Dubai

Ok so this is my overdue Dubai post. Or as how the locals pronounce is, Dubei.

We left for Dubai late in the afternoon on Thursday. To get there it was a 5.5 hour drive. We didn't have much issues at border control but we weren't driving that fast which made the drive longer than necessary. Also, we had to stop many times for restrooms. In Dubai we were staying at a very nice and new Holiday Inn Express. Felt weird to stay in such an "American" place. Anyways, we had 2 rooms with 4 people to a room. In the morning we woke up and decided to tour around the historic part of town. We parked the car in a central location and walked around the different souqs. A souq is pretty much a market, with some of them tailoring to a specific good. We initially went to a textile souq...it was filled with mostly small shops selling large quantities of fabric. There were a couple of shops selling overpriced, bad quality pashminas. It was disappointing to see how commercialized and touristy it had become. It was interesting to note that most of the stores had their signs in three languages: Arabic, English, and Russian. Who would have thunk that Russian would have been the third language. We toured the souq and then went to the Dubai Museum. A cool new museum that is housed half underground and half in the oldest building in Dubai, a fort. It showed how the people used to live and how different areas of the UAE differ in their living conditions. Overall it was interesting and gave a perspective of the history of the country. Only in 1948 was the first bank in Dubai opened. In 60 years it has become such a hotspot for money.

We took an arba boat to the other side of the river to see the other souqs that were available. An arba boat is a small fisherman's boat that has a car seat for the driver and then everyone sits all around. They were cool and it was nice to be in a boat for a change. The other side had the spice souq and the gold souq. Both of them were interesting. Of course, I was more interested in the spice souq and nearly bought a couple of things that I would have never been able to get through border control in the US. By this time it was nearly 3pm and the street shops were mostly closed with the locals finding any flat surface they could to take a nap. It was hot and a nap would have definitely been a good idea. Within the gold souq I saw some amazing jewelry, such a glistening palace. Sadly, the wonders of the souq were interrupted by guys coming up to us and saying "Gucci, Prada, Fendi, fake watches we have them all." They wouldn't go away either and as one gave up the next one came up. I ended up getting so tired of them that I just started talking Russian to one, and to my surprise that didn't help cause he knew Russian also. I should have known.

The historic part of town was nice. Yes, it was touristy already but you could somehow see how it would have been several decades ago. The next part of the day was mostly taken up by everyone getting ready to go out. I agreed to go to a place to meet up with Cliff and also to eat dinner. We went to Wafi Mall, one of the many malls within Dubai. The mall itself is made out in the style of an Egyptian tomb. Definitely one of a kind. It had so many expensive stores and had tons of great restaurants. As we parked in the underground parking we were just surrounded by expensive cars like lambourghini and maseratis. It was absolutely crazy. The restaurant we went to was a tapas bar that had good yet expensive food. I think it was the first time since I've gotten to the Gulf that i had pork. Can't say that I miss it that much though. The atmosphere was very nice yet to me it was disappointing to be surrounded by all westerners. The group broke up and I went with Cliff, Muff, and Hijo to a shisha bar and just relaxed while the others hit the clubs. It was nice catching up with Cliff and just relaxing. There I realized that it was already weird for me to see mostly westerners, yet within Dubai I hadn't seen many Emirates. Interesting how a city so close could be so different. We drove Cliff back to his hotel and were able to see the huge amounts of construction that was going around in the center. So many huge buildings yet the horrible roads make you wonder if the infrastructure would ever be able to support the numbers of people that they want to move into these huge high rises.

In the morning we woke up to go to the Jumeirah beach and just relax. The water was amazing as always and it was a fun time. Cliff joined up and a good time was had by all. After the beach I changed in the car on teh way to the Mall of Emirates. The mall was the first time I experienced the horrendous traffic that everyone always complains of when talking about Dubai. We had to drive around the parking lot for a good 45 mins to find a place. And this was with the signs that showed how many free parking spaces were available in each lane. We parked and John, Muff, and I raced over to the Ski Dubai area. The mall was incredible with synchronized swimmers performing for the enjoyment of the crowd. The mall had around 3-4 levels adn was beautiful. At Ski Dubai we geared up and went out. The hill is pretty small but very amusing. The snow was icy, but considering it was my second time out downhilll skiing I wasn't about to complain. In the middle there is a small TGIFridays so that you can relax with hot chocate if you get cold from skiing. I went down several times but ended up getting bored. I would usually have fun going down only to not be able to stop and end up falling down. It was cool. Definitely a memorable experience. I left earlier than my alloted time and was able to walk around the crowded mall. The mall was the first and only place where I really saw a good amount of Emirates. The mall has really become the social gathering place for people. After the mall we all joined up and went to a club. It was fun to get out and enjoy the night. In the morning John, Hijo and I woke up early and drove back down to Oman. The trip probably took under 4 hours and was a good time. We barely stopped and sped along to make good time. We arrived, changed, and then went to the CEO's house. My last remark about Dubai is that it's a great city with a lot of things to do. Yet, it lacks personality or flavor. It seems so fake and such an artificial city. I guess I can't fully appreciate it because I think my tastes are not rich enough to fully enjoy the city.

The CEO's house was great. It was a gathering in honor of how well my department has performed lately. Food, alcohol, drinks, and good conversation. I liked getting to know my coworkers better.