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The time had come: vacation was over. In a way, I was a little relieved. Part of that was helped along by looking forward to another fantastic flight in Business Class on the Emirates A380. I had the option of having a car sent to get me by Emirates, but you had to booked 48hrs ahead of time; I just missed it at about 42 hours - grrr.... Oh well. Instead, our hotel booked a car for me - I had asked for a taxi and they said it would be $65 to give to the driver; expensive but fine as long as it was taken care of. When my driver came, it weren't no taxi! It was a black Cadillac Escalade. Not too shabby! He drove me through Queens to JFK on a smooth, uneventful ride.
Checking in was a breeze, security was quick - I was afraid JFK would be more hectic but it was actually a pretty efficient process! I made my way to the Emirates Business class lounge and had myself some good dinner: a salad, fruit, and cocktail shrimp with club soda. While waiting in the vast lounge, where we would board directly to the
plane, I decided to call my mom one last time. So she and I had a good hour long chat, which helped pass the time. Then it was time to go. Business Class was pretty empty - seriously, like two other people in my whole section. I think the hostesses were good, but they didn't hold a candle to my first trip. I caught myself critiquing the service at times and saying to myself, "Alexis! Wake up! This is awesome!!!" The food was actually better on this flight. I had my champagne, a great glass of Santa Barbara Chardonnay, and a glass of red, which I never finished. Other than that, I avoided the bar this trip and mostly kept to myself in my wonderful little pod. I slept a lot more this trip too.
Upon arrival in Dubai, i made my way to the Business Class lounge there, but took very few liberties. One was enjoying the nice clean quiet bathrooms and the other was asking for a glass of water. I kept smelling something which reminded me of a soup that was just on the edge of my memory, making me crave something (maybe clam chowder?), but
when I looked at the selections, it was mostly Indian foods and I just was not in the mood for it. I think I grabbed some more fruit. So I waited for my final flight to Doha.
I like this flight too - the seats are great and service on this flight was actually a bit better than on the long haul. Or maybe I was just awake for longer. However, there were two guys in front of me who were demanding first class service and beyond - I found them to be extremely arrogant, annoying and unnecessarily demanding. It made me realize the types of things the poor servers in Business Class have to do with a smile on their face; the guy who waited on them did it without batting an eye. Excellent.
I was able to make my way through customs pretty quickly (a rarity!), grabbed my bags immediately (a rarity), and caught a taxi quickly (another rarity). I had a fairly cool taxi driver, who first drove me to my friend's hotel where I picked up my house key, and then home. He claimed he had no change so I wound up just giving
him a very good tip, but he did carry all my heavy bags inside for me, so money well spent (since I didn't have to pay for long term parking, this was not a bad trade). However, when I got my taxi home from work the next day, the driver also said he had no change, which I was not about to give him a 100 riyals for a 25 riyal ride, especially when he was a punk who alternated between trying to turn on the charm and angrily hitting the wheel when he didn't understand what I was saying. Bipolar maybe? "Oh, look, yes I do have change. I forget!" So this is a ploy now apparently, if you come to Doha...
I went to work for a couple hours on Thursday, but I was so exhausted I couldn't make most of the day. On Friday, my coworker picked me up, took me to get coffee with a couple other guys, leaving me with my car again. YAY! I spent most of Thursday and Friday doing laundry. I had like no food, but survived on granola bars, popcorn and water for two days until I had the energy
to shop on Saturday. I was good all week, making myself a big breakfast and lunch everyday and was able to lose 3.5lbs of my gained vacation weight in 9 days. So, now just have to be good for the rest of the summer because I'm planning a trip to Greece for Eid!
My first full weekend, I came to Dubai to see Jamie, who I haven't seen in about two months. I was super bummed because I bought her a poster of one of her favorite TV characters that made it from Geneva, to DC, to NYC, to Dubai, to Doha, and back to Dubai before realizing I left it on the dang plane!!!! Stupid Alexis! I will see if they found and saved it when I return tonight. But Dubai is always fun, though Jamie can be exhausting - she always wants to do stuff! Fortunately, she gets me up and I always enjoy what we do. Friday, we met at the Ibn Battuta Mall after her spin class and ate at a new restaurant called "Lemonade" - it was pretty good! It's supposed to be "Southern California Comfort Food" haha. Basically, they have a bunch of
Hard to find puzzles here
I miss them so I brought a few back with mevarious types of salads or small dishes and you can choose between one and four portions. I chose three: tomato and avocado salad, jalapeño green bean and pine nut salad, and winter squash with brussel sprouts and grapes. They were fabulous!
Afterwards, we went to the beach for a couple of hours, which is just one short block from Jamie's. The beach in front of JBR (Jumeirah Beach Residences) has gone through a major makeover and looks fantastic! So, it was a fun afternoon. We ended it by having dinner on the walk at a new burger joint called The Counter, where you have a sheet you can fill out to create your own burger. Genius! I picked a 1/3lb with cheddar, sprouts, crispy onions and grilled mushrooms with horseradish (which I didn't use). Delicious! We couldn't finish them, so we brought the leftovers home for breakfast. Today, Jamie is taking me to a Buffalo Wing restaurant which just opened in Downtown Dubai - can't wait!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Business class
You lucky dog! Now that is the way to fly. Had to laugh at you critiquing this flight against another. Seriously? ha ha :) Let us know when you are heading back to the states. Back to work with you!