Night feeder, Night Feedeerrrrrrr…..

You may have noticed I have been a tad on the quiet side….reason being I’ve had a beautiful baby boy called Alfred. I can’t always promise that my blog won’t mention him but what I can promise is I won’t bore you to death about him.

I feel I have a bit of a story to share with you about my pregnancy, so much so I wrote an entry after my 12 week scan but it didn’t seem right to share it with you at the time. Reading it back now the tone wasn’t right. It seemed sad and a little lost, when really I was truly feeling overjoyed.

Throughout my 9 months I have always kept my feelings in check, scared to get too excited, frightened to plan, worried I would fail, all of these are pretty heavy emotions when you chuck in hormones as well. It is fair to say pregnancy changed me, I don’t mean an epiphany life changing moment, I mean I changed for the length of time he was in my tummy.

It would be a fair assessment to say I lost my sense of humour, became so very very thick, overwhelmed by almost everything, muddled, lost my independence and even vulnerable. All things I consider I am not. Add this with being in a strange country, a very different health care system and several thousand miles away from your family you have a great cocktail of an anxious mum to be. Thankfully I have made some lovely close friendships here and these people have really seen me through.

Naturally I googled the aforementioned things and found they are quite common but nothing you read prepares you for them.

Don’t worry I will not bore you with the labour details, but I can confirm I had every drug they had on their menu, set fire to my carefully drafted birth plan, plus I was basically wired up to machine the electrocutes you. Then to finish off these delights I had a spinal tap for an emergency C section – cue recipe for a difficult labour.

There is an amazing picture of me in the operating theatre and I will use the phrase “off my face”, I look like I have been allowed out for the day. Let’s just say that particular picture is for home use only.

So I’ve been a mum for precisely 14 days and I’m loving it. I’m starting to feel like myself again which is great, as I do hear you don’t always get some things back after pregnancy. One thing I do know is that I am full of love for this little boy, even though he had a shaky start, he is settling into his everyday pattern, which I can confirm he is setting, sorry Gina Ford.

In my 14 days of being mum I have discovered phrases like:

“OOoooooo that will be the witching hour” = code for your little darling is being a sod

“Ah this will be his crying time” I’ve still not worked out what this is other than it occurs 5pm-9pm daily and probably means the same as above.

“Your bones don’t click back into place until the 10^th day” – This came from my dear old nan who had all her 5 babies at home, it was thought you couldn’t get out of bed until the 10^th day as your bones wouldn’t have clicked back into place after labour.

Things I have learnt:

• The one armed bottle feed
• I can’t swaddle
• I’m a wiz at taking temperatures
• Still horrendously crap at yoga
• That to interpret your baby’s cry you need an enigma machine…..hang on….I think there is some money to be made here.

So I guess the moral of my pregnancy story is:

Don’t be too hard on yourself on how you feel, I promise sense of humour, drinking wine and randomly crying will either phase back in or phase back out, it’s just like riding a bike, please don’t ask about my bike riding by the way.

So what if your birth plan and breast feeding dreams go out the window, my baby is healthy and he didn’t seem to be for a while so I’m focusing on that fact.

And lastly if you get it wrong, and trust me you will, laugh it off and start again, tomorrow is another day.

Farewell to the Dutch…

I actually can’t believe I’m writing this, as the reality of one of my new goods friends leaving hasn’t actually sunk in yet, which it should have as I have known since April. The word “farewell” isn’t really the right word – more like “until we meet again”.

In this amazing and slightly surreal world of Abu Dhabi (AD) women are thrown together in many random ways. Whether it be a work connection, someone you just meet at a taxi rank, on a night out after a few cocktails or one of the AD’s famous coffee mornings you usually meet someone. What starts off as two or maybe three of you suddenly expands and you are marching into double figures, it was at a coffee morning where I met Anne-Marie.

