Many of us drive past this building multiple times a day without giving it much thought, so I was excited to learn that the long-awaited museum had finally opened earlier this summer. The museum is housed within the old Maqta Fort, itself a reconstruction of the original Customs House from the 1950s which monitored entry to and from Abu Dhabi island.

It’s a small museum but a worthy stop for anyone interested in the humble beginnings of the city we now know as Abu Dhabi. On entry, you’re asked to provide the names of all visitors (no phone numbers or email addresses necessary) and you’re presented with a document - Al Barwa, a passport-like permit that was once required in order to pass through the border onto the island. Around the museum several posts are set up to collect stamps in your permit which adds a bit of extra interest and fun, especially for kids.

Built in the late 1700s, the Al Maqta watch tower in the adjacent waterway was once one of the three most important strategic defence points of Abu Dhabi, protecting the crossing between the mainland and the island.

It wasn't until the 1950s that a causeway was built (the first bridge wasn’t built until the late 1960s!) allowing people and cars to cross the creek at low tide. At that time a police station was first built to monitor the traffic and with increased traffic to the island as the settlement expanded, soon after the Maqta Fort was constructed as a customs house to inspect all goods being brought in - this system continued until the unification of the UAE in 1971.

Although small in size, there is a wealth of information in the museum and some excellent old footage of the Maqta Crossing which is very interesting to see - it’s fascinating how much things have changed in such a short space of time!

Outside the museum a smaller, replica Maqta Bridge has been constructed which leads people along a short path to view the Maqta Tower in the Khor (creek).

Around the grounds there’s also a number of curiosities - an old police car and an old delivery van that once broke down while crossing the causeway, and a native tree tagging system with each tree labelled with its species information - a lovely touch for curious kids and nature lovers!

In addition to the popular coffee shop La Petite and a small roadside ADNOC Oasis, there’s also a children’s playground with two areas: one sandy gated section with a fort style climbing frame and slide, and a more open section with swings and space to run around.

It’s great to see life brought back to this historic neighbourhood and previously overlooked spot. It makes a lovely little stop for a quick history fix and a glimpse into a way of life that is now difficult to imagine!

Both the museum and grounds are free to enter.

Find out more on the Experience Abu Dhabi website.

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I’ve found myself feeling tired over the past couple of years - tired of expat life and wondering if it’s time to leave. But the more I’ve sat with these thoughts, the more I’ve realised it’s not just about expat life - it’s about life itself.

As expats, we can be quick to see everything that’s wrong with our current country, circumstances, life, or even the world and use those as an excuse to leave. It’s easy to blur the lines and decide it’s time to go as we do have an alternative waiting: a home country to return to, with all the comfortable familiarities we were raised with.

It’s very easy to throw in the towel when things get hard, but it’s also easier to forget what the reality of life is back home.

The reality is that life overseas is different, but life back home is by no means perfect. The truth is that travel and life overseas changes us, so returning ‘home’ can present its own challenges when our own mindset has moved on, but our ideas of what home represents have been frozen in time.

What happens when the idea of the home you long for no longer exists in the same way? This is exactly why the term ‘reverse culture shock’ exists and is much discussed and documented.

So how do you know when it’s time to go?

Is there a point of no return?

And I never thought I’d start to wonder this. But things have changed.

After nearly 20 years away from the country I was raised in I have found myself only wanting to return to that home each summer. And that is a strange thing really, since my family home has long gone, long since been sold off to new owners after the passing of my parents. My ties to that country have loosened but somehow that’s made them stronger in my heart.

Maybe there just comes a time when the novelty of being overseas wears off?

But expat life teaches you things you might never learn otherwise. It can be hard - despite the appearance of easy living and glamour it offers a unique set of challenges for sure: being overseas with little or no family around you - the only available support network coming from close friends you make or help you can pay for, missing important family and friendship milestones back home, children growing up as third culture kids, the constant revolving door of friendships as the people around you come and go…

But what if your heart says it’s time, you’ve had enough - but it’s still just not that simple? Your head says you’re better off here, but your heart just can’t shake the feeling that it wants to be there.

And everyone will have different reasons for leaving but for me, it just doesn’t add up until life here truly stops making sense. You have to weigh your own pros and cons.

Is it all still worth the sacrifices? For me, yes - despite all the doubts that can creep in over time, I think it all still is. For multiple reasons I can list in my head. (Seeing so much crime right on my doorstep during my most recent visit to London also helped focus my mind!)

But when life here no longer makes sense - emotionally, financially, or practically - then it may be time.

If there is a reason to leave - political instability (as happened to several friends in recent years who were forced to flee Sudan), to be closer to aging parents, forced job loss and so on - then in those situations it clearly makes sense.

But until the answer to the question becomes an unequivocal “no,” we’re here to stay.

Logic also reminds us that moving doesn’t magically fix everything - when you move, your problems move with you, just swapping one set of challenges for another and likely uncovering new ones you hadn’t expected.

The pondering of the ideas behind this post eventually led me to an epiphany of sorts: that expat life is really about a shift in balance between heart and head and in making the best of what we have, wherever we may be.

It may not be perfect, but we can find ways to adjust, to find our own joy and carve out our own happiness - and that is true of life wherever we may be.

Expat life evolves - life itself evolves and so do we. So maybe the question isn’t whether expat life has an expiry date, but whether we can continue to find life within it.

I just wanted to be free again to focus purely on the writing. I’d enjoyed all the tinkering with building a website over the years but it just wasn’t sustainable anymore time-wise.

So I took the decision to move all the old content over to Substack, still keeping my ArabianNotes.com domain name active and transferring it over here.

Although I haven’t been as active with writing on Arabian Notes as I once was, I feel very attached to all the work I created here and I just couldn’t bear to let it all go.

Plus, I am still living in Abu Dhabi and not a week goes by when I don’t have a new idea for a post, so I do plan to continue to write on here when the mood takes me.

I currently have a post or two in the works so all being well, you will hear from me again soon!

I didn’t really intend for it to happen, but somewhere along the path life got in the way. I suppose it started back in early 2020 with the onset of the covid restrictions. Life changed pretty quickly then. I went from having a routine with some free time, to having my son at home full-time for distance learning and barely being able to leave the house. I didn't have the time to think of anything for myself, let alone sit down and write. I suppose we were all just in survival mode at that time.

But we made it through those dark days and are still here. Just somehow I haven't quite been able to bring myself back to the keyboard, to get back into the swing of posting regularly again. Everything had already changed so much and everything felt so different. As I've written about in other early posts, I started writing around the time my dad had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. I just felt compelled to write at that time, probably to help process the things that were happening around me in my personal life. But write I did and as I found my feet, Arabian Notes grew beyond anything I could have imagined - people did read it! But a lot of things changed along the way. By the point the world had gone back to normal and I finally had the time to go back to writing, in between managing family life I was already working hard to manage a chronic health condition and try to get some balance and normalcy back in my life. You might even say that working to regain health is a full time job. It certainly took a lot of time and effort (and still does! It's a constant balance.). But there was also the not insignificant fact that my mum had now passed. Writing felt different and I felt empty and uninspired for a long time. That is to say - while I still had plenty of ideas and would still make note of them all over the place, somehow I just couldn't bring myself to develop those ideas and write them into existence.

I suppose there was always the idea that even if no one read my blog that at least my mum would. And to my surprise plenty of you did read it, but now that my mum was no longer there to read it things felt very different. I needed to sit back and take stock, and this is something I've continued to ponder. I've kept my blog here, I can't quite bear to say goodbye to it with all the work I've put into it over the years, but at the same time - it's become too time consuming to manage with all the technical aspects that go into running a self-hosted blog: compiling, organising and resizing images, SEO, creating post artwork, web links, dealing with layouts, designs, and technical troubles... I JUST want to write!

My focus has changed along the way too - my personal circumstances have made health and wellness a much higher priority. And while I'm still living here in Abu Dhabi I've been here 12 years now so my view of the city has changed - I don't always see everything with that same 'shiny new' outlook I once did. So that brings me to what's next. What is next? I'm still not sure. I still have ideas that are in keeping with the Arabian Notes niche and I might even get around to publishing some of them sometime. But I'm also toying with the idea of starting a new stream for my writing so I can focus on other things including health and wellness which doesn't feel right to post about here. But as to what form or where that will take shape I haven't fully decided. All I know is that it needs to be fuss free to allow me to concentrate purely on the love of writing.

Addendum: Some time back I did sign up for a Substack account to follow other people who write stuff and might be tempted give that a whirl for starters. You can find me there @lindseyparry.

The post Breaking the silence appeared first on Arabian Notes.

I was told there was nothing I could do to improve or reverse my condition - but it turns out they were WRONG.

Something happened recently. Something I never truly expected would happen to me. I'd sort of secretly hoped it would happen, but as I didn't personally know anyone it had happened to I wasn't really sure whether it was even truly possible. I'd certainly been told often enough that it wasn't possible. But it turns out they were WRONG.

