The next week at work was spent using every spare moment trying to sort out when I was going to get the keys to my place!!! It had to be cleaned and painted before I could move in, and I was constantly chasing.
There was a works party planned for the Thursday…it is marketed as the annual party rather than the Christmas party….non the less I had opted out of going….i thought it was a get dressed up affair and given it was at festival city and I was living at the greens it was just a hassle and I was stressed over the villa…..but I chatted to a couple of mates who persuaded me to change my mind….now all I had to do was coordinate with the lease agent to meet me in the morning to exchange keys and then I could meet everyone at the do, just down the road from the villa and drink…….but as with everything in Dubai…plans just don’t work out…I couldn’t get the keys till later in the afternoon…so I went to the party and watched everyone around me get drunk……..REALLY DRUNK…it was a free bar….god I was miffed I couldn’t drink…..but hey…I got my villa keys and was able to start moving in on Friday…..
It wasn’t too much of a logistical nightmare as Lou and Jim……….well ok Jim (lou was suffering the effects of the free bar!) helped move the larger items to the place……
I didn’t have a bed or anything so the mission was to get to Ikea ASAP….Scott leant me a blow up bed…….actually a lot more comfortable than I thought it was going to be but roll on the 4th
Feb……the delivery arrives! Bought a load of curtains and poles….borrowed a drill and the mission for the week was to get the windows covered….adds to the privacy and makes the place feel more homely I think!..............it was a mission that saw me in Ikea and Ace everyday for nearly a week….(ACE is like B&Q in the UK)…not only for plugs and screws but for foam to stop the noise through the windows……a few of the poles went up like a dream…apart from the odd wonky bracket…ok so that can be hidden…..no drama. But behind some of the walls there was like a really hard plate….we were using the wrong bit but once we worked it out we got through it like a hot knife through butter…..
Now I have been here 4 and a half months and really craved a night out…old school style…memories of waxy O’Connors and jimmy Dix and some really cool nights out were filling my head…so I emailed a few peeps and got a few together……Waxy’s took a while to warm up but when it did, it was really good…as usually rushing around I didn’t have time to eat…but had a really nice burger at the bar!......in between free cocktails and sparkling wine….What a mix!! Then it started….the gin and tonic….it was time to find somewhere to dance…although I had been singing and dancing in Waxy’s Lou reminded me of the rest of the mission. Some of the group followed to what was the biggest shock I have had since returning to Dubai! WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO JIMMY DIX!!!! 1:30 and it was empty…no band and I counted 9 people in there….Cannot believe it….i am totally GUTTED! The place was crud! I was pretty impressed that Lou and Mary hit the dance floor…..AN EMPTY DANCE FLOOR, only to be joined by 2 of the admin team from work…..who I have since spoken to and were equally as shocked at what has happen to the place!....i couldn’t move from the bar area….a mixture of stability reasons and total disappointment…..
One drink in JD and three of us moved on…rapidly! To Double Deckers….that was also quite empty…don’t know what was going on! But it was still good to be out…and people watching was a comedy activity!!
Grabbed a cab around 0300….had to stop once on the way back as a dodgy moment came over my friend….never seen a cabbie move so fast to open a door…it was a nice cab….leather interior hahaha….Found the villa ok…and the next thing I know…its morning….OW.
The planes were well noisy…I literally dumped my stuff and went to bed no ear plugs…….Friday was Slow….around lunch Scott and I went to get my car from NGS Via Diera City center to get some shopping. Oh god that was not so fun……so busy and the waves of nausea periodically hit me…but….worked on through! Hahaha RESULT! Bought a microwave…so at least while waiting for gas, I can have hot food at the villa!!! Just chilled in the afternoon….sorted the washing machine, the cooker is now level and generally didn’t do much else….there was a terrible sandstorm so going out wasn’t pleasant….in fact there were mini sand dunes forming under the doors……
Saturday was Hair day and try to sort the internet day and back door maintenance guy day! The only success out of those tasks was the Hair…Etisalat were not doing connections, and back door peeps never turned up…still……..it gave me time to clean up a bit and do washing…..