When making friends I am always a little cautious to be too enthusiastic and shout “will you be my mate” but you soon get used to that and chuck yourself in. The thing is you aren’t going to be for everyone, it’s a fact of life. I’m not for everyone, but you shouldn’t regret not giving it go.

There comes a point when you know you will ‘click’ with someone and that point came not long after Anne-Marie and I met when she was feeling a little fed up. It happens to everyone when they first move here usually at some point in week 3.

Anne-Marie was desperate to get out and more importantly have some wine, she hadn’t manage to stock up yet but, me being me, I had a full rack plus extra’s in the fridge. There is one thing you might have learnt, I am woman who likes a drink, some may call it lush like behaviour, I call it yummy delicious, divine and heavenly all rolled into one. Bottom-line my Dutch friend was fed up, I had wine, set a time to meet and then we hit the wine hard all afternoon. By the time my husband came back in the evening I was seeing double!!! That is when our friendship was cemented.

What can I tell you about my Dutch friend, she is wildly funny, incredibly kind, loves her family and all things orange (it’s a Dutch thing), up for anything and gives everything she does 100%, I think that’s the sports woman in her, she loves a question (and an answer), fashion and make up are all her passions, oh she loves cake too so as you can see we are practically a match made in heaven.

One of the down sides of living here is you naturally get attached to people, you make friends and start to make lives for yourself. Sadly many of these people move on either back home or to another destination based on their type of work. On a happy note the people that you meet are becoming friends for life and you know you will stay in touch.

So with this short and sweet entry, to someone I can now call my friend I’d like to say that you will be missed by your English friends. We wish you all the best in Qatar which will be an amazing chapter in this ever growing book of life.

PS – I always wanted to go Holland and I know you wanted to go to the UK let’s see once we are both back home if we can make that happen!

Mark Darcy to Bridget Jones –Just as you are…

While I was home I tried desperately to carry on with my weekly runs but I have to say the weather beat me. I have a basic set of running gear all bought in Abu Dhabi and unsurprisingly it certainly doesn’t cater for wet weather. It also turns out that after months of running on a treadmill I am actually quite crap on the road. So crap in fact my run was reduced to a fast walk.

So I have been back a week and half and today was my first proper gym session and it was tough, I did my 5k target but it was broken up with 5 minute walks in-between 10 minute runs. I don’t know why I always put it off because afterwards I feel wonderful, full of life, yet I play hard to get with it and I never know the reason why. Surely I am not the only person who does this?

I do know that without exercise in Abu Dhabi I will turn into a chunk and that is my motivation. In the UK I am running about here there and everywhere mainly by foot and here that is not the case. Everything is door to door drop off which is mainly due to the heat and that the pavements and roads are so bad.

Please don’t misunderstand me I am not obsessed with weight, I used to be. It was a main consideration in my day to day life thanks to bullying and cruel PE teachers, probably why I loathe sport so much. But as I have got older I have learned to accept that I was born with curves and those curves are actually quite cool so I have learnt to embrace them.

Long gone are the days where I was following a slimming plan, trust me I am not knocking them, they have worked but life is too bloody short to be governed by food points, especially as I love it so much. Food is a massive a part of Abu Dhabi culture, they say in the first year here you put on the dreaded “Abu Dhabi Stone” and I can understand that. There are just so many amazing places to try and you really could eat out every night of there week which is why exercise must play a role in my life as I don’t want to miss out.

Don’t worry I haven’t turned into sport convert or calorie burning fanatic but I understand without my weekly runs I will need to buy two seats on the plane. Some weeks are better than others in my quest for fitness but anyone who says they don’t have those moments is lying.

For the first time in my life I am wearing fitting gym gear…I was too embarrassed before, why, I have no idea. What I do know is there is always something about us that we hate or loathe, we all have our weird hang ups which makes us who we are, not neurotic or unhinged.

I know this is such an emotive issue but I feel passionate enough to give you a short insight. This blog isn’t a sob story. Far from it, it is more of a statement from someone who knows, that it is nice to take people “just as they are”.

