Golden Tulip Dalma Plaza Abu Dhabi

... fired (it's hard to find wood in a desert) pizza oven.

More sightseeing in airconditioned comfort followed, this time it was out to the islands. We drove along the palm and saw the edge of the world, the world islands that is. This was followed by more souqs (bargain basement outdoor style this time) and an authentic Abra (small wooden boat) ride across to the gold and spice souqs. After we had shopped enough to fill ...

... phone is handed back to the driver to explain to him. This is often only partially successful and the success is relative to the language level of the friend phoned and our (often wrong) pronounciations. We had the usual adventure of catching a taxi to get to the bus terminal to take us from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. This time the first turban clad driver that stopped had absolutely no english and even pronouncing Bur Dubai Bus Station very slowly and clearly did not ...

... nice. The morning began with some wakeboarding, with me going out first to show my skills. I was actually okay and even managed to get a jump in at the end, though not without the worst face grimace imaginable (see pic). Next up was Stu and after a few attempts he was standing up, even though not for that long, it was impressive for a first timer. Bellie was eager to get out next before she sank too many beers, and amazingly got up first time, even though she'd never ...

Interesting terminal - lovely mosaic ceiling. It felt like you were standing in a funnel into some sort of cultural melting pot. There was such a mix of people and faces that it was like the bar scene out of Star Wars (minus the groovey alien band). The 14 hour flight to get here was not short of drama too. I'd totally forgotten about the free booze trolley on international flights, and it seems that this was not wasted by ...

... to pass some sort of test before you were accepted to represent the group·.imagine what would have happened if some useless half wit had joined the IRA in the good (bad) old days? Can't see it can you? Anyway, so didn't find the "hot bed" of terrorists, not a wasp in sight, just lots of friendly folk instead. I did look in a couple of mosques (well, outside really) and had fun explaining badly to the kids why there were loads of shoes left outside ...

... Corniche by myself (5 1/2 miles) while my Dad was at work. I've been wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt to workout, so I don't offend anyone with shorts. Well, on the way to the Corniche yesterday, this car kept pulling into parking lots in front of me and pulling out. He tried 2-3 times to talk to me before he actually got me at curb (he waited). He asked if I needed a ride to some place or ...

... by all accounts. She got in so late. She was on her way to the airport, with her flight being earlier than mine. I ended up talking to a French woman about life and Nepal. She works setting up schools there. I admire people like her immensely, but I'm always struck by their homelessness. She's not Nepali nor could she live there permanently, but she's not really French any more. Or, at least, she finds it very hard when she goes back. Very disillusioned with life there. And ...

This is not Toronto. This is not New York. This is not Markham. This is.. Dubai. haha.. Before I go on, I have to warn you that I'm going with local times, so really I'm writing to you from the future! :D Neat eh? I just got off from a 12 hour flight with the Emirates. The plane itself is huge, luxurous and absolutely gorgeous--it almost felt seemed like the plane was brand new. The celing lights up with different colours to reflect the time of day ...

... good and not nearly as bad for you as for example a cigarette. Anyways, after smoking till we were dizzy we stumbled to dinner with the munchies so it was perfect!!! First we had an appetizer, and then they opened up the barbecue buffet which was truly delicious with all sorts of local foods. I tried everything and found almost all of it amazing!!! The tables were set around a big stage under the stars and it was truly breathtaking. We sat with our adopted family and enjoyed the ...

... lots of shopping and rather expensive, but a certain sterile feel to the place. This is mainly due to the fact that the place has only really developed in the last 30-40 years and being so young it lacks character. The best part was getting out of Dubai into the desert and duning in a 4WD. This was an absolute buzz and involved driving up and down some exceptionally steep sand dunes and driving down the ...