Nic_R | ExpatWoman.com
 

Nic_R

Nic_R
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Latest post on 22 December 2011 - 15:35
Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Jones the Grocer do xmas dinners but not sure if they are collection only or delivery. Hope you find something!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 22 December 2011 - 15:21
I was meaning Pai Thai - different restaurant, would probably be in the Fine Dining - but thank you anyway for reading and looking! :)
Nic_R
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Latest post on 22 December 2011 - 15:11
They have taken this year's books off their website so I can't check - does anyone have one handy and would mind having a quick look? I think it is in next year but can't remember for this year. Thanks :)
Nic_R
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Latest post on 03 November 2011 - 12:47
Mine are not just one word but I can't bear it when someone (even people who I may not know that well) tell me that something is 'repeating on them' - it is absolutely revolting, why would I want to know that they are doing smelly burps?! I don't even like it when people I am close to say it, I really don't want to know. Or when they tell me they are 'bloated'. No need. Also I hate when someone asks 'what is your good name' - I know it is supposed to be a polite way of asking but it just makes no sense!!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 09 October 2011 - 12:42
I don't know about in Dubai but usually in the week before the race they have 'F1 Fanzone' on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi and when I went there was a merchandise stall there.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 06 October 2011 - 15:41
I can't advise on London as have never lived there but can give some idea of cost of living in Dubai.... DEWA (water and electricity bills) for an apartment or small villa would range between 300 per month in the winter for the apartment and could be as high as 2000 in the summer for the villa because more rooms and a garden to irrigate, there is also a housing fee added to your DEWA bill which is 5% of your rent - so for 8000 per month it would be 400 on top of your bill for usage A glass of wine in a restaurant or beer is 40-60 dirhams, a bottle of beer is 25-40 dirhams, a meal in a nice restaurant for 2 people with wine can set you back between 500-1000+ A meal in a cheaper restaurant or cafe which does not serve alcohol would be on average 150 per person (less for kids) Aquaventure (water park) tickets are currently AED 140 for adult UAE residents and 115 for children Car rental starts from around 1600 per month for the cheapest car Cleaners/maids are approx 30 dirhams per hour Hope that helps!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 05 October 2011 - 17:21
Mine started to go like this months ago - I think that some shampoo or conditioner doesn't agree with my hair and even though I wash my hair every day it was looking constantly greasy, it was really awful because I looked like I hadn't washed my hair for days and I felt really dirty! I bought a Toni & Guy shampoo, I think it is called Detox - it was about 40 dirhams I think but it was amazing, one wash and my hair was totally soft again and whatever build up I had was gone. I checked with a hairdresser friend though who said that it isn't something you should use all the time because it can strip the natural oils from your hair and long term will cause damage. But also - I always saw everyone on here complaining about hair loss etc and (sorry to everyone) thought it was just another thing for people to hate Dubai over - but my friend was also saying it and she bought a shower head and a few months later she actually has new hair growing - so I am sold now and I bought one at the weekend. I have only been using it for 4 days but I am convinced my hair feels loads nicer already. The one I have is called Blu or something like that and I got it from a stand in Ibn Battuta but a lot of pharmacies sell them. It has some kind of vitamin capsule in that makes the water smell really nice too and has a filter, I love it and can't believe I do after thinking all of the complaining about the water was a myth! And you were saying you weren't shower that your shower would be compatible for a filter but this is a shower head and the filter is inside it and (so my husband tells me) all shower head fittings are universal so it should fit no problem. So anyway - my point is that you could look at getting one of these and that might help too. I will stop talking now! :) <em>edited by Nic_R on 05/10/2011</em>
Nic_R
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Latest post on 15 September 2011 - 17:25
The last brunch I went to was at Atlantis and we went straight to Nasimi Beach afterwards, they were definitely serving but I would probably call up to check before loads of you turn up there and are disappointed! Also I think Barasti do as well. However with both of those there is a temperature issue seeing as they are outdoors! Both have indoor areas though.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 12 September 2011 - 16:38
I don't have recipes for the following but just ideas of what I think would be nice and full of flavour so that the meat eaters wouldn't feel too cheated! For starter how about some kind of balsamic onion, tomato and goats cheese tart? Would be very quick and easy to make with some ready to roll puff pastry, drizzle with yummy sweet balsamic vinegar. Main course - risotto of some sort would be good as I don't think meat particularly adds to a risotto dish anyway, you could crumble some blue cheese through it just before serving - although this may be cheese overkill of you did a goats cheese tart! Asparagus, onion and peas are always good - butternut squash is also really nice especially with the blue cheese. Serve with some homemade garlic bread. Dessert - my favourite is crumble - homemade apple and blackberry
Nic_R
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Latest post on 08 September 2011 - 16:57
According to this article as long as a certain salary is offered and she has an education certificate. http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/employment/ray-of-hope-for-workers-slapped-with-six-month-labour-ban-1.848607
Nic_R
