Blogs from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 82

Advertisement

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai November 1st 2008

The last few weeks have seen a lot of stress...and a lot more stress is going to come in the next few weeks. So this little break, planed months ago is a true welcome. Four weeks ago, Christophe, Leslie's godfather and my best friend of more than 20 years wrote me a small email. I'm moving to the United Arab Emirates for few months...when do we have a drink...the answer came straight on...on 31st October. It's a small world for few of us! So 2 days in Dubai before heading to paradise where I'm writting this entry. My last visit to Dubai was three years ago. I'm impressed how the place has evolved so fast. Living in shanghai, I'm used to fast moving places...but this place is amazing. It's also my fourth visit here in less ... read more
The Burj....blurred pic...but what a place
So now...this is impressive!
the drop...

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 30th 2008

Yawn and stretch, well here we are, its 07:05 local time or still 03:00 as far as my body is concerned, the only thing is instead of being tucked up in bed fast asleep, we have just landed in Dubai and its 25 degrees and bright sunshine. Dubai was quite a sight flying in across the sea. It looks very foreign and of course it is. Sun washed buildings shinning in the desert heat. The airport is sparkling and pristine, you could eat your dinner off the floor it looks so clean and somehow I can’t imagine Heathrow or Manchester ever looking like this. It’s filled with sparkling gems, UFO saucer shaped lights and palm trees. Along with the usual airport shops there are lots of designer labels and souk type stores selling Aladdin lamps and ... read more

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 28th 2008

March 31, 2008 India was by far the hardest country for me to travel in. After being in a bus crash, auto rickshaw crash, getting scammed for a lot of money I was so happy to be exiting India. India had gotten the best of me. Originally the plan was to travel to Kenya, but with the recent violence I chose to go to Greece instead. I had a layover on my original flight in Dubai so I decided to just keep that the same and booked a flight 3 days later to Greece. Why not spend a couple days in Dubai to see the craziness. I say craziness because I am not a big fan of new modern cities. I often hear about Dubai on the news though so thought because of the newsworthiness alone ... read more
Burel Al Jareb Building
Water front Near Dubai
Mosque Near my Hotel

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 27th 2008

Left dublin at Arrived after 8 hours on the plane absoutley bricking myself, steped off the plane at about 2100 and the heat hit me like a ton of bricks, hadn't even thought about that. got to hotel at about midnight, had to give my passport... which i wasn't sure about. was decent enough sounded like there was a night club next door, did the job. Went out to try find something to eat, went to the busiest place still open looked dodgey but didnt have much of a choice. turned out to be lovely, like most of the places i'v eaten so far, after tat wandered around a bit on my then headed back to hotel and bed. Just had the one day in dubai so fairly rushed the next morning, had a stroll through ... read more
Wild Wadi water park
Dubai Creek
Sheeshe

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 26th 2008

We enjoyed seeing the Middle East. Dubai is known for it's " The world's MOSTS, FIRSTS and BIGGEST." When we stepped out of the airport we could not believe the heat! We were convinced we were standing under some hot engine of some sort but then soon realised this is just the cool evening temperature! We found that there were mainly Philipinos walking around and make up most of the workforce. Shopping Malls are a whole different story, men in polarized sunglasses clutching the latest mobile phone and in full length white jubbas (white long coat) and slender black figures in full lenth jilbabs (long black dress) seem to float effortlesly up and down the high gloss marble isles. These ladies spare no expense when it comes to shoes which peak out from underneath their jilbabs, ... read more
I'm SO under dressed...
Hard working old men
Messing around in the mall

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 25th 2008

Well we went to an awards ceremony the other night for work. It was an award for Corporate Social Responsibility and our company had been shortlisted for an award in the Medium sized company section. We actually did reallly well and were placed the second runner up. We were very lucky to get placed at all. We were one of only two company's that were not arabic. The other two winners in our section were local companies. One of the judges came up to us afterwards and said that we had an excellent application. The highest weighting on the score card was given to company's that have strong localisation programs and policies, so we did really well in all the other categories. But the best thing was that the awards ceremony was held at the Burj ... read more
Ulla, Chris, Chelle and Dave
Chelle, Dave, John and Kylie
John and Kylie

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 20th 2008

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 18th 2008

It is with great sadness that I write my final blog entry for this trip. I am certain that it ended on a very good note, in Dubai. After eight hours in transit I finally arrived at the Abu Dahbi airport at 9 30 pm. Upon arrival I faced lines through customs that I have never seen before and lots of trouble finding my baggage. Needless to say I could not wait to have a long bath at the Sheraton hotel where I would be staying. But what I soon discovered was that someone had other plans for me during my stay. It was 10pm when I received a call form Rod, who is a friend of Mark and Leahs. I had contacted him months ago to let him know I would be in Dubai and ... read more
Private beach at the Sheraton
Wish I was there!
Inside the Burj

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 17th 2008

I was torn whether to write this blog as this destination is a place many speak of visiting one day... perhaps to see the first supposed 7 star hotel Burj al Arab or to visit the Palm Jumeirah. Perhaps my disinterest in writing on Dubai stem from the fact that my expectations of the place were not in check and thus this blog resembles a mad rant and reflects more of my dislike for Dubai rather than the likes. I suppose it all began with the stress of wondering whether: a. Alitalia would go bankrupt before Dubai thus leaving us to scramble and find another flight or arrange new travel plans b. Alitalia would go bankrupt mid trip leaving us to find a new airline to get home at 2am departure day (and do battle with ... read more
Souk Madinat Jumeirah
Beach in Jumeirah
Emirati graffiti?

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai October 17th 2008

We did a little bit of nesting the other day. We finally got fed up of having nowhere to store things in the house, and therefore having it stored all over the floor, so we bought a wall unit and have loaded it up with all our stuff. Finally... read more
Before hand
Beforehand
In Progress




Tot: 0.23s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 8; qc: 76; dbt: 0.1614s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb