If you do just one thing here; Save your cash peoples!

A new study published in 7Days in Dubai today reveals the results of a poll conducted by YouGov.com for the financial website Cashy.me: out of hundreds of people asked, one in four don't have enough savings to get by for four weeks if they lost their job.


How can this happen? And are people who don't have more than a month cushion not freaking the heck out every minute of every day?

Snap caption: Worst stationEry store ever

Places you would not expect valet parking: HSBC

Only in the UAE would a flea market be held in a five-star hotel ballroom

The above photograph is of strangers sifting through my belongings. It's hard to believe, but I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the last four years living in Abu Dhabi. At the same time, living in small spaces and in such close proximity to people who do so much with so little (labourers etc) I have been thinking a lot about my consumerist ways and how they have nothing to do with true happiness and becoming a lot more interested in changing them. The decision to pare right down like this, happily,  coincided with the announcement that the Sheraton Corniche would be holding its first "night" charity flea market, so a friend and I decided to split a table and get rid of our junk. (Her junk was a little bit nicer than mine; it involved Jimmy Choo shoes)

That's where I am headed this weekend: To see one of these guys

Catch a bunch of his friends at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, on at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre until Saturday.

Snap caption: I had not heard of fish luncheon meat

Pizza Hut is at it again: The Cone Crust

From the company that brought us the exclusive-to-the-UAE "Crown Crust" cheeseburger pizza.

Overheard in the newsroom: Most excellent Thursday edition

It's not free, but it will be delicious

I don't think it looks like a baby. I think it looks like a coconut.

That soup didn't work. It was a misfire.

Good morning window cleaners! This is what I woke up to today

And shortly after I snapped this picture, and I thought they had safely left, I had a shower. Then I returned to the room, and they were back! Suffice to say, it was a lot more "All of Me" than "Part of Me".

Paneria watches: Inspired by the Burj Khalifa

Does anyone eat this horrid-looking corn shipped to the UAE from England?

I had the most delicious corn-on-the-cob when I was back in Canada this summer. This corn looks nothing like that corn. It costs a lot and well ... it's just not that appealing. Then there is the carbon footprint to consider. Yet there it is, in every supermarket, so someone must be eating it.

Overheard in the office: The when it comes to music, it's all perspective edition

On the news that Nickelback and Kylie Minogue will be performing after the F1 races November 2-4, with the third night yet-to-be announced:

"They have lame acts before cause they are saving it up for the big night."

"That's too many good people! The third night will be crappy."

Snap caption: Not sure about the event, but an enthusiastic yes to the bedazzled fez

Snap caption: The bathroom instructions are back!

Overheard in the newsroom: Super special September 1 edition

Flip flops are the lazy woman's high heel. 

Yesterday. I had a bad day, I just wanted to play a game of bowling. However, I was not told that I could not have a game of bowling in kandoura. 

There's just no way I'd want to put any of those in my mouth.

Welcome back! I was almost attacked and eaten by this Big Bug

Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, obviously. But I did find myself getting this weird "I'm not alone in here" feeling the other day in the loo, and low and behold, this GIANT Big Bug was eyeing me up from the wall to my right. If I had the nerve I would have held my iPhone up next to it and photographed it with my camera, to show you that the bug was very nearly (with antennae most definitely) as long as the iPhone.

This is not my first encounter with this unsavory sort. There have been several over the last four years, all terrifying. Look, I love all creatures big and small. Except this one.

Long-time readers may recall that several years ago, I opened the door of my first apartment in Abu Dhabi one morning to this. Giant bug who called it quits (I like to imagine this part) after a long arduous journey, just as he knocked, squeaked out "help", flipped on his back and left this world forever.

Does anyone know what Big Bug is actually called, and what it's purpose in this part of the world is other than scaring me at semi-regular intervals? Any information would be most welcome.

UPDATE: Okay fine, it's a cockroach. I knew that, deep down, but I guess I was just hoping that someone would write to say "oh it's a rare Yemenese jute beetle, the sighting of which brings life-long luck and prosperity", or something like that. I would also like to stress that this sighting was in the work loo. The closest one of these big boys has been to my home was on that doorstep several years ago. And thank goodness: how would one go about killing it? It's the size of a squirrel.