The Journey Continues: Dubai

Day 4: Monday, 1/10/11
The past few days were sunny and warm in the mid-70's, but Monday was cloudy. With 300+ days of sunshine, I can't believe we're lucky enough to experience a cloudy day. Haha. It was still warm though. Regardless, after another breakfast of deliciously juicy fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs, and some exotic dried fruit and nuts for the road, we were off to tour the Burj Al Arab, commonly referred to as "the sailboat hotel." I wish I had uploaded my pictures already for you to see because this place is incredible; truly incredible and like no other hotel I've ever seen before.

First off, the Burj Al Arab is built on one of Dubai's many man-made islands and you have to take a short bridge to get there. The lobby has a huge fountain which draws your eyes upward toward colorful balcony after balcony of hotel rooms looking out over the inside courtyard type layout. As you ride up the escalator past the lobby, you can watch colorful fish swim right next to you in a massive aquarium. Each floor has a security guard, the elevators are intricately decorated, and there is gold and crystal and expensive ornate detail everywhere. We toured one of the apartment rooms which I think goes for something ridiculous like $10,000 per night! It was two stories, with a living room, family room and bar on the first floor, then two gigantic rooms on the second floor with enormous, intricately decorated bathrooms, all overlooking the water and the Dubai skyline in the distance. We also toured one of the bars which had a ceiling-to-floor and wall-to-wall aquarium, and another bar with glass windows overlooking the water and the palm islands (more about them later). We were there for a couple hours, just touring and taking pictures. It is truly amazing and such an iconic symbol of Dubai's hospitality industry and the wealth that comes with it.

Very fitting after a visit to the Burj Al Arab, next we went across the street to the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management. There we had a tour of the grounds and met with the Dean of the academy as well as the Digital Media Director from the Jumeirah Group (the group that owns the Burj Al Arab). It's interesting to learn how so many things feed into each other in Dubai, for example the Jumeirah Group works closely with the academy to hire high caliber employees to staff their hotels and resorts. The presentations were great and we learned all about tourism and hospitality in Dubai, which is of course a huge source of revenue. We had lunch at the academy which was a salad bar and variety of hot dishes. I don't think there's been a meal yet without hummus and flatbread. Yum! Oh, but the craziest part of this lunch...there were popovers!! To my mom: I did not have one. I felt like that would've been betraying you somehow. Lol

After lunch we drove to Dubai Media City and had a presentation and a tour of the grounds which included several news rooms. During the presentation we were served fresh fruit juices and muffins. Apparently it's rude to say no when offered homemade treats, so I was forced to drink some delicious pineapple juice. Haha. That was the first meeting with local Emirates. Until this meeting we'd met with a man from Kuwait who went to college in Toronto, a man from Canada and women from the U.S, someone from Australia, France, etc. As everyone told me before the trip, Dubai is filled with expats. We learned that local Emirates (pronounced em-ir-at-ees) make up only about 20% of the UAE population. So the men at Dubai Media City had on the full Arab uniform which includes a one-piece white dress and scarf that covers the head. Despite the foreign dress, they acted very western, not surprisingly considering many of them studied in the states. One of them even went to USD!

After another long day of meetings, we took the bus back to our hotel. Along the way it's hard not to notice all the construction and it's still interesting to drive down the freeway with high rises in the background and flat desert and sand in the foreground. Another interesting thing is all the American chain restaurants. I was really surprised to see Chili's, Applebees, KFC, Taco Bell and even a Johny Rockets. No, we did not eat at any of them, though a few people in my group went to McDonald's and said the McArabia was outstanding!

That night for dinner, I went with about seven others to the Wafi area for dinner. I don't know what that area is supposed to be, but it felt like Vegas. If there was a Vegas hotel with a D.C. theme, that's what it would have been. There was something that looked like the Washington Monument, and another building that looked like the White House. Everything is so fake but made to look old. Dubai is only 40 years old, but I still don't know why everything feels so fake, maybe just because of the lack of culture. So we went to a restaurant called Persia Persia, and of course had Persian food. We sat outside at this round table underneath a canopy, and the benches were covered with pillows and there was a two-man band playing Arabic music. It was a pretty cool atmosphere, but like I said before, I somehow felt that I could have been at a hotel in Vegas and had a similar experience. The food was, of course, incredible - more flat bread with hummus, feta cheese, warm eggplant and the most flavorful and tender shrimp, lamb, chicken and beef kebabs. Probably the best kebabs I've ever had, or at least tied with the kebabs I had the night before. So that I probably wouldn't find in Vegas. Although I just ate breakfast, I'm suddenly in the mood for kebabs...