After four and half years since my diagnosis of chronic illness (I wrote about that here: https://arabiannotes.com/a-new-normal-learning-to-live-with-chronic-illness/), specifically, Autoimmune Thyroiditis - Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's, my test results showed that my antibodies had almost entirely reversed. My Hashimoto's has gone into 'remission'.

One thing that is important to say is that lots of people don't like the term remission for Autoimmune Disease (read more into this here), and not without good reason - it's complicated. So it is important to point out the distinction that while the antibodies that indicate progression of the disease have reversed (meaning the condition is currently no longer progressing or causing further damage to my thyroid and body), the illness itself is not cured - it will never go away, but as I am now living proof - it can be well managed, and even reversed.

So many doctors told me that there was absolutely nothing I could do to improve my health, that it wasn't possible to do anything to achieve any kind of result except take medication, and even that wouldn't slow down the progression or destruction of my thyroid. And let me be clear - I still do take medication every day. It's definitely been an important part of the puzzle in regaining my health. But not the bog-standard Levothyroxine my diagnosing doctor told me was the only option - and once I found the right help it didn't take long to realise that medication alone wasn't enough.

Back at the start, when I was first diagnosed I was SO unwell it was a struggle to get out of bed at all. My doctor at the time diagnosed me, prescribed me Levothyroxine and told me to be patient - it was all I could do, and "these things take time" I was assured. I was patient for longer than six months and all the while continued to get sicker and sicker. To the point where I was probably only awake for a few hours of the day. I was always just so incredibly fatigued and so cold. I couldn't think straight, I had no energy at all and any lust for life I'd previously had was well and truly gone. It got to the point where I was so desperately unwell and so desperately unhappy that I just knew it couldn't continue. There HAD to be another way. I tried numerous doctors and specialists, all who wanted to run the same tests themselves and then simply tell me to be patient, for there was no other option. I was at my wits end. There just HAD to be something I could do? There had to be someone out there who could help me?

Of course at this point I did what any self-respecting product of this over-connected world does and turned to our trusty friend Google. It was through that, that my searching happened upon the idea that something could in fact be done about my illness, and the more I searched, the more information and the more doctors and bloggers I found on this same subject. Of course I approached with caution at first, I mean we all know that not everything you find on the internet is true or trustworthy, and there are plenty of charlatans out there who are just trying to sell snake oil - or worse! I went back to my diagnosing doctor with what I'd found, but it was all dismissed. They insisted there was most definitely, absolutely nothing I could do that would make any difference - and assured me that no diet, no lifestyle changes, no nothing, except the medication I'd already been given would help.

Except it didn't help. And how long was I expected to be patient while all the time becoming sicker? They had no answers for me. So I kept searching and reading and I learned about something I'd never heard of before called 'functional medicine'.

Functional medicine is a form of medical care where the doctor looks not only at the symptoms, but at the whole body and looks to identify not just how to make the symptoms go away, but at the root cause of the illness that is causing those symptoms, and anything that may be triggering those. Makes sense really once you get your head around it - I mean everything in the body is literally connected after all.

So I went back with a deep dive into the bowels of our trusty friend Google, scouring search results and local Facebook groups to see if I could find mention of any functional medicine doctors in the UAE, and eventually I found some leads that led me to the two doctors I still rely on today.

I still recall sitting in the new doctors office, a sad, pale, poorly shell of my former self. But I was given hope. Only a few weeks earlier I'd come across a book boldly entitled 'A 90 Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back' and had started following the plan set out there - I'd decided I had nothing to lose by trying it! The doctor told me I'd made the right decision and I'd started on the right path and supported me with further information as well as running a barrage of pertinent tests I'd not been able to access elsewhere. Many doctors refuse to do the full thyroid panel as they often rely almost solely on the TSH reading alone. I quickly learned that this is not nearly good enough and doesn't show the whole picture. I went away from that meeting with a new prescription for a different medication - one that would be customised specifically for me and produced through a specialist compounding pharmacy in Dubai - but most importantly I also went away with the feeling that there was hope. That was the day everything started to change for me. From there it was simply one step at a time - reading more, learning more, talking to my new supportive doctors more, and slowly but surely, starting to do more to support my health and take back my life. Thank goodness I found that hope.

One of the hardest things I found in the first few years was coming to terms with the changes I needed to make. I was completely on board with making changes because, let's face it, my life couldn't get much worse. I really didn't have a lot of choice in the matter if I wanted to improve my health so I dove straight into it all. But that doesn't mean it was easy. It definitely was not. In fact I'd go as far as to say there was a grieving process associated with all these changes. I've thought about this fact a lot - there was a lot to get used to: eating new things, eliminating inflammatory foods, cooking a lot more, learning to eat different types of foods and mourning for foods that I couldn't eat anymore because they were part of the problem and contributing to my sickness. It was also a huge learning curve in general - learning about my condition and what it meant, and also starting to understand that my life had changed forever. And even more than this - learning to listen to my body, trying to accept my new limitations and learning to be ok with slowing down and not being able to do all the things I used to be able to do - that was probably one of the hardest things to overcome. To learn to not beat myself up for resting when I needed to, to get used to the idea that that's what my body needed, that I wasn't being lazy or wasting my life - learning to accept that this is what my body needed to be able to move forward more positively. And then there's all the questions that naturally arise: it's hard not to question why did this happen to me? How did this happen to me? Why is it so hard to find the right help and answers? It really shouldn't be so hard!

Funnily enough, just as I was pondering about writing about this aspect, I came across this post on instagram that sums it up:

It's something that eases with time I think. I suppose this is probably different for everyone but after a period of time all the questions and sadness started to fade away. My new routine became more, well, routine and normal, and of course it really helped when I started to see results and improvement in my health. That was definitely a big thing for me, if I ever felt as though I was missing out on something, reminding myself of the differences my sacrifices have made was key. I just had to remember to ask myself the question - "do I want to do this / eat this / go to this: will it support my goals or will it set me back?". With that question in mind, it soon became easier to move on from actions / events / behaviours / foods that I knew would result in making me feel unwell again. It sounds a bit cheesy, but I had to focus on remembering to choose health as I knew all too well from experience that we really do have nothing if we don't have that.

And now, four and half years of learning, grieving, changing and accepting, here I am now - technically in remission. And although it's a huge goal I am celebrating, there are also more questions and realisations that arise from this. There's the realisation that this is not the finish line. The stark realisation that this doesn't mean I am 'healed'. I still face occasional symptoms from the condition although thankfully it currently affects my daily life to a much lesser extent than it did in the beginning. I am able to function within my new limits and enjoy my life now, but there is still more work to do - there will always be more work to do. Staying on top of this is still a daily battle and I have to make sure I continue in the same way to do my best to manage this condition and hopefully stay in remission. But I have climbed a mountain and while the question is now - can I improve my health further still? - it feels good to pause and reflect on just how far I've come with this chronic illness - and thank goodness I have.

Although at times it felt like there was none - I learned that there is always hope, there is always help. Unfortunately, it's not always as easy to find as it should be. So for anyone wanting to know the specifics of what I did to be able to reverse my antibodies and the resources I turned to, I'll be writing about that soon - there's a lot of information I need to compile!

The post Finding hope and reclaiming health with Chronic Illness appeared first on Arabian Notes.

With the global pandemic still raging on, staycations are here to stay for many of us! For something a bit different during the Spring Break school holidays I decided to book a little camping trip to the relatively new glamping site, Bab Al Nojoum at Hudayriat in Abu Dhabi. Located over on Al Hudayriat Island, Located over on Al Hudayriat Island, Bab Al Nojoum is essentially a beach side campsite with just about everything you need to get a taste of the outdoor life. There are several different options to choose with everything from basic tents where you'll need to bring some of your own gear, all the way up to fully kitted out and air-conditioned duplex or chalet tents. There's even the option to camp on wheels in converted VW combi vans or an old Land Rover but these seem to be very popular and book up very quickly - likely due to the fact that they have air conditioning on top of the novelty value.

Since it was just my son and me staying, I opted for a Wave tent - all of which are located right on the beach overlooking the water. Wave tents hold two people and come with mattress supplied and bed already made up so you don't need to bring anything extra. Towels are also provided.

The tents are quite large so it is possible to move around inside the tent pretty easily. There's a small table and chairs inside the door of the tent and a clothes rail at the back behind the bed, so there's plenty of room to store your belongings. The only thing with the Wave tent is that you'd better get used to sand being everywhere for the duration of your stay - it's almost impossible to keep the tent (and bed!) sand free if you're coming and going!

Toilets and showers are dotted all around the campsite in small standalone pods. There's plenty of them and they seemed to be well serviced and kept surprisingly clean when we stayed. We also never had any problems with having to wait at all, despite it being so busy at the time. The campsite is also well lit, and even after the camp 11pm curfew there are safety lights everywhere so it's easy to see where you're going if you have to get up in the middle of the night.

The beach and water is beautiful and clear and they have swings set up in the shallows for those obligatory instagram shots! We were there during the school holidays in April, just at a time when the weather was starting to heat up and the camp was pretty busy, but you'd honestly never have known it. It felt to us as though no one was around at all! Even the beach was pretty empty all the time. I did notice the camping areas behind the beach seemed busy, and all of the communal cooking areas and picnic tables had been commandeered by larger groups who were clearly well settled in for their stay.

