Handcrafted Soap from Italy

Posted by Kanga.

Again, something I didn’t expect to find in a grocery store in a small UAE town – handcrafted soap from Italy.

Only the lemon and angy smelled pleasant to me. I don’t know what angy is, but I’m going to give it a try.

Grocery Adventure

Posted by Kanga.

It is sometimes fun to see what irrelevant items are lumped together in the grocery store.

What constitutes “ethnic foods” in a French supermarket in an Arab country? Japanese, Thai, Mexican, and Russian. I was just glad they had fat-free refried beans. Yeah!

This is How Customer Service is Done

Posted by Kanga.

We are often asked “How is living in Fujairah?” Well, here is a very clear example:

Thums Up is DaddyBird’s favorite soda. I have to admit I drink way too much of the stuff, myself. It was hard enough to find in Dubai, but there is only one store in Fujairah that carries it, Choitrams. After discovering this, DaddyBird has gone in occasionally and purchased it a case at a time. Choitrams is a predominantly Indian store, so we stick out like sore thumbs as it is, but DaddyBird also purchases Indian food stuffs and an occasional Bollywood movie magazine, so he is somewhat memorable to the staff.

Yesterday, he went into the store looking for Thums Up. There was none in the front of the shop, as there sometimes is, so he headed to the back beverage section. Only a few individual cans there. He was about to give up when he was approached by a staff member who asked if he wanted a carton of Thums Up. They had set aside a case just for DaddyBird without being asked.

That is what it is like to live in Fujairah.

Evening Stroll in Fujairah

Posted by Kanga.

Here are a few sites from our evening stroll through one of Fujairah’s busy night scenes.

Decorative Fishes and Flower World

Silky Mart and Electronics Sales, Repairing & Cassette Recording shops

Smart Garments

New Vegetable Store and Al Falah Hair Cutting Saloon

The Sufi Bicycle Selling Shop has a lovely row of touring style bikes all equipped with bells.

Regal Vegetarian Restaurant & Sweets

Mars Trading

Nicy Roastery

Let the Haggling Begin

Posted by Kanga.

We recently visited Global Village. We were impressed to see some new developments, namely an information booth close to the gate including maps of the village and someone to help you find what you are looking for.

In addition to that, there are paper maps you can take with you. (If you are not familiar with Global Village, it combines amusement park rides with international shopping and food booths.)

You can tell it is the midst of winter from this booth selling stocking caps, scarves, gloves and mittens. Average daily temperatures are 70-75F. It’s cold! It’s amusing for us to be walking around in our shirt sleeves enjoying the cool evening while passing people in down coats, caps and scarves.

Our favorite pavilion is Yemen. The booths are mainly spices, honey, and jewelry. They have the most beautiful jewelry. In the past two years I’ve bought pearls (white & black), garnets, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and jade. This year I just picked up a few colored stone pieces and one pearl necklace. The sellers remember us, especially because we have never been comfortable haggling and usually pay way too much. Last year, I bought nine pieces at one booth taking all my cash and putting an end to the shopping. We knew immediately that we had paid too much, because they began to add “gifts” to our purchases.

This year was different. First, we went to several booths, ending at the booth where we have dropped all our money in the past. I bought only what I really liked and haggled at least a little for everything, except the bluish tear drop shaped pearls (first price was 50 AED/$13.61 US).

I have a weak spot for rings. The first one is costume jewelry. Cost me a whopping 20 AED ($5.45 US) The black pearls are real, but the setting is cheapo. The other two are silver settings, so will last longer. The stones are onyx, emerald and ruby (according to the seller) although obviously not large or high quality stones. They cost me $49.00 and $54.00. Probably still too much, but I can live with it.

The above four pieces were bought by DaddyBird. The square piece is an incense burner. The camel is a small oil lamp. The other two pieces are candle holders (could be used for incense). They can be closed up for easy travel and opened for use. The starting price for all four was 2,200 AED and DaddyBird spent quite a bit of time and stubbornness haggling the price down to 400 AED (approximately $27.00 each). Is it a bargain? Maybe not, but pretty good for a first serious attempt in haggling.

The sellers seem to enjoy the haggling process. It seems to make them happy that we argue with them and make counter offers. We are definitely not pros at it, yet, but we’ve made a start.

Athens, Greece: Day Eight

Posted by Kanga.

Today is one of those days when we did nearly nothing, but it is still too much to fit into one blog post. We went down to the Archaeological Museum which was closed for the holidays.

We met up with these orange kitties during our espresso/hot chocolate break.

We then walked down to the central part of town.

At first when I saw Jesus was missing, I feared he had been stolen, but then I remembered it is Christmas Eve and he hasn’t arrived, yet.

Yet, here come the wise men (two years ahead of schedule) with their camels (who appear to have escaped from the planet of the apes).

Then we walked to the central market. (Brace yourself, Kris – meat market ahead.)

Where we purchased some very nice pork chops.

You can also get goat/lamb, rabbit, chicken, beef, and various organs.

We also bought half a lamb/goat (not sure which, they look the same on the inside) and the butcher chopped it up for us.

We met up with this very amiable stray dog who would have liked a little of what we had in our bag, but luckily was not insistent about it.

These pan flute musicians were playing in Monastiraki square. They seem to be seriously confused about their Native American tribes. They are playing South American instruments, but are dressed and kitted out like North American plains tribesmen. But, I’m being picky.

Athens, Greece: Day Six

Posted by Kanga.

