. Have you had high DEWA bills recently?
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 10:49
Or even 'they met' depending on the context.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 10:45
To be honest it depends on how much you like your coffee. We tried a Nespresso machine and found that the coffee was never exactly what we wanted. We now have a De Longhi bean to cup machine and it's great. Makes the most amazing strong coffee if wanted or the weakest, milkiest coffee if that's what you prefer.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 10:34
Yes !!!!
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 10:00
Hi, hoping thats someone on here will have the neccessary legal knowledge to answer this question.... If my landlord offers a new contract based on the terms and conditions of the old one, does this include the number of cheques? If we are happy with the amount, but cant pay in a single cheque (as we have previously) where do we stand? As I understand it, the laws are supposed to be on the side of the tenant, and we want to renew, but just need to split the payment into more cheques (I'm talking four, or maybe two at a push.....not anything 'far-fetched' like twelve!!!! - although that would be great!!! :-) ) I believe it has to remain the same unless both parties agree. Have you asked the landlord if they would mind you increasing the number of cheques? If they say no perhaps you could look at a bank loan for the rent amount? I know HSBC offers very low rates if the loan is only over 1 year (around 1-2%) the interest would be nothing compared to the costs of moving. I would also say that it includes the number of cheques. We asked our landlord last time in advance of the 90 day notice period if we could increase our number of cheques and he was ok with it.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 09:54
Night out is still to come - this Friday and really looking forward to it.
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 09:46
DH managed to hire a DJ etc at the weekend at the place you suggested. It was actually quite a painless shopping trip :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 27 January 2014 - 09:24
I guess no one here went to 'pox' parties when they were kids? Got sent to several as a child and never managed to get it. Can see both sides of this one batgirls i hope the sick little one gets well soon and i hope you can manage with the other off nursery xx I remember going to one in my street, but that was over 50 years ago :) I also did the same for both my DD's when they were little, but that was over 20 years ago and even at that time the school knew about it and didn't complain. To be honest I think they were quite pleased that majority of the kids in one class were all off at around the same time and they didn't have the odd one or two missing every few weeks. <em>edited by Geordie expat on 27/01/2014</em>
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 26 January 2014 - 12:56
The big electronics store in DFC, opposite IKEA, has an absolutely gorgeous new coffee machine in called Severin. It's expensive but from the research I've done well worth the money :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 26 January 2014 - 12:02
My 1959 Rolex. It's as old as me :)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 17:35
Thanks for this. May have to just try it before we start our diets on Sunday ;)
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 17:28
Choitrams usually have haggis. Also, [b'>the fish&chip shop at ParknShop [/b'>is like a real chippy. Bag of chips & a can of irn bru and good to go ;) Have yet to find anywhere doing a half pizza supper!!! Which ParknShop?
Geordie expat
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 17:22
sweet! many thanks- off a-haggis hunting :) Enjoy. We had ours last weekend when we had visitors, but still have one tucked away at the back of the freezer :)
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 17:19
I had to fish the paper out of the bin ha For some reason this post has made me fancy a fish supper tonight. I need to go home Me too Oooh fish and chips proper English style Oooooh I really miss that.
Geordie expat
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Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 17:16
Which Park and Rob Geordie? Thanks saralou, I've seen these and they are all pseudo Burns suppers and I need the food without the trimmings ;) I've bought them at both Tecom and the big one at The Green Community
 
 
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