I woke up on Sunday morning to another sandstorm. There was no way I was leaving the house with all that dust outside – I’m convinced that’s what made me sick to start with! On Sunday afternoon I received a call from Dubai Bank. It was a courtesy call – what did I think of the procedure for opening a new account? Simple. How did I hear about them? There’s a branch under my building. Was I happy with my account? Well, it’s only been one day so ask me in a month.
On Monday morning I had another call from the bank. Actually it was Aramex telling me my debit card was ready and would be delivered the following day. Wow – they weren’t kidding when they said it would take three days. I have to admit I had my doubts. I had a yoga class on Monday morning – my first ‘exercise’ in 10 days. It was fine apart from a slight coughing fit after being in shoulderstand. I was home the rest of the day, working.
On Wednesday I had a training session with Rama, did some work, and then went to watch the tennis with my cousin. While we were there I was given the option of coffee or alcohol. I chose coffee. I think that was the first time that’s ever happened. I bitterly regretted it when I was tossing and turning at 2am, unable to sleep. Always choose alcohol, I told myself. Always.
After the tennis, we went to a restaurant called Lemongrass near Lamcy Plaza. They were quite busy and we hadn’t made a reservation but managed to get a table. My cousin had a voucher which gave us one main course for free – so our meal of green chicken curry, steamed fish with ginger and soya sauce, rice, water and a soft drink cost us Dhs 77 (just over £13). Bargain!
On Thursday I had another yoga class and then met up with a friend for coffee. We went to Paul at Mall of the Emirates. We walked around for a while afterwards – she wanted to go to Crate and Barrel so I went with her. Shopping for household items really doesn’t interest me much but some of the things they sold in the store were fascinating. Not fascinating because I would want something like that, but fascinating because who buys all these things? Strawberry hullers, grapefruit knives, bagel knives, and so on. I have to admit that if I did cook I would want one of their garlic presses… After that my friend wanted to go to Carrefour. That’s where I drew the line and headed home.
On Friday we had lunch at Sakura at the Crowne Plaza Hotel with my cousin, her mum and kids. They do a special Friday lunch offer for AED170 (about £30) which includes salads, sushi and sashimi, tempura, teppanyaki and dessert. It doesn’t include drinks but is still great value for money. After that I really fancied a coffee at Gloria Jean’s which was a short walk away. They were closed when we got there! I was so disappointed – they close for the afternoon on Fridays. Surely that’s when they’d be busiest?? Dad and I decided we’d go to Mercato Mall and have a coffee there instead. We thought about seeing a movie that night but by the time we got home we were both feeling too lazy to do anything.
We’d been meaning to get a TV for Joy’s room – just so she’d have something to do in her free time and not get so bored. On Saturday we went to Harman House on Sheikh Zayed Road to see what they had. We chose a TV but didn’t buy it as the technician needs to come and check that the points in her room work. We haven’t told her about the TV so hopefully it will be a nice surprise for her when it arrives!
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Notes by Nectar 