Posted by Kanga.
Aroma Blankets – Surprisingly soft and warm, but how do they smell?
Camel broad beans
The electrical beauty section of the pharmacy.
Truck on truck
Posts Tagged ‘Fujairah’
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Malls!
July 17, 2011Posted by Kanga.
As I mentioned in my last post, another expat remarked about Fujairah having only one supermarket (in the western definition of supermarket). We beg to differ. So, here are some highlights from one of our favorite stores.
This is the pasta aisle where I found shapes of pasta I’d never seen before. They have all the bases covered.
It appears that Foghorn Leghorn is selling chicken stock these days.
This is the spice aisle where you can get lovely bags of various spices.
I’ve never seen such a large pat of butter before. (Five kilograms – That’s eleven pounds!)
Frozen chicken hearts – don’t they look appetizing?
And the true test – Kinder Eggs!
And this is only the grocery section which is one fourth of the store. There’s also a housewares section and a second floor filled with clothes and shoes for the whole family.
Let Me Introduce You
July 16, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Linda has asked for more information on Fujairah. We’ve only been here a little over two weeks, so my knowledge will be only skin deep. I might have had something to write before now, but much of our first week was spent driving back to Dubai for one paperwork errand or another. Only two paperwork issues remain in-process (that I know of) and only one will require another drive to Dubai, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Soon, we should be able to begin to deepen our appreciation of Fujairah.
The most recent population figure I’ve found is 180,000, but it is likely that this number is for the whole emirate, not just the city. It is significantly smaller than Dubai’s 1.5 million, but not really a “small town” either. There is a large amount of new construction, both newly finished and in process. Several new hotels, apartments, office buildings, and mosques. The city is a mix of these shiny new structures alongside older, thriving businesses.
The oil industry is centered around refining and shipping. Since Fujairah is located on the east coast shipping to and from here eliminates the need to actually enter the Persian/Arabian Gulf. There is an underground pipeline delivering Abu Dhabi oil to Fujairah for shipping.
The fishing industry has a long tradition here. It has been hit by weather conditions this year. The monsoon season in India is causing higher tides here and rougher seas.
Agriculture is also significant here due to the geography and climate. The Hajer Mountains and Oman Gulf create a cooler, moister climate. (Remember this is all relative. I’m not saying that it is cool and moist here, just less harsh than the western region of the country.)
The expats here are primarily involved in the oil industry or educational institutions. Last year when I was investigating the possibility of moving here, I was warned by an expat that “there is no culture here” which I knew was not true. We had already been out to see the bull butting several times. That counts as culture. I am sure she meant that there is little or no Western culture here. That is fine with us. We don’t need the opera, orchestra, ballet, although we could use a little theatre.
Just this week an expat asked me if I had found “our one and only supermarket – Lulu Hypermarket.” Actually, we have found several excellent grocery stores. I even found rice milk (which is rare) for the same price as soy milk in one of those overlooked stores. I was greatly excited. The one time I found it in a Dubai store, it was twice the price of soy.
The most obvious cultural difference that we have had to adjust to, so far, is the afternoon shutdown. At 1 or 2 pm, businesses close and reopen around 5 pm, with the exception of government offices and banks which just close at 2 pm period. (Imagine our fun having to run around doing paperwork making sure we got it done by 2 pm. If you think American bankers hours of 8 am – 5 pm are difficult to work around, be glad it isn’t 8 am – 2 pm.) The government and bank closures are the same in Dubai, but most other businesses go right on without closing.
Once the heat of the day/siesta is over and businesses reopen, then things get to hoppin’. Shopping is done late in the evening 8-11 pm. The town is lit up and busy. At least two new shopping malls are being built and we are concerned about the impact on smaller businesses. There really isn’t a need for malls here.
Welcome to Oliver’s House
July 8, 2011Posted by Oliver the Loud.
Mah-Woo, everybody! Kanga and DaddyBird are letting me guest post on their blog. So, I thought I would show you around my new home.
First, let me say that moving was TOTALLY traumatizing and I don’t ever want to do that again! Luckily, all my old stuff came along – cat toys, food dish, scratching pads, favorite napping chairs, Bert, Kanga and Daddybird, so it’s not so bad, after all.
