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Published: March 5th 2014
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To get away from the monotony of work in Qatar, I decided to invite two new Dutch girls to Dubai for a fun weekend of just girls. Melinda is married to one of my engineers, and had visited him while he interned in Dubai about six years ago - things had changed a LOT since then, so it was interesting to see her reaction. Tina had never been to Dubai before, and I'm a little worried because she seems to really like it. Like me like it - so I worry she'll ditch us folk in Qatar...
Anyway, I always take the nightly United flight from Doha to Dubai - it is almost never full. But last time and this time it was!!! It took a while to check in, go through security, go through security again, get on the bus, sit, get off the plane, and go through customs. I had my trusty e-gate and headed to Duty Free while they went through customs. Apparently, to make the time fly, Tina found a guy to flirt with and who got her number! Sounds like a good start to a girls weekend of fun!
We head to Jamie's in
Dubai Marina. In true Jamie fashion, she had laid out two new fluffy towels, hand cloths and wash cloths, and Dubai shoulder bags full of snacks and Dubai maps. She's so awesome.
The next morning, we had tickets to see the Burj Khalifa at 11:30, so we slept in a bit and headed over to Dubai Mall. Holy tourists!!! One of the two elevators was down, so they put us in the big service elevator like sardines - it was not nearly as nice. We toured around the observation deck, and I insisted we take the real elevator down. People make fun of me, but the elevator is one of the experiences of seeing the Burj - they turn off the lights and the glass walls are filed with moving images, so you lose your sense of perspective except by seeing the elevator floor numbers move been 1 and 124 and by having your ears pop. It is smooth motion and fast!
Next we went to IHOP for pancakes that Tina had been craving, followed by some shopping! Then we had to meet back at Jamie's for a cooking class at 5. We barely made it - threw
cooking class
Reema has the whole 50's housewife thing down on some clothes and headed to the Sofitel on Jumeirah Beach. Rococo restaurant was very nice. It doesn't open until 7, so from 5-7 we had the place to ourselves. Nine girls from different phases of Jamie's life made it to play. Jamie had sent this lovely email invite, where she wrote a small blurb about each of the girls.
We thought we were actually going to be cooking, but instead we got a detailed, step-by-step demonstration on how to make risotto, beef tagliasomething, and tiramisu. It actually worked out great. The chef was amazing and a great instructor and we got to see the inner workings of a fancy kitchen. We were able to try some of the cooking if we wished. I mostly just watched and took photos. We each got our own aprons, chefs hat, recipe book, and a few other small items.
After the class, we were seated to enjoy the meal we just witnessed. Yummy. It was nice to meet new girls and catch up with the ones I rarely get to see.
After the meal, we had to hightail it back to Dubai Mall for a VIP movie.
We went downstairs and the hotel staff gave us a driver with an Audi. I sat up front and told him to drive fast - he did! 😊 We made the movie, which sucked, but Melinda of course loved the seats! I think we've got her converted. It was also nice to catch up with Joevet and Joselet.
Long long day, but we all had so much fun! Too much to put here, so an even more exciting Day 2 to follow....
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Romsa
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Thanks for the post!
That cooking class looks like a lot of fun, Pookie Bear. Have I told you that I learned how to bake cookies last year? I thought it would be something nice to hand out to clients. If you will allow me to toot my own horn, I have perfected my recipe and my cookies are incredible. My clients, coworkers and friends love them. Hope this finds you safe, healthy and happy, buttercup. Can't wait for your next blog post and I'm looking forward to seeing you pretty soon! The vpt and tpt both miss you dearly.