When you are reading this post, I would be enjoying my coffee and the two day staycation at Cove Rotana, Ras Al Khaimah. I know it is still scary to be out in the world with the numbers again slowly rising in the UAE but I think it is a well deserved rest.
When I say well deserved, I want to remind that I have been following the rules, restrictions and the curfew for six months now – yes the whole COVID-19 drama started here in the late February. I have stayed home as much as possible and the very few times I went out, I followed social distancing and with the gloves/masks.
Sure, it is the bare minimum, but staying cooped up in the house and working all through the pandemic is so depressing and sad. And hence the staycation (also because the prices were cheap for obvious reasons).
Anyway I will still be following all the precautions and santization, as required. But I need the beach, whatsoever. So the next time I talk to you guys I hope to be well rested and more fun than usual.
Here are some pictures of the hotel we are staying in for you!
What better way to meet you all after a long gap than a monthly update post? So here I am with the October update.
While I feel like have to search for words to type and things to say, I am sure it is just that I feeling a bit rusty and it would get better soon. Here we go.
I flew to Macau, China for getting my recovering cousin back home to India. Thanks to the flight schedule and the time zone changes, I went about 33 hours without sleep, my longest ever.
I also traveled down to Langkawai and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a well deserved holiday after the hectic and emotional months.
Got out of the stupid reading slump and I am currently on a reading spree. (More on that below.)
And last week I joined a fitness gym and am hoping that I would hit it often enough to get my money’s worth.
I am holding the best for the last. The summer in Dubai is long gone and we are hanging on to that shortest period between summer and winter which means the weather is pleasant and the sky is blue. And am loving it.
I am on vacation in India still, and I kinda extended it by ten days. So I thought I will give you an update on how things are working out currently. I have been shuttling between cities, just as I expected and it is not as bad as I have been whining about.
But hey the good news is I am avoiding returning to Dubai’s heat for another ten days and spending time meeting family, friends and even catching up with some bloggers in real life. The only downfall seems to be my inconsistent blogging schedule and I have been feeling terribly guilty about it. Do you have those bloggers’ remorse?
What I read this week
On the other hand my reading has been going great and I have been on track mostly. I read two books in the last week.
The joy luck club
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
On my blog
As I mentioned already, I haven’t blogged in a while. It is not that I don’t have time to write up one but it is just not the same when you are on a holiday.
I am lost without a routine and probably that’s what holidays are about! Anyway here is the single post I published in the past three weeks.
Since I haven’t had blog hopped and don’t even know what’s happening in the blogosphere, I am gonna talk about whom I met in last few weeks!
I met Shruti from This ls Lit and Mathangi from The Word Glutton in Chennai two weeks ago! And you will not believe this is the first time we are hanging out outside of a book event.
We ended up spending more than five hours talking about nothing and everything. Who am I kidding? We were talking about books, feminism and representation of brown people in books!
And we clicked a lot of fun pictures.
Tanvi from A reader to whatever end visited the town when I was around and Nandini from Unputdownable books and I caught up with her.
Again a coffee date extended to a five hour giggle fest! Wait who said we bookworms are the quiet ones?
I am totally looking forward to meeting some more Bookstagrammers and bloggers this week! Fingers crossed!!
Pin me!
Let us chat
What’s up with you? Who are the bloggers that you have met in real life? Do you think it is my bloggers’ remorse is normal and do you have ever faced it? Let’s talk.
Hello to everyone who is enjoying their summer while I am not. Yes spring is long gone and it is an early summer around here at Dubai. And before you ask, yes I am gonna keep complaining about the heat till it is autumn and the temperature falls – bear with it!
Anyway we went on a short vacation last during the week long holidays for Eid celebrations. We traveled to Musandam which is part of Oman but still physically surrounded by the UAE and just about three hours drive from Dubai.
While the current temperature at Musandam was almost similar to Dubai, I loved relaxing pool side and having room service delivering the food. We also took a dhow (boat) ride for snorkeling in the middle of the sea and watched the dolphins play around in their natural habitat.
Of course I clicked so many photos that my iPhone started giving out the memory warnings. I have been sharing them on my Instagram, which you should be following already.
What I read this week
After a great reading month, I hope I don’t crash with a reading slump in June. But a buddy reading kept me going.
I didn’t watch much TV this week, due to the holidays and the trip.
I have started watching a Spanish mystery thriller Alta Mar or High seas, which seems like a Christie thriller, on Netflix. Needless to say, I am enjoying it.
On my blog
I am gonna blame it on the holidays and the holidays induced coma that I had not posted as much on my blog. Here is a quick look at what is happening on my blog
Twitter is great for bookworms, but it also doesn’t lack some drama. Read about the latest drama about YA authors defending shipping problematic relationships on Your Tita Kate’s post.
I loved Britt’s post on Is blogging really dead? on Alternatively Speaking discussing how blogging has changed over the years.
I found this hilarious guide on finding the perfect book on Starry Sky Books and I am sure you will love it as well.
Hello people, I am writing from the warm Dubai and the weather is still being weird here. We took off to Marjan Islands, in Ras Al Khaimah which is another Emirate (State?) in the UAE to enjoy the short Spring.
For those of you all interested, Marjan Islands is a man made archipelago in the Persian Gulf and is about less than 2 hours drive from where I live. It was just a two nights stay and was fun being in the beach for a change.
Pic: Google
But didn’t I say the weather was weird? The sun kept playing hide and seek all through the day and then the rain poured down as we drove back home.
And then IT RAINED FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS! In DUBAI. Yes that literally has never happened in the whole time I have been here.
Anyway here are some pictures from the trip for you all.
What I read this week
I read The Woman in the Window by Finn A.J for our all female book club called the bookworms of UAE.
And I am currently reading the Curious incident of the dog in the night for the Classics N’ Christie club, which I hope to complete tonight, before the end of March.
Don’t you hate it when you schedule a post and it just won’t get published on time? Well that happened quite a number of times this week for me. My Friday post never got published and I hate that it is still on my draft and is waiting impatiently for its time.
