My friend D, a very wise and perceptive young lady, BBMd me the other day (have you noticed how people no longer call each other...they BBM?), saying that she was reading my blog, and that she was surprised that the last few posts have had a rather negative tone to them, and she asked me to write something more positive next time.
My friend D is right...I do use this blog as a venting platform whenever I'm unhappy about something...It's almost like an automatic reflex. But I did want to say this, loud and clear: I LOVE THE UAE. This place is definitely home to me, and right now, I do not see myself living anywhere else in the world. I mean yes, we all go through our "OMG I wish I lived in Europe/The States/Australia/South America" moments, but then you quickly realize that you can not live the way we live here anywhere else in the world.
So here's an incomplete list of the things I love about living here. Some are personal, some are more relevant to everyone out there. I urge you to add your own comments if you'd like to:
- I love living close to my parents. I get to see them every couple of weeks, and it beats seeing them 3 weeks out of 52, hands down! Home is where your family is.
- I love my friends. They're the best part of living here. I look forward to my weekends because of them...and this goes for both my groups of friends in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
- I love that I've known some of these friends for almost 2 decades now. OK now I feel old!!
- I love living with my sister (she'll kill me if I don't mention her here)
- I love the weather. I did the whole snow, ice, hail, wind, 4-seasons thing for 10 years. I'd rather 50-degree heat. Trust me.
- I love the beach. Some of the best beaches in the world are here.
- I love my pool. I think I have the awesomest pool in Dubai. Others will vouch for that.
- I love how easy life is. Admit it...you can't get a life this easy anywhere else in the world!
- I love my job and the people I work with.
- I love the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. The best free beach EVER!
- I love the fact that I live in the city that has the tallest building in the world...I know it's stupid...but it's kinda cool.
- I love that as a female, I usually get priority service at most governmental offices.
- I love the concerts in Abu Dhabi...Justin Timberlake, George Michael, Bon Jovi, The Killers, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Coldplay...to name a few!
- I love the restaurants in Dubai...Teatro, Zuma, Okku, Bice...again to name a few...yumm!
- I love that we get great weather almost 7 months a year
- I love the sound of the athan (prayer) when I sometimes wake up at 4AM for no reason whatsoever...It's so soothing.
- I love action-packed weekends...pool/beach, restaurants, clubs and bars (and then trying to catch up on sleep during weekdays)
- I love the shopping...not that I shop a lot but I like it when I do shop...
- I love how familiar Abu Dhabi feels. It's nice and cosy.
- I love camping on the beach.
- I love weekend getaways to Fujairah, Hatta and Musandam
- I love Yas Island and what it's becoming.
- I love what they're doing with Abu Dhabi.
- I love Christmastime in the UAE. I'll always associate that with vacation time and family gatherings.
- I love JBR Walk. Don't take advantage of it nearly enough though.
- I love boat trips.
- I love the sight of Burj al Arab.
- I love our coffee sessions at The ONE in Abu Dhabi. It's our local hangout.
- I love our chilled nights at a friend's place, playing charades.
- I love sunsets at the end of a beautiful weekend.
- I love the look of awe on my tourist friend's faces when they come visit.
- I love Sho Cho's (both Abu Dhabi and Dubai!). Rock shrimp salad? I could live on that stuff! Oh, and salmon sashimi too!
- I love how close we are to Europe, Asia, South Africa, and the rest of the Middle-East of course. Now if only North & South America and Australia would come closer to us...would be great.
- I love that I get 21 days off in a year (plus all the Eids and national holidays!)
- I love the feeling of "coming back home" when I'm away from the UAE for a little while.
........
There's more...there's definitely more...but let me know what you love about the UAE...
About Me
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- Moved back to the UAE 5 years ago after a 10-year absence. This blog is about nothing in specific...just snippets of information I feel the need to share with the rest of the world.
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57 comments:
Wow!! This is definately the most positive viewpoint of the UAE I think I have ever read. I am glad you are happy here.... But for me, I'm not so sure.....
