Ikea Haul

Went to Ikea Dubai this weekend to get some goodies for my apartment! Here's what I bought! You'll notice I had a bit of a red theme going on...its all to match my bedding ha!!

So Red shaggy rug 45Dhs, Red waste bin 9Dhs, Papaya smelly tea lights 15Dhs, Three tea light glasses 2Dhs each, Vanity mirror 19Dhs, Mushroom plant pot 7Dhs and my plant named George 25Dhs, all for my bedroom.

Red baking tray 25Dhs, Red cake/muffin baking tray 35Dhs, Striped cake/muffin cases 8Dhs, Multi colour straws 3Dhs, Lunch boxes 12Dhs and Kitchen drainer 11Dhs. I also bought a pink shower curtain for my pink bathroom but thats already up so no photo sozzzzz!

Week One with Emirates

I am a little behind with this blog so i do apologise! I am actually in my third week here but I'll go back to the beginning for you all! Ok so after arriving in Dubai and having my first night in my new room I had arranged to meet up with some friends that i had met through the Facebook group who were also new joiners like me. We had a lovely day exploring the Twenty-First Century Tower's pool (this is where my friends live), had lunch at Starbucks on Sheikh Zayed Road and then ended the day doing a shop at the Dubai mall and went to see the glorious fountain display! It was such a great day, everything so new an exciting!

Day 1
Anyway back to Emirates, the first induction day is always on the Sunday after you arrive, dress code is formal attire and pick up from everyones building is at 6.30 so nice and early start! In the induction we go over a little bit about HR recruitment administration, so we submit all our medical information that was required before we came to dubai so vaccination information, dental certificates (the dental OPG x-ray was NOT required so don't bother getting it done in your home country....i'm glad i didn't it saved me a lot of money!) and we also submit the original of the medical forms we submitted to Emirates prior to coming to Dubai along with 2 passport photos i believe.

Day 2 / Day 3
This is the first day you will go to Emirates Headquarters (EGHQ) and you begin your clinic registration, government medicals (chest x-ray, urine sample drug test and HIV blood test) and Haemoglobin blood test. You will also have your ID photo taken so you get to try the uniform shirt and jacket for the first time! Also these ID photos last for 3 years so make sure you look nice as you're stuck with them!! And finally we are distributed with our manuals.

Day 4 / 5
We are now split into our different batches who we will be training with for the next 7 weeks. These two days are just corporate inductions, team building and interpersonal skills and IT lessons and also E-learning sessions (online tests which we have to complete 80% pass mark) from home.

Its the weekend! Finally!! Weekends in dubai are Friday/Saturday. Went out on Thursday night to my favourite place in Dubai - Barasti Beach Club. Its a nightclub at night with a dj set so you can dance in the sand and by day its an awesome beach with huge lounge beds and music playing throughout the day. Also really nice cocktails!

Day 6 (saturday morning)
6.30 pick up to visit the Jumeirah Mosque. All visitors to wear long sleeves, and full length skirts/trousers. We were also provided with scarves to wear on our heads inside the mosque (females only).
After the mosque visit we are free to carry on our weekend, so the girls and I came prepared with bikinis and towels and headed straight to Barasti Beach for the most amazing day of tanning!

Day 7 / Day 8
Further HR talks, Fire talk, accommodation talk, E-learning sessions and welcome to Training!

Day 9
Begin SEP training!

Sahara Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road pt2

As promised here is a little bit of information and some pictures of my new apartment in Sahara Tower. I know when i found out my Emirates accommodation i searched the internet desperately for info of my new home and for Sahara I found little so hopefully this will help out future crew that will be placed here! Let me just say if you get accommodation at Sahara Tower, or any of the other buildings on Sheikh Zayed Rd you are very lucky!! Its such a great location, so many shops and restaurants, the Dubai mall (biggest mall in the world) is a 10 minute cab drive or one stop on the metro, The Burj kalifa (tallest building in the world) is super close you can see it from the road, sea views from the balcony and we are 15 minutes away from the aviation college and HQ/Airport. 