All Rhodes lead to Gary

First week back and more importantly my husband’s birthday. We decided to celebrate both these events with a boozy brunch and I can say Gary Rhodes at Nation Towers delivered.

The main attraction of brunches is serving yourself from the various buffet stations, which contain basically every type of cuisine. The Gary Rhodes brunch is a bit different, there is a set menu probably a bit like a tasting menu highlighting British food which is severed at your table which I have to say I loved.

This brunch is shorter than any of the others that I have been too but even though they were late starting and it was due to finish at 3 our drinks were still being topped up at 3.30.

On arrival we were welcomed with a glass of champagne, who doesn’t t like that, especially on a hot day. The restaurant seem quite small to me however there was masses of outside space, due to summer rolling in these weren’t in use but I can imagine in the winter months it is packed as I spied a really nice outside bar…..I have an eye for these essential details.

On your table there is a food road map of all the things on offer throughout this brunch experience, there is also a menu running through the delights on offer. If any of this was unclear the helpful and knowledgeable waiters were on hand to go through this with you, I have to be honest there wasn’t anything that was too much trouble.

Before we launched into the tasting menu, we thought it was only right to sample the seafood bar while sipping our champagne. This is where I am still working through my brunch strategy as it is here that I overdo it, loading my plate with prawns, crab and oysters and basically filling myself up and ordering several more glass of fizz without any real substance to soak it all up. I would like to say I am have now mastered the art of brunch but after 7 I am still doing the same.

On to the starters which were, heirloom tomato, cucumber and melon salad, grilled English asparagus with poached egg, corned beef hash cakes, white tomato soup and grilled garlic mushrooms. Naturally these lovely dishes came with additional flavours but to save boring you to death I have am just showing the highlights. It was all delicious but my favourite was the corned beef hash cakes they were scrummy and I am googling how to replicate them at home. Least favourite has to be the white tomato soup but that is down to personal preference….I have a white sauce aversion, don’t worry I often get called weird so go right ahead.

We don’t launch straight into the mains…we take a breather, which is a blessed relief as I am starting to get full, obviously I’m never too full for the rather lovely wine that is being poured into glass. That’s a given. Mains ordered, nothing here disappoints so here goes: Cod ‘Osso Bucco’, Rotisserie chicken with bbq sauce, sweet peas – broad beans with a hen’s egg, crispy scampi bites, mini mixed grill and a selection of potatoes.

For me it was a shame the mixed grill came last, that is right up my street and the show stopper out of these mains, it mostly certainly was saving the best till last.

At this point I am so glad I have worn a free flowing dress so I can literally breath out in comfort…I haven’t even got to pudding yet, so here it is : banoffee cheesecake, honey apple and blackberry crumble, cappuccino pannacotta. As you can imagine these were all very yummy but my standout was the pannacotta which was a surprise being a cheesecake fan I thought that would win hands down. If you weren’t full enough at this stage there was an “Eton Mess” station were you could go create your own, I had to pass on this as I had my eye on the cheese offering and the thought a glass of red to wash it all down was exciting to say the least.

This is by far one of my favourite brunches, I wouldn’t necessarily go there with a big group as you would need somewhere with a party atmosphere and a bit more relaxed, I felt it was more of a couples place but again that is personal preference. I loved the decor and there is a massive 10 out of 10 for the music which was British musicians at their best.

If you are reading this and have read some of the reviews that have been posted about this restaurant, don’t be put off, it is most certainly worth a visit, I felt spoilt here and it is one of the first times since being in Abu Dhabi this has happened, the waiting staff were superb and that is wait made it for me, oh and the food.

The wanderer returns…

If I said I wasn’t hyperventilating, excitable and merrily skipping out the door when I left for my month long trip to UK I would be lying. Naturally I will miss the Big Fella and the new friends I have made but I just have a craving for home pure and simple.

