The move to Abu Dhabi

Ok so I have been quiet this month as most of the time has been spent on preparing for the new place. I finally found the most wonderful apartment with the help of Andre which is located in Al Mushrif about 10 mins from the city centre. It has a huge living/dining room as you enter, a fairly compact kitchen and a huge bedroom - oh and the bathroom has a jacuzzi bath tub - ooh la la!

I will not post any photos yet because I want to get everything finished and then post the final shots. The first set of furniture is being delivered later from my new favourite UAE furniture shop The One - what an amazing store, set up by an ex Ikea employee and its so much more fabulous and chic. I have furnished most of apartment from IKEA who also have an excellent range and pieced it all together with some extra pieces from The One, Marina and Carrefour for my white goods and a 42 inch TV - I can see some serious party nights taking place there!!! For one there is an arch shaped area as you come in which is screaming out "Create a bar area here" . That will be the next little project once moved in and settled and bank balance has recovered from the first month of expenses.

I should be able to move in next Tue evening as that is when the bed will arrive and I have my lovely Dorma bedding to jump onto. My birthday is next Weds and so I will be hosting my house warming/bday drinks next Thurs evening with a group of friends coming over for fun fun fun before heading to the infamous Etoiles a luxe club in Emirates Palave which I have been trying to get to for weeks now.

Anyway, updates will follow shortly.

Ramadan in Abu Dhabi

So I thought after the 1st week of Ramadan it would be a good time for an update on the latest developments out in the UAE. Firstly, I will be transferring out here from Sept 1st so I am currently looking for an apartment to rent in Abu Dhabi - total nightmare it is so expensive for just a shoe box - think at least £20, 000 a year in rent for a small one bedroom apartment!! I will provide updates on my plight as I think it could take some time, I am also struggling to accept my Shangri La Princess life is coming to an end and I will no longer be enjoying 5 star living :(

This weekend we have been entertaining in the apartment and enjoying some lovely food, namely Lebanese cuisine, perpared by Lebanese, using organic Lebanese produce shipped directly to our fridge via Andre's suitcase! Andre is my Lebanese boyfriend who is a master of Tabouleh and gave us our first lesson in how to prepare this dish on Fri - please see photographic evidence of our lovely parsley bouquets.

Camping in Oman

We just got back from a mini adventure in Oman which involved camping, mountains, bbq, sightseeing and lovely Omani locals. This is the second time I have visited Oman and it was equally enchanting as Muscat, we camped up in the mountains next to Nizwa at around 2000m. The views were incredible and the hillside is dotted with traditional villages which look like they belong in the Bible. We visited one local village and were invited in to drink coffee and eat dates the with the locals - so friendly and they weren't even trying to sell anything!

The scenery was stunning and it was so much cooler up in the mountains, we camped on top of a plateau overlooking the valley, at night the stars were shining brightly and we had the campsite all to ourselves which was great when we had our music blaring, drinking alcohol and showing our legs in shorts - the latter two are banned!

Abu Dhabi Life

Every day I feel like Abu Dhabi is becoming more like home - I never thought I would say that! I suppose I'm really enjoying being in one place with more of a routine but I also have the freedom to travel somewhere new at least once a month and most importantly special people to share these experiences.

I have realised that by de cluttering and simplifying my life I am so much happier nowadays, I don't have much stuff out here with me and I don't actually miss any of it. Less is more is so true, de-cluttered living space = de-cluttered mind. I sleep well now, I don't feel stressed anymore and life has become much calmer. Basically I am not missing the Rat Race of London at all. Viva la vida tranquila :)

Stockholm - 1st time in Scandinavia

Just returned from another mini break, this time to Stockholm - you can never travel enough in my eyes! It was truly fabulous, the sun bathed us in rays all weekend and the sky was so blue against the archipelagos. The city is located on the water so it seems everyone has their own little boat to hop around the islands, the first day we arrived a Swedish guy came right up to the jetty in his speedboat and picked up a gorgeous blonde who hopped on in a killer heels - so smooth, as all the other girls looked on with envy.

Dave and I did our best to fit in but they are such a cool and hip nation, all blonde, tanned and beautiful - let's just say that the English missed out on some gorgeous genes somewhere in history - why didn't more Vikings invade us! We did find a lovely island called Djurgarden which was a little green island scattered with the odd amazing villa, museums, rose gardens, restaurants bike trails and all this only a few mins walk from the city centre.

My attempt at looking like I belonged with the beautiful people...

In terms of design, every second store seemed to be a home store - you could decorate your pad so beautifully, lots of nautical themes going on and each store was so well laid out, I could have spent hours in them but little bro had other plans so I will have to go back once again.

I even found my own boat....

So I recommend Stockholm as a romantic break, it has history, culture and oozes with style, stay in Ostermalm, which is the nicest part of town and great for getting around the other islands.

Istanbul Girls weekend

I have to say that Istanbul completely blew me away, it was so much more than I was expecting. Located around the Bosphorus river with some of the most spectaluar 360 panoramic views of a city full of culture and history was a photographer's dream - well if I was really photographer I can imagine it would be!

The people are so friendly, Anna and I have not had that much attention in a few months and it was so easy to strike up conversations with people, we didn't care that most of the time they were after our money because all hassle was harmless and fun. Our day out in the famous Grand Bazaar was relaxing and enjoyable as we sipped our apple tea and enjoyed the bartering. We both bought some lovely ceramic tiles and bowls from the store picture below - an explosion of colour and a real feast for the eyes.

We found some great rooftop restaurants, my favourite was 360 which as the name suggests had an excellent panoramic view of the city, I fell in love with the city that very night. We also managed to meet a group of Dutch foodies on a manic 24 trip involving food, wine and having a good time, Anna was in heaven with her penchant for the Dutchies and needless to say I finally saw what she was talking about as we ended up dancing the night away with them in Club Angelique until the wee hrs.

Ladies painting the town red.....

Finally we touch a river cruise along the Bosphorus and the houses are just out of this world, I found plenty of dream homes but I really loved this one....

Beirut Rocks!!

I just got back from a weekend of fun and frolics in Beirut - never thought you would hear that I suppose? Yes Beirut really is a great place, I now understand why the Lebanese are so furiously patriotic and will now be able to engage in conversations with my Lebanese hairdresser about life in Lebanon. The nightlife was so great, I have been yearning for a good night out and Beirut certainly delivers, cool little bars, great clubs, excellent DJs and a beautiful crowd to admire. On the last night we ended up in a basement club which was created when a missle hit during the war, it is now a place of fun fun fun and the roof opens up to reveal the night sky, particulary amazing as the sun started to come up! Yes I stayed out in 6am, I'm not past it yet, although I'm still recovering from 2 big nights out in a row :)


The setting is perfect against the mountain back drop, there are hardly any tourists, lovely food and some historical and natural gems like Jaita grotto and Byblos. Anyway in a one word "Go" it will not disappoint, I'm glad I can tell all the sceptical people who warned me about getting bombed that they missed out.

I also finally went to a mosque in a very fetching black abaya! No photographic evidence but I don't think all black is my colour.