Snapshot on today: 15 Jan 09

I suddenly realised this morning that I’ve been a bit slack on my blog of late, after the Wii fit shocker of late last year. I have been busy with work and what-not as well as sticking rigidly to a daily yoga regime (well done me!) and it seems to be paying off, though unfortunately what no one tells you is that by using Wii Fit every day, you get the added bonus of having all the attendant music for all your fave activities stuck in your head, on a loop, every waking hour.

This week, I am mostly hearing: Wii Fit yoga “hold that pose” music in my head. Over and over and over and over…

Today, I am mostly feeling: relieved that it’s Thursday – it’s been a very hard week and I’m really feeling the pressure

I don’t really feel like blogging this week, so that’s all! Laters.

Flickster. x

Are Wii fit or what?!

Well, er actually no, we’re not…

It’s an accepted wisdom in the Dubai expat community that after a certain amount of time living in this bauble of the Emirates one is likely to obtain what is wryly dubbed the “Dubai Stone. “

Dubai is world famous for it’s bargain jewelery deals, and whilst in my imagination this term elicited gilded fantasies of a lovely chunky diamond or sparkly gem set in platinum and presented to me with a flourish by PD, it seems I was, as usual, living in a self-denying haze.

The Dubai Stone is in fact the charming extra flab baggage that expats grow on their bellies, bottoms and hips whilst enjoying the excessive and indulgent lifestyle that Dubai has to offer*. In case you’re not already aware, this lifestyle generally consists of Friday brunches, hotel cocktails, takeaways and absolutely no walking whatsoever (unless you count mall-walking, which I don’t, because it’s usually done whilst clutching a cinnamon roll in one’s paw).

*This is not to be confused with the better-known, “Heathrow Hip and Thigh Injection” that Antipodean lovelies typically endure after arriving in London – been there, done that, stretched the t-shirt.

Now, I had this witty term explained to me pretty early on in my UAE tenure, and I was determined not to succumb to its pitfall. Living with gym bunnies L&S in the early days was great, as their enthusiasm for working-out was infectious and I was known to visit said gym at least twice a week, sometimes even FIVE times a week (yes, really – don’t choke on your egg nog). I even managed to lose weight in my first three months in Dubai. Of course, the added stress and cigarettes were also a contributing factor. Having said that, since we moved into our new apartment six weeks ago, the sum total of my gym visits has totaled…umm…one (PD’s is two! Woo hoo for him!).

Last week, while Christmas shopping at the Dubai Mall, we spotted the Wii Fit. We’ve had our Wii since PD’s birthday in May, but haven’t really used it, so we figured, as a Christmas present to ourselves, we would get the Wii Fit as a way of getting back into the fitness thing as part of our lifestyle. I’d recently noticed some oh-so-familiar jiggling in the thigh area that I had painstakingly managed to shed during those heady working out days and I am soooo bored of trying to minimise it again.

You may know already how the Wii Fit works, but in a nutshell, in order to get started, you need to interact with it by allowing it to weigh you by standing on the Wii Fit board, so it can calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). It also tests your balance using games and following this battery of tests, ultimately gives you your “Wii Fit Age” .

Stepping up to the board on Boxing Day, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was slap bang in the middle of the healthy BMI and weight range. Yippee for me – let’s have another mince pie! PD was in healthy range too. Bolstered by this good news, we then happily set our Wii Fit Goals and got on with having fun with the cornucopia of silly activities this genius piece of technology has to offer.

Yesterday, L&S came over for lunch and a bit of Wii Fit fun. They too subjected themselves to the Wii Fit test battery. But something wasn’t right. S claimed that the last time he weighed himself at the gym he was at least a stone heavier. Hmm. L supported that claim too…ok…maybe it’s time to investigate…

We had originally positioned the Wii Fit board on the deep pile rug in front of the TV (which, FYI, is now cream rather than grey, due to an industrial deep clean). When PD placed the Wii Fit board flat on the tiles beside the rug and subjected himself to the tests again, it turned out that the rug has been cushioning our weight by about a stone and a half…this made us both officially overweight, and to add insult to injury, my Wii Fit age was deemed “44″ – a full ten years older than my actual age. So not only have I gained the Dubai Stone, I’ve also aged a Dubai Decade!

Happy new year peeps!

Flickster. x

Turkey talking

I mentioned last week that PD and I went to London for a few days at the beginning of the month. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up but I wouldn’t call it a holiday. I did my usual planning with military precision – each waking hour was attributed to a particular person or activity – to ensure we didn’t miss out on seeing anyone. Given my 14-year expat status, I have learned that only by sticking to a rigid diary can you make sure you catch up with all those you really want to see. As a strategy it works, but boy, it sure is relentless.

