Finally the temperatures are falling and when I say falling I mean we dipped below 40 last week and the humidity has not been so intense. Well at least there is some progress. The mornings are blissful and walking the dog at 6am is becoming less of a hassle as the air lightens and a cool breeze washes through the marina. It's nice not to feel drained after just 20 minutes outside and I am sure this infamous Dubai winter weather everyone keeps telling me about is going to be beautiful.
In other news I talked on the radio. Yeh that's right, little old me got sucked into doing a radio interview for work and although I was insanely nervous, I did it. Without making a fool of myself or stuttering so that's a rather big achievement in my book. It was at one of the large English speaking stations here and sitting in a little soundproof studio, wearing headphones and talking into a huge microphone, was rather interesting. And I took my first farm trip!
Obviously it involved a very early start and I was up at 5am, cruising through Dubai and into Sharjah, the next emirate, as the sun rose. I haven't been on a farm since I was a child and it was quite interesting to talk to our farm guys there about what and how they are growing stuff and how they are combatting the climate which brings with it many limitations in terms of growing. Seeing all this wonderful green stuff sprouting from the ground got me excited about the coming months.
I had never been inside a radio studio and it was less claustrophobic than I thought it might be. The presenters were lovely and made me feel completely at ease and after just a minute of chatting away, I almost forget where I was or why I was sitting there with big radio headphones on. Well that's something to tick off the bucket list if life isn't it.
Now we are fulling into the swing of things, we have started to explore Dubai a little more and the fact that we're making friends has helped with that too since we have exploring companions who actually act more like tour guides since they know this city a lot better than us. In the last couple of weeks we have tried out some new eateries and frequented some of the bars on our doorstep here in the marina, all of which have been rather nice.
I took my first trip to The Palm a few weekends ago for a little evening of alfresco socialising and it was lovely. We will will obviously have to go back and explore during the day and take advantage of some of the beautiful hotel beaches you can pay to use for the day, but if your on the look out for a relaxes venue for a drink with friends, Beach House Cabana next to Shoreline Apartments is just the thing. With beautiful decor inside and a huge terrace area outside, it has a super relaxed vibe and rather reasonably priced beverages. And a new favourite is Cargo, in Pier 7 in Dubai Marina, which just so happens to be a few minutes walk from our apartment building....convenient! And being in the heart of the Marina means the huge terrace offers fantastic views.
We have been pretty much on health overload this past week, with nutritious dinners and some early morning gym sessions, which meant a little blowout at the weekend with a delicious breakfast at 25 55 cafe in Dubai Marina Yacht Club; possibly the best breakfast I have ever eaten! The Eggs Benedict Florentine is amazing, creamy and packed full of flavour and they have pork sausages....something which any expat in Dubai will know is a big deal breaker. You would never guess pork was stuff a big deal but once you have tried the delights of a chicken sausage you will know what I mean.
I also experience my first sandstorm which was rather exciting...for a few minutes. Sheikh Zayed Road suddenly disappeared behind a thick cloud of sand and darkness fell as it washed over the city. It is funny how quickly it appeared; with blue sky and sunshine one minute and dark, sand clouds hovering above us the next. I am pretty sure the pooch was not too impressed when we had to venture out for a walk.
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