Captains Log - Stardate 2 July 2009

So my journey began in Canberra on 30 June... after a teary goodbye with my girls, I headed to my parents place for a quick dinner and then off to the airport. The flight to Melbourne was rather uneventful.
Arriving in Melbourne airport I had way too much time... the check in counter seemed to take forever to open and there was just way too much time to kill before boarding the flight (which departed at 2:55am!!!)
I would highly recommend Emirates as an airline to choose - the service was pretty good, in flight entertainment excellent, and food was yummy (except that it all had mushrooms that i had to pick out!!)... the 14.5hr flight was long and boring tho - i didnt sleep much and couldnt walk around too much cos the girl sitting between me and the isle slept almost the whole way... the only time she really woke up was when we hit turbulance and she was puking in a bag!! :( (lucky im not a sympathetic spewer!!!)

Flying over/into Dubai was incredible - all you see is desert or what looks like a never ending beach (with no water), then suddenly there are Mc Mansions (that all seem to look the same) and the city skyline in the background (somewhat hidden by a haze of dust). Dubai airport is also pretty incredible (although unfortunatly you have to get off onto the tarmac - SOOO HOT!!!!), its massive and there just seems to be so much space!! Customs was funny!! After xraying my carry on (which i thought was way odd considering it had been screened before i got on the flight) i went thru passport control and then had to choose whether to walk through the 'nothing to declare' or the ítems to declare' walkways - the 'nothing to declare' walkway went straight outside - noone asked any questions or anything!! wierd!!! lol

Meghan met me at the airport and took me back to her place, then it was off to lunch at the Madinat Jumeirah - a hotel/shopping complex thats built in old arabian style architecture (i forgot to take my camera with me tho). In the arvo we went for a swim in the pool - and the funniest part is that the pools here are CHILLED!!! the complete opposite to Canberra!!! lol

Today we headed out to the old part of Dubai to the Gold souk and Spice souk (see photos on facebook). The gold souk was REDICULOUS!!! Over 100 shops with the biggest diamonds i have ever seen, and the most gold i have ever seen!!! It was all a bit out of my price range tho... but it was fun looking. I did buy a nice cashmere pashmina at the gold souk (yes i know - its not gold) and some yummy pistacios and cashews at the spice souk. On the way back to the car we did a 30 minute Abra cruise (see photos) along Dubai Creek. It was sooo hot (about 43 degrees) but the breeze over the water was refreshing.

My impressions of dubai so far have been really good. the architecture here is incredible!! there will be an old arabian style building right next to one that is brand new and made of reflective glass!!! The arabian style buildings have these cool 'wind-towers' that are like old school air-conditioning! People here are really nice (although can be pushy to buy stuff). I'm not quite sure wat to make of the sheer size and exuberance of it all tho... everything is massive - cars, roads, shopping centres etc. and im not sure that its all that necessary... but it is pretty... and incredible...

but its now time for a swim and then dinner somewhere...

stay tuned for more soon!!

Marls

xoxoxoxo

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