Marie D | ExpatWoman.com
 

Marie D

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 May 2015 - 20:04
Chilli Meatballs and tomato sauce Chicken curry Chicken and chorizo stew Beef stew
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Latest post on 26 November 2014 - 10:18
Suzimack you must be in the same building as us in Motorcity, we're gutted that we have to move, love the building, love the area, layout of our apartment and huge balcony. As far as know not many of the apartments have sold either so it's such a shame that they'll sit empty. We're keeping everything crossed that someone buys our apartment and wants to rent it out for a reasonable price and then we could stay.
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Latest post on 13 September 2014 - 15:18
Also, check if they are regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority? Very, very few are. These people are always immaculately dressed, polite, make a good presentation and know the product hey are pushing inside out. It's the only way they can compensate for their lack of qualifications. And, you will seldom hear from them again once you have signed up......THEY WILL NOT ADVISE YOU TO DROP A PARTICULAR FUND OR PICK UP ANOTHER DFSA only regulate firms companies in DIFC. Companies outside of DIFC are regulated by UAE insurance authority for all insurance based products and SCA for investment based products, check that any firm you use has these 2 licences.
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Latest post on 23 June 2014 - 21:29
Wait until the staring moves onto openly trying to chat up your 14 year old daughter and her friend and trying to get them to meet up when they've finished work! As happened to us, so I certainly don't think anyone on this thread is being "over sensitive" As many have mentioned in this thread numerous times, when it becomes harassment you have to REPORT. Have you done that? Yes Good. It is actually illegal for men to randomly try to chat up women, let alone girls. What? How is this possible? So you're saying that expats who hook up in bars are breaking the law? People who don't know each other aren't allowed to talk to the opposite s3x? That the many relationships that form here based on meeting at parties/brunches/the office etc are actually borne from illegal activity?! That ... is unbelievable. . edited by LadyBee on 23/06/2014 It's not allowed to approach a random woman you don't know on the streets trying to chat her up. And I am sure that counts for under age girls in the pool. Clubs, offices and other socializing events would be a different situation. I see. Re the underage thing ... most 14-year-olds look like twenty-somethings (to me, at any rate!) so I'm not sure how the law helps there! ;) True. This happens a lot in the USA. Teenage girls tell men that they are older so that they can have relations. After the man gets in trouble, he says that he thought that she was over 18. No matter how old he thought the girl was, the law will not be on his side.... I assume that it is the same here, although the age of consent is lower here... edited by AnonDubai on 23/06/2014 edited by AnonDubai on 23/06/2014 The 14 year olds I was referring to definately look 14, no make up, no fancy clothes, just two young girls having fun together at the pool
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Latest post on 23 June 2014 - 19:43
Wait until the staring moves onto openly trying to chat up your 14 year old daughter and her friend and trying to get them to meet up when they've finished work! As happened to us, so I certainly don't think anyone on this thread is being "over sensitive" As many have mentioned in this thread numerous times, when it becomes harassment you have to REPORT. Have you done that? Yes
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Latest post on 23 June 2014 - 19:05
Wait until the staring moves onto openly trying to chat up your 14 year old daughter and her friend and trying to get them to meet up when they've finished work! As happened to us, so I certainly don't think anyone on this thread is being "over sensitive"
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Latest post on 08 December 2013 - 15:34
We've been twice now and to be honest, it's not great. Service is very slow and a lot of items on the menu aren't actually available That's because it's a soft opening. It will be properly open sometime in the next few weeks. Having said that, I didn't love the menu. It's been a soft opening for the last month, the first time we went we made allowances as they had just opened, we went back last week for breakfast and about half of the menu wasn't available, including orange juice! If they were going to be running a shortened menu for such a long time perhaps they shouldn't hand out the full menu!
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Latest post on 08 December 2013 - 13:58
We've been twice now and to be honest, it's not great. Service is very slow and a lot of items on the menu aren't actually available
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Latest post on 05 December 2013 - 10:57
I had a sony e-reader and have now got a Kindle Paperwhite which is much better in my opinion, I love it. The good thing about Amazon is there are lots of books available at no cost and another whole load at low cost. I also have an ipad, but don't read books on it at all, its too heavy to hold onto reading in bed and I don't like the backlight (just like reading from a computer) whereas the e-readers are not backlit and look much more like the page of a book. Ereaders are also great for reading outdoors in the sun, Ipad is not.
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Latest post on 04 December 2013 - 11:14
Very happy to help, they're all the things I wanted for under the tree and in stockings as well x
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Latest post on 03 December 2013 - 21:06
I've tried a few biscuit recipes and have now gone back to shortbread and then use star and Christmas tree shaped cutters. Park n Shop, the big one up at Green Community has Quality Street, Roses, Celebrations and Heroes all in tins. Also Terry's Choc orange, matchmakers and tubes of sweets.
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Latest post on 29 November 2013 - 20:51
Seem to have disappeared from Spinneys in Motorcity and Park and Shop for the last month or so, has anyone seen them anywhere else?