I am writing this entry from 35,000ft, to be precise, I checked the flight map. Not only am I trying to distracted myself from my loathing of flying but also to ignore the turbulence that is throwing people around the cabin, but fear not I spy the gin trolley, is it rude to ask for two – I will keep you posted 😉

There are too many wonderful things to say about my first trip home but in a nut shell it was an absolute blast and thank you to everyone who wanted to be a part of it that means the world. To be honest I never knew I was that popular.
As always there has to be a shout out to my mum who has put me up better than the Ritz. Through the endless meal requests, mainly pork I have to say, along with taking up my dresses and fixing my washing all I can say is thank you.

Don’t worry that is the only personal thank you, so please do read on…

What can I say, I loved my trip, it was a joy to visit my hometown of Southampton but over the years London and more recently Winchester has become my home too so it was great to spend some time in those places.

I was thinking about “Love Actually” in the airport and Richard Curtis had it spot on that arrivals in airports are so full of love. All those expectant faces trying to play it cool waiting for their loved one to arrive, everyone reacts differently, some with kisses, others with a silly shy wave but mainly id say it ends up with a hug. However with all this good stuff in mind, nobody ever wrote a film about the sadness or loneliness of departure lounge. I wear my heart on my sleeve and today I was distraught for many reasons and a random act of kindness from a fellow passenger made me smile, she gave me her tissue, unused I feel I need to say, I feel a film script coming one…add in some black comedy, hey looks like it’s virtually written.

Anyway enough about my neurotic tears…what stood out about my trip, well here goes….

• Mum telling me I wouldn’t need dinner, when I was on a 8am flight…..you do the math
• Going Loco Cocoa in Primark on day 1, you can never have too many flip flops
• Breathing in the wine isle at Sainsbury’s and never wanting to leave
• Watching Elliot play with his hard hat and truck – followed by some rather lovely drinks with his mummy
• Going to the Chewton Glen, sitting in an outdoor hot tube and getting an oxygen facial
• Loving every moment I spent in London, whether it was picturing taking, theatre going, drinks with dear friends or leading work colleagues astray it was all epic
• When Onesie Direction got back together and Little C saying “Just like the good old days”
• Going to Willows farm, I am not sure who was more excited me or Violet
• All the drinks and dinners out I had with my nearest and dearest, especially the Mill Arms, Wykham, Arbutus, The King Alfred and The Water Poet
• Being able to see the countryside and go for walks without boiling alive and being caught in a sandstorm

So I am now on my way home, I have a case full of all the classic’s, oxo cubes, caramac, Mr Tom Bars, jaffa cakes and lip balm, not to mention the new clothes I have bought, which I am keeping a secret, don’t want anyone to think I have had too much.

Just in terms of plane etiquette, I chickened out and only asked for one gin…..the air hostess was a wee bit scary.

I know the next few weeks will be a bit up and down but I have set myself a few projects which I will blog about in due course but as I will say to anyone it is good to have focus or you will go mad.

Bella’s homecoming top ten….

Before I announce this long awaited blog entry to my followers, there are a couple of blogs I have failed to get published. Largely due to being laid low (no pun intended) with vertigo….just for the record this is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy – it is evil.

However my lovely brother and sister in law visited and this can only mean one thing my wonderful goddaughter came to stay, the beautiful Violet. It was an amazing trip, one we didn’t think would happen but it did and it was perfect.

Next my sister and best friend visited, two words – BRUNCH HAPPENDED – the end!

So I guess this brings me onto what next….I’m coming home and there are things I have surely missed and I have tried to articulate them in a Chris Evans fashion of putting them into a top ten…not as great but with the same sentiment. In no particular order here are my top ten:

No.1 – Visiting London
This city has been a big part of my life, it was my home and workplace for nearly 10 years. I feel very nostalgic towards it and want to visit and I guess see some of the things I miss. The train pulling into Waterloo, the train most definitely pulling out with young Hayter and a few cans.

