Frugal Expat » Shops

Where to buy Maternity Clothes in Abu Dhabi?

Frugal Xpat — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:13:03 +0000

It is quite a challenging task to find maternity working clothes here in Abu Dhabi. Although you will find some casual clothes for pregnant women, maternity office clothes are hard to find.

So after asking few of my pregnant friends, I came up with the following shops that sell maternity clothes.

H&M (Abu Dhabi Mall): I highly recommend this shop. I like the designs and so far this is the only shop I visited that has more options of working clothes for pregnant women.

Studio Style (Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre): Good selection for casual maternity clothes and prices are reasonable.

9 months (Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre): I accidentally discovered this maternity shop in the ground floor. It is just a small shop and their products are made from Turkey.

Max (Al Mariah Mall): Located in the ground floor, they have selection of casual maternity clothes at very affordable prices though designs are very limited.

MotherCare (Marina Mall): This was the first shop I visited. Quite costly and they have limited options only.

If you know any shops for maternity clothes, please let me know!

Second Hand Books

Frugal Xpat — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 14:09:48 +0000

I still need to find proper shelves for my new collections.

Even before I embraced the life of sensible frugality, I always believe on buying second hand novels books. I love collecting and reading books but I do not have the means to cave in always to such indulgence.

So following my post earlier about places in Abu Dhabi where you can hunt second items, I scoured the Dubizzle looking for a good deal of used books last month. Then I hooked up with a woman who read voraciously and fortunately has the resources to buy new books.

Initially she was selling the used novel books at Dhs 10 (USD 2.74) but after negotiating we agreed to slash the price into half considering that I would buy the entire books.

And now, I am proud to add another 136 books in my collection with the genres (detective, crime and thriller) I really enjoy reading.

If you have books to donate for me, let me know and I will be more than happy to receive it. Rest assure your books will be at home in good hands.

Where to Buy Pork Products and Meat in Abu Dhabi

Frugal Xpat — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:37:51 +0000

Let’s be honest… Pork BBQ is delish (a vocabulary I learned from Rachel Ray which means delicious), right? For those who have never been here in UAE, you may wonder how on earth you can crave for pork products and dishes when it is a Muslim country.

Actually, there are only selected shops in Abu Dhabi that sell pork products. You can purchase though not all branches in Spinneys, a premier supermarket with branches spread out across Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Available items include ranging from sausages, hams, frozen and fresh meat, and other pork products.

Pork Meat in Spinneys

Pork items are not generally displayed in open area or along with the other similar non-pork goods. There is a specific room allotted for it with a noticeable signage - “Pork for Non-Muslim”. I really cannot say if the prices are expensive or not because I have never been to other pork shops except for Spinneys. However, the price for fresh meat ranges from 40 to 60 dirhams (approximately $10 – $16) per kilo.

I personally recommend shopping in Spinneys - Khalidiya Branch because it is spacious with ample nearby parking space. It has also an alcoholic beverage shop, one reason that this branch is swarmed by expats.

Spinneys - Khalidiya Branch

Just a caution – If you do not have a car, you need to stretch your patience because it is quite difficult to get a taxi in this area. There is always a queue of shoppers waiting for taxi.