Driving…the mock test!

Believe it or not in Dubai you have to pass an assessment test to see if you are deemed fit to take the final test!  This after the theory test and the parking test! Honestly by the time I actually get unleashed on the roads I will probably just instinctively drive to Al Ahli to take a test because I will not BELIEVE this is finally over…that said my sense of direction is pretty poor!  I am not sure my instincts will take me anywhere without the help of GPS!

The assessment test is run by the school, if you fail you have to take 8 further classes. A total of four hours which means that you get delayed ever further from taking the final test.  Should you fail the assessment test again you have to take another 8 classes.  In the case of one person I heard of she failed so many times that by the end she had actually retaken the whole course…can you imagine??

Bearing all this in mind I was VERY nervous going to take my test today.  I really did not want to fail.  When we started I thought that it was going to be a disaster because I had to reverse into oncoming traffic which I LOATHE to do.  After I managed to get out and onto the roads I had to lane change, do a u-turn and emergency park. Then I had to sit and wait while another girl did her test.  It was only on our return to the school that I found out that I had indeed passed!!!!!  I practically did a victory dance!!

Tomorrow I have my mandatory motorway class and then and only then can I apply to take the final RTA test…

Believe it or not men out here have to do a mandatory night class, but I am but a feeble woman and so would obviously NEVER be out at night driving…right?

So many surprises!!!

Since Thursday evening till Yesterday lunchtime my whole weekend was out of my control – Bond declared that he was taking care of my Birthday and would be making all the plans!  For a few minutes I was a tad worried becasue I am a bit of a control freak, I quickly snapped out of it though because I knew he would plan the perfect thing that I would love!  In fact a friend joked that he would probably treat it like a military campaign which was definitely the best approach…it’s safe to say that I tend to be a bit of a birthday Diva so it was a big deal to hand over the reigns! Fortunately I was right and my friend hit the nail on the head, this birthday was perfectly organised from start to finish!

I was told that I had to be ready to leave my flat at 7.30 and that I had to be suitably glamorous and that was all I knew.  I even had to put my hands over my ears in the cab so I couldn’t hear where I was going, to be honest I thought he was going to pull out a blindfold!  When we pulled into the Four Seasons I knew I was in for a real treat, the Four Seasons just opened here in October last year and has a fantastic reputation.  Everyone I know who has been loves it and I was so excited to be there!  We went to Nus’ret which is the hot new Turkish restaurant.  I was so thrilled because it’s all about meat and I am a bit of a carnivore! We had amazing spaghetti steak, it’s really thin and tender steak and was absolutely delicious.  Then we were served an ENTIRE rack of lamb, they brought it over to the table and carved it up for us – honestly I have not seen that much meat in my life!  Amazingly we managed to eat nearly all of it and luckily still had space for Baklava Birthday cake.  They brought it over on a gorgeous plate decorated with ‘Happy Birthday’ in chocolate and then they sang for me too!

Yummy!

This is the chef who posed for me, which apparently he hates to do…I only found out after taking the snap!

Baclava – you get a slice of this with special Turkish icecream smeared on it…so delish!

After dinner we went to Hendrick’s bar, it really is beyond cool. The decoration is similar to an English Gentlemen’s club but with a Dubai twist.  It’s very chic, and somehow we managed to spend two hours sat there chatting!  Bond had the most insane cocktail, it was served in a jug that was full of smoke – it was incredible and looked like a potion from a mad scientist’s lab!  Apparently it was delicious too but it was a whiskey based one which I don’t really enjoy so it was a tad wasted on me, but the berry mojito I had was really yummy!  Eventually we did have to head home though!

The next day I was sent to get my hair and nails done at Mehr Mah, I really felt like a princess being totally fussed over by the ladies at the salon.  They were all so excited for my birthday which was lovely, by the time I left I felt like a million dollars!

