Weather Report

One of the most unfulfilling jobs in Dubai must be weather reporting. "Very sunny", "sunny again", "lots of sunshine", you get the picture.

Maximum temperature this September so far is 44.6ºC, measured last Monday. But it looks like we are on the way to getting our own little micro-climate. All the construction work and artificial lawns, together with the incredible traffic increase in the last few years has resulted in higher temperatures in the area. Not enough that we live in the desert, but we are building our very own "heat island" with all the new concrete, according the Dave Thomas of the Met Service at Dubai Airport.

August was so far hottest for 5 years, with a maximum temperature of 47ºC, although Al-Ain did even better, beating the 50ºC limit. Luckily, as the weather gets hotter, it also gets less humid, so it will feel cooler. But that will not prevent you getting just as sunburnt.

Moving to the Sound of Drums

It's almost time for the Dubai exchange to go live, and the last people have moved out of the temporary offices into the shiny new building at the financial centre site. They were literally drummed out of the place.

While boxes and chairs were carried down one staircase, we snuck into another entrance to get breakfast, where Dubai Drums were stirring the place up with their African beats. After 15 months in the 'shed' most people were glad to move into the final location, 'Precinct 5', next to the landmark Gate building. To say good-bye, the Marriot hotel laid on a scrumptious breakfast, and to add a de-stressing factor to the morning, everyone was invited to join in the drumming. That sounded like a recipe for a lot of noise to start with, but in actually turned out to be a powerful sound. Talents emerged with a resident didgeridoo player and some great dancers as well as a fabulous frog backing band (respect to Emily, Pauline and Muna).

Before and After - Drumming is easier than it looks

Listen to real-live drumming here!

Photoshoot

Today we are back online with news of an event that's turning our flat into a 'location'.

We have a photographer in the house to do a photoshoot for Homecentre, one of the biggest local furniture stores. Their campaign involves images of empty spaces that show where the customer could fit objects bought at Homecentre. We have new armchairs, lamps, cupboards and all sorts of lovely accessories blocking up the corridors, as well as flash lights on stands, big cameras and bags full of film (yes, still working with film).

If you are in Dubai, look out for pictures of our living room plastered all over the bill boards at BurJuman and Sheik Zayed Rd as well as adverts in Inside/Out and Ahlan.