Saturday …. Vacation day in Dubai…. Woke up early, decided to trust the guidebook that said as of 10am Friday and Saturday starting in October the Marina walk has artisans and kiosks… so off to the marina. They have created 7miles undulating of false coastline surround by a board walk and tall residential/commercial buildings. I was excited. Taxi to the “marina walk”, coffee to go in hand (still getting use to the 7-8$ cost per latte), and I am walking in the sun along the boardwalk. It is beautiful, a sunny 35 degrees, pretty boats to lookat… but I begin to notice something, I am all by myself… serious, I saw only 2 other people… during the whole walk and not a vendor kiosk to be seen. So half way down the walk I bailed crossed the bridge and walked over to an area called JBR. This is a massive 16 tower mixed retail residential complex covering 6 to 8 massive blocks. Along the main drag (that is adjunct to the beach and beach front hotels) is a super wide sidewalk with v. upmarket retail and casual restaurants. Despite my completely sweaty state I walked into Boutique One of the places to shop in Dubai (that is not a major brand name). here you get an amazing collection of brands …most of which I could not consider affording, but I decided to have a little fun and try on some things, providing they were under 1200dhs (400$). The staff was lovely, did not care that I was not dress or that I was a sweaty mess. I selected a few things and began to try. When I came out to find a belt, I met the head stylist, she was pulling a fall / winter wardrobe and photographing every item. The items she had pulled were all my sizes so she encouraged me to try some of the fun things! So this wardrobe the stylist pulled, was for the Sheik’s daughter!! She was bringing all the clothes to the place!!
Following the shopping … I wandered the rest of the walk….found the little kiosks that were supposed to be on the marina walk … then it was off to the beach… luckily I was prepared and had my swimsuit and sarong in my bag. The beach was packed … it was great!! Baby blue warm water, with minimal surf. I tried to relax and read my book, but the people watching was too good. The Lebanese men with their major confidence and Speedos …think young Italians … too funny to see the strutting… Anyway everyone was at the beach… umbrellas, radios, coolers. These people are prepared. I could only take a few hours of the sun and surf, then a quick change and I headed back in for a late lunch on one of the terraces. Ah… lovely day.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
new year's eve every friday afternoon - photos to come
So I have been remiss in blogging of late…. Working hard during the week, but have taken the last two weekends off to explore and experience Dubai….
This weekend started off with Brunch Dubai style. But before I begin telling you this tale … you must recognize that some things just need to be experienced, all attempts to describe … well … fall short.
Picture in your mind, going to one of the fanciest hotels in town. A growing group of 300 plus smartly turned out gents and cocktail dress ladies await the opening of doors. As the appointed time arrives and the double doors are thrown open and civilized we stream in, graciously accepting a glass of champers (Taittinger, in our case) as each group is guided to their table, by one of 50 staff. Immediately you are struck by the atmosphere, the restaurant is fully decked out in balloons and streamers across the tables, a sparkly party hat or tiara at every seat, noise makers within hands reach. The buffet is overflowing and exotic, you try to plan out your first plate while trying to see who else is there. Before you have had a moment to sit down, someone is there to top up your champagne glass. And so it begins… Friday Brunch. While for locals, Friday is the holiest of days, spent in prayer, contemplation and family togetherness, for the expats, Friday is the day to feast and fete. At least between the hours of noon to four. The Friday champagne brunch is what you keep hoping every new year’s eve will be, but never is: fun, chaotic, and memorable (in a good way). From the non-stop champagne, to the amazing food, to the chatting-up, to the dancing… yes you are dancing by the end and for many, the table tops were the places to do it, Friday brunch is a whirlwind must do Dubai activity … but it comes at a price … like all things here … The one I was at was mid range at 450dhs (about 150 Canadian), not counting the ala carte items most people indulge in too… like the porterhouse stakes … seriously, for many the buffet is just an appetizer.