When we got back to Dubai, I felt really flat and exhausted (no surprises there when I will insist on having a drink and about a million cigarettes each night – just to be sociable of course!). Part of this exhaustion was also tied to continually being asked the question, “So, how is it really?” and always answering, “Well…I don’t love it…”

Because this stock Q&A was performed on average at least twice a day, by replying the same each time, I really started to believe it. But there are things I love about Dubai, and when I got back, the weather was pretty high up on that list, L&S and our new friends, W&A were too. Plus the good old chestnut of being able to smoke pretty much anywhere (I’ll always put that one in). People have told me that the first visit back is always the hardest, when you question what you are doing and ponder the answer to exactly why it is so intense living in Dubai. There are lots of reasons for this, not least because it is one of the newest cities in the world, flooded with a melting pot of different cultures and trying really really hard to be the flashiest, fastest, richest, and glitziest. Who wouldn’t find THAT exhausting? But I’ve been asking that same question all along anyway, so no changes there.

Anyway, enough of these self indulgent self searching thoughts. Let’s talk about Christmas! Being in London was very Christmassy – with twinkly lights, pretty trees, frost on the ground and carols everywhere. Speaking of carols, PD and I had the pleasure of listening to the entire set 20 times over of the Salvation Army Brass Band, who were stationed under our hotel room window on Saturday in central London – that will teach us to party all night the evening before and try and get some shut eye in the afternoon!

We bought a white Christmas tree yesterday – I know, a risk, it could have back-fir-ed (ha!) but it didn’t – it looks rather lovely with all the decorations on it now. We were planning on buying a real one – I’d heard a rumour that Spinney’s Supermarket (the Dubai version of Waitrose but not really) on the Beach Road were selling ‘em. So PD and I got in the car and drove around aimlessly trying to find it. PD started getting cranky after an hour because he was hungry, which necessitated a panicked phonecall from me to L to find out exactly where this mythical Spinney’s was. It wasn’t that far away, we’d just been driving in completely the wrong direction. Anyway, when we arrived, there were only five real trees left. We then started getting the enviro-guilts because obviously they were air freighted (how do you think fir trees would survive, growing in the sand?). We then discovered the cost of a five foot real tree was in the region of 100 quid. Ah, thanks, but no. Other expats had clearly gone through the same thought process, which meant an artificial white tree was all that was left. The last turkey in the shop, as it were.

On the subject of turkeys, a similar situation. Very expensive to get a fresh gobbler from Waitrose – plus the added stress-out of cooking it in a small oven which looks lovely but cooks atrociously. So (and this is another thing to add to the ‘love’ list) we have ordered a fully cooked turkey with all the trimmings from a hotel. All you need to do is pick it up on the day and carve and serve it when you get home. Genius. And no, it’s not cheating – who do you think I am, Nigella?

Happy Christmas and a lovely new year to you all.

Flickster. xx

P.S. Uploaded some photos too – check ‘em out. x

Snapshot on today: 16 Dec 08. Ho Ho Ho…

Eeek. Sometimes when you haven’t done what you should normally on a regular basis eg. go to the gym, call your mum, bathe – it all just seems so hard to get back in there and get into the groove again. This is the case with my blog – yeah – I know it’s been ages since my rant on furniture, but it’s been a hectic time, folks. The end of the year always is, innit?

Anyway, I do actually have quite a lot to say this week – not least because we went back to toenail-snappingly freezing Blighty for a visit last week – but rather boringly, I am quite stacked with work. And it’s quite naughty to be blogging away at your desk with the office door shut when you should be doing any number of work-related thingies, such as running QA tests on new websites, replying to emails from your boss, setting up interviews and filling in your expenses sheet before year end hits. So, in the spirit of holiday giving (don’t mention Chrimbo here my mateys – it’s almost as if it doesn’t exist!), here’s my snapshot:

This week, I am mostly missing: my absent friends and family

Today, I am mostly loving: my new car. She’s a beauty – I drove her today for the first time in weeks, as PD has been hogging her (but giving me lifts to and back from work, so I can’t complain). Finally obtaining our new camera means I took a picture of her parked proudly in the sandpit this morning – I’ll post it up shortly when I work out how to upload

This week, I am mostly hating: my slow internet connection at work. Hurry up and load d*mn you!!

Flickster. xx

Snapshot on today: Weds 26 Nov 08

Today I am mostly feeling: hungover. the special white wine kind (you know what I mean ladies). My brain function is about as slow as a hibernating tortoise’s

Today I am absolutely loving: my husband. The lovely man drove me to work this morning to save me from sandpit-parking-hell in my hungover state

This week I am absolutely hating: the stupid and pointless U turn I have to do on my way home every night to get into our apartment complex. Time taken to drive from office to opposite side of the road to the turn off to the apartment: 10 minutes. Time taken to do the dumb U turn: 20- 30 minutes. Time wasted sitting behind cement mixers and worker buses: F*cking priceless