Did I mention I joined a gym…..there is one in Mirdif with a pool….25m training pool outside. Been two nights in a row so far and it is cold…I have IKEA delivery tonight so not sure I will make it…but I am being hounded to book my free personal trainer sessions….i don’t want to…..too scared!!! Especially the part where they analyse your BMI….FAT CONTENT….oiy…I know I am over weight…that’s why I joined a gym…..FOR SWIMMING!......i will get round to it….later this week….will let you know how it goes!
Sunday, 3 February 2008
No sooner had the guys got back and I was on the town again! Lou had just had a birthday and a number of other people at work were celebrating their birthdays too, so only fair to paint the town…..so again we hit Yalumba. A champagne fest………….plan was going good until the fact that the heavens opened solidly for two days that week causing major flooding and tail backs from Sharjah that affected just about every major artery in Dubai for just about a week!!!!
I opted for a cab share with a guy that lived in the Marina…he picked me up at the greens and we headed into town…I assumed he knew where we were going….so to make doubly sure I told the cabbie which hotel it was too…….it seemed to take ages and yet again we went a way that I wasn’t sure off….all the roads keep changing so I wasn’t totally surprised…..Now, when we got off Garhoud bridge and the guy I was with said…its ok we can walk from here, the alarm bells should have started ringing! I was wearing impractical shoes for walking!!! But we went for it as we were nearly an hour late due to MEGA traffic….well basically we went to the wrong hotel! It wasn’t til we got to the front door that I noticed this….OOPPPSSIEEE…but the big question was…with grid locked traffic everywhere…how the hell do we get to the right place….luckily just asked the door man and it was across the road….(well that was where he pointed us to go)……eventually we made it (it was not far)……1 hour late we started munching and slurping….had some catching up to do…..
It didn’t take long for the bubbles to start to take effect…and as the time ticked on and the guests started to clear, our table started to come alive….. 
Some tables were cleared and moved out of the way, the music was cranked up and we had a mini dance floor…..GAME ON! ………now this is where it gets a little cloudy…..i didn’t remember the gang making a human pyramid until the photos came around the next week….
but I have a lasting memory of the lads and a birthday cake…
It started with Scott dancing around with said cake, it was then passed to Will to balance on his head…..no drama he took it off his head but as he held it, the cake slipped and splatted on the floor…..i nearly wet myself it was so funny…..that provided the prop for the funniest dancing I have ever seen in my life. I think the phrase cake dancing can be coined….someone started sprinting on the slippy mess, I mean REALLY sprinting, flicking cream and chocolate in all directions, then another started a version of breakdancing, followed by numerous guys trying to out do each other….Topped off by Tom who did rolley polleys through it wearing white shirt and light cream trousers….you had to have seen it to appreciate how funny it was……
The inevitable move to the bar area superseded the cake antics….especially when a waiter put pay to the fun by clearing up the cake with his tea towel!!! Spoil sport………but this didn’t stop the fun…..for Scott and Kev decided to start a limbo competition!!!! Not sure where the rope came from but most people had a go…and the difficulty rating for each attempt increased mid limbo….thanks to the two guys dropping the rope a few cm at a time…as the munchies set in (god knows why as I had just consumed all I could eat from the buffet!!) I dared Jim to nick a couple of nice looking cookies from a jar that was obviously for decoration purposes….they were RANK….oh my god….i left my remains in a plant pot before my body rejected it involuntarily! Was funny to see Jims face as he took a bite and reailsed why I didn’t finish it!!!
The crowd then decided to try and go to Chi, but it was getting on and money was running low, so me and the guy I cabbed with left for our places…….
Oh the pain of the champagne brunch….totally self inflicted but I can confirm that for me…the champagne hangover is the most painful of all hangovers.
Basically I got up at 10:30 which I thought was pretty good….went to socialize with J&C and the kids but it was too bright and I was not feeling tops…went back to bed till the afternoon and basically wasted the Friday….
Saturday was my turn to give a helping hand. A friend was moving flat, so I helped with the proceedings…He hired a van to move the big stuff and we shifted it to another mates place while waiting for the next place to be free….we started at around 0900 and didn’t finish until 2230, well…I left then…I think he still had to sort stuff out at the old flat….was hard work but it was such a workout, especially given I had skipped dragon boating.