I Like how positive you are :)
love the post
Glad to see something positive written about the UAE in the blogosphere..and by an expat.
Thanks!
This is beautiful. My fav -- "the weekend getaways to Fujairah, Hatta and Musandam and the feeling of "coming back home".
You're right, there's so much more to the UAE, so many simple things we take for granted, often. Nice post.
You do realize that the "pool" doesnt have anything to do with Dubai being great, and that you are lucky enough to live in a home with one?
There are people in Dubai whose children are turned away from hospitals (check GN) because they dont have money.....
I agree with most of the points though, however its shallowness to take one's privileged background to praise the place he is living in !
In other words, even Kabul will be the best place in the world if you ask a millionaire living there...
LOL - write a positive post, and you'll still get negative comments!
Great list, DS - you've listed what's good about the U.A.E. for you!
hugs
Great list!
Makes me realise I have taken some stuff for granted, and also, I am not doing as much as I could be.
I so agree with you about Yas Island and Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi is doing some exciting stuff.
I never tire of the Burj Al Arab either!
Happy Mother's Day, and thanks for sharing this with us all.
I love Dubai property and hope I can have 1 ideal house in UAE soon.
I reached this blog by accident, but I found that has a very interesting content. Good job. A greeting.
i love your post! it's made me think differently about what i'm going to do with my weekend, i think i'll start by a game of charades!!! bravo.x
wow, I first appreciated the life in the UAE when I came to study abroad in Dec 2007. I mean Canada is not a bad place to be, on the contrary, it is great. Nevertheless, it not home! If i had grown up in Canada, that will be a different story. Also, I agree on the point of family and I always believed that wherever your with family, then your at home. The thing I miss most of the UAE is our wonderful warm sun! I stopped complaining about heat since I experienced the weather here! :(
I also need to rethink about the weekends.
Hope yoiu have it soon Mary...that can help me a lot too because you can guide me that way...
Its wonderful to hear about you being so happy.That's been long gone for some of us..concerts are really good I see..what about some heavy metal one's??? you have them here??
i would say this country DUBAI is just a Gods gifted marvelous place on the earth.That is really good publish but examine this superb website Interesting subject. I m really glad to read your blog.
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Whats on with metal concerts ??? \m/ I've heard of something called "Dubai Rock Fest"..What else???
So sweet of you.UAE as well loves you
Greatly said & appreciated...Good of you to love your country so much.
Nice post.Great work.
Awesome post.It was great going through your pages.
Sweet of you to feel like that for this country.Great God bless you.
Appreciate your thoughts.
the best post I've ever seen.love the post very much.
Hi there,
I’m writing on behalf of Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and I thought this might be of interest to you and your blog readers. ADMAF is organising a concert called ‘Salam Ya Quds’ taking place on 28th October in Abu Dhabi. It is not for profit – all the money goes to benefit Palestinian children through the charity,’ A Child, a Promise’.
Huge stars from all over the Arab world are going to be attending and it’s set to be a really fantastic event for an even better cause. I’ve attached a link if you want any more information (the second one provides all the same info translated into Arabic):
http://smr.fourcommunications.com/abu-dhabi-music-arts-foundation/abu-dhabi-music-arts-foundation-presents-%e2%80%9csalam-ya-quds%e2%80%9d-a-unique-concert-uniting-arab-artists-to-benefit-palestinian-children/
http://smr.fourcommunications.com/abu-dhabi-music-arts-foundation/%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%a3%d8%a8%d9%88%d8%b8%d8%a8%d9%8a-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%ab%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%a9-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81%d9%86%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%af%d9%85-%d8%ad%d9%81/
We would be grateful if you would help raise awareness of this important event through your blog.
Many thanks
Dubai has become a big player in the golf world, hiring Tiger Woods to build his first ever golf course. It’s also become the biggest stage on the European Tour with two events, including the “Race to Dubai” season-ending tournament and prize money similar to the FedEx Cup in America
Hey, since we're all here, check out this video of the UAEs ecosystem. Its very interesting! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP1nzCqoT9g
i love http://bit.ly/a34ksH
I was just wondering and i got here, I really gt amazed by the blog. Very informaive and very helpfull thanks for providing the post. Hope that we will get more in future.