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Latest post on 08 September 2011 - 14:35
Your husband can pay a deposit at the immigration office to keep your visa valid. They will give you a document that can be used to process his cancellation. Once his new visa is stamped he goes back to immigration with his visa copy / passport and they update the system and he gets the deposit back. Much better than needing to go for a medical for a new visa. Thanks Mags - do you have any idea whether that process applies in Abu Dhabi or just Dubai? And how much the deposit is? It sounds much easier than cancelling - although the cost would probably fall to us as opposed to a new visa for me being paid for by his new company so I guess it depends how much we would have to pay.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 08 September 2011 - 11:40
Thanks frenchfamily, I will have a look into the authorisation. Well I just got an answer to one of my questions - my husband's passport has come back with the visa still intact as apparently his cannot be cancelled until he has cancelled mine first.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 07 September 2011 - 17:26
We also used Allied Pickfords (Pickfords in the UK and then they passed on to Allied Pickfords here) - we had a couple of issues with them but having said that I probably would use them again because they were probably one off incidents. The issues were: We chased up our shipment with our contact and after many emails and phone calls we discovered that they had 'forgotten' to put it on the boat and it was still sitting in the UK - therefore we did not receive it until approx 4 weeks after we were supposed to, however after raising a complaint I was compensated in the form of a 20& reimbursement (originally 10% but I pushed it!) We shipped a plasma TV which we had been told was very fragile and by no means could be tipped at all, it must remain completely upright or would not work anymore. Pickfords built a special box for it and lovingly packed it (not in front of me needless to say) into said box - it even had 'top, bottom and fragile' on it. So our TV arrived - upright I was pleased to see - it was unpacked in front of us, they opened the 'top' - and guess what - the BOTTOM of the TV! It had been upside down for 3 months. Cue small heart attack where we thought our TV was no more - however the good news is that it worked absolutely fine and has continued to do so for another 2 years and is still going strong. So clearly not tipping plasma TVs is a myth. But on the bright side they were a lower price than others we had quotes from (can't remember which companies now) and there was no damage to anything. I would use them again, the forgetting to put the box on the boat thing was probably a one off and I'm sure that the upside down TV was just a silly mistake as well. The service at this side was fantastic - we got a call to say that the shipment had arrived, a delivery date was arranged and it was all delivered and unpacked. One tip - don't bother packing any of your stuff in the UK, I had packed a load of things into boxed and sealed them and they had to unpack them all to check contents and put them into their own boxes.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 07 September 2011 - 12:43
I now give my number with a few digits changed. Mt apologies if that's your number. have always done this too :) Ahh so it is one of you two who holds the DEWA account that I always get 'payment due' texts for? :)
Nic_R
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Latest post on 25 August 2011 - 10:04
There is one in Marina Mall and probably others too but I don't know where.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 01 August 2011 - 11:41
Hi Nic, this website has all the floorplans for most developments - really useful when apartment hunting! http://www.tokasuae.com/e_dxb_projects/marinapromenade.php I live in Marina Promenade and just have the small store off the kitchen but from memory when I looked at other 2 beds the size of store rooms / maids rooms did vary quite a lot. Thanks Sparkysair that's a great website, I will have a look.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 01 August 2011 - 11:18
Does anyone know whether there are any 2 bed apartments in the Park Island or Promenade buildings which also have a maid's room or study? We saw apartments in these buildings which we love but no maid's room and unfortunately I don't think they has quite enough storage for us because we have camping, skiing, diving equipment etc so just wardrobes aren't going to do it. I don't know whether to continue calling agents regarding these buildings or if I should give it up as a bad job if there are not going to be any apartments in there which would be what we need. The Promenade one had a utility room with a very small space for storage in it but not enough. Thanks in advance! Getting desperate to find something now as go to the UK on Thursday for 10 days and really want to move when I return!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 31 July 2011 - 17:21
You could try looking at Marina Sail... Know you want to know buildings NOT to go for... But yep...Tis an older one but if you get one facing the marina... All good. And no probs with maintenence... Across the road from big supermarket... Metro 5 min walk.... adequate pool and spacious apartments. Thanks captainjacky - we looked in there a couple of years ago and liked it but ended up going for another one - I went in the other day and the security guard told me it was full, I found a couple of adverts but then the agents said they were no longer available! So I will keep an eye out for further adverts - thanks for the recommendation :)
Nic_R
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Latest post on 31 July 2011 - 17:20
pollydxb...... what is the rent like? I noticed a 2 bedroom apartment in that building for 135k - it is more than we want to pay really so I am avoiding the building in case I fall in love with it and end up stretching the budget but this popped up as a 'featured property' on one of the websites so I noticed it.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 31 July 2011 - 17:08
Avoid Cascades, half the year the pool is shadowed by Horizon Tower, same goes for Marina Residence. Horizon is a beast of a tower. Thanks Polly, good to know! Anyone want to warn me off any others?