I opted for a cab share with a guy that lived in the Marina…he picked me up at the greens and we headed into town…I assumed he knew where we were going….so to make doubly sure I told the cabbie which hotel it was too…….it seemed to take ages and yet again we went a way that I wasn’t sure off….all the roads keep changing so I wasn’t totally surprised…..Now, when we got off Garhoud bridge and the guy I was with said…its ok we can walk from here, the alarm bells should have started ringing! I was wearing impractical shoes for walking!!! But we went for it as we were nearly an hour late due to MEGA traffic….well basically we went to the wrong hotel! It wasn’t til we got to the front door that I noticed this….OOPPPSSIEEE…but the big question was…with grid locked traffic everywhere…how the hell do we get to the right place….luckily just asked the door man and it was across the road….(well that was where he pointed us to go)……eventually we made it (it was not far)……1 hour late we started munching and slurping….had some catching up to do…..
It didn’t take long for the bubbles to start to take effect…and as the time ticked on and the guests started to clear, our table started to come alive….. Some tables were cleared and moved out of the way, the music was cranked up and we had a mini dance floor…..GAME ON! ………now this is where it gets a little cloudy…..i didn’t remember the gang making a human pyramid until the photos came around the next week….but I have a lasting memory of the lads and a birthday cake…It started with Scott dancing around with said cake, it was then passed to Will to balance on his head…..no drama he took it off his head but as he held it, the cake slipped and splatted on the floor…..i nearly wet myself it was so funny…..that provided the prop for the funniest dancing I have ever seen in my life. I think the phrase cake dancing can be coined….someone started sprinting on the slippy mess, I mean REALLY sprinting, flicking cream and chocolate in all directions, then another started a version of breakdancing, followed by numerous guys trying to out do each other….Topped off by Tom who did rolley polleys through it wearing white shirt and light cream trousers….you had to have seen it to appreciate how funny it was……
The inevitable move to the bar area superseded the cake antics….especially when a waiter put pay to the fun by clearing up the cake with his tea towel!!! Spoil sport………but this didn’t stop the fun…..for Scott and Kev decided to start a limbo competition!!!! Not sure where the rope came from but most people had a go…and the difficulty rating for each attempt increased mid limbo….thanks to the two guys dropping the rope a few cm at a time…as the munchies set in (god knows why as I had just consumed all I could eat from the buffet!!) I dared Jim to nick a couple of nice looking cookies from a jar that was obviously for decoration purposes….they were RANK….oh my god….i left my remains in a plant pot before my body rejected it involuntarily! Was funny to see Jims face as he took a bite and reailsed why I didn’t finish it!!!
The crowd then decided to try and go to Chi, but it was getting on and money was running low, so me and the guy I cabbed with left for our places…….
Oh the pain of the champagne brunch….totally self inflicted but I can confirm that for me…the champagne hangover is the most painful of all hangovers.
Basically I got up at 10:30 which I thought was pretty good….went to socialize with J&C and the kids but it was too bright and I was not feeling tops…went back to bed till the afternoon and basically wasted the Friday….
Saturday was my turn to give a helping hand. A friend was moving flat, so I helped with the proceedings…He hired a van to move the big stuff and we shifted it to another mates place while waiting for the next place to be free….we started at around 0900 and didn’t finish until 2230, well…I left then…I think he still had to sort stuff out at the old flat….was hard work but it was such a workout, especially given I had skipped dragon boating.
I have been totally terrible in updating the blog of late and for that I apologize.
It has been a manic 2 months since the rugby 7s…..let me try and enlighten you in what has been going on…….Trust me it has been Stressy…..
Basically Jean and Chris were getting ready to go back to NZ for their 6 weeks holiday and Steve was due to arrive in less than a week (6th Dec). I was aware that the pressure was on to find accommodation. J&C had been so good to me by letting me live with them but I wanted to let them have their family home back!
Many people had suggested to me that the way forward was to share a flat with someone…this however is illegal here as it is classed as co habiting. Cutting a long story short I discussed with some mates and I had a plan of how I was to get my accommodation before J&C came back…..and a plan was hatched.