If playing on the beach and splashing about in the water isn't enough to keep you entertained there's also a great kids play area to let them run off some more steam. Again, we hardly saw another soul here even though the place was pretty busy, though that may have been down to the times we visited - it seemed to be busier in the evenings, after dusk.

And while there are plenty of barbecue areas to cook your own food if you're so inclined, there's also a shop and a restaurant on site that will keep you fed and watered from breakfast through to dinner. If you need water for your stay, order it ahead when booking to be brought to your tent for your arrival - it's much easier and saves a lot of hassle (and also much cheaper to do this from the restaurant than buying bottles from the on-site shop). The restaurant, '28 degrees', is perfectly positioned next to a green lawn that is perfect for those with little ones who want to run around while waiting for food to be served! We found the food to be good quality and the staff were very helpful with any requests, my only criticism was that the service was painfully slow, even when the place was practically empty. After a slow dinner service, we had hoped for improved efficiency at breakfast but sadly it was not to be. Even with just the two of us at one table and a table of four nearby as the only other diners we had to wait almost an hour for just one continental breakfast to be brought out!

There's also the option to take part in various water sports at an extra cost, and there's a beach volleyball net set up for the energetic. After dark in the evenings if you're not ready for bed yet an outdoor cinema screen is set up for a family movie screening. There is also a large communal bonfire pit though I think this wasn't being used when we visited due to the Covid rules on gatherings. There are smaller camp fire spots located around the place though and firewood can be bought from the shop if this is something you wanted to set up for just your group.

We stayed just for one night and we had a great time. It was definitely a lovely thing to do for a change and while it was fun, I think if we went back again I'd be looking to go for one of the more luxurious options with private pool! We found the Wave tent did get pretty hot during the day (even with a window for ventilation and the breeze from the beach), but by nightfall it was really fine and cooled off so we were able to sleep pretty well. One of the complaints I'd read from previous visitors was about noise in the campsite and the adjacent car park making it impossible to sleep but we didn't really find this to be the case. Possibly because the Wave tents are situated right on the beach so they are quite separate from the main camping areas and the beach was very peaceful at night time. There was some noise intermittently from people passing behind the tents along the pathway which serves as the main thoroughfare through the site, but it didn't bother us too much. If you're a light sleeper it might be wise to take ear plugs just in case - and expect to be woken early with the call to prayer and general hubbub around that time.

To find out more about Bab Al Nojoum, visit the website.

The post Staycation: Bab al Nojoum appeared first on Arabian Notes.

So with my son’s school currently open I’ve finally found the time – and a moment of inspiration – to write again. I had big ideas for 2020 to post more frequently but then lockdown happened and well, we all know what a disaster things have been since then! Things have been so hard since last year and honestly I'm actually feeling that things are even worse this year. Although things are almost all back to business as usual now (social distancing, mask wearing and limited capacities still apply everywhere of course) it's just the uncertainty of everything and all the constant open/shut palaver with the schools! I'm feeling totally over it now as I'm sure everyone else here with school age kids is too. I mean, what's the point in having our kids in bubbles if the whole school has to shut if they detect two cases or more?! Surely at this stage with everything else open and the rules constantly relaxing we can just isolate the affected bubbles only? I don't know. I'm all for keeping the kids safe but it seems overkill and is especially irritating when no schools in Dubai seem to be closing at all! If they can manage, surely we can here on the same terms too? I'm sure I'm not alone when I say we just can't continue like this with the schools for another year! Rules need to change to keep our kids IN education. Distance learning has for the most part been brilliantly handled (by our particular school anyway), but regardless, it's just not the same as being in school.

It's also so hot now too in the UAE and we still have no plans to escape for the summer. I know a lot of people are going regardless as they haven't seen their families in so long but it just feels so complicated. Things are different this year on so many levels. In previous years I have looked forward to taking my son back to the UK and going on our little road trip around to see friends and family, but I feel the circumstances just aren't right for that level of moving around and adventuring at the moment. And if my Mum was still around it would probably be different, we'd try to find a way (since current rules still stipulate hotel quarantine when coming from UAE!) to go up to Scotland to be with her and spend a couple of weeks there just milling around locally. But of course if you read my previous post you'll know she's not there anymore so that's another level of heartache in itself.

On the subject of my Mum, her house has also been sold now too which was quicker than I think we expected. I feel so sad about that, especially as the last time I was there I didn't know for certain that it was the last time I would ever visit it. It's just all a lot to get my head round from another country really. And of course COVID itself didn't help in any of the situation.

In terms of the blog itself, I am still here and I haven't given up on it. The blog has actually had a bit of a refresh and a slightly new look was launched at the start of this year. So even if I'm not writing, I'm still enjoying tinkering away with the back end, and anyone who's ever dived into the technical side of a blog or website will know it's a bit of a never ending hole where one things leads to another! I don't think my to do list on it will ever be complete, but it doesn't need to be. The fact that it's there to do with as and when I please keeps me happy. I stopped writing so frequently for two reasons - I became very jaded with the laws and restrictions placed on bloggers in the UAE (we're not all professionals raking in the mega bucks from it!), but the laws and costs surrounding being licensed to generate income as a blogger in the UAE became just unfeasible for the little guys like me. There was a way round it by being under the banner of an agency which I did for a while but then that was also restricted, plus I found the agencies came with another set of complications and hassles so it really wasn't worth it in the end and from there I decided to shift my focus back to how I started and focus on writing for the pure joy of it again! And as for the second reason I took a long break, well, that was due to COVID and lockdown of course. With my son at home from March 2020 and basically nowhere to go until around August last year I just didn't have the time, nor the inspiration. The whole COVID situation just kind of knocked the life out of me, and things didn't get better when we found out in late Nov 2020 that my mum was diagnosed with untreatable, inoperable cancer and had only a few weeks left to live.

But despite it all I am still here, still alive and - sometimes - blogging! Life has really not all been jolly I'm afraid and I've been up and down and all over the place with everything but inspiration comes from the most surprising places. I'll talk about that more next time but til then, that's my quick update and I'll do my best to maintain the motivation to publish a teensy bit more regularly again!

The post Quick life update: Still alive and blogging! appeared first on Arabian Notes.

In the seven years since my dad died it has been easy to imagine that he was still around, just busy in the garden or out for a walk while we video called home. And though I knew it wasn’t really true there was a certain sort of comfort, perhaps even a sort of normalcy about that. 

But some things don’t change - the picture on my parent's video calling profile has always remained unchanged - it’s one of my dad, still in the upstairs office, staring at the camera with a frown and slightly confused expression on his face, no doubt taken in the early days of him trying to get a grip on this new way of communicating and never having bothered to change that picture again since, or possibly never having quite worked out how to. 

And even in all that time - perhaps for the same reason my mum never updated the video calling profile picture of my dad to one of herself, I was never able to bring myself to change my phone entry from ‘mum and dad’ to just ‘mum’. Even though I knew my dad was gone, it just never seemed right. 

Though nothing really ever stays the same and now, well now my mum is gone too and I’m not sure how to be. None of us expected this. Not now, and certainly not in this way. Not with the cruelty of a live stream from the crematorium for myself and all those whom the pandemic prevented from attending in person. I don’t really know how people just carry on but I suppose you do, you just have to. Even back in the thick of the shock from the unexpected news that my mum was suddenly so ill it felt as though the world should have stood still, but of course it never did. 

Yet it’s April now and somehow we’ve made it this far already. And though I know the truth, it is still easy to imagine that my mum is just away on holiday, escaping the cold of the Scottish winter as she did every year. Nevertheless, the final WhatsApp message that will forever remain unread is a stinging reminder and all too real. 

And just the same as it was with my dad, I know I won’t be able to bring myself to delete the contact ‘mum & dad’ from my phone. The number will remain etched in history now, part of me, my story, my once place of refuge, the one place I could always return to no matter what. And despite everything, even though I do know the truth, with the cold reality of that 'home' now being part of my past, somehow there’s still something comforting about the normalcy or pretence of that number remaining there. And I think I'm ok with it, at least, until I remember that no-one will answer if I ring. 

Donations in memory of my mum have been sent to Strathcarron Hospice where she spent her final weeks.

The post The comfort and pretence of finding normalcy appeared first on Arabian Notes.

It opened to the public for the first time in February of this year, then promptly closed not long after due to the Covid-19 lockdown, but now, at long last, Jubail Mangrove Park is finally getting ready to reopen again!  There’s a decent sized car park at the front of the site, and a building with a coffee shop - Crane Specialty Coffee which looks out over the boardwalks onto the mangroves.

There are three different routes you can take around the park, a short 1km walk, a 1.6km option and the longest is just 2km.

There are points of information about the mangroves at intermittent locations along the way, and several spots where you can veer off the main boardwalk to take a closer look.

One of the highlights of the longest 2km walk is the viewing tower where you can climb the two storey structure for views across the expanse of mangroves and the network of boardwalks.

It makes for a lovely trip out when the weather is not too hot, and by nature the scenery changes across the day depending on the tides. I visited in the morning, at low tide.

