We left Mumbai early evening and arrived into Dubai at midnight.
Rob, an Irish business colleague and friend of Dads who lives in Dubai, came to pick us up - so nice of him. Bit scarlet that we kept him waiting over an hour - Mals luggage was literally the last one to appear on the conveyer belt. Why, oh Why does that always happen ? It's the same with traffic lights. You're in a hurry and they're always red. You've all the time in the world and you get there in no time.
Rant over.
Rob's black Land Rover impressed me. In fact, I was in jeep heaven. Remember, we were used to cars Indian style -i.e. bits n pieces thrown together that tended to look like a motorised clapped out bike with shorn seats in the back.
We were staying in Brian's appartment on The Palm and holy hit, we were like chunky kids in a sweet shop.
The appartment was LUSH. Massive. Spacious and once again, CLEAN! I was so happy, I did a little dance around the kitchen when Rob left. I knew we were gonna have fun in this town.
I really liked Dubai.
Yes it IS fake in so many ways. i.e. everything is man made and everyone seems to have the best of the best in houses, cars, clothes....but So WHAT? Each to their own!
The folks had generously left a restaurant voucher in the apartment as did two of our friends as wedding gifts. It meant we were sorted for meals out for 3 nights! We ate at Gordon Ramsays, the uberposh michellin star which was an experience to say the least! Our second night out we ate at a divine Steakhouse where we devoured the most tender steak known to man. After 4 whole weeks in India, our mouths literally couldnt believe all this tender, delicious food.....mmmmmm. The piece de Resistance came on our final day when we booked lunch at the Burj Al Arab. I must say, I was sceptical at first. 7 star blah blah. I stand corrected. We have never had a lunch like it.
We opted for the Asian Buffet Fusion Lunch and over 3 hours, we sat, we drank, we ate the freshest, most varied food of our Dubaian lives!! It was divine. Naturally we did what all normal people do when visiting such a spectacular building. We tried to sneak into all the places you couldnt go and have a nose! We found ourselves on the 18th floor in a lift that overlooked the ocean - awesome! We were like 5 year olds going up and down, up and down, 5 or 6 times squealing with delight as we looked out at the stunning green sea. I'd highly recommend it! Once you get over the pompousness of having to stop at the main gates of the Burj, give your name, security check your booking and wave you on, it's a fantastic experience! Do it once in your life. Brilliant.
We went to the nearby Mall of the Emirates a couple of times to do some Dubai shopping and at one stage tried our hand at skiing in the indoor ski slope - mental when you leave 29 degrees outside to go into minus 4! Great fun though and so nice to come out into the warmth again.
And so the rest of our days was spent relaxing by the pool. swimming, a little gyming (stunning gym on the grounds, couldnt say no) and eating gorgeous food. We LOVED it.
So this is it! We are finally coming home. How can I sum up the experience?
Once in a lifetime. thats for sure. No regrets, thats also for sure. I saw everything I wanted to see, I did everything I wanted to do, ate some divine (and some, not so divine) food and had the best fun, craic, banter with people from all around the world. All of this with my best friend, my brand new hubbie Mal.
We are just so lucky to have done this adventure together and will have the memories that'll last a lifetime.
See you soon on this blog, I think I'll keep going and have an occasional chat/rant/tale here.
Over and out for now - calling all last passengers to London Heathrow.....
Sue xxx and Mal x
Rob, an Irish business colleague and friend of Dads who lives in Dubai, came to pick us up - so nice of him. Bit scarlet that we kept him waiting over an hour - Mals luggage was literally the last one to appear on the conveyer belt. Why, oh Why does that always happen ? It's the same with traffic lights. You're in a hurry and they're always red. You've all the time in the world and you get there in no time.
Rant over.
Rob's black Land Rover impressed me. In fact, I was in jeep heaven. Remember, we were used to cars Indian style -i.e. bits n pieces thrown together that tended to look like a motorised clapped out bike with shorn seats in the back.
We were staying in Brian's appartment on The Palm and holy hit, we were like chunky kids in a sweet shop.
The appartment was LUSH. Massive. Spacious and once again, CLEAN! I was so happy, I did a little dance around the kitchen when Rob left. I knew we were gonna have fun in this town.
I really liked Dubai.
Yes it IS fake in so many ways. i.e. everything is man made and everyone seems to have the best of the best in houses, cars, clothes....but So WHAT? Each to their own!
The folks had generously left a restaurant voucher in the apartment as did two of our friends as wedding gifts. It meant we were sorted for meals out for 3 nights! We ate at Gordon Ramsays, the uberposh michellin star which was an experience to say the least! Our second night out we ate at a divine Steakhouse where we devoured the most tender steak known to man. After 4 whole weeks in India, our mouths literally couldnt believe all this tender, delicious food.....mmmmmm. The piece de Resistance came on our final day when we booked lunch at the Burj Al Arab. I must say, I was sceptical at first. 7 star blah blah. I stand corrected. We have never had a lunch like it.
We opted for the Asian Buffet Fusion Lunch and over 3 hours, we sat, we drank, we ate the freshest, most varied food of our Dubaian lives!! It was divine. Naturally we did what all normal people do when visiting such a spectacular building. We tried to sneak into all the places you couldnt go and have a nose! We found ourselves on the 18th floor in a lift that overlooked the ocean - awesome! We were like 5 year olds going up and down, up and down, 5 or 6 times squealing with delight as we looked out at the stunning green sea. I'd highly recommend it! Once you get over the pompousness of having to stop at the main gates of the Burj, give your name, security check your booking and wave you on, it's a fantastic experience! Do it once in your life. Brilliant.
We went to the nearby Mall of the Emirates a couple of times to do some Dubai shopping and at one stage tried our hand at skiing in the indoor ski slope - mental when you leave 29 degrees outside to go into minus 4! Great fun though and so nice to come out into the warmth again.
And so the rest of our days was spent relaxing by the pool. swimming, a little gyming (stunning gym on the grounds, couldnt say no) and eating gorgeous food. We LOVED it.
So this is it! We are finally coming home. How can I sum up the experience?
Once in a lifetime. thats for sure. No regrets, thats also for sure. I saw everything I wanted to see, I did everything I wanted to do, ate some divine (and some, not so divine) food and had the best fun, craic, banter with people from all around the world. All of this with my best friend, my brand new hubbie Mal.
We are just so lucky to have done this adventure together and will have the memories that'll last a lifetime.
See you soon on this blog, I think I'll keep going and have an occasional chat/rant/tale here.
Over and out for now - calling all last passengers to London Heathrow.....
Sue xxx and Mal x
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