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moose

moose
133
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Latest post on 09 October 2011 - 18:15
I just bought some pumpkin at Choitrams on Al Wasl, not the one at the Co-op, the one down more towards the Burj Al Arab. They had tons when I was there! Already made one pumpkin cheesecake, but actually not celebrating for two more weeks ): until everyone's home and not working... oh well, I'm sure it will be worth the wait!!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 October 2011 - 13:46
it is! It's tomorrow. But some people eat on Sunday, some eat on Monday. So it's kinda all rolled into one thankful weekend!
moose
133
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Latest post on 09 October 2011 - 12:26
gobble gobble!! (:
moose
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Latest post on 08 October 2011 - 14:08
Arg! I was just there and I must have stared at that exact aisle for 20 minutes. I guess I'll pop over and try again... Thanks!!
moose
133
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Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 19:12
Moose, Are you from the UK? If so, any idea when the right time to buy a house will be? Trying to decide whether it's worth waiting for a property crash which may never happen! nope. Don't think there are moose in the UK :) We're from Canada, specifically Alberta where the housing market is still going strong, but we watch it closely and we see some correction in the near (??) future. At least we're hoping for it!!
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 19:01
We're in our 7th year here but came with the idea of 2-3 years! Those first 3 years were frustrating because we weren't seeing our savings grow, but I have to say that after the 3rd and 4th year we finally saw a nest egg growing and now we're "profiting" from being here... my personal opinion is that Dubai can be difficult to start out in, and if you get caught with the Dubai bug and start spending unnecessarily and over doing it on all the luxuries here then yes, that nest egg will never materialize. It takes awhile (maybe more than a couple of years), patience, and some smarts... you'll get there :) edited to add that some expats have stuck around these past few years, like we did, because it just isn't the right time to move home what with the job market and economy in many fields... After the last few years of creating that nest egg we're definitely ready to head home and get that house we've been dreaming of, we're just waiting for the 'right time' to buy in the market. <em>edited by moose on 06/10/2011</em>
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 09:16
Such sad news. iRIP Mr. Jobs.
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 October 2011 - 09:03
I never keep the dirham from the trolley, I figure it is a tiny gift to whoever finds it, but then I also tip the petrol guys ten dirhams every time, these guys have such a hard job and I appreciate them! My husband calls me the patron saint of waiters and taxi drivers. My biggest tip is 100 dhs for a taxii, it is my version of charity, but having worked for one of the largest charities in the UK, I would rather help someone who is helping themselves, as opposed to paying admin costs for superfluous costs, like coffee and petrol for admin and marketing persosnnel! Good on you for being generous. But unfortunately what happens is that some staff feel entitled to 10 dhs because one person tipped them that amount. And 100 dhs for a taxi tip ? That probably explains why one taxi driver was unhappy when i paid him 80 when meter fare was 68, he felt 100 was ok ! As for "hard job" i dont think petrol station staff have it anything hard when compared to people who clean toilets or roads under the sun or some construction workers. As for the trolley guys, i will happily give them 1 dhs, but in Abu Dhabi in 1 mall you have people who dont do anything except wait to drag your trolleys away, and some actually try to grab your trolley, no one has any right to grab someones stuff away My husband tried to explain the same thing to me while traveling in Vietnam. I wanted to give the sellers more and didn't try to drive a hard bargain because I felt we could afford it and some of them needed it more- however he explained, and it makes sense now, that if we pay more than the average tourist and don't try to bring the cost down (which is expected) then we're just making it more expensive for the next tourist, plus bargaining with tourists is part of the job... there's a fine line between trying to help out and being too generous sometimes. They even mention this sort of thing, along with over tipping, in some Lonely Planet guides and travel books. Don't get me wrong, I tip well when it's deserved, I just think that tipping a taxi driver 100.00 might send a wrong message. Although maybe I'm just shocked as I've never had the luck to be in a taxi in Dubai that seemed to deserve 100.00.
