We've had a baby

Yes it's true we are now 3!!

It may come as a bit of a surprise as I haven't posted anything about being pregnant over the last 10 months, my posts are often a few months behind anyway. But you see in the past we've sadly suffered a couple of miscarriages and well.....having those experiences makes you literally not want to count your chicken before it's hatched.

Because of this I was very anxious throughout this pregnancy I couldn't really relax, I took it one day at a time. I wasn't the typical confident newly pregnant woman, telling everyone, making plans and taking for granted everything would be OK. We didn't even tell close friends until 5 months, so I decided not to post anything about expecting a visit form the stork until our much longed for baby had finally arrived.

Our little bean came into the world on the 17th of March 2013 weighing 7.2lbs - he's healthy, perfect and we are absolutely over the moon! I had a great and quick 3 hour natural labour at The American Hospital Dubai, we were really pleased with the care and service level they gave.

Our life has transformed overnight, adjusting to life with a newborn can be quite a shock to the system, I write this with one had whilst breastfeeding baby with the other! The affect of the lack of sleep can't be explained unless you experience it - everyone tried to tell us but secretly we thought surely they're exaggerating....hahaha silly us!

Not sure how frequent posts will be over the coming weeks due to most days not even having time for a shower, but I'll do my best  as we have got some fun things coming up to write about.

For us now Dubai will always be the place where our biggest wish came true and gave us the happiest day of our lives.

XXXXXXX

101 - The One & Only, The Palm

101 located @ The One and Only on The Palm, is officially my new favourite restaurant!!


Why? Because the setting is just beautiful, service excellent and the food is simply divine.

Located on the Palm at the less famous of the two, One & Only's, which is in itself an oxymoron.
101 is a decked, jetty restaurant jutting out into the sea - with a spectacular backdrop of Dubai Marina looking like a mini Manhattan.

We went in the evening, by road but you can get there by boat from it's sister hotel, Royal Mirage - The One & Only on Al Sufouh Rd. I'd recommend going to have drinks at the bar there first and arrive at 101 via boat, as this is definitely the type of venue one should arrive at by boat, unfortunately we didn't do this.

I was expecting it to be lovely, reminiscent of it's sister hotels and a previous favourite (yes - I'm fickle!) The One & Only - Beach bar & Grill. I was prepared for typical Dubai high end fair, very respectable but just not that surprising or exciting.

However, the menu at 101 is a revelation, Spanish influenced Seafood is the stable and my do they deliver. We were in for a proper treat as even though the venue feels very Dubai and flash the menu and food is dare I say it.....soulful and quirky - which is a somewhat uncommon duet in Dubai.

I'm super excited because it's not very often I've found a restaurant in Dubai, with a chef that tries to be characterful and unique and doesn't just default to the same old crowd pleasing ceaser's, steaks and sea bass.

You can choose between the tapas menu with all the traditional tapas favourites like meatballs, Calimari, Manchego cheese and surprises such as 'Mejillones gratinados' - Gratinated mussels with garlic butter and 'Berberechos al limón' - Cockles in lemon sauce. Cockles in Dubai who'd have thought it!

We ordered from the Al a catre menu, which has a dizzing amount of choice, most of which I wanted to order.

To start I opted for Sautéed baby spinach - 55Dhs, Chicken chorizo, pine nuts and Manchego cheese.

The photograph does not do the dish justice it was eye-rolling-in-back-of-head amazing. And I loved that it arrived fresh from the oven in it's cooking pot.

I followed with the Seafood ravioli with Prawns, mussels, calamari and lemon sauce - 145Dhs. Lushness in every bite, zingy, fresh, subtle lemonyness, cooked to perfection both the pasta and the seafood which often gets overcooked to rubber.

My male companion (note not my husband!) had Veal chop ‘a la Milanese’ - 190Dhs, Macaroni gratin, sage and capers.

Now,  'Milanese' is to my mind a fancy word for a schnitzel and it would never occur to me to order a schnitzel in a fancy restaurant unless in Germany. However, I have to admit it was excellent, tender with a flavoursome accompanying sauce.

There were so many gorgeous sounding dishes it was hard to choose -  I also could have gone for the Casareccia 150Dhs  - Lobster, coco beans, ‘bouillabaisse’ sauce and Provençal butter! Coco beans?! and lobster?!....really would have loved to have been brave and tried that...



What I'd love to try is their signature dish to share, Paella with squid ink and calamari 155 Dhs per person. So I'm now fantistising about a languishing late lunch there -  arriving by boat, dressed in some elegant Jackie-O inspired outfit and endlessly grazing on tapas, a shared Paella and supping cold cava whilst watching the sun set!

