Falling in love

The desert is stunningly beautiful. The sand so deep and soft. The air so quiet. Standing at the top of a dune, time stands still. Nothing but the hum of sand particles blowing over the crest.



The Emiratis love their desert...so do I...ooooh, so do I!

Sand in a bottle

I admire creative folk who ask themselves, what can be done with what is at hand, especially when there is a lot of it...and here in the Arabian peninsula there is a lot of sand.


Some clever artists have come up with the idea of making pictures with coloured sand in a bottle, usually a narrow necked bottle to boot. The pictures can be exquisite and tiny when in collectable bottles that easily fit into a suitcase or full of delightful detail when in a larger glass vessel like a vase.


It's impressive to see the finished result, sand all packed down so it won't mix again and sealed before watching eyes. However do they do that? It's always the first thing one asks.


We've discovered there's a trick to it, to make it commercially viable, but we're not telling.

Souvenir shots

You can't come to the Middle East for the first time without climbing aboard a camel and going for a ride...not to mention that the photos will look great on your Facebook profile.

Coming Ben?

Hang on tight.....somebody please unwrap Lazarus.

The Lawrence brothers of Arabia...on a camel that has to be pulled along...thought camels only behaved like this in a Christmas pageant.

And there came western wisemen from the east.

What happened to the stable?

If the star stops over any of these towers, we'll have to sort through several hundred families.

That's not frankincense and myrrh in that scented sack under the tail, but it keeps the beach clean.

Didn't have a warning dream or anything like that, but since this is the end of the ride, I think we'll be taking a different way home...like by airplane.

Feasting on strange stuff

No doubt you're thinking that we're eating all western fast foods after that last post, even if that is what a lot of Emiratis make for in the mall.


But noooo...we're feasting on strange stuff...edibles that we can't pronounce or recognise. We point a lot at mysterious words on menus hoping for the best, and 'eyesdrop' over nearby tables to see what others in the know are choosing.



It's gastronomical emersion and Dubai has a lot from which to choose. Dubai's culinary landscape mirrors the imported expat population; Lebanese, Persian, Syrian, Indian, Thai, African...we've discovered there are dozens of distinct Indian cuisines alone!


We're tasting curried stews, pita bread so fresh from the oven that's it's puffed up like a blow fish, tasty tabuouleh (the secret is a good cold pressed olive oil from Lebanon that's more sharply acidic than the mellow, rich Italian ones, and lots of firm tomatoes, and don't forget the mint)... creamy hummous, grilled hammour (from the grouper family)...
labneh, lassi, and lumpries...
shawarma, sambusak...
kibbeh and kofta.
Oh my!


What is it?? Why, it's manna!


Rice? Had no idea that rice could taste sooo rich and delicious...and look so mysterious...what were those things hiding in there? Just like a spring Easter hunt...found cardamon seeds, and raisins and and some things that look like skinny pine nuts.


This fellow makes the best shawrama in Deira, with bits of lemon zest in a fine see through wrap.


Seated among the restaurant supplies in this rural restaurant in Al Ain. The W.C. is right behind Wayne. But the food is good and the service is gracious.



That's not fine Staffordshire china...that's Melmac.


Wish you could dig into a mixed seafood platter fresh off the fishing boats with us. Dad would love this!


The Pantone colour of the year is everywhere... in diner decor so far behind its ahead.


One guide book suggests: Head to the hotels when you want splash and panache; head to the independant restaurants when you want ethnic authenticity and don't mind slumming it...with a warning to pee before you go.

Read Arabic? Sure you can!

Can you read Arabic? Sure you can!


Would you have guessed this one?


Any idea what this says? Remember to read right to left...that'll help!


Or this one?


No need for a thousand words, or any for that matter!

Burj or bust

"Ooohh! Look out the window!" We all exclaim to each other, spotting the Dubai landmark at the same time, from our hotel window...it's the Burj Al Arab!


Imagine our delight to see the iconic hotel with its unmistakable spinnaker sail in full billow from our hotel windows when we first arrived.


Imagine our double delight to be invited on a tour of the exclusive property, a seven star hotel (albeit self-proclaimed), built on its own tiny island, that can only be accessed by a causeway, with a confirmed reservation.

Were we running with the fancy crowd or what!


The truth...? I confess that we had no reservation for this $2,000 to $28,000 a night hotel, but a gracious someone with connections offered to take us on a tour. Oh happy day!

"Have your family dress smartly", was a suggestion from our host, said not once but twice to Wayne.

I relayed the instructions, "Give your good shoes a wipe, boys, and make sure your dress pants aren't too wrinkled."
"Ummm, Mom...we only packed runners and beach sandals...and jeans".

Ooohhh the pain!

"Ok, let me think...no time to shop for spiffy clothes...so how about if you walk closely behind me, I'll hold my long skirt out wide in front of us and maybe no one will notice", as we stepped headlong into a remix of the British comedy television show, "Keeping Up Appearances".


And what was the gracious host wearing? Jeans and a polo shirt!


At ease, boys, at ease...


The Burj Al Arab is a very, very tall structure at 321 metres, holding its own among the tallest in the world by any reckoning. It caused the Guiness World Record people to have to make yet another trip to Dubai when it was completed as the world's tallest hotel.


Now it is the third tallest, joined since by another Dubai hotel that takes first place and another in North Korea but it still holds the record for the world's tallest atrium at 180 metres or 600 feet. That's a lot of atrium.




Look up!
Look way, way up at teflon coated fabric.


Somewhere up there on the outside is a cantilevered helipad. If you don't want to use the helipad, you can take one of the dozen Silver Cloud Rolls Royce limos to and from the airport.


Each suite is two stories high. Our friend and his wife stayed one night in a $4,000 suite. They each had a butler in topcoat and tails, and gloves.


Some people say the interior decor is outrageous. It's certainly very colourful for eyes that are lately comfortable with understated...but with turquoise being named the colour of the year for 2010 by Pantone, I think it'll fare fine for the near future.


Love the four story fountain. The scale is so misleading in the photo, that I'll bet you can't even see the two story aquarium in the left corner below. There's a matching two story aquarium on the other side.


There sure is a lot of gold leaf and gold plating though...


No matter what colour Pantone delares the colour of the year next year, it'll be here!

40th floor or 39th?

Here's our hotel residence tower; the round one on the right with the steering wheel on top. Fifty five floors according to the website. We are on the 39th floor by Middle Eastern/European/Asian reckoning, but on the 40th floor by North American reckoning. What we in North America call the 1st floor, everyone else in the world calls the ground floor or the zero floor. So then, the next level up that we would call the 2nd floor is called the 1st floor here, and so on...which has the potential to get confusing.

Our bedroom takes up half the long strip of windows on the sunny left side. The kids bedroom next, then a strip of kitchen windows and finally a stretch of dining room glass. We take up one fifth of a whole floor!!

Our tower is five years old and the first one to go up of all the towers visible in this photo, which gives an idea of how incredibly fast new construction has been happening here in Dubai...planned in the morning, built in the afternoon, and occupied by evening...that's Dubai!

I'll have mine sunny side up

Now wouldn't these Lamborghini seats just cheer you up in the morning on your way to work!