A Few Updates
Time Flies!
So a few things have happened since we have arrived and we already find ourselves at the first half term. Nicola has a job, Thomas has made some friends and I'm... Shall we just say, making my presence felt!
We've managed to get around the vagaries of the visa system and the other admin tasks that are a necessary part of the settling in process. We have set the basics of the flat up - it was, well the best description is 'semi-furnished'. I'm not ungrateful for the accommodation - it is spacious and more than adequate, but there were white goods, basic household items and beds - that was it. We only found this out a couple of weeks before we arrived so didn't have time to really sort anything out in advance, which is a pity.
We have sorted out cars - bought one and rented one. You cannot easily manage Dubai without a car unless you live in a handful of specific areas, which we don't! Also if you want to explore a car is a necessity. This was reasonably straight forward, although you do need to convert your driving license, which is an added expense.
We have even been on holiday - nothing lengthy or far. We went to Fujairah. It was nice. A very different speed to Dubai; in fact all of the other Emirates are a different speed.
I really think the London comparison stands up. If you took the centre of London and boroughs like Chelsea as representative of London life then you would have a very distorted view of city. This is true of Dubai as a representation of the UAE. Each Emirate and even individual suburbs and districts have their own distinct character. Yes, downtown Dubai is everything you imagine and frankly is mind boggling (we went there yesterday for the second time and my head was still battered), but it is not the whole of the region by any means.
We have hit up a few of the lower cost options for tourism in the immediate region - I'll put together a separate post about budget options for things to do in the area - but we have managed quite a few little trips. Expo City, Green Planet Dubai, The Marina, The Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa, Jumeirah Beach and Jumeirah Island, Ajman Fort, Al Qudra Lakes, Ibn Battuta Mall, The Historic District and the Coffee Museum. We've eaten in local restaurants and international chains and food courts - we've just found a place in the Dubai Mall that did very good Szechuan hot pot and we have identified a regular spot for Lebanese breakfasts. All in all we are making reasonably good use of our time here and doing our level best to enjoy what there is here, but still living very much within our means.
What the immediate future holds is getting our heads down and getting the job of getting our jobs done and enjoying time at the weekends - we are going to explore some martial arts clubs we could go to as a family and look at music lessons for Thomas. Once all of that is in place it will be near enough Christmas and we'll be back in the UK for a couple of weeks.
So that's it for now. Keep an eye out for further posts and we'll see you next time.
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