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2011 - 11:36
sorry, one last thing, bbm is free around the world- or meant to be free- but in the uae you need to pay at least the 49.00uae package a month to have 'social networking' unlocked on your phone, which inlcudes bbm. So technically bbm is free everywhere... but here. (of course)
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 October 2011 - 11:25
BBM is not sms - it's like MSN - and the other person has to have a blackberry, If you have an iphone or blackberry you can install whatsapp which is also like MSN but works on both iphone and BB. This is true but remember that iphone users cannot use BBM, so whoever you're talking to needs to have whatsapp as well. You can download whatasapp on both a blackberry and an iphone (so with my blackberry I can communicate via whatsapp to iphone users and via bbm to blackberry users) but you can't download BBM on an iphone so iphone users can only communicate via whatsapp to other whatsapp users and alot of blackberry people don't download whatsapp! Ha! Does that make any sense!! Just to note that I have downloaded whatsapp on my bb and it works intermittently, and a friend who has an iphone also finds that hers works intermittently as well- it's like it sleeps sometimes. It often tells me that the server or something is currently down, or something like that. It may be because we both go with the cheapest etisalat package for social networking but it really shouldn't matter. Whereas BBM is always working effectively. Edited to add that I always thought I'd be an iPhone owner, and consider myself a pretty serious mac head, and thought I would hate bb... but I bought a blackberry just so I could bbm my husband for free when we're on the other side of the world from each other- and surprisingly I'm very happy with my blackberry and love it! (although I secretly still want an iphone one day :)) edited by moose on 02/10/2011 <em>edited by moose on 02/10/2011</em>
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 September 2011 - 11:23
haha, those are hilarious! It is getting a bit ridiculous isn't it!! Anyways, Fairwater, all you have to do is make sure that all your privacy settings are set to Friends only... and encourage your friends to do the same. That way your keeping your things more private and your helping your friends do the same. If they also change their privacy settings it will even help things further. Already I'm noticing less info on the ticker than I saw the first few days. And what I do see are the bits and bobs from people that I know wouldn't set anything to Friends and probably choose public as their settings, they are also the people I don't tag or message much anyways so it wouldn't matter. edited to add this link, which should help explain it better...[url=http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/09/26/facebook-ticker-privacy-scare/'>link[/url'> <em>edited by moose on 28/09/2011</em>
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 September 2011 - 17:13
If he wasn't such a ridiculously socially inappropriate guy in the first place it would have been worse, but because everyone knew how completely horrific he would have made the situation & everyone could totally picture exactly what he would have said and how, it actually made it a funny story in the end... if that makes any sense!!! Although i couldn't look at him in the eye for weeks (not hard to avoid, he was usually in the garage smokin' stuff anyways...) :P
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 25 September 2011 - 16:36
I used to work as an aid for a little girl with autism and she would sometimes be at my house. Once her dad, who was extremely awkward, pretty hyper, always saying inappropriate things came to pick her up and tipped over a trash bag by the door. He insisted on picking it up and all the trash (that was from the bathroom bin so you can imagine all the goodies in there!!!) all while making ridiculous comments about the 'things' he was seeing strewn about. Honestly, I could have crawled under a rock and died.
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 18 September 2011 - 12:11
where or how did you get a green bin? We're in palmera and only have black bins so we do our own collection, sorting, and take them to the recycle areas. Would be awesome to have a green bin at home that is collected!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 September 2011 - 16:09
Anyone else? bumping up for the after school crew!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 September 2011 - 16:06
Similar to Dubizzle is kijiji. And yep, I spelt it right! www.kijiji.ca
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 September 2011 - 10:06
I'm with SueB. They have cr@p coffee and who the h*ll wants to eat donuts all the time? Yuck!!!!!! In canada they add MSG to their coffee. I learned this from a manager there who was a friend of a friend. I can only imagine what the quality here will be like. *And the prices. [url=http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/timhortons.asp'>link[/url'> The link to snopes as this statement is false. They can't add MSG, there are regulating health and food inspections and policies in Canada.... obviously! As in everything, you either love it or hate it. It's a Canadiana thing, brings you back home (well, for some Canadians!) <em>edited by moose on 12/09/2011</em>
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 September 2011 - 09:37
Thanks, will check them out... any other suggestions?
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 September 2011 - 13:59
Hmm, isn't this right next to The French Connection, then? in the building just after the Applebees one. Funny thing there's a Starbucks located just next to this THs!;) I'm so curious about Tim Hortons - how are the prices compared to Starbucks, for instance? And what's the ONE thing I should order there/be looking forward to? prices are way more cheap than starbucks (if it's the same as back home), but be prepared for simple coffee, sort of your average worker man's cup o' joe really. But there's something about it that all Canadians just love. A double double is double cream double sugar, triple triple... and so on. The donuts, if they are like in Canada, YUM. And timbits are just a treat, I can remember any sports practice or childhood club meeting always ended with a box of timbits. If you want a good, honest, and inexpensive lunch it's tim hortons: chili, sandwiches, soups, they are all sort of your homemade kind of goodness. :)
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 September 2011 - 19:53
do you think they'll know the proper timmy's lingo though? I mean, if I ask for a double double am I going to get the "sorry ma'am, we don't have..."
