Its a holiday weekend in the UAE this week. Thursday was  a holiday for the Islamic New Year, so we have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off.

For the uninitiated, the weekends over here are Friday and Saturday with Sunday being the first day of the working week.  I have been doing this for more years than I care to remember and I still struggle to get used to working on Sundays.

Actually it gets worse.  Friday is the first day of the weekend, but its very much a  religious day for the locals, so its kind of like a Sunday. Then there is Saturday, which is a Saturday, but which feels like a Sunday as its the day before you have to go back to work. Then of course is the actual Sunday, which is more like a Monday, but psychologically  speaking, you know is still a Sunday.  So weekends here feel like three Sundays linked together. As I say, I still struggle with the concept.

Apart form that, it hasn’t been a bad weekend.  Its still a bit hot and sticky here in Dubai, but its decidedly cooler than it was only a few week ago,  That said, we made the mistake of leaving a candle outside after a BBQ the other evening.  Its now a mass of molten wax decorating the patio floor.  It does get hot.

On Wednesday night after work, we decided to visit our local pub. Mr Toads, located in the Premier Inn, next to Green Community in Dubai Investment Park. I suppose its kind of our local, seeing as we live in Green Community and I like Mr Toads

It reminds me of an old British Estate Pub. The decor is a kind of industrial brewpub’esq. Not quite sure what they are going for, but its OK and I can forgive a lot when the food and beer is as good as it is.

Mr Toads Kitchen at the Premier Inn DIP

There is quite a selection of beers on tap. There are the usual suspects such as, Stella, Heineken and Guinness,  but they also offer Frontier, Fullers London Pride and BrewDog Punk IPA.  As BrewDog is brewed in Scotland, not that far from where we want to live, it tends to be my beer of choice and jolly good it is too.  For the non beer drinkers, they have Thatchers Cider, a reasonable wine choice, various Gins and the usual assortment of spirits which they are happy to throw together into weird and wonderful cocktail combinations.

As for the food, its good old fashioned pub grub, but cooked very well and rather tasty. My personal favourites are the Nasi Goreng, Beef Rendang and their Bangers and Mash. Wifey tends to go with the the Cob Salad served with poached salmon or the Butter Chicken curry. For her part, Sarah swears by their pizza, washed down with a glass of vintage 7 Up.  So, all the family are usually very happy after a visit to Toads.

They have different theme nights and special offers and even have a regular pub quiz on a Wednesday night. It can get quite competitive, believe me.  The staff are genuinely friendly and service is good. So as a local pub goes, I think we lucked out.

Thursday was a quiet day. Dog walking, arts and crafts projects with daughter and catching up on the emails.

On Friday,  there was a birthday party for one of our daughters school chums. This was across in the kids play centre in Mall of the Emirates.  Being essentially a wimp, I declined the opportunity to go and meet Sarah’s school chums and their parents and instead, left eversobrave wifey to face the hordes on her own. It gets worse. After the party, we had promised Sarah she could have some friends around for a sleepover.  Whilst I pottered and did important manly stuff, like organise my cufflinks, sorted my screwdrivers and contemplated if it would be possible to bite a quadruple cheeseburger with relish and all the trimmings without covering my shirt in ketchup, Gillian managed to entertain, feed and referee three small girls.  I did my part of course.  I read them a scary bedtime story and made loud crashing noises outside their bedroom afterwards for dramatic effect, providing the full scary monster experience.  Strangely, wifey wasn’t impressed by my efforts. There is just no pleasing some people.

Today is Saturday but with that Sunday feel hence its a case of preparing for next week at work.  We have an audit starting tomorrow which I just know is going to be awful. So I am cribbing in preparation for my interview, making sure my shirts are ironed, trousers pressed and shoes polished. There is the weekly shop to do, packed lunches to prepare and my chief Saturday job is to cook Sunday Dinner. We have Sunday Dinner on Saturday here as it feels like Sunday. Ok We have been through this, keep up at the back.

Suffice to say, I enjoy cooking a traditional Sunday roast with all the trimmings.  Roast Beef this week, with mashed and roast potatoes. Yorkshire puddings, turnip, broccoli, peas and, as its the only vegetable daughter will eat, sweetcorn. All smothered in a lush beef gravy  and washed down by a rather pleasant Shiraz.  A touch of British weekend tradition in the heart of the UAE.

And on that note, something is burning by the smell so I had better go check.  Next time i want to tell you all about the Craigellachie Hotel in our village back in Scotland and also discuss the relative merits of a Munroe Killer over a Willie Gunn when after summer salmon. Bet you can’t wait.

Till then,

Whit’s fur ye’ll no go past ye

Graham

TheWannaBeScot