John's Answer

I had a question regarding using USD in Dubai-

Is it best to bring US Dollars or dirhams for a holiday?
John

Good day John! You can only use dirhams for purchases but you can exchange USD for AED (dirhams) easily. Most places will accept a foreign charge card however typically your bank will charge a conversion fee for every purchase so that is not as cost effective.  I believe you can use your charge card at the exchange centers and banks to get AED's so you don't have to bring all the money you intend to spend in cash. You can exchange at the airport upon arrival and there are exchange centers and banks in every mall and there are a lot of beautiful malls. There are also banks at the major tourist destinations like The Walk at JBR (where I live) and The Golden Mile on The Palm, etc. The exchange rates at the conversion centers and the banks are competitive so you don't have to worry with finding a particular place for the best rate. Dubai makes it very convenient to spend as much money as you like! I don't when you plan to visit Dubai but I would recommend you wait until after August. Ramadan begins 1 Aug and doesn't end until 30 Aug. No eating, drinking or smoking in public any where from sun up to sundown. Ladies must have thier shoulders covered and legs must be completely covered. Restaurants will not open until after sundown; it is a very conservative time. No live music anywhere and alcohol consumption is frowned on. Have a great trip- Dubai really is beautiful! Thanks, Michele

New Job!

Good day all! Sorry I've been off line this week. I've been offered and accepted a position here in Dubai! I'm very excited to get back to work and look forward to the challenges and rewards that lay ahead of me. In order to have time to get my house in order, shop for new clothes, etc. I won't post again until 1 Aug so please browse through previous posts while I get myself organized. My next post will be regarding Ramadan! I'm excited to be here during Ramadan and look forward to sharing the experience with you all so please check back.

Until then I wish my family, friends and followers much peace, love and happiness! M&J

Mercato Mall & Other Stuff

Good day all! Another week has passed-they seem to be slipping by so quickly. This week we went back to the Dragon Mart and picked up a few things and Mercato Mall. Lets get the random stuff out of the way before I tell you about the mall.

The iceburg is gone :(. Here today-gone tomorrow! Fortunately because the computer station is set up against the windows in the living room I noticed right away when they began towing it away and was able to snap a few pics of it floating off into the sunset-literally! I thought it was odd they would choose to move such a large structure in the early evening and can only assume they weren't going too far. I don't know where it was relocated but the Coke bottle and Brrr sign weren't removed and The Palm is close so maybe it is near Atlantis?

Iceberg being towed away.

Bye, bye iceberg! You sure were cool to have hanging around (haha!)

On Thursday the visibility was terrible! At first I thought it was just overcast and hazy. When I went out on the balcony I realized it wasn't haze at all- it was sand! Yup- sand! The air was heavy with a very fine dust. Usually I can see all the way to the crescent of The Palm and the Atlantis building appr. 8-10 kilometers away (1 kilometer = 1.6 miles). Thursday I couldn't see The Palm at all; I estimate visibility was reduced to 1-2 kilometers. Its cleared up quite a bit in the past few days but I still can't see Atlantis- only the nearest buildings on The Palm.

This pic was taken several weeks ago- what a beautiful clear day in Dubai! In the distance you can buildings on the The Palm.

This pic was taken Thursday at close to the same angle. What a difference! Palm? What Palm?!

I've mentioned the amazing malls here several times and posted pics of the Dubai Mall. Today I want to share one of my favorite malls- the Mercato Mall. The exterior and interior of the mall is a blend of Tuscan and Venetian architecture and design. It is actually much smaller the the other malls I have visited but it so pretty and charming! The malls here have all the types of stores you would find in Bama; clothing, cosmetics, home decor, shoes, etc. But the malls here all have grocery stores. While it may seem odd to have a Kroger in Parkway Place think of how convenient it would be! You can do your normal mall shopping- new outfit and shoes, have lunch in a restaurant or the food court and then get groceries. No having to to drive to different locations- one stop shopping. I love it! Also, every mall has a currency exchange site. It is great not having to go to a bank to change your money and hope you have enough for all of your purchases. The exchange rate is the same as a bank as well so your not paying a premium for convenience. The Emirates make it very easy for you to spend all you want! Picture taking in malls and stores is sometimes forbidden. There are no signs prohibiting pics in Mercato Mall but there are lots of security personnel that are likely to stop you so I tried to be inconspicuous.