So what does one do as brunch draws to a close, well there is three options: 1) taxi home, pass out and hope the hangover is not so bad; 2) taxi home and cat nap to get ready for round two later that evening; or option 3, which was my choice this past Friday, keep on going …….
From brunch, I was invited out with the Scottish contingent to the “360”, a round outdoor bar at the end of a man-made spit, just beside the sail hotel. Well first we had to sneak me in…. apparently people are really picky about guest lists here. So for the evening I was Isla MacIntosh. I must say, nothing like mojitos at sunset in the edge of the Abrian sea.
The combination of starting your evening at noon, dancing by 3pm and seeing the sun set by 6pm, means that by 7:30pm you really and truly feel like it is almost 11pm. You can guess my shock when the girls was out with were “like ok, it is 8pm time for the next bar” …. And on to Waxy’s we went. As an FYI you can get bacon sandwiches here. A critically important detail if you must satisfy a bacon craving and live in the UAE. By 11pm I was home … my 3rd large format water bottle in hand…. Thankfully, due to my solid Canadian training, and years of learning to listen to that little voice that says, if you have one more drink you will be done for… I was up by 8am the next day … no worse for the wear … trust me, apparently, the Saturday hangover is a much as the tradition as the Friday brunch. I was happy not to partake in that tradition however….
Thursday, October 8, 2009
more tid bits
The fomatting on this one is weird ...sorry
So the other night ... we stumbled upon this one. What is better than finding a low number plate, see the car it is attached to... always v. v. nice.
S
o we had to go to a mall the other night, to pick up some prizes from the grocery store for a workshop we are runing. we went to a non-fancy mall. But still it is fancy by our standards. Each area of the mall represents a differnt region of the world. The chinese food court ... see boat picture. or the indian section (see fountanin)where the grocercy store is.
o we had to go to a mall the other night, to pick up some prizes from the grocery store for a workshop we are runing. we went to a non-fancy mall. But still it is fancy by our standards. Each area of the mall represents a differnt region of the world. The chinese food court ... see boat picture. or the indian section (see fountanin)where the grocercy store is.Also loved the bulk spice area of the grocery store. There is little dude who gets you what you need. on the other side of the spices are nuts... all kinds .. totally crazy and yummy!!! There were very not pleased with my photo taking!!
Ok... did i tell you about the licence plates? Refresher, in Dubai, the lower the number the closer you are to the head guy (under 10, you are immediate family, under 100 you are v. close family / advisor, etc). So my new game, during my 1.5 - 2 hours of daily commuting is looking for low number plates. it is the UAE version of the "state" licence plate game. but you can not cheat by going to the swank clubs/hotels.. then it is shooting fish in a barrel.
So the other night ... we stumbled upon this one. What is better than finding a low number plate, see the car it is attached to... always v. v. nice.
view from the plane
Okay … so camera mounted on the bottom of the plane is the best idea ever.
It is absolutely incredible to watch the “earth” go by. The changes in geography are mesmerizing when seen in such a macro way. Looking at how other countries have urbanized, structure their pastoral lanes, conquered the deserts and mountains… truly is fascinating.
If only I could have picture in picture, to have a little map, showing me exactly where we were.
I have tried to take a video of the screen, to show you all but… not sure how to post it…
Cool, just finished passing the black sea. Now following (sort of) the main river up to where Kiev is. Then it is NW across Eastern Europe, hit just NE of Warsaw, turn left at Copenhagen and across just south of Iceland, cutting directly across the lower 1/3 of Greenland, then a straight shot SW home!
It is absolutely incredible to watch the “earth” go by. The changes in geography are mesmerizing when seen in such a macro way. Looking at how other countries have urbanized, structure their pastoral lanes, conquered the deserts and mountains… truly is fascinating.
If only I could have picture in picture, to have a little map, showing me exactly where we were.
