Friday, August 24, 2012

Happy Anniversary


Tuesday, August 21, was our three year anniversary. I feel very blessed that I even got to spend it with Shawn, since originally we thought he would still be at home. Oh, and we did get to go to Dubai the day before, which is a pretty good way to celebrate, but we still wanted to do something nice.

The first thing we did was relax! Slept in and took it easy. We then decided to do a late lunch at a restaurant called Tiara. It is located in a tower 55 stories tall at the mall with a beautiful view of the coast and city. It also rotates 360 degrees around while you eat. It was amazing. We ordered mocktails... you can't get alcohol in restaurants here (not like I could anyway)... and I had a delicious chicken meal.



View! 


After our late lunch/early dinner, Shawn ran my leftover food back to the hotel while I popped around some stores. When you are on a budget with no kitchen, you save any food you can! We then decided to see the new Batman movie at the theatre in the mall.

The movie experience here is much better than at home. For about the same price, if not a little less, you buy your tickets and pick your seats. This is an assigned seat where you want in the theatre, which is nice because when you go in you don't have to spend time finding seats. The concession area has all types of food, drinks, ice cream, etc... If you want you can even upgrade seats to a fully reclining leather seat with access to a full menu where they serve you at your seat with pillows and blankets!!!

Our seats were very nice though... huge and leather. Very comfortable. The screen was larger and very clear, and the sound was fantastic. All in all a great movie experience. I did enjoy the movie as well. It was in English with Arabic and French subtitles. They bothered me a little at first, but by halfway through I didn't notice them at all.

It was a very nice anniversary and I feel very lucky to be married to my best friend!!!

Wednesday was a nice relaxing day as well. We spent the morning lounging about before heading to Heritage Village. It is an area set up to look like Abu Dhabi in the past, with example buildings, homes, and shops. It was very hot and I drenched my clothing in sweat, but it was manageable as there were places to pop inside with AC on. It was a nice free activity and we learned a lot!


















We came back to the hotel for a dip in the pool to cool down, and then got ready for bowling night. A group of us rented a private room at the bowling ally and had a great time. I used to be a good bowler, but not anymore haha. We still had a blast, although my body felt it later. I guess they weren't lying when they said you ligaments and muscles stretch during pregnancy. Even though I took it easy and used a very light ball, my legs are still feeling the affects. The bowling ally is just like home, except better food! Overall it was a fun night!       

The biggest and the tallest...


On Monday, the 20th, we went to Dubai for our first time. I am sure there will be many more trips within the next few years! The tour group we traveled through offered a deal, 50 dirhams for round trip on the bus. That was 100 for both Shawn and I, or $27... and the bus was a nice charter bus with air. Nothing like the bus we took to Al Ain. Yay!

The ride there was about an hour and a half. I spent most of the time talking to my new friend Susanne while Shawn played with her son, Amile. He is such a big kid at heart!

When we got there we were dropped off at the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world, which just so happens to be next to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It was stunning to see and as I craned my next to see the top, I was in awe. Especially when you look at all the other “tall” buildings around it. They look like miniature models! Here are a few pics, but they don't do it justice. They also cannot show the beauty surrounding the tower. The water and shops were amazing.







We wanted to take the elevator ride to the top, but apparently you have to book way in advance as they were sold out for days. That was unless we wanted to pay around $200 for the express lane. No thank you, we will come back another time!

A group of us, who like to do things together, decided to go in the mall and eat first. This group is Shawn and I (of course), a friend named Shon (pronounced the same as Shawn. His wife is still back at home but coming later. I look forward to meeting her), and the Safar family: Susanne, Fatti, and Amile. We broke into groups, Shon and Fatti wanted sandwiches, and Susanne, Amile, Shawn, and I went to this awesome sushi place. You sit at your seat and the sushi comes by on a conveyer belt. The plates are different colors, each representing a different cost. You just grab what you want and eat, and at the end they tally up your plates. It was very yummy!



After lunch we decided to venture out and find the souks. A man from ADEC had suggested some for a real authentic experience. A souk is a traditional marketplace, usually open-aired. We found some taxis and after they figured out where we wanted to go (at first they were clueless) we arrived at the silk souk.

The souk was definitely as promised... a real authentic experience. There were venders lined up in an ally of old buildings, and as you walked by they would jump out to make their sales. Usually they would be holding scarves, and they kept trying to make us feel them and wrap them around our heads for a picture. Shon finally got caught by one, in which we were then lured into the shop. Although they had beautiful pillows, scarves, etc... we finally had to wiggle our way out by telling the man we would come back, which we didn't :o.


Man making fresh OJ



We found our way down to the water, where we were told we could take a boat, called the Abra, across to the gold souk for 1 dirham. We found some boats, but the men kept wanting to charge us 20 dirhams for an hour tour. Luckily Fatti speaks some Arabic and was able to find where we were supposed to go. We found the right dock and soon boarded.