Day 5: Tuesday, 1/11/11
Tuesday is my day as a "day lead" because we're going to Emirates Airlines which is the company visit I'd planned. So I basically just had to sit in the front of the bus and make sure the bus driver was going to the right place. We got to Emirates and I met Matthias, who I'd been emailing since October in preparation for the visit. He's Swiss and moved to Dubai 12 years ago. He gave us a wonderful presentation on the airline industry and basically a SWOT for Emirates Airlines. The board room looked like something out of Mad Men. We had a quick lunch in the cafe at Emirates - hummus and veggies and pita for me - and then we were off.

Next stop: DP World at the Jebel Ali port. We met with local Emirates again in the traditional dress. We were in a huge board room with dark wooden walls, thick wooden tables and expensive looking carpet. They gave us notepads and pens, similar to our other visits. We had a short presentation about the port - about how it's completely man made and they want to expand so they're just going to build more land and carve out a port. Almost every visit makes me realize how fake things are in Dubai. Innovative, but fake. We had a tour of the port and saw ships and containers being unloaded. Although it's man made, it's still a real working port and that was really fascinating to see.

From there we went to Nahkeel, the real estate developer who created the palm islands and what's referred to as "the world." I get that this is innovative and plays into Dubai's real estate and wealth, but it is just too fake for me. They say there's no negative environmental impact, but how could there not be when they are taking land from elsewhere and dumping it offshore in Dubai to make more land? I hate to be negative about it because it is certainly an innovative business model, but aren't they going too far? How can this be ok? It's eye opening to see what money can buy and that sometimes there really aren't any limits. What's even crazier is that there's actually demand for houses on these man made islands, indicating that people want to buy a vacation home where their only view is of the recirculated water against fake land. I'd much rather buy a vacation home on a real beach, but that's just me.

That said, we were certainly intrigued by the presentation at Nahkeel and felt a trip to Dubai wouldn't be complete without a visit to the palm islands. So we took the monorail up the base of the palm to the well-known Atlantis Hotel. The monorail ride was great because we got an elevated view of the palm islands and all the developments, and could see what it might be like to own a house there. Upon entering the Atlantis, we were faced with a Coldstone, and again I felt as if I were in Vegas. We walked through a never ending corridor of expensive shops and then finally found ourselves in front of another giant aquarium near the Lebanese restaurant we were looking for. We sat outside on these comfy pillows laid right on the rug-covered ground, overlooking the water and the Dubai skyline. That part was really nice because after spending all day inside, it was perfect just to sit and relax and watch the sunset outside. We ordered mezas and drinks and shisha (sometimes called hubbly bubbly, but what we Americans just call hookah). I finally had falafel and it was amazing! We must have been there for a few hours and it was so fun to hang out with everyone in our group.

Some people left to go explore the islands more after that, and I left with a few people to go home, but we decided to go on a detour to the beach for night pictures of the Burj Al Arab (sailboat hotel). I got some great shots! Then we finally went back to the hotel after an incredibly cheap cab ride considering our detour, and I was out for the night within seconds.

Day 6: Wednesday, 1/12/11
I started my day at 5:45am when I decided I must go to the gym. I had my usual breakfast and then we were off to the Dubai School of Government. We had a quick meeting there with some American men and women, and learned about gender differences and labor in the UAE. From there we went to Boeing and met with a man from Syria, then had Subway sandwiches that they'd ordered for us for lunch. Ick! It was really gross, which is quite a shame because there's so much other good food in Dubai. Then we went to UASC which is a shipping container company. We were seated in this amazing board room with wood paneling and heavy chairs, crystal glasses and tea and cookies served on what looked like fine china. The meeting was surprisingly interesting and the CEO even came in at the end to answer questions. He was Swedish though and I could barely understand him through his thick accent.

We were actually done early that day, around 3pm. We went back to the hotel and hung out in the pool, spa and sauna until it was time to leave for the Dubai Creek Cruise. It was your typical touristy boat cruise with music and a buffet (more hummus and tabouleh and kebabs!) and pretty views. The unexpected part was the Whirling Dervish; we'd been expecting to see belly dancing. It was this man all dressed up and spinning, or whirling, for at least 20 minutes. Unbelievable! Apparently it's like a spiritual, trance like event for them and entertainment for us. Pretty interesting!