Steve arrived on the 6th to start 1 month of job hunting…this proved a really difficult exercise….many places just simply not responding or sending signals that they were interested but then not actually following through. For the fun side of his trip I had to make an itinerary….i want to do a number of things while he was out…notably something for Christmas and new year…..but ever looming over my head was this damn accommodation issue!!!!
I had already tried to view accommodation out here with very little success. So the prospect of trying again was daunting. Basically looked on Gulf News classifieds and rang around a few places….saw some apartments in Barsha and they were pretty nice but the consideration was the distance from work. I was already commuting from the greens to Wafi and the traffic on that route was a nightmare and pretty unpredictable. Same goes for JBR near the marina. Then it came to my attention that for the same price I could get a villa in Mirdif as get an apartment in these places….so my attention turned….found a nice new place….basically did the deal with the guy mid December and had to wait for Eid, Christmas and new year to pass before finding out that actually they were a bunch of robbing bstrds…….yep…….we had been caught in a scam…….FKRS……sorry about that outburst but when you have lost an amount of cash to some unscrupulous muppet it kinda leaves you a little sour!........................
Anyway…..back to the drawing board with the accommodation thing.….meanwhile steve was having a mare with the applications….turned up to some joke of a walk in interview at the airport. Basically turned out to be an unorganized maul with guys literally screwing CVs in balls and hurling them over the fence…..sufficed to say he didn’t hear anything from there…..
Back to my itinerary I decided to get him out to a few touristy things during his stay…we went to the ICE bar at Times square mall which can be compared to sitting in a supermarket warehouse freezer….I used to work for Waitrose and the similarities were uncanny….in fact you even got given the same coats that we used to have to wear when picking stock!!!. We went to Ski Dubai which was a crash course…… literally….Trying to reacquaint myself with the white stuff…. and quadding, not to mention the odd trip to the beach for a bit of tanning.
Christmas day was nice…got up went to the beach for breakfast and then headed to the Grand Hyatt for Lunch…..Traditional lunch….was nice however marred slightly by the inept service from Dubai Taxi who’s control centre staff and taxi drivers seem to have a different idea of how long two minutes is compared to reality. In fact it was 58mins different from reality meaning I had to drive in the end….but the food was sooo good…
New year was spent at the Park Hyatt with two friends (Lou and Jim)…..to our amusement on turning up we were given wrist bands that stated we were on an alcoholic package and we were hurded to our “area”……..there was a hogmany party in full swing with loadsa kilt clad men running around…..i was going to ask “THE” question but bottled it…(I had already found out the answer at the 7s really”…the food was a brunch type buffet affair…really good, and the fireworks were amazing….in fact I thought we were being mortared….
The end of the night was spent on the dance floor with Lou while the boys stayed at the table on doubles….somehting that steve later regretted…..SO DID I AS HE USED MY BLOODY PARTY HAT AS A SICK BOWL!!!!! I had decorated it as well! Swine!
Soon the 6th Jan arrived and Steve left for blighty….he had to go back to finish up packing the house….i had a couple of weeks before J&C returned to find a new abode……(I wasn’t being kicked out, but I made them a promise…..).
Anyway, I hit it running…..I viewed so many places and jumped out of work at lunch to rush to various parts of Dubai…a mate was supplying me with ads, and I followed them up….eventually through a stroke of luck a place came up in mid January…... 2 bed plus study…..bonus….but having been burnt once already I was gonna be bloody sure this time that I wasn’t going to be messed around a second time…….to be fair the lady was really good…..and after a few maintenance issues were resolved I sorted the contract out just after J&C got back…(16th January)….It was good to see them all again, they looked all refreshed from their break.…..and the kids, they seemed to have grown up lots since last I saw them!
It has been a manic 2 months since the rugby 7s…..let me try and enlighten you in what has been going on…….Trust me it has been Stressy…..
Basically Jean and Chris were getting ready to go back to NZ for their 6 weeks holiday and Steve was due to arrive in less than a week (6th Dec). I was aware that the pressure was on to find accommodation. J&C had been so good to me by letting me live with them but I wanted to let them have their family home back!
Many people had suggested to me that the way forward was to share a flat with someone…this however is illegal here as it is classed as co habiting. Cutting a long story short I discussed with some mates and I had a plan of how I was to get my accommodation before J&C came back…..and a plan was hatched.