Despite being so close to a busy main road it's really surprisingly peaceful, and when looking back from the viewing tower it appears as though you've walked a lot further than 2km!

Jubail Mangrove Park will be open to visitors again from October 1st, and all bookings must be made in advance online at

https://park.jubailisland.ae

. One of the big things that has changed is that entry is no longer free - there is a nominal charge of Dhs15 per adult, Dhs10 per child (children under the age of seven can enter for free) and family rates are also available.

The other thing that's new this time around is the availability of more exploratory adventures - you can book a higher priced ticket for premium admission to avoid any queues on arrival or book a walking tour with a park ranger. They've also introduced the option to take to the water on a kayaking tour or an electric powered e-canoe! All details and prices are listed on the website.

The park will be open daily from 8am to 7.30pm (last entry at 6pm) from October 1st, 2020.

Note: All my images were taken on my visit to the park back in February before social distancing came into play.

The post Jubail Mangrove Park, Abu Dhabi appeared first on Arabian Notes.

New opening: Jubail Mangrove Park Jubail Mangrove Park has opened! It’s a lovely place for a wander along the boardwalk through the mangroves and there are 1km, 1.6km and 2km routes to choose from. My son loved exploring the area and getting close to the water to see what creatures we could spot. If you want to find it, type Jubail Mangrove Park into google maps and you'll find it there. I'll be writing up a separate post with more detail about it and a lot more pictures soon!

Visiting: Al Hudayriat Cycle Track

I do love a good bike ride, so I've been making the most of the weather while it's still cool enough and heading over to Al Hudayriat island to get my cycle on. It's something we can all do together as a family on the weekends which has been great, but it's also something I enjoy doing on my own after the school drop-off. There's 5km and 10km tracks and bikes can be hired at Yas Cycles near the start of the track (they also have helmets which are mandatory on the track). I really enjoy the peace, the city views and just having the time to myself with my own thoughts, I find it quite therapeutic!

Reading: Ikigai - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

This book caught my eye in Virgin Megastores one day but I ended up downloading it on my iBooks. The Japanese believe that everyone has an Ikigai - a reason for living. I found the study of the Okinawan's (who are among the world's longest living people) and the examination of their lifestyle, along with what it is that they have in common with people who live the longest in other parts of the world a very interesting and enlightening part of this book, but for me, it was the realisation that our own Ikigai or reason for living doesn't have to be anything of any earth shattering importance that really resonated with me. I think there is a great tendency to drill people to 'be something', to 'do something special', to be remembered for something or to blaze some kind of a trail, but it's actually really refreshing to read that what's really important is to do what brings you genuine happiness, and that life doesn't have to be overly complicated. Finding your own daily 'flow' where you are at your most creative and happy can be found anywhere, but in whatever it is that you might find it, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem (to anyone), if it is what drives you, it is important to continue to do it with purpose, to keep on practising those tasks, to remain engrossed in them, and from that, to find almost a meditative flow where even the most basic of routine can become enjoyable. This book was a quick, easy read that I really enjoyed - there certainly seems to be a lot we can learn from those wise Okinawans!

Using: Bubble Bro

We're big fans of sparkling water in our house, so it's been a while now since we bought our Bubble Bro Home Soda Maker, but I only recently tried their CO2 cylinder delivery service. I'd been exchanging the cyclinders down at the Organic Foods and Cafe previously, but as it's a bit out of my way and I don't go there that often, I felt it was becoming a bit of a pain so I decided to try out their exchange & delivery service. It's so easy - you just book and pay for your exchange on the website and the bottles are delivered by Aramex and arrive within just a couple of days. I was a bit worried about the timing of it all and whether it would work out, whether I'd be out when they came etc but they called me first to arrange the exchange and it all worked perfectly! I'll definitely be doing this from now on. If you've been thinking about getting a Bubble Bro I can't recommend it enough, we'd be lost without ours now (and they help save tonnes of plastic waste too!). The product is great and the customer service from the company in my experience has been even better.

Shopping: Kibsons

I first tried Kibsons out a couple of years ago now and I actually don't know how I managed without them before! I have all my fresh fruit and veg delivered from them every week without fail but also other products including British cheese, no added sugar yoghurts for my son's lunchbox, pantry staples including nuts and seeds, coconut butter, cold pressed olive oil, and even lately I've tried their new eco washing up liquid! I also frequently order their grass fed and organic meats for convenience too. Honestly, this online shop just gets better and better but it still surprises me how many people I come across who haven't tried it. They're really a lifesaver and make shopping so easy. Delivery is free in Abu Dhabi and Dubai when you spend over Dhs50 and they also do same day delivery if you order early morning before around 11am!

If you haven't tried Kibsons out yet you can click this link to register and receive a 20% referral discount.

Eating: Koala Picks

I was recently contacted by Koala Picks on instagram to tell me that they'd launched their healthy snack service for kids in Abu Dhabi, and could they send me a box to try. It's only ever very rarely that I say yes to these things these days, and I only ever do agree if I really think it could be of value to my life - and well, let me tell you even I was surprised how well this one worked out! Basically, they are a healthy snack subscription box service, and they deliver one box per week every Sunday on a monthly basis, for as long as you like (and you're able to stop or pause the service at any time). The snacks really are all healthy too - all completely free of refined sugars preservatives, and artificial colours and flavours (there's even a nut free option for allergies or simple preference). I was a little dubious as to whether my son would like them or not as all too often the 'healthy' snacks you can buy = no taste, but I was delighted to find my son has absolutely loved them. In fact, the box has made packing his lunchbox for school so easy that I have gone ahead and taken out my own subscription to the service going forward. If you're interested in healthier snacks for your kids (or yourself!) for lunchboxes or otherwise, definitely check them out. There is a small delivery charge to Abu Dhabi depending on the size of the box you buy, but it is nominal and I found it worked out only around Dhs10 a week which I thought was worth it - especially if it means one more place I don't have to traipse round trying to find suitable healthy snacks.

Staycationing: Saadiyat Rotana

So, we had originally meant to be travelling to Tokyo for the mid-term break, but with the way things were with Coronavirus at the time, we decided that it probably wasn't the best idea until more is known about the whole situation, particularly when travelling with young children.

So, instead, we opted to make use of my Rotana Rewards Exclusive card (discounts!) and went over to the Saadiyat Rotana for a few relaxing nights - it is hard to beat beautiful Saadiyat! The hotel is only two years old and while I'd say it's definitely not in the same league as some of its neighbours, it is a stunning hotel, in a spectacular location and since the rewards card meant 20% off room rates, 50% off food and 20% off drinks it seemed like the obvious choice! I'll be writing a separate post with more details on what we did and what we thought of it all, with lots of pics soon!

Excited for: my son's 5th birthday!

My son is going to be turning five this month! We are not having a party this year but we are looking forward to a little family trip we've planned together with a lot of fun things in store for the boy over his birthday weekend!

And that's all for now for February! I'll be back next month with my March musings.

The post Monthly Musings: February 2020 appeared first on Arabian Notes.

Well, here we are more than half way through January already. And it’s safe to say that I failed at my last year’s goal of writing more regular blog posts! In an attempt to rectify that, I’m planning to write a monthly post about the things I’m doing, liking, buying and thinking etc, so here goes with my first monthly musings for January...

Visiting: The Galleria

As you'll know, late last year The Galleria Mall extension opened here in Abu Dhabi, and despite being distinctly underwhelmed at first, I think I may now have found a new favourite mall. It's becoming more established all the time and more shops are slowly opening so it's definitely improving all the time. I also really like the range of shops so far, although I would love to see a Marks & Spencer, Banana Republic and a Reiss added to the line up. I have always been a big fan of The Galleria, but now it has extended beyond just offering luxury brands, it's even better. Other reasons I love The Galleria include the fact that they have the nicest toilets of any mall (complete with family rooms, hurrah!) and with the extension they have also added several rooftop parks.

The family park is my favourite and it's such a great idea! Using space on a rooftop that would otherwise be unused and turning it into a kids play area is something that should be done more often! The kids park is lovely and has in-ground trampolines, slides, climbing frame, lots of space to run around and giant blocks to play with. In this family we are firm fans!

Shopping & dropping: Caboodle

Obviously Caboodle is located within my new favourite, The Galleria but I had to mention it separately because it's so great. It's much bigger (and waaaaay better) than the old outlet was and has so much more to do. There's arts and crafts, role play, tunnels and ramps and a decent sized soft play adventure area for climbing about with bridges and sliding into a pit filled with foam blocks. There's also a cafe so there's a good area for parents to sit and relax if you're staying while the kids play. The other thing that makes Caboodle top of my list for this month is they offer drop and shop! It is a little expensive at Dhs70 per half hour, but that is for one on one attention and play so I think it is worth it for the odd occasion.

