THE FACE SHOP - DUBAI

I discovered a lovely little gem called The Face Shop. I went to the one in MCC but there are a few dotted around Dubai.
They have the most amazing nail polish colours. They also have this fab deal on where you can buy 3 nail polishes for 15 aed each and get one free.

I bought the following 4:

My favourite!

 Since I have a lot of time on my hands lately (ahem no more brunches!) I did my first piece of artwork on my nails. What do you think?

JW Marriott Evening Brunch

Yes Yes I haven't been blogging lately as I've been out brunching too much! So after the JW Marriott Brunch at The Marketplace I have decided it will be my last one for a while. Partly because it wasn't as amazing as the Mistral brunch and partly because I don't really eat that much!

On Thursday nights JW Marriott opens three of its restaurants for the brunch so you can taste different cuisines.
The Marketplace served international food and I enjoyed some of my Arabic favourites and a nice roast turkey dinner.
I then ventured into the German restaurant...then walked straight out. A massive red sign saying PORK scared me away.
I then excitedly went into the Bamboo lagoon which served Asian food. I had squid, shrimp, crispy duck and pancakes etc It was my favourite!
I then wanted some dessert, which was situated in the scary German restaurant. I bravely went and got some creme brulee and brownie cake. However I was convinced there was alcohol in some of the desserts so I stayed away. (Probably wasn't I was just being paranoid...PORK).

Anyway as soon as I got home I was itching terribly! I went to sleep thinking nothing of it. I then woke up the next morning with a rash all over my body and realised it was because I was allergic to shrimp! Ahhh!
I took an antihistamine and felt much better.

So no more brunches for me for a while....Ramadan's coming up...Iftar buffet's galore...why do I love food so much?

Mistral Evening Brunch

I'm not a brunch type person...obviously don't drink alcohol so I have never been interested in attending the many Dubai Friday brunches. However I am interested in good food and had heard great reviews about Mistral at the Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel so I decided to go.

Usually brunches are held during the day but a few places are now offering evening brunches. Mistral's Evening surf n turf brunch cost 190 aed for a non alcoholic package and is in the Entertainer too.
They also offer free valet parking.

The brunch was amazing! They had so many different stations- the sushi counter was one of my favourites. They also had a raw meat counter where you chose your own meat and had it grilled to order.
The mini pizzas were delicious- I had 3! I also tried veal for the first time and went back for a second helping.

The desserts were yummy! I had my favourite tiramisu, mini creme brulee, green tea opera cake and the most divine chocolate lava cake. Salivating right now!

I have decided that this will be the place to take visitors when they come to Dubai! Also because I really want to go again! Anyone for brunch next Friday?

Dhow Cruise

This week I went on my first Dhow Cruise.

It was aboard the flashy Rikks Floating Restaurant.

The ride around the Creek was actually really nice at night and was so relaxing. The buffet food was good with a very small selection of mostly Asian/Arabic food. We were served one soft drink and water and there was no dessert. Disappointing!
There was a party of 15 of us but we could not all sit on the same table as it would cause the boat to sink to one side. They did not inform us of that when we booked.

I actually did have a great time because I was with my friends, however I won't be using the same company again as they were a bit of a let down. There was entertainment for about 3 minutes. It was a weird tanura spinning man...at the end he made his skirt into a baby. The music stopped and all you could hear was a baby crying...disturbing!

So this is my actual first negative review of a place! Shocking! The only thing I enjoyed was the scenery of the Creek and my friends company. I will be visiting the Creek this weekend just for a nice stroll, and will be avoiding Rikks!

Ramadan's coming!!!

Can you smell it?

Can you feel it?

Can you taste it?

Ramadan is coming!

I was speaking to my sister the other day and I said, 
'Do you know what it feels like?' 
And she instantly said 'Ramadan!' 
I don't know what it is but it feels like that time of year again and I am so excited!

I have enjoyed Ramadan in Dubai for the past 3 years, much more than I did in the U.K. I love the atmosphere and the energy.
I know Ramadan is not about the food, but I absolutely love cooking meals for my family to enjoy after sunset. I usually make a photo folder with all my Ramadan recipes...might make a Ramadan blog this year too.

This is really bad but...I adore the Arabic programmes during Ramadan. Astagfirullah but why do they play amazing programmes during Ramadan?!?!
Khawater, Shaabeyat al Cartoon, Freej, all of the dramatic maselselat.
I plan on going to all Taraweeh prayers Inshallah and reading the whole Qur'an. My advice to anyone is don't waste this upcoming month. Don't waste the 30 days on sleeping and eating then having that horrible feeling of guilt when it is all over.

Ramadan is the month of blessings and forgiveness. How will you spend it?

~Gym Diaries~

I joined the gym! I have been going to the gym for a month now and I am actually enjoying it!
A couple of friends joined after me and I have found it useful to have them to support me to go after work.
I have to say I am not the type of girl to go on the machines, but I love the classes! In a class you can't actually stop for fear of being labelled 'weak' by everyone else. Plus they are actually really fun. For example you can prance around in a Zumba class and look like a fool and nobody will bat an eyelid!

I have been really good at going to the gym for 2 hours every night so I decided to treat myself with some new gym clothes at the weekend.

I have never been so determined to get fit before and I hope it continues. I actually have more energy than when I was hardly doing any exercise.

Going to the gym has it's quirks. For instance the lady in the bellydance class wearing heels!?? Also in a room full of sweaty ladies there is bound to be a few arguments...one woman got annoyed at another for making too many 'grunting' noises when she was working out.
Another time I was in a fit of giggles whilst doing sit ups...an old lady came into the fitness room wearing studded denim hot pants, shook her booty in my face and started doing sit ups too...surreal!

Work it out!

So maybe tomorrow