Colourful day in Dubai

At the end of November we spent a beautiful morning at the Dubai Autodrome with 12,000 other people running around throwing colour at each other.  Pretty great day and I have the photos to prove it!  The Color Run claims to be "the happiest 5k on the planet" and it sure is... was hard not to smile!  The run brings out the fun-loving, playful side out in everyone...

Beach weekend in Fujairah

In October John and I made our way to the eastern emirate of Fujairah, around 2 hours away by car.  The drive was very scenic... through the desert and then the mountains until we wound up at the coast of the UAE, overlooking the Gulf of Oman.

We stayed at a place called Sandy Beach Hotel in Al Aqah.  Going to Fujairah was like visiting another country.  It was so different from the fancy skyscrapers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi - much more quiet!  Sandy Beach was a nice place with a great view of a large rock formation in the water called Snoopy Island (because it looks like Snoopy laying down).  At Snoopy Island there was some decent snorkelling, with a bunch of colourful fish and some coral.  Some people have seen turtles and sharks around there, but we didn't spend that much time exploring the waters there.  After going to Sipadan in Borneo, one of the best places in the world for viewing sea life, we're semi-retired from snorkelling and diving.  It was nice to just swim around and relax at the beach there!

One thing we noticed while we were at Sandy Beach was that there were a number of people pitching tents on the public beach on the other side of the hotel's property.  It would be great to go back here and try camping next time!

After our weekend trip to Fujairah, we realized that now we have been to all seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates... Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and now Fujairah!  I haven't been to all the Canadian provinces (John has!) but have now toured the whole UAE.  Even though the UAE is much, MUCH smaller than Canada I feel like I've accomplished something.  Now I just need to hit up Manitoba and Saskatchewan to say that I've been to all 10 Canadian provinces!  :)

Souk 'til you drop

Wayyy back in October it was "Islamic New Year" and we had a 3 day weekend.  John and I decided to take the metro to Dubai Creek to visit some of the souks.  A souk is a market or bazaar - and you can spend hours inside of them wandering around and admiring the lovely items.  However, be prepared to be harassed by the shop keepers... they will drape pashminas over you as you walk by, calling out to you in multiple languages hoping that you'll respond and walk into their shop to buy something!  John got called "Hey Jack Sparrow" a few times and I received several calls of "Hey Shakira, you want a pashmina?" All you can do is laugh it off, avoid eye contact, and keep on walking!

Anyway, unfortunately for us we do not live on a metro line.  The closest metro stop to us is around 11 km away, but you can do a "park and ride" there.  The Dubai Metro is the world's longest fully automated (no drivers!) metro system in the world.  There are plans to expand the metro closer to us but that probably won't happen for another few years.  It's too bad because riding the metro is fairly cheap, clean, and less stressful than driving around on these hectic roads!

The reason we took the metro down to the souks was because it is generally very crowded down there and hard to find a parking spot.  On our afternoon we visited 3 souks - the "Old Souk" (textile souk), spice souk, and gold souk.  We had previously been to the textile souk when we first visited Dubai several years ago with our friend Greg.  It was time we headed back for a visit!

At the Old Textile Souk there are plenty of lovely pashminas and other Arabian trinkets but I was on the lookout for pillow cushions.  At the souk you need to barter hard.  It's like a game... every time you walk away the price drops!  Keep going back until you get the price you want to pay!  It's mentally tiring and after having dealt with it every time I went shopping in Vietnam, I wasn't really in a mood to barter in Dubai, so I didn't buy much.  I just wanted the experience of being in the souk and wandering around.  At the Old Souk, it's like you've gone back in time.  Wooden boats called abras sail across the creek, ferrying people across for 1 AED (around $0.37 CDN).  There are no huge skyscrapers in the area, unlike downtown Dubai.  It doesn't even feel like "the real Dubai."

With my purchases in hand, we left Souk #1 and paid our coins to the boat driver who sailed us across the creek so we could visit Souk #2... the Spice Souk.  This was the first time we had been there, and it will not be the last!  I loved wandering through that place, with the colourful mounds of spices on display outside of store windows, and all kinds of exotic aromas filling the air.  Shop keepers lure you into their doorways with promises to try their unique spices.  It's a really interesting experience!  We ended up getting some sort of incense which smelled really good.  I don't even remember what it was... sandalwood, amber?  We'll have to go back to try some more some day.

After leaving the Spice Souk we walked over to Souk #3, the Gold Souk.  I had absolutely no intentions of buying anything there - I'm not a rich Emirati!  The store windows were crammed with displays of gold bangles, gold necklaces, gold earrings... gold, gold, gold!  It seemed like most of the people at this souk were tourists just looking to take some photos here like us.  After a short time, we left and crossed back over the creek on an abra to have some lunch.