That's it.... I'm going off to book that very thing right this minute, I'll update this post upon my return and try to get better pics.

Digital Photography Level 1 @ Gulf Photo Plus

As a Christmas gift my thoughtful husband bought me a course of photography classes since I've a fledgling interest in photography and since starting this blog I'd like to take better photos for you.

"Hooray!".... I hear you all rejoice! ;-)

Awesome Graffiti mural outside Gulf Photo Plus gallery  

My problem is I often have a vision in my mind of a picture I want to take, but unfortunately I don't have the technical knowledge to be able create it. We have a pretty OK digital camera a Sony DSLR we got as a wedding present, but due to lack of knowledge we aren't utilising it to it's functional capacity.

We could read the manual I suppose....but in all honestly who reads manuals!!!

GPP Gallery image from their website

Johan also has and interest in photography so enrolled us both on the Level 1 Digital Photography run by Gulf Photo Plus, as we thought it would be a cool thing to do together.

Gulf Photo Plus run lots of courses, workshops, free events, exhibitions and seminars with prominent international photographers.

The classes run from their Dubai Gallery/Studio on Alserkel Avenue in Al Qouz, this is somewhat of an odd location tucked behind Time Square mall, which is somewhat of an an odd mall.

The gallery is in an industrial compound which is quite hard to find, once you do however, you discover it's a small artisan mecca of urban galleries flanked by grafftti murals, who knew! The area itself seems to be trying to develop into and bohemian hub with the addition of the Ripe Organic market and Lime Tree Cafe at the nearby Courtyard.

Grumpy baby a subject for focus & lighting 

Gulf Photo Plus offer an array of courses with options to suit various levels and interests. The digital photography class we took ran over a weekend Friday and Sat, starting from 10am to 3pm.

Our lecturer's Toyna Colson, assisted by Musthafa were knowledgeable and kept a good momentum to the curriculum.

In level one you learn the basic foundations, understanding what all the programmes on our camera do and the fundaments of Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed which are the 3 cornerstones of photography.

Proper equipment care, focus and lighting are other key subjects on the agenda.

Tonya, managed our expectations that we wouldn't come away with portfolio of award winning photographs, what you do is simple experiments to practice fundamental skills.





Before you can get creative and progress to elements of composition you have to master the mathematics of photography, which to a novice is quite a lot to get your head around. Aperture is measure in F-stops, ISO in sensor sensitivity amount and shutter speed in fractions of seconds.

Each factor affects the outcome of the image and the difficult thing is each of the factors when changed directly affects the others, so you have to make a sum of your desired combination and figure out if it will work on the hoof. Not easy!

Learning about White balance

White balance is another key aspect where you determine what kind of colour you get. This is when you have to set the camera for types of light for example artificial, sunshine or clouds, you can also do manual adjustments to get the exact exposure tones required.

Correcting the White Balance!

Depth of field is studied in some detail as is the different ways to capture motion.

Experiments in Depth of Field

I also realised that my inability to take the kinds of photographs I want are mostly due to the limitations of my camera lens as well as my own lack of knowledge.

I had a few 'Eureka!' moments realising that no wonder I couldn't get the shots I wanted if I'm constantly in auto mode.


Plus, going 'back to school' with your husband is quite an interesting experience as we got competitive with one another and bickered about who was doing what right and wrong, it was funny.

Experiments in motion 

You get an home work assignment which you present and group critique the next day, so it's quite an intensive few days but that's good as you come away feeling like you've learned something.

The gallery/studio is a pleasant, practical and inspiring space as they have small exhibitions and you can peruse some of the amazing professional photography for sale. However, it's a bit stuck in the middle of no-where so can be difficult to get to and from if you haven't got a car as taxi's don't always know where it is either.


All in all this was an enjoyable and worthwhile 2 day course to give a structured underpinning of the more technical aspects of digital photography.

 All I need to do now is practice, practice, practice!

Dhow trip to Musandam - Oman

Last Novemeber we spent a absolutely fantastic weekend on a Dhow cruise in Musamdam, which is in the neighbouring Sultanate of Oman. The Musandam peninsula is an enclave of Oman that juts out into the Strait of Hormuz and is famed for it's great diving and pristine fjords.

Our friend Hartty who goes annually, organised a great bunch of people for a weekend of sun, sea, diving, snorkelling and superb scenery. 

As we were a large group of 16 we booked a 75ft triple decked Dhow for exclusive use with Sheesa Beach this cost 14,000Dhs (approx £2,400) departing Thursday eve and coming back early Saturday eve.

