The photos in my phone and computer keep increasing day by day- from raw pictures to edited ones and the others that are duplicated in the watermark folders. There would atleast be 3 copies of each photo either in my phone or computer or in the camera and I am confident this would be the case with most bloggers who love to click as simple a thing in everyday life. I often think I’ll sit and organize but damn my laziness, this work only keep postponing for a later date which only kept increasing the load. But until yesterday, when I was forced to finally take out time from my afternoon schedule as the storage space sign kept blinking red to clear up the photos that I don’t need and organize the rest in neat folders for my future use (so look forward to many more recipes coming on the blog). It’s looking too good at the moment and I hope it stays the same forever! A tap on my back that I really deserve. No kidding.
However, this post isn’t about my organizational (or rather non organizational) skill. While I was browsing through the many pictures, I came across the ones where we spent many beautiful outdoor moments in ‘Dubai winter’ – running in the park, playing on the slides, outdoor eating, impromptu picnics, barbecues with family and friends and just strolling around on the street even at 3 pm without dropping a sweat and worrying about ever so cubersome humidity. The weather is slowly transitioning from winter to summer and frankly speaking I am not looking forward to the harsh sun and super hot desert weather right now! I mean, winter here is so gorgeous. Crisp winds, clear skies, a few cloudy days, drizzles, days neither too hot nor too cold – what not to love?! Almost like a spring in western countries with no snowfall, no heavy rains yet basking in the glory of warm and cool sun. It’s April and I know, winter is gone but you may wonder – “why this post now?”. It is because I want to relive the past few months again through the pictures till the weather is back to behave as I’d love. Thankfully the days are still very kindly forgiving and evenings have cold breeze on occasions till the atrocious summer come to haunt us again.
There’d be numerous days in last few months when I took Little A to park; some on his requests and some on mine – each day so different from the other. You may wonder why am I so stressing on our visits to the park. You may know if you have lived in UAE, that parks here are huge, stunning and a delight for every child and adult alike who flock at every given chance, especially to those who have come from India where parks aren’t that appealing. There I said it yet I am not apologetic. An entrance fee of AED 5 doesn’t hurt a pocket for well maintained and groomed parks while some parks allow free entry like the one closer to our house. Although, it is only reasonable to visit such open places here when the weather is modest otherwise children can get exhausted and dehydrated. The main reason why open parks aren’t so popular in the months from May to October when the sun is blazing hot!
Dubai is a hub of events for families running around the whole year. So while we could, we attended OMO carnival at Zabeel Park where Little A did his first t-shirt paining, went for Dubai Food Carnival, walked past by Standard Chartered Marathon, made it to Al Ghurair DubFest amongst other things. The events I would have loved to attend but couldn’t due to sandstorms or bad weather were Masala Food Fair and Taste of Dubai. Hopefully, next year!
We also made long drive trips to Al Ain Zoo and Jebel Hafeet for a day on the New Year only because weather was pleasant and very favorable to travel such a long distance with a toddler and a week after that we were super excited for our visit to Organic Oasis to learn more about organic farming in such horrid conditions. You can read more about our learning experience here.
Back between November and February, when Dubai provided for a perfect weather, it also became easier for us to travel a lot in public transport, not being much concerned about sun strokes. Little A loves commuting through the places in buses, metros and tram. He is much excited when I tell him that we’ll be using his three favorite modes of transport for going somewhere instead of in a car. So while we use these, we also learn few things about traveling on wheels – a favorite for any boy, I assume.
We always wished to sail on Abra (the oldest water taxi in Dubai) but never pushed our limits that way. The yearning was finally answered last week when all three of us took a small motor boat from Deira Creek to Bur Dubai and return. I am still amazed that even after years and being the most popular way of commute in olden days, the price of a ride each way hasn’t gone up from AED 1 though the fares of RTA increase after a particular period. Little A and I are little greedy, and hence we plan to go for an Abra ride once again during the day before it becomes difficult for us to move around in the open sun during mid-day.
During those months we also ditched malls completely, except for our short shopping trips. We preferred dining under the sun in the restaurants where it was possible and sometimes carried our meals to the park to be enjoyed at well structured picnic benches. On regular days when we stayed at home, we made sure we went down in the building we live in atleast for a couple hours and get along with other kids to play in an open area. Sadly, there wouldn’t be much children who came down to play, some days we also cycled and rode a scooty on our own yet those days were as exciting. We hope to continue this even in summers though we may have to reduce our open play time and limit ourselves in the shade.
With limited cooler months in the country, we’ll momentarily relish our outdoor sessions in photos till the end of October this year. Albeit I cringed about humidity in Bombay (it can get worse too) on days I traveled in local trains to reach my audit destination, here the comfort of air conditioner in every home, office, mall and public transport is a huge relief. Although, you know what? Our spirits aren’t fully hampered considering Dubai has to offer a lot even in the hot months except for in the month of Ramadan when things get a bit quieter here (at the same time increase in lavish Iftaar events we don’t prefer to attend). We look forward to Modhesh World, Skiing in Mall of the Emirates (hopefully this year), Summer Surprises, indoor play areas in the malls, visit an aquarium in Sharjah and many other events suitable for kids. Keep an eye on Dubai Calendar for regular updates on events of your interest in the city.
PS : All the photos above were taken on phone at any random moment and they are as natural without requiring any touch up except cropping of pictures to fit in the post.
