BELLION TRAVELS MONTHLY RECAP: June 2020

I don’t know what it is but lately, I haven’t been in the mood to do anything. I don’t want to read, I don’t want to blog, I don’t want to go out……

Tim thinks its the early stages of depression. I just believe the quarantine, the lock down (not being able to visit my family in the same country), my job and many other factors are the reasons behind my current mental state but it is mainly work. I’m overloaded with work and we haven’t taken an annual leave for more than a year. I have been having high blood pressure which causes dizziness and nausea. So, I’m avoiding people at the moment and been eating healthy, going for walks, drinking cool drinks and doing things to reduce my stress.

I’m working really hard to distress myself and I do want to blog and I do want to surround myself with positive energy. I am doing my best.

Enough with negativity, here is a quick recap of my June.

Destinations I’ve visited

United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi

Highlights of the month

  • We stay at Intercontinental Hotel, Abu Dhabi

What I watched?

Series:

This is Us: I loved it from the moment the series started. Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia have such amazing chemistry. Sterling is so handsome lol.

Movies: 

Your Name: I cried a lot towards the end of the series. Love the story.

Rocketman: It was so good. It exceeded my expectation.

The Lion King: I preferred the cartoon but the movie made me so sad especially because they look real lol.

What music did I listen to?

https://www.deezer.com/us/playlist/1390327745

https://www.deezer.com/us/playlist/7811372402

https://www.deezer.com/us/playlist/7811355302

What I read this month?

I didn’t read anything but I have 3 books which are pending and currently I’m studying anthropology online.

What did I blog about?

Bellion Travels Monthly Recap: May 2020

 

In my next blog, I will write about our staycation at Intercontinental Hotel, Abu Dhabi.

 

BELLION TRAVELS MONTHLY RECAP: May 2020

Honestly, quarantine and the curfew is getting to us. Especially that work increased and on top of that all, Tim and I didn’t take leave for a year. We were suppose to be in England in June and now all our travel plans are on hold.

We’ve been watching a lot of T.V and Netflix and we are getting bored. Summer is here and it’s just so hot to go outside for a walk.

Anyway here is an recap of what we did in the month of May.

Destinations I’ve visited

  • United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah

Highlights of the month

  • We celebrated the last two days of Ramadan and first day of Eid with my family.

What I watched?

Series: 

Suits: I thought whats the fuss about this series until I started watching it and got hooked.

Dead to Me: I found it funny.

Movies: 

The Willoughbys: Weirdly entertaining

Hundred Foot Journey: I fell in love with movie.

What music did I listen to?

https://www.deezer.com/us/playlist/1276787711

What I read this month?

Since I’ve been feeling down, I started reading Archie Comics again lol.

What did I blog about?

3 Days in Abu Dhabi

Now that everything is slowly going to “normal”, I thought why not write a blog about what can you do in Abu Dhabi in 3 Days.

Day 1: Abu Dhabi City

  • Heritage Village

Abu Dhabi_01

  • Afternoon Tea at Etihad Towers

Abu Dhabi_02

  • Memorial Museum
  • Qasr Al Watan
  • Emirates Palace

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  • Take a walk on the Corniche

Abu Dhabi Mall 01

Qasr Al Watan01

Day 2: Fun day on Yas Island

  • Options: Warner Bros / Ferrari World or Yas Water World
  • Visit F1 Circuit
  • Yas Mall

FW01

Day 3: Art in Abu Dhabi

  • Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Abu Dhabi_04

Abu Dhabi_03

  • Abu Dhabi Louvre
  • Manarat Saadiyat
  • Buddha Bar

Louvre01

Bellion Travels Monthly Recap: April 2020

Ramadan started and I’m finding it very difficult. Like, I’m not able to meet my family because of lock down. The curfew is at 10 PM and Iftar is at 7 PM and I still don’t trust staying at a hotel with all of this going on.

Working from home got extended to 21st May 2020 and honestly, I’m not looking forward to working from the office anytime soon. I found myself productive at home and I always have the energy to cook. I hate washing dishes though even with a dishwasher.

My update for the month of April is just about Movies and Series that I have watched while at staying at home.

So here is my April Quarantine Update.

Destinations I’ve visited

  • United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi (Home to Supermarket – Supermarket to Home)

Highlights of the month

  • Being quarantined
  • Watching a lot of series

What I watched?

Series: 

Oh Gosh! I watched a lot of series this month.

La Casa de Papel (Season 3):

Abstract (Season 1):

The Story of God (Season 1):

Vis a Vis (Season 1 & 2):

Movies: 

Abe:

 

What music did I listen to?

I currently subscribed and joined Deezer but here are some music I listened to.

What I read this month?

I’m still deciding on what to read. I’m having lazy weeks and enjoying watching Netflix lol.

What did I blog about?

Anyway here was the quick recap.

Stay Home Stay Safe x

5 Malls to Visit in Abu Dhabi

Hopefully when the lock-down is over and the virus is gone and everyone is safe and healthy; we will all be able to go out and have a cup of coffee at coffee shops and do a little shopping at malls. So I wanted to share with you the top 5 Malls to visit in Abu Dhabi.

5. Marina Mall: Love the location of the mall.

Abu Dhabi Mall 01
The view from the main area of Marina Mall

4. Yas Mall: It has Clymb and Ferrari World

Abu Dhabi Mall 03
Yas Mall

3. Wahda Mall: Parking can be an issue but it has a good selection of stores if your main purpose is just SHOPPING.

Sorry I do not have any pictures. I only go there for shopping purposes.

