On to Dubai
Trip Start
Jun 13, 2010
1
4
35
Trip End
Jul 17, 2010
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
So I decided to go back and get my computer stuff to do some internet for the first time of the trip – it cost almost $8 for one hour – ouch!!! But I had not written anything on the travel blog as of yet so it was about time. On the computer I checked the usual websites of CNN (still an oil spill) and e-mails besides the travelpod. I already had the posts written in word so it was easy to upload that – but the pictures took forever. I did get partway through yesterday but did not try to do a video's yet (that will take forever and a day as I remember in Alaska).
I ate at the breakfast bar again with their great juices but did not eat as much as yesterday. I was to meet Hilal at 9:00 in the lobby to go to Dubai so I had my daypack ready and read a little of the English paper from Dubai. Hilal came a little late and informed me that I would be staying in Dubai tonight and that I needed to pack. This was a surprise but it made sense as he wanted to leave for Oman from Dubai the next morning. So I had to run upstairs to throw everything in the big bag quickly (and made it weigh around 60 lbs now). I felt sorry for the bag boy who was an older Indian man for having to carry my bag but Hilal insisted (so that he could get a little tip). I just so use to doing my own stuff that having other people get my bags seems elitist.
So in Hilal’s car we went for the 1 hour drive to Dubai. Normally it would take 1.5 hours to get there but Hilal has a lead foot. We went around Dubai on the Outer Perimeter which is a little longer but no traffic. The Dubai Outer Perimeter is a huge highway that seems to be in the middle of the nowhere desert. I guess in 10 or so years this will be all filled with buildings. In Dubai we stayed at this hotel close to the big Mall of the Emirates where they have the big indoor ski resort. Again, I had to let someone take my 2 ton bag up. The room was kind of odd with small lights (I had to open the blinds to be able to read anything), a toilet that was almost under the sink, and a bath tub that needed climbing gear just to get into.
Hilal went off to work and told me to get a cab to the Mall. However, we had a few small problems – one, I still did not have any Emirate money and two, for some reason my cell phone could not make outgoing calls (only incoming). So I sat in the hotel lobby deciding what to do with myself for the next several hours. I then went to the desk to ask if there was an ATM close by and she said at the Mall. "How far is it?" was my next questions. She said it was only 15 min. walk. Now usually for me, that is an easy walk. But this is Dubai with record high temps of around 115. I decided to go for it. Besides the heat, the entire area is one big construction zone so dust was everywhere.
The first thing I saw was the large silver tower that is Ski Dubai with the mall under it. Now the hard part was finding an entrance – Dubai is like America where everyone drives everywhere. So I found an entrance through the car park. This was the biggest mall I have been to since the Edmonton West mall in Canada (but that one had a 1980s feel to it while this one had a 2010s feel to it). This mall went on and on. Now most of the shops were upscale clothing and jewelry so I did not go into many. I did check out this electronics store as I needed an adaptor for my laptop (my converter worked for everything but the laptop and it only had about 10 min. of battery left). To my surprise, the worker just reached in a drawer and gave one to me – not bad for expensive Dubai. I just hope it works when I get back. Another shop I went to was this Arabian gift shop with very inexpensive gifts. I’ll need to come here before I take the plane back home to get any last second gifts. From there I hit the food court, not to get anything to eat (I was to have lunch with Hilal) but to just check out the places. They did have American standards like Starbucks, MickyDs, Burger King, and TGIFridays. But they also had Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern fast food joints (wish we had those at the Mall of Georgia). Next to the food court were some windows to look inside the Ski Dubai. It really looked like a little Swiss ski village except for Arab families inside having snowball fights. Then I found a Borders which had a killer travel section where I bought a few maps of the area and an Oman off-road book.
Inside, Hilal gave me a call to meet him at a place called Dubai Internet City. Now, I thought this was a shop, but it turned out to be a large area of Dubai. So instead of taking a Taxi – again, the cheap part of me comes out – I decided to take the newly build Dubai Metro which had a station that was called Dubai Internet City – Presto!!! An easy ride over – and it was. Though it was not too cheap at $3 just to go one station. This is where things got interesting. Remember, I cannot call out from my cell phone so I had to wait for Hilal to call. He did call at the metro but he had no idea where I was (though he works here, he has never been on the Metro). This did not surprise me as hardly anyone was on the Metro. I tried to tell him the buildings was I near to but again he had no idea. So I found a Taxi driver and gave him the phone to talk to Hilal. So off in the Taxi. Turns out I was 2 km away from him. But where the taxi dropped me off, there was no Hilal. I waited for another 15 min. before he called. Turns out he was on the other side of the building. Let me tell you, it was not fun not knowing where Hilal was in the 115 degree heat.
He took me to a restaurant inside the building that was popular with all the expats (I think Hilal was the only native Arab in the place). He was there to smoke his Shisha and eat a little lunch. We had a great mint salad, hummus, and Kebabs. So far my plan to lose weight in Arabia is not working as Hilal is feeding me too well. From here we went to his office down the road where he works for DU, a Dubai telecom company. He said he would be 10 min. but it took him almost an hour to get his work stuff. No problem for me as I took a little nap since misplacing Hilal in 115 degree heat wore me out. Hilal came back and still had more work to do so he got me a taxi to take back to the hotel to get a nap – he can’t wait to take his two weeks off soon as he is working too hard.
Back at the hotel I had a good sleep for a few hours until Hilal woke me up. It was around 6:00 now and he wanted to take me to the Dubai Marina for dinner and drinks. Since he was very tired we took a 15 min. taxi ride there. I have to say, I’m usually the outdoor type where cities don’t mean that much to me, but the Marina district was second to none. Dubai has this marina right in the middle of scores of skyscrapers. I bet a boat dock here is quite pricy. There was a nice walkway around the marina with restaurants and bars all over. One building that is under construction looks like it is twisted from bottom to top. Hilal chose a fancy looking seafood place. Inside you pick your fish from the counter and they have all these ways to cook it. We chose some giant shrimps, mussels, and salmon steaks cooked in all different ways and sauces. Back home this place would be way out of my league but Hilal wanted to treat me to dinner. It turned out to be a pretty sweet place as I was savoring every bite – for once someone ate faster than me.
After dinner I took so pics and video of the place and then we went to a sports bar where Hilal had another Shisha and I had a strawberry shake. I try not to look at the prices of these places as it would send me into shock. After this we took a taxi back to the hotel. Hilal was very tired and went straight to sleep. I tried the wireless internet in the hotel lobby but it was so slow I could not upload one pic – frustrating. So after an hour of this, I hit the sack too. Tomorrow we are off to Oman for the weekend.