Our cruise left from Dibba port in Oman, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from Dubai taking into account Thursday evening traffic. You'll also need your passoprt as you cross the U.A.E/Oman broader. 

After you set off, you sail about 3 hours along the Oman coast to Musandam where you moor for the night in a secluded fjord. 

Total cost including crew & catering was 1,000Dhs pp (£170) for non-divers and 1,400Dhs (£238) for divers inc x 4 dives. Each price includes x 2 nights stay, breakfast, lunch, dinner, water and soft drinks. You can also take your own alcoholic drinks, snacks and other food you may want.

Considering the price of a nice dinner out in Dubai, the whole cruise is really good value for a brilliant weekend away experience.

This way to the shower

This particular Dhow was brand new, literally we were it's forth voyage and it had all mod cons A/C, in room showers and a communal flushing toilet.

However the Air con generator was very noisy, in addition our cabin was on top of the engine so when I lay in my bunk my whole body completely vibrated.




This mean't I couldn't sleep in the cabin so we opted for al fresco slumber on deck, which was amazing in itself.

Johan enjoying a misty morning swim

Falling asleep watching shooting stars and being gently rocked by the motion of the ocean, then waking to a misty mountain vista, perfect!

The food was OK, obviously as you're on a boat it's not going to be nuevo cuisine as they have to cater for generic tastes, so it was basic stodge food.

Typical breakfast is coffee, fruit, cereal, juice, toast and eggs .

Lunch, was fresh salads, potatoes, rice, bread, 2 hot choices like curry or fish.

Similar for dinner with hearty lasagne or grilled shrimp, whilst for dessert we got apple pie and ice cream.










The crew and our dive instructor were fantastic throughout, as such on top of the trip costs we left a big tip for them.

Fresh clams!

In particular, our twenty something instructor Dillon who is mature beyond his years, a consummate dive master and all round lovely guy. His passion for diving and marine preservation was infectious, he's like a real life Merman.

Morning dive briefing 

The divers got in two dives per day, the first day wasn't great visibility but the second was excellent.

Top deck Yoga

Those not diving can instead, snorkel, kayak, swim, sunbathe, read, fish, snooze, Yoga - literally whatever you fancy it's very relaxed.

The girls off Kayaking 

At dusk a few of us set off in the small boat fishing, we chased shoals of barracudas but didn't get so much as a bite.

Glamorous fishing darlings!

Instead we settled on watching the amazing sunset whilst supping ice cold beers.

The next morning the divers headed off early, and as the boat moved location to meet them we were followed by a playful pod of dolphins.

As I discovered, frolicking dolphins are quite difficult to photograph!

The only snap I managed to get - shan't wait on David Attenborough calling!

Then once moored a shoal of rays passed by, the snorkelling was amazing, beautiful coral, Parrot fish, Eels, Nemo-Clown fish  and even Turtles were spotted.

One infamous sea creature, marked by it's absence from our trip was a Shark sighting of any variety. Apparently, there are hardly any Sharks left in these waters due to excessive over fishing.

We eventually did see the sharks as we returned to Dibba port, however the Sharks were all dead and lined up on the harbour ready to trade. Officially, Shark fishing is illegal or at least quanity controlled here, however as it's poorly policed the black market thrives driven by the Far Eastern demand for Shark fins.

I couldn't get photos so these are from the investigation by The National

Shark fin soup is a delicacy in the Far East, selling for US$150 (550Dhs) a bowl. 

A kilo of shark fins sells for upwards of 300 Dhs approx £60 and goes on to fetch almost six times that amount at the Hong Kong

markets. 

Demand drives a worldwide black-market trade in sharks, with up to 100 million killed each year. 


No species is safe, hammer heads, grey reef sharks, lemon sharks, carpet sharks, even the majestic Whale shark the largest fish in existence is indiscriminately fished for it's fins.




Most, including Whale sharks and Hammerheads are caught so young that they haven't even had chance to reproduce, thus depleting long term stocks further. 

For further reading on the subject see The National's article and some organisations trying to stop over fishing of sharks in the Arabian seas include - Shark Watch Arabia, Shark Quest Arabia, or check out this film.

Witnessing this first hand was the only down of the whole trip, although good in away as it drew our attention to the scale at which this is happening everyday. 

On a happier note, we'd  thoroughly recommend a Dhow trip to Musandam and there are lots of options for Dhow cruises. You don't have to hire a whole Dhow exclusively like we did, if you're a couple or a smaller group you can join a pre-organised trip and if you don't want to stay on-board overnight you can just do a day cruise which runs from 11am-6pm.  

