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Traveling on a Budget to Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Qasr Al Watan Presidential Palace Abu Dhabi.

I traveled with my boyfriend from Athens to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for a quick weekend break. We found cheap flights from kiwi.com and booked our hotel from booking.com.

It was a fun and eventful two day trip and we managed to see all the major attractions in this short period of time. We saw the Presidential Palace of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Dubai Fountain, Burj Khalifa, and the Dubai Mall. Of course all within a budge.😉

Here’s a breakdown of all our expenses:

Flights for two people from Athens to Abu Dhabi with 10kg hand luggage and return from kiwi.com 116€ and 279€.
Pre-booked private car delivery from the airport to the hotel from booking.com with a 36 percent discount, 27,92€.
Ramada Abu Dhabi Downtown hotel for three nights from booking.com 278€.
Water bottle 0,5l 1€.
Entrance to Qasr Al Watan Presidential Palace Abu Dhabi for two people AED 130 (32€), so one ticket is 16€.
Entrance to The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is free but you have to take a taxi or order a private car to get there.
Taxis local and Uber to see main attractions in Abu Dhabi approx 10€ per ride.
Indian lunch for two in Abu Dhabi, 12,63€.
Lebanese dinner for two in Abu Dhabi, 12,43€.
Bus from Abu Dhabi bus station to Dubai with return AED 50, 12,40€ per person.
Dubai metro nol card (you need the card to purchase the bus ticket from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and top up money for the metro). Minimum balance is AED 7,50 (1,90€) and depends where you travel, how much money you need to load. Two metro zones in Dubai with Silver nol card is AED 5 (1,24€)
The Dubai Fountain afternoon/ evening shows are free of charge.
Fujiya Sushi Restaurant lunch for two in Dubai, 58,28€.
Nablus Eats falafel/ chicken wrap meals for two in Dubai Mall, 17,88€
Uber taxi to the airport from downtown Abu Dhabi, 35€

Since we only had two full days, we took a bus from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and spent a day exploring the Burj Khalifa area and saw the Dubai Fountain afternoon and evening shows.

Dubai is better and more modern than Abu Dhabi for international people, but of course, more expensive too.

Though it is very nice that some of the main attractions are free of charge, such as the Dubai Fountain. The Dubai Mall is also full of entertainment for tourists for free or for a price, depends on your budget. You can see the giant aquarium for free inside the mall but if you want to go inside the aquarium and see the fish closer by, you have to buy an expensive ticket. It is not worth in my opinion because the design of the public aquarium is enough to enjoy the exotic fish. So again, don’t fall for the tourist traps. The aquarium and the Dubai Fountain shows are for free, but if you want to spend extra money, you can rent a boat at the fountain or buy the expensive aquarium ticket.

All in all it was a lovely short weekend trip to explore a new culture and amazing buildings and international food! We both recommend to visit these main attractions for a quick visit in The United Arab Emirates and we also proved that it is possible to travel to Dubai within a budget. 😉

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi. I had to buy this dress to enter the mosque. Luckily, there is an underground mall from where you can enter the mosque and buy scarves and dresses. This grey dress was only 11,20€.

Glamorous Sonia Gets Microblading Removed

Microblading has become a popular way to enhance your beautiful facial features worldwide. That is of course if the artist makes your brows pretty. If she doesn’t want to do that, it will be an endless years long HUGE mess and a waste of money. This is what unfortunately happened to me because I trusted two Finnish brow artists. I truly believe the second one who “fixed” my brows was a mentally ill scammer. Some women are so insecure about themselves that they simply refuse to do their job correctly BUT also have no problem in charging you full fees! Pathetic much.

Here are some pictures of the time line of my eyebrows.

I was a stupid pre-teenager and plucked my eyebrows when I was 12-years old. Luckily, it wasn’t so bad BUT then a Finnish cosmetologist plucked the rest of them out when I was 17 (2002)! After that abuse they never grew back again. I lived with my horrible eyebrows, once even consulting a plastic surgeon about implanting hair in Finland. He didn’t recommended the procedure but suggested microblading. Eventually, I did then go for microblading, but I did the mistake to do it in Finland! Finnish cosmetologists are extremely unprofessional and jealous. When you look at the pictures above, it would have been so easy to do light hair strokes, but the brow “artist” made a complete mess. I do not recommend to do ANY beauty procedures in Finland. I got the laser removal done in Tallinn, Estonia. Here’s my vlog post about the whole procedure. All in all, I totally recommend the laser removal since it’s scar free, reasonably priced and it works like magic. The only downfall is that you need 3-4 procedures ( each costs 99€ in Estonia) and you have to wait two months for the area to heal between procedures. I do not recommend microblading (at least in Finland). I WASTED 750€ for the scammer woman. I’m still considering to try a Middle Eastern, Iranian or Egyptian brow artist because in their culture they appreciate beautiful eyebrows and work professionalism. If you would like to get more information about my eyebrow disaster, drop me a message. ❤️

Budget Travel Destination – Greece

Exploring Archaeological Site of Kerameikos in Athens. This cute cotton flower dress was only 19€ from Athens paired with Pinko belt (99€ from Tallinn).