The sights, London has too many places to mention but there are some I hold dear to my heart, the strip of river along the South Bank, The Olde Thames Inn, The Walrus, walking across any bridge in London for the views and of course seeing some of my friends who made these memories possible.

No.2 – Buying Booze
The thought of being able walk into Sainsbury’s without an entourage and pick up some bubble, red wine and oh my god dare I think it gin fills me with joy. – Enough said – THE END

No.3 – Hairdressers
I’m not knocking the hairdressers out here but they do seem to have two hair styles, the Bollywood or the Arabian…neither I want or more to the point can have the hair for. The colouring is great but the cuts well let’s just say are a bit 80’sish, two snips don’t suit all! Needless to say I am having it chopped when I get home, I have been building up to this experience so I am praying it lives up to my ever critical hairdressing expectations.

No.4 – Family and Friends
I can’t say enough how much I want to see everyone, there some people I have managed to see recently and I am very lucky but there are others where 4 weeks just won’t be enough but it’s a task I am willing to undertake. The highlight for me will be seeing my beautiful nieces and nephew, I come laden with gifts to use as bribes for cuddles, wish me luck I am hoping I won’t need them.

No.5 – Ordering off a menu
The thought of not tucking into an all you can eat buffet and returning to a country where less is more in terms of food on a menu, get me on that plane. I want a straight up 3 course meal with two bottles of wines…I think The Wykeham Arms springs to mind for this little adventure…their Malbec is my personal favourite.

No.6 – Sit in garden
Whether it be in a pub garden or around someone’s house I am going to get me some outside space and lots of it. Don’t get me wrong I love living on the 51st Floor and have access to some of the best facilities in Abu Dhabi but I just to sit outside in whatever I like and drink a cold beer or glass pimms, this excites me beyond words.

No.7 – Going to Primark
Shopping here is ok but there are no middle of the road shops unless you want to shop in Lulu, google it, it’s not somewhere I want to style myself from. Primark has all the things I want to top up on, vest tops, bikinis, high class accessories (need to get my yearly £1 fashion sunglasses) and of course the Annabelle favourite PJ’s.

No.8 – Being able to drive
Of course I can drive here but seriously would you want to, every day is like you are in the F1. If I do drive out here I want a massive monster truck, known as a GMC Sierra. I can’t want to get behind the wheel of my mums postman pat car or the popemobile as it is affectionately known already have several dates booked, Hampshire watch out.

No.9 – Getting a tan
Had to put this in because basically it made me laugh, sorry.

No.10 – Coffee Fix
Black White Red is calling, I am longing to grab one these beauties while I walk into Winchester for a spot of shopping, it is actually fair to say I have been fantasising about it 😉

My shit life by Annabelle Bragg

Annabelle AKA The Cat Stealer

The Eames Family had a lot of pets, most were procured the right way others not so legit, (ahem) my mums back garden.

The blog will end with my latest unsuccessful stolen pet fiasco but before that let me start at the beginning, my first pet…

Lettie from what I remember was very pretty, we didn’t have her long as she vanished never to be seen again.

Then there was Timmy, one eyed and 3 legged Timmy, he was my boy, who loved having his head rubbed with the tip of your toe.

Cleo was a very beautiful tortoiseshell moggie who my mum adored, I thought she was a bit boring as cats go but each to their own.

I always wanted a massive ginger tom so we got Cubbie, who came with Matilda. Cubbie turned out to be a little sod so he had to go back. So we kept Matilda, for some reason I didn’t like her at all and for no real reason whatsoever. These were the legit purchases of my younger years, then we moved on to dogs.

Let me tell you a bit about Dougal, “The Amazing Wonder Dog”, he was amazing. There are many many stories to say and so little time but he loved his grub, hated children, lived long enough to see his two girls get married and adored rolling in fox poo, he lived to the grand old aged of 17.

