The 1st Leg

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Glasgow ----->  Dubai
First of all I must thank my Dad and arguably 'helpful' little brother for getting me to the airport on time, where I successfully checked in for my Emirates flight to Dubai.  Unfortunately there were no window seats left but hey @ least that means I don't have to ask permission before I can go for a wander or visit the toilet - a priviledge I am sure children in my class would enjoy!!
When boarding I showed a rather gorgeous air steward my boarding card. (yes, I really do seem to have a thing for the gay ones)  He made sure I turned right and pointed out that I had an aisle seat on the right hand side of the plane.  As I side stepped other passengers and bashed them with my rucksack & duty-free bags I noticed that the seating seemed to follow a pattern not entirely dis-similar to other aircraft.--> AB  DEF  JK   However, thjis means that my seat 12K would be a seat of the window variety.  Could nice check in lady and very nice steward and the small Indian lady - who was sitting in 12K -  all have got this wrong?  I didn't make a fuss and for reasons later described I am pretty glad. 
This is one of those strange little things that I can't quite figure out, maybe its got something to do with Arabic reading right to left ..... But that does not explain why the taps are the wrong way round.  No, I don't mean that I am used to cold on the right and hot on the left - I mean since when has hot water come out the blue tap?   'since I have been in a desert climate', but if that theory is correct then how do you explain cool water coming out of the red tap eh???  I first noticed this at my hotel and thought it was a little oddity about the place but then I discovered the phenomenon is found across Dubai!  (Perhaps Kirstie could shed some light on this for me??)
Anyway where was I? ah yes...  the scrumptious flight attendant - well how lucky was I when this member of cabin crew attended to my part of the plane.  What was even better was when he bent over to pull out an in-flight meal tray and I got a lovely view of his bum! 
The little old lady swapped seats with a younger male relative who I got talking to after we finished watching Starsky & Hutch (which was quite funny). It turned out he stayed in Andrew Ure Hall last year (Strathclyders will know what I am on about) so we chatted about Glasgow, student life etc.  The funniest thing about him was when he stopped a stewardess who was carrying a poloroid camera, he asked if he could have his photo taken to which she replied, "its for the children on board"  She promised to return if she had enough film left.  Well my neighbour was most embarrassed, but we had a good giggle about it.  I laughed even harder when she cam back and actually took his picture.  I wasn't sure if it was entirely appropriate to laugh at this strangers stupidity/vanity but I couldn't help myself when the photo developed.  I am sure you can imagine the startled expression upon his face as one would expect having been caught off guard on a dimly-lit plane by a bright flash!  Possibly what made this so amusing for me was that it reminded me of the time hungover Brian was blinded in my darkened room in T.C.C. when examining his 'broken' camera.  Anyway I suppose you had to be there....
So all in all the flight was quite pleasant and even amusing at times.  I arrived in Dubai @ 0030hrs local time.  My body was thinking it was only 9.30pm so I was still feeling fairly fresh and not too tired, boy was that going to change....
As soon as I got to the exit of the plane I was hit by a hot wave of air which I realised by the bottom of the VIP style steps that the atmosphere was really humid (not sure how I am going to cope in Singapore).  Now this shouldn't have been such a big shock considering I am a geography teacher and the pilot did announce it was 32C.  I naively thought he was talking about day-time temperatures, but it was night time and I was under the impression that the desert got cold at night.... does it hell - not in this desert in the middle of summer!!  What a fool!!
I was most glad to be ushered into an A/C bus where we were taken to the main arrival terminal, where I was to go through passport control.  In the past I have found Passport control to have high security levels - where you are not allowed to use photographic equipment.  However in Dubai from the passport queue you are being watched from above through glass panels by friends/family of passengers and any other random people.  So obviously there was alot of waving going on as well as people phoning each other.  It would seem that mobile phones have just reached the masses and I reckon that they have our old reconditioned phones - you know the ones you trade in for a better phone each year (if your lucky).  Thankfully I picked a fast moving queue, not sure I could have coped with hearing those 1st generation rintones much longer.
So.... I progressed through the airport to the baggage belt thingwhere I patiently waited...... and waited.  Now what is the point of having a perfectly good luggage belt going round, when all they seem to do is dump the bags on the floor - eventually I realised where to get my bag, but by that time unknown to me at that point my transfer pick up had been and left.
Going outside the airport to meet my now non-existant transfer was a very scary process, Dubai was hot and humid and there was a distinct smell in the air - a mix of B.O. and curry!!!   There were crowds of men holding up boards waiting on their passengers and I had to pace up and down looking for somone who wasn't there.  I just wanted to cry - for the first time - but probably not the last - I wanted to go home.  I went back to the comfort/safety of the terminal building where I found the transfer desk - they phoned the hotel for me and sent out the driver (again).  I was so relieved to finally see the sign with my hotel on it. 
By the time I got to the hotel at 3am, I was pretty knackered, thankfully the room had air conditioning and I slept like a baby...  zzzzzz

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