2. Abu Dhabi Mall: They have variety of stores and restaurants and also the location is really good.

Abu Dhabi Mall 06
Abu Dhabi Mall
Abu Dhabi Mall 02
View from Wagamama – Abu Dhabi Mall

1. Galleria Mall: The architecture is beautiful, amazing location and view,  variety of stores and restaurants and also has high end stores as well as fine dining restaurants.

Abu Dhabi Mall 04
View from one of the restaurants

 

How we are spending our time at home due to Covid-19

Who has ever thought that when the virus was announced in January that it would turn into a world wide catastrophe. It is sad what the world is going through and how everyone’s life turned upside down and how businesses are not running smoothly but the planet is healing.

Tim and I are considered lucky and blessed that we are working from home, we have a home to keep us safe and a job to cover our expenses. Although I had a pay cut, I still consider it a blessing. I pray for each and every individual who is going through a difficult time during this crisis and I hope this will end soon.

Tim and I have been keeping ourselves busy and making sure we always have something to do. One of the pros of staying at home and being quarantined is that people get extremely bored and discover their hobbies and creativity. The amount of TikToks and videos that are going viral to entertain everyone in the globe is just wonderful.

We haven’t been doing anything crazy or anything extra ordinary but I would like to share with you, how we keep ourselves occupied all the time.

So here goes…

Weekdays from 8 AM – 5 PM: We have our breakfast and start working. During working hours, we put on music we never heard before or sometimes in my case, I listen to podcasts while working. Sometimes I do laundry, organise few things and cook lunch.

After 5 PM, we exercise a little then have dinner while watching Netflix. We also read books and take care of stray cats. We turned our porch and our back garden into a feeding station so cats can eat and we also place water for cats and birds to drink.

Quarantine09

On weekends, Tim gets to sleep a lot. He usually wakes up at 11 AM – 1 PM. I’m a morning person so I’m awake by 7 AM and make breakfast and read a book and by 10ish AM, I watch one episode of any series that I know Tim might not find interesting. When Tim wakes up, we prepare lunch then we either read, watch old movies or paint.

In the evening, we have crackers and cheese and sit and discuss things while having tea. We also arrange Zoom Meetings with our friends to catch up. We always end up talking about the pandemic. I try to avoid the topic but people keep bringing it up. When friends or families send me a whatsapp message about it, I ignore and not reply. I believe in energy and if it is constantly being brought up, you attract the negative energy on yourself and the universe. I believe in praying or asking the universe for good health and to decrease the illness and make the world a better place.

Quarantine07
Keeping our home cozy
Quarantine03
worked on my scrapbook 

Anyway this is what we have been doing at home and as soon as I finish reading 2 books, I will sign up for a Master Class and also an online language course to learn new things.

Let me know what you do and share how you spend your time at home.

Stay Home & Stay Safe

Favourite British Words

This is a random post I’d like to share with you. I wrote a blog post about  ‘15 Things To Know About Being with An Englishman’  and I mentioned “They say things differently and it’s a good thing because it expands your vocabulary” which is so true so I would like to share some British words that are my favourite.

Peckish: Slightly hungry.

HUNGRY

 

 

 

 

 

Bloke:  Referring to a man.

Bloke

Fit: Attractive or Hot so not necessary hitting the gym.

FIT

Knackered: Tired

knackered

Quid: 1 pound. As in ONE GREAT BRITISH POUND.

quid

Nutter: Crazy Person

Crazy Person

Here are some of favourite British words. I will share more words some other time.

CHEERIO

 

Bellion Travels Monthly Recap: March 2020

Here we are entering Q2 of 2020. Time is insanely fast and with this virus that is all over the world. Everything is just INSANE. We’ve been staying at home for 2 weeks now and although we are working from home, I find plenty of time to focus on organising things, learning to cook, I found time to paint and read a book and just working on myself.

I will blog separately about things I have been doing at home but anyway here is a recap of March 2020.

Destinations I’ve visited

  • United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah

Highlights of the month

  • Being quarantined
  • Seriousness of Covid-19 in the UAE and the WORLD
  • Visited my family and friends before this chaos.
  • Staying at home and discovering creativity lol.
  • We booked tickets for an orchestra that would have happened on 31st March 2020 but it got cancelled and the event coordinators will refund the amount.

What I watched?

Series:

Narcos – Season 2 (MEXICO):

Elite – Season 3:

The Chef Show – Volume 3:

Movies:

The Platform:

Spenser Confidential:

What music did I listen to?

 

What I read this month?

51kdPUE3KCL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_

What did I blog about?

 

This was a summary of what happened in the month of March and hopefully things will get better.

Stay at Home and Stay Safe x

AL AIN: Cycling in Al Ain Oasis

An amazing historical place to visit in the UAE. It is approx. 3000 acre and it was built to tame the desert.

Tim and I rented a bicycle for an hour to ride around the oasis rather than walking it. Honestly, you can do both and it’s massive. Around the oasis, there are museums and art galleries to stop and see.

I highly recommend you visit Al Ain Oasis, I guarantee you will have a good time.

 

ABU DHABI: Mangrove Walk

The Mangrove Park  opened earlier this year and it was built on Al Jubail Island. The gates open at 8AM and close at 5PM. So to avoid the crowd due to the Covid-19, we decided to visit the park at 8AM LOL. By the way, there is no entrance fee and food and drinks are not allowed and they have a couple coffee shops at the entrance of the park. Other than that just enjoy the walk and we recommend to visit when it is high tide.

It was a beautiful morning walk and very surreal.