Let me take you to the beach, la la la la la la la (Frank Zappa)

SWMBO's sister Mabelle says we should be starting up a tour biznis for friends and family coming to the UAE. I'm starting to do the Big Bus Tour in my dreams so she may have something.

Jade only had the one weekend to see the sights of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. As luck would have it a holiday was declared on Thursday last week to commemorate Prophet Mohammed's (peace be upon him) ascension from Mecca to the heavens in the year 621 where he met Allah and some of the earlier prophets, before returning to Mecca.

This meant we had a three day weekend. Yahoo!

We started Wednesday afternoon with a journey to Jabeel Hafeet. Unfortunately the visibility was not great and it was very windy. This was a bit of a recurring theme for the weekend with a lot of dust around - hey - it's a desert out there!

Thursday - we tanked up the purdmobile (where the camel in a basket shots were taken) and pottled onwards to Dubai. We stopped at the Wafi Mall, took in a gentle glide down the Dubai Creek via a river cruise on a traditional dhow, went on a Big Bus tour of the Burj and Deira areas of Dubai, stopped off at the Dubai Mall for its classy water features and vast network of shops.

Friday - we went on the second tour route that the Big Bus Tour does to the beach, the Atlantis resort and Lost Chamber exhibition, the Mall of the Emirates and Ski Dubai. Sadly the footage of me falling off a luge and sliding along on my elbows has been mislaid - dammit!

Saturday saw us on the move to Abu Dhabi for the Grand Mosque and, of course, shopping in the Hamdan Centre (me) and the Abu Dhabi Mall (SWMBO and Jade). I arrived at the mosque in shorts so I needed to don a kandoura.

And that was the extended weekend. I'm picking Jade and SWMBO will spend a large portion of today sleeping!

Love and peace - Abu Keegan

Red yellow honey, sassafras and moonshine (Laura Nyro)

The weekend saw us in Dubai for some essential appointments (me - hair, she who must be obeyed - eyebrows) at various locations (me - Dubai Mall, SWMBO - Burjman Centre). Brian tagged along too so we stayed overnight to take in the sights.


While at the Dubai Mall we visited the Aquarium and underwater zoo. It's a great facility - I never tire of watching the sharks and other species roaming around the 10 million litres of carefully maintained water. The highlights in the zoo are the otters, the penguins, the swing-bridge, turtles, alligators and piranhas. Amazing to think it's all inside a mall. Jade is looking forward to seeing the penguins in a few weeks' time. We watched for a while as they were feed. The zoo handler carefully noted who she had fed so that no one missed out.

The remainder of the weekend was spent on the Big Bus Tour of Dubai. Brian hasn't seen Dubai for some time and was amazed at the changes. The Atlantis complex was a notable stop on the Palm islands - the Lost Chamber of Atlantis is amazing and well worth the effort. No expense has been spared - it is really what I imagine the mythical city to have been like. The setting for the Lost Chamber is truly spectacular with its sculptures and wall displays. Some inhabitants of Atlantis are also on display.

The other notable stop was at a souq on the banks of the Dubai Creek. Before taking the water taxi across the Creek, Brian decided to buy a watch.

I should have sold tickets as Brian put on a master class in how to confuse the poor watch sellers over the repair of his old watch before going in for the kill with the haggle over prices of a new watch. Day turned to night as the epic battle raged over the merits of various short listed items. Books and manuals were produced by the sellers as evidence, thumb screws were used by Brian to force down the price. As dehydration started to take its toll (we deprived the poor seller of his tea), the pressure mounted until there could only be one winner (on the day).

Amazingly a price was agreed upon to a fanfare of trumpets; we eventually emerged bloodied but unbowed and Brian had his new timepiece.

Love and peace - Wozza

Your typical city involved in a typical daydream...(The Grateful Dead Part 1)

Jacky and I have packed a lot into my week off. Last Friday was spent on some school work (we are being audited in a few weeks time so I need my folders holding evidence of 44 Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, up to date). Gonna bring you the week in three parts. Part 1: Saturday and Sunday were spent in Dubai. We did the Big Bus Tour and saw a lot more of Dubai in a much more relaxed way than we have before (normally our routine is to drive to Dubai, negotiate traffic in a growing fever pitch of dread, stay in the Burj Dubai area and commute to malls on the metro). The Big Bus tour has been a great experience in the past (Edinburgh, Rome, and Paris) so we thought why not? We certainly didn't regret it. Here are some snaps from the trip which took in the Palm and Jumerieh Beach areas of Dubai.

We started at the Wafi mall (this is one of the modest little entrances to it) and went on a windy open top ride towards Deira and the creek area of Dubai. Yes I know I'm all alone in the shot - Nigel No Mates indeed - see even Jacky left me to take the picture!

We eventually hopped off the bus for a look around the souq (second photo below) but the constant demand for our attention from the pashmina salesmen drove us nuts. I hate the forceful way they hound tourists to enter their shops.

So we escaped them on a water taxi across the creek (above) and rejoined the bus (below). We made our way out to Jumerieh beach and the Palm area (a reclaimed island that is in the shape of a palm tree with fronds holding very flash apartment blocks and the Atlantis resort). It's obscenely rich and decadent and very much a symbol of modern Dubai, or it would be except it's finished - unlike much of Dubai). The approach road to the Atlantis on the Palm is above, and below is the beach area that is also home to massive palaces housing the ruling family and rich movie stars from Mickey Mouse town. This bit in the photo is the public beach where even I might have a swim, if I so desired (I didn't).

Nobs' lane Palm style - a nearly endless line of luxury apartment blocks on the Palm fronds - each with a lagoon running up to it.

We then headed back into Dubai (this being the view back over the Palm's bridge to the mainland taken by Jacky) and enjoyed a visit to the Dubai mall and then home to Al Ain the next day.

Monday and Tuesday were spent doing more school work and the return home also gave Jacky a chance to attend her horsing around session at Al Ain's equestrian centre.

But that's to be continued in the next post inshallah....

Love and peace - Wozza