Restaurants. Hotels. Experiences
Just before leaving Dubai with the little ones for a few weeks, the husband and I sneaked in one last dinner date. Prime 52 it was – a short stroll from home. We contemplated driving over just in case either of us break a sweat – but the idea of getting into a car when […]
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Over the long weekend – we took the kids along with us to review CHAIHONA in the Marina. As a long-time resident in the community, we cycle pass the restaurant all the time, and have always wondered what it was like inside. Did you know that Kids Eat Free at CHAIHONA this summer? Curious to […]
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We get excited when we see another licensed venue opening up within walking distance from home. Introducing GABA, the latest addition to the row of bars down the Harbour end of Dubai Marina. I met up with a friend on a schoolnight, to review the venue over an early dinner. Here’s what to expect at […]
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April 2026 : Please note that Siddharta Lounge is now permanently closed. See Best Friday Evening Brunches in Dubai for other options. We walked across the bridge, towards Grosvenor House last Friday, for a date night. It was after all – Siddharta Lounge – a venue that we were very familiar with – but still […]
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We reached out to an Italian Mum to share her favourite Italian restaurants in and around the Dubai Marina. It’s always good to ask an actual Italian what is actually considered authentic – from their point of view, isn’t it? Have a read of this guest post written by Venere – who is originally from […]
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Most happy hours deals in Dubai start after work, which for most people is – around 5pm, or 6pm. Unfortunately this does not work for me, as that’s ‘dinner-time’ with the kids. For a lot of us who are able to sneak out earlier in the afternoon, an early mid-afternoon drink suits better. That way […]
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A friend of mine who’s very much well-acquainted with the Russian mums community told me about this new cafe in the marina with an amazing play area. Unicorn Cafe – it was called. We went over mid April to review the venue with the kids in tow – excited to see another cafe so close […]
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One of our most memorable staycations was at the Address Beach Resort two years ago. I remember floating around in their infinity pool – mesmerised by the spectacular views from the 77th floor. Wouldn’t it be nice, to sit in a restaurant all afternoon – come winter or summer, and have that view? Well, hats […]
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There are some experiences that are better explained through images and video – and Koyo is one of them. Having done the Kabuki brunch with friends many weeks beforehand, I was pretty excited to take mum back there for ladies night. We got dressed up on a Wednesday night, jumped into a taxi and got […]
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What a brunch it was – Kabuki at Koyo. Performances, atmosphere, the food, the drinks. The buzz. They had it all. Here’s what to expect, if you are planning to do the Kabuki Brunch.
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Elegant, you say?
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We returned to Eauzone one fine school night, all excited and dressed up for a much-awaited date night. One&Only Royal Mirage’s modern asian beachside restaurant had recently introduced a new menu. It would be our first time dining there without the little people, which also means we can actually look at the food, eat it […]
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The family brunch at The Address Dubai Marina relaunched mid September this year. There was a little bit of noise made during its comeback, though we did not hear anything from the local community forums or mummy circles. After numerous attempts to reach out to their marketing team (unashamedly as well..haha) – I surrendered and […]
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How would you like to have a 3-course meal, perched 50 metres in the air – on a structure that is being hung off a crane? Here’s Dinner in the Sky – located right by Sky Dive Dubai. A Dubai ‘bucket list’ item for sure – particularly as it does come with a price tag. […]
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Having been to the Marriott Harbour numerous times over the years, particularly when we used to live next door – the Friday Brunch was one of many on our to-do list. Off we went one hot summer afternoon with the family to review the Sky High Brunch at the Observatory, situated on the 52nd floor. […]
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Here’s one for those who have Wednesday’s off, and would like to spend a day at a really chic beach club. Drift Beach it is – located right at the edge of One and Only Royal Mirage, by the Palm Monorail. I had seen lots of photos of the place before but never really looked […]
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Back in August, I saw a post about pizza making for little ones in our neighbourhood. Made a phone call, a spot was booked for my girl and off we went. She had such a great time kneading dough, spreading tomato sauce and sprinkling cheese all over the place. All the fun things toddlers get […]
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A ladies night listing put together for those who never really want to venture too far from Dubai Marina – cause really, anything more than a 20 AED taxi ride is too far, right? So set that date with your girlfriends – it’s time you put your hair down, put on a nice dress and […]
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This one’s our local hangout. Been here so many times as we live in the area – pre-kids and post-kids 🙂 Now that we’re on Privilee, and that we have two extra people to entertain, we’ve been coming back to The Address a lot, lot more. Whilst it’s not one of the more exciting ‘resort-type’ […]
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Not sure how to start on this one. Let’s just keep it short and sweet.
