Creative Meanderings

It seems that every other day I get out and try to do something….

Monday, I made up my mind to see some souks (markets) on my own. Not too far away from Oud Metha Rd, where I am staying, is an area of town called Karama. The travel book mentioned a section of town with lots of shops for tourists and locals, so I thought it sounded like an interesting venture out.

Setting out by 10am when shops are meant to be open in the morning, I easily snagged a taxi and arrived in a short 5 – 10 minutes. The taxi driver dropped me off in the middle of a 5-block shopping area, which is like a strip mall only smaller. There were a lot of clothing items for sale with a few touristy-type stores, where I did manage to buy a few gifts for people. It must have been far too early for locals to be up as the only people I saw were the shop attendants trying to get me to go in their stores and other crazy tourists like me. As I wasn’t looking for knock-off clothes, bags or sunglasses, I wasn’t their ideal client. Still, I was enjoying the walk through until…

I was nearing the end and thinking about going to another section of town where they have a gold souk and other highlights, when a man came up behind me quickly and said “Excuse me”. I went to the left of the walkway since it was easier and as he passed he said, “No, it’s the right side”. I simply said, “Sorry” and let him carry on. He appeared to be going to his car, so I continued on and stepped into a shop. About a minute later, the same man entered the shop as well and seemed to know the shop clerk. It made me a bit suspicious, but I ignored him and continued looking at the item I wanted to purchase. The man pretended to look at some other things and sort of got in my way, but I ignored him. After about 5-minutes, he took his leave and I happily finished my purchase. When I left the store, I saw the man standing outside, but I continued to ignore him and completed my circuit through the shops and began considering what to do next.

I knew there was a larger mall in the area or I could try the other part of town. So, I began to look for a cab. As I stopped to ask one, the driver shook his head that he wasn’t available. I crossed the street and a white car came up beside me with the man from before inside. He said, “Get in, where do you want to go? I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” WTF?? I thought and politely refused, continuing to look for a real taxi. He followed me along the road trying to get me to get in his car, but thankfully there were cars lining the street keeping him away from me on the sidewalk. I looked for a store to jump in to if necessary and slowed down ignoring him. Finally, he left saying “I’ll be seeing you.” So, feeling flustered and irritated that he had disturbed my adventure, I quickly got a cab and had him take me to the BurJuman mall.

While it wasn’t my plan to visit another mall and I did want to see more of the local sites, I enjoyed just walking around this mall. It had more style and ambience than the other malls I have seen so far. So, it wasn’t a total waste of the day or experience. The BurJuman was quiet with very few people, higher-end stores (Saks), and interesting design.

In the middle of the mall was a model of the city of Dubai with a night-scape setup. So, I got a land and aerial view.

Still, I made a couple of realizations: 1) There are very few women outside walking alone during the day – a. there are just very few women out and b. if they are out they are generally with another woman or a man. 2) People basically do not do much shopping in the mornings, so for a real non-mall shopping experience, it is better to go out at night.

Thus, ends my adventure in Karama. Tomorrow will probably be another pool day and work day. ;D

Until next time,

-T

I just realized I cut Day 9’s events a bit short. I was so excited and long-winded about the alcohol purchasing that I forgot the evening activities! oops!

Day 9 Evening

After getting back mid-afternoon, we relaxed before heading out to The Boardwalk, which is a nice restaurant at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. It is shaped like a boat. So, we had a couple of very tasty appetizers and a nice bottle of white.

Since it was one of Allan’s new colleague’s birthday, we headed to the Irish Village for more drinking and socializing. A few more glasses of wine and I was a goner…luckily we managed to find our way home despite the poor new taxi driver’s claim that he had no idea where we were going. ha ha ha.

Now Day 10:

After a nice sleep-in, we decided to try to catch a film and then do some shopping before getting back in time to watch some soccer. So, we taxied it to the Deira City Centre mall (again) and saw “Tropic Thunder”. While I am generally not a comedy watcher, I enjoyed this silly film. Not so sure it was worth the money to see it on the big screen, but it was a good laugh with big names and some surprising appearances. If you are a comedy lover, then I would definitely recommend this film.

The next stop was Carrefour. We asked about the stereo surround system and connecting it to the cable TV (long sordid affair) and so technicians will be out on Monday to hopefully make everyone a happy camper. Then, it was shopping. Shopping on a Saturday (aka Sunday) is crazy! It is much like Japan where people shop at the same time of day or same day of the week because that is when it can be done. While it was very efficient and there is a learned method to the madness; it is an experience. Trying to take a taxi was crazy as well, but again the efficiency was impressive. So, we were back with a half hour to spare before kick-off.

Shopping called for a drink of not-so-tasty red wine in a smoke-smelly bar during the game, but it was a good game of Liverpool vs. Middlebrough (it is meant to be spelled that way!). So, it was a nice end to the very short weekend.

Now it is back to the work week and I need to start deciding what all I want to be sure I see this trip. It can’t all be just malls, can it??? ;D hm….

Until next time…

-T

I am a little behind…oops!

Day 8 was suppose to be the best and most relaxing day ever with my day-long spa treatment at Cleopatra’s Spa. However, I woke up with chills from a fever and a bit of a headache. Still, I went in hopes that it would do some kind of detox to rid my body of whatever bug was taking over.