I have left out my extensive hamster’s collection and also the various tortoises we have had over the years! Also the birds I tried to nurse back to health after they had been mauled by the cats, let’s just say we had an undisclosed bird cemetery in our back garden!

So I grow up get my own place, this is where the stealing of pets started and I blame my mum! Over the next few years mum would call me up and tell about some poor, cold, starving, beautiful looking cat sitting in her back garden…she had me at cold and starving every time.

Betty as she was to be named was cat knapped and shipped up to London by car. She fitted in immediately and everyone had a mutual love affair with her because she was not only very pretty but friendly and loving. We nicknamed her “Booster” I know absolutely no link to Betty at all! Sadly Betty was to die too soon, she had a rare bone cancer and nothing could be done but I am glad she came to us so I could look after her and give her the best until the end.

I was devastated after Betty and desperate to fill my empty home, there was no stealing this time, we visited Kensal Green’s finest pet rescue. Before having a look round I secretly researched the pets on offer and had chosen two boys, named Oscar and Charlie. I shouldn’t have worried about not telling Martin, he was desperate to put a smile on my face so bought me my boyz, if I had known I would have gone for more!

There was no greater love affair for me than what I had with these boyz, they made my family complete and as far as I was concerned my pets for life. There are too many stories to tell about this pair but they were killers through and through, from frogs to squirrels. I once saw them take down a pigeon as a tag team, it was impressive. My boyz didn’t adapt to country life, they were city boyz, with the quiet roads and fast cars they soon became country road toast!

Anyone who really knows me knows my heart was broken after this and still if I’m honest too be repaired, I was inconsolable.

Over to my next stolen pet, yes you guested it, my mums back garden is where Elsie was born. We kept Elsie in the family and she now lives with my sister who she adores.
Then we moved to the Dhabi, feral cats are rife here and you have to become quite hard, which is difficult for me as I’m not like that, but if you didn’t you would have a house full of Abu Dhabi’s finest pavement specials!

Enter Persia, we took her in because she was being attacked by some very nasty children. So I just pick this cat up off the street, we had her checked out and she was good to go. She seemed to fit in very well, loved everyone, liked to play and there was not a desire to try and leave the apartment. Then she came into season, so we dealt with that and it seemed to change her, maybe because she had it later than other cats but she turned into what can only be describe as a feline wrecking ball. Eating my dining room chairs, using my makeup brushes as toys, sleeping on top of fridge, biting and worst of all howling at the top of her lungs all the time. I was patient and gave her time but sadly she sealed her own fate by eating my husband’s jumper! So I advertised but sadly there were no takers, we have taken her to a shelter with the hope that she will be rehomed. There were many tears today as she had a great life with us but the silly meowing feline chose to be destructive rather than give love.

You may think why do I bother with pets, the simple answer is I love them they make my family complete, I feel they are good for the soul, my soul!

I am scarred over this last episode but in time I think we will get another one but I will do my research first before jumping in head first.

For now I will have to use my Tamagotchi app for company.

I am not a music mogul but….

The music out here is woeful and I mean really woeful, apparently the music that is played on loop in the various shops was at some point popular.

I am music lover plain and simple…in the early days it was all Guns N Rose, Bon Jovi and Metallica, then I progressed to Indie Blur, Oasis and Pulp, then a minor boy band phase I won’t name them to save my embarrassment and now, well I love the new bands coming through but equally also love looking back drawing on the fun times my favourite choons remind me of.

So musically what has drawn my attention…

My local Waitrose plays Taylor Swift on a loop, the only good thing with this is they only play one song and it is the one with Ed Sheeran so bearable.

The place where I occasionally get my nails done plays the worst love songs known to man, not only is it terrible music they sing it too, in Thai! So for example when I get my eyebrows threaded the person undertaking this task is pretty close to my head singing Nick Berry or even worse Glenn Medeiros in my ear. They are not embarrassed that they can’t sing or that the customer might not want to hear it they just do it at the top of their lungs. In a way I admire this as I am probably a bit jealous, I love to sing, I think it is good for the soul but the bottom line is I can’t sing a note.