Ok so lets get to Sahara Tower! My apartment is just 2 bedrooms but its huge and some of the other apartments in the building are 3 bedroom. I have room A so its the master room but in the 2 person apartments in Sahara i don't think it makes any difference. We both have our own bathrooms and entrance to the balcony from our bedrooms. We have a large lounge / dining room area with modern furnishings. The kitchen is a little dated but its large, clean and everything works just fine so no problems there. Can easily look modern with a trip to Ikea! Also as i mentioned we have our own bathrooms...they are both fairly big and mine is pink and room B is blue! The bedrooms are of a really good size - we have a king size bed, massive wardrobes which go up to the ceiling so great storage space for all your luggage! And the clothes you will accumulate from shopping in 120 different destinations! We also have a desk, mirror, bedside table and big drawers unit. The balcony in my apartment is huge it runs all the way along the side of the building and has a small table and chairs on it. I am really lucky as it faces the sun so i can have a quick sunbathe on the balcony! Also great sunbathing facilities at the buildings swimming pool. Its on level 3 and you walk along a little bridge to it and the gym! I went to the pool for the first time yesterday its really nice, there are loungers and the water is a good temperature! Haven't been to the gym yet but saw a few people working out through the glass so guess it all works! Think thats everything covered! Oh we have 24 hour security in the reception who are very nice and friendly and also the emirates busses pick us up right outside the front door! Very handy! Anyway, in conclusion; Sahara Tower is awesome I love it and feel very lucky to live here! What do you think?!

The lounge

Dining table/lounge, front door to the left, kitchen door on the left and hall way to bedrooms A & B

My bedroom (rearranged and made cosy compared to last blog post!)

Bedroom from other angle!

View of bedroom from balcony

 The amazing view from my balcony

View from my balcony opposite direction! 

Sahara Tower's swimming pool!

Arriving in Dubai!

So i finally have internet in my apartment! I met my flat mate a couple of days ago and she already had it set up so I can use that! Phew! And she is really lovely so thats goooood! Anyway i want to tell you all about my flight over and arriving in Dubai for the very first time!

I'll start from the beginning! I arrived at London heathrow with 3 very heaving check in bags, two hand luggage bags (one for laptop) and also my handbag. I was way over the luggage limit but i thought i'd give it a try and my mum and sister were with me to take anything back with them that was over the weight limit. Got to check in... my check in luggage weighed 64kg!!!!! The limit was 50kg! OH SH*T!  They said i was allowed to have up to 56kg maximum so i went to the side and started unloading a few unnecessary items like a cupcake maker? haha and heaving clothing. I put a few items into my hand luggage too as thought they might not weigh that but no when i went back to check in they did! My other bags were now fine and they went down the chute but then after weighing my hand luggage it was too heavy still! Had to leave behind a few more items :( then I was good to go! Said goodbye to my Mama and sister just before i went through to security. It was teary and i was very sad to leave them,  it all happened so quickly and then i was in departures on the phone to them!! They are coming to visit in April for my birthday so it won't be long before i see them! And its quite likely i'll be on the London flight before then!

Anyway lets get to the flight.. It was delayed by an hour but the time went quickly anyway because i shopped for a watch in duty free and made a few goodbye phone calls! In the Emirates departure lounge i was sat directly opposite the planes nose, I was flying the Airbus A380. My new office. It was absolutely huge I've never flown in anything so big! On board it was super nice! I was in economy and each seat had a pillow, blanket and headphones. The flight was really empty so i spread out across two seats! On the flight the cabin crew didn't know I was a new emirates joiner but the man across from me jut happened to be talking to the steward about the job and joining etc so i chirped up and said this was my first flight to Dubai and my date of joining!! The Air steward immediately welcomed me and informed the other crew and purser so i was given special treatment!! The crew were so friendly always talking to me and checking how i was, then half way through the flight i was taken upstairs to Business class where I had champagne at the bar with cakes and sweets! I then went into the business class galleys with the other crew to sit and chat with them and ate the first class desserts! They were all very friendly, helpful and gave me a lot of advice. When i returned to my seat downstairs one of the cabin crew had left me a little present on my seat! It was a pack of emirates playing cards and a mini emirates cool pack! I think thats going to come in handy at the beach!! After this i watched a film and had a quick nap then i was almost in Dubai!