Our lunch spot was a traditional Arabic-looking place with a patio over the creek.  It was called Bayt Al Wakeel, and it was really good.  The prices were reasonable and it was nice to sit there watching the abra boats.  We ate falafel, fattoush, and had lemon mint juice which is very popular here.  It was a great way to end an interesting afternoon at the creek!

Great day for an "Aquaventure" !

Last week the UAE celebrated Eid al-Adha and we got two days off school.  Flights out of the city were quite expensive and even hotels within the country were either booked or charging high rates for the holiday.  We decided to stay in Dubai and relax by spending the day on The Palm - yes, that man-made island shaped like a palm tree!  On The Palm is a huge resort called Atlantis.  Although we did not stay at the hotel, we spent one full day with our friends at the huge water park next door which was called Aquaventure.  On their website they claim to be the #1 water park in the Middle East and Europe.  If you are a resident of the UAE you can get a big discount by showing a piece of civil ID.  I did not take this photo (it's from the booking.com website) but it gives you an idea of what the Atlantis hotel and The Palm island looks like.  In the background the skyline is Dubai Marina, and on the far left you can sort of make out the Burj Khalifa and downtown Dubai.

Despite buying our tickets online in advance, we still had to wait over one hour to receive our wristbands needed for entry.  Luckily the lines at the water slides weren't too long and it was pretty easy to get a raft for the "Lazy River" floating around the park.  The Lazy River wasn't so lazy though, as it had rapids in certain sections and a "Torrent" section with large waves.  John wasn't expecting such a large wave to wash over his tube, and he ended up flipping over!

Aquaventure is right on the beach so you can also swim in the Persian Gulf waters which are very warm and calm.  From the beach there is a great view of Dubai Marina, the monorail connecting Atlantis to the rest of The Palm island, and in the distance you can see Jumeirah Beach, Burj Al Arab (sailboat-shaped building), and the Burj Khalifa downtown.

We brought our GoPro camera to Aquaventure to take some pics and video.  Aquaventure was a lot of fun and we definitely want to go back!

At the Top

This post should really be called "The Return of the Lazy Blogger"... I haven't posted in a long time.  Unfortunately I haven't been inspired or motivated to write on this blog, but hopefully will be a better blogger in the upcoming future.

Two weeks ago John and I finally went up the Burj Khalifa... the tallest building in the world which dominates the Dubai skyline.  You can see the Burj from just about anywhere in the city on a clear day.  We have a (distant) view of it from one of our apartment windows, and you can also see it from the rooftop pool.

Anyway, for the "At the Top" experience at the Burj, you must reserve a ticket in advance by visiting the box office at the Dubai Mall (biggest mall in the world) or online.  Tickets sell out days in advance and when you buy a ticket you must select a specific day and timeslot.  We went up the Burj in the middle of the afternoon after having a nice lunch at Tim Horton's at the Dubai Mall.  Being able to visit Timmy's in a strange foreign land of mosques and camels never gets old for me.

One general "At the Top" ticket gets you to floor number 124 of this crazy building which looks like a needle pointing up in the middle of the desert.  This floor is located 442 metres above ground level.  If you want to get the deluxe Burj experience, you can pay twice the price for a ticket and visit a swank lounge 24 floors higher, at 488 metres!  Even at that height, you still don't come close to the 828 metres that the Burj reaches!  The elevator up the Burj goes at a ridiculous pace of 10 metres per second.  Despite it being the tallest building next to the hugest mall and fountain in the world, it doesn't have the fastest elevator... currently that honour goes to Taipei 101 which we went up last year in Taiwan, at a speed of 17 metres per second!

Enough about the facts... what does the "At the Top" experience get you?  Not too much.  You go up the fast elevator and then seem to be ushered out to the partially outdoor observation deck to see the views of this crazy city plopped in the middle of a desert.  Depending on the weather, your view may be hazy.  The only thing up on floor number 124 besides the deck is a gift shop and some public bathrooms.  I think going to the top of Taipei 101 was much more interesting... we spent hours up there checking out all the stuff inside!

So after my "At the Top" experience, would I recommend going up the Burj?  Probably.  It's fun to say you've gone to the tallest building in the world.  However, once you check out the view there isn't much else to do!

Here are some photos from the top:

Abu Dhabi weekend!

Last month we had a long weekend and John and I used our Dubai coupon app to get a hotel deal... purchase one night and get one free!  Our destination was Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and less than a two hour drive away.

I liked Abu Dhabi immediately.  It seemed a lot more chill than Dubai.  Less crazy.  Less flashy, but not boring.  Our hotel was located near the famous Abu Dhabi "Corniche" (the road of skyscrapers going along the waterfront).