Later in the evening Bond had brought champagne with him along with all my lovely presents and we had fun opening all my gifts.  I was BEYOND spoiled and everything he got me was totally perfect!  I felt very lucky!  Once all the gifts were opened I was ushered into a taxi to yet another secret location.  On the way there I actually managed to guess where we were going still that didn’t matter as the big surprise was when we got there! I turned the corner in Loca and several of my friends were sitting waiting for me, I couldn’t believe it!!  It really made me feel so special that people made the effort to come and celebrate with me.  Now that we have been here nearly a year it is great to know that I have really got good friends who value me – I really felt so lucky!  Everyone made a big effort to make it a fun night and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more!

On Saturday I had a lovely skype call with my parents who had enlisted Bond in sending me some stunning flowers.  They really are beautiful and look lovely on the window sill.

All in all it is safe to say I was spoiled rotten and I feel very lucky and happy!!  Now I just have to hope Bond likes his surprise too!!

Parallel parking…my now defeated nemesis!

Now I can handle these places!! Though I am a tad afraid of the tight turns in some of the places out here…maybe Bond will have to escort me to begin with!!

As I previously mentioned we have a parking test here in Dubai.  I am not the world’s greatest parker. I really seem to struggle with going slowly enough and turning the wheel in the right direction.  It’s all most frustrating and basically comes down to being impatient…

Anyway on Sunday I headed off to take my dreaded parking test, there are five parts and you have to pass all five.  There were three of us taking the test, the girl before me made a total mess of it…this ended up totally throwing me off too and so I went to pieces. My garage parking was a debacle (and that’s me trying to be positive about it) and then my parallel parking was a joke (not a funny one…).  Eventually I got a grip on myself and sailed through angle parking, hill parking and emergency braking.  Sadly three out of five is NOT a pass, despite my winning smile so I had to book a new test.

I spent my Sunday driving lesson parking over and over again until I nailed it.  I even made my instructor get out of the car so he couldn’t help me and he said I was ready for the test!  Back I went on Monday to try again.  Fortunately you only have to do the bits that you fail so first we did the garage parking and phew it went well!  The lady said I was a tad too close on one side but decided as it was Ramadan she was going to count it as a pass (Ramadan seems to make people oddly benevolent, if I was hungry and thirsty I think I would be far from pleasant!)  Next we went off to the parallel parking spot, I could practically hear the dramatic music building up.  I got started and just repeated in my head over and over SLOW SLOW SLOW and tada I did it in one!  The examiner said ‘Mabrouk’ which means congratulations and now I am a qualified parker!!!

I am thrilled as this means that after just two more lessons I can take my assessment test – if that goes well then I do my freeway lesson and my night lesson and then the final RTA test and it’s DONE!  Of course I have to pass each element before moving on to the next one, fingers crossed please!!!  Luckily I have driven at night before in London so hopefully that will help!!

Something that made me giggle!

I saw a girl on the metro wearing a t-shirt that said this and it amused me so I thought I would share some levity with you all!  What with it being sale season here it may be time to see if the theory is true…

A Man Called Ove

Before I start I have to say that this will struggle to be an unbiased review because I LOVED this book.  From start to finish I was totally gripped and on finishing I bought the next book by the author.  Fredrik Backman has a way of creating characters that you either love or hate (depending on if they are good or bad of course!)

Ove is a man who is somewhat taciturn and isolated.  His wife has died, a wife he adored and can’t quite seem to function without.  He’s basically decided that he would rather die than continue without her.

The problem with reviewing this book is that if I tell you too much (and believe me I could wax lyrical) then it will ruin it.  What I will say is that I defy you not to be rooting for Ove not to succeed at suicide even though you’ll adore his wife and understand why he wants to be with her.  I am certain that you’ll enjoy all the other characters as well who are so well developed and interesting.  I think  ultimately it’s just a beautiful story about how people can bring out the best and worst in others. The book is set in Sweden, but it could be anywhere.  It’s about people and life and loss and love and family.

To give you an idea of how moving it is, if you were in Al Ahli Driving centre yesterday at around 3 I was the girl sobbing into her kindle!