Day six was a totally un-tourist day.

First, you will need a little background. DaddyBird has sleep apnea. This means that as soon as he falls asleep his throat muscles relax so much that his airway is cut off and he cannot breathe. This is easily dealt with by a little machine that blows air into his airway to provide enough pressure to keep it open. (a “Constant Positive Air Pressure” machine or CPAP.) This is great until you travel away from home and your little machine stops working. After several nights of trying to sleep unaided and getting less and less sleep (me too, because listening to my husband gasping for air and suffocating is decidedly unrestful) we decided that something must be done.

So, how does one find assistance in repairing or replacing medical equipment in a strange city? With some difficulty, as we can attest.

First, after using Google to obtain an address for a medical equipment business that was within walking distance of a metro train station, we set off to take the train. Arriving at the address, we discovered that it was an apartment building, no medical equipment retail shop. Dead end.

Next, we took a taxi back to our apartment neighborhood and walked to a small hospital (more of a clinic) in the neighborhood to ask there. The receptionist understood enough English to understand our dilemma, but could not recommend an equipment store, but did suggest that we go to the pharmacy down the street and ask there.

The pharmacist was very nice and suggested that we go to a specific store, but could only give the most general description of it’s location – across from Hospital Soteria. (We found out later that this is not a specific hospital building, but a large area where there are many hospital facilities.)

So, we got into another taxi and showed him the note written by the pharmacist. The driver tried to get more specifics from us, like the actual address, but we could not help him in that. He did get us to the street and asked us if he should turn left or right at the intersection. I looked to the right and, low and behold, there was a medical equipment store, so we got out there.

Maria Elaina, the clerk in this store, was very helpful and somewhat happy to practice her English. As we had expected, getting the machine repaired would take weeks, time that we did not have. So, we needed to buy a new one. She, very cutely, warned us that they are very expensive and we nodded and told her it didn’t matter, we must have one. So, luckily our credit card worked (not a given with our bank). Maria Elaina told us the machine would be delivered to our apartment in two hours. We went away very happy shoppers, although 1,100 Euros/$1,438 poorer. It is possible to get a CPAP machine for much less, but not when you are desperate in a strange town and need it yesterday.

Now, we were standing in a strange part of town, looking for a taxi, with the smallest bill in our pockets being a 50 Euro. So far, our taxi rides within town have not exceeded 7 Euro, so we needed smaller bills. The neighborhood was not conducive to this quest. We were walking through the medical equipment store section of town. No shops where we could buy a little something in order to break a bill.

Amusingly, after our big ordeal to find a CPAP machine were were now walking past store after store advertizing and display ing them.

So, after walking a ways, we saw a “light.”

Sometimes branding is a good thing. A Toys R Us store where we could buy a little something and break a bill. Two smurfs and a fake Christmas tree later, we were in a taxi headed home.

This taxi ride was interesting (for DaddyBird, at least). The driver was talkative and once he learned that DaddyBird is a computer geek, the computer speak began. They reminisced about the old computer and video game machines they had back in the day.

As promised, around 7:30 pm the man delivering our precious little machine arrived. As of this morning, DaddyBird has slept quietly around the clock. All is well. Now you know what we got each other for Christmas.

Athens, Greece: Day Four

Posted by Kanga.

We began our day by stopping in at a little grill restaurant (psistaria) next door. They didn’t speak English, but we managed to order the above. Quite fantastic, I must say. (7.60 Euros/$9.97 – the Cokes were 3 Euros – ouch!) The sandwiches are flat bread with pork, tomatoes, potatoes, and yogurt/cucumber sauce.

We went to a shoe store so that I could buy a pair of shoes. The ones I wore yesterday will need days to fully dry out and my sandals won’t be sufficient on the next rainy day. I sat in the park for a few minutes enjoying the pigeons.

Then we walked to the nearest farmers market. It was very crowded and stretched over many blocks of the street. (DaddyBird estimates 1/2 kilometre.)

The wares were amazing. Beautiful eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, huge cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, onions, garlic, olives, olive oil, and more.

We bought more than we could carry, so DaddyBird had to go in search of shopping carts and bought two.

Here are our purchases: eggs, cauliflower, olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, cucumbers, celery, dried figs, purple broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, onions, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and leeks. We did not keep a count of all the prices, but the big tomatoes were 1.50 Euro and 2 cucumbers were 1 Euro. All the prices were very reasonable. The eggs were 0.15 each = 4.50 Euro/$5.90, although DaddyBird thinks he got more change back, so there may have been a discount for taking the whole flat.

Just so you can see how big the cauliflower is…

This cauliflower weighed in at 4 kilo (8.82 pounds) and cost 2 Euros/$2.62.

Discount Shopping Gems

Posted by Kanga.

In a country where the word “pork” gets bleeped out of TV cooking shows, it is always surprising to see pig themed items. (9.95 Dhs is $2.70)

Trademark is of no concern when you can misspell.

These birthday “candles” come with a warning that they throw off sparks. There’s nothing like having road flares on your cake.

Kandora Shopping

Posted by Kanga.

With the help of an Emirati friend, DaddyBird went kandora shopping.

First, a few measurements were taken and decisions were made on length and features.

Next, the fabric and colors were chosen. He ordered two black, one blue, and one white. After a bit of negotiation, a 50% deposit was paid. The total cost came to approximately $60.00 each.

When the finished product is ready, perhaps we’ll have a little fashion show.