We checked out the Abu Dhabi Mall which had a Tim Horton's with a patio right out front (we went there twice for breakfast during our stay).  The Abu Dhabi Mall was quite large but definitely no Dubai Mall, which is the largest in the world.

The highlight of the weekend was visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  Dedicated to the former Sheikh, it was finished being built in 2007, and cost around $545 million USD to construct.  The mosque was very beautiful with white marble floors outside inlaid with semi-precious stones, and the carpet inside is the largest in the world.  The mosque also contained the largest chandelier in the world as well.  We joined a free tour of the mosque and learned that Muslims pray five times a day and there is a huge clock showing the times of the "call to prayer" times during the day.

To visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque you need to be wearing proper clothing.  John was fine wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt, but women had to cover their heads, arms, and ankles.  I had to rent an "abaya" which is the black robe that you see many women in the UAE wearing.  It was free to rent and made the experience a bit more authentic, haha.

After visiting the mosque we made our way to the famous 7-star hotel called Emirates Palace, which was situated on the Corniche.  We had lunch in the cafe.  John got a camel burger and I got an "Oriental wrap" with the famous "gold cappuccino" which actually had real gold flakes on it.  It was so nice I didn't want to drink it!

At the Emirates Palace there were also gold ATMs in the lobby.  You know, just in case you needed some gold jewellery or a gold brick.  Crazy!!!

Overall it was a fun weekend in Abu Dhabi and I hope to go back again one day soon!

Brunch at the Creek

One of the most popular things for expats to do in Dubai is to attend a "brunch."  When I think of brunch, I think of that meal that's not quite breakfast, not quite lunch.  You know... maybe have some toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, juice at home in your pyjamas... I thought it was weird when I kept hearing of people attending brunches at fancy hotels.  Little did I know the scale of an epic Dubai Brunch.

Some Dubai brunches are in the evening (dinner?!) and some in the afternoon (lunch?!) so it still confuses me as to why they're referred to as brunches.  Each brunch will usually offer the option of having free flow alcoholic drinks.  The whole affair can be expensive (around $100) but when in Dubai, it's fun to embrace the luxurious lifestyle once in a while as a special treat.

A few weekends ago my friend Andrea decided to celebrate her birthday at a brunch (lunch?) at the Park Hyatt Hotel alongside the Dubai Creek.  One of the restaurants there, Thai Kitchen, has a brunch from 12-4:30 with several different drink packages to choose from (soft drinks, wine/beer, champagne, etc.) and a great selection of Thai food.

While some brunches are buffet style (like the one I previously wrote about at Celsius), the brunch at Thai Kitchen was served to us.  We sat outdoors under a covered patio surrounded by tropical trees, overlooking the Dubai Creek Marina, with servers bringing us small portions of Thai food to try.  We could ask for as many dishes as we liked, and it was nice to try everything.  There was a "rice man" coming around with a basket of rice, and the servers were so good that I didn't even realize my drink was being refilled half the time.  The curry and spring rolls were my favourite, and of course the mango sticky rice for dessert.  I would definitely recommend the Thai Kitchen as a place to have proper Thai food in Dubai.

Black bean ice cream... pretty good!

Mango sticky rice, my favourite Thai dessert

Thai iced tea

We stayed there the entire time of the brunch... so we definitely got our money's worth!  Sitting out near the water in the garden was very relaxing... I felt like I had been transported to a spa in Southeast Asia!  It was a great time out with new friends, and I'm looking forward to going back some time to get more of that mango sticky rice!

Dubai Creek Marina

Fancy Free in Dubai!

So we survived our first school inspection and I now feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  No more lesson planning at all hours of the day/night.  Now I can go to bed at normal times, wake up at a reasonable hour, and leave for school when there is actually daylight outside.  To celebrate the end of a very stressful few weeks, we went with some co-workers to the Radisson for dinner at Celsius, a fancy restaurant which was serving up a massive buffet there.  To my dismay when we walked in I realized it was "seafood night" (not a fan) but there were lots of other options so I didn't go hungry.  Luckily one of our friends had 2-for-1 coupons so we got to save some money at the buffet.  The price also included all you could drink - wine, spirits, beer... I think we got our money's worth!

After the buffet we headed to an Irish bar which was packed with expats from all over the world.  For the first time I really felt like I could just be relaxed and enjoy Dubai.  It hasn't been easy for us since we moved here, as we've had plenty of issues dealing with frustrating immigration issues and organizing things for our apartment, but I'm glad we were able to have a fun weekend out.  Hope there are many more still to come!

Afternoon at the Creek

A few weekends ago John and I visited Dubai Creek Park, a pleasant green space along the shores of Dubai Creek.  Parking is free but there is an entrance fee of 5 Dhs to enter the gates.