We were really pleased with the pricing, staff and service so can recommend going with http://sheesabeach.com/ - which will upset other 'Dhow cruise companies' (you know who you are!!), who keep relentlessly spamming our blog comments!

Celebrating New Year in Dubai

This year we celebrated New Years Eve with friends at the mass beach party that is Sandance at Atlantis The Palm.

We opted for the 500Dhs VIP tickets which made the experience a whole lot better, as you get access to a separate raised area with VIP bars and toilets, less queuing and hassle so well worth the extra pennies.

The sold out line up included Rita Ora - who stole the show, Ellie Goulding who was slightly disappointing, DJ's Zane Lowe, Roger Sanchez and  Paul Van Dyk . Thousands of people were there counting in the New Year and witnessing an awe-inspiring 10 minute firework extravaganza!! 

I wasn't drinking and was designated driver as getting taxi's can be a nightmare so we headed home at 12:30 - not as wild as we used to be I'm afraid, but a great time was still had by all;-)

2012 was a great year for us in Dubai and 2013 is likely to be even better!

Thank you everyone who has read our blog and we wish you a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2013!!

Dubai Friday Brunch #4 - Splendido @ The Ritz

A small and concise post this week folks, for a small and concise Dubai brunch.

As the whether takes a turn for the better in late October/early November we were inundated with visitors. Two of these, the lovely Emily and Daniel voiced a last minute request to experience a Dubai Friday brunch at 11pm on Thursday evening.

We started frantically calling around and obviously everywhere was booked up, however we were able to secure a table for Splendido @ The Ritz Carlton in the Marina. 

The Ritz Carlton is of course a lovely setting, Splendido Friday brunch is a mostly Italian brunch and there are 3 all inclusive package options available. 
- Vintage champagne at 695AED (£115)
- House wines, beers and spirits at 375AED (approx £65) 
- Soft drinks at 275AED (£45) 

I've quite fancied this brunch for a while now and as only the boys would be drinking we weren't in the mood for a big boozy, raucous affair. Instead we wanted something a bit quieter and more refined - which is exactly what we got. 

Excellent Sushi 

We'd pushed for outside seating as we'd heard they have a pretty terrace but were told they only had inside seating, it was a very late booking so fair enough.

However, when we arrived at Splendido there was only two occupied tables outside out of about twenty. We enquired again about the chance of an outside table and where told sorry, no. 

Inside was elegant but pretty empty as well, it's not a large room that was only a quarter full so it felt a bit echoy.  

We started at the Sushi station, which is a modest selection positioned by the restaurant entrance. I have to say the one down side to this brunch was the layout of the stations some of which were a bit awkward. 

That said, the sushi and sashimi quality was amazing, by far the best I've had at a brunch. 

Small, fresh, firmly rolled pieces that burst with flavour, rather than the chewy, flavourless, whacking great chunks you usually get at brunch. There was one lightly tempura splashed California roll which literally made eye's roll back in my head it was so good!

Johan knocking back some oysters 

A lovely touch was a harpist who played throughout brunch, a young musician with a great repertoire ranging from classical to Adele done on the harp, ace! 

Each station was of a similar vein - a small but incredibly fresh and tasty selection, the seafood was great as was the Italian meats (pork included), cheeses, breads, salads and anti-pasto selections. 

As an hour passed we noticed that no-one had arrived to claim all the empty outside tables so we asked again if we could move outside, this time they moved us. 

Finally re-seated outside much nicer

This was a small annoyance and my only criticism of this brunch. I don't know what their table policy is, whether they save outside tables on the off chance of hotel residences wanting them or what.  However, seeing as we were actually there and so many outside tables were free, I feel we should have been accommodated at our first request. Especially seeing as those same outside tables remained empty throughout the duration of brunch, aside from the table issue service was very good. 

Fabulous Anti-pasto

Mains are a selection of hot dishes, grilled meats and live cooking kebab and fresh pasta stations we sampled most dishes and all were very good.

For desert there was a live crepe station and buffet selections of Italian classics like tiramisu, panacotta plus assorted cakes, tarts, macaroons, dognuts and a chocolate fondu fountain.

What this brunch lacks in size it more than makes up for in quality, I think this is Splendidio's USP in the Dubai brunch scene. Many Dubai brunches tend to go the other way - they have vast choice and look amazing but tend to disappointing on the actual food quality front, whereas every morsel we ate at Splendidio was of the best quality. 

We would especially recommend this brunch for a quieter more demure Dubai brunch experience as Splendidio proves that even in Dubai less, can sometimes be more.

Dubai Brunch proved too much for Daniel

I've got O.C.D - Obsessive Cushion Disorder

Comfy cushion everywhere!