Steve arrived on the 6th to start 1 month of job hunting…this proved a really difficult exercise….many places just simply not responding or sending signals that they were interested but then not actually following through. For the fun side of his trip I had to make an itinerary….i want to do a number of things while he was out…notably something for Christmas and new year…..but ever looming over my head was this damn accommodation issue!!!!
I had already tried to view accommodation out here with very little success. So the prospect of trying again was daunting. Basically looked on Gulf News classifieds and rang around a few places….saw some apartments in Barsha and they were pretty nice but the consideration was the distance from work. I was already commuting from the greens to Wafi and the traffic on that route was a nightmare and pretty unpredictable. Same goes for JBR near the marina. Then it came to my attention that for the same price I could get a villa in Mirdif as get an apartment in these places….so my attention turned….found a nice new place….basically did the deal with the guy mid December and had to wait for Eid, Christmas and new year to pass before finding out that actually they were a bunch of robbing bstrds…….yep…….we had been caught in a scam…….FKRS……sorry about that outburst but when you have lost an amount of cash to some unscrupulous muppet it kinda leaves you a little sour!........................
Anyway…..back to the drawing board with the accommodation thing.….meanwhile steve was having a mare with the applications….turned up to some joke of a walk in interview at the airport. Basically turned out to be an unorganized maul with guys literally screwing CVs in balls and hurling them over the fence…..sufficed to say he didn’t hear anything from there…..
Back to my itinerary I decided to get him out to a few touristy things during his stay…we went to the ICE bar at Times square mall which can be compared to sitting in a supermarket warehouse freezer….I used to work for Waitrose and the similarities were uncanny….in fact you even got given the same coats that we used to have to wear when picking stock!!!. We went to Ski Dubai which was a crash course…… literally….Trying to reacquaint myself with the white stuff…. and quadding, not to mention the odd trip to the beach for a bit of tanning.
Christmas day was nice…got up went to the beach for breakfast and then headed to the Grand Hyatt for Lunch…..Traditional lunch….was nice however marred slightly by the inept service from Dubai Taxi who’s control centre staff and taxi drivers seem to have a different idea of how long two minutes is compared to reality. In fact it was 58mins different from reality meaning I had to drive in the end….but the food was sooo good…
New year was spent at the Park Hyatt with two friends (Lou and Jim)…..to our amusement on turning up we were given wrist bands that stated we were on an alcoholic package and we were hurded to our “area”……..there was a hogmany party in full swing with loadsa kilt clad men running around…..i was going to ask “THE” question but bottled it…(I had already found out the answer at the 7s really”…the food was a brunch type buffet affair…really good, and the fireworks were amazing….in fact I thought we were being mortared….
The end of the night was spent on the dance floor with Lou while the boys stayed at the table on doubles….somehting that steve later regretted…..SO DID I AS HE USED MY BLOODY PARTY HAT AS A SICK BOWL!!!!! I had decorated it as well! Swine!
Soon the 6th Jan arrived and Steve left for blighty….he had to go back to finish up packing the house….i had a couple of weeks before J&C returned to find a new abode……(I wasn’t being kicked out, but I made them a promise…..).
Anyway, I hit it running…..I viewed so many places and jumped out of work at lunch to rush to various parts of Dubai…a mate was supplying me with ads, and I followed them up….eventually through a stroke of luck a place came up in mid January…... 2 bed plus study…..bonus….but having been burnt once already I was gonna be bloody sure this time that I wasn’t going to be messed around a second time…….to be fair the lady was really good…..and after a few maintenance issues were resolved I sorted the contract out just after J&C got back…(16th January)….It was good to see them all again, they looked all refreshed from their break.…..and the kids, they seemed to have grown up lots since last I saw them!
I have been totally terrible in updating the blog of late and for that I apologize.
It has been a manic 2 months since the rugby 7s…..let me try and enlighten you in what has been going on…….Trust me it has been Stressy…..
Basically Jean and Chris were getting ready to go back to NZ for their 6 weeks holiday and Steve was due to arrive in less than a week (6th Dec). I was aware that the pressure was on to find accommodation. J&C had been so good to me by letting me live with them but I wanted to let them have their family home back!