Doing: Yoga with Adriene

I absolutely love Yoga with Adriene. I found her sometime last year when I was looking for some inspiration to do a bit more yoga at home as it's not always easy to find the time to get out to classes. I tried a few of her practices and was quickly hooked. A lot of her stuff is available for free on youtube but I started using it so regularly I signed up to her app which gives lots of extra practices, makes it easier to follow the weekly / monthly programmes and find what I want. I've followed a number of her seven day programmes recently and as of this month I signed up for her (free!) 30 days of yoga programme, 'Home'. As I write this I'm on day 17 of doing yoga every day and am feeling pretty good! Adriene just has such a lovely manner about her and explains things well. I also find that she's really good at letting you know about modifications to make things easier or harder as needed so I've never felt out of my depth as I have sometimes with other instructors.

Shopping: iHerb

I'm a little bit obsessed with iHerb at the moment. With my ongoing health struggles over the past couple of years (read about that here) I've been much more mindful about what I'm doing, what I'm eating and doing what I can to avoid toxins from skincare and so on. So of course iHerb has become very important to me, and being an online store means everything is delivered right to your door so it's so convenient to use. I order probiotics, vitamins, supplements, skincare and even certain foods from them. I don't know what I'd do without iHerb now!

If you haven't yet used iHerb and want to try them out, use my reward code ARD7479 and we'll both get 10% off our next orders!

Using: Pacifica skincare

I used to write a fair bit about natural / non-toxic skin care brands on the blog, but for various reasons my enthusiasm for this waned. My enthusiasm for natural and non-toxic skincare however has not waned and I'm still always on the search for the ultimate products! I've found facial moisturisers really difficult in the 'clean' arena, lots of them really aren't that good, or aren't as clean and natural as their marketing would have us believe, but I recently came across this brand, Pacifica and tried their Coconut Probiotic Water Rehab Cream and it is divine!

It sinks in beautifully and is SOOO moisturising but without any greasy residue, I just love it. I'm onto my second tube already. I buy it from Iherb and it is 100% vegan and cruelty free and contains no parabens, phthalates, mineral oils or petroleum.

Finally finished reading: London Made Us

This book took me the longest time to read! I rarely seem to have time to sit down and just get through it, but I finally finished it after about four months of trying! Written by BBC London radio presenter Robert Elms, the book is part personal memoir and part history of the changes the British capital has seen. It charts the monumental changes and the more inconsequential of the British capital, but always entwined with personal tales and family memoirs. I really enjoyed Elms's humorous and at times hilarious stories and appreciated his knowledge, eye for cultural detail and wit on parts of London that I could relate to, having once lived in and frequented many of these areas myself.

Excited for: Girls trip!

This month I'm looking forward to going off on a girl's trip to Mumbai! Yay! Very excited to get away for a long weekend and explore somewhere new, relax with some good company and have some time just for me for a change. If anyone has any top tips on what we should see and do in Mumbai, please do let me know!

And that's it for January! See you for my next musings in Feb. Do let me know what you think, and please get in touch if there's anything you'd like to see more of here!

The post Monthly Musings: January 2020 appeared first on Arabian Notes.

I have long since wanted to stay at this hotel, so during the last half term break in October we decided to take a little road trip in Oman to do some exploring of some areas beyond Muscat that we had not seen previously, while using the Anantara Jabal Akhdar as our base. We booked our stay through the Discovery Loyalty app as members get discounted rates, and as a black member of the programme there are also extra additional perks on offer that make it worth while. Room upgrades are one of the best perks, though of course these are subject to availability and unfortunately for us, travelling during peak times such as school holidays means these aren't often available.

We had suspected that the hotel would be busy during this period, and it was for this reason that we decided to go ahead and book the one bedroom garden pool villa for our stay, and we were really glad that we did.

The room didn't have a canyon view, but the walled design of the pool area did mean that it was very private and sheltered, so we stayed warm - don't forget that up in the mountains (2000m above sea level) during October the weather can feel pretty chilly. So actually we were glad of that, as outside at the main pool, it was really quite cold, both in and out of the water (even with the sun shining).

The pool of course does have gorgeous views across the canyon, but to be honest I was surprised it wasn't bigger. The hotel was fully occupied during this period and although it didn't feel that way for the most part, it was very peaceful around the hotel mostly - the pool area did get quite busy during the day and the sun beds are set quite closely together in a not particularly large space, so if privacy is key for you, a pool villa is a must.

Though there's no doubt that the hotel is in a beautiful position, at the top of the mountain and overlooking the canyon. The view is really something special.

And the hotel itself is undoubtedly gorgeous, it has an elegant, Middle Eastern style about it, and is all completely low rise with no building higher that two floors.

There's all the usual services and facilities that you'd expect from a five star hotel, with a kids club and bicycles that can be borrowed for a little trip around the resort (which wouldn't take too long as it's not that expansive).

I had seen amazing reviews of the kids club but to be honest I wasn't particularly impressed. It was a fairly small room and nearly all the activities were arts and crafts, there wasn't much variety, so for kids (like my son!) who aren't keen on these and just want to run and free play a bit more it wasn't the most fun. They do have a free play session scheduled at the end of every day which is outside in the small play park where there was a slide, a swing and a trampoline, which was definitely the bit my son enjoyed the most. This was another thing that made us glad we'd chosen the one bedroom pool villa - the pool there was far warmer than the hotel pool and it was easy to spend time swimming, playing and relaxing there together. I'm not sure how much we'd have enjoyed our stay if it wasn't for this. I'd definitely recommend going when the weather will be warmer if you're used to Middle Eastern heat, as like us, you'll find the winter months cold.

The hotel of course also has a spa, and it is absolutely beautiful. It is probably one of my favourite spas that I've ever visited. If you're going, definitely leave time to make use of the facilities before your treatment. The spa was so good, even my husband who's not usually a big spa fan, visited it twice.

The hotel has four restaurants to choose from, Al Maisan is the all day dining buffet restaurant, Bella Vista is the Italian restaurant (they call it the pool side restaurant but it's posher than your normal pool eatery, it's a really lovely and atmospheric place to eat out in the evening), there's Al Bahaa, a courtyard cafe that only opens during the daytime and Al Qalaa, the Middle Eastern restaurant which is housed in a fort style building.

The pictures above are of Al Qalaa, and to be honest this was probably our biggest dining disappointment. I think in the Middle East you expect Middle Eastern food to be wow, especially at a five star hotel and it just wasn't. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with it, it just wasn't as good as we'd expected it should be. It certainly didn't wow us. The selection of dishes for kids was also pretty poor, although in their favour they did offer to get something from one of the other restaurant kids menus for us.

Aside from this, we found food around the hotel to be very high quality in all the restaurants, and the room service food was great too. In fact, their falafel sandwich was one of the best I've ever had, which set the bar high and probably added to the disappointment of the Middle Eastern restaurant. Our only other complaint was in the all day dining restaurant, though the food was good, it really was the worst buffet set up I think we've possibly ever seen. The design created a bottle neck on both sides, and at peak times it made it very awkward for people with food to get back out to their tables, and people wanting food to get in. This was most noticeable at breakfast when for some reason they placed the high traffic areas like fruit, juice, toast and croissants in the corners which meant long queues formed making the whole thing even more unmanageable and irritating. To be fair though, we were told that they were planning to remodel this in 2020, so hopefully that will fix this issue.

So, did we enjoy our stay?

There were definitely a few niggles with service here and there, including one occasion where none of the room service menu wines were available and they didn't seem to be able to offer me any alternative. After several ridiculous conversations and at the point where I was about to walk over to the Italian restaurant to collect my own wine and bring it back to the room myself, the food and beverage manager stepped in and brought a selection of alternatives to the room for me to choose from. Despite small issues like this we absolutely did enjoy our stay, although we were definitely glad we had our own pool in the room. I'm not sure it would have been as enjoyable for us at that time of year (October) if we hadn't. It's not the perfect hotel by any means (at least not at full occupancy anyway, they really appeared to be struggling with this at times), but it is in an undoubtedly spectacular location that is worth visiting. Would I go back? Well, probably not, but mainly because there's not really any reason for us to visit again now that we've done it once, but I am glad that we did go, and it did make a great base for our plans to explore the surrounding areas.

Value for money

I think the final question we were left wondering was, was it really worth the money to stay there? I do think it's something that's worth doing for the experience, but it isn't cheap and we felt that it was really very expensive for what was actually offered and delivered.

If you like a cheeky adult beverage on holiday too, do make note that these are incredibly expensive - a glass of wine was priced starting from around OMR16 per glass, that's Dhs150 for the cheapest, and just one glass! Though again, to be fair, it should be noted this is partly due to the Omani tax on alcohol of a whopping 50%.

I'd say go in the warmer months when you can make full use of the facilities without feeling cold and when it'll also not be quite so busy.

Pros and cons:

Positives: high quality of food, gorgeous views, well-designed and attractive low rise resort, fabulous spa, one bedroom pool villas are amazing!

Negatives: expensive, lack of variety in kids club activities, inconsistent serv

The post Short Break: Anantara Jabal Akhdar, Oman appeared first on Arabian Notes.