There is a massive trendy dance, RnB scene here and it is a scene I dread, always have. It makes me feel out of place, so I try to avoid these places or anywhere trendy. I am more of a local pub type of girl and as you can imagine there aren’t any here, well there are and they are made to look like local pubs but it just isn’t the same. I miss the Walrus and the fact that they basically played my Ipod, I miss Oyster Bay and Lovett Lane. When I go home in April I will be making a point to drop in for old times’ sake or more importantly the famous “one for the road” trick.

There is also an issue with music classification here. I know I know I’m not the music police but seriously is Olly Murs Jazz…if we were to compare him to the great Louis Armstrong you couldn’t.

They love 10 to 2 music out here and what I mean by that is, it’s the end of the night the slow songs come on and you need to grab a girl and bust some shapes to the likes of Richard Marx, Extreme, Michael Bolton or Air Supply. The problem is they play this music any time of day with no shame, it is not just set for the end of night it is set for all day, every day.

Thankfully I have found somewhere to go that has a live band and they play a lot stuff I like e.g. The Killers – what else could a girl need. It is in one of the hotel bars. On the basement floor and reminds me of somewhere I used to go at home. The only thing missing is the Karaoke and a bottle of wine for £7 quid!

Just call me Rory Mcilroy

Well not quite, after 3 lessons I am more like Rory Mcgrath, good sense of humour and more likely to be on “They Think It’s All Over”.

I didn’t have any interest in golf at home and to be honest where was the time to do it…what with working hard and then following it up with some serious playing hard!

Nearly 4 months in and I have had a crack at a few different things, some will stick and others I will put down to experience but at least I tried. When the opportunity came to join beginner’s golf at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club I jumped at it. In fact I found out on the Sunday and started on the Monday.

This was good, it didn’t give me too long to worry about that all important question “what to wear” and the fact the only other time I had been to golf course was when I got married, oh and a drunken 18th birthday but we don’t talk about that!

Saadiyat is a beautiful beachfront course surrounded by spectacular natural scenery. I am not disillusioned how lucky I am to learn to play here, to be honest my husband never shuts about the built up London golf courses he learnt at. Also if the smells from the kitchen are anything to go by the food is pretty good too, one of these days after my lessons I will test a burger and chips. I can confirm that the Shiraz is particularly nice especially when you are watching the players on the practice green at twilight.

Being new to the sport of golf I was keen not to turn up with “all the gear and no idea”. Even though I only found out on the Sunday I was going I could have got myself kitted out no bother, this is Abu Dhabi after all, where everything is possible. After lesson 2 I got a skort, for you men out there is a skirt and shorts combined in one, it doesn’t remind me of my PE days at all. Now after lesson 3 I need to get a glove, just one and apparently it must be white, hhhhhmmmm if anyone calls me “Michael” because they think it’s funny they need to think on.

The lessons so far have been a blast, the guys that are coaching us are brilliant, very patient and encouraging which is handy because they are coaching me. Anyone who can help me hit a ball at speed and be enthusiastic when I miss, which is plenty, is brilliant in my eyes as it is a skill.

I am learning about pitching, putting, chipping, fairways’ tees, rough, the list is getting longer. I have seen more shots of Tiger Wood’s swing then I thought I ever would and boy can that man swing his club! It is a sporting educational experience that I am actually loving, I am not as terrible as I thought I would be which is bloomin’ marvellous. I am better at the short shots than the longer ones, next week I get to practice with a driver so maybe that will be my weapon of choice.

My husband literally can’t wait to see how I have got on every week, he is a keen golfer and it is fair to say a tinnie winnie bit excited that I am learning to play. He even said I could use his 9 iron to go to the driving range, some people may call this love but I call it sheer madness.

My golfing journey will evolve over my 8 week course and there will be trials and tribulations for sure but I already know I will enjoy them. Keep watching this space for when I have driven a golf buggy, we all know it is going to happen!!!

