simpleasabc | ExpatWoman.com
 

simpleasabc

simpleasabc
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Latest post on 28 August 2012 - 10:03
Thank you all :) Sounds like a toss up between Bubblicious or Ibn Battuta :) If anyone's been to both would appreciate comparisons (although I'm with your DH SweetSugar123, the dessert room at Ibn Battuta sounds amazing!) I've not been to Bubblicious, but the one at Ibn Battuta Gate is very good and child-friendly and also good value for money, I think only a bit more than half the price of the one at the Westin.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 28 August 2012 - 09:53
Sweetsugar123, after a comfortable night's sleep with the right pillow in the right place, I've come to the conclusion that Tempur is probably not for you, if you've tried three different pillows already and haven't been comfortable. Did the chap in the shop give you another one to try and if so, how are you getting on with that?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 28 August 2012 - 09:49
Does anyone know if Carrefour has the Alavalle brand of gazpacho in stock at all, please? Too lazy to make it fresh myself.. <em>edited by simpleasabc on 28/08/2012</em>
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 17:27
Where are you flying from and to?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 17:26
Agency in Souk Madinat would be my default choice. If you want to go really upmarket then, One o One at the One & Only on the Palm. Or if you want to 'keep it real' then Bidi Bondi! I was going to suggest Agency and I am way too old to be going on a first date :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 17:25
It took a while to get used to but was so wonderful to get up in the morning without aches and pains. I also had trouble getting the right pillow and even now, if it's the wrong way round, it affects me all day. I really must get my back sorted so I can get the full benefit of the mattress.. It is such a large sum of money and so difficult to be sure, I know there are several ladies here who can't stand memory foam, but it does suit all of us - our daughter is so fed up with her (very old) mattress that we are buying her a Tempur one (with a discount, apparently because my husband's Greek and so is the chap who sold it to him ;) ).
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 16:22
I was just asking a rhetorical question, I have no idea what the correct answer is :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 15:41
Isn't the new housing fee adjusted automatically once the landlord has registered their new contract with RERA?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 15:12
I'm presently suffering from terrible back pains, but they are because I've spent a month away from my Tempur mattress, and in that time, did my back in carrying too heavy shopping. We love the Tempur, and though we did notice it was a bit warmer than yer average mattress at first, have got used to it now. We also have the Tempur bed base, I'm not sure if that makes a difference to the "sinking feeling", which doesn't bother us as we find it sinks into the shape of our bodies. I would recommend it but everybody likes different things and if the sinking feeling bothers you, maybe it's not for you. I don't know which model we had, at the time we bought it I think the choice was "thin", "thicker" or "thickest". It's such a shame they don't do trial runs of their mattresses as they did in Geneva, where you could take the plastic-wrapped mattress to your home and try it out for a week :D Difficult choice to make, but we've never been so comfortable as since we've bought this mattress - and the pillows are great! Perhaps you could buy a couple of pillows and see how they suit you before going on to purchase a mattress?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 12:31
I wouldn't worry about the visa and the ID card, when I was applying for my visa, they happily just took my two Christian names from my passport and it was only when we made a bit of a fuss that they changed the name on my visa to ABC from AB..
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 26 August 2012 - 19:55
I think you can buy them here, have a look at these threads: http://www.expatwoman.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=133206 http://www.expatwoman.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=56337 Not sure if Simone N is about at the mo/still here, but you could try her. Otherwise, search for planner on here and you'll find a few threads which aren't to do with weddings :D Also available from their UK website: http://www.organised-mum.co.uk/Ireland-sp-12.html <em>edited by simpleasabc on 26/08/2012</em>
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 26 August 2012 - 14:30
Thanks ladies for your replies, Yes I have heard this from other couples too but thats to be expected if the little brain is absorbing 2 languages simultaneously. As mentioned below, from my understanding I would speak my language directly to the baby and my husband his. However, if we (myself and my husband) spoke HIS language together at home in an effort to expose the baby to more of his language, would that be confusing for baby hearing me speak the 2nd language even if it wasnt directly to baby? Sorry... not sure if Im being clear... and here I am discussing language barriers LOL! In our experience, it's not confusing for the child, it's whatever they are used to. As you can imagine, in Geneva, there are many multilingual families and I only met one child whose behaviour was affected by her parents speaking different languages to her. The psychologist said she was confused by hearing two languages and they should just stick to one. I don't know whether the outcome was that she stopped having tantrums, which was the original problem when she was about a year old :) We went with the theory that little children are like sponges and the more they are allowed to absorb the younger they are, the better their facility for languages will be.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 26 August 2012 - 13:41
This is exactly what my German friends are doing with their newborn. Although both are German, my friend speaks in English, and her DH speaks in German to the baby. I guess we'll find out when she's able to start talking herself. This is the way I've always understood it should be done. I think it's different if you are living in a place where the language commonly spoken is not either of your parents' mother-tongues. In our case, we noticed that though our daughter clearly understood what was going on in any of the three languages she regularly heard spoken, she started speaking properly in all the languages a bit later than the "average" child who only heard one language being spoken to and around them.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 26 August 2012 - 12:36
Our daughter was born in a French-speaking country, and heard French all around her and learnt it at baby-gym classes and creche and school, so we didn't bother to speak it to her at home. My husband, who is Greek, spoke English with me all the time and when he was on his own with her, he would speak Greek to her. She is trilingual now as we would spend summer holidays in Greece, where her Greek became fluent. It worked for her :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 26 August 2012 - 06:44
These directions look about right to me (I've never actually been in there!), tho' they're to a different place: http://thethirdline.com/TTL_LocationMapE.pdf
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 24 August 2012 - 13:38
Tavola? Galeries Lafayette? Bloomies?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 24 August 2012 - 13:31
Amazing! Wonder why it's only just gone viral, being from 2010?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 23 August 2012 - 18:22
I think you can also get vegetable gelatine in powder or leaf form.