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Latest post on 27 November 2013 - 18:53
Thanks for the responses. Really want this all to be ok but dont want emotions to cloud my judgement. My DH is very reluctant to hand over cheques in advance and thinks once the agent has his commission chq he won't be as inclined to make our move a priority. Surely you pay after the service. We've been assured we will receive copies of title deeds, passport etc of owner, without which we would not proceed. sarahlou, if this all goes belly up I might need your friends name ... lol Curly We worried about that too, but honestly our agent was brilliant and has continued to be helpful with sorting out any small maintenance issues too.
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Latest post on 27 November 2013 - 16:20
I've been dealing with Betterhomes for the last two years and was a bit concerned the first year with paying everything ahead of receiving the keys, but to be fair to them I can't fault them, when we moved into our apartment it was spotless, they deal with everything efficiently and quickly, no complaints at all.
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Latest post on 26 November 2013 - 10:57
I don't think that you are being unreasonable at all, you have offered to split the day which surely is a good compromise. My h's dd is living with us for this year, but for previous years when she has lived with her mum and her h and two new children dd has always spent Christmas with her mum and we have never made a fuss, not because we thought it was more important for her to spend Christmas with her mum (her dad is equally important), but because for those years it was more important to spend Christmas as a family with her younger half brother and sister and not to feel excluded from that family day. This year she's living with us and she'll spend Christmas with us, which is wonderful and a real treat for her as we'll go and spend time with h's family. Her mum can't spend time with her on Christmas day, but if travel distance/time allowed, we would have no problem with splitting the day. Your situation sounds similar in that there are now younger siblings and aside from mum and dad being important, the sibling relationships matter too. It's a tough ask for a 9 year old to go and have probably a lovely day with her mum, but then to come back and hear all about your Christmas day with her siblings which she wasn't a part of at all. Christmas is an important day for everyone as a family and it's not unreasonable for you to want to spend it with her even though she lives with you for the majority of the time. Perhaps you can start alternating years?
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Latest post on 19 October 2013 - 15:58
Google malwarebytes and the download it to your PC (it's free), once it's downloaded use it to do a full scan of your computer. I've used it before to clear up a virus and it worked.
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Latest post on 03 October 2013 - 13:20
Thank you all, will try Choitrams and Park n Shop first
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Latest post on 05 September 2013 - 09:18
A guy I work with went to the Rent Committee a couple of months ago as he wasn't given 12 months notice to vacate and lost the case. Rent committee looked at the rent contract and said "this is the last date your contract finishes, you must leave" so legally it seems its a bit of a grey area depending on who you see on the day and who you're dealing with. Ultimately he lost the money he had to put down to raise the case and had about 2 weeks to find somewhere else for him, his wife and new baby to move to.
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Latest post on 22 August 2013 - 16:58
I bought a foam insert recently in Lakeland MOE, it's not for Brabantia specifically and was a bit larger than I needed, but did the job perfectly anyway. The covers I saw for Brabantia in Spinneys didn't come with the foam insert, it was just the cover.
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Latest post on 28 May 2013 - 12:02
Thank you both, am also highly embarrassed that as h's daughter is French neither of us has taken the time to learn the language. It's Aflec that we've applied to, handed everything in yesterday and they said that we should hear in two weeks if she is accepted or not and then after that she will still have to go on a waiting list. We just don't want to give up her current school place in France until we know she is definitely accepted here. We're living in Motorcity, currently just the two of us and one pampered cat, so it will be quite an adjustment.
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Latest post on 19 April 2013 - 09:45
Thank you
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Latest post on 10 February 2013 - 14:53
I bought some a while back from Ikea
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Latest post on 08 January 2013 - 18:14
Loads of the machines in Spinneys Motorcity, I assume they sell the capsules too, but I haven't looked
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Latest post on 07 January 2013 - 13:03
Google "NHS norovirus advice" and you'll see what they have been advising people in the UK, seems to really just be keep hydrated, take paracetamol and ride it out. Hope you feel better soon.
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Latest post on 06 January 2013 - 21:49
Hi Denise, it is the car park drains, I sent my husband off in his car to a reckie in the car around the car park with his mobile phone, I stayed in the apartment with my phone and he drove around over various drains so we could pinpoint which ones exactly were causing the noise in our apartment). He wrote down which parking space was next to the relevant drains, then we got maintenance to come to our apartment, hub got back in his car, drove over the drains so they could hear it. They then said they would fix them, it's because they weren't fitted correctly in the first place, they have fixed most of them, but unfortunately the noisiest one was fixed for about a week and is now noisier than ever so am about to start calling/emailing maintenance again. Perhaps the more people that complain, the more likely it is they will fix the drains, trouble is I suppose is that most people don't realise the car park drains are the source of the noise.
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Latest post on 05 December 2012 - 15:00
I had one made in the pear shape, but in silver last week by Cara's in the Gold and Diamond Park (am sure they do gold as well). Ordered on the Wednesday, collected on the Sunday, including the chain it was AED 175.
