Yas Mall - Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

On our 3rd evening we visited Yas Mall on Yas Island.  We took a taxi for the 35km journey.  I took this picture in the taxi - you can just make out the entrance to the Emirates Palace entrance.  Taxi's are cheap in Abu Dhabi so it makes sense to take one even when going short distances - particularly I would imagine at the height of Summer when temps go up to extreme heats. 

As we approached the mall I saw a great big sign for Ikea - it's everywhere!

The mall is very new and extremely large.  We wandered around for a bit but didn't buy anything.  It has all British chains that we have in Ireland and a lot of American stores also.  I was hoping there would be a Banana Republic but there was not.

We knew there was a Cheesecake Factory here and I had already decided I wanted to eat here.  It was exactly the same as Cheesecake Factory in the USA and the prices were about comparable.  The only difference was that no alcohol was served as it was a dry mall.

Look the butter is even from Texas!!

Look at the size of the portion of food!  Ciaran had thankfully suggested we split the Orange Chicken - I was planning to order this for myself!!!  We also got a starter of Thai Lettuce Rolls which we also split.  It was the perfect amount of food for the two of us but we didn't eat much of the rice.

And of course you can not visit Cheesecake Factory without having one of their desserts.  Again we split this course and we didn't even finish it.  I think it was some type of cake tower with chocolate mousse filling and fudge frosting.  It was very good!!

It is a big thing to visit malls in the evening time in Abu Dhabi - there was a lot of families in this mall - even a lot of young children were there up to closing time at 10pm! Someone told me that malls are like the high street as again it is so hot at times that they like to be inside to do their shopping in air conditioned comfort.

Beach Days Abu Dhabi Style!

To get to the hotel's private beach we walked down a boardwalk to the front of the hotel.  There were a load of boats in the marina and it had a really nice feel to it.

Everyday we sat in the same spot which was fairly close to this beachside bar.

Ciaran swam in the sea a few time and he said it was amazing.  I didn't get in to the sea - I dipped my feet in and it felt too cool.  I don't like cold water at all.

We relaxed on the beach every day and stayed most days until the sun began to go down and it got chilly.  It was blissful!

There is pool at the beach area with another swim up bar and also the Bayshore Restaurant behind it.  We swam in the pool - it was perfect temperature!

The Starfish displays reminded me a lot of past holidays in Key West. 

Facilities at the beach included private cabanas, toilets and showers.  It all made for very pleasant beach days.  

How relaxing is it to spend a few days lounging on the beach in the sun - perhaps the most relaxing thing in the world to do?!

By the pool for the day!

We were jet lagged on our first morning and missed breakfast (very unusual for us) but made lunch at 12.30.  Afterwards we headed to the pool for the day.

The pool area was very nice with lots of sun loungers and different areas to sun bathe in.  There was a small bar that had a swim up area.  We enjoyed a drink in the sun and relaxed for the day.  A great start to the holiday!

When you pick up your towels you are given a small cool box with bottles of water - a nice touch by the hotel!

Intercontinental Abu Dhabi

While we holidayed in Abu Dhabi over Christmas we stayed in the Intercontinental Hotel.  It is located well near the Corniche and Emirates Palace.

On the night we arrived we were glad to find the buffet open until 10.30pm as we was nearly 10pm and we just wanted to get something to eat and drink and then get to bed!

I got a kick out of the Arabic writing on the Coke Zero bottle!  It's a very attractive script.

On Christmas Day I had a nice seafood selection for lunch.....while Ciaran had Turkey (and Brussels Sprouts!!)

This was the view from the 3rd floor restaurant - it was quite the landmark building block (at night it had neon lights on the roof tops) and I saw it from just about everywhere we went.

Our room was very comfortable and fairly large.  There was a day bed and a big comfy chair to lounge in along with a desk.

The bathroom had a separate bath and shower and closed in area with toilet and bidet.

I had seen reviews on Tripadvisor complaining about the WiFi in the hotel.  I had no issues and found it excellent to browse the Internet.  I could even access the WiFi at the beach!

We were very happy with our stay in the Intercontinental and would recommend it to others and would also stay here again.  We were especially happy with the Housekeeping Staff who gave us a friendly staff every morning and then cleaned our room to an impeccable standard.  Every evening our bed was turned down and chocolate left on our pillow - when we said we didn't want a turn down we were still offered chocolate by the lovely chambermaid! Complimentary water is also left in your room which is most welcome (is there anything nicer than a bottle of water by your bed when you wake up thirsty in the middle of the night?!)

Facilities at the hotel include multiple restaurants, 2 pools with bar areas as well as a leisure centre and gym that has a squash court.  

