Lesley has a restless night with what little is left of it. She completes her online application for the visa. '75 percent of tourist visa applications are granted within a working day' reads the application form. Three hours later, the i-phone bings. An e-mail pops up - visa granted. Roy does his after a bit more time on the pillow. Bing! Number two granted. Look out Australia, here come the Smarts! Pam e-mails to ask when we're arriving, she's booked ...

"You need to be a hotel resident to take an abra trip, sir" "We've just checked out, room 212" The security man rummages into a pile of paper, then reluctantly nods us towards Iqbal who kindly invites us onto the boat. We take a tour of the hotel complex, like an Arabic town built on canals. There are even royal quarters, screened from eyes by sandy whitewashed walls and lush trees. We learn a bit about Iqbal's life in Southern India. He's worked here for...

I-phone GPS is a great thing. The fact is that our taxi driver doesn't have a clue where we've asked him to go is. Neither did we, but we pointed him in the right direction. He overshoots the street, no worries, we have the spot on our GPS and get him right to the front door. Today we've come to Katherine and Jenna's new venture launch. You can tell we're the visitors as everybody else is trim and healthy looking. The business is called 'Born to Perform',...

The latest Facebook craze is to pour cold iced water over yourself and donate to charity. The odd thing is that it isn't the folk who nominate you who donate, but you yourself. Hard to believe but Lexi the Labrador nominated Lesley.......mmm, some human had something to do with that methinks. How unfortunate, you are leading a good life and someone (usually a 'friend') comes along, challenges you then it's you that has to dig into your pockets! As my mother...

"It's easy," Malcolm says, glancing over his shoulder, "just look at the weather outside. Why would I want to go back to Scotland?" Expending vast amounts we have opted to stay at the posh Al Qasr Jumeriah. Everybody says hello to you, even the security guard on every floor. The downside is that we can only afford to travel cattle class on Emirates. Not to worry, with 16 restaurants to choose from, a fantastic beach (hot sea) and pool (cooled), transport b...