I have tried to take a video of the screen, to show you all but… not sure how to post it…
Cool, just finished passing the black sea. Now following (sort of) the main river up to where Kiev is. Then it is NW across Eastern Europe, hit just NE of Warsaw, turn left at Copenhagen and across just south of Iceland, cutting directly across the lower 1/3 of Greenland, then a straight shot SW home!
Enroute to Regina
… You know that niggly feeling we all have. That little voice that tells you something is not right. Some people call it pessimism and “calling into existence, what it is that you want least”. But other people call it trusting your gut. Whichever side of fence you sit on; let me tell you about my morning.
So perhaps you may recall that my hotel in Dubai is in a newly developing area called Tecom (yes, I know, novel concept, as 85% of Dubai is newly developing, but regardless). This “sub division” is not well known, but it is adjacent to a well known area “the Greens” and it has a well known hotel landmark in it. So if you tell a taxi, I am going to the Greens or the Rotana in the Greens, he will get you to the right area and you can direct him through the maze of streets to your specific hovel. This area, like many of the areas in Dubai does not have street names or numbers. In fact, due to the development, the street locations are in constant flux, depending on what is being constructed that day /week. But this is the norm here, and taxis and drivers alike are not fussed by this. North American or Swiss demands for precise and accurate GPS / maps must be parked at the passport control counter.
So today, I flew out of the UAE back to Canada for a meeting in Regina on Friday. After evaluating approximately 20 routings and schedules, my travel agent and I finally agreed on the most optimal itinerary, considering cost and timing. As it turns out, the best flight for me to take back to Toronto departs out of the Abu Dhabi airport. Without any major delays this airport is about a 45 minute highway drive from my hotel (which is in the south part of Dubai). My ticket comes with transportation to the airport and I book the car for 7am in advance of my 10am flight. I have been working essentially adjacent to the Abu Dhabi airport and do the commute daily, so I was pretty confident with timing (ie how long it would take to get to the airport) at that point of day. But for some reason, I became a bit paranoid about the car arriving. I doubled checked with my travel agent that it had been booked. I made her give them them detailed “Dubai” style directions I wrote out, plus the hotel and my cell numbers. She thought I was going a bit over board. After all, I am flying Eithad, and they have a bit of reputation for amazing service and not having problems.
So 7am comes around. No car. I don’t even wait till 7:05. I have my hotel clerk call. You can never really be sure what the conversation is, between the mixed languages and the overall desire of people to agree to whatever you are staying just to make you happy, regardless of if they can deliver on what they just said, it is impossible to follow. But he has spoken to two people and is on hold…. But by 7:15, all I know is a car is on the way. But the gut kicks in again. I go up to my room, get my local cell phone and call the number my travel agent gave me for the limo. The person who picks up says I have to call the “1-800” line. I was like, NO. My hotel is getting the run around from the central line and you are a live person, so lets deal with this. The long and the short of it ended up being, they messed up. They never sent a car. They told me to take a taxi and I would be reimbursed.
So at 7:30, my hotel calls me a taxi. I am told that getting a taxi in Dubai is easy now. It takes anywhere from 10 to 30mins. But back in the boom, that was like 30 – 90mins, standard. So they call a taxi and I try not to count the minutes … Finally at 7:45 two taxi’s show up!! And we are off (just in one taxi). We fight the crazy traffic to get out of Tecom (only crazy b/c of a really really really stupid lane merging location) and get on the highway. 5 mins later … break lights as far as you can see. The taxi driver is like, I take alternate route but you need to approve. I am like, dude, I only know this road. If you think it is better and we won’t get trapped trying to get back onto the highway go for it. Well the detour was a good idea … we avoided the 5 car crash just past the Marina and made it to the airport at 9am! That driver ROCKED!!! Also, a little thank you for the 140km/hr speed of traffic here :)
So I arrived, checked in at the crazy separate business class “section”. Literally, you access it by separate doors on the departure level. They check me in and tell me to go to the lounge and the customer service gentleman will bring me my re-imbursement. I was like, hum, the flight boards at 9:15. I am happy to wait here. “no no” they say, enjoy the lounge. So I go, drink some water, read the New York Times and wait for my 200AED. It is now 9:30, they have not called for my flight yet, but I am bored and decide to check out the terminal and wander to the gate. Let’s just say, the shopping is better than at Heathrow, from a name brand perspective. The Coach store was the low end. If only it was cheap!!! Alas, no new Jimmy Choo’s or cartier or I Phones for me.