On Christmas Night we ate in the Brazilian Restaurant, Chamas, which was lively and had a great atmosphere.  We had a nice bottle of wine and enjoyed the Brazilian meats and salad buffet.

Etihad - Dublin to Abu Dhabi

On Christmas Eve we got up at 5am to go to Dublin Airport for a flight to Abu Dhabi with Etihad.  

We always take the Aircoach to the airport.  The bus stop is at the top of our road and luckily a bus arrived just as we reached the stop.  We were greeted by the friendly bus driver and our holiday was off to a good start!

When we arrived at the airport we checked in promptly after getting there in less than half an hour as there was no traffic on the road.

Once we got through security we visited Duty Free where Ciaran bought some Chanel "Blue" aftershave while I bought some vodka.

When we arrived at our gate we saw that our flight was an hour late.  We wandered around and looked at some historical photos of Dublin Airport.

This is what the airport looked like in the 1960's! 

About the flight:

The plane was laid out in a 3-4-3 formation and looked to be full.  Ciaran sat in the aisle seat while I sat in the middle seat.  There were seatback TVs and we were given headphones which were of very good quality (very comfortable with heavy duty padding) and did a good job at cancelling out noise.

The film selection was very good with lots of new releases to choose from along with many newish popular films.  I watched  3 movies:

"Begin Again" starring Keira Knighley (surprisingly wasn't as annoying as she usually is) and Mark Ruffalo.

"Third Person" starring Liam Neeson which was a big load of watchable crap.

"One chance" starring James Corden which is the true story of opera singer Paul Potts who won Britain's Got Talent.

Obligatory Plane Selfie!

Food & Beverages:

I ordered a special seafood meal so I was given a Tuna Omelette which was passable.  

In regards to drinks there were no alcoholic beverages offered and when Ciaran asked for a beer he was told there was none and given no further explanation beyond this......all very strange and even stranger when a full compliment of alcohol was offered and served on the flight home.  I've emailed Etihad about this so hopefully I will receive a response that explains it.

On the way out to Abu Dhabi the Cabin Crew were wearing their uniforms which were grey and had a cream veil/scarf attached to their hats.  On the return flight, however, the crew were decked out in their new uniform.  Wow!  It is so nice!!
It is brown with dashes of purple.  There is no veil but they do wear a scarf jauntily around their neck along with a hat that has a badge that says Etihad on it.  I have to say that I do love a hat as part of an airline uniform and I do wish that Aer Lingus would introduce one in to their uniform.

Basket Brigade 2014

This morning Amy, Alice, Kasey and I met up to take part in Basket Brigade. 

Basket Brigade is where individuals come together as a group to provide hampers of food for needy people.

People fund raise (Thank you to all the companies who made donations) and collect food and on one day we come together and make the hampers and then get them delivered to where they are needed.  A big thanks also to Croke Park - what an amazing stadium to be in !!

The aim was to make over 130 hampers but we ended up making 150!!

There was also food and money left over which will be delivered to the Capuchins who will be feeding over 2,000 people this week.

Click here to read about the 2012 Basket Brigade event.

Getting busy!

Each hamper is filled with fresh veg, a chicken, a ham and also lots of non-perishable foods.  We put in a packet of porridge for breakfast along with crackers and jam for a snack.  Packets of soup are added and tins of tuna and fruit and also pasta and pasta sauce. Tea, coffee and sugar is a basic in every hamper and there is lots of sweet stuff such as mince pies, jelly and custard.  Crisps and biscuits are also additions to the pack of food.  It really is a nice selection of food that hopefully helps families have a nice meal on Christmas Day.  

We made up 3 hampers at a time as per Kasey's clever suggestion!

Each hamper had a list of all of the essential items to be added.

Along with food we added paperware of toilet rolls, kitchen roll and tin foil to the hamper - brilliant for those who don't have kitchen essentials.

All lined up ready to go!

Post Office Pickups

I missed the postman 3 times this week so I had to call to the Post Office to collect my parcels.

In order to collect mail you need to bring your postal slip along with identification.

Normally there is never a queue in the post office for package collection but today there was line of 4 people.  They always take a few minutes to find your packages.  They found 2 of mine really quickly but they couldn't find the large one that had come from the States.

Eventually they were all found and I got to take them home!

The two small packages contained an iPhone 6 cover and a selfie stick(!).  The large package came all the way from friends in the States and contained the most lovely presents! 

Early morning - Conference Centre View

I drove to work early last Thursday.  The view of the lit up Conference Centre was quite magnificent!

Camouflage Cat!

As I approached the work car park I saw this animal among the Winter leaves.  At first I thought it was a baby fox but then I saw it was a cat!

It had really beautiful markings on the tail.

He turned and looked at me before he disappeared in to the bush. You should be able to see his tail somewhere in there.