Beach Weekend in Dubai

Last weekend I had the perfect reason to escape to the beach, lower hotel rates.  I managed to get a room at one of the Jumeirah properties in Dubai.  I stayed at their five star hotel, Jumeria Creekside, but as a guest you are entitled to use the amenities at the beachfront hotels as well.  The weekend was like being part of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Beautiful room with all the modern amenities. Surround sound TV, ipad dock, and complimentary mini bar. Beautiful property with pool and rooftop night club.  Right next door was The Irish Village and the Dubai Tennis Arena.

 

 Thursday night was dinner at Irish Village, complete with roaming ducks from the nearby pond.

 

 The Marina at Jumeriah Beach

 

 The beach, with cabana boys too! Unable to get an umbrella, I was placed under the shade of a date palm tree.  As I was relaxing and reading my book I began to get hit by falling dates.  They weren't ripe yet, so they were green and hard.  I was okay with it, until the next thing that hit me was from a bird.  I won't say more.

 

One of several pools with a variety of restaurants in the background.

 

The Burj Al Arab, the rate is over a $1,000 per night. Rumor is you can't even get close to the property unless you have proof of a reservation. You can attend High Tea on the upper level for a fraction of the cost.  That is on the list of "to-dos."

 

Those are rose petals floating in a pool of water in the lobby.  Outside people were taking photos of themselves standing in front of the various luxury cars being valet parked. I watched while I waited for my hotel shuttle, which by the way was a Mercedes.

 

While sitting at the beach I heard such a variety of dialects.  It appears there is a large Russian population that visits Dubai, as well as British and French.  Unfortunately, my lounge chair was next to a family from the UK.  Ruby, who appeared to be about 6 or 7 was having a major tantrum.  She was crying and yelling that she wanted to go back to the villa.  Her parents, actually her mother, her father continued to read the paper, tried numerous times to quiet her down by promising the sun, the moon and the stars.  Ruby wasn't having any of it.  Mom walked off in anger and Dad put his paper down and threaten her.  Ruby only got louder.  Her audience was growing as more people turned to watch her antics.  Mom finally returned from the water and packed up the bags and took Ruby by the hand.  Final score, Mom - none, Ruby - WON

 

 

 

 

Spring Break and more

It has been some time since my last post due to some technology issues, but it appears to have been corrected.  We had two weeks off for the end of the term break and I decided to hang around and take some day trips instead of a formal vacation.  Two friends and I went to Dubai to one of the several amazing malls.  We went to the Dubai Mall which requires a map and several days to manage.  It is not a place to pop in and out of. We spent the day browsing through some of the most extravagant stores. By the way...Harry Winston's and Tiffany's don't allow photos to be taken, the jewelry speaks for itself.

We had a nice time trying on earrings and bracelets. We sat outside next to the famous Dubai Fountains for lunch at PF Chang's.  Unfortunately, we did not get to see them "perform" to the music of Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and Andre Bocelli. They were designed and choreographed by the engineers that constructed the fountains in Vegas.  Still on the list of things to do.

 

A few days later I decided to venture back to the mall on my own.  Major step trying to recall the directions, but once again I surprised myself and got there without incident.  One of the perks of mall shopping here is that you can also get your car washed while you are inside.  The parking system is also unique.  The garages are as large as the lots at Disney.  Many people take pictures of the space with their cellphones so they can find their way back after their shopping spree.  Above each space is a light which turns red when the space is occupied and green when it is available.  The movie theater is another unique experience.  When you purchase your ticket you also select your seat.  It is like choosing your seat on a plane. You can rent a "sofa room" and watch the movie like you are in the comfort of your own home.  We went to see OZ in 3D, which I was not a fan of.  Ticket price for a matinee was $13.50 USD.  The snack counter sells complete meals and picnic type sandwiches and drinks.

 

A few days later a friend asked me to do her a favor and take a visiting relative to the airport, so it was back to Dubai once again.  This time we decided to visit the Gold and Spice Souk on the waterfront.  Not 100% sure on how to get there so we went to a different mall and took a cab. Which was smart because it wasn't a direct route. The Spice Souk was pretty much all the usually spices found here in different packaging.  Each vendor claimed to have the best.  They are very persistent and inquisitive.  They wanted to know where we were from and when we said the US, they smiled and said "Obama!" This is another tourist attraction so there were many groups of camera toting individuals with sunburned faces roaming around with us.

 



A few blocks away the scene was a totally different story.  Many of the shoppers and browsers were tourists or westerners.  Police presence was obvious and something we don't see every day here.  The gold was over the top and the diamonds in the store windows could compete with the diamond district's selection in New York.  Again the salesmen were out in full force hoping to lore us in with promises of the best prices.  We enjoyed the experience, but left without a purchase.  There was just to much to chose from.

 Now where would I wear something like this?

 

I am pretty sure these are the special necklaces for weddings in this country.  I know the woman who wears it will need assistance when she stands or attempts to walk.

 

We stopped for dinner and then went onto the airport.  It started to drizzle which was a first for us since we arrived in August. It was also very windy so we weren't sure if flights would be taking off. Rather than make a return trip to the airport we decided to hang around until we got the call that she was in the air.  We went to the outlet malls and wondered around until we learned Kristin was on her way back to Atlanta. Leaving the mall gave us another surprise, a thunder storm.  This made the hour drive home a challenge.  Since rain is not the norm, drivers are not the best.  They continue to speed and pass illegally on the shoulder of the road. The following day the puddles were tremendous and not going anywhere soon.  No drainage.

 

Another trip was to visit Fujairah, one of the seven emirates that makes up the UAE.  It's about two hours from here.  We went with the weekend social group and some friends from work.  Our first stop, Friday Market on main street.  The produce was the same at each stand, but grilled corn on the cob and coconut water were the popular sale items.

 

 

My friends Sherry and Cammie.

 

Next stop the former palace of the ruling family of Fujairah.  The story goes that they lived there until the 70s.  Transportation to the nearest town was by donkey and took about 3 hours.  Later we saw many donkeys running freely across the roadways.  I guess they are looking for work.

 

 

 

Final stop on our day long trip was to watch a local custom of Bull Pushing.  Best way to describe this activity is sumo wrestling for bulls.  They are matched up by weight, they are brought to the center of the arena by their owner.  Heads are lowered and the bulls begin pushing one another with their heads.  The MC of the event hits them with a bamboo cane to get them riled up.  The arena is fenced in on only three sides.  We stood outside the second fence, those on the opposite side sat on camp chairs with an unobstructed view.  All was good until one bull had had enough and took off toward the unfenced side of the field.  In a flash all the spectators jumped up and ran.  The runaway was secured without injury to anyone. The parking lot looked like a scene from a drive in movie.  SUVs were backed in to spaces and kids sat on the roof eating cotton candy and chips. The announcer was very enthusiastically commenting on each bulls' move.  Even though we had no idea what was being said we did understand the excitement with which he spoke.

 

The group stopped at a Lebanese family style restaurant before we headed back to Al Ain. Our table finished our meal and decided to head out.  The group leader wasn't 100% sure of the directions she gave us, but we decide to start home anyway.  Taking this shortcut was supposed to shave off 45 minutes of our return trip.  It was a long day so we were happy to take this opportunity to get home sooner rather than later.  Off we went, fingers crossed and itunes playing.  We had our doubts, but we didn't turn back or get turned around and finally reached a familiar road and the way home.  We had a lot of laughs and it was a great day spent learning first hand about the culture.