Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 21

Arrhhhh!!! Dubai are we glad to see you, after ten long days at sea, we are finally here. Two days out from Perth the weather finally become lovely and warm around 29-30 every day but quite windy some days. Always tried to do our 10,000 around the deck each day – though quite difficult sometimes with the strong wind. John managed to play table tennis nearly every day and we joined a few people we knew every second day or so for happy hour in the Legends Bar, which was always a bit of fun, a lovely couple from New Plymouth in New Zealand and a character from Caulfield who is a retired real estate agent, she is so much fun…not Jewish funnily enough! Always someone to have a laugh with and the Aussies flock to ... read more

My bag was almost torn apart as a giant and muscle bound Emirate border guard dug his way through. It felt like he was searching for any reason to give me problems. The American guy next to me was also selected for the search. I had made my way through Oman via bus, and everyone else was going to have to wait for them to finish and let us through. So I hoped. The only thing I figured might give me problems might be the Kamasutra deck of cards I had somewhere in there. Somehow I felt they wouldn't be appreciated so much. But him and his compadre that he called over seemed to be more interested in the plethora of pharmaceutical drugs I was carrying with me. Up until now, I never realized I had ... read more

Well, it has been a few days, but have not been in a port till now. We were sailing from Mangalore, India to Oman when a contractor injured himself by falling and breaking pelvis, hip and elbow. It took hours for the ship's personal to extract him. ( Rumor is that he fell down a stack) We heard rumors of a helicopter extraction as we changed course to Mumbai. However, we ended up sailing into Mumbai early morning a day and 1/2 later. They transferred him to a tug with local medical personal and then we turned and sailed to Dubai, thus missing Oman. We arrived in Dubai about 5 hours late, so disembarked around 6:30 pm. Got on the Big Bus tour and went to the Dubai Mall to catch the late night lights tour. ... read more

Sitting in a Starbucks in Singapore. Finally able to update the blog. Enjoy! Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates This is what we have learned. We may not have all the details right because this is really one of the most foreign experiences ever. Information varies from our guides talking about a presidents and a vice president, whereas the news talks about a prime minister and a cabinet of ministers. Today's news tells us that the Sheik has just appointed two new ministers: the Minister of Happiness, and the Minister of Tolerance. The need for tolerance is quite evident, while it still remains unclear whether the resident foreigners will be at all affected by the imposition of Happiness. An Emirati once said, "We are all happy as long as we keep our mouths shut." The ... read more

Seven years ago, we traveled to Dubai at Easter for 10 days for the first time - a long anticipated trip that saw us fall in love with the diverse, modern City. In the years since then we have visited at least once, but usually twice a year, always as a family of 5. Even transiting through Dubai to fly further afield makes my heart jump and I feel a strong pull towards it, an undescribable feeling of longing. We have stayed in a few hotels across the City. The children's favourite would be Atlantis The Palm, an amazing playground where kids and adults of all ages are treated to everything from swimming with Dolphins or Rays to a world class Waterpark on site, a Mall and wonderful restaurants. As they mature they enjoyed our stay ... read more