Nic_R
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Latest post on 27 July 2011 - 11:42
I think they may find out from the company - there were redundancies a couple of years ago and they must have known because we were told by them that the company had a black mark against their name and we therefore couldn't have a car loan with them. But it is good to know that things seem to go OK with HSBC, hopefully all will be fine! <em>edited by Nic_R on 27/07/2011</em>
Nic_R
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Latest post on 27 July 2011 - 11:27
ok thanks thats good to know :) has anyone tried CORE Sculpt? Yes, I had the misfortune of trying this for the first time last week - it is horrific! I could hardly move for 3 whole days afterwards. But I guess that means it is good for you.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 27 July 2011 - 11:23
My bank is HSBC changed my job 3 times in 4 years (not all out of choice) never had a problem. The one time there was no money going in for 3 months i was overdrawn and still no problem. Thanks for the reply, fingers crossed then! Did you go in to tell them you were changing jobs or did you not bother? I have heard that if they do freeze then it is only the gratuity amount that gets frozen and if that is the case then there shouldn't be a problem but just need to be prepared as I know that here things aren't always done as they should be!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 27 July 2011 - 11:18
It is great, I have been a member for over a year and go to 3 or 4 classes a week so definitely get my money's worth. I find the instructors really motivating and there is a great variety of classes. A couple of the classes are difficult to get into but as long as you are on the ball with booking (send a text message as early as possible on the day before the class) then it should be rare that you have a problem getting into the class you want - I usually text at 6:30am when I get up and the only class I ever have trouble with is Monday night spinning class because they allow booking from midnight for that one as it is so popular - so by the time I wake up it is sometimes fully booked!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 10 July 2011 - 11:46
Do you mean Shirley? From this article? http://www.7days.ae/article/news/national/labourers-bag-some-help It doesn't mention in the article that she sells books but I know she does so this may be who you are looking for - her email address is in the article.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 10:18
Just a thought but might be worth reporting to the police - I think that here you never know what it being monitored and you wouldn't want them to be picked up and it be assumed that you had invited them.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 10:14
If you have kids, lots of visitors or like eating at nice restaurants then they are definitely worth it - we make our money back several times over. We have the family book (even though we have no kids - good for water parks and casual restaurants) and the fine dining book. Wild Wadi and Aquaventure vouchers are useful for visitors (or if you have kids) and at a nice restaurant you can easily make all or most of the money back for the book in one meal. We went to Nobu for our anniversary and were able to use a voucher on the taster menu which saved us 400 dirhams and the book cost less than this. However bear in mind that the books are valid until the end of December so you need to decide whether you will make the money back before then. Have a look at The Entertainer website and all of the vouchers are listed on there so you can see whether you would go to the places in it. <em>edited by Nic_R on 07/07/2011</em>
Nic_R
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Latest post on 16 June 2011 - 14:13
I find it amazing the number of people who think its the norm to have a free bar all night at a British wedding?! I've never been to a wedding with free drinks (alcoholic or soft) all night. Champagne (or mulled wine in my case as it was near Christmas) on arrival, unlimited wine and soft drinks with the meal, and a toast drink yes, but never in the evening! Maybe its a north/south divide thing? I'm Mancunian, so maybe down south its normal? Ha ha that must be it because I am also a Northerner too!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 16 June 2011 - 14:10
Sign up for Cobone, Groupon, Gonabit etc - there are quite often offers through them for hotel deals. I got an email this morning from one of them (can't remember which, I get so many!) for the Grosvenor House Hotel - in Dubai of course but it would fit your criteria of not being far away! There is also an offer on at the moment through one of them for somewhere in Lebanon if that is more like what you were thinking, have a look on their websites. Otherwise I have had recommendations for the Cove Rotana in RAK and the Kempinski in Ajman. Last year we went to the Fairmont in Abu Dhabi which was fantastic, we had a lovely relaxing weekend and they have some great deals on their website which have packages including brunch, dinner and other things.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 16 June 2011 - 14:04