 Champagne at the bar in business class!

Having a nap on the A380!

At the airport i was greeted by the Marhaba team (which means welcome in Arabic) and they took me to get my luggage and go through security with my visa. I then met Emirates welcome team who gave me my introduction pack and then I was chauffeured to my new accommodation! It was all SO exciting. I live about 15 minutes from the airport and driving along Sheik Zayed Road for the first time (the road that i live on) left me in shock. It was crazy the buildings were so impressive and tall! Just amazing. When I got to my apartment I felt like i was going to explode, it was so awesome!!! Its very modern and huge! And just for two people, i couldn't be any luckier. I will do a post all about it soon with pictures. Left in my new bedroom was a welcome pack will all the basic essentials i will need and a few food items. Emirates are very generous!! After i had settled down a bit from all the excitement of running around my new pad and jumping about on my huge balcony i rearranged my room, started unpacking and went off to sleep. It was a very long day but absolutely fantastic. I think I'm going to like Dubai ;)

Just arrived! New room looking very bare..not for long though!!

Food and essentials pack!

Emirates towels!

Box of goodies

Contents! So much stuff all really useful!

I heart Dubai

Just a quick blog post as i have no internet in my apartment yet!! I'm just sat in Starbucks which is on the ground floor of my building! My apartment in Sahara Tower is ABSOLUTELY amazing!! I am just so lucky! Im right in the city with everything at my doorstep and the flat is so massive and my bedroom is great!! I have a huge balcony which runs along the side of the apartment from my room to the lounge area! I have just one flatmate but i haven't met her yet as she's away on a flight but i know she is lovely because she left me welcome presents by my bedroom door!! And she says she loves going out, food, drinking, shoes and handbags so i think we are going to get on very well and have a lot of fun!! Anyway I better go as I have to be up at half 5 in the morning!! Having further medicals tomorrow and ID pictures so i get to try on the proper uniform!!! I'll try and do a blog post soon about the medicals here in Dubai and the timetable for the first week! And post some pics of my amazing apartment! x

It's time!!!

Today is the day. Today is the day I am moving to Dubai. Starting a new life, a new career, a new everything. I really can't believe that I am actually doing this!!! I'm moving to the United Arab Emirates to live and work!!!! Isn't that just crazy?!!! Its half two in the morning and i have to be up in two hours to get ready and go to the airport but i'm not tired at all!! Ive painted my nails emirate red with my new Dior polish (looks great coverage is ahhmayzing) and I believe I am all packed! WTF?! I am never this organised nor ready/on time. Maybe i'm turning over a new leaf? It would be apt hence all the new new new. Anyway I feel like i'm rambling... Today I had my final vaccination for my medicals it was my mumps, measles and rubella booster injection. I know it seems a little last minute for jabs but I had to wait a month after my yellow fever jab to get it as they are live vaccines or something! Hopefully this won't make me sick like the typhoid one did. I also had a dentist appointment today for a Dental OPG x-ray (...required for work) but decided to cancel it as it was real expensive and I've heard rumours through the emirates cabin crew that are already in Dubz that its not needed anymore, so fingers crossed i don't. Also today I got my Emirates passport size photos. We are required to have 10 smiley photos in formal attire so I trotted to my local tescos to get them printed but the machine was out of order so i had to trot on to Sainsburys..... (I think I need to go to sleep I have no idea what I'm going on about I don't trot my mum drove me?) Anyway here are the pictures! My next post will be from Dubai!! Or maybe at 40,000 if I can connect to the A380 airbus wifi!!!! Isn't that bloooody mental?!

