The past few days have been pretty jam packed with yet some more Dubai adventures! Sue (the M-I-L) stopped over in Dubai for a quick holiday on her way to the UK, to see her family and before she takes up her summer holiday job there as a carer.
To maximise her time in Dubai, in case we not around come September, when she is due to return to SA (to follow the summers), we decided to do a mini blitz of the Dubai hotspots, some of which we ourselves had yet to do!
...Rest
First up was a day of rest (well as much rest as could be had, upacking, having lunch at The Lakes Club, a gym session and a light dinner in) to recover from the plane trip and to accustom herself to the Dubai heat, in order to be able to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the early morning start the next day.
...Desert Safari
The early start was for the morning desert safari we had booked, which took Mark and Sue (I had to work) through the desert and up and over the numerous dunes. They had the whole Landcruiser to themselves to make the most of the dune bashing experience, which lasted about half an hour (which is about twice as long as what Mark and I got to experience on the evening desert safari we had done a few months earlier), however the rest of the perks advertised, like cooldrinks, dates, camel rides and sandboarding didn't quite materialise...well the cooldrinks and dates that is, the camel riding (of what I believe was a rather smelly camel) was declined and photo opps were taken instead.
...JBR Walk
After much deliberation of where to go for dinner that evening, and a couple of restuarant bookings and subsequent cancellations later (because of my meddling) we settled on a few drinks at Mai Tai before heading to an Italian place in the Jumeirah Beach Residence area, to showcase the Dubai nightlife. Stomachs swollen and doggy bags filled, we took a wander along the JBR Walk to a nearby ice-cream shop for some dessert before calling it a night.
...Burj Khalifa / Dubai Aquarium
The next day consisted of a couple of firsts for Mark and I and we all headed to the Burj Khalifa (what was the tallest buildilng in the world, but I believe has now been superceeded, so is now the second tallest). The first few tours were already completely booked up and the earliest time slot we could get was for 12h00. So with a couple of hours to kill we headed to the Dubai Acquarium, which is in the Dubai Mall, where we walked through the tunnel of the hugest fish tank, before heading to the acquarium upstairs. Not one to usually enjoy these kinds of things too much, I was pleasantly surprised and happily snapped away at the fish, sharks, rays and other animals (quite happy being on the opposite side of the glass for some of them).
Just before 12h00 we headed back to the Burj Khalifa to join our tour, where we took the lift up to the 124th floor (which I need to add is not even near the top) for the lookout points and spectacular 360 degree views across the whole of Dubai.
...Brunch
Having gone completely snap happy and the camera battery flashing maddly to worn its imminent death, we decided to make our way to lunch. And being a Friday in Dubai... brunches are very big (although they more like lunch/dinner, as opposed to breakfast/lunch) we headed to the Mango Tree, a Thai Restaurant, in the Souk Al Bahar (alongside the Dubai fountains), where Carol would join us. En route we were stopped by the Dubai Fountains which began and thankfully the camera played ball a little longer.
Mark and I had been dying to go the Mango Tree Restaurant for quite some time, after rave reviews from friends and colleagues. Unfortunately as it sometimes goes in Dubai, the service was left wanting, when we were informed that the deal I had been told about over the phone (just the day before) was now different and the price had gone up substantially per person...the free flowing taster menu I had been told about was no longer and the table by the window I was promised, also over the phone (so as to enjoy the fountain shows throughout the course of our brunch), was right in the middle of the restaurant! Very angry and disappointed, as the Manager would not budge, regardless that his staff had made the error and had gotten us there under false pretences...reconfirming the fact that in this place, the 'customer is always right' spiel, clearly does not apply. Just on principal I was ready to leave...but after much deliberation, we decided that it would be too difficult to try and decide / find another place nearby at this point in time, so we decided, against out better judgement to stay (the discount Carol's Emirates face card got us off the a la carte menue...also helped).
...The Palm / Barasti
From there we took a drive onto the Palm, for a drive-by view of Atlantis, before heading out to Barasti for sundowners a little later. Carol, Mark and I hadn't been back to Barasti since New Years and we were pleasantly surprised at just how close it was to our villa (considering we were living at Chelsea Towers before). It's in the most fantastic spot and we thoroughly enjoyed lounging around well into the evening, on the beds provided which are right on the beach, with a couple of drinks and shishas.
...The Creek / Jumeirah Madinat
The next morning we took it easy, before driving down to the Creek, where we planned to wander through the Old Souks and take a dhow trip (again something Mark and I had yet to do) through the older part of Dubai. The Creek area however turned out to be note quite how we had expected, and we landed up driving around and around for some time...we had just missed one dhow heading out, which appeared to be the last one of the morning, and the next would only be heading out after lunch or early evening. Further along on our drive we found the Dubai waterways, which boats (not quite sure what they are called) were on a smaller scale to a dhow and a little more ricketty, with less shade (and considering it was now midday the heat was at its peak), we decided to boycott cruise down the Creek and headed back towards home instead. On the way we stopped off at the Jumeirah Madinat (another place Mark and I had yet to go, but have now finally found!) for some lunch at the Noodle House (for some more Thai food) and wandered around the more modern souks and canals there (the Venice of Dubai).
...Rest
For what had been a day spent mainly in the car, we were all rather exhausted (a culmination of heat and the busy few days before) we headed home for a quiet and relaxing evening...only to be rudely awoken by reality the next morning, which meant it was time for work again for us and for Sue to catch her next flight.
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