Saturday, January 26, 2013

Scams

Begging in Dubai is illegal, but since I've been in Dubai I have experienced many different types of scams.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the old beggars and give them some money, however I am sure there are charities that would help these people. I know they are illegal but I would feel really guilty about calling the police about them.

Once I was coming out of the supermarket and a covered lady carrying a baby approached me. She spoke very good Arabic and English and was asking for money as her baby was ill. I ignored her and then she stopped me from getting into my car. That made me even more determined not to give her money. I am positively sure that if her baby was really ill a hospital would not let the baby die! 

The first time I was asked for money was the first week I arrived in Dubai. I came out of work and a car stopped beside me. It was an Indian family and the man said he needed money for petrol to go to Oman as their visas had expired. I just laughed and said that I didn't have a visa yet and haven't been paid as I had just arrived. Then I just walked away. Another colleague had the same experience and reported them to the police.

Now sometimes these people do tug on my heartstrings but other times you can tell it is a scam and they are lying to get a few extra dirhams in their pocket. I have heard about other scams going on; women and children knocking on doors, suit scams, fake wound scams and so on.

At the end of the day if a person really needs money then there will be a charity to help them. If they do not have visas and are here illegally then they need to either find a job or go back to their country. I guess some people could say just give them some money it's charity! I think my negativity stems from when I lived in England and some beggars would take money given to them to get their drugs fix rather than buy a meal for their family.
I wish I could help everyone!!!

Yesterday I was in a shop looking at dresses and a lady with a pram approached me and asked if she could borrow my phone to call her husband. Automatically I told her to ask the person at the cashier if she could use the store phone and I left the store. I don't know what she could have done if I had given her my phone...maybe she would call a number to take all my credit...maybe she would run away with my phone...perhaps she was actually an innocent lady needing to call her husband. Who knows? You can never be too careful!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

My Roaccutane adventure

This time last year I began taking the medication Roaccutane for my acne. I had really bad skin and covered it up with make-up all the time. I never left the house without make-up on. The make-up was not much help, it only covered the redness of the spots but I still had large bumps on my face.
Roaccutane was an adventure and my mood was like a roller coaster! If you know about Roaccutane then you will know the serious side effects related to it, including suicide. Alhamdullillah I did not get depressed however I did have a lack of patience and was constantly getting easily irritated. I made everyone around me aware that I was taking the medication so they knew why I was acting the way I was.

At first my skin and lips went very dry. I suffered from dry eyes and had to stay off work for a few days. I had bad breakouts for a few weeks. Then my skin started to get clearer and I became used to the dryness.
I had to have blood tests every month and each time my cholesterol got dangerously higher. But I did not quit as all I could focus on was clear skin!

After 8 months I stopped taking Roaccutane. My skin has had no spots at all! It's so clear and there are no red marks. My skin is now very thin so it will take a few months to completely heal and I am not allowed any facials. Inshallah my skin stays clear!

I have been going out without any make-up on and it feels amazing! I have not left the house for 10 years without make-up so this is the best thing ever!

For the ten or more years I had acne I went to several doctors to try and get rid of it- they gave me creams, antibiotics etc etc Nothing worked. After much research I decided to take Roaccutane and it worked! I only know it worked because I prayed Salaht Al Istikhara which I had not done before taking any other acne treatments. This post is just a reminder to myself that I should thank Allah, keep faith in Him and never give up!
So it's been a year since I started the Roaccutane journey and I am so happy with the results!
Cupcakes for everyone!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Afternoon tea at Bloomsbury's

After looking through a few of my past posts on this blog I think I have an obsession with cupcakes. I went to Bloomsbury's in Dubai Mall for afternoon tea at the weekend. It was divine!

The service was excellent too. I was with two other people and the waiter suggested that we shouldn't get 3 afternoon teas each as it was a lot of food so we should just order 2. This was really kind of them. My two friends ordered coffees instead of tea which were double the price of the tea but they did not charge them extra for it either.


Afternoon tea costs only 55aed and includes:
Freshly Baked Scones
Freshly Cut Sandwiches
Valrohna Chocolate Brownies
Mini Meringues
Homemade Cupcakes
Freshly Baked Blondies
Freshly Baked Financiers
Accompanied with clotted cream and strawberry jam

All yummy but even the three of us could not finish it all so we had to take most of it home!

I ordered Bombay chai this time which had a nice spicy flavour and unlike any tea I have tasted. They gave me a sand timer to let me know when the tea was ready. I thought this was a nice touch!

The tiramisu cupcake was ordered again...always a winner! I ordered the strawberries and cream which was delicious! Tasted like a strawberry tart from Sayers but better!

