Chasing The Sunshine ... Dubai Here We Come ...

Day 38 ... So today's the day we go completely off track and fly to Dubai for almost a month! Sooo excited to see everyone and also get some sunshine after a week of cloud, rain and the loudest thunder storm we have ever heard in KL! Although it's still really humid and hot which is a bonus!
After a 3 hour flight from KL to Colombo, a 3 hour stop over and a then a 4 hour 45 minute flight to Dubai, Anneka, the super star, picked us up from the airport and took us back to their house. We're staying with Anneka, Matt, Alia and Antony for the next 10 - 14 days which is great! The house is fab and we have our own room with en suite. After a glass of wine and a mini catch up we went to bed. Which was around 5am KL time (1am, Dubai time).

Day 39 ... Lovely sleep in a nice comfy bed, first comfy bed in the last 39 days! We had a lazy morning, mainly playing with Alia then did a mini food shop (so expensive for food in Dubai!!). Then Alia had a Birthday party on the beach for one of her friends, so we went to catch some rays after a

week of no sun, then for a nice walk and a smoothie! The heat is a lot less fierce in Dubai at the moment. Its a perfect temperature and humidity! So we had a really lovely relaxing day, then back home for a BBQ tea.

Day 40 ... Hayley picked us up at lunchtime today after she landed from a flight at 1am this morning. We went to Bystro for lunch and then headed to Kite beach again for some more sunshine! Another relaxing day! Spending about 2 days budget on one lunch...we're going to have to watch our spends over here! A taxi from the beach to Anneka's was around £16 which would have cost around £2 in KL!! Ouch!

Day 41 ... Early start today, not for any specific reason. I just managed to wake Adam up so we got up and had a productive morning. Adam got plenty more coding done and I had a walk to the local Carrefour Supermarket to stock up on a few bits for lunch and tea. I'm loving having the chance to cook meals and eat what we like instead of having to eat

out every day. Plus, we couldn't afford to eat out here every day anyway! I made us all some tuna pasta for lunch then we picked Alia up from nursery and headed over to see Anneka and Matts new house which they'll be moving into on 23rd November. It's fab, its a bungalow style but really high ceilings and so much space. I'm making my cheats paella tonight and another relaxing evening in.

Day 42 ... Another lazy day, finalising the wedding website and a little sunbathing. Quite enjoying these down days, and cooking every night, giving Anneka a nice break!
Day 43 ... Adam told Anneka last night,
he'll buy her ED SHEERAN tickets off her for 23rd November at the Autism Rocks Arena!! I have wanted to go and watch him live for so long, and now we get to watch him in Dubai, in one of his first come back shows since he broke his wrist and elbow! Lets hope he shows up and doesn't cancel. I really cannot wait to go! What an amazing treat while we're off track on our travels!! Lazy day again today, super relaxed!!

Day 44 ... Hayley picked us up and we headed to Riva Beach Club for the afternoon! The sand wasn't the best to walk along so I just had a mini walk to get a couple of pics. After we had lunch in the restaurant we relaxed for another hour then went to the Dubai Marina Mall to exchange our Filipino

Pesos into Dirhams seeing as I was a little too well prepared before we left the UK and converted £250 into Indonesian Rupees and £250 into Filipino Pesos for the first couple of places we were travelling to! We then went to Sean and Hayleys apartment for tea then got a lift back to Anneka and Matts.

Day 45 ... Sean and Hayley are in a Crossfit competition today so we went down to Reebok LifeSpark to support them for a couple of hours in the first couple of wods. It got a little too hot in the sun after lunch so we decided to get a taxi back to Annekas and sat in the garden for a couple of hours before Matt does a BBQ for tea. Anneka has managed to get us booked onto a coach that is going to and from the Ed Sheeran gig which is leaving from just around the corner from her new house for £10 return for both of us which is fab! We were getting a little bit concerned on how we were going to get back from the Autism Rocks Arena as a lot of people are saying online that the traffic is horrendous leaving the arena due to the layout of the roads when the arena holds 30,000 people! So this is ideal!

Yay!

Day 46 ... It's Ruby's 1st Birthday party today at the Dubai Polo Club. Anneka and I have decorated her Minnie Mouse Birthday cake for the Disney themed party. They had a bouncy castle, pony rides and Haribo (a hit with Adam!!). Also Diet Pepsi for £4 a can and a shandy for £7.50!! Needless to say we just had one each! But what a lovely afternoon being able to celebrate Ruby's 1st Birthday with Laura and Pete!

