Dubai 15 - Summer Sales

It's summer here and that means two things: first, it's really hot. Second, the sales are on!

Dubai has, perhaps, every chain of shops in the world, from Prada to Suzhou Heavy Industrial Pumps. Clothing wise, there are all the European brands, including quite a lot of Italian ones. Yessir, if you don't just want to look woggy, but you want to look Chapel Street-woggy, or like a footballer, come and shop here. Start with some white, pointy shoes, then head into one of the Dolce & Gabbana stores for something excessively flashy and then accessorise next door at the Louis Vuitton shop. (I said to my friend Bridge that LV just looked common and she came back with "that's because footballers' wives shop here". Nail. Head. Hit it. Why did LVMH chose to send its flagship down the same road as Burberry?) Finally, pop into Gucci for some sunglasses as big as your head. (I mean seriously, the next step up from the current oversized sun-gigs fashion is the sun-helmet with full-face visor.)

Now, if you want to deck out your home, the only place to go to satisfy your inner Greek is Home Centre. We're talking tassles on the ornate sofas, more tassles to hang around the door, braid trimming on the cushions, stone lions, and a good discount on concrete for your lawn.

There is no shortage of shops, either. Malls are so prevalent that people go mall-walking (power walking in malls for exercise) because everything else seems to be road (and you get to window shop at speed). I'd rather brave the heat personally, than the slow-walkers...

The other thing there are lots of are supermarkets. In my neighbourhood, there are a good half dozen within 5 - 10 minutes walk. These are kind of specialists supermarkets, but they don't specialise in things like expensive honey from Denmark (Carrefour carries that). Instead, it's more like one supermarket spread over six locations. The dairy products are in the Street 13a supermarket along with onions, Street 22 carries meat and stationery, while Mankhool Road has the other vegetables and luggage. Then you get the corner shops which are even more limited: cereal but no milk, for instance.

Carrefour piles everything under one roof, though. And I mean everything, from flat screen TVs to sacks of spice, Argentinian beef and, on a Friday, about 100,000 Indians - the poor bastards don't have any other entertainment and, since staying in on their day off means hanging out with a dozen roommates, Carrefour is the place to be. Makes you appreciate what you've got...

Time to push on for the day. Later.