Priorities

It's getting warmer. 28C today in Dubai - I can definitely feel the difference compared to when I arrived nearly 6 weeks ago. People keep telling me to make the most of it while I can - ie before the thermometer hits 50C and humidity reaches 95%! So I've been doing just that. Thanks to the Prophet Mohammed, who's birthday conveniently fell last Tuesday, we were gifted a public holiday on Thursday and so a long weekend. I managed to stay out of the office for the first weekend since I arrived here, and spent all day Thursday sat by the pool and all day Friday on the beach. Had a quick dip in the sea - not particularly warm but will probably be the temperature of bath water come the summer...

Headed out on Friday evening to the Dubai Mall where a few of us had dinner and watched the fountain show in front of the Burj Khalifa again. It's pretty awesome although this photo doesn't do it justice. No Thriller tonight but a bit of Lionel Ritchie instead...

Had a few drinks in the Address hotel bar afterwards (Atkins designed but sadly we didn't qualify for free drinks, which was a shame considering the prices). Following that we jumped in a cab and headed down to 360 bar - basically a small circular island with a bar and seafood restaurant on the end of a long spit out in the sea opposite the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The views from there are amazing, being right next to the Burj Al Arab, and despite not exactly being cheap, the bar was pretty cool and chilled out - beds rather than seats to sit on!

Am getting close to getting the residents visa - had to take a trip to the Oman border and back last week as my tourist visa had nearly expired. I came back in on an employment visa, now the only thing left to do is have a medical - providing there aren't any nasty surprises, I'll become a resident of the UAE. Mad.

Have very nearly got the apartment situation sorted too - have picked one in the Lofts in Downtown (with a view of the Burj Khalifa from the balcony), so hopefully everything will get sorted and I can move in in a week or two. Despite not actually having anywhere permanent to live yet, that didn't stop me buying a brand new widescreen TV and home cinema speakers at the weekend - had to take advantage of the sale prices in the shopping festival which was coming to an end! This being Dubai, naturally I had to go for the biggest TV possible so settled on a 42 inch screen. The apartments here are massive, far bigger than what I'm used to in London, so I need to have something to put in it!