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As I type, I notice that the red Hideout wristband is still on. My head hurts. Evening brunch at The Hideout was good fun. We used to go to that same location in the Marina Byblos many years ago when it was Societe (click here). Ah… those days, feels like a distant memory now 🙂 […]
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So… it’s been a long time since we’ve been to a couples spa treatment. My neck and back has been aching since no.2 came along. I gave the Entertainer App a try, then went onto Cobone… and found this. 60 minutes spa treatment, plus pool and beach access for AED 229. That’s AED 460 for the […]
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We moved out two months ago now. Five years, we stayed here – our first home in Dubai, in the heart of the Dubai Marina. Lots of people moan about the marina traffic, and I always tell this to everyone else – it was okay at where we were at. We loved the apartment, the location, […]
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This post was written and published in 2017. This specific deal is no longer available. We still go to The Scene regularly. Have a browse through other breakfast spots we have been going with the family. I hope they don’t ban us. I think we kinda took over the area this morning. Playmats out, babies […]
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April 2026 : Please note that Siddharta Lounge is now permanently closed. Did you make it to the opening party of Siddharta Lounge last Monday? I really should’ve made an effort, gotten dressed up and walked across the bridge. It’s literally a ten minute walk from home and if I peek out of the balcony […]
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If Lovin’ Dubai were to do a post on this, they would probably title it, “This has got to be the best business lunch deal in JBR”…… or “If you work or live in JBR, you have to come here for lunch.” Unfortunately as great a title that would be to get everyone to click on […]
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I’m happy to say that we’ve found a reasonably priced yum cha experience, close enough to what I’ll call authentic. Still not perfect…. but close enough. Some restaurants try to do its best, but without the pork factor, you can never really bring out the authenticity of yum cha. That’s me looking at a lot […]
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Another in my series of photos taken from our place, of the famous ‘Dubai fog’ – click here for the others. A little different this time round…. this is the ‘mummy version’, i.e getting up just as the sun was rising, around 6am, with some appearance of a giant duck. Credits to a 6-month old […]
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Dear Sofitel JBR, someone needs to re-look at your website! I’ve just tried to find the details of the awesome breakfast deal that we had yesterday (keywords : breakfast sofitel jumeirah beach residence) so I could link my blog post to it later on, but failed. Click, click, click, click, still nothing. So, you must […]
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We watched as this new cafe slowly appeared behind the Marriott : Counter Culture Cafe, hmm. It’s a 5 minutes walk from home, yet over the last two months since it has launched there was never any talk about it from friends, nor did it ever appear on my Entertainer App or any other deal […]
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Few weeks ago I was struggling to find a ladies night spot for Wednesday, so I jumped onto this site and out popped Shades. Ah ha, since when did Shades have a ladies night? 🙂 I emailed them ( as the sceptical person in me does ) to reconfirm, and they repied to say it’s on, woohoo! […]
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He he he. The 1st of the month is always exciting for liloneoftheashes. That’s when the Entertainer gives its monthly deals. This morning I woke up, and had a flick around the app and guess who’s on – Bussola Italian Restaurant, at The Westin Mina Seyahi 🙂 We’ve seen this place from the outside many […]
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Few days ago I was not well, came home after work and was laying in bed, resting. My nose was running, my throat was sore, and my body ached 🙁 I started going through all the 241s in my HSBC Entertainer and couldn’t find a single massage suitable for my ‘current state’ i.e pregnant. O […]
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Just to add to my ‘above the clouds’ series over the last few years, here’s a collection of photos taken from my phone when I woke up yesterday morning 😉 Always pretty isn’t it…… Click here for the 2013 photos, and here for January 2015. Gutted with the construction really, now the Cayan Tower doesn’t […]
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Writing about your experience at a spa treatment is not easy. With food you can take a lot of pretty photos, from this angle, that angle, aerial view, macro shot, and it makes your blog post looks very….. interesting. It makes you hungry 🙂 When it comes to spas, unless you’re quite happy to display […]
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Don’t worry, they’re not closing! Just for the summer 😉 Recently we seem to have always ended up at Societe after dinner out with friends. The music’s good, and the little guy with the signature hand-waving-in-front-of-face move is always there for comic relief. Next Friday Societe is closing for summer, with their ‘Happy Ending’ party […]
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We woke up early this morning and decided, let’s go for a cycle while the rest (okay, maybe just some) of the marina is still hungover in bed.