Thanks for sharing the article. I was really wondering and i get here and get amazed by the article. Hope that we will get more ahead.
thank you for your share
Hello, I am a student at Arapahoe High School in Denver, Colorado. I'm currently taking world literature and we have an assignment to study whatever place we want and find out about their culture and literature. I chose Dubai, I think it is a very interesting place and how it has grown so quickly and all the building they have done in such a short amount of time. My last part of the assignment is to blog with people from Dubai. I was just wondering what you could tell me about Dubai. What is the culture like? I wasn't able to find much literature from Dubai unfortunately. How does literature from Dubai compare to the rest of the world? Where else have you lived and how does that culture relate to Dubai's?
Thanks for the information.
Don't well all love it ? Great post anyway :)
Your post was really good and I also agree with that lady. It will be fin and more interesting to read some positive posts from you on Dubai.
I am waiting of your newer posts.
wow!!!! so many of your friends in the hotel business. Thats cool.
Your friend 'D' truly is a wise one :) Love your post! I'm sorry to see that some people are using your blog for the purposes of advertising though.
I look forward to our weekends with you (and of course your sister)too xx
It has been quite a while since your last blog so take a breather from that job that's keeping you away from everything and everyone and give us another good article. Your wise friend D
Wow, what a wonderful blog.. I'm living here in TEXAS now, after living in UAE for 3 yrs, Married to a local. I had the most amazing life ever,I hope to go back someday. I took for granted so much. :((( :(((( :(((( come visit my blog
Dxb sunshine.... we're still waiting for you to resurface! You can't keep your fans waiting too long...
Hi Dubai Sunshine,
BlogFront.org is committed to uphold the quality standards of blogging. We strive to maintain and promote only the most credible blogs in their respective fields.
Spam blogs or "splogs" has been a problem for some time now and people are getting confused about which blog to trust.
We would like to thank you for maintaining such a reputable blog. We know that it takes time, effort and commitment to keep such a blog and as such, we have added your blog as one of the top Dubai Blogs.
You can see your blog listed here: http://blogfront.org/dubai/2
You can also claim your BlogFront Top Blogs badge at http://blogfront.org/badges/dubai
Thank you for keeping your blog credible. Let's keep the blog revolution alive!
Maria Blanchard
BlogFront.org
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I came to this place by chance, but I found very interesting. Greetings to all the people who visit this page... Kuzey Güney
Dubai Tour Packages - really such a nice blog...
Well done unique travel site-very interesting/informative..
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WOW now your beginning to see the positive side
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Well done article-very interesting/informative..
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Hello friend very nice post this is good post ........!
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so positive ... thx for share!
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I recently came across your blog and found it quite informative for myself. Although i am not a good surfer, i am sure looking forward towards being a regular visitor of your blog. Keep up the good work.
Interesting to read some positive posts from you on Dubai.
Thanks !
Yah! very interesting to read...
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Loved everything you said and agree with most, life is easy and fun here and Dubai doesnt deserve the negative bits it recieve's in certain articles...most places have their pros and cons. I'm an out and out Dubai product and love it! Btw: excellent choices on the restaurants!
amazing post
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Fruitful and Interesting and important to read for those who are planing to come to Dubai.
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Friends and Colleagues,
Exeter Medical Center is a specialized Orthopaedic Center based in Abu Dhabi, the fast growing capital of United Arab of Emirates. Aligning with the UAE vision to continually improve healthcare services, EMC has been developed to provide world-class care in Orthopaedics.
In our dedication to provide Orthopaedic Healthcare Professionals with the latest advances in knowledge and training, Exeter Medical Center in association with the Edinburgh Foot & Ankle Unit, would like to invite you to join global leaders and colleagues from around the world in the fascinating city of Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi International Foot & Ankle Symposium in Sheraton Hotel Abu Dhabi – UAE on February 23rd and 24th, 2012.
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