Day 47 ... We took Antony to his physio appointment this morning, the place is amazing. It's a place for disabled children and it's where Antony will eventually go to school. Once we had dropped Antony back at home with Clarissa, Anneka and I headed over to Deira to a new fish market...jeez, was that an experience! The place was huge and so many guys trying to make us buy fish from them. We had a lovely lunch at Coffeetea and then picked Alia up from school. All the while, Adam was working on his app, Experimentlog, back at the house.

Day 48 ... Another new thing to add to the list...paddle boarding. Anneka took us to Kite Beach early this morning after dropping Alia off at school and we hired paddle boards for an hour and paddled over towards the Burj Al Arab. Great fun but not sure I could last for longer than an hour,

my arm was ready for dropping off. I only fell off twice and that was on the way back when the waters were a little choppier. Then we went for elevenses at a restaurant on the beach and tucked into a smoothie bowl!
When we got back to Annekas it was time for a couple of jobs before our mani/pedi appointment at 3pm, so I used the carpet cleaner to clean a rug for Anneka which was being moved to the new house tomorrow and Adam cleaned up a pram! Earning our keep while we're here.

Day 49 ... Hayley picked us up at 10am and we went to Kite Beach for a relaxing morning and had lunch at the same place as yesterday, Park House which was lovely. Then just a relaxing afternoon back at Annekas.

Day 50 ... Lazy morning and then I went to see Anneka's friend who has triplets, 2 boys, 1 girl, who are almost 12 months old, while Adam stay back at the house working on his app. Then a lazy afternoon!

Day 51 ... ED SHEERAN DAYYY!!
We went straight to Anneka and Matt's new house from dropping Alia off at school at 7.30am. The bedrooms and bathrooms just need a once over before they move in on Friday. Then off to get the coach Anneka had managed to book through her new community Facebook page which was a bargain at £5 each return! The gig was absolutely amazing, so glad we

went! Ed Sheeran is the best artist I've ever heard live! The coach back home was a bit of an ordeal as the car parking facilities were a shambles so we queued for ages and didn't get back to Anneka and Matts until 2.30am.

Day 52 ... Up at 7.30am ready for the movers arriving at Anneka and Matt's at 9am to move them to the 'pink house'. Once we got there we were keeping Alia entertained until the movers arrived and started to unload the boxes. Khatija came round while I was there, and then 3 more people Anneka knows so we decided to get out from under the feet and get to Hayley and Sean's which is where we'll be staying for the next 7 nights ish. Hayley is on her last Emirates flight with Jon and Lesley from Manchester and they'll be here for the next week too, so we're looking forward to spending some time with everyone!

Day 53 ... Sean stumbled in at 11pm last night after a day of drinking with his mates. We are on the airbed in the living room/dining room/kitchen area. Hayley was up early to pick Jon & Lesley up and go training. We then all went for brunch at Common Grounds in the Dubai Mall which was yummy, then off to Kite beach for the afternoon. We had dinner back at Hayley and Sean's apartment then an early night!

Day 54 ... Wedding ring shopping at the Gold and Diamond Park today with Anneka, and it was sooo worth the trip!! We both bought our wedding rings, mine was £695 (£3400 Dirhams) and Adams was £530 (2400 Dirhams) and seeing as I got quoted £1500 for a platinum band with a half band setting of diamonds, I think we've just got an amazing deal! Less than £1500 for both our rings!! Mine needs to be made in Platinum as the ring I tried and wanted was in white gold. So we pick our rings up on Thursday, just in time to send home with Jon and Lesley on Friday!
After the Gold and Diamond Park, Anneka dropped us off at the Dubai Mall for a couple of hours, before we got a taxi to Innerfight to meet Hayley and Jon after a crossfit session. Then we all headed to the Dubai Fountains,

then to Heat for tea. Great day!! :D

Day 55 ... Hayley's friend told her about an event on today with free pampering (mani/pedis, facials and massages) So me, Hayley and Lesley went to see what was going on. Glad we did too, we ended up getting a free 30 minute massage and a free facial too. Great afternoon! We then headed back to the apartment for a quick change and then off on the desert safari with Jon and Lesley. It was a bit of a long drive, when we arrived we were taken on the desert safari in a 4x4, which was great but a bit short. There were camel rides (didn't take part as I don't really agree with it) or quad biking. We just decided to climb up one of the sand dunes and took some great photos (and a hilarious video) playing around in the sand at sunset! There was then a couple of short shows and food afterwards. One was a random guy in a multicoloured skirt that lit up, bit of a weird spinning dance effort! Then he came out half naked, breathing and throwing fire! Which was the total opposite but a lot better than the first show!! After food it was time to go home.

