zzroged
Dubai - Summer
Apr 09, 2011
Somebody wrote that they enjoy hearing about my life in Dubai, so here's a bit more about it - please note that I LOVE living here and am writing this in a humerous style for entertainment purposes only - having said that - everything I write about here is true !A few things about Dubai :
SUMMER
It's HOT - it regularly hits 50 C plus, so we spend all summer watching box sets or going to the movies and exercising indoors and then sneaking outside before sunrise or after sunset.
All of the restaurants have indoor and outdoor eating spaces - in the summer we eat indoors - in the winter we eat outdoors (with patio heaters for when it gets cold !)
Dubai becomes a kind of noctornal city - it springs to life aftersunset - swimming after sunset on the beach is a big family event, as are late night beach picnics, late night exercise and sporting events
Everywhere has a/c - including some outdoor eating spaces ! and the majority of the bus stop shelters !
The Malls are so COLD that you have to cover up to stay WARM !
The Malls run organised mall walking exercise classes every morning so you can exercise indoors for free
You can take taxis even for very short rides and not feel embarrassed (everyone does it)
ALL restaurants offer delivery services - so it's OK for the delivery guy to sweat - but not for MAMSIR.
MAMSIR- is the casual greeting given to you by the majority of Fillipino staff - it works well for addressing MAM and SIR - or even MAM only or SIR only !
The labourers have to take a mandatory break of 3 hours between 12 noon til 3pm - so you will often find whole groups of men sleeping in the shade alongside the road or under a bridge
Ramadan - this is the most holy of months for practising Muslims. At the moment Ramadan is also during the summer months - so for 1 month - 99.9% of cafe's & restaurants are shut between the hours of sunrise and sunset. Eating and drinking outside in public between these times is not allowed (except for children and the elderly) and if you do it you face arrest. Carrying out day to day activities becomes much harder in the heat when you can't eat or drink in public - but is obviously far worse for Muslims who fast during these hours.
During Ramadan there are usually about 10 cafes open across Dubai - they are screened off and serve food and drink to non Muslims - I do partake in this - but feel kind of guilty huddled in a Costa sipping my skinny latte covertly as if I am a caffeine addict receiving medication.
After sunset the place comes alive - shops stay open til midnight or 1 am, famalies come out for an early dinner just after sunset or for late dinner (starts about 11pm or midnight) which will often go on into the early hours of the morning. I love Ramadan evenings - you get a real sense of family and tradition - though starting my evening meal at 11pm and finishing about 3am is somewhat tougher than it sounds !
EATING OUT
We have just about every type of cuisine available to us - including camel burgers, camel milk, camel chocolate !
We have top chefs from all around the world who have opened up their celebrity restaurants - these tend to be in the hotels mainly
Arabic/Lebanese and Middle Eastern food is delicious and fresh
You don't need to leave the car to order food - at some places you can sit outside the restaurant - hoot the horn and the waiter will run out and take you order and deliver it to the car - sure we have drive throughs - but this is more 'service at the car' Dubai style - I've even seen locals beep their horn outside the coffee shop coz they don't want to run in and get their Starbucks etc !
Alcohol is only available in hotels or licensed establishments which tends to be in hotels and frankly tends to mean we drink less when we are out as we live in a mainly non licensed end of town (but we don't miss it at all)
Beer is about $5.50 a pint, wine is about the same for a glass - Cocktails tend to start at around $8
It's no big deal to ask for a take-out boxes (whereas it is in the UK)
Everyone delivers food to your house - from top restaurants to Hardys - frankly if they don't deliver they won't get business!
We have thousands of places to eat - from top restaurants to shacks on the beach frying up catch of the day
On the ground floor of my appt alone we have the following restaurants : Italian, Mediterranean, Subway, Mexican, International x 2, Mexican, Chinese, Pakistani, Moroccan & Nandos (I also have a supermarket, 3 beauty salons, a pharmacy who deliver and a laundary - all of whom deliver or come to you ! - you are getting the picture here of a place where you don't have to leave your house if you don't want to !)
Restaurants serving pork are few and far between - beef and turkey bacon do not hit the spot when you fancy real pork bacon !
A local radio is running an advert for a beer garden with the word beer bleeped out - which is quite funny !
Brunch is a big event - served every Friday (the start of our weekend) - it's a 3 hour extravaganza of food and drink - costing anywhere between $15 to $80 per person - we tend to go once or twice a year - but a lot of expats go every week and frankly 'gorge' themselves silly ! - yes I used to be one of the 'gorgers' now I'm more a quality not quantity kind of girl !
Most restaurants have an outdoor area with space for people to smoke shisa (the hubbly, bubbly kind of smokey things) - which smell gorgeous - usually fruity - though I don't partake. It's kinda of fun seeing people lounging about on sofas smoking shisha, playing cards, having food and a great time - with no alcohol involved
That's it for now.... maybe more another day !
