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Published: March 28th 2009
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One of the many Mosques in Dubai
As the Emiraties pray five times a day, each Mosque broadcasts its prayer through megaphones outside that can be heard for a kilometre. Sometimes you can hear multiple prayers at the same time, it's like the Mosques are competing with each other! Dubai is one of the most interesting and different places we have seen. It basically looks like a brand new city of skyscrapers that has landed in the dessert amongst some very traditional buildings. Stu would describe it as a place of extremes. It has an extremely old and traditional culture infused in an ultra modern setting. We experienced some of the cheapest and best food we've had in the world (about $3 for both of us including drinks) and some of the most expensive western food (about $250 for dinner). There are lots of westerners here, probably as many as locals.
It's also very hot here, however we've been told that at the moment the weather is perfect because in summer it gets up above 50 degrees! The bus stops are air conditioned and everyone lives completely indoors for about 4 months of the year.
Other interesting facts about the place are that it pretty much has the biggest and best of everything in the world. For example it has the tallest building which is almost a kilometre high, it has the world's only 7 star hotel (which charges US $50 just to walk through the foyer!!), it
From the beach, looking towards the city
You can see the traditional buildings in front of the city landscape has an underwater hotel, the world's biggest shopping centre and numerous man made islands.
Coming through passport check the officers where having a good old laugh, we think because I was doing everything (all the talking as usual and providing our documents) but over here the men do all of that. How different we live our lives!
First stop was the Ibn Battuta shopping mall, where our friend Steph works (who we are staying with in Dubai). The malls here are amazing, they put so much detail into them (perhaps because the Emiraties spend a fair amount of time there). Shortly after that we went to see Cirque Du Soleil (they are in town at the moment) courtesy of Steph who arranged our tickets. The show was amazing, we still can't believe how they manage to do the things they do which we would have thought to be impossible before.
Our first full day was spent catching up on some sleep and relaxing. We walked down to the beach which was about a 15 minute walk from Steph's villa. Steph and Mark took us out for dinner that night to an Iranian restaurant called 'Pars' where we
had a traditional Iranian bbq and a spread of other food. Needless to say we were feeling very full afterwards!
We caught up with my friend Manal (an ex colleague from MJW for those in the advertising world) on Thursday which was great. We had lunch and went down to the beach for a swim, then much to Stu's delight we spent a few hours reminiscing on advertising memories. Everyone I know here I know from advertising, so as you can imagine much of the conversations revolved around 'industry speak'!
Friday was a bit of a highlight, particularly for Stu, as we visited the world famous indoor ski field. I made the smart decision not to ski in the end, which I was very happy about because I managed to hurt myself on the bob sled...imagine what damage I could have done on the slopes! Me and ice don't mix as some of you are aware (I fractured my arm ice skating once). This time I just ended up with a badly bruised elbow.
We also visited the Dubai Mall, which is the biggest shopping mall in the world! It has a huge aquarium in the middle
filled with sharks and all kinds of sea life. It was just amazing!
On Saturday we visited the 'Gold Souk' which is the jewellery precinct. Jewellery here is very cheap (ladies keep this in mind). There are also tons of 'genuine fake' goods hidden away in small rooms. Stu picked up a 'genuine fake' watch, and I got a nice white gold and diamond ring (I left my real engagement ring in Aus while we are traveling so this is a stand in for now!)
Next on the agenda was a desert safari trip. The journey to the desert took about an hour, then the fun began, starting with 4-wheel driving in huge sand dunes. After the roller coaster ride we went for a ride on camels (unfortunately we don't have any photos to show you of our camel ride as the friendly german who volunteered to take photos for us managed to take nothing but blurry pictures). I would say the best part of the night (definitely the funniest) was when the belly dancer came out and picked Stu from the crowd to dance with her. I managed to capture the whole thing on video so I'll
be sure to upload some of it for you all to enjoy (sorry Stu haha!)
The next day we went back to the Golden Souk to do a bit more bargaining - which is one of Stu's favourite things to do - and to swap Stu's 'genuine fake' watch which turned out to be broken!!
Our last activity planned was a trip to 'Wild Wadi' which is a huge water park. We were like kids again lining up on all the water slides. Our favourite was the 'Jumeriah Sceirah' which you get up to speeds of 80km per hour!! A little awkward wearing a bikini on this one, but we won't go there!!
Dubai was a fantastic place to visit, there is so much to do and see (in truth most things revolve around eating and drinking)! We have developed a soft spot for 'Swama's' pronounced 'Sh-wama' which is like a mini kebab and only costs about a dollar. They would sell like hot cakes in Australia!
So we are off to London now via Abu Dhabi....stay tuned!!
Ali & Stu x
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