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 August 2011 - 13:18
Just did a quick scan and didn't see [b'>Six Feet Under[/b'>. Our all time favourite although we do have a few others that are up there, The Killing, Californication, Mad Men, some sitcom ones, and right now we're starting 24 from the beginning, so far so good. Six Feet Under is just so so so well done and each character is interesting and compelling, it's really a piece of art in the world of tv series.
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 August 2011 - 15:04
Online I have found some beautiful camera bags that are more adaptable as a handbag, leather, pretty... you know, something that doesn't say CANON in massive letters on the side. Has anyone ever come across anything like this in Dubai? I'm one click away from ordering one from overseas that will cost me an arm and a leg!!!
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 August 2011 - 14:19
This happened to me once, and after a million phone calls and no answer he finally rolled in just after 5am. I have no doubt in my mind he was telling the truth, just simply lost track of time wining and dining with some business partners and talking contracts and boring ****. Then struggled to get a cab. This was awhile ago but very possibly during Ramadan, but I can't be sure. I agree, the shift change for cabs is during that time and I'm pretty sure there aren't as many of them on the road then either! The reason the phone didn't pick up is beyond me, we even tried it after he came in and found me in a complete state! Sure enough, my calls weren't going through to him no matter what we tried and his texts that he had sent were never received by me. So, these things can happen and it's not always about girls, booze, and parties!!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 15 June 2011 - 14:22
Only one I've ever found here are coke slurpees (which are my favourite anyway) at the movie theatre in MOE. I craaaaave 7-11 slurpees all the time!!! I can't believe, in a place with temperatures like here, that slurpees don''t exist :(
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 June 2011 - 12:39
They have fondue gel, in little packages, at the Spinney's in Motor City for sure, usually in the BBQ section, and I think I've seen them elsewhere. It's the little gel packs. I find if I cover the remaining gel tightly with tin foil I can store it for the next time, otherwise it evaporates eventually. The brand is Le Creuset and it's a thin orange box with three gel packs.
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 April 2011 - 09:01
how about just some camel milk chocolate? Simple but might be a kinda cool gift??!! 13 year olds are the worst to buy for!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 20 April 2011 - 22:43
I had the exact same amount of time there on a layover once. There's a tourist desk at Schipol airport and they will store your carry on luggage and arrange a tour for the perfect amount of time and keep you right on schedule. I took a four hour one, or something like that, and saw quite a bit... it was a perfect quick little tour to see enough that made me decide that I would return one time in my life for a holiday! We visited quite a few places and it was a relaxing way to see the sights and get a good feel of Amsterdam, but didn't really go into anywhere (for example we saw the outside of Anne Frank's place but didn't visit the inside). Having the airport organise it also alleviated any stress or headaches; especially since it was a long haul trip for me and by then I was a little shattered, so trying to tour on my own would've been even more tiresome. I think they offer different lengths and types of tours, they checked my ticket to make sure I would be back in time. This was a few years ago, so best check with the airport that this service is still offered. And make sure that your visa isn't an issue.
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 17 March 2011 - 22:41
thanks : )
moose
133
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Latest post on 15 March 2011 - 21:09
can hear a low rumble, seemed weird to be fireworks on a tuesday night!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 March 2011 - 18:00
My cousin has tourette's. But there so many different severities, types, etc. I know a little about how he has coped, not much about the technical side of things so not sure i can help.... what would you like to know?
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 14 January 2011 - 09:55
http://www.uae-embassy.com/Visas.html My mom is currently preparing the docs and we just had to give her some info regarding my husbands residence visa (UID number, passport number, occupation, company that supplies the visa etc. and our address and phone number) and she seems to have all she needs. It takes three weeks, and if you're friend is out of Canada it may take longer though you can fedex the info. So far we haven't had to do anything from our end other than supply my mom with our visa details, but she did just start the process yesterday so who knows. Some people are saying it took less than three weeks but the agent they spoke to said it's terribly unorganized so to give yourself three weeks. It (the visa) is cheaper if you fly emirates or ettihad, however the amount you save on the visa is made up for with the higher price of a airline ticket. My parents are paying the full visa price but are taking cheaper air travel, so really in the end it's all the same... plus it depends on where you're travelling from. We live somewhere that requires two or three legs of the journey, so it was more expensive to fly emirates and try to save on the visa than just finding cheaper connections and paying full visa costs... hope i'm making some sort of sense here!!
moose
133
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 January 2011 - 21:24
replied to you but from my actual email address... hope you get it!
moose
133
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 January 2011 - 20:33
Just got back last week! Had a great time... send me an email and I'll send you lots of info. <em>edited by moose on 09/01/2011</em>
 
 
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