A purchase of candied dates for my client, and I am off to the gate and on to the plane. Finally, I can sit back and relax. Okay, well, sit back and work.
But wait, there is more …… they announced a delay …. they come by to ask me if I have an onward flight from Toronto today …. I do, I say, 8pm. Relief washes over the steward’s face. No worries, he says, our delay is only an hour. It makes me wonder though, what would they do if I missed my flight? I bet they would pay for something ……
Back to work…
So perhaps you may recall that my hotel in Dubai is in a newly developing area called Tecom (yes, I know, novel concept, as 85% of Dubai is newly developing, but regardless). This “sub division” is not well known, but it is adjacent to a well known area “the Greens” and it has a well known hotel landmark in it. So if you tell a taxi, I am going to the Greens or the Rotana in the Greens, he will get you to the right area and you can direct him through the maze of streets to your specific hovel. This area, like many of the areas in Dubai does not have street names or numbers. In fact, due to the development, the street locations are in constant flux, depending on what is being constructed that day /week. But this is the norm here, and taxis and drivers alike are not fussed by this. North American or Swiss demands for precise and accurate GPS / maps must be parked at the passport control counter.
So today, I flew out of the UAE back to Canada for a meeting in Regina on Friday. After evaluating approximately 20 routings and schedules, my travel agent and I finally agreed on the most optimal itinerary, considering cost and timing. As it turns out, the best flight for me to take back to Toronto departs out of the Abu Dhabi airport. Without any major delays this airport is about a 45 minute highway drive from my hotel (which is in the south part of Dubai). My ticket comes with transportation to the airport and I book the car for 7am in advance of my 10am flight. I have been working essentially adjacent to the Abu Dhabi airport and do the commute daily, so I was pretty confident with timing (ie how long it would take to get to the airport) at that point of day. But for some reason, I became a bit paranoid about the car arriving. I doubled checked with my travel agent that it had been booked. I made her give them them detailed “Dubai” style directions I wrote out, plus the hotel and my cell numbers. She thought I was going a bit over board. After all, I am flying Eithad, and they have a bit of reputation for amazing service and not having problems.
So 7am comes around. No car. I don’t even wait till 7:05. I have my hotel clerk call. You can never really be sure what the conversation is, between the mixed languages and the overall desire of people to agree to whatever you are staying just to make you happy, regardless of if they can deliver on what they just said, it is impossible to follow. But he has spoken to two people and is on hold…. But by 7:15, all I know is a car is on the way. But the gut kicks in again. I go up to my room, get my local cell phone and call the number my travel agent gave me for the limo. The person who picks up says I have to call the “1-800” line. I was like, NO. My hotel is getting the run around from the central line and you are a live person, so lets deal with this. The long and the short of it ended up being, they messed up. They never sent a car. They told me to take a taxi and I would be reimbursed.