The Abra's are wooden boats, where everyone sits in a circle around the middle. There are no railings or any safely procedures, and the man collects your money as he starts the boat across the water. The breeze felt good as we crossed, but the smoke from the motor did not smell so great! Here are a few pics.






Once we got to the gold souk is when I really started to melt. We had been out in the 100+ heat with humidity for awhile now and my preggo body was having a hard time with it. The gold souk was pretty much what you would expect, lots of jewelry, although they were much more modern buildings. We walked around a bit, popping into a shoe shop to enjoy the AC, and then decided it was time to head back to the air conditioned mall. As we walked back through, men would pop out of stores and try to have us follow them by saying “watches, prada, gucci...” It was a fun experience. We caught the Abra back and bought some snow cones before catching a taxi back to the mall.

After cleaning up and almost taking a shower in the bathroom because I was so covered in sweat, we decided to split up to explore the mall. We walked by the huge aquarium they have inside, but didn't pay to go in. We also walked by the giant ice skating rink, but this mall is not the one that has the ski resort inside. Again, another trip. We also passed by the Sega amusement pack in the mall and the two enormous food courts! Yes, it is the largest mall.






We popped into various stores, including the Gucci Baby store for fun, where a pair of tiny baby shoes costs $250. We also tried to find a way into the lobby of the Burj Khalifa, but had no luck. We grabbed some ice cream and rested our feet before finding our way back to the bus a little early to make sure we were not left behind. Then we were on our way home.

I listened to music and tried not to sleep on the ride home, as well as overhead some people with a little bit of a bad attitude. Not sure is all the teachers are going to survive here... but I know I love it!
When we got back, we made ourselves sandwiches in our room, turned on the TV, and hit the bed for the night. We had a fantastic day, but we sure were pooped!

Can't wait to go back to Dubai though!!!!


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Luxury

Hello... me again. Going to catch you up on some Emirate fun!

Friday: Friday here is Holy Day and the first day of the weekend... so that meant rest day for us. We relaxed in the room and eventually made our way to the mall. Eid was coming up so there were all kinds of sales going on... sort of like our American Black Friday. We went ahead and bought a TV because it was on sale and also a clothing rack to dry clothes at the hotel.

Another EMT (English Medium Teacher... it's what we are called here) hosted a game night in her hotel room. We had a blast. We taught some people how to play Farkle and laughed the whole time. I then played Phase 10 with some others... there were three different games going on in the room. I met the famous Alona as well! (She makes all the Real Teachers of Abu Dubai videos on YouTube). The last game we played was a lyrics game with two teams. We were singing and yelling and dancing. My team won...oh yeah!!!



Saturday: I was exhausted Sat. morning so I slept in while Shawn went out and about. When he returned he had rented a car. Just a small Mazda 2, but it is nice to be able to get around the city and explore. We rented it for one month, and then plan on buying.



In the afternoon we headed to tour the Emirates Palace Hotel, an enormous luxury hotel. It is huge and beautiful!!! It is actually the hotel used as a model for the one in Sex and the City 2. We had a great time, especially since our friend Susanne wasn't afraid to open doors and explore. Here are a few pics:





Yes: a gold ATM that really disperses gold!


Fixing the gold ceiling... flakes of gold were falling to the ground. Unfortunately we were not allowed down there  



Sneaking around... Shawn was very sleepy


Cartwheels in the secret theatre lobby




After the tour we headed to the mall for dinner. I know it seems like we live at the mall, but right now it is the easiest and cheapest while trying to budget. Once we move and get paid, we will be able to explore more and try different foods. Right now it is all about budget. Speaking of which, we also bought some more groceries for the room. That helps a lot.

Sunday: We finally hit the beach at the hotel and it is beautiful. It is under construction as they are expanding and building new pools. Wish it was ready now, but still loved it. There are chairs under straw "hut" umbrellas and soft sand (although very HOT!). The water was warm, and I loved it. No initial shock when you get in the water. We spent a while in the water, and then went to lay on the chairs to dry off. That didn't last long before I was too hot. So we headed back in to get ready to explore.





We decided to drive around and explore the city... and I couldn't believe the amount of people everywhere. I guess because the fasting is over and it is the holiday Eid, everyone was back out and about. There were more people out on the streets then NYC. We were going to go to a souk (a market), but it looked like there was no room to stand. We decided to go another day. We finally ended up at a mall where we knew a festival was going on for Eid. They had dancing, music, and free henna. I was so excited to finally get some henna done, and it is beautiful.


A falcon


My henna drying before it peeled

Shawn trying coffee


Oh and Shawn saw a car to drool over!

We then ate at a "gourmet" Mexican restaurant with our friend Shon. The interesting thing about here is that almost all the workers at the mall are Asian. It made it a little humorous to order Mexican food in the UAE from an Asian man. Very cultural here! We then decided to get to bed early... because on Monday we were heading to Dubai!!!