Dubai Apr'06 (DXB-Moscow Part !)

It was harsh having to leave Ray behind for 9 full days…
But this I had to go cos who knows when will I ever see Moscow?

9 days for people who have gone thru LDR (long dist relationships) is blardee peanuts la… but for him… it’s harsh lar

First stop: 2 nites in Dubai…
My second visit only.. n I really wasn’t endeared to Dxb my first time round…
It was freaking 40 degrees Celsius can!?!?

Lucky this time… it was 20 plus degrees only…

DAY 1:

Had khaki to do tour package with…
We went on a desert safari… S$80 approx (after crew disc) for half day tour n everything included!!

After Cairo, I swore never to go near another stinky camel though…
The shitty smell was etched in my nostrils then when we entered camel riding land in Egypt..

Empty Quarter, 3rd largest desert in the world

Nice patterns in the sand huh?
Plus I was having excellent hair day! ;D

With flymate Spes, a complete chatterbox n as crazy as meself : )

We were gonna start a supposedly “thrilling ride onboard luxury 4-wheel drive vehicles over the 250-metres high sand dunes of the Empty Quarter”

Thrilling indeed... Sand Dune Bashing..

So thrilling that 20 mins later… we all felt nauseous in the jeep…
Spes had to puke~

Me having a breather as well on the desert floor

It was as bad as any roller coaster ride, except that I never felt nauseous before on roller coasters… so this is not for the weak stomached…
Thank god I only had a banana n a choc croissant before the ride…

Camel Farm.
Thank god it wasn’t smelly at all.. N the camels here like 500% cleaner than those in Cairo!

Say cheese!

Camels are such grouchy impatient creatures… try taunting them for better shots n they grumble n spit at ya b4 walking away.

Beautiful desert sunset…
Liking my messy hair throughout the day as well… ;p

First time riding the camel for Spes!
Like I said.. camels here are whiter/ cleaner n smaller than those in Cairo. Phew

Camels are rocky rides… keep feeling like you’re falling off…
Forgot to check if we were sitting on the humps or between though… heh

Our cheeky guide…
upon entering the desert camp, where we would be dining on a BBQ dinner with Arabic appetizers n watching a Belly Dance show..

He really took care of us though.. He drove so much more gently after we felt sick on the dunes…

Spes n myself tried on the traditional local costumes...
Surprisingly lightweight n cooling man!!

And had henna tattoos done...
My first henna! Dunno why, just never tried it before lar...

Our guide brought us to another corner for shisha smoking…
My first time also.. yar lar.. I sua koo can.

Didn’t take to it well as you can see….
Ghastly picture.. But I had to show you my first reaction to shisha despite being a smoker…

Took to it better after a while though...
The apple flavour helped... heh heh


We threw shisha aside when food was ready...
Nauseous or not before, we were starving like hell

BBQ kebabs!! Or soulvaki… whichever..
But I skipped the beef as usual… Addicted to the lamb though!
Totally yummilicious can!?!?

We went for 3 rounds of the meat. Carnivores in action~

The gorgeous belly dancer...
She was really gorgeous.. complete with fab abs n all...

Had enough adventure for the day.....

DAY 2:

The Burj Al Arab, luxurious 7 star hotel

If you watch enough Discovery Travel you’ll know bout this hotel lar.
Think costs 150 dirhams to go in.. that’s bout S$75..

Was advised by the concierge that the closest we can get to it without going in would be to go to public beach at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, or to the shopping mall next to it called the Madinat Jumeira.

We chose the Madinat Jumeira... tot can get shopping done as well..
But they cater to tourists so everything's over priced anyway...

But the whole compound's pretty as well!

We needed to get closer!
Better still if just outside!!


Damn.. this is the cloest we could get...

We tried to enter the poolside café of the posh hotel to get the bestest shot we could see…
But kena barred cos we were not hotel guests..
Nb bananas….

Too hot n bothered after… had to chill with some iced capp...

Dome in Dubai??
Loy check it out man. ;p

Well, at least I’m done with Dubai now… no more unfinished business…
Except that when we went to Hard Rock Café, the shot glasses were outta stock…

Spes collects HRC shot glasses… n so does Ray…
We actually took a bloody cab down to the out of place Nbei place…
Then the staff nonchalantly informed us that they been out of stock since the previous week.
Fuck*

Okie.. when one is annoyed/angry.. one eats...
Jumbo Combo anyone?

One thing’s for sure.. the food is better than HRC Sin man.
Dun taste so pre-prepared n frozen as my previous experience at HRC Sin which was a major disappointment.

......................................................................................................................................................................
Before I move on to Moscow.. am gonna ZZzz first..
Imageshack had been uncooperative for past 2-3 nites.. Nabei..
Switched to Photo Bucket now.. n it's better cos can upload multiple pics without having to purchase credits...

And this Mac is exceptionally laggy tonight... F*k man..
Sleepy liao la.

Will blog on Moscow after i come home on Thursday..
Osaka tomorrow!
Ciao~