If you want to travel within a budget, avoid everything touristic. Vacations can be extremely expensive or affordable depends how you budget your expenses. It’s also better for your peace of mind, since many tourists think they are world-travellers and experts on international people and relations if they spend two weeks in a 5-star hotel or a resort. Living abroad is more eye-opening than touristing around many places for a week with people from your country.

Local friends are the best way to explore a new city or a country. If you don’t have local friends, try expat websites and other sites that organise international events and get-togethers. I would avoid Tinder and other dating apps as a first method of finding new friends in a new country because those people are not looking for friends and sightseeing buddies. Hah. It’s good to have local knowledge to find the best spots to eat local cuisine and not get ripped off in tourist traps (for example, Mykonos is famous for this).

Cute cats and orange trees everywhere in Athens.

This was my first trip to Greece and I really loved it. Flowers, orange trees and cats everywhere. People were generally friendly, but many of them were stressed out from tourists (again a good reason to avoid areas packed with tourists). Athens has a super international vibe that reminded me of NYC a bit. Be careful with thieves though! Little street brats robbed 20€ from me when I tried to purchase a metro ticket. They cancelled the transaction from the machine and took the 20€ bill while the other kid distracted me. So be careful when you travel alone!

So here’s what I spent on my ten days trip from Tallinn to Athens to Corfu and back from Corfu to Athens and Tallinn:

Flights. Tallinn-Athens-Tallinn, Aegean Airlines, 378,72€.
Airbnb in Athens for eleven nights, 562,61€.
Airport taxi in Athens, 38€.
Taxi app Beat within Athens downtown area, 7-11€ per trip.
Metro ticket for 5 days, 8€ x 2, 16€ in total.
Robbery, 20€ lost to street brats at Kati Patisia metro station!
Acropolis + 6 other sights, 5-day ticket, 30€.
Ice coffee with vegan milk, 2,40€.
Lunch salad in Athens, 5,50- 6€.
Sweet crepe in Athens, 3,50- 5€.
Water bottle, 0,5l, 0,50€.
Simple hair cut in Athens, 10€.
Manicure with gel polish in Athens, 18€.
Pedicure with gel polish in Athens, 22€.
Dentist teeth cleaning in Athens, 70€.
Aegean Airlines Corfu travel package included flights Athens-Corfu-Athens and three nights in a 3-star hotel for 329€.
Driving from Athens to Corfu. Find a local friend with a car so you don’t need to hire a car. Three full tanks of gas for four days 450€, road tolls 25€ to go there and 40€ while coming back.
Ferry from Igoumenitsa port to Corfu with Kerkyra Seaways, 5,60€ per person and car 22,50€ one way, in total (with discount), 63,70€.
Fresh seabass in Corfu, 15€ per person.
Agios Stefanos Beach sunbeds with bottled water, two Kumquade soft drinks and two coffees, 21€.

Agios Stefanos Beach in Corfu. Amazingly clear water and peaceful beach spots.

Fashion in Greece is always cute and comfortable. Corfu people can be very posh and snobbish, but if you go out of Corfu Town, you can relax in your cheap but stylish summer clothes and chill on your well deserved vacation after working hard for the whole year! In the pictures below, I’m wearing a 7€ summer hat from Flying Tiger in Tallinn and 100% cotton white top (13,95€) and long skirt (16,95€) from Celestino in Athens. The familiar yellow dress from my previous blog post is from MOHITO Tallinn on sale for 6€. Sunglasses are by MISSONI for 140€ on sale from Tallinn.

Took Kerkyra Seaways ferry for 1,5 hours from Igoumenitsa port to Corfu.