So at 7:30, my hotel calls me a taxi. I am told that getting a taxi in Dubai is easy now. It takes anywhere from 10 to 30mins. But back in the boom, that was like 30 – 90mins, standard. So they call a taxi and I try not to count the minutes … Finally at 7:45 two taxi’s show up!! And we are off (just in one taxi). We fight the crazy traffic to get out of Tecom (only crazy b/c of a really really really stupid lane merging location) and get on the highway. 5 mins later … break lights as far as you can see. The taxi driver is like, I take alternate route but you need to approve. I am like, dude, I only know this road. If you think it is better and we won’t get trapped trying to get back onto the highway go for it. Well the detour was a good idea … we avoided the 5 car crash just past the Marina and made it to the airport at 9am! That driver ROCKED!!! Also, a little thank you for the 140km/hr speed of traffic here :)
So I arrived, checked in at the crazy separate business class “section”. Literally, you access it by separate doors on the departure level. They check me in and tell me to go to the lounge and the customer service gentleman will bring me my re-imbursement. I was like, hum, the flight boards at 9:15. I am happy to wait here. “no no” they say, enjoy the lounge. So I go, drink some water, read the New York Times and wait for my 200AED. It is now 9:30, they have not called for my flight yet, but I am bored and decide to check out the terminal and wander to the gate. Let’s just say, the shopping is better than at Heathrow, from a name brand perspective. The Coach store was the low end. If only it was cheap!!! Alas, no new Jimmy Choo’s or cartier or I Phones for me.
A purchase of candied dates for my client, and I am off to the gate and on to the plane. Finally, I can sit back and relax. Okay, well, sit back and work.
But wait, there is more …… they announced a delay …. they come by to ask me if I have an onward flight from Toronto today …. I do, I say, 8pm. Relief washes over the steward’s face. No worries, he says, our delay is only an hour. It makes me wonder though, what would they do if I missed my flight? I bet they would pay for something ……
Back to work…
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Perfect weather
So tonight ..... perfect. No humity. Perfect temperature. It is like the perfect summer night. You know the ones where you can wear the summer dress with out jacket and not be hot or cold... yeah one of those nights.
After work, despite trying to leave early ... did not happen. We drove to the "west" side of tracks. This is the area b/w SZ road and the water. We went into the "marina" area and drove the JBR strip... it is like the most normal part of Dubai... outdoor cafes, store fronts on the street side.... so great! Will definately head back there in the weekend. Apparently this is the drag where people go to be "seen". They drive their cars down the street all blinged out! and Even with their exotic pets on display!
That is all for now ... have a great dsay.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Week 2 - photos and tidbits
Hi there,
This has been a crazy work week. But before that began, i did have a chance to go to Dubai mall. It is the biggest mall in the City. hard to believe. This one has a indoor aqurium (we did not pay, so the photos are not great). And tonight, a fellow montrealer from the Deloitte Dubai office hit Johny Rocket's .... all the way to the UAE for a USA burger chain!!
This has been a crazy work week. But before that began, i did have a chance to go to Dubai mall. It is the biggest mall in the City. hard to believe. This one has a indoor aqurium (we did not pay, so the photos are not great). And tonight, a fellow montrealer from the Deloitte Dubai office hit Johny Rocket's .... all the way to the UAE for a USA burger chain!!
the staff wanted us to be happy and gave us a ketchup smily face with the fries
I just like that everything is translated in to arabic!
so one night leaving the office i was struck by the water on walkway .... they have about a 12 x12 patch of lawn and they water it every night to such excess that it pools out into the walkway ... it is crazy water wastage. At least they water at night, versus durin the day which is what you always see.
donot know if you can see, but these are all the trees covered in twinkle lights outside dubai mall v pretty
Beside the dubai mall there is the Berj Dubai. It is the tallest building in the world. They have a huge fountain out front that has the tallest water fountain (by tallest i mean the height of the jets of water). They put on a water show like at fancy hotel in Vegas ... just can not remember that hotel name. they have four different shows every 15 mins.
More of the water show!!
Here is some of the construction going on around the Berj Dubai ....this is near the financial hub of Dubai
Me with the Berj!!
The Berj Dubai!!
the fishies at the mall!!!!!
Loved the BIGGEST fish of them all.
Part of a water feature in the Dubai mall... it is cool multi story water fall with scupture divers going down it.
The outside of the mall....
This is the "address" a very fancy hotel / apt beside the Dubai mall. very very fancy and $$$$$. One of the IT bars is here at the top floor.
more buildings..... you really can not comprehend the number of buildings here ....... seriously it is hard to comperhend the number.
driving on the main road ......
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