Creative Meanderings

Today was my biggest day out and probably the last for the trip, but it was a good one.

After my run-in with the Emirati fellow the other day, I decided that doing a tour might not be a bad idea since it is $36 for a four hour tour. So, they arrived and two of us were taken around in a mini-van to see bits of Dubai.

We started with a stop at the Dubai Creek Dhow Wharfage to see the Dhow ships and bldgs lining the Creek on the Deira side. We were on the Bur Dubai side, which is the side I am staying on as well.

Then, we moved on to see the Dubai Museum, which used to be Al Fahidi Fort to defend Dubai on the sea. This was a small museum, but big enough for me. More pictures will be available back on my Photo Journeys section when I get back, but for now you can enjoy just a few.

We drove past the Bastakia, which is a historical neighborhood. I will have to go back at a cooler time to walk around. We also drove past the Bur Dubai souk and gold souk areas, where I want to drag Allan back to for an evening out since the locals seem to do their shopping at night and I want to see a local nightlife in action. I will bribe him with a nice place for drinks! 😀

We went past a few neighborhoods with textiles, fish, wholesale cosmetics/bath items, where I think it would be fun to shop or know to shop if I were to live here. (Taking notes!)

Then, we were off to Jumeirah Road to see the Jumeirah Mosque, which is claimed to be the most beautiful, but not the largest. It seems to be the only mosque that visitors can enter on certain days. Further along the road, I saw another mosque and I thought was just as beautiful.

Along Jumeirah Road there are a lot of large villas where expats or rich Emiratis live. These residences are absolutely huge. The tour guide claimed that real Emiratis don’t like to live in these kind of places.

We continued to see the Jumeirah beach and Burj Al Arab building – shaped like a sailboat. We passed the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, which was apparently the first 5-star hotel in Dubai and is shaped like a wave.

Then, we drove on to the Palm Jumeirah. From above, the shape of the construction in a palm tree. The residences on this island are going for about one million dollars for a 49-year lease contract. It is actually quite reasonable considering the fame and location of the place. This area of town is still under major construction. So, the office buildings are nearing finished and the island is nearing finished, but like much of Dubai, everything is under construction.

Finally, the trip ended with dropping me off at the Mall of Emirates where I had planned to ski, but decided to shop instead. I will probably try to go back for the skiing/snowboarding since the costs seemed better for longer, though the slope is small, so I wonder how much I can take. 😀

After I finished wandering the mall, I headed to the Madinat Jumeirah to meet Allan and colleagues at a bar called Bahri Bar. It has a lovely view of the Burj Al Arab, but sadly my camera died and I still haven’t worked out how to get my iPhone photos online yet. So, those may have to go with the other photos on my Photos Journey section when I return to my beloved Mac. ;D

Thus ends my big day out!

Until next time,

-T

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