The best, the very BEST, thing about this new place is the window sills. They are wide enough and long enough for Bert and I to lay/sleep/tussle on. Day or night this is my favorite place. You can see a lot from the 16th floor.
There are lots of cool tile floors to lie on. When I’ve been naughty, I run and flop down so that I look innocent.
This is the room I have to share with Bert. Kanga and DaddyBird lock us up in there when they go out, and I don’t like that much. Really drives Bert crazy. But, I just curl up inside the old suitcase and take a nap until they come back.
My one complaint is that the sinks make it hard to get a drink.
All in all, I am pretty happy.
And So It Begins…
July 7, 2011Posted by Kanga.
We’ve begun to identify and collect favorite restaurants in Fujairah. Freddy’s Restrobar in the new Fortune Royal Hotel offers good food at a reasonable price, free wifi, and they know to turn on Bollywood movies when we arrive.
Today, we tried out the Thai Express on the corniche, next to McDonald’s and Subway Sandwiches. The dining area is too small to accommodate the customers it draws. Very good food and reasonably priced. There were actually three chicken breasts on my plate. No skimping on the portions.
Thai Express would not be able to handle a tweet-up crowd and not everyone is comfortable at a bar, so we will keep looking for appropriate venues.
How Not to House Hunt
April 30, 2011Posted by Kanga.
Trips to Fujairah for house hunting have begun. There are currently two routes. The Sharjah-Kalba road is the route of choice. There is less traffic and an interesting variation of scenery.
Our first trip involved absolutely no actual viewing of rental housing, because we had not prepared and contacted real estate agencies ahead of time. So, we decided to make the most of our day. We went to the Fujairah Museum which has some nice displays of artifacts from ancient settlements.
I don’t know why I continue to be surprised by proof of the impact of America on the region, but locally minted coins with American presidents or Apollo astronauts on them always catch me off guard.
There were several postage stamps depicting Charles de Gaulle. This one also has John F. Kennedy.
As usual, there were signs that some things never change.
On our second trip we visited the central souk (market). There is an amazing display of lovely vegetables. That box of ripe tomatoes is priced 10 AED ($2.70). Yes, the BOX.
We did eventually look at three apartments in a new building on the east end of town. The living rooms and bedrooms were large. The kitchens varied. The maid’s rooms, however, were astonishing. The first one was so small and poorly arranged that it would not be possible to get a small bed into it. How a human is supposed to live in there, I don’t know.
The apartment/villa hunt will continue.
Bugging Out
April 22, 2011Posted by Kanga.
It is about as official as it can get, so it is time to announce our future move from Dubai to Fujairah. (see map) My contract with my current employer is drawing to a close and my last day of work will be June 16th. We will then scramble to move by June 30th. I will start my new job on July 10th.
Why the move? Well, the current job isn’t the right place for me. I’ve made a point of not discussing it here, but it has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and frustrations. I don’t want to be a marketing rep, a facilities manager, an IT technician, a photocopy machine attendant, or even a teacher. I want to be a librarian. Therefore, this is not the job for me.
My new job will be at the secondary school level with about 1/5 as many students and this time they will be all male. I will be the ONLY librarian, the queen of my little domain. My first royal decree may be to move the photocopier (the bane of my existence) out of sight. I advocate for the long overdue paperless society!
We have not found a new residence, yet. We will begin our housing search this weekend.
We will be taking Bert & Oliver with us. It is approximately a 2 hour drive from Dubai to Fujairah, so they should survive fairly unscathed.
We will still come back to Dubai every once in a while to combine visiting friends, visiting favorite restaurants, and shopping for those hard to find items.
I suspect that the next two months will be packed with errands, box packing, wrapping up details, and moving related stress, but there are some things we would like to do before retreating from Dubai.
Our Dubai bucket list:
- Go to Ibn Battuta Mall to actually learn about Ibn Battuta
- Visit the Sheikh Saeed House
- Go to the Burj Khalifa observation deck on a clear day
Suggestions to add to the bucket list are welcome.
Living the Travel Channel 