Abu Dhabi and food….

When my mum left for home in January I found it hard to adjust back into my routine, it set me back a bit in terms of settling in Abu Dhabi. I am well aware that worse things happen to people and truly I am grateful for what I have but for that moment I was fed up all the same.

I have a tendency when I am fed up, sad, lonely or to be fair any emotion to turn to food because at that moment it makes me happy. I love making nice food and reinventing those classics my mum taught me because they bring me comfort.

The only thing I could do when my mum left was to dust myself down, grow a pair and fill my time with things that make me happy and that is where I came across Gourmet Abu Dhabi 2014. If I were to even consider this event at home it would be out of my price range but the 2 day culinary adventure that I found was only £70 quid. You got to meet top chefs from around the world and let them show you their signature dishes and if you were very lucky even have a little taste.

The event was held at one of my favourite hotels in Abu Dhabi, The Westin, not only is the food really good the location and setting is beautiful. On a side topic you will find that living in this country that you get a lot of “favourite” things, like which is your favourite mall, favourite route to work, honestly the list is endless but trust me I have conversations like this every day…I like to chuck a curve ball in every now then as people take this conversation very seriously!

Anyway my culinary adventure awaits you…

On arrival at The Westin I saw one of my favourite chefs, Michael Caines, I nearly passed out on the spot… we helped ourselves to free designer water, Nespresso and a selection of divine cakes and pastries to set us up for our day of culinary delights!

First up – Lebanon…I have to say I found the dish of Blue Shrimps a bit of a faff for me. I guess to the reader it sounds simple but the dish consisted of cucumber candies, beetroot meringue, potato jelly, salsa verdi, hummus – are you getting the picture the list is pretty endless!! I was lucky enough to taste the candies and meringue, they weren’t to my taste but it was great to experience them all the same. Next onto dessert….Almond tart with an apricot filling with a butterscotch cream. Sadly I couldn’t taste this one as I am little allergic to nuts but I did get to sample the chocolate that went into the Butterscotch, it was out of this world. The Valrhona Dulcey, it is a blonde chocolate if you want something to liken it to it is an expensive version of caramac, I can’t wait to get my hands on a full bar and scoff it with a cuppa.

Please don’t worry I am not going to list everything I saw it is just to set the scene…Korea is the next stop, the food that was produced was so simple and something I will cook at home. It was beef short rib slow cooked with soy and a selection of spices and vegetables, I got to taste a bit of this and it was tasty and would be perfect served with noodles or rice.

After a quick break for lunch which included a stop at the camel’s milk ice cream stand I was ready for action. I saw three amazing chefs, one of which specialised in Indian cuisine and is somewhat of a mega star over there, the crowd went crazy for him. Next chef up was an Australian who specialised in French bistro food, then finally I was off to Thailand. I found with most of the dishes you needed loads of unusual things that you either can’t get in this country or wouldn’t usually purchase, which I found strange. I thought it would be good to have selection of ingredients that are common in people’s homes with maybe one or two specials ones thrown in, which can then be transformed into something amazing. However that aside it was a pleasure to watch these people demonstrate their talent and skills.

After seeing these six amazing chefs it was time for the one I have been waiting for Massimo Bottura. I first saw this chef on Masterchef UK, where his passion for food and what it stands for shines out. Massimo’s philosophy is three things – humility, passion and dreams and he has bundles of it for everyone. The food he produces has a story, it might relate to a point in time e.g. historical event, family memory, whatever the dish is it has been thought through with precision. I wasn’t keen on his first dish of risotto but that is down to personal taste not to the genius process that went into making it. I knew he was making two dishes and so wanted one of them to be “Oops I dropped the lemon tart” which he is famous for. It was, and it was amazing. I will never be able to articulate well the concepts that this man is dreaming and delivering but the fact that this dessert went viral speaks volumes.