The Joe Fresh in Abu Dhabi is massive

That's two storeys in Yas Mall's Town Square. Everything looks gorgeous! No socks, shoes, undies, makeup or - sadly for the elderly among us, like me - eye glasses. Yet. 

Snap caption: The best thing about Yas Mall is this camel made out of Lego at the Lego store

I'm not sure if it's the fez or the cheeky half-grin on his face or those eyelashes, but I'm smitten.

If you are looking for more reasons to go to Yas Mall, I wrote this list just before it opened. The Virgin Megastore is pretty righteous too.

Ace Hardware in Abu Dhabi: Book & Bean is no longer

What it used to look like.

What it looks like now.

One of the capital's only used bookstores, Book N Bean at Ace Hardware on Yas Mall, has closed. Admittedly, I had not been to Ace Hardware in eons, so who knows when this happened?

Still, it makes me very sad. I loved looking at all the used books, and buying some of them, I loved the coffee, and I loved popping by to watch these passionate players on Friday mornings.

UAE diary: Sir Patrick Stewart, SJP, Dubai International Film Festival, Breitling Wingwalkers and lots and lots of Lego

It's been quite a week here in the UAE, culturally speaking. Personally, I totally loved that we got this guy to pose in front of the Burj Khalifa: 

Yes, Sir Patrick Stewart dropped by and became a Chivas Legend. He's doing a sitcom with Seth McFarlane and Jackie Weaver (UAE connection - remember when she was here for Abu Dhabi Film Festival last year?) and it sounds awesome...as if that wasn't enough, Sarah Jessica Parker was in the emirate right on his heels to launch her shoe collection at Harvey Nicols and Bloomingdale's. She sounded lovely (and spent some time at Cle Dubai):