Exterior of Mercato Mall. I took this from the car and couldn't get the full frontal view, but what you can see of the architecture is beautiful.

View looking into Fiesta restaurant. The arched areas are shops lining the perimeter.

View of upstairs shops and looking down into Fiesta restaurant.

Hello Kitty! Almost every mall has a shop dedicated to Hello Kitty. This a small shop about the size of a bedroom but filled to the gills with all things Kitty! Very popular here.

View looking toward the main entrance. They are having a summer promotion so the whole mall has displays of flowers and outdoor summer settings. The sunflowers suspended from the sky lights are at appr. 6 feet across. I love how the main center of Mercato Mall is naturally sunlit.

Another view of the upstais and downstairs shops lining the main entrance area.

Staging area between the escalators promoting Mercato Summer Festival. They have many events scheduled including many activities for children.

View from the top of the escalator toward main entrance. There is an open coffee shop/cafe in the center with Wifi.

View of shops along one of the corridors off the main strip. The walls and floors are tile and granite.

Another corridor off the main strip. Very elegant!

Food court. Like I said, this is one of the smallest malls I have seen and certainly the smallest food court but it is lovely. There are a few more restaurants not pictured but not many. The dining area has granite tables and wrough iron chairs. It is under the sky lights and has Tuscan style lamp posts so it feels like you are eating at an outdoor cafe. There is a Marble Slab Creamery in the center (not pictured) to satisfy your sweet tooth! There are other restaurants in the mall if the food court doesn't appeal to you. There is also a very large store called Fun City filled with games, ball bounce, skee ball and pinball machines for kids of all ages. Again, almost every mall has this type of facility for kids.

Spinney's is our grocery store. It is set up like most grocery stores except all items with pork are located in a seperate area in the rear of the store. Muslims do not eat pork so it must be kept away from the other food items. We can buy ham, bacon and keilbasa type sausage so it's cool. Most grocery stores have a pork area but a few don't. The only pork item we can't find at any grocery store is breakfast sausage. Also, you must have your produce weighed in the produce area before you go to checkout. Believe me- you only make that mistake once! Spinneys also has several aisles with small household appliances, pots & pans, bed sheets, dishes and kitchen  "hand tools" (peelers, graters, etc). Kroger has a small area with these items as well but this is on a much larger scale.

Busted! I took this pic and a Spinney's employee told me pics are not allowed inside the store. What I wanted to show was all the produce has the country of origin clearly posted. My green onions came from USA, cucumbers were local, lettuce from Spain, etc. This sign says USA potato russet; next to them were local and another country, too. The meat also has the country of origin on the package. We always buy Australian meat because it has the most fat but is still much leaner than the same cut of meat you would buy at Kroger. We tried Irish steaks once and they were so lean they had almost no flavor; I guess it is just different than I am accustomed to.

This is a travelator. It is a flat escalator that every mall has. It is designed so strollers can go between the shopping levels safely. How many times have you seen a parent desperately trying to balance a toddler in a stroller on the escalator? But that isn't the cool part-

Look mom- no hands! When you get on the travelator with you grocery cart the wheels lock! I don't know if its magnetic or magic but I love it. You don't have to hang on to your cart for dear life and hope it doesn't get away from you and wipe out the family in front of you! So cool!

You take your buggy of groceries downstairs to the parking area right to your car, unload your goodies and you are on your way! There are cart parking areas so you don't have to bring your cart back to the store, too.

So thats my post for this week. Tomorrow is 4th of July which is a major American holiday celebrating our independance. My two oldest daughters have gone to Florida to "rip it live" (party) and the youngest is still studying abroad in Panama. Please, Lord, send a guardian angel to watch over my babies and keep them safe (better make it two for each of them!). I also wish my friends and family a safe and Happy 4th! I miss you all so very much. Peace love and happiness- M&J