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Grosvenor House was celebrating having more than 2000 followers on instagram, and we jumped at the opportunity to join in this afternoon for their celebrations at Rhodes W1 🙂
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March 2016 update : Looks like they’ve finally lifted the ban 🙂 Not too sure if our many phonecalls, emails to Emaar and RTA, and continuous social media posts did anything but we would very much like to think it did 🙂 Victory to the residents! Link to update here. *************************************************** Original post, from January […]
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Back where I can view my own blog, access social media and check my gmail. Yay 🙂 Blogging time! Two years ago, we were in awe as fog covered most of the marina, giving us a magical view of this. Few days ago when I was in China, G sent me images of the same. […]
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Two kiwis, three filipinos, two japanese and one englishman walked into Asia Asia on Friday. 3 hours later, they left with a full tummy and very, very happy 🙂 Sincere apologies for the last minute cancellation two Friday’s ago. I was over-excited when I saw that Entertainer Monthly Offers had you guys on for brunch […]
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Hee hee. To all that came, thanks 🙂 A month ago I was scouting a few places to host my birthday do. Some got back to me but did not quite fit what I was looking for. Yasmine rang me very promptly to explain what they could offer, and after visiting the place the following day, I […]
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Photos like these, you’ll only see it now. The finished product – once the cladding, the facade is on, is beautiful – but no one ever sees what’s underneath. The concrete, the steelwork, the bare structure. The hard work that the people in the industry put into – from the client, to consultants (yes, architects […]
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We pass by Pier 7 everytime we cycle, and watched as one by one the bars and restaurants open its doors to public. Now if you don’t own a bicycle, or live in the marina, it might seem a lil hard to get there. The safest and easiest way is to get dropped off at […]
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18.10.2014 – Post Event Thoughts So were you there? Did you have fun? My head hurts 🙂 I managed to snap one photo at the beginning around 4:30 pm, and the rest is history. First time to Societe and damn, why haven’t we been there before. Well if you’re in your late twenties, or in your thirties, […]
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Photo credits to the lovely CG 🙂 I sent an email on the 25th of January 2013, to the Dubai Marriott Harbour & Suites, asking them if they had any Ladies Night. They had then replied to say unfortunately not, but they do have Happy Hour, which we have been to so many times in the […]
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6 girls. 24 drinks. A fat juicy steak each. Bill came to be about 170AED per person, which includes a random selection of delicious sides to share. Hmm, not too bad ay, for a school night 🙂 So I’ve seen this Ruth’s Chris Steak House on my facebook wall for ages now. It’s not too far […]
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Last week, I was invited to try out one of the treatments in Saray Spa. Funnily enough this is one of the few spas that I have actually been to a few times before. So, you can say that my write-up is definitely a fair one, as I’ve always had high regards of its staff […]
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Been looking forward to write on this lil find in the marina 🙂 Last Saturday when K was here, we went out for a cycle around the marina and ended up at Pier 7. I had originally planned to take her to Ocacti for ladies night, supposedly sunset cocktails from 6-9pm. We wandered through the […]
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How would you like to, spend 3 hours in a classy lounge in a 5-star hotel, have some scones and gourmet sandwiches, catch up with friends, whilst a lady plays live piano in the background, sip on amazingly fragrant tea (that you can get choose from a frikin’ tea box!)? When you’re done with the […]
Read MoreI bought one of those groupon deals the other day – this was 159 AED for Hair Cut, Blow Dry, Schwarzkopf Treatment & Full Head Colour ( add-on 70AED for long hair ). Spent 3 hours yesterday afternoon under the care of Alan himself – walked out a happy girl 🙂 It’s a fairly new […]
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So here I am sitting cross-legged on my red carpet, all excited to blog about my random weekend rendezvous at the Le Royal Meridien 🙂 Not to be mistaken as the other SPG resort with a similar name on the same stretch about 5 minutes drive away. I’ve always wondered why the other one (where Barasti […]
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Not many places do lunches. I had a few stray Entertainer vouchers at home in the weekend and I started to call to book and most said they only opened for dinner. Stinky. Observatory, a short stroll from us was fortunately open for lunch! 🙂 With the 2 for 1, you can have a classy, […]