Iftar

I couldn’t resist this when I saw it! They love the ‘Keep Calm’ thing out here, I even have magnets, one says ‘Keep calm, we don’t pay taxes’ and the other ‘keep calm, we still have oil!” Really ridiculous but funny all the same!

Last night I was invited to share Iftar with my best friend out here and her husband. Sadly Bond had to work and couldn’t join us, but the three of us still managed to have a great time! Iftar is the meal that people observing Ramadan eat to break their fast. Now my best buddy isn’t observing Ramadan as she’s not very religious but her husband is fasting during the day.  He thought it would be nice to share the meal with me and I was really touched as it’s a real moment for family and good friends.  It also meant I got quality time with them before N disappears on a long business trip…BOO!

On my arrival I was in awe to discover that H had gone for a run despite having had nothing to eat or drink all day. Given that I would struggle to make myself run even if I was in great peril you can imagine how impressed I really was!  He was thrilled with the Turkish cookery book I had bought him.  I know that’s the cuisine he wants to try next and it seemed like a fitting gift for someone who can’t drink or eat naughty sweets during Ramadan. Hopefully we can have a Turkish feast soon!

We really had so much fun gossiping away.  We had lentil stew to start with and a yummy salad, delicious and healthy!  Then we had Okra and H said it was the most successful attempt he has ever had at them.  It was really yummy with just the right level of spice to it. I was really pleased that they came out so well for him, he takes a lot of pride in his culinary skills so it was great to see all that hard work pay off.  I told him that he outdid himself and it was totally true!

At the end of the evening my lovely friend gave me a bag of the most GORGEOUS clothes that she no longer needs/wants.  Apparently it’s spring cleaning time!  I was absolutely thrilled and she has been beyond generous, going so far as to give me an Herve Leger dress!  I have wanted one for a long time but have never bitten the bullet as really they are so expensive and I figured it wasn’t a sensible way to spend money.  The one she has given me is gorgeous and I am thrilled with it, plus it’s guilt free as far as my bank are concerned!!  I am so lucky to have a friend with such a good heart, it wasn’t lost on me that she put it at the bottom of the bag and didn’t make a fuss about it – she knows how much I wanted one and I suspect that she decided she no longer ‘wanted’ it so she could give it to me to wear for my upcoming birthday. Really it’s rare to find someone that kind who doesn’t want any kind of thanks, she just does things like this from the goodness of her heart.  Considering she’s kind, funny, ambitious and fiercely loyal I am really lucky to have such a friend.  Out here I know it can be hard to meet genuine people – I found N in my first week, someone was looking out for me for sure!

Good friends at the end of the day are priceless and rare!

Driving Daniel

On Saturday I had TWO hours of driving from 9.30 – 11.30.  I was somewhat tired and not really in the mood.  However I had to rally as my teacher was in an even worse place.  Poor lovely Daniel had rotten luck on Saturday!  He’s only taught me twice as a favour to my usual teacher…imagine how he felt when my class was the one he was getting evaluated on…naturally I thought I had to bring my a-game for him!

He really is a great teacher, he’s patient and kind and let me learn at my own pace.  I felt that he really knew what he was doing.  It didn’t hurt that he speaks perfect English too!  I told the guy doing the evaluation that I was REALLY happy with Daniel and thought he had done really well with teaching me, albeit briefly.  Then I wrote out a highly favourable form saying how terrific he was!  Fingers crossed he passed the evaluation and that he didn’t do badly as a result of teaching me for that session.  He’s such a nice man, I would feel badly if I let him down.

My next few classes I go back to my usual instructor and in fact all going well I hope to finish within the next two weeks and be in my own car!  It would be PERFECT timing as in rather thrilling news my lovely friend got her job and will be moving out here in July!!!!  Rather unfortunate timing to move weatherwise but quite funny as it’s a year to the day that I moved here that she will be joining us out here…fortuitous some might say!