simpleasabc
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 23 August 2012 - 16:53
Have you tried these? http://www.dubaiholidaycamps.com/
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 23 August 2012 - 11:27
DB, do you remember the Dudley Moore Tesco's ads for French corn-fed chickens? Which are, I agree, delicious. Used to get them for a treat from the Horrids' Food Hall when I worked in Knightsbridge. Now that was a rotten area for food shopping - Harrods or Iceland and nothing in between :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 23 August 2012 - 09:42
Spinney's are now stocking [b'>fresh British chicken[/b'>, a bit more expensive around 35dhs for 3 chicken breasts and a full chicken 1.8 kg is about 70dhs, much tastier than the regular stuff they sell. Agree about the chippy in Park and shop, both the fish and the chips are really good, best in Dubai IMHO and the guy who runs it is really friendly also. I thought those were battery farmed, which I can't say I'm too keen on.. We have obviously battery farmed chickens in the UK but there is now a huge focus on the free range chickens and only the very cheapest supermarket own brand cheap chickens are battery farmed. Everything else is free range and most of the eggs are too unless they are Tesco Value or the basic supermarket brand ones. I didn't realize that, DB - when I was in England recently, I just bought organic free range eggs and chickens, as I have done for the past 30 years or so. I checked the packaging of other chicken, and it just said it was fresh, I didn't see anywhere that it wasn't battery farmed, or that it was free range. <em>edited by simpleasabc on 23/08/2012</em>
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 23 August 2012 - 09:25
Spinney's are now stocking [b'>fresh British chicken[/b'>, a bit more expensive around 35dhs for 3 chicken breasts and a full chicken 1.8 kg is about 70dhs, much tastier than the regular stuff they sell. Agree about the chippy in Park and shop, both the fish and the chips are really good, best in Dubai IMHO and the guy who runs it is really friendly also. I thought those were battery farmed, which I can't say I'm too keen on..
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 22 August 2012 - 20:13
Godiva Milk chocolate with sea salt sounds wonderful.. Does anyone else here enjoy Lindt's dark chocolate with Chilli?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 22 August 2012 - 11:21
Better picture of what the beach will look like, from the JBR forum [url=http://www.jbrcommunity.com/download/file.php?id=2465'>extension to JBR walk[/url'> ETA: Apparently it's gonna take about 18 months to complete edited by Alismum on 16/08/2012 That domain name expired two days ago, so the picture is gone :(
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 22 August 2012 - 10:58
[b'>Decently priced free range chicken, which tastes like chicken[/b'> (the chicken here tastes of nothing, and is weirdly jelly-like, not sure what they put in it) M&S ready meals. You're so right. I've stopped eating chicken here, which is a real pain as it's a good source of protein on a low carb diet. When I was last back in England, I discovered Waitrose fresh ready meals, which are on a par with, if not sometimes better than, M&S - as you say, wonderful stuff, simple but good quality ingredients. Coop weren't bad for those, either. On the up side, at least we can get Wagamama home delivered here :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 21 August 2012 - 23:37
Tell your hubby's family exactly what you've written here. Nobody reasonable could take issue with what you say. If they think you're being unreasonable, go elsewhere for your hols and invite them to visit you in Dubai, where they can babysit whilst you go out as a couple.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 21 August 2012 - 22:28
I think Dubai has an excellent selection. Annoying when something you like is out of stock but considering we live in the desert our choices are really good. It will never be like your home country but if you want things to be exactly like your home country what is the purpose of moving out? Yes, quite. Well said, Asti :) It's a different world, we can't expect it to be exactly like home.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 21 August 2012 - 15:51
http://www.dubaicalendar.ae/en/event/events/eid-in-dubai-eid-al-fitr-celebrations.html
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 21 August 2012 - 15:03
I tip manicurists/pedicurists but don't tip my hairdresser (possibly because she's my own nationality and I find it awkward to do so). I recently went to Pastels for the first time and there were tip boxes behind the reception area but the name of my hairdresser wasn't there that I could see - I think they were only for the mani/pedi/waxing ladies. I've always found tipping awkward, and much prefer the box system set up in some places. She's got her own envelope, October ;)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 21 August 2012 - 11:22
I think it is quite usual to tip here as hairdressers and nail salons all have boxes for tips with the girls' names on, which is a clue in itself ;) I always tip, wherever I am, unless I am unhappy with the service I have received.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 20 August 2012 - 16:31
If you are on your own, I really wouldn't risk coming over without a firm job offer/return ticket (if you can afford to change your one-way ticket to an open return). As JHM says, better to have a return starting from Europe than here.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 19:20
Ah, OK :) Hope someone who knows more about these things than I do, will get back to you soon :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 18:32
Where's "there"?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 13:42
Trilogygirls, if you already have teaching experience and the right qualifications, I would suggest that you check out the vacancies on the web sites of any schools where you think your experience would be welcome and see if there is anything suitable being advertized for the new term. Good luck!