It was a 100 percent alcohol-free vacation for me. Had a quick visit to the ER a month before my trip, so my doctor advised to avoid alcohol until my health is back to normal. No problem, since Greece, especially Corfu, had AMAZINGLY delicious alcohol-free options! Below is a picture of local orange-coloured Corfiot drink made from Kumquade fruit by Mavromatis Kumquat Distillery. The fresh fish was also delicious since through my local friends, found an authentic Greek restaurant up in the hills of Corfu. They made this plate specially for me. On our drive back from Corfu to Athens, we stopped at a gas station and found this pretty water bottle! Turns out it’s healthy too, MastiH₂O water with Mastiha resin has healing and digestive effects.

All in all, my trip was fun, exciting and full of surprises. I recommend Greece and visiting the islands to everyone, because regardless of your budget, there’s something for everyone. Safe travels! (Youtube vlog)

Sustainable Fashion with Fashion Icon Aygün

Sustainable fashion with Glamorous Sonia and Aygun from Kazakhstan — Aygün believes in simple but elegant fashion. We did a cool fashion video together in Tallinn. 👠

Aygün is a young lady from Kazakhstan and currently studies psychology in Europe. She loves plant-based food and sustainable fashion.

Aygün believes in simple style. She doesn’t like to wear too much make-up or have fake hair color and prefers conservative but elegant outfits.

Sustainability is the future of fashion and recycling old clothes is for everyone regardless their income level. In many Asian countries for example, they consider it as “poor” if you buy used clothes whereas in Europe it’s fashionable to go to thrift stores.

Aygün’s black blazer is ten years old from Mango, beige dress is also from Mango for 50€ and the fanny pack is by Tommy Hilfiger for 60€ on sale.

The black boots are from Dr. Martens, bought on sale for 140€.

Her forest green winter coat is from Stradivarius for 60€. The stainless steel smart watch was 500€ by Michael Kors, and the priceless but dear souvenir bracelet is from Salamanka, Spain where she studied.

The green dress is from Zara for 40€ paired with a blue acrylic sweater, 20€, but she didn’t buy them in the end.

We had a fun day shooting the video and taking cool fashion pictures! More to come from Glamorous Sonia and her stylish friends. 🙂

Women With Boyfriends Need to Chill

man in gray suit standing beside woman in green dress — Some women with boyfriends are obnoxious and insist on being the centre of attention at parties while their boyfriends are away. The most obnoxious ones flirt with other men while her boyfriend/ husband sits right next to her AND the other man’s girlfriend sits next to him! Photo by: Juan Vargas on Pexels.com

Have you ever come across women who always seek to be the center of attention, enslave their male friends, keep them single but flirting with them to keep their hopes up while having a steady relationship? Yes, women with boyfriends who just can’t seem to get enough attention at home. Every party, dinner, event, they want all the attention to themselves while their hubbies sit at home and these women have zero concern about stealing the attention away from single women who would also like to have a relationship.

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Are Less Attractive Men More Critical About Women’s Looks than Hot Men Are?

Many unattractive men have low self-esteem and they try to compensate by either bringing women down or dating women totally over their league. What I have noticed is that the less attractive men point out your flaws like there’s a reward for it. I have been called ugly by ugly men. Hot men have not said anything (at least to my face), but the less attractive men have. It’s super funny when you think about it. Since I have never and every single woman I have ever met in my life regardless of how attractive they are, judged/ commented/ mocked men’s looks.

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Vegan Fashion by Glamorous Sonia

Vegan Fashion winter coat by DKNY and winter shoes by Halonen. The Coach bag and Sonia Rykiel scarf are not made of vegan materials. All items except the coat were bought on sale. 🙂Photo by: H. R.

What is vegan fashion? Veganism has become very trendy lately, but it’s not enough to just follow a plant-based diet. To be a true vegan, you also need to wear vegan clothes, not go hunting or torture animals in any other way.

Unfortunately, my vegan lifestyle didn’t go so well because to buy a whole new wardrobe and fresh vegetables every day, is very expensive in Europe. I also like cheese and vegan cheese has zero nutritional values. Vegan fashion is also very new here so it’s impossible to buy good quality handbags from vegan materials.

The last time I visited India, however, I was surprised that none of the local department stores sold leather handbags! Only vegan leather, but they looked very much like authentic leather.

In the picture above I am wearing vegan winter fashion. My white winter coat is by DKNY, bought from Stockmann for 250€ without any animal based materials, such as leather, fur, or goose or duck feathers. Many brands use goose or duck feathers to make their winter coats warm and thick, but the practise of ripping off the feathers of live animals is extremely cruel and painful to the animals. They have to endure it over and over again when they grow back their feathers. They don’t use anesthetics just like in the meat and poultry industry. Animals are in constant pain and misery. Out of all animal based clothing materials, wool is the most ethical though, IF it’s done right. You shave off the thick wool coat of the sheep without causing any pain and the animal feels better without the heavy wool coat. However, wool is still not vegan because it comes from an animal.