Please wish me luck!

Dinner, Driving and believe it or not Culture!!

We had quite a manic weekend!  Now that we are thoroughly into Game of Thrones we spent Thursday night eating Thai and getting stuck into season 1. How we waited this long I will never know…it’s addictive if a bit overly gross and bloody!  I can’t wait for season 2 to start! On Friday I had planned a dinner out for Bond to say congratulations on his business trips recently.  I had kept the whole plan a surprise and was really hoping he would like the place I had chosen and he was pretty excited about it all!  We had a quiet day to prepare for the evening!

The venue of choice was Alfie’s at Emirates Towers.  It’s the restaurant done by Alfred Dunhill (with a store conveniently located next door).  When we arrived the place was pretty empty and I was quite disappointed there wasn’t more of an atmosphere.  I think that’s the problem with going out in Ramadan though.  In time we came to quite enjoy the private dining feel that we had going.  The service was excellent without being overly attentive as well so we were able to really relax and enjoy ourselves. The decor is very cool and chic, long grey leather sofas and marble tables with gorgeous Dunhill salt and pepper shakers.  Bond sat on a black leather chair that apparently was not at all comfortable which was a shame really as the sofa I had was lovely, I would have swapped but he only told me at the end!  We ordered a lovely South African Shiraz which was utterly delicious and went perfectly with all the red meat we had ordered. Bond had loin of beef and I had a bone marrow burger.  Both were perfection and so were the vegetables and potatoe wedges.  For pudding I had apple crumble which was to die for, just the right texture.  Bond had a cheeseboard which he said was a great selection, certainly he got a lot of cheese and crackers so he was happy.

Look at all that cheese!

Crumble heaven!

All in all I would definitely recommend Alfie’s and I am keen to go again after Ramadan to see if it’s got more of a buzz to it!  It would be a great place for any Brit missing home or any Anglophiles out there.  I am for sure taking my dad on his next visit – he will love it! There is a cool gentlemen’s club style bar that we have to check out next time!

Saturday morning saw me heading to yet another driving lesson, this time with the lovely Daniel.  More details on that in another post!  After driving I met up with Bond and our lovely German friend for a quick bite at the Kempinski before we headed for some culture.  During Ramadan the Kempinski offer lunch behind curtains in the Aspen lounge.  It feels a bit like you know a secret when you go in there!  The food is delicious, M and I both had the ravioli and Bond had a club sandwich and chips.  They also do terrific lemonade so I was happy to have one of those. I don’t think we have been there for a long time so it was lovely to go back again.  I suspect it will be a regular haunt during Ramadan.

Once satiated we headed off to Al Serkal Avenue which is a collection of art galleries in Al Quoz.  We were keen to see the photos taken by a friend of M’s. He travelled across Africa for six months on a motorbike taking photographs of people and landscapes and buildings that struck a chord with him.  I don’t know a huge amount about photography so it was interesting to learn more about why they choose certain mediums to print on and what difference that makes to the over all look of the photo.  Having seen the photographs we decided to explore the area a bit more.  We went to about 5 or 6 different galleries in the end (unfortunately a few were shut). Most of what we saw I liked but a few pieces I had to say I found a bit unsettling.  That said they were obviously designed to be provocative and so the fact that they made us all think and have a discussion about the piece has to be a good thing.

These are razor blades and I found them a tad unnerving…

Here is a far better description of what we saw at one gallery

This was M’s favourite photo

This was my favourite

This is a bit about what we saw and the artist’s journey

This is the bike the artist travelled on…Bond was rather taken with it!

Dubai is perceived to be a bit of a cultural wasteland, and to be honest it’s not an overly unfair stereotype.  I try to defend the city and say that we have world defining architecture and that it’s a new city trying to define itself but it’s true that we aren’t leading the way on the cultural front.  There does seem to be change here though with Art Dubai happening annually and the Opera house that should open soon.  Abu Dhabi will have their own Louvre and Guggenheim soon too!  Still till that all happens it’s great to know we can just go to a place on our doorstep to see some art!

