Greetings from Dubai!

Dear friends and family,

I am happy to report that my family and I have safely settled into our new quaint home in Dubai. Located in the heart of town near to The Dubai Mall (TDM), it makes life easier to adjust when you have the requisite amenities, facilities and escapades right at your fingertips. Notwithstanding the notorious summer heat that is slowly building up, the new living arrangement sure beats having to drive around and find groceries with two small children adapting to an alien environment along with you. Or the sheer feat of crossing the big road in this dry heat with two kids just to get to the other side where the mall operates.

Thus, I have a lot to be thankful for. In a word, Alhamdulillah.

So what if it only boasts a one bedroom? It is big enough for me and my family and provides us with a much welcome security. I just love the view of the Dubai Fountain with its spectacular and theatrical water shows everyday and the twinkling lights from the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa (Burj means Tower) in the background.

My life has been one helter-skelter in the run-up to the departure date to DBX. With the bad flu hitting the whole family, packing for the move had been slow and taken a back seat to tending to the kids. Health-wise, I wasn't up for clearing the things up as well. But everything came through in the end as we learned to prioritize what was needed to be done and settled first. The rest will be settled once my husband goes back again to Malaysia for meetings.

By the end of first week in 'Arabland' - as Sadia calls it - I had gradually gotten used to what was expected of me here. Save for conditioning our skins to the scorching sun, things are now slowly in place. Physically and metaphorically. Predictably, we had to cover some major expenses going into the new home. Mind you, a lot of things are needed in an unfurnished house.

Home amenities already available include a kitchen stove, microwave and conventional ovens, a refrigerator, a dishwasher and a washing cum dryer machine. Oh yeah, there is also a jacuzzi nestled at a corner of the patio. Hubby had already purchased a sofa bed, coffee and dining tables, two dining chairs and a king-size bed before he left for Malaysia to pick us up. We were more than relieved when we finally got a television for the apartment last Thursday, installed it on Saturday and set the cable tv (called 'Du') up last Monday.

15 boxes and two carpets also arrived during the first week on Wednesday, after a delay of four days when problems arose with respect to the missing documents from the Malaysian shipping counterpart. All the boxes have been unpacked, except for the playpen and a toddler car seat.

On hindsight, I should have brought more diapers, baby toiletries and babywipes as they are expensive here and more food stuff like my favourite Nescafe Tarik 3-in-1 mix. Hopefully hubby can bag those along when he goes back next time for a meeting or two.

As far as my first impression of Dubai goes, I have to agree with my other half that it is very much like KL, but with a variety of abaya style, Arab headgear and 'Kandura' (long white cloak) worn by Arab nationals (see here for further explanation on a typical UAE wardrobe choice). Moreover, there is a varying degree of conservatism opted by Arab women with respect to the covering of their face (Burqa-like) encompassing the closure of the face, save for a slit for the eyes, or a total coverage of the face area with a piece of black diaphanous cloth called Gishwa. Other Arab ladies do wear the headscarf like some Malaysian ladies, covering up to their shoulders and wearing appropriate Western-style clothes. In short, a whole gamut of fashionwear - from the elaborate designs of the Abayas to the decolletage-revealing summer dresses) can be found under one roof in a Dubai mall! (Like my twin used to say, those 'kemban' type of maxi dresses that caused an uproar in KLCC are de rigueur at least in TDM area.)

Yes, Dubai is a cosmopolitan with a twist. Indian nationals drive the cabs here and most of them reside in an area called Karama, which I have yet to venture into. Expats galore crawl the city centre, and more are coming back after the financial crisis that hit UAE early this year. In fact, the city's population consists more of expats and other nationals as opposed to Arabs. Beside Indians, a noticeable demographic are Filipinos who work in the service and F&B industries. They are practically everywhere and usually reside an hour's drive away in UAE's third largest emirate called Sharjah. They are hired mainly due to their proficiency in English, as compared to those from other 'able-and willing' developing countries.

Since we came here, Filipinos have always mistaken us as one of them and proceeded to converse with us in Tagalog. Hubby once quipped that we might as well learn Tagalog because it beats explaining to them that we are not Filipinos!

Another thing needs getting used to is the high cost of living that often accompany when one choose to stay in an Expat Central like Dubai. Food and Beverage are a tad expensive and so is the grocery spending. Probably it is because we have yet to try and shop in a hypermarket like HyperPanda and Carrefour.

But I love the fact that many types of food are on offering here, ranging from Taco Bell, Krispy Creme, Garrett's caramel PECAN popcorn, Chicago's Deepdish pizza, to my favourite chocolate macaron at Paul cafe (see here for an extensive list of Paul branches in UAE).

And Tania, don't worry, there's a Laduree opening up soon in TDM. Let's go there for a tete-a-tete when you are in town. As for Amy, an upstanding network of Caribou Coffee from Minneapolis assures me that you won't miss home when you come and visit us here. Casual ambience, hubby likens it to San Francisco coffee back in Malaysia, from which he gets his staple of Americano some mornings.

Naim would also like the fact that Au Bon Pain exists here in this grandiose desert, awash with memories of our past excursions in downtown Chicago area. However, I must warn her - widely known for her pet peeve of inefficient service - that the service is 'Pain'fully slow and leaves a lot to be desired. But nonetheless I still enjoy my Mocha Blast. Ina dear, the keen observer and book enthusiast would love whiling the time away at a favourite chocoholic hangout (Godiva, maybe?) and Kinokuniya, both in TDM respectively. My longtime friend Rizby is more of a shutterbug and would probably spend the time snapping photos of interesting attractions and nooks in TDM (The Gold Souk (Market), the larger-than-life Aquarium, the indoor Waterfall, and THE Dubai Fountain).

And my dear twin sister, Nina must love all the designer bags that line up the Fashion Court of TDM and run amok at the Monsoon boutique! Younger sister Dikya can relive her 'Felicity' days by heightening her sensation at Dean & DeLuca cafe, and spend an inordinate amount of time looking at toiletries at a Boots pharmacy. My eldest, Kak Long on the other hand would rather be looking at furniture and other interior designs at either PotteryBarn or Crate & Barrel.

There you have it guys. The interesting and fun scope of my life in the next three years. Malls, connoisseurship and people watching. And God willing, there would be travels in it as well, be it in the Arab peninsula and farther outside the region. Budget, kids and old age permitting, of course.