Tour of the Emirates
Monday, September 04, 2006
31August-03September
Dubai / Sharjah / Ras Al Khaimah / Fujairah
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Ex-roomie invited me again to go to Dubai for the long weekend. Flights were overbooked, the reason why at the last minute, we almost stayed back in Doha. We were bumped off twice but got on the third available flight fortunately due to the misconnection of some passengers coming from the Far East.
On our first day, we had brunch at CBTL then spent the better half of the day in front of the tv watching Cold Mountain and Walk the Line. We attended mass at the Jebel Ali Village at 5pm where most places of worship can also be found. Dubai has 'zoning' so they have buildings of the same 'function' located near each other. Dubai has a media city (BBC, CNN, Reuters, etc.), internet city (Oracle, HP, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, IBM, etc.) etc. After the mass, we went to Madinat Jumeirah which is one of the most luxurious resorts in the state. It houses a souk, spa, boutique hotels, and a lot more. To tour the place, one can go on a leisurely walk or take the abra (small boat) and enjoy the sceneries in the man-made lake.
We had a candlelit dinner (at the villa) which consisted of pink salmon, barbecue ribs, ceasar salad, and white wine. Just after the first glass of chardonnay, my stomach already felt bad probably because I have ulcer, as my hostess (who is a nurse) told me. Nyay! After dinner, we had a night of singing and dancing--first, with Brian playing his guitar and then later on, videoke-ing.
The next day, we had a long drive to the beach, which is actually part of the Indian Ocean. On our way, we passed by some camels, had a nice view of the arabian dessert, did wadi bashing and survived the sand dunes adventure. We had lunch at the Hatta Fort Hotel where I ordered the most delicious fish and chips (London-style) I've ever tasted. As requested by ex-roomie, we had our picture taken near the border of Oman and the UAE. Haha!
We spent some time at the beach mostly reminiscing our Boracay and Panglao experiences but at the same time waiting for the fish that the fishermen caught. Sadly, rain (rain!) was about to fall so we had to leave the beach abruptly. Though we weren't able to bring home fresh fish, we were all glad that the rain fell. Mababaw talaga ang kaligayahan sa disyerto. Haay.
On the way back to Dubai, we saw several camels dressed nicely. Apparently, the place was a camel race track so the camels we saw were actually used in racing just like the horses we see in the Sta. Ana race track. We saw some tourists following them so we turned around and tried to follow them as well. Unfortunately--or should I say, fortunately--we were lost and found ourselves in the middle of the desert, inside a camel farm. The owner of the race camels was very kind that he let us take some pictures and also let me ride one of the camels. I only expected to have my picture taken while on top of the camel but the caretakers must have really wanted some fun so kahit na ayaw ko, itinakbo nila yung camel while nakasakay ako. Kakatakot! Later, we had a nice dinner of grilled chicken from Nando's, had more wine and Bailey's, and watched Garfield (the movie).
Our last day was spent shopping at the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai could be found. I did not go inside Ski Dubai because I was not up for the
adventure yet and also because I was with 2 olderly women who didn't want to go in with me. Nye. I'll be back na lang. Breakfast was at CBTL again then lunch was at a Thai restaurant. After lunch, we went to Ibn Battuta where we bought...shoes! Hehe. Ex-roomie and I had one pair each of Naturalizer and Charles & Keith, same style. Haha! Of course, our visit to Dubai would be worthless if we didn't buy pork. So, later that night, before our flight, we went to Spinneys to buy lots and lots of bacon, hotdog, ham and luncheon meat! Yey! Bahala na pagdating sa Doha pag hinuli. Hehe. We got on Emirates flight at 0230H and fortunately, we weren't held back by the customs officer in Doha.
Note: the United Arab Emirates is a constitutional federation of seven emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
Dubai / Sharjah / Ras Al Khaimah / Fujairah
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Ex-roomie invited me again to go to Dubai for the long weekend. Flights were overbooked, the reason why at the last minute, we almost stayed back in Doha. We were bumped off twice but got on the third available flight fortunately due to the misconnection of some passengers coming from the Far East.
On our first day, we had brunch at CBTL then spent the better half of the day in front of the tv watching Cold Mountain and Walk the Line. We attended mass at the Jebel Ali Village at 5pm where most places of worship can also be found. Dubai has 'zoning' so they have buildings of the same 'function' located near each other. Dubai has a media city (BBC, CNN, Reuters, etc.), internet city (Oracle, HP, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, IBM, etc.) etc. After the mass, we went to Madinat Jumeirah which is one of the most luxurious resorts in the state. It houses a souk, spa, boutique hotels, and a lot more. To tour the place, one can go on a leisurely walk or take the abra (small boat) and enjoy the sceneries in the man-made lake.
We had a candlelit dinner (at the villa) which consisted of pink salmon, barbecue ribs, ceasar salad, and white wine. Just after the first glass of chardonnay, my stomach already felt bad probably because I have ulcer, as my hostess (who is a nurse) told me. Nyay! After dinner, we had a night of singing and dancing--first, with Brian playing his guitar and then later on, videoke-ing.
The next day, we had a long drive to the beach, which is actually part of the Indian Ocean. On our way, we passed by some camels, had a nice view of the arabian dessert, did wadi bashing and survived the sand dunes adventure. We had lunch at the Hatta Fort Hotel where I ordered the most delicious fish and chips (London-style) I've ever tasted. As requested by ex-roomie, we had our picture taken near the border of Oman and the UAE. Haha!
We spent some time at the beach mostly reminiscing our Boracay and Panglao experiences but at the same time waiting for the fish that the fishermen caught. Sadly, rain (rain!) was about to fall so we had to leave the beach abruptly. Though we weren't able to bring home fresh fish, we were all glad that the rain fell. Mababaw talaga ang kaligayahan sa disyerto. Haay.
On the way back to Dubai, we saw several camels dressed nicely. Apparently, the place was a camel race track so the camels we saw were actually used in racing just like the horses we see in the Sta. Ana race track. We saw some tourists following them so we turned around and tried to follow them as well. Unfortunately--or should I say, fortunately--we were lost and found ourselves in the middle of the desert, inside a camel farm. The owner of the race camels was very kind that he let us take some pictures and also let me ride one of the camels. I only expected to have my picture taken while on top of the camel but the caretakers must have really wanted some fun so kahit na ayaw ko, itinakbo nila yung camel while nakasakay ako. Kakatakot! Later, we had a nice dinner of grilled chicken from Nando's, had more wine and Bailey's, and watched Garfield (the movie).Our last day was spent shopping at the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai could be found. I did not go inside Ski Dubai because I was not up for the
adventure yet and also because I was with 2 olderly women who didn't want to go in with me. Nye. I'll be back na lang. Breakfast was at CBTL again then lunch was at a Thai restaurant. After lunch, we went to Ibn Battuta where we bought...shoes! Hehe. Ex-roomie and I had one pair each of Naturalizer and Charles & Keith, same style. Haha! Of course, our visit to Dubai would be worthless if we didn't buy pork. So, later that night, before our flight, we went to Spinneys to buy lots and lots of bacon, hotdog, ham and luncheon meat! Yey! Bahala na pagdating sa Doha pag hinuli. Hehe. We got on Emirates flight at 0230H and fortunately, we weren't held back by the customs officer in Doha.Note: the United Arab Emirates is a constitutional federation of seven emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