The treatment was as follows:

Step 1: Enter and change to bathrobe, slippers and prepare to forget about the outside world

Step 2: With swimwear on, take a jacuzzi soak, sit in the sauna and begin to relax

Step 3: Head for the jet massaging bath. (A regular bathtub with jets coming out of the sides that offer a massaging sensation on your muscles and skin)

Step 4: Relax in the relaxation room for a bit until the massage and facial. Drink some lovely peppermint tea.

Step 5: Have a nice oil massage and facial treatment

Step 6: Eat meal and relax in relaxation room

Step 7: Enjoy an hour rest in the Dream Room

Step 8: (added by me) Get nails done

Step 9: Shower and return to the real world

Overall, the experience was amazingly relaxing. However, being sick didn’t let up and by the time I got my nails done, I just wanted to go home and lay down again. The massage was a bit short, I thought, so I was a little saddened by that. Still, the facial was quite nice and the rest of the treatment was very, very relaxing as was the intention of the day. I would definitely recommend it and may go again for just a massage later in my trip here.

I waited about 40 minutes for a 5-minute taxi ride, but was too sore and tired to do the 15-minute walk. When I got back to the apartment, I collapsed on the couch after taking some aspirin until Allan got home to take care of me. A sad “Friday”-Thursday night for him, but thankfully, I was slowly beginning to feel better.

More to come soon!

I think I am going to have to stop counting the days as I do have three weeks here…. Hm…

Anyway, Day 6 found me at the pool in the morning after doing a bit of work. Then, I headed to the Wafi Center again to check out the mall, find the Arabic Souk and check prices for a massage at the Cleopatra Spa. The mall itself wasn’t so fantastic for me as there are a lot of high-end name brand stores where I wouldn’t buy anything. So, after a quick spin, I did stop in Marks & Spencer’s, which I compare to a Macy’s. There, I found a few cute items for my wardrobe (as if I needed more!), and then headed on to find the Arabic Souk.

I had thought it was a gold souk (souk = marketplace), but it was actually an underground area where each corridor had stores and items from various Arabian nations. Though I wasn’t in the mood to bargain or really buy anything, I enjoyed walking around and seeing what there was on offer. It still felt a bit high-end or at least catered to the tourist with money to burn. So, I will have to get myself to a real souk for the locals to get the full experience of bargaining and shopping.

Satisfied with my find and wander, I decided it was time to consider pampering myself. In Japan, I have Dolphin Hands and was concerned I may not find an equal place. However, I am going to give the Cleopatra Spa a go. I will write on it after I have had my full day experience. I managed to make an appointment for a full day ordeal of spa treatment, massage, and nails! Yippee!!!

By the way, I think I may be able to get the pictures up now at a slightly faster speed than before, so hopefully more will be on the way!

Until next time,

-T

Since the sun rises around 5 or so, I was awake at 6am trying to decide what to do with myself for the day. So, I determined to read a bit, go to the Starbucks in the nearby Lamsy Plaza, come back, work out and then get ready to make a visit to the Deira City Centre Mall.

Well, waking at 6am makes for a bit of a slow passing of time especially when most things do not open before 8 and malls at 10. So, after reading a little bit, I decided that rather than use the gym, I would walk to Lamsy Plaza first to find out what time it opened and then come back and get my stuff to study there. I left at 7:30am. It is just a short 12-minute walk. By the time I arrived, I was already very hot. The mall opens at 9am. Too late for me today and for walking outside I decided. So, I trekked it back home and was very happy for the air-conditioning. How crazy is that? It wasn’t even 8am and I thought I was going to melt away in the heat!

Instead, I did work at home and was quite productive, if I do say so myself. Then, I headed for the mall at 11am. Note to self, 11am is a low-taxi time…. It took me nearly 5 minutes to get a taxi while standing in the heat and finally got one as I started to sweat, though nothing sticky like in Japan.

Deira City Centre used to be the biggest mall in Dubai until they opened up the Mall of the Emirates (to be visited later). It is still quite large. I had a quick lunch in the food court and then began my shopping. Luckily, I didn’t buy much except a few things on sale at H&M, though I did spot a beautiful purple jacket at Mango that I may just have to go back for when I pick up my jeans which are being hemmed. 😀 Inside, there is also a Carrefour where I bought some more groceries and four hours later, I was finally ready to call it a day. Sadly, the taxi line was 45-minutes long and so I was exhausted by the time I got back.

Thinking I wouldn’t go out again, I stopped at the internet kiosk first and then headed home. It was then that I found out that Allan had gone to where I had just come from!!! He finally got his resident visa, so he wanted to get his driver’s license, check on his cable setup and try getting the Internet and landline hookup. So, because it was dinner time, he asked me to go back to have dinner. Thus, another taxi ride back to Deira City Centre. He got the driver’s license and organized contact with the cable setup, but sadly still no joy for the Internet and landline hookup (more paperwork needed). So, we had a food court dinner and walked around a bit more, though I was in pain from back and neck soreness. It’s been ages since I have done that much walking!

We finally got back and I was ready to drop. I think Day 5 will be a pool-side kind of day!

Until next time,

-T