Well clearly I am cheap - if you count providing 120 people with a 3 course meal in the afternoon, evening buffet, wedding favours, 2 glasses of champagne each and wine with their meals. Because other than that 'small amount' we had a cash bar. I have only ever been to 1 wedding in the UK with a free bar and don't find a cash bar unusual at all. But clearly I mix in different circles to those who think that a cash bar makes the wedding couple cheap. I personally think that our guests would rather have been invited and had to buy themselves a few drinks than to have been left out of our day. We put a note in with our invitations to say that gifts were not at all expected as we understood that to attend a wedding there is a cost, however we did have a honeymoon gift list and everyone was unbelievably generous. As we would be to our friends and family. The amount that was wasted at the free bar wedding I went to was disgusting because people were putting their half full drinks down and then just going to get another one when they couldn't be bothered to reach out to the table to pick up their last one.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 06 June 2011 - 18:14
I went there a few weeks ago with a group of friends and it was the same day as the Nasimi Beach Hed Kandi, we had a baby in our group and all was fine. However our table was on the outskirts, on the right as you walk in, it seemed a bit quieter in that area - the middle looked more lively and the music was louder. I have booked to go again soon and requested a table in the middle but they said that (for some reason) they can't put the request in right now but they will confirm the booking with me a couple of days before and I can mention it again then - otherwise I would suggest that you say that you want a table on the edge rather than in the middle but it sounds like they wouldn't be able to promise this. I have only been to the Saffron brunch that one time so can't speak for whether the atmosphere is different on a Nasimi event day. <em>edited by Nic_R on 06/06/2011</em>
Nic_R
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Latest post on 18 May 2011 - 13:56
Thanks Diamante that makes perfect sense now and I use the metro every day so I should be able to find it. Thanks again! :)
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Latest post on 18 May 2011 - 11:48
Thanks for the reply, I will head over to JLT this weekend, the car will be scraping on the floor under the weight of the paper! But stupid question - what do you mean by at the end of each cluster? I have been to JLT quite a few times but have never really noticed a 'cluster' layout. Thanks!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 16 May 2011 - 16:53
Does anyone know where there is somewhere to recycle paper in the Marina? I have the most enormous pile of newspapers (waist high and growing daily) and would feel far too guilty throwing it all down the rubbish chute. I think I may have to do more than one run!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 06 April 2011 - 15:14
Unawatuna by Galle. I second this - beautiful place. I can't really put my finger on what I loved so much about it but it was sooooo relaxed, little beach hut restaurants everywhere, beach house accommodation (we didn't stay there, just visited for a day so can't speak for whether the accommodation is clean) - just fantastic. We stayed in Galle nearby which is a tuktuk ride away so if you stayed in Unawatuna then you could visit Galle Fort which is nice to walk around - go to the Galle Fort Hotel for lunch. It is a loooooong drive from the airport though. Fascinating journey though, I enjoyed every minute. We also stayed in Ellerton Lodge near Kandy which was amazing as well, however there is nothing to do here other than read, eat, drink and walk - which was perfect for us for a couple of days as part of our week but for a long weekend you may want a bit more action!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 04 April 2011 - 12:49
I love and dislike it - love it because I miss my family and friends and would never pass up an opportunity to spend time with them. I also love that they can see where we live and meet our friends here. And it is great to be able to give them new experiences such as camping in the desert etc. However it is very tiring having visitors when working full time - I don't want to take too much time off or this means that we do not have days to take when we want a holiday. Also it is very expensive to go to the nice restaurants that they want to go to and to go for brunch or whatever on the weekend. Our visitors are always very considerate and say we don't have to go out every night but it is their holiday so I feel bad saying that we should stay in, eat homecooked food and watch TV before going to bed at 10:30! So we end up being very busy and having a week of late nights. Last year we had 4 different sets of visitors in a 2 month period, that was exhausting. And we end up completely getting out of routine, not able to get to the gym, eating bad foods and then if it is only a couple of weeks before the next visitors then we continue to avoid the gym and eat takeaways during that time too! Our own fault I am sure but it is disruptive. I think that as long as we can try to keep visitors spaced out it is OK - we already have 4 lots booked in this year though!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 29 March 2011 - 13:04