Many people had suggested to me that the way forward was to share a flat with someone…this however is illegal here as it is classed as co habiting. Cutting a long story short I discussed with some mates and I had a plan of how I was to get my accommodation before J&C came back…..and a plan was hatched.
Steve arrived on the 6th to start 1 month of job hunting…this proved a really difficult exercise….many places just simply not responding or sending signals that they were interested but then not actually following through. For the fun side of his trip I had to make an itinerary….i want to do a number of things while he was out…notably something for Christmas and new year…..but ever looming over my head was this damn accommodation issue!!!!
I had already tried to view accommodation out here with very little success. So the prospect of trying again was daunting. Basically looked on Gulf News classifieds and rang around a few places….saw some apartments in Barsha and they were pretty nice but the consideration was the distance from work. I was already commuting from the greens to Wafi and the traffic on that route was a nightmare and pretty unpredictable. Same goes for JBR near the marina. Then it came to my attention that for the same price I could get a villa in Mirdif as get an apartment in these places….so my attention turned….found a nice new place….basically did the deal with the guy mid December and had to wait for Eid, Christmas and new year to pass before finding out that actually they were a bunch of robbing bstrds…….yep…….we had been caught in a scam…….FKRS……sorry about that outburst but when you have lost an amount of cash to some unscrupulous muppet it kinda leaves you a little sour!........................
Anyway…..back to the drawing board with the accommodation thing.….meanwhile steve was having a mare with the applications….turned up to some joke of a walk in interview at the airport. Basically turned out to be an unorganized maul with guys literally screwing CVs in balls and hurling them over the fence…..sufficed to say he didn’t hear anything from there…..
Back to my itinerary I decided to get him out to a few touristy things during his stay…we went to the ICE bar at Times square mall which can be compared to sitting in a supermarket warehouse freezer….I used to work for Waitrose and the similarities were uncanny….in fact you even got given the same coats that we used to have to wear when picking stock!!!. We went to Ski Dubai which was a crash course…… literally….Trying to reacquaint myself with the white stuff…. and quadding, not to mention the odd trip to the beach for a bit of tanning.
Christmas day was nice…got up went to the beach for breakfast and then headed to the Grand Hyatt for Lunch…..Traditional lunch….was nice however marred slightly by the inept service from Dubai Taxi who’s control centre staff and taxi drivers seem to have a different idea of how long two minutes is compared to reality. In fact it was 58mins different from reality meaning I had to drive in the end….but the food was sooo good…
New year was spent at the Park Hyatt with two friends (Lou and Jim)…..to our amusement on turning up we were given wrist bands that stated we were on an alcoholic package and we were hurded to our “area”……..there was a hogmany party in full swing with loadsa kilt clad men running around…..i was going to ask “THE” question but bottled it…(I had already found out the answer at the 7s really”…the food was a brunch type buffet affair…really good, and the fireworks were amazing….in fact I thought we were being mortared….
The end of the night was spent on the dance floor with Lou while the boys stayed at the table on doubles….somehting that steve later regretted…..SO DID I AS HE USED MY BLOODY PARTY HAT AS A SICK BOWL!!!!! I had decorated it as well! Swine!
Soon the 6th Jan arrived and Steve left for blighty….he had to go back to finish up packing the house….i had a couple of weeks before J&C returned to find a new abode……(I wasn’t being kicked out, but I made them a promise…..).
Anyway, I hit it running…..I viewed so many places and jumped out of work at lunch to rush to various parts of Dubai…a mate was supplying me with ads, and I followed them up….eventually through a stroke of luck a place came up in mid January…... 2 bed plus study…..bonus….but having been burnt once already I was gonna be bloody sure this time that I wasn’t going to be messed around a second time…….to be fair the lady was really good…..and after a few maintenance issues were resolved I sorted the contract out just after J&C got back…(16th January)….It was good to see them all again, they looked all refreshed from their break.…..and the kids, they seemed to have grown up lots since last I saw them!
It has been a manic 2 months since the rugby 7s…..let me try and enlighten you in what has been going on…….Trust me it has been Stressy…..