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Latest post on 31 October 2012 - 16:34
I just received the new paperwhite Kindle, ordered via shop and ship, all that I had to pay on top of the Amazon price was AED 41 for delivery
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Latest post on 23 October 2012 - 10:31
hmmmm, I'm starting to think it may be a car going over a ramp now too, I'd discounted it before as we're on the third floor which seems a long way for the noise to travel and it always sounds like it's coming from above us. If it is a loose metal ramp in the carpark, what do you think are our chances of getting someone to fix it?
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Latest post on 22 October 2012 - 13:20
No we're in Newbridgehills 2, so it's not noise from Spinneys. I'm trying to get my husband to test the rubbish chute theory with him going up a few floors to throw some away and me staying in the apartment to listen for "the noise", but so far he's not going for it lol
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 13:05
Definatly not the fridge or the carpark, the noise is always from up above
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 12:07
Do you have any weird noises in your apartment? we've recently moved in and keep hearing what we initially thought was noise from the apartment upstairs, but we dont' think so anymore as it happens at all times of the day and night, exactly the same noise. It's like two bangs kind of noises, a bit like maybe a vent opening and closing or something?? sometimes its louder than others, but the actual noise is consistently the same. It's driving us bonkers, but how on earth do you explain it to maintenance and what do we do, get them to stand in the main bedroom for a while and wait for the noise!? lol Hi I live in Motor City and I know exacly what kind of noise you are describing!It was different times of day and night! It puzzled me for a while but DH explained its the rubbish chute!! People throw rubbish bags in the chute and noise travels in these buildings.HTH Aaaaahh, you could be onto something with the rubbish chute theory as it seems more frequent at early evening times rather than very late into the night when I imagine less people would be taking out their rubbish.
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 10:32
No, it's not like the marbles thing, we've had that before in a different apartment, its a definate "bang, bang" noise, like two bangs in quick sucession and then nothing for another 20 minutes or so then another "bang, bang", very odd
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 10:18
Do you have any weird noises in your apartment? we've recently moved in and keep hearing what we initially thought was noise from the apartment upstairs, but we dont' think so anymore as it happens at all times of the day and night, exactly the same noise. It's like two bangs kind of noises, a bit like maybe a vent opening and closing or something?? sometimes its louder than others, but the actual noise is consistently the same. It's driving us bonkers, but how on earth do you explain it to maintenance and what do we do, get them to stand in the main bedroom for a while and wait for the noise!? lol
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Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 11:53
You can get a slimer size dishwasher which is 45cm width, 85cm height and depth of 60. We're looking at this size so that we only have to remove a single cupboard and replace when we leave. We will have to cut into the board at the bottom to allow for the height of 85cm, but will keep the piece taken out and reattach with wood glue and filler when we leave.
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Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 11:47
I can recommend Derwent, we've used them twice now for office fitouts and wouldn't hesitate to use them again.
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Latest post on 30 September 2012 - 12:43
Do not issue new cheques unless you have the previous cheques in your hand. We made that mistake before after being told that the previous landlord would not present them! started a chain of events which we then spent two years, meetings with police, rent committee and being stopped at the airport to prevent us leaving trying to resolve.
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Latest post on 17 September 2012 - 15:38
We've used Crown twice and both times they've been brilliant
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Latest post on 16 September 2012 - 19:40
We have put one in. Just kept all the bits and bobs from the cupboards to put back when we leave. Couldn't possibly have gone without a dishwasher. We did two weeks without one while we moved in and it was awful!! Lol! Lol, it does seem very lazy, but along with a full working day I don't think I can face washing up by hand! Did you use someone like Jim will fix it, to do it for you?
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Latest post on 16 September 2012 - 19:37
Thanks Apr04, I did think about the laundry room, but I have a tall freezer I want to put in there with the washing machine as I do a lot of batch cooking. I think we'll do what you've said, take out a cupboard and put it all back together before we leave.
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Latest post on 10 September 2012 - 16:53
Thanks Mohandissa
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Latest post on 10 September 2012 - 16:09
Has anyone ordered a kindle from the US using Shop & Ship? how much did you have to pay in customs charges? Am considering ordering the new paperwhite kindle if the charges aren't too much.
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Latest post on 04 September 2012 - 13:24
Thanks SS, I've called a couple of companies advertising on Dubizzle and they've said the same thing, none available right now.
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Latest post on 02 September 2012 - 19:02
Thanks Mrs Brown
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Latest post on 30 August 2012 - 16:27
Do you know which real esate agent is best to deal with for Manazel or Executive Towers?
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 13:27
Thanks CP
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 11:52
I saw them recently in Borders MOE, shaped like a water bottle and a fluffy dog
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 10:50
Thank you, I'll give them a go
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Latest post on 31 July 2012 - 07:46
I would take the chance with shop and ship, I ordered a couple of things from Amazon late afternoon on Wednesday last week via shop and ship and they were delivered to me on Sunday morning.
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Latest post on 04 July 2012 - 13:21
Excellent, thanks for the info ladies, looks like a great possibility for somewhere reasonably priced with amenities close by
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Latest post on 22 June 2012 - 18:42
Driclor, you can buy it in the chemists here. A lot of people find it really uncomfortable it can sting quite a lot, but it is bearable, don't use if you've shaved that day as it can make the stinging worse.