Alex and Dubai

The Burj Khalifa

The day before the opening - army of ants planting trees.

Alex and the Burj

The water wall at the mall

Sushi conveyor belt.

The water taxi's from one side of Dubai's "Creek" to the other.

Alex at the water taxi landing.

We found the textile market and it was very interesting.

Guess what we bought here?

Shesha pipes. One thing we didn't get the opportunity to do.

If you haven't read "Alex's Visit and Alex and Al Ain" posts before this go there now ( older posts) and read and come back to this one.

Hi All

9 Jan 2009

( yes I'm writing all these posts in one day)

Alex and I traveled to Dubai on Jan 2 and withing a few miles of our destination , missed the right exit and had to take a 20 mile detour to get back to the exit.- I hate driving in Dubai and this was the first salvo. We finally got to the hotel, got the bags out at the curb- no valet service and I parked the car. Got to the desk and presented my information and - I'm not in their computer- ACK - upon further investigation, I'm in their other hotel about 2 miles away.

We load up the car and with map in hand go in search of the other hotel. Well about 1/2 hour later, we finally find it. It's so new, the driveway is still dirt and with the rain they had the previous day, now mud. We get checked in and go up to the room. I knew this was a 'budget" hotel when I booked it, it was clean- but it was small. I could almost reach out my arms and touch both walls. The beds were cot size and if you wanted to change your mind, you had to go out in the hall. Never the less, it was our home for the night.

Alex and I went over to the Emirates Mall - about 3 miles away- where the indoor ski slope is - unfortunately we had forgotten the camera. so no pictures of this with him. The mall was PACKED. So we decided to find something else to see. We returned to the hotel and got the camera and drove into the old downtown. - which was not my original destination - but you can get so lost so easily here - I hate driving in Dubai.

Well we made it to the wrong side of the Dubai Creek - which actually turned out to be a good thing as we took the water taxi to the other side and found the Textile market. There we purchased some pashminas and walked around the area. I've never felt endangered in the UAE and this day was no exception. Walking narrow alleys with all the shops -and people trying to sell you fake Rolex's - they mention this under their breath - I didn't carry a watch that day and told them I didn't care about time - they looked at me like I was crazy. Alex and I found a street side schwarma vendor and got 2 each to eat while we walked. Took the edge off the hunger we were both feeling as we hadn't eaten since we left Al Ain when we stopped into a LuLu's Hypermarket - Just as modern as any supermarket in the States - and they all have freshly cooked food as well - so Alex and I got some spicy Chicken kabobs, and Arabia bread and ate it as we drove.

After the textile market we took the water taxi back, retrieved the car and drove to another new location for me - the Palm Jumeriah - yes the man made island made to look like a palm tree. Well - from ground level - you wouldn't know if it was a palm or a pineapple - but the hotels on the trunk were impressive - but nothing like the Atlantis Hotel which sits at the very top of the outer ring. There we walked thought the shops area and their HUGE aquarium - made to look like the lost city of Atlantis. I was contemplating eating at one of their high priced restaurants however Alex and I were not overly hungry thanks to the schwarma so we returned to the car after our look around and returned to the hotel where we ate cheese and crackers and had our cocktails (we had taken rum and Alex's Jack Daniels with us to enjoy)

We watched TVfor a while then off to sleep - well we tried to sleep - If you don't know it I have sleep apnea and I use a sleep machine - well I sent it home with Christine so as not to have to carry it back and forth each trip and I acquired a new one here in the UAE - unfortunately it came with the wrong mask - so I am waiting for it to arrive - so I didn't have my machine and when I don't have it, I snore terribly plus I wake up intermittently throughout the night as well with apnea. So here I am snoring, Alex with pillow on his head to try to drown out the sound and me close enough for him to reach out and punch me on beds so small an army cot would look spacious. It was a long night for both of us.

Next morning we pack up and got out and over to the Dubai Mall. This is right next to the Burj Dubai , now known as the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world. The grand opening is the next day Jan 4. As we watched the preparations , there looked to be at least 2000 workers planting palm trees ,putting down sod and getting the area ready for the opening. literally looked like an army of ants. From there we went inside and had lunch - at a sushi bar which has a conveyor belt that transports the food around to all the tables. each bowl is color coded and all they do is add them up at the end of the meal. Alex and I greatly enjoyed this and ate our fill.

We then walked off some of the meal, returned to the car - found our way back to the main highway ( did I mention I hate driving in Dubai) and headed for home. We stopped by the grocery store and got lamb chops which I grilled that evening. It was a lovely end to a 4 day mini-vacation.

Next blog - Drinks and Nibbles

Love to all

Scott