My friend ordered this indulgent chocolate cupcake that shimmered with gold!

I have decided that if I am good this week I can treat myself at the weekend to another cupcake...perhaps I will try another place or I may just end up in Bloomsbury's!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Neopets

So as you can tell I have hardly been posting on my blog. I decided to take a break away from it all. I deactivated my Facebook account and only check my work email. I felt like I was spending too much time with these things. It was like an addiction!
So I lasted a day without my social networking 'addiction' before finding another addiction instead...Neopets.
Don't say...isn't neopets for kids?...NO it isn't...try it and you will see how easily it can make you addicted whatever age you are.

I remember having a Neopets account when I was younger, perhaps about 10 years ago. I made a new account and now have two pets that I have to look after and feed and make money for etc etc
Yes it's sad! But I have made over 100,000 Neopoints in a week so I'm on a roll!

I have a shop, I have a Neopet bank account, I have minibeast pets in a habitarium, I do basic jobs for the faeries and much more!

So here comes the psychological side to my addiction...stress. I think I've mentioned before that at the moment there is a lot of stress at my workplace. Due to my expertise in my profession I have now been given extra responsibility for the next few weeks too...added stress!!!
So it's nice to come home and go into a different world away from all of it! I usually destress with films...and have to admit I have watched a lot of films this week too!
(I have still managed to go out every day though! Blog about my recent amazing afternoon tea experience coming soon!)

So I wanted to end this blog by saying I am going to delete my neopets account as it's getting out of control...but I can't lie! I don't know if I can delete it...just look at how cute they are...

My pets Bulboola and Lulla-Lu

Friday, January 11, 2013

I love Bloomsburys

I found a new cupcake shop!!!
I know, I know! New year, healthy eating, blah blah blah!
However I really needed a treat this weekend. So I visited the beautiful Bloomsburys in Dubai Mall.

The decor was really chic and sophisticated and they had soooooo many different cupcakes to choose from!

My table opted for the Luxury cupcakes and the following is what flavours we chose...

RASPBERRY TEMPTATION
A chocolate sponge filled with vanilla buttercream and covered in a rich fudge glaze.

GO NUTS FOR ADIL
A rich Chocolate Sponge filled with Dulce de Leche and topped with an irresistible Peanut Butter Buttercream.

TIRAMISU
A cupcake for Coffee lovers! Vanilla Sponge filled with an Square Mile Espresso syrup and Mascarpone.
I once wrote a blog post about Project Cupcake but Bloomsbury cupcakes are by far better quality, moist and tastier!
Yummy Yummy Yummy in my tummy tummy tummy!!!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Karama shopping

Last week when I had visitors over they asked me to take them to Karama to buy fake designer handbags.
I had previously been to Karama for bags a couple of years ago and it was very strange. Back then I was searching for a Chanel handbag and rather than spend 10 thousand dirhams on a real one I decided to get one from Karama. I searched in a lot of shops and did not see any Chanel bags so I asked one of the assistants and he told me to go upstairs.

Now I thought that the shop continued onto the next floor but when I got up there it was an empty room. I was with other people but if I had been on my own I would have been running back down the stairs. The assistant then led us to a door which we had to crouch down to get through, then another room, until we reached a door which he unlocked and let us in. Surprisingly it was bag heaven!
I quickly chose the Chanel bag I wanted, haggled, then left. It was strange!

I decided to take my visitors to the same shop when we went to Karama. However this time when I asked for Chanel he said 'OK follow me.' To which I replied, 'Not upstairs?' He said 'No no another place.'
As there were 6 of us we followed the sales assistant through the backstreets of Karama! We then went into an apartment block. At this point one of the people I was with was very reluctant to get into the lift, as they were scared. However as the lift opened a group of people got out with bags they had just bought so we went in.
The lift itself was scary and the floor numbers were upside-down. Yet we still went on. We reached the second floor and the assistant led us down a narrow corridor to an apartment, he unlocked it and when we went in it was full of designer bags. It was amazing!

We quickly picked out which bags we wanted. I got a Prada bag whilst I was there, as I had decided I would never return there again so I might as well buy now.

Although the bags are fake they are in a really good condition. They copy the originals perfectly. I have come to know that 99% of people in Dubai carry a fake designer bag and nobody can tell the difference!

In the Karama shops they also sell other fake things...shoes, watches etc I don't know how the police haven't closed down these shops already?
?

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year, New beginnings

2013
What will this year bring?
Inshallah we stay on the right path and accomplish our goals!
For me I wish to...
Lead a healthier lifestyle
Make more friends
Say yes more
Not give up on anything!