Halloween fun and my big surprise!

Hey everyone!

Hope you like my new look blog, I decided it was time for a change!

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I'm still trying to convince myself that it is 'winter' - the weather is just perfect out here now. No more running for the air conditioned buildings...we now sit outside to eat and relax by the pool rather than a 5 minute walk draining every last bit of saliva you had in your mouth!

As you know, Halloween was a few days ago and we certainly celebrated in style. All of the neighbours from the surrounding streets got together to have a big BBQ and watch Halloween films projected on to the side of a big building! As well as this we did a mass trick or treat session with all the kiddies - Camilla really enjoyed herself and she got lots of sweets that she was very proud of :)

Ill let you guess who she went as ....

We have also taken another trip to Abu Dhabi to go to the IGN Convention this time - this is mainly focused on gaming and films and we had such a good day. I even got to meet someone I have hated for such a long time... turns out he's actually really nice :)

I met Jack Gleeson who plays Joffrey in Game of Thrones!

Andy also got to meet someone who presents IGN News - he was a big fan... I'm not sure why! ;)

During the convention they had a big Cosplay competition with 10,000 dollars going to the winner. This is where people create their own costumes and dress up as film/game characters. There were some amazing ones and it was fun to watch them perform!

As well as all of this, I have been making some friends!! They're all really lovely. They have all moved out here on their own and we met through a Facebook group. I think they're super brave doing this on their own! It's really nice to hear other peoples stories of where they have come from and how they ended up in Dubai.

So... when you have a group of girl friends, what do you do on a Saturday afternoon?! Go to the beach bar of course! We spent a whole day and night at a place called Barasti - Its a beach club which has a bar on the beach but also several other bars including a roof terrace. Its lovely. After sunbathing all day we then watched the rugby outside with the city skyline as a backdrop. Such a fab day :)

Oh and how could I forget my big surprise?? 

I am having so much fun out here and I don't regret my decision one bit, however I can't say I don't miss home and my Mum and Mollie! So as it is my Mums birthday at the beginning of December I have planned a trip back to the UK!!! :D 

I called my mum on Skype and told her I'll be coming home for her birthday...she was super happy and I can't wait! 

The biggest part of the surprise is that Mollie doesn't know I'm coming home... she asks every time I Skype if I'll be coming home soon and it breaks my heart as I miss her so much! My plan is to land in the UK at lunch time and then go with my mum to pick Mollie up from school... I really can't wait to see her little face when I'm stood in the school playground waiting for her! :D

I also plan to do a lot of Christmas shopping and get my fill of cold weather before I return to the sun! I will only need a week of UK weather to remember why I love the sun so much...

Any way, that's my little update for this week - have an awesome bonfire night whatever you decide to do... I am rather upset its not something that is widely celebrated but my Mum has promised to save me some sparklers :) 

Love ya, Keep smiling and I'll maybe see you soon!!! 

Laura xx

Don't worry ... I'm still alive!

Where did September go?!  I've been meaning to update you all but I've been so busy my days have just disappeared! 

As you can probably tell, I am still loving every minute of my adventure and as much as I miss the people, I can't say I'm missing England just yet! Especially since I've started seeing photos on Facebook of people in their hats and jumpers.

So where do I start... I'll start with the bad news... Alan sadly died this month! It turns out he was a greedy little lizard and went for the cockroach bait. I found him stuck to a sticky trap in our room :( it was a sad day, but I did warn him about coming in my room!! At least I can sleep at night now without worrying he might fall in my mouth!!!

On to happier news - we got a car!! It's great being able to jump in the car and go where ever we want, however driving out here is crazyyyy! There are 6 or more lanes on the roads and no rules for any of them, you just drive to where you're going and hope for the best! 

As much as I keep saying I need to stop eating rubbish, it's so hard out here. There are more restaurants, cafes and takeaways than you can imagine! So we have obviously been back to the Cheesecake Factory (it is my favourite after all) 

We have also tried some other places too such as Texas Roadhouse where all the staff randomly stop and bust a few line dancing moves... I really wanted to get up and dance with them!

As well as this, we have been to a great place on the beach called Eggspectation... this place sells many things but as you expect, they specialise in all things eggs! They do epic breakfasts all day long, which is fab seen as the first time we went was 1pm! 

Apart from eating... a lot... I have actually done some cool things, such as going to Ferrari World! This is one place we always meant to go to when we visited Dubai previously but we never got there. 

We had such a fun day, they have the fastest roller coaster in the world, and my god is it fast! You have to wear goggles to protect your eyes from the wind. We went on it twice and my hair really didn't survive the trip... there is a mirror as you get off so you can see how much of a mess you look!! I couldn't even get a comb through my hair when I got home it was so knotty! 

As well as this there are loads of other little rides, one we particularly enjoyed was a ride in a Ferrari through Italy! :D

Thats our Ferrari! :)

And this is how much fun we were having!! haha

We also went to Games 15 Middle East which is an exhibition of the latest computer games and tech. It was a great day out but because of all the consoles and people it was super hot!  Needless to say we didn't stay too long! We are going to something different in Abu Dhabi this weekend so hopefully that will be better! 

Also it finally happened... I went back to my happy place at the Atlantis, The Palm! There is something I love about the fact that it stands pride of place on the very tip of a manmade island. I love it so much and the views looking back on the Dubai skyline are amazing!

I promise to update you all more regularly so I don't feel like I have to rush as much, but this was just a snippet of what i have been up to recently.

I hope the weather isn't too wet and windy, its just starting to cool down enough for BBQs here - so much so we had one last night!! :) 

Its very strange to think its October and remember what I was doing this time last year. I miss decorating my apartment with all things Halloween and Autumn but I think if I really try hard, i'll be able to manage without for a little while ;) 

I miss you all, keep smiling! 

Laura xxx