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 13:32
Have a look here: http://www.expatforum.com/articles/visas-permits-and-immigration/dubai-visas-permits-and-immigration.html
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 13:28
Unless you have a sponsor, you can only come in on a tourist visa. I think (though I may be wrong) that you can only get a tourist visa if you have proof of where you will be staying, as well as a return ticket. Based on that belief, if I were you I would wait until I had a firm contract with a school willing to sponsor you - unless you are married to a man already living/working in Dubai who could sponsor you.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 13:04
Oooh, those canapes sound great, Claire! Thank you! I'm normally a Del-girl myself ;) It now sounds as if my Yorkshire pud experiment is off as our plans have changed, apparently. Will keep this thread for future reference, though!
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 19 August 2012 - 12:44
Great, thanks, Debliz. I think I noticed that about full-fat milk, myself - definitely makes a difference for pancakes and toad-in-the-hole. Roughly how many puds would you make with a mixture based on one egg, do you know? And what fat would you use? I've got duck fat here for the roast potatoes, would that do? <em>edited by simpleasabc on 19/08/2012</em>
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 18 August 2012 - 18:15
I forgot to say, enjoy it, it's the best food I've had in an up-market restaurant in Dubai :)
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 18 August 2012 - 18:06
I went one lunch-time and there were a few people who'd clearly walked up from the beach to eat there. Don't know if it's more "glam" in the evening, though.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 18 August 2012 - 14:20
I'm sure I've bought it in the grains and pulses section in Spinneys.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 23:11
I think it will be dry from 6pm Saturday to 7pm Sunday. But I'm no authority.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 23:07
Paranoia strikes deep..
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 19:56
According to this article in The National, it will start on Sunday: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/eid-al-fitr-falls-on-sunday-says-uae-astronomy-expert
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 11:19
I don't know about Sunday roasts as it is usually a working day here, but you could check out Time Out Dubai to see if you can find something: http://www.timeoutdubai.com/search?query=Sunday+Roast&sa=Search I like the Saturday Roast lunch buffet at Nineteen at the Montgomerie, but it is v expensive: http://www.theaddress.com/en/special/special-nights-at-nineteen Oh dear, salivating now.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 10:11
Just wondered how ccmom's daughter was doing after nearly a month in Dubai?
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 10:04
You won't be surprised to hear that this form of bribery, as explained by Hilsbils's friend, is rife in Greece as well as in Italy, so it probably still goes on in Eastern Europe as well. State hospitals provide only the most basic care, though the actual treatment isn't too bad, and families have to come and bathe sick patients and bring food in from home and even in private hospitals in Athens, we had to pay cash "under the table" to the doctors to get operations and treatment for my parents-in-law, and had to pay agency nurses to sit with them at night because the nurses "on duty" didn't seem to do anything. By the way, my recent experience with my mother's treatment at the hands of local NHS hospitals leads me to believe that parts of England are going the same way as Greece and Italy. No tipping required yet, but basic care, cleanliness, attention and food leaves a lot to be desired. <em>edited by simpleasabc on 17/08/2012</em>
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 17 August 2012 - 09:54
If you live near to one or other of the GEMS schools, go to the one nearest to you.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 16 August 2012 - 12:53
A Windows Easy Transfer cable, to be precise. Does anyone know if it is available in Dubai? I've checked Sharaf and Carrefour's websites, but nothing shows. Otherwise, I'll just get it from Amazon, but seems a waste if I can get it easily here. TIA for any advice.
simpleasabc
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Latest post on 16 August 2012 - 11:52
Lovely jubbly, thanks, Ginnee!
 
 
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