My shoes are vegan leather by Halonen, bought on sale for 120€ from Finland. They are water-proof, warm for winter and have good shoe soles for Northern weather conditions.

In the picture below, I am wearing 100 percent cotton sweater by Ralph Lauren. I got a bargain deal from Stockmann and paid only 119,60€ from original price 299€! It had a small hole that I got fixed for 5€. 😀The black cotton dress is from my previous blog post, 10€ from MOHITO. The picture next to me is my sweet Indian grandmother who unfortunately passed away last year. She had amazing sense of fashion. Here she has the pink vegan leather hand bag I bought for her from a department store in the suburbs of Mumbai.

100 percent cotton sweater by Ralph Lauren and black cotton dress by MOHITO. Vegan leather shoes by Halonen. Photo by: H. R.

How to Avoid Dating Douchebags

Single life can be challenging in many ways, but there are some positive aspects too. It’s always better to be single than in an abusive relationship. I have managed to avoid abusive relationships by noticing the red flags EARLY on (in addition to my commitment phobia). It might be the reason I’ve been single almost my entire life, but I’ve also managed to avoid traumatic experiences caused by men thus giving me still a glimpse of hope in dating life. 😀

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How to Get Into a Relationship Without Going on a Date?

Dating is complicated and there are too many articles about it and that’s why my blog doesn’t solely focus on dating topics. I write about managing your budget and loneliness when living alone and perhaps you’re also looking for work etc..In any case, most people want to get in to a relationship. The problem is, how to get into a relationship without going on dates when randoms criticise your dating life?

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Glamorous Sonia Goes Budget Shopping in Estonia, Part 2

So Glamorous Sonia continues shopping in Estonia! By the way, just an update for all my readers. I started my blog as ” Glamorously Single and Unemployed” in January 2020, then later on changed it to “Glamorous Sonia”. So my current situation is “Still Glamorously Single but Employed”.😄 So finally found a job so I can afford my budget fashion. 😄 Enjoy my affordable fashion post below:

1. This short bright yellow cotton dress is from MOHITO on sale for 14,99€.

Love this bright coloured cotton dress from MOHITO. It’s mostly for summer weather, but I have paired it with woollen tights, boots and a jacket to survive cold Estonian weather!

2. This 100 percent cotton light blue dress is from MOHITO for only 6€ on sale. I’m also trying on a leather belt by Calvin Klein Jeans in Kaubamaja, price 39,90€.

This 100% cotton light blue dress was on sale for only 6€ in MOHITO and Calvin Klein Jeans belt from Kaubamaja, Tallinn for 39,90€.

3. I got this simple cotton black dress on sale from MOHITO for 9,99€. It’s suitable for many occasions depending how you style it. Here it’s paired with cotton black leggings from MOHITO (9,90€) and black leather boots for cold weather by Remonte (a brand by Rieker, Swiss footwear manufacturer) I bought from Kaubamaja on -20% discount, 112€.

I got this 100% cotton black dress from MOHITO for only 9,99€, black leather boots by Remonte on -20% sale from Kaubamaja.

4. This simple but elegant look is perfect for work. The jacket is 39,90€ from Reversed, dress is from MOHITO on sale for 9,90€, belt by Calvin Klein Jeans for 39,90€, and black leather boots by Remonte/ Rieker on sale for 112€.

Jacket 39,90€ from Reversed, dress from MOHITO on sale 9,90€, belt by Calvin Klein Jeans 39,90€, and black leather boots by Remonte/ Rieker on sale 112€.

5. This cute cotton summer dress is super comfortable and can be worn indoors in winter time too. You can even sleep on it because it’s so comfortable! Also from MOHITO on sale for only 5,99€.

Cute striped cotton summer dress when it’s summer again or I have a vacation! This cute Dress was only 6€ from MOHITO.

6. Versatile dark pink dress for work, parties, traveling, you name it! Again, bought it on sale from MOHITO for 9,99€. Style it with quality shoes, like these ballerinas by Michael Kors.

Cute dark pink paired with light beige Michael Kors ballerinas. Dress is from MOHITO for 9,90€ and ballerinas were on sale for 75€ on Michael Kors online store.

6. These cute sunglasses by MISSONI were on sale for 140€ from Solaris Shopping Mall.

Cute sunglasses by Missoni from Solaris Shopping Mall for only 140€ on sale.

Happy shopping everyone! 🙂👠👞