Day 56 ... Early morning woken up by Sean going to work at 7.30am so we got up and went for a mini workout in the gym in the apartment block Hayley and Sean are in. We then all headed over to Friends Avenue for breaki then to a new beach area called La Mer which was lovely. A few

hours on the beach catching some rays and then to lime Tree Cafe for lunch. Back to the apartment then getting ready for LADIES NIGHT!!

Day 57 ... We went for breaki this morning at Friends Avenue, then to Kite Beach again. Another relaxing afternoon with lunch at our favourite place on Kite Beach, Park House. Then stayed for the afternoon while Hayley went to work. Jon and Lesley headed over to Hayley's new gym she's working at and we got a taxi back to Hayley's, Nandos for tea, packed up and taxi over to Anneka and Matt's. When we arrived, Matt was putting up the curtain rail in 'our room'. We stayed up chatting until midnight then got in a proper bed for the first time in 5 nights...and it felt great!

Day 58 ... A.Mazing nights sleep at Matt and Anneka's new place! Just what we both needed. Taxi over to Arrows and Sparrows near Hayley and Sean's to meet everyone for breaki. Then to the Gold and Diamond Park to collect our wedding rings!! I tried mine on and it felt a little big, so the jeweller said he could alter it in 30 minutes so we got that done before we left. We're sending the ring home with Jon and Lesley as they leave tomorrow lunch time.
Then off to Kite beach again, Park House for lunch again and a lovely tea at Hayley and Sean's for their parents last night. No idea why we're so tired after lying on the beach all day, but nice to get back to Anneka and Matt's, chill out for a while and get an early night, ready for helping Matt with a

bit of DIY/painting tomorrow, although I'll probably opt for helping Anneka decorate the Christmas tree instead!

Day 59 ... Adam's helping Matt with the painting this morning while Anneka's out with Alia and I'm looking after Antony. I went for a walk to the supermarket to get some bits for our picnic for the Dubai Glow Garden. We went just before sunset and had a wander round with Anneka and Matt's friends, Michelle and Paul and the kids. It's more for the kids but it was huge, so many lights, kids love it! It's one of those 'only in Dubai' things!

Day 60 ... Just another relaxing day in the sunshine. We didn't get up to much today, just some food shopping, the boys did some painting and Anneka did some work. Then I made us all a roast dinner...in 28 degree heat...and it was sooo good!

Day 61 ... Anneka, Alia, Antony and I went to a Christmas show at Mall of the Emirates which was for Antony's physio group and school he goes to. It was fab for the kids! Then we went for lunch at Common Grounds in the mall and Anneka got some festive shopping done. We were planning on going to the communal gym this afternoon but we got back to the house and Adam hadn't stopped for 4 hours, painting kitchen cupboards, hanging the doors and cleaning the kitchen, what a star! Just a relaxing evening, I'm going to cook us the yummy meal Hayley made us the other night.

Day 62 ... CHEESECAKE FACTORY!! Ok, so maybe I'm a little excited today, we're going to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and CHEESECAKE with Anneka. She couldn't believe I'd never been after travelling to Florida so much! And oh, was the cheesecake worth the wait, salted caramel, de-licious!! Such a good job there is no Cheesecake Factory in the UK, otherwise my weight may be another issue altogether!

Day 63 ... Our last full day. So we decided to have an hour round the pool to get some sun, we haven't been out in the sun since the day before Jon and Lesley went home. Then we just had a lazy afternoon, I did some KL research and Adam did some more coding. Then we went to meet Hayley and Sean at Blacktap, the burger place. It. Was. Epic. The burgers were

amazing along with the onion rings and sweet potato fries! Don't even get me started on the shakes! The biggest, most over the top dessert I think I've ever seen and sooo good! Adam and I shared the cookie flavoured one and Sean and Hayley shared the peanut butter one. Good job too, way too much for one person! A cheat day which was definitely worth every mouth full!

Day 64 ... I woke up at 8.20am to a text message from Anneka at 8.10am asking if we were up. She was out after dropping Alia off at school and had broken down on a slip road. So we got up, called an Uber and managed to find her on these crazy maze roads over here with a can of petrol in hand! Once Adam had poured the 5 litres of petrol in, Anneka tried the car, but it still didn't start. We realised it was more likely the battery. As Anneka started to look for the paperwork to find the contact details for the recovery company, a recovery truck (as if by magic) pulls up in front of up on the hard shoulder and asks if we need him to take us to the nearest garage for 150 dirhams (£30) so we took him up on the offer (and how handy that the garage just happened to have a Baskin Robbins!) and then called the car battery guys who came out within 45 minutes and fitted a new battery and we were good to go! Only took 3 hours! At least we hadn't got anything planned for our last day and our flight isn't until 11pm.