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Back in June when M was here, I took her to experience brunch at The Talk in Moevenpick Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Now G and I have been to Moevenpick a few times, big fan of Chinwaggery, the bar outside, but we had never dined in the adjacent restaurant. Expectations weren’t high, as from our previous walk-throughs it […]
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Can’t believe we live so close but the first time that I went up there was just a few weeks ago! Was there again last night, and the night before. Hehehe. Absolutely packed. Thanks to the very sweet Vivian (a guy!) who attended to us and kept me happy with glasses of Malbec. Observatory provides […]
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I’m sleepy. DSS has kicked off and we’ve just been wandering through Dubai Mall. I didn’t buy a single thing. I’m so sad 🙁 Maybe some blogging will cheer me up he he. M’s here – thought it’ll be nice to show her some of Dubai’s nightlife. And what’s a better place than Embassy, just […]
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06.06.13 He he I’m starting a post that I’ll keep updating, since I’ve completely fallen in love with the South-east Asian food in The Noodle Room. This will be a collection of my ongoing reviews of its dishes. Click here for its menu. *Gasp* – yes it is what it looks like – Char Kway […]
Read MoreSitting cross-legged on our black dining room chairs, warm summer breeze wafting in, Sheikh Zayed Road’s traffic overwhelmed by the constant drilling from the adjacent site. I wonder what they’re going to do there? Please built a park! It’s nice to be home again. Here’re some snapshots from my little work trip to Makati : […]
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Harry Potter theme song playing in the background…. We never get sick of this ay Beautiful isn’t it? Taken, Sunday morning 12th of May 2013 around 7 am.
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So disappointed 🙁 I’ve read and heard good reviews about this place. We cycle pass it a lot of time now and it’s always pretty packed with asians, so we figured – it must be good?
Read MoreDon’t drink too much of that pink stuff. It gives you the worst hangover ever the next day. We brought some guests from Singapore there on Thursday night to “check out Dubai nightlife”. It was busy as hell, music was so loud and crowded with expats. Quite different to the last time that we were […]
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Updated post, 13th March 2015 Been two years since I’ve been back to Dek on 8 for their ladies night. Wasn’t the best experience back then to be honest (read review below), but I’m glad I gave it a second chance 😉 So last Wednesday, after one drink (Ps – not the best white wine, […]
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Best to blog when it’s still fresh, otherwise I tend to get lazy and then kinda forget about it 😉 First off, Happy New Year everyone! Been absent for weeks now as we’ve gone back home for the holidays and well, just been lazy really. My dad keep telling me during brunch today – you […]
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Us girls have been here probably more than 10x now, since I’ve moved here. That’s gotta say something for itself 🙂 Over summer we’ve always contemplated trying a different Ladies Night. Timeout Magazine lists a few. But the thing is – it’s always so much easier/better just to go to Embassy because It’s a 10DHS […]
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Didn’t do the food justice with my lousy camera skills. Sorry! 😉 A girl friend was in town and I hadn’t planned anything. Opened up the HSBC Ent Book and thought I’ll choose something that’s nearby and nice. Saw the Hunters Room & Grill and thought – why not? I hadn’t been to the Westin […]
Read MoreAnother nice little mid-week outing 🙂 We had planned to check out Z-One before heading over to The Med, as it was Ladies Night on Tuesdays. Girls get 4 tokens, 2 for house white/red, and another 2 for selected cocktails. You drop your name in and if lucky (aren’t we all), you’ll get a Lush […]
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I’m so excited about this one I’m blogging about it even before going there. Coffee is well known for its anti oxidant properties as well as being a natural stimulant. This ritual begins with a full exfoliation using Black Arabic Coffee and Dead Sea Salts to stimulate and cleanse the body. Once complete a mask […]
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Caviar. Hee hee, our first time, ever 🙂 What’s a better place to have it than at the top floor of Grosvenor House Hotel in the Marina.
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And just when you thought milk and honey couldn’t taste any better….. 🙂 This blog is probably for all the ladies out there, and the few men who are into pampering themselves, or would like to get a gift for their lovely wives. About a week ago I won a whole bunch of stuff, one […]
Read MoreI apologize for the terrible photos. None of us brought a camera that night. Had to test the camera quality of the new HTC One V. Hmm, not super great for night-shots ay :/ Apologies to Blends, but hang on – I’ve good things to say about this place 🙂 And so just when you […]
Read MoreOkay guys, A double Jack Daniels & Coke, on a Tuesday night at Embassy bar is going to cost you AED100. That’s NZD33, or 16pounds. But hey, factor in the number of hot girls in that bar in cocktail dresses, high heels, make up and hair all done, the view from the 43rd floor of […]
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