Basically Jean and Chris were getting ready to go back to NZ for their 6 weeks holiday and Steve was due to arrive in less than a week (6th Dec). I was aware that the pressure was on to find accommodation. J&C had been so good to me by letting me live with them but I wanted to let them have their family home back!
Many people had suggested to me that the way forward was to share a flat with someone…this however is illegal here as it is classed as co habiting. Cutting a long story short I discussed with some mates and I had a plan of how I was to get my accommodation before J&C came back…..and a plan was hatched.
Steve arrived on the 6th to start 1 month of job hunting…this proved a really difficult exercise….many places just simply not responding or sending signals that they were interested but then not actually following through. For the fun side of his trip I had to make an itinerary….i want to do a number of things while he was out…notably something for Christmas and new year…..but ever looming over my head was this damn accommodation issue!!!!
I had already tried to view accommodation out here with very little success. So the prospect of trying again was daunting. Basically looked on Gulf News classifieds and rang around a few places….saw some apartments in Barsha and they were pretty nice but the consideration was the distance from work. I was already commuting from the greens to Wafi and the traffic on that route was a nightmare and pretty unpredictable. Same goes for JBR near the marina. Then it came to my attention that for the same price I could get a villa in Mirdif as get an apartment in these places….so my attention turned….found a nice new place….basically did the deal with the guy mid December and had to wait for Eid, Christmas and new year to pass before finding out that actually they were a bunch of robbing bstrds…….yep…….we had been caught in a scam…….FKRS……sorry about that outburst but when you have lost an amount of cash to some unscrupulous muppet it kinda leaves you a little sour!........................
Anyway…..back to the drawing board with the accommodation thing.….meanwhile steve was having a mare with the applications….turned up to some joke of a walk in interview at the airport. Basically turned out to be an unorganized maul with guys literally screwing CVs in balls and hurling them over the fence…..sufficed to say he didn’t hear anything from there…..
Back to my itinerary I decided to get him out to a few touristy things during his stay…we went to the ICE bar at Times square mall which can be compared to sitting in a supermarket warehouse freezer….I used to work for Waitrose and the similarities were uncanny….in fact you even got given the same coats that we used to have to wear when picking stock!!!. We went to Ski Dubai which was a crash course…… literally….Trying to reacquaint myself with the white stuff…. and quadding, not to mention the odd trip to the beach for a bit of tanning.
Christmas day was nice…got up went to the beach for breakfast and then headed to the Grand Hyatt for Lunch…..Traditional lunch….was nice however marred slightly by the inept service from Dubai Taxi who’s control centre staff and taxi drivers seem to have a different idea of how long two minutes is compared to reality. In fact it was 58mins different from reality meaning I had to drive in the end….but the food was sooo good…
New year was spent at the Park Hyatt with two friends (Lou and Jim)…..to our amusement on turning up we were given wrist bands that stated we were on an alcoholic package and we were hurded to our “area”……..there was a hogmany party in full swing with loadsa kilt clad men running around…..i was going to ask “THE” question but bottled it…(I had already found out the answer at the 7s really”…the food was a brunch type buffet affair…really good, and the fireworks were amazing….in fact I thought we were being mortared….
The end of the night was spent on the dance floor with Lou while the boys stayed at the table on doubles….somehting that steve later regretted…..SO DID I AS HE USED MY BLOODY PARTY HAT AS A SICK BOWL!!!!! I had decorated it as well! Swine!
Soon the 6th Jan arrived and Steve left for blighty….he had to go back to finish up packing the house….i had a couple of weeks before J&C returned to find a new abode……(I wasn’t being kicked out, but I made them a promise…..).
Anyway, I hit it running…..I viewed so many places and jumped out of work at lunch to rush to various parts of Dubai…a mate was supplying me with ads, and I followed them up….eventually through a stroke of luck a place came up in mid January…... 2 bed plus study…..bonus….but having been burnt once already I was gonna be bloody sure this time that I wasn’t going to be messed around a second time…….to be fair the lady was really good…..and after a few maintenance issues were resolved I sorted the contract out just after J&C got back…(16th January)….It was good to see them all again, they looked all refreshed from their break.…..and the kids, they seemed to have grown up lots since last I saw them!
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