It’s no secret that I do love a good spa, so of course on our recent staycation at Jumeirah Saadiyat Island Resort it would have been rude not to check out the spa! The spa is set at the far end of the hotel grounds in a quiet spot, and is surprisingly large and imposing, even from the outside. As soon as you step through those large, heavy doors, you find yourself in an extensive, but tranquil foyer where you'll find the reception desk and a large array of products for sale among a plethora of flowers set on tables and high ceilings that create a grand feel about the place.

As the therapist walks me through the spa and shows me the facilities, I realise what an incredibly large spa this is indeed. At 2700sqm, I'm not even sure at first if I'll be able to find my way to where I need to be! But of course that's all taken care of as the therapist picks you up and drops you off everywhere you need to be and in time for your treatment.

Before your treatment there are of course facilities to make use of - with rain showers, steam room, sauna, hydro pool and plunge pool, but also for something a little different, there's even a salt room (big enough for one, maybe two people if you know each other) and a rhassoul. The hydro pools were sadly not working when I visited, but even without those this would be without a doubt one of the largest and most comprehensive set of spa facilities that I have seen anywhere in Abu Dhabi.

The treatment rooms are plain, but elegant and very comfortable. Both my husband and myself had the Saadiyat Revitalising Massage, and I found the therapists to be very knowledgable, and I felt entirely confident and comfortable that they knew what they were doing. It was also obvious from the way they spoke to us about our individual concerns and how to address those that they did indeed know what they were doing, and were pretty highly trained and well-versed in all things massage and body care. It might sound obvious to point those things out, but in all honesty it is not that often that I come across a massage therapist that is comfortable to speak so confidently about what they are doing and why, and more specifically, able to identify and explain those areas of concern with such detail and precision.

Afterwards, it's off to the relaxation room for some post treatment tea and, well, relaxation!

Due to the size of the place, it also feels as though you never need see another person there, so if privacy is a big thing for you then that's a plus point. Though if this is a main concern, it's worth noting that there's a couples VIP suite with private steam room and sauna, and also four spa villas outside the main spa building you can rent for your treatments to absolutely guarantee you won't see another soul.

I found the massage to be very good, one of the best even, and as above, it's clear that these girls know what they're doing. The spa is also massive - but it still manages to maintain a very calm and personal feel. So would I go back? I most definitely would, I do like making use of the facilities to help me relax before a treatment and it would be great to get the full use of these when they are fully functional so if this is also a thing for you, I'd call ahead to check everything is working. I wouldn't say it's the most strikingly beautiful spa, it's more of an elegant and understated experience for the most part, but regardless, luxurious it absolutely is.

To find out more visit Jumeirah Saadiyat Island Resort Spa website.

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest of the spa but all views are firmly my own.

The post The Spa at Saadiyat Island Resort appeared first on Arabian Notes.

I do love any excuse to be out and about doing something different in Abu Dhabi, and Kayaking at the Louvre caught my eye as something quite unusual that looked like a lot of fun! So just before the summer, I grabbed a friend and off we went early one Friday morning to try it I do love any excuse to be out and about doing something different in Abu Dhabi, and Kayaking at the Louvre caught my eye as something quite unusual that looked like a lot of fun! So just before the summer, I grabbed a friend and off we went early one Friday morning to try it out. 

The kayaking is run by Seahawk Abu Dhabi, and the meeting spot is just outside the main entrance to the Louvre. Once the group has gathered, and all the payments have been taken, the guide leads the group round the corner to where the kayaks are waiting, and after a quick safety briefing it's time to go! Both single and double kayaks are available for use. Not sure how strong the current would be or how hard the one hour trip would be, my friend and I opted for sharing the load in a double kayak.

We start out slowly as we all get the hang of it, and the guide leads the way, stopping at various points to give us some information about the waters and the building of the Louvre.

I really enjoyed getting to see the Louvre from the water, and not limited to just kayaking around the outside, you do get to go in under the dome at several spots around the building.

Whether you can get the whole way round the building or not depends on the tide, and there are some pretty small spaces to navigate your way through at times!

I loved being able to explore the building from angles that tourists don't usually see, and it was a lot of fun too. Of course though the main highlight was definitely kayaking in under the rain of light and being able to sit and bask in that for a while.

The whole trip around the outside takes around an hour, though it depends on the speed of the group. There's actually no route around the building that allows you to get right back to where you started, so often the trips will end on the other side of the starting point (it's almost a full loop, just the last part isn't connected by water), or if there's enough time and the group has enough strength left, you may be able to return the way you came to reach the starting point. It actually wasn't as taxing as we'd expected, so luckily we were able to do the loop back round to the starting point.

We went in the morning around 9am, though now the trips seem to be running in the afternoons and evenings only. But it does seem to change periodically so do check out the Seahawk website for the latest info.

Water is provided and dry bags are available if you have valuables that can't be left elsewhere. There are changing rooms near the meeting point but I found it easier to turn up ready to go. Definitely wear swimwear or clothes you don't mind getting wet in!

The trip is a very reasonable Dhs126 (inc VAT) per person and is suitable for everyone aged 6 and above (kids aged 6-12 must be accompanied by an adult).

I absolutely loved it and would definitely recommend it! Going back at a different time of day would be great to see the place in a different light again.

The post Kayaking at the Louvre Abu Dhabi appeared first on Arabian Notes.

The hotel is coming up for a year old in November 2019 so it's still pretty new and there are a few small things around the hotel still being tweaked - a few landscaping spots here and there, but the first impression as you walk into the hotel is definitely impressive. It's my kind of building - I love the contemporary feel and the bright, clean appearance of the foyer.

We had an Ocean Suite room which had a large separate living area, and both the bedroom and lounge had views facing over the pool and beach. There was plenty of space for the three of us in the room that's for sure! The hotel had also set up the extra bed for my son at the end of our bed which we've found is quite unusual - often the extra bed is placed in the lounge. I didn't mind being in the same room for just two nights, and it means that we can make use of the lounge after my son goes to bed which makes sense, otherwise you end up with a lounge that you can't really use which is a bit silly. If you have a longer stay or just prefer the kids in a separate room, there'd definitely be enough room to move the extra bed into the lounge anyway.

So once we'd received our bags in the room and settled in a bit, the boy was keen to go check out the play areas. The kid's club is supervised and open to kids aged four and above to stay and play (younger also can enter but they must be with a parent / babysitter at all times). The club is again impressive, it's well designed with lots of fun spots to play and hide in and a variety of toys around too. There's also a full activity schedule that kids can choose to be involved in. The club actually consists of three main rooms - there is a small one to attend to the needs of babies, the main one for younger kids and separated along a short corridor is an age appropriate teens room kitted out with computer games, table tennis, foosball table and lots of places to just sit around and chill.

And of course the sign of a great kids club is when the kids don't want to leave... so of course we were only to happy to oblige, and took the chance to go off and enjoy some peaceful sundowners! We headed over to The Lounge, which on the fifth floor of the hotel (there are only six floors) has great views over the pool and beach. It's a stylish place to relax and has a very large outdoor terrace too. The Lounge also has an evening bites buffet and live small bites cooking station so it's a perfect place for aperitivo - in the true Italian spirit of the word where more than a drink, it's almost a light meal before dinner. It's also pretty good value - it runs every day from 5pm to 8pm and is Dhs85 for unlimited snacks and one cocktail. And if like me, one cocktail isn't enough for you - extra cocktails from a set menu are just Dhs20 each! I thought that was a bit of a bargain all round.

After retrieving the boy from the kids club, we couldn't resist a walk along the beach before getting ready for dinner. I mean, it's the best beach in Abu Dhabi and look at that sunset, how can you not?!

After ordering room service for the little one (which was homemade and fresh by the way, they have a decent kids menu with good quality ingredients) we'd booked a babysitter so we could escape for a quiet dinner ourselves, and off we went to Mare Mare, the resort's traditional Italian restaurant. It's a poolside restaurant so I wasn't expecting very much, but it's much smarter than it sounds. The only down point was that there wasn't more outside seating - there was only really space for two tables by the pool in the evening (during the day there's more casual poolside seating closer to the beach, but this doesn't seem to be used at night). The restaurant does have floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the pool which do open out when the weather is considered cool enough, but since there was still some humidity when we visited in mid October, it was still considered too warm.

The breakfast restaurant at the hotel is called White, and how beautiful and white it is. I couldn't help but keep taking about how gorgeous and bright the place was. I also really love the design of the room - the seating area is separated from the buffet section by a sort of modern cloister. It sounds weird, but actually it really works and I loved the fact that it helped to keep the feeling of calm and peace in the eating area. It really separated any hustle and bustle of the food preparation areas and just created a much more upmarket feeling than you might normally find at a buffet. The whole thing is also laid out so it really doesn't make any difference to how far you have to walk, it just makes for a more peaceful breakfast.