Some time ago a friend diagnosed me with O.C.D. - Obsessive.Cushion.Disorder.

It seems I buy a higher than average amount of cushions. Well it pretty much extents to all home furnishings really lamps, candles, picture frames, anything faffy, I love it all!

Gorgeous Pottery Barn decoration

As I could easily bankrupt us by buying cushions alone I have to  work on a budget. So, I utilize my signature strategy whereby I invest in a few key items from more expensive stores  - a few 'feature' cushions if you will and then showcase them against a backdrop of cheap 'n' chic cushions. 

I'm a massive fan of this strategy and utilise it in most of our home furnishings and my own clothes wardrobe as well. I'll invest in good quality classic key pieces and then buy the rest of my stuff form cheap high street shops.

I did the same with our Christmas tree where I bought a job lot of cheap decorations from Carrefour and then a few 'feature' decorations from Potttery Barn and Crate and Barrel .

To prove just how extreme my O.C.D condition is I've taken inventory and we have 31 cushions in total, I've catalogued a selection below for you.

Marina - Exotic Home Interiors

Marina is my favourite interior store in Dubai, closely followed by The One. The only draw back of these two delightful establishments is they're both pretty expensive, so I have to purchase from them sparingly.

Above: Handmade patch work oversize floor cushions - Large - 369  Dhs each for cover and inner cushion. I adore these floor cushions, they're super comfy and get lots of compliments from guests, they also add a modern Arabic influence to our home.

Below: White Medium 275 Dhs each for cover and inner cushion. 

Bur Dubai - Textile Souk

Top & Below: Small purple Indian embellished square cushion cover 10 Dhs for two. I also bought a bright blue one but the zipper instantly broke so have to admit they're rubbish quality but at that price I wasn't expecting them to last long and this one looks great.

Ikea

Ikea is great and I try to go about twice a year if I can ever talk Johan into it, for more on that see Ikea: A relationship test. 

The Ikea cushions featured below are from Ikea's new more premium range and the fabric and finish is really good quality. 

Below: Swedish design embroidered cushion cover ALVINE SPETSIG  @ 55 Dhs . They are made from 100% heavy cotton and are button close as opposed to zip which I think is super elegant. 

Guest room

The only down side to Ikea cushions (and bedding) is they have their own Ikea sizing, rather than standard sizing so you have to buy both the cover and the actual cushion from Ikea. Fortunately the Ikea inner cushion prices range from 9 -19 Dhs each so they're cheap.

Above & Right : Blue & White EMMIE KVIST patterned cushion cover 59 Dhs.

I particularly like this cushion as it's reversible, patterned on one side and striped on the other with a cute button fastening detail.

Zara Home

I love Zara home and am addicted to their White Jasmine home fragrance, which is the lovely smell that hits you as you walk in the stores. I really like their designs and styling, however I do find them pricey and poor quality. The glass wear and ceramic's are paper thin and the fabrics quality rarely correlates to the price tag.

Therefore, I try to wait until the sale is on, I stared lovingly at these Grey Duchess Satin bed cushions for months waiting for the sale and hoping they wouldn't sell out.....they do say 'everything comes to he who waits!'

Above: Medium grey duchess satin, cover only sale price 150 Dhs each and small rectangle washed out blue linen, sale price 75 Dhs.

Master bedroom the blue greys in-situ 

Home Centre

I'm a big fan of Home Centre as an alternative to Ikea in the cheap 'N' chic category. People turn their noses up at Home Centre but I've had some great buys from there, decent quality for the money and they do great sales, sometimes upto 70% off. 

Below:White rectangle frill cover & cushion 50 Dhs each.

Fun frills

 

Right: Cream plain velvet and striped velvet square cushion covers - 39 Dhs each.

Below: White glitter frayed square cushion cover 29 Dhs.

Below: Pretty small rectangle cream lace cushion on sale 15 Dhs. 

Below: Grey & cream striped satin cushion and cover 39 Dhs.

Below: Cream satin chevron bench cushions 29 Dhs.

Carrefour

These were all an absolute bargain and are inclusive of cover and inner!!

Below: Red multi-colour cushion 29 Dhs.

Below: Large white stain embossed cushion 30 Dhs. 

Below: Mink silky sheen cushion and Gold be-jewelled cushion 15 Dhs each.

My cushion lust is insatiable!!...............I still want more, I always want even more cushions every time I go shopping.

I am now wondering if I could get away with buying new cushions for Christmas. Like Christmas themed cushions used just for Christmas then packed away for the rest of the year.......I need to think of a way to sneak that past hubby.

Maybe it's just me? Or is there anyone else out there with Obsessive.Cushion. Disorder?