Last Day/Night in Dubai

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As you probably would have guessed, if you’re reading all the entries that I’ve posted today (although i've realized that you can now change the entry date of your post.. so i'm backdating them all.) It is currently June 16 Wednesday in Cape town at 3:40 am. So I am no longer on the airplane but when i wrote this blog I was still in my seat on the way to Cape Town. Without further delay here are the details of my Sunday in Dubai.

8am- sleeping
10am- still sleeping
12am -still sleeping
2pm - yes, still sleeping

Get the drift yet… Let’s just say Saturday night was epic in more ways than expected.
2:15pm - “The time is WHAT!” Wow, couldn’t believe that I slept until 2pm. Clearly my past few days in Dubai have taken a toll on my sleep and it appeared that today was the day that I caught up on all my lost sleep.
However, despite the late start I still had some exciting adventures on my last day in Dubai. Still in the lazy mode Kabir and I ate lunch and watched the Algeria vs. Slovenia game, and then set out to Bur Dubai (old town) at 6pm. We arrived at Bur Dubai with little daytime to spare. The heat was manageable at this hour and we proceeded to walk towards the creek. Kabir explained the history of the creek to me as we neared, telling me that the Sheikh borrowed money from Kuwait to dig this creek into Dubia to aid in the fish trade and trading of other goods. When we reached the creek we took a small local boat for 1dh to the other side of the creek to the market. Whilst on the boat I couldn’t help but feel relaxed. Bur Dubai was a completely different side than downtown Dubai. Downtown Dubai was the very developed high rise city, while Bur Dubai was the local down-to-earth city. Reaching the marketplace I couldn’t help but be reminded of India. The streets, vendors, and just feel of the market reminded me of some of the places I have been in India. It was amusing to see the vendors trying to get you into their store by saying ‘Boss come inside, I have watches, shirts, Gucci, Armani, for you good price, boss, come come…” I bought a traditional Arabic headdress, which the vendor showed me how to tie on my own. I attempted a couple times only to fail miserably the first two times, and to succeed somewhat the third time.

After taking a tour of the market place we headed back across the river on the boat and grabbed chicken shwarmas and smoothies accompanied by another mint sheisha at a place on the creekside. Kabir informed me that the way a shwarma should be made, as it was at this place, was with tahini sauce (the white sauce) and French fries. I had never seen French fries in a shwarma, but I had to admit it did taste very delicious. After relaxing with a hookah and some good food and drinks we headed back home for dinner with his family.

However, our attempts to get back home were not without trouble. Kabir it appears is notorious for misplacing his parking tickets, and it so happened that on this fine humid Sunday evening Kabir did just that. As we got into the car he realized that he did not have the ticket in his pocket, we searched frantically around the car. What I also forgot to mention was that Kabir told his mom that we’d call to find out dinner plans, but Kabir also forgot his phone at home and it was nearing 9:00 and we had not called his mom either. After a few minutes of frantic searching we decided that we’d have to do something a little sneaky and unethical if you will. We left the car and journeyed, ok well more like strolled toward the entrance of the parking lot in an attempt to retrieve a new ticket. However, as we neared the entrance a bike cop decided he would take his break near the entrance, which made our plan a little harder. However, we still pursued with our drawn out plan. As we neared the ticket machine, we were dismayed to find a large line of cars waiting to enter the parking lot. We waited around the ticket machine for a couple minutes to no avail, as the never ending line of cars did just that... never ended. So, disappointed and concerned about our next steps we headed back to the car knowing that there was a 250dh fine for a lost ticket (~$60).

As we came to the exit Kabir explained to the ticket taker what happened, we were then instructed to back up and go inside to visit the security office. We cautiously entered the shopping complex where the security office was located, and with the help of another security guard were let into the office. As we sat in the security office anxious and nervous I realized that I was still wearing my Arabic headdress which I am sure of I looked pretty ridiculous. Here I was, sitting in a security office with Kabir in a headdress, wearing shorts, slippers, and a cutoff muscle shirt, most likely smelling of mint sheisha, but with a semi-satisfied belly. A gentleman came out from behind a cubicle and asked us if we bought anything at the supermarket, to which we replied no, and he disappeared into his cubical again. Kabir, now most likely worried about his parking situation and the fact that he hasn’t been able to call his mom about the dinner plans decided to ask if he could use the phone to make a quick phone call, to which we heard a prompt and sharp NO. We stood in silence for a little longer, before another individual came in and asked up some questions. He told us the amount of the fine and Kabir pleaded his case, as I just looked on with my headdress in silence. Finally, the gentlemen asked Kabir how much can you pay, to which he replied 100dhs? I felt like we were settling on our bail cost. But 100dhs did the trick and we were released from the parking lot and we headed back home.

After dinner with the family, we watched the Germany/Australia game, which was a little upsetting with the card happy referee. I was definitely not happy with the straight Cahill red card. However, Germany played a brilliant game and definitely put away some awesome goals. The game ended around midnight and after we all congregated in the living room all on our own laptops working on individual projects. I attempted to write in my blog, with not much progress. Around 1 oclock we said goodnight to his parents and I decided to call my own mother, as Kabir’s parents reminded me of my own in many ways.
The dynamic Kabir has with his Mom, is the same that I have with my Mom which I found quite funny throughout my stay with them. After a brief call with my mommy I decided to call it an early night and turn in. Well not so early night, because by the time I had finished repacking and made sure everything was set for my departure the next day it was 1:30.

As I prepared for my last night in Dubai, Kabir assured me that he would wake me up at 5:30am so that I could catch a 6am taxi to the airport to catch an 8:50 flight to Cape town. However, being the person that I am I didn’t want to rely on someone else to help me wake up for an important event, so I decided to keep the curtains drawn to allow sunlight to enter my room in the morning, I left the door to my room open so that any noise outside could awake me, even possibly kabir’s alarm clock in the room next door, and furthermore I even slept without any covers to ensure that I did not feel too comfortable and fall into a deep slumber like the previous night. The results of my attempts shall be determined in the next blog. =)

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Comments

[anonymous]

Terrorist!

[anonymous]

Ummm a wise man once told me, "You can't catch up on lost sleep" : )....You change your mind about that yet??

[Dxt3r]

you better watch out!

[Dxt3r]

i still haven't changed my mind about that. Is this Jen? Sleep is good though. Glad that i am able to sleep in on this vacation and not miss out on a lot.