Yesterday was Daisy’s birthday. Heidi gave her the day off but she turned up at about 6.30 in the evening laden with good food including a Phillipino dish. This was obviously her birthday feast and she wanted us to eat our fill then return the left overs for her and her friends. Having had a huge lunch at the Noodle House (more about that later) we had been thinking in terms of a slice of Bovril toast and an apple. But Daisy’s very kind offerings could not under any circumstances be rejected so it was vasbyt and eat. Interesting how one can enjoy good food without being in the least hungry! We ate a bit of each item then returned plenty to smiling Daisy.
Daisy is now thirty five; she has a fourteen year old daughter, an ailing mother and an irresponsible sister back in the Phillipines and her wages support them all from what we can gather. Like H&D she is one of the army of expats who keep this economy running and like all expats she has no rights. She is totally dependant on the goodwill of her sponsor Darrell, who is in turn dependant on the goodwill of his sponsor, the huge international company, ALEC. When H&D moved in, Heidi declared that under no circumstances would she let anyone live in the tiny maids room that comes with each unit. It is so small that it makes Alfred’s little unit in our backyard look quite palatial. However, Daisy was desperate for a job with a ‘European’ family so here she is. Her previous job with an Emirati family paid Dhs800 (R1600) a month for 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. No wonder all the adverts put up by maids looking for jobs specify ‘European’ family.
For us, yesterday was a bit of a 5-star day. First we went to the gold souk in town. It is in a big modern eastern style building and contains literally dozens of big jewellery shops all laden with jewellery and all pretty much empty of customers. It reminded me of those roadside fruit stalls outside the Kruger Park - rows and rows of people all selling much the same thing, hoping to make a sale before the next door seller! We just walked around without the slightest intension of buying anything and it was very impressive. There was some lovely stuff but much was OTT and some extremely OTT.
Souk number 2 of the day was according to Heidi very upmarket - and so it proved. They were luxury shops incorporated within the 5-star Shangri-La Hotel. Such lovely stuff and so
expensive! But of course, Abu Dhabi holiday makers are in that sort of bracket (the only ‘poor‘ ones are family visitors like ourselves!). Having explored the shops we went up to the Noodle House restaurant for lunch and sat on the upper patio with the most marvellous view, looking across the water with the Grand Mosque and leaning tower in the distance. Then Heidi, with an anticipatory gleam in her eye led us down to the canal (the whole hotel , including souk and luxury apartments is built like Venice) and we boarded 
a boat which took us on an exploratory cruise from end to end of the huge complex. It was all just stunning and was actually built by Darrell’s company although before he arrived in AD.
Daisy is now thirty five; she has a fourteen year old daughter, an ailing mother and an irresponsible sister back in the Phillipines and her wages support them all from what we can gather. Like H&D she is one of the army of expats who keep this economy running and like all expats she has no rights. She is totally dependant on the goodwill of her sponsor Darrell, who is in turn dependant on the goodwill of his sponsor, the huge international company, ALEC. When H&D moved in, Heidi declared that under no circumstances would she let anyone live in the tiny maids room that comes with each unit. It is so small that it makes Alfred’s little unit in our backyard look quite palatial. However, Daisy was desperate for a job with a ‘European’ family so here she is. Her previous job with an Emirati family paid Dhs800 (R1600) a month for 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. No wonder all the adverts put up by maids looking for jobs specify ‘European’ family.
For us, yesterday was a bit of a 5-star day. First we went to the gold souk in town. It is in a big modern eastern style building and contains literally dozens of big jewellery shops all laden with jewellery and all pretty much empty of customers. It reminded me of those roadside fruit stalls outside the Kruger Park - rows and rows of people all selling much the same thing, hoping to make a sale before the next door seller! We just walked around without the slightest intension of buying anything and it was very impressive. There was some lovely stuff but much was OTT and some extremely OTT.Souk number 2 of the day was according to Heidi very upmarket - and so it proved. They were luxury shops incorporated within the 5-star Shangri-La Hotel. Such lovely stuff and so
expensive! But of course, Abu Dhabi holiday makers are in that sort of bracket (the only ‘poor‘ ones are family visitors like ourselves!). Having explored the shops we went up to the Noodle House restaurant for lunch and sat on the upper patio with the most marvellous view, looking across the water with the Grand Mosque and leaning tower in the distance. Then Heidi, with an anticipatory gleam in her eye led us down to the canal (the whole hotel , including souk and luxury apartments is built like Venice) and we boarded 
a boat which took us on an exploratory cruise from end to end of the huge complex. It was all just stunning and was actually built by Darrell’s company although before he arrived in AD.
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