Mini haul!

Did my last and final shop in the UK before I leave for Dubai! I bought lots stuff for my new apartment so that it feels homey and looks pretty! Also got some other bits and bobs here they are!

Benefit high beam (so good for cheekbones), Bourjois volume clubbing mascara (one of the best mascaras I've used great for thick full lashes), Mac fix+ skin refresher/finishing mist (never tried this but thought it would be good to fix makeup and rehydrate my skin whilst flying i hear its very drying on skin), Collection2000 base coat, Boots night cream (I don't want get get wrinkly in the desert sun!), L'Oréal Paris infallible foundation in 200 Golden Sand (good everyday foundation for full coverage), Boots time delay replenishing eye cream (say no to wrinkles!!!)

Heart and dot print dishcloth, king size duvet cover, tea towels, wall clock and hot pink extra large towel, all Primark.

Large black 'pleather' handbag, Primark. (Thought this would be perfect for training as we need a huge black bag to fit all our workbooks in! This will also fit my laptop in too!)

Marc by Marc Jacobs 13" laptop case, Selfridges. (Bought this online, should arrive tomorrow woohoo!! I did previously have it in black but i lost it :( pink one is just as good though!)

Goodbyes

I don't really quite know where to start. This past weekend has been ridiculous, I feel like I have been on one long massive emotional roller coaster getting bursts of excitement and happiness and then coming right down to crying my eyes out saying goodbye to the people i love. This weekend was the weekend I had my leaving drinks and last night out in my hometown of Reading (woooo) and I had to say goodbye to all my lovely, fantastic and most amazing friends in the world :(

If video doesn't work click here ;)

F . R . I . E . N . D . S..... Do you really need them? YES!

So Saturday night I had a big group of my closest friends over to my house for drink and food and then we would head off later into town for more drinks and dancing! The night was so much fun and it was so great to have everyone all in one place for one night to celebrate!! Saying goodbye to everyone was the hardest, some of my friends left earlier than me and so the crying began sooner than I had expected! It was really weird crying I felt silly because I am going to see them again soon and these friends I have known and been close with for years and time apart just doesn't make a difference to us. We can come and go but still our friendship stays the same and I do know they will always be there for me. But it still is sad to say goodbye and I guess it was to do with the alcohol, the excitement and nerves and the fact that I love them all and will miss them all very much!! Enough with all the emotional stuff! Here are some photos of some very special people :)

My leaving party!

With my Mum and Sister <3

My girls!

With the boys!

Little trip to London!

Family on Christmas Eve <3

My partner in crime Alex hahaha!

TWO DAYS UNIL DEPARTURE!!!!!!

Sahara Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road

In the very early hours of this morning before going to sleep from the night before (it was my leaving party!) I just happened to check my emirates portal and guess what.....my accommodation details were there waiting for me!!!!

As of Friday, The Sahara Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road will be my new home! I am just sooo happy that my new apartment is right in the city of Dubai and not out in the dessert liked I feared I could be! And most importantly I am really close to my friends accommodation also on Sheikh Zayed Road in the 21st Century Tower! I can't seem to find much information about the Sahara Tower on the internet but I do know that its 131.46m tall, it has 31 floors, the buildings construction was completed in 1997 and it has its very own starbucks! Here are some photos...

Sheikh Zayed Road ..... By day and by night

Hello 2013

Happy New Year everyone!!! Yesterday I received my e-ticket to Dubai and Visa! I leave really early on the Friday and arrive in Dubai at night! I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a GOOD year!!! New career, new life, new country, new culture, new friends now hurry up and get me to Dubai!

Also I am starting packing today!! Have no idea where to start! Wish me luck!!