I'm not sure Dubai is the place that she should be admitting to a doctor that she does not know who the father of her baby is - could be a quick way to jail. Maybe she should look at flying to a Western country for the test.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 24 March 2011 - 16:13
Dear Parents Thank you for your support following the recent talk I gave to pupils in Year 8 about alcohol. This letter is to update you on the situation. The allegations of alcohol consumption in school, which were rightly brought to the school’s attention, have been taken very seriously. Despite our best endeavours we have not been able to find substantiated evidence. We are taking further advice on how best to manage matters such as this in the future. I hope that the school and parents will work together to educate the young people in our care, give them the confidence to resist temptation and to stick to the right course. Alcohol education is part of the PSHCE programme which is delivered to all pupils during their time in school. In addition, the school will be very vigilant in future and will deter any pupil from breaching both the law of UAE and our own rules. Following the talk I gave I am arranging for an outside speaker from the British Embassy to come in and talk to all year groups about these issues and others early in the summer term. [b'>This will further help pupils understand about being teenagers in the UAE.[/b'> I would write it as above - however I am not sure what the sentence in bold is supposed to mean - maybe reword as something like 'This will further help pupils to understand the restrictions placed on teenagers in the UAE and the implications of disobeying the law.' <em>edited by Nic_R on 24/03/2011</em>
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Latest post on 23 March 2011 - 12:02
I am also a nervous flyer although am slowly getting over it due to doing plenty of it in the past year! I alleviate the anxiety with copious amounts of red wine but I wouldn't recommend this for your 11 year old :) Do any airlines still allow visits to the cockpit? I am thinking probably not due to events of the past few years but I am sure that someone in the know told me that they did. Maybe worth looking into. Is there any specific thing that makes her anxious? I used to worry about the different noises (I thought that the 'bing bong' noises which is the crew communicating to each other or people asking for drinks meant that there was a problem!?) and I bought a book which explained each aspect of the flight and what happens so that you know that the noises are normal. Or if it is something else that worries her try to find a way of rationalising it. I still have a huge fear of turbulence so I keep meaning to read up on it so that I can be happy that it is normal and not dangerous to the plane. Also - in the UK some airports run courses for nervous flyers which go through everything and end with a short flight, do any airports here do something similar? Good luck, hope you can have a fairly stress free flight!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 22 March 2011 - 16:59
First half hour free and after that need to get receipt stamped from any of the restaurants ( only the Marina walk ones) or spinneys to park free. Just wanted to reiterate this because we parked at Marina Walk and wandered a bit too far down away from the official 'Marina Walk' area (but still a busy part) and the restaurant was not able to stamp our ticket - very annoyed as hadn't realised that there was a specific area. We just went to Spinneys and bought a load of meat to stick in the freezer (minimum spend for getting the ticket stamped) so we weren't wasting money and got them to stamp the ticket for us.
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Latest post on 13 February 2011 - 14:22
Our contract says we have to remove all marking from the walls so I would assume that this would mean that the walls have to be in perfect condition when we hand the building over. I would feel happier about redecorating if they had actually cleaned our windows more than once since we moved in 19 months ago!!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 13 February 2011 - 13:49
I am pretty sure you can use up to 4 vouchers per group (but would have to be from more than one book obviously).