We were surprised to find such a quiet place in Dubai.  It was nice to get away from the crazy traffic and relax.  The grass was so well kept that we took off our shoes and walked on it like a carpet!

At Creek Park there were lots of families using the playground equipment and having BBQs.  There is a cable car that runs along the creek, as well as a Dolphinarium, bird show, and a place called Children's City, but you have to pay extra for these attractions.  You can also rent bicycles, or ride a pony or camel inside the park.  However, look out for camel pee... John and I accidentally stepped into a puddle of it on the grass, gross!

I hope to go back again some time to enjoy some peace and quiet, but next time I could do without any bodily fluids from camels!

The Desert Life

It's been ages since I last updated, but I have good excuses... we didn't get internet until recently and we've been crazy busy with work!

Our arrival in Dubai was pretty interesting.  We flew from Charlottetown to Montreal, then Montreal to Washington DC.  In Montreal John was flagged at immigration for some reason and we had to wait in a holding area for a short amount of time... we were unclear as to the reason why, but the guy at the gate said maybe he had a "dirty cousin in Saskatoon."  Weird?  I think it had something to do with our luggage not showing up in the system though.  Anyway, we barely made it on the flight to DC.  Hoping our bad luck was over, we got on the flight to Dubai and several hours in the pilot was asking if there was a doctor on board the flight.  Someone was sick and they had to do an unscheduled landing in Frankfurt for a medical emergency.  This delayed us for about 2 hours so we arrived in Dubai late.  Luckily, we were picked up at the airport by someone on staff who brought us to our empty apartment in around 50 degree weather!

Having no furniture, we slept on stolen mats from the pool chairs upstairs, and eventually spent our furniture allowance after making lots of trips to Ikea and other stores.  A few weeks ago our packages from Vietnam also arrived to our relief.  I can finally say that it seems like we're finally settled into this place.  Here are a few pics...

Kitchen + balcony off the bedroom

Bedroom, John's bathroom, my bathroom, spare bedroom

Living/dining area

Our apartment is owned by the company that our school belongs to, and everyone that lives here is a teacher at our school or another one nearby that is also owned by the company.  It's pretty much in the desert... not much around except a pharmacy, convenience store, and shawarma/falafel shop which is pretty decent.  We're lucky we even have those things around!  There is a mosque around the corner and we can hear people praying there at various times throughout the day.

On the roof of our apartment is a small pool, and on the top floor there is a gym as well.  It's not far to get to work, but public transportation isn't really an option so we rented a car (Mazda 2) for now to get us around.

Rooftop pool with view of Burj Khalifa in the distance (too dusty to see in this pic, but it's behind the cranes)!

Rooftop views

Rooftop view of the roundabout near our building

Sunset view of the Burj Khalifa from the spare bedroom window

Work has kept us so busy that we haven't had a lot of chances to get out and explore the city, but what I have seen so far of Dubai is very interesting.  There is a strong religious culture mixed with signs of luxury like fancy cars, skyscrapers, and huge upscale malls.  This is definitely a dynamic city which I look forward to many adventures in!

Dubai City-Stay!

On the way home from Europe, we stopped over in Dubai again.  This time, we made sure to have extra time there so we could actually get out and see the city.  The UAE seems to be a very modern, wealthy country.  Dubai was an interesting mix of cultures and architecture.  There were modern skyscrapers (including the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa), mosques, and huge malls all plopped in the middle of a desert that surrounds the city.

During our full day in Dubai we took a little cruise down the Dubai Creek, shopped at the "Old Souk" market, visited a few malls (including one with an indoor ski hill), and another with a huge aquarium and a TIM HORTONS.  Yes, that's right!  We found Timmy's in the desert.  It was pretty exciting and I think the workers there thought we were weird.

Dubai Creek

Old Souk

One of the many mosques of Dubai

Tim Hortons in Dubai... AMAZINGGG!

Anyway, next to the huge Dubai Mall is the Burj Khalifa.  Unfortunately we couldn't get tickets to go up it, but we got a nice view from the ground up at night.  There was also a large fountain show outdoors in the evening, right beside the mall and Burj.  After the fountain show, gorging ourselves at the big food court, and stuffing our faces with timbits, we saw the movie "Life of Pi" at the theatre inside the mall.

Burj Khalifa... I couldn't even fit it all in my camera frame!

In Dubai I also bought my new Iphone 5... it was comparable to prices in Canada, not like the rip-off prices in Europe and Vietnam.  Definitely a great purchase!

I really liked Dubai, even though we got just a small taste of the city.  Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Dubai and head back to Vietnam after a wonderful 2 week vacation.  Luckily for us, it won't be long before the next one!

Bye, Dubai!