All in all a fabulous weekend!  Next weekend it’s my birthday and Bond is busy plotting…I have to admit I am MOST intrigued!!

Ramadan Kareem

Today marks the official start of Ramada, the fasting period before Eid. It is similar to Lent before Easter, but a lot stricter.  No water or food is to be ingested between certain hours (as decided by the moon), the fast is broken with a meal called Iftar.  This meal tends to be shared with family and close friends and is a very important ritual.  No alcohol is to be consumed, people shouldn’t smoke and should refrain from thinking any kind of impure thoughts.

Ramadan has a big impact on life in the U.A.E.  For instance most places cease to serve lunch and trying to get a coffee can become somewhat of a challenge as most places are shut. Also you can not get alcohol during the day.  Come 7pm though everywhere is back up and running and you can drink to your hearts content, if you’re not observing Ramadan of course.

Working life also changes, I will be working two hours less for the duration of Ramadan. This time will of course be devoted to yet more driving lessons!  Not everyone gets reduced working hours so I feel very lucky to get them.

People are encouraged to respect Ramadan.  For instance you should refrain from eating or drinking in public.  This extends to your car as well!  In my office we make it common practice to check if anyone in the room is observing Ramadan and if they are then we check if they mind if anyone drinks water.  As yet I have never heard of anyone saying that someone can’t drink water in front of them, but if they did I would definitely respect that.  Our canteen remains open so that we can have lunch, but it was noticably emptier today.

Day one has quite a nice feeling to it…but by the middle I imagine tempers may start to fray as people get tired.  This is my first full Ramadan, I moved in the middle of the last one so I am curious to see how it feels.

If you know of anyone observing Ramadan you can wish them ‘Ramadan Kareem’.  For those of you observing Ramadan ‘Ramadan Kareem’ from me to you, may you indeed enjoy a blessed time with friends and family.

So much laughter!

Last night Bond and I went to see Spy – we had both heard rave reviews from our colleagues and so decided we needed to see whether it lived up to the hype! It’s a pretty star studded cast. Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Miranda Hart and Jason Statham are all in it just for starters.  I couldn’t be happier that the best of British and American comedy joined up to make this film!  It’s great to see the mix of humour from both sides of the pond.

To give you a rough idea of what happens without spoiling the film; Melissa McCarthy plays a CIA agent in charge of guiding her fellow Spy (Jude Law) through his missions. through a series of events Melissa ends up having to go and be a spy herself.  The scenarios she finds herself in are truly hilarious!  Miranda Hart becomes her right hand woman and is her typical funny self, getting into some fantastic capers herself!

Rose Byrne is a triumph in her role as the baddy, with her hairstyle practically becoming a character in her own right. She’s fantastically blunt and rude, definitely a change for her from her usual polite lovely characters. She really pulls the whole thing off and looks amazing throughout.  How she walked in some of her shoes I don’t know!

The guys don’t slack off either, Jason Statham does a really brilliant spoof on himself as the ‘uber spy’ who in reality doesn’t quite match up to his own spin! Jude Law is typically handsome and charming but with a bit of a rogue spin on it.  There are some great cameo appearances too, even Fifty Cent gets in on the act. It’s great also to see the director McCarthy’s husband Paul Feig put in an appearance.  He is doing so much to promote women in film and this is another great addition to his stable.

If you fancy a real laugh then I definitely recommend seeing Spy. Bond claimed it was aimed at women but he still really enjoyed it.  Definitely a good one for either a couple’s night out or a girls night! I will say though that the language was pretty out there (we are so used to things being censored we were quite surprised, but it might not be shocking for anyone used to uncensored films!)

We also had a quick bite at the counter, the veggie burger remains fantastic!  Highlight of the evening though, getting ID to watched the film!!!  The lady was genuinely shocked to find out that I was more than old enough to watch…made my evening!