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Latest post on 13 February 2011 - 12:37
We went to the Maldives for our honeymoon and stayed at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu and then moved to Coco Palm Bodu Hithi - the Escape Water Villas there are absolutely AMAZING, we had the best holiday. Excellent diving on both islands as well. However one of the islands is a seaplane transfer and the other is a speedboat transfer so not good for you. We booked through Maldives Direct (based in UK as it was before we moved here) and I spent quite a long time chatting to Jim there - he has personally visited all of the islands they sell holidays to and his advice was fantastic, we told him exactly what we wanted and he found us the perfect holiday.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 15:48
I made Valentines dinner at home a couple of years ago and made crabcakes for starter, spaghetti carbonara for main course (I know this contains pork but you can substitute if you don't eat it) and then I made individual apple and blackberry crumbles with custard for dessert and I found some little heart shaped tins for them. I suppose it depends on whether you both have any favourites - for example if you like Italian then homemade pizzas can be delicious, for Indian you could do a curry in a slow cooker or slow cook in the oven. Fondue is always a fun thing to do for a nice dinner as well - either a cheese one for main course or a chocolate one for dessert.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 14:00
the kite beach is nice, further down at Um Sequiem. If you are facing the seaside it is about 500 metres from DOSC and you cut down onto it just before the petrol station, coming from town end. If you go along there, a small development is taking shape, volleyball courts, soapy footy for the kids and adults, kayak hire, posh sunshades, toilets and showers. It is free and such nice place. further along this beach is just perfect, no one around and very peaceful. Take a drive around and have a look see! Thanks for this, I will check it out. Sorry to not be able to understand your excellent directions but when you say coming from 'town end' do you mean driving away from Jumeirah? So I should drive on Beach Road in Marina direction and turn onto the beach next to a petrol station approx 500 metres away from DOSC? Thanks again!
Nic_R
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Latest post on 07 February 2011 - 10:58
I used to have dance lessons as a child - the dance school had an annual show at a theatre which went on for a few nights and tickets were sold, the money went to the dance school I presume. We also had to pay for or help with making our own costumes. Is this not the same thing? I never saw anything wrong with this.
Nic_R
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Latest post on 02 February 2011 - 16:34
Thanks for the ideas - unfortunately we have a meal booked so wouldn't be looking to eat in the same place, we would want to go to the bar/club at 10:30-11ish I think. So I am guessing that the 'free' places would be first come first served, in which case all tables will be long taken by the time we get there. I could look at Warehouse but they will probably want us to get there earlier I would think.
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Latest post on 02 February 2011 - 16:20
Does anyone know of a good club or lively bar that you can book a table at that doesn't cost an absolute fortune? The type of table that includes a bottle and mixers. Clearly I don't expect this to come for free but all places I have heard of charge thousands of dirhams. Or even somewhere that doesn't include drinks but would have waiter service. I am looking for somewhere to go after a meal for a 30th birthday - so somewhere that is suitable for a group but where we would have our own little space. It would be great to get somewhere that we could book so that it feels like we have a plan rather than drifting to the nearest bar after the meal is over. Thanks in advance :)
Nic_R
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Latest post on 01 February 2011 - 12:13
I have emailed them for times of buses on Thursday afternoon - I'll let you know when I get a reply and hope that helps you too. Thanks that would be great. Can't say I am holding my breath for them to reply to you though :) Otherwise I will go to Ibn Battuta at the weekend and see if I can figure it out, I don't need to go until next week. I have heard the buses are decent, can anyone who has been on one confirm?
Nic_R
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 31 January 2011 - 21:03
Wow I could have written this post! Apart from the kids that is! This 'visitor season' we had 4 lots of guests and they all came within a 2 month period. Now I am not complaining that they visit because I would be upset if I never saw my family and friends but before the first visitor arrived we had been on a diet and exercise drive for a couple of months which had been going really well, this then went to pot when our first visitor arrived. For some reason our unhealthy eating and no exercise continued in between visitors and then right up to Christmas when we went to the UK. For 3 whole months I barely cooked a meal, we spent an absolute fortune on eating out and takeaways and all my good feeling about my diet had gone out of the window. We still can't get back into it completely. It is totally our fault for letting it happen, none of ur visitors would have said we couldn't go to the gym or couldn't have a meal at home but we want them to have a great holiday and spend as much time with them as possible. We had a really good time with our family and friends but we allowed them to turn our lives upside down. We already have another 3 lots of visitors booked in between April and June - we hace said to them that we unfortunately won't be able to take any time off work (because we end up using all of our annual leave to enjoy other people's holidays and can't have our own) and we have said that we will only be able to go out with them once or twice during the week - weekends are fine to spend as much time with them as possible. It sounds horrible but as friends and family we expect them to understand. When we go home for a visit we don't expect them all to take time off work, eat out every night, be at our beck and call, plan every moment of our time and stay up until all hours so why do we feel we have to do it for them? Luckily most of our visitors now are repeat visitors so are starting to know their way around, it is more difficult with first timers!
 
 
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