Next stop after breakfast was to check out the pools and beach. The hotel has an adults only lap pool, a family pool and a large kids pool with shade. In all honesty, the family pool wasn't really my thing - I found it a bit shallow and you couldn't really have a decent swim in it. It looks lovely as it's designed like a beach with a gradual descent into the water (no steps etc), but I didn't find it that usable as there's only really a small part that is deep enough, but this part isn't really wide enough for swimming. It's also quite strangely divided into two completely separate sections by the main hotel walkway which make it two awkward sized pools rather than one big one. It does work for local sensitivities though, since one of these pools has a swim up bar, so it does mean you can avoid this if you choose to. It is regardless a lovely pool, I just found it to be more suitable for dipping in to cool off, or.. in these times of social media, as what I like to call a 'posing' pool (complete with obligatory unicorn inflatables!). The adult lap pool is a decent size for a swim though, and the kids pool is exactly the kind of design I love - it just works so well. It has plenty of seating right around the edge so you can sit back and watch the kids splosh away, it has water fountains and squirt rocking water toys for them to play with, it's not too deep and has a gradual edge so there's really shallow bits for very little ones too.

And what is there to say about the beach? It's gorgeous of course. And since the hotel has quite a long stretch of beach the sun loungers aren't set too close together and there are plenty of them so it stays pretty peaceful, even when there are quite a few people around. The water is just so clear, we had a lot of fun sitting in the water watching the fish swim right up to us, and the water is still so lovely and warm at this time of year, but has lost that 'hot bath' effect from the summer.

The final meal of our weekend was at the hotel's Levantine restaurant, Tean. I really enjoyed it here as there's plenty of room to sit outside (the restaurant windows also peel back completely in winter to give it an open plan feel). It's so lovely to be able to sit so close to the beach, and although the restaurant is not on the beach itself, it's actually positioned closer to the beach than other local restaurants that are considered 'on the beach'.

We had a really wonderful weekend at Jumeirah Saadiyat Island Beach Resort. In my opinion it's a gorgeous, contemporary hotel that has a really clean and airy feeling design about it. It just feels uplifting to me. The food was great throughout - we honestly didn't have a bad thing to say about a single meal. I found the service to be great throughout the hotel, and even the couple of small hiccups we did witness were fixed quickly and professionally. I just found there was no awkward confusion or embarrassment about anything as sometimes can be created due to lack of understanding or training - I found the staff well trained and able to execute everything efficiently. The team in the kid's club were particularly memorable - they were super friendly and really went out of their way to entertain and welcome the kids, my son loved it there and already keeps asking to go back!

Disclaimer: I was invited to stay as a guest of Jumeirah though all words and opinions expressed here are firmly my own.

Located inside the UAE Central Bank in Al Bateen, the museum is completely free to enter, although owing to its location inside what is a fully working mint and central bank for the country, you'll need to call ahead to make an appointment in order to get past security.

The museum curator comes to reception to collect guests and take them along to the museum. And after a brief description of what's inside, you'll be left to wander around at your leisure.

I have to say, on first glance it appears to be quite a stuffy and staid exhibition, but on closer inspection it actually holds rather a lot of interesting tidbits about the history of currency in the country from the other international currencies having been used in the years before the union to the eventual development of a local currency unique to the UAE in 1973 that we now know as the dirham.

As well as an impressive collection of historical coins and notes, other displays I found interesting were seeing sheets of money after printing and before they are cut for distribution and some surprisingly intricate detail on the tactics employed within the current currency to prevent forgery!

Unless you're a collector with a specific interest, I don't think the museum should take longer than around 30 minutes to visit. But it is a visit that satisfied my inner geek and I was pleased I'd made the effort. I came away feeling I knew more about the history of the UAE than before, and from a quite different angle than is normally seen.

The museum is open on weekdays, Sun-Thurs from 9am to 3pm. To arrange a visit to the museum, contact Mariam Ghalloum at the Central Bank on 02 691 5265.

It's certainly a statement building, isn't it, the Burj Al Arab. Iconic in its exterior design and well, I'm not exactly sure what the words might be for the interior... Opulent is one such word that comes to mind, though depending on your taste, gaudy could be another! I mean it's not to my taste, but even so there's no denying that it is hard not to be impressed as you enter the place. Although there are reception desks in the foyer, check-in is done in your room (or suite, since it's an all-suite hotel), so we were escorted by a guest services manager to our room, who explained all the facilities on the way.

And I'd read that even the smallest of suites wasn't that small, each being configured across two levels, but there was no preparing us for the room that awaited.

Inside the door was a grand entrance hall (of course!), with a sweeping staircase leading to the top level which housed the bathroom complete with enormous shower and separate spa bath, a large dressing room and finally, the main bedroom. And on the ground level, was a large living room and lounge area (with sofa bed for the kids or extra guests), a bar, office area with desk complete with full desktop computer and printer, and a small guest bathroom. Not sure what they were thinking when they installed the mirrors above the beds, it's not exactly a touch that says high-end and luxury to me, but each to their own, eh?! Every floor in the hotel also has a dedicated butler to deal with any requests you may have at any time.

The terrace and pool area of the hotel was an after thought, having only been added to the hotel in 2016, but it's a welcome addition. The terrace houses two large pools (one chlorine and one saltwater), and a shallow kids pool which is strangely separated quite a distance from the other pools making it a not particularly attractive or convenient option for families. But kids are allowed in the other pools anyway, so the best bet is to just swerve the kids pool altogether. The saltwater pool closest to the sea also has shallow areas meant for sun worshippers to lounge on sun beds, but the pool was never very busy, even over the usually packed Eid break (and the hotel was at 100% occupancy during our stay) so these areas actually worked perfectly for kids that wanted to splash about in the shallows and play with water toys.

We spent most of our time in the salt water pool, but it was fun to switch every so often and go to the other pool, particularly as it has a shaded swim-up bar in the centre!

There's plenty of loungers to sit poolside, you can even choose to sit in a special 'beach' area to get the feel of the sand in your toes! But of course being the most luxurious hotel in the world, it doesn't end there. Each side of the terrace is lined with private air-conditioned cabanas, though there is an extra charge for these. To be honest, I didn't really see the point of them. I suppose for famous or local guests perhaps the extra privacy might be welcome, particularly with the cabanas that look out over the sea as they're not at all overlooked. And perhaps if you're not used to the heat here it could be good to have the option to cool off, but we were just happy sitting at the pool's edge and dipping in whenever we felt a bit warm.

Regardless of your preference, I have to say that I fear the service on the terrace has ruined us for life! Before you've even decided where to sit, a friendly cabana boy gently introduces himself and offers whatever assistance you need including chilled welcome (non-alcoholic) shots and a cooler bag filled with water, facial cooling spritz and cold towels. We found the service to be just about perfect - always attentive and efficient but never intrusive. I'm pretty sure you could ask for almost anything and the answer would never be no. Whilst there are a lot of five star hotels in the UAE, I can honestly say I've never been to any other hotel here who got it quite so right - but that's exactly what you'd expect from the Burj Al Arab isn't it?

For those who cannot bear not to dip their feet in the actual ocean, while the Burj doesn't have its own private beach, guests are free to use the Summersalt beach club at Jumeirah Al Naseem. We did pop down there to try it, and although the beach and water is lovely, it's much busier there and we found the service to be very slow and difficult to catch the attention of the attendants (I told you the Burj ruined us!). So a change is as good as a rest they say, but it was an easy decision to get quickly back to the good life on the terrace at the Burj for us!

The Talise Spa at the Burj is also a must do. I'd say its hands down one of the best spas I've ever been to (and I do like to check out a good spa!). If I lived in Dubai I'd seriously think about forgoing any other spa and only ever coming here. The facilities were spectacular, in every sense. Surprisingly, given the palatial decor throughout, the treatment rooms were quite minimal. Still beautiful, but definitely unexpectedly plain. And of course, in terms of the actual massage, the therapists must be the best of the best. It was a truly wonderful experience, and though all of this comes at a suitably luxurious price, I'd have to say it was absolutely worth it.

Our stay was spectacular, though it wasn't completely without any hiccups. There was a couple of mix ups in information given to us from the suite butlers about restaurant availability and opening times, though the guest services staff on the main desk were able to clarify everything and sort the details of our evening for us fairly simply.

But the burning question is - is it really the world's most luxurious hotel? My honest answer is that in many respects it absolutely is. The level of service by the pool for example. And in the fact that it's probably the most luxurious hotel room you'll find without booking a presidential suite elsewhere! I think though, with such renowned grandiose claims about a place it immediately sets guest expectations incredibly high, which can almost certainly make them very hard to meet. My biggest disappointment about our stay was breakfast. There were two choices in different restaurants - an Asian buffet and an International buffet, but in my opinion, they were both a little disappointing. The Asian buffet was the larger of the two (clearly an indication of the regular hotel clientele) and let me be clear that the food was exceptional - our complaint here was that the chefs seemed to struggle to keep up with demand and many of the dishes were left practically empty. In fairness though, when we raised this, the chefs promptly prepared fresh plates for us and delivered them to our table, so we cannot complain too much! As for the international buffet, well, it was much smaller than expected and whilst it had almost everything you could want for, I cannot deny I've definitely seen more impressive breakfast buffets elsewhere.

A weekend at the Burj Al Arab was definitely a bucket list stay for us, and I'm glad we did it. We had an incredible time and it was a stay that we'll undoubtedly never forget. If you've been thinking about doing it, I'd say it's one that should be done while you're here. It'll cost you, but it'll be worth it! And speaking of cost, UAE residents can take advantage of special resident rates (the cheapest rates are during the hotter months), though we found that by booking ahead we found an even cheaper rate so it pays to be organised!

