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Published: December 19th 2006
I arrived in Dubai one day before Dom. Emirates flew me here and got me settled into my new apartment located downtown on the busiest street for shopping, restaurants, and night clubs - Sheikh Zayad Road. I was very pleased with my new accommodation. I share a three bedroom apartment with two other girls - an Australian and an American. Each of the bedrooms is ensuite and there is lots of space for all of us. The Building itself is brand new, has 53 floors, 24 hour security, a fully equipped gym on the 53rd floor (overlooking the sea and the famous 'Palm'), and a rooftop swimming pool. Its SWEET!!
Dom arrived the following morning at 3am. As I waited for him in the arrivals area of the airport, which is actually outside the airport, the temperature was 41 degrees C. Unbelievable! But I was loving it. One of reasons I was pleased to move to Dubai was because of the heat, and between the months of June - September, the temperature averages around 48 degrees C. The hottest day I have experienced so far is 52 degrees C.
As we were both still on Canada time, we were
fairly wide awake at 3am, so we took a taxi via my apartment where we dropped off Dom's bags, and then headed straight to the beach. Why not? It was the best thing we could have done because you can never repeat the experience of seeing your first Middle Eastern sunrise on a beach in Dubai. It was incredible. The sun was up by 5am, and we were splashing around in the sea like happy little children.
The next couple of days we set about finding Dom and place to live, and sight seeing around Dubai. Granted most of our sight seeing was spent on the local beaches, but there were so many to discover that we just had to try as many as possible. Funny enough, one of our friends from Canada, Ryan, was in Dubai for work, so he joined us for a few days.
I had the experience of a lifetime when I got to ride my very first camel! It was so much fun, and not as uncomfortable as you would think. However, Lawrence of Arabia may beg to differ - he's put in a few more miles than I have!
We also
headed to the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai is located. We have yet to try it out, but its amazing to leave the beach, and then go to a mall where you can watch skiers and snowboarders cruising down the slopes, and then catching a chair lift back up to the top. Its hilarious!
Dom found a great place to live. He moved into a five bedroom villa after finding an ad in the local paper for a vacant room. His housemates are two Australians, one Frenchmen, and a New Zealander. It's a mixture of guys and girls, and there is a huge swimming pool in the backyard. It's perfect.
Some of you may wonder why Dom and I are now living separtely after having lived together in Vancouver and especially now that we're engaged. For a few reasons; my job with Emirates provides my accommodation, but doesn't allow for boyfriends, fiances, or even husbands to live in staff accommodation. If you get married, you must move out, and Emirates will then provide an allowance for your rent. Secondly, it is illegal in the UAE for couples who are unmarried to live together. Thirdly, now that
we're engaged its kind of exciting to be living apart in anticipation for the wedding!!
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Tinderman
non-member comment
Sweeeeeet
Looks like fun place to stay, for sure. Looks like all the extravagences of 'home' are available. Ha! Hope you enjoy living there for the next while. Best, t.