Shopping – Page 2 – Ruth Badley

It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:14th December 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East Shopping Travel
Post comments:6 Comments

It was about this time last year that we had a conversation about what our Christmas in Dubai might look like. Should we take the Christmas decorations with us? Surely not. Likewise, the oversized fake tree that comes down from the loft every year? No, that would be ridiculous too. Wise decisions. Without all the familiar festive paraphernalia to hand it is easier to break away from convention and adopt a fresh approach. Deep down, I think the attempt to simply replicate what we usually do in this very different location would make me feel a bit sad.
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Pick and Mix Christmas

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:30th November 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai entertainment Expat Living Food Middle East Shopping UAE
Post comments:0 Comments

I never dreamed that I would be able to achieve my idea of a perfect Christmas whilst living in Dubai but it is shaping up nicely to be just that. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the rest of the hideous panic buying that makes the countdown to December 25 a nightmare in the UK, is not happening here. It probably is at some level but that is my point, really. You don’t have to take part in all that if, like me, you hanker after a calmer lead up to Christmas. (more…)

Letter from Lebanon

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:29th July 2015
Post category:Culture entertainment Food Middle East Shopping
Post comments:2 Comments

I can still hear the worry in your voice, echoing in my head from several months ago when I first dropped Beirut into the conversation. Well, Mum, I went, I survived and I’m back safe and sound. I would have rung you by now to tell you all about it but since we can’t have those conversations any more I thought I would write down what I would have liked to share with you about this trip. (more…)

A brolly for all seasons

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:22nd June 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food Shopping UAE
Post comments:4 Comments

I’ve come over all 19th century genteel in the last few weeks. Since the temperature in Dubai now regularly hits 40 plus I am taking a bit more care before I casually step outdoors. Moving too fast through a fan-heater-on-high-environment transforms this milky white English skin into a shade akin to boiled lobster in a few minutes. (more…)

Chickens, hens, eggs and chocolate

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:7th April 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food Shopping UAE
Post comments:1 Comment

The title might suggest a bit of an Easter theme but I am not about to launch into a post on new beginnings, rebirth, fluffy animals or indeed, chocolate. The chocolate in the title was trespassing on serious cheesecake territory and the egg was more spherical than ovoid. Confused? Me too. It’s these misleading menu descriptions. They do it to me every time. They lull you into thinking that you know what you ordered. Too late, you realise that chef, in a burst of madcap inspiration (culinary genius that he is) has deconstructed your favourite dessert. The clues were there after all. I might have guessed that the passion fruit and yuzu cheesecake sounded too good to be true.

When the waiter leaned in, eyes reverently lifted skywards, whispering that chef’s ‘signature dish’ is a not a ‘traditional’ interpretation, my internal dessert alarm went to red alert. Afters was about to go down the Swanee. (more…)

Bling it on

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:2nd March 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Shopping UAE
Post comments:0 Comments

Understated, subtle, restrained and unadorned. Dubai does not understand these concepts, much less live by them. How very refreshing.

Perhaps it has something to with the dazzling sunlight bouncing off the city’s waterways and courtyard pools, or the way the glass and marble facades of the buildings appear to glimmer in the heat of the day. Glitter and sparkle seem almost natural elements here and quite appealing to this Brit, recently arrived, with skin as pale as whitewash from too many Yorkshire winters. (more…)

Dubai’s desert heart

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:21st February 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Shopping UAE
Post comments:1 Comment

For three weeks Dubai has put on its best welcome for two sun-starved Brits that blossomed in the warm glow of UAE’s ‘winter’ temperatures. Since our arrival the need to even wonder about weather conditions has seemed slightly ridiculous because every day has brought uninterrupted sunshine and clear blue skies. We started to get confident. Big mistake. (more…)

Money, Money, Money, must be funny

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:15th February 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food Shopping UAE
Post comments:0 Comments

Dubai is a bonkers world as far prices go. We joked before we arrived that Tim would spend two years saying ‘How much?’ in an incredulous Yorkshire accent but even one given to regular extravagance (me) can be taken aback by the cost of most things here. (more…)

Footloose in the Mall

Post author:RuthBadley
Post published:12th February 2015
Post category:Culture Dubai Expat Living Food Shopping UAE
Post comments:1 Comment

I am itching to move in to our apartment but will have to wait a few more days until Tim’s residency visa and Emirates ID come through. In the meantime I decide to spend a day in the Downtown area to see what the Old Town development is like on an average day and how I might fit in to my new environment. Is it even as nice as I remember it was? (more…)