As with all the other Jumeirah hotels in the neighbouring complex, free access to Wild Wadi Waterpark is also included throughout the duration of your stay. While the hotel does have a kids club, it's really for very young children and babies, but families with older kids have the option to use the Jumeirah Beach Hotel kids club. In fact, as a guest of the Burj Al Arab, you pretty much have access to most facilities throughout the whole Jumeirah complex if you want them, but why you'd stray from the poolside service on the terrace I don't know!

For further information check out the hotel website.

The oud is one of the oldest stringed instruments in the world, and at Bait al Oud (literally translating as 'House of the Oud'), they pride themselves on preserving and promoting this ancient cultural tradition through research, teaching and musical concerts, but also by making the instruments by hand in the on-site workshop.

To learn to play the oud is quite a commitment, with at least five semesters of full-time tuition required. Upon completion, students are awarded the Bait Al Oud Diploma and from there can go on to begin their professional musical careers with the instrument.

The choice of wood used to craft the oud is very important, and only the highest quality woods are used with the first room in the workshop area reflecting this, where rows and rows of rosewood and cider wood are stored.

It's interesting to see the actual workshop, which although is small in size, gives plenty of clues as to the painstaking nature of the crafting of each instrument.

The centre is located in the Al Nahyan area of the city and although it's small, it makes for an interesting short tour to learn about the history of the instrument and of the detail of the workmanship that goes into producing each instrument.

Booking is preferred to attend the centre and there is reportedly a 'small fee' to enter for groups - but they couldn't confirm what it was (though I went on my own without booking and they were kind enough to show me around anyway). The workshop tour also ends with a 10-15 minute musical performance on the oud for those who book in advance meaning the whole experience lasts around 40 minutes or so from start to finish.

If you're not interested in the workshop tour but would still like to hear the music of the oud, free concerts are often run as musical students of the academy graduate each year. The centre also brings acclaimed oud musicians from around the Middle East to play at larger events around the city throughout the year.

The centre also offers shorter three or six month courses for anyone who'd like to try their hand at learning to play the oud.

To find out more, visit Bait Al Oud.

I have a bit of a thing about Malaysia. I LOVED Kuala Lumpur the first time we went. There was just something about it that really captured my heart and stuck in my mind, and ever since then I've had my sights set on exploring a bit more of Malaysia, so after weighing up various options, we decided on Langkawi for our summer family holiday. We'd also considered Penang, or a holiday split between both Langkawi and Penang (which in hindsight would have probably been better), but with an almost four year old in tow, we really couldn't face the thought of travelling around too much and having to take not one, but two internal flights during the trip to make this happen. After a busy year it was definitely a relaxing holiday that we needed.

We stayed at the Four Seasons Langkawi after reading reports that it was situated on one of the best (private) beaches around, and that was certainly true. And there's no doubt that the hotel was beautiful, and had everything we needed - but, well... if I'm honest I felt it was a little overhyped. And although it may be the best hotel on the island by all reports, we came away feeling that it wasn't quite up to the same mark of other hotels in the same category that we have stayed in previously.

We found Langkawi very beautiful, and relaxing - and there is also plenty to do outside the resorts - although it's worth noting that activities with younger children are a little limited as they mostly tend to be geared towards long hikes or adventure sports.

We took a trip out to the Langkawi Sky bridge which was fun, getting there by cable car and looking out with views all over the island. But, cantilevered between two mountains, it's not for the faint hearted!

The weather is also quite quick to change at that height and even though we chose one of the clearest, sunniest days to go up the mountain, by the time we reached the top, we found ourselves with heavy mist and clouds quickly closing in!

One of the other highlights of Langkawi for me was taking a cycle tour around the local village. We do love to get out on two wheels on holiday and explore the local areas a bit, so I'd highly recommend doing that to see a side of a place that you wouldn't otherwise see.

Another thing you definitely can't miss is a visit to the Langkawi Geopark. We did a tour through the mangrove park with the Four Seasons in-house marina biologist which was amazing to have the opportunity to not only see this incredible marine parkland its native animals, but also to learn a lot of interesting facts about the history and surrounding flora and fauna. And monkeys, everyone loves monkeys!

Night markets are something that Langkawi has plenty of, and they rotate around island locations on different days, so wherever you stay you should easily be able to catch one. The market was mostly a local type - with fruit, veg, food stalls, toys and knick knacks as opposed to the souvenir type markets you'd find in cities like Bangkok, but it was still worth a look from the people watching aspect and for trying out some of the local delicacies!

And one of the funniest parts of staying at the Four Seasons was the visitors we'd get at our door in the late afternoons! My son loved seeing the monkeys come and say hello!

So would I recommend Langkawi? Well, I would, for a few nights or no longer than a week. I think anything longer is a bit much, and that's the mistake we made, despite not wanting to be on the go too much. In the end, although we hadn't planned to visit Kuala Lumpur on the trip we decided to leave Langkawi a few days early to spend a few days in the capital and revisit some of the places we'd loved so much the first time round, which, in my opinion, really finished our trip off nicely. We'd thought that doing both Langkawi and Penang would be a bit much for a two week trip, but in hindsight it probably wasn't, but it really depends what you're looking for. Penang has plenty of culture and a thriving social scene for foodies, while Langkawi has the best beaches.

Emirates Bio Farm is located out past Sweihan in Al Ain. It’s a bit of a trek from Abu Dhabi city at around an hour and a half drive, but our experience was that it was well worth the effort and made a great family day out, and offered something quite different and unusual to do for this part of the world.

While the farm is open every weekend, we went along for the recent UAE Mother’s Day Open Day which meant there was a bit more than usual going on. It was Dhs35 per person to get in, and no charge for kids under six.

The charge includes access to the farm visitor centre and a farm tour by tractor, where as well as learning a bit about organic farming, there's also an opportunity to harvest some veg to take home.

On arrival we were given our entrance ticket and assigned to the next available farm tour. They run on the hour every hour and we found ourselves with about 45 minutes before the tour was due to start. But there's plenty to do to keep everyone busy around the visitors area and despite there being two different kids arts and crafts taking place that day under the outdoor gazebo, my son made a bee-line straight to the kids play area which is kitted out with a suitably themed oversized play tractor!

There's also a small area with a few goats to look at, and if you're there at the right time you might even be able to join in with feeding time.

Five minutes before our allotted farm tour time we were asked to line up by the white fence where everyone boarded the trailers pulled by tractor and we set out on our adventure. I think my son would have been happy if that was all there was to it, he was already so excited just to have the chance for a tractor ride!

A short drive later, it's time to get off the tractor and out into the fields where we were asked to gather around and answer questions about organic farming. It's all done in an interactive format and though it's better suited for older kids it doesn't last so long as to be boring for the little ones.

Next stop was onto harvest some veg, and on the day we were there it was kale and onions that were ripe for the picking. We were shown how to pick them and where to walk so as not to destroy anything and off we went!

We were all encouraged to taste the kale and after having picked it my son was all too happy to agree. I fully expected him to say it was horrible and spit it out, but to my surprise he promptly announced that it's now his favourite food in the world! I'm not entirely convinced that's going to last, but if ever there was an advert for kids having the opportunity to pick their own produce, that has to be it!

From the outdoor fields we hop aboard the tractors again and move onto the indoor greenhouses, which, contrary to the greenhouses I'm familiar with, they don't keep things warm, they are in fact specially air conditioned to keep things cool in the harsh UAE climate. It's actually really interesting stuff, but you probably need to hear it first hand to appreciate the science!

After a wander through the greenhouse that's it for the tour, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour in total, and we find ourselves back where we started, and led into the restaurant. Yes, they've really thought of everything!

Located inside one of its greenhouses, the restaurant menu includes a farm fresh ingredient based breakfast as well as a mostly vegetable based menu of salads and fresh juices. There's also a selection of pizzas and cakes. As you might expect it's fairly basic but comfortable enough and it has everything you need in a restaurant, and the staff were pretty friendly too. There's certainly a decent amount of choice and there's no arguing that the food's not fresh!

At the main entrance/exit there's of course also a farm shop where you can pick up an array of beautiful, fresh and organic fruit and vegetables, and mostly fairly reasonably priced.

It was a long way to drive for us but it was well worth it as there's enough to keep kids entertained for the day, especially if you go on one of their special open days when they have arts and crafts or other activities going on also. Outside of the tour, my son spent most of his time on the giant play tractor, happily playing with the other kids. I had to drag him away in the end, he really didn't want to leave!

Interestingly, although supermarket trips with this four year old are rarely a fun excursion, he seemed only too happy to play 'shop' on our way out and pick up a few more bits of veg to go with our onions and kale from the tour, and even more interesting still, he's eaten every bit of veg I've given him since - asking 'are these the ones we picked from the farm?' each time. Well, if that's the reaction a day on the farm has, we'll have to do it more often!

Find out more about Emirates Bio Farm on their website, but also check them out on facebook and instagram for details on their events and open days.