Day 7: Thursday, 1/13/11
The best day yet! I went to the gym again and we had an early drive out to Abu Dhabi. After we drove through the desert for about an hour, we got to the Persian Gulf and it was absolutely gorgeous. Abu Dhabi has beautiful beaches and walking/running paths and parks along the water. I immediately liked it much better than Dubai because it's a city but also has an element of real nature. We had a quick meeting with ADIA, where they served us fancy cookies and tea, and gave us really nice leather portfolios to take with us.

Then we went to lunch. This wasn't any lunch. This lunch was probably the edible highlight of my entire trip, so far anyway. The restaurant was a local Emirates restaurant where the Sheikh himself typically eats, and it was incredible inside with ornate ceilings and walls, heavy wooden tables with chairs fit for a king! We got a tour of the restaurant and then took a million pictures of the food before we actually ate. There were dried fruits and nuts on our tables, then a buffet of cold dishes, an entire area with breads and rolls, then another buffet area with at least 20 hot dishes of lambs and beef and chicken and stews, what looked like a whole fish sitting on ice that I never tried, and of course, the largest spread of desserts I've ever seen. This was like my family's Mother's Day brunch on steroids and with an Arabic twist. There were slightly traditional desserts and then there was a set up for Arabic sweets and then another for Moroccan sweets. OMG. So the meal finally started when we were served "welcome drinks" which was this delicious lime and mint juice. And then the eating began. Everyone shared and the conversations mostly consisted of "what is that?" and "OMG you have to try this one!" I'd like to say what my favorites were, but I just can't! It was all too good. The first few things that come to mind though are the lamb byriani, the eggplant stuffed with minced meat, and something Moroccan that tasted like baklava but better. Oh and the bread with cheese baked on top. Then they served us mint tea, and then brought over these little pitchers that pump out rosewater and rosewater steam and you're supposed to kind of cleanse yourself with it. Wow. I will never forget this lunch. Truly amazing, delicious and utterly impressive!

Leaving the restaurant, my clothes were definitely tighter than they were when I'd walked in. Lol. Then we went to the Palace Hotel where someone from the Abu Dhabi tourism board gave us a tour of the hotel, the grounds and told us about all the museums they plan to build in Abu Dhabi including the Guggenheim, Louvre and a few others within the next ten years. It was shocking to see the cultural aspects being built up in Abu Dhabi, compared to just real estate and business in Dubai.

Next on the trip was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It is absolutely beautiful! The girls had to wear abayas covering our entire bodies, and everyone had to take off their shoes, and then we met with our tour guide in the courtyard. He was like a comedian  - completely hilarious for the two hours we were there. We walked all around and then came back outside right around sunset. Unfortunately my camera battery died right before we got there so I just have a few pictures on my phone, including the two below. That was coincidentally nice though because I just got to take it all in. The mosque was huge inside and everything was beautifully designed, from the carpet to the walls to the chandeliers.

So that was the last stop on our Abu Dhabi trip. We took the bus back to Dubai and I quickly fell asleep after such a long day. I think that happened on most days of the trip!

Day 8: Friday, 1/14/11
Free day!! I went to the gym, had a leisurely breakfast, and then went with two others on a photo tour which was just us asking the cab driver to take us to a few scenic spots: the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world; the Burj Al Arab, the sailboat hotel that we'd toured previously; and the Jumeirah beach. The beach was beautiful! We took tons of pictures and just frolicked around, and I got my first ever awesome picture of me in the air (below):

Then I went back to the hotel pool to relax before our desert safari. We got picked up in Land Cruisers and drove about an hour out to the sand dunes where we drove all around and got knocked around in the cars. It was scary but totally fun. There's a video but it didn't really pick up all the movement. It felt like a roller coaster in the sand. As you'll tell if you watch the video, our driver had an awesome soundtrack going the whole time, including "Blue" and "The Barbie Song" from like 1999. Lol.

After being somewhat sick from rolling around in the sand dunes, we drove to a flatter area of the desert and watched the sunset, then rode camels! I did it twice and the scariest part is getting on and off because they bend their front legs to get up/down so it feels like you're going to slide right off past their head. Lol. And then from there we walked over to the main area they had set up around a stage with tables and cushions on the ground, and we had Arabic food and watched the whirling dervish and belly dancers. During dinner the camels were walked up to the top of the sand dunes overlooking us, and it looked like Santa's reindeer up there. Ha pretty cool.

Ahhh another great day, but this time with no company visits! This was our last day in Dubai, and what a great way to end our stay! I don't know if I'd ever come back to Dubai, but I really liked Abu Dhabi given that it had more of a balance of culture and nature, and not just business and real estate. So it was a great experience and next we are off to Istanbul, Turkey!