Shangri-La Hotel Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi

... and the practices of Islamic culture so inherent to the surrounding region. Brand new glittering shopping malls stand beside mosques; tourists in sundresses share sidewalks with women wearing abeyas and burkas. Chad and I have had a chance to explore the city and see Emirates Palace, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (the 3rd largest mosque in the world), and souks where buyers can barter for anything from Persian rugs to gold. <br><br>It&#8217;s hot here. The average temperature ...

... the construction workers get to their jobs, so I'm not really in the target market. But by 2030 they'll have rapid rail to Dubai, a Metro and light rail. So plenty of work! This is a shot from the window of my executive suite (yes, quite luxurious really - I have a massive bedroom and a lounge room with kitchen). The street is typical of those in the city centre - really sometimes it seems they have squeezed the ...

... been because your intrepid photographer here decided to head out down the road because he thought he spied a good angle for a shot of the world's largest flagpole (you can tell a city is bored when they start trying to break such ridiculous world records as this). Big mistake, I got my shot, but arrived back into the mall about 2 stone lighter from sweat loss. I was licking the condensation off the mall windows in an attempt to get ...

That weekend was my Abu Dhabi visit. There was no way I would have delayed that more, and for a simple reason: I wanted to visit Mathilde, who I certainly met in my very early days, although I don't remember. Mathilde has been living in AbuDhabi for years, with Steve and their two daughters Louise and Nina. So in fact I had not seen them for quite a few years, and Actually I think I had not met Nina previously. Now I have to report on all of this before my mum, Mathilde's ...

... around here and motor spares shops (I mentioned Baghdad Motors more than once I think). Not two industries that you would think naturally sat together well (unless you want fitted seat covers for your Hummer). Only Ahma Opticals stood out as being different next to Al Zeen Tyres and Said Abad Tailoring. This evening the whole bunch of us together with a friend (who was clearly not enjoying living in the UAE very much) went ...

... since we didn't want the groceries to go bad. As we were driving home, we came upon the Sheikh Zayed's mosque that is being built. It's only in Phase 2! Dad thought the U.S. Embassy was just around the corner, so we started to head over that way to take a few photos. Sure enough, the flag was flying proud in the sky. It was probably a couple blocks over to the right, so we took the next right and headed down all ...

... The only seats in the place. And no-one can use them!! You can look down your nose til you go blue in the face, doesn't bother me.<br><br>On the plane I was in the aisle seat, something of a blessing. Next to me was a friendly German guy. For a while we spoke but I was feeling worse and worse and eventually I had to ask him to stop. Turning my head and eyes in his direction was making me feel sick. Nothing personal! The biggest problem was that we weren't moving and it was ...

Hi All Well I made it on my 14 1/2 hour flight to Dubai, but got myself really confused with the local time once I landed!! We landed on time at 530 am, but I (serious blond moment) thought it was on Friday morning - not Saturday, the reality! I checked into my great hotel - king size bed was very welcome I can tell you. After a couple of hours sleep and breakfast, I was about to head out of the hotel when Maureen ...

... 7 by the number on the picture I decided on but then they added on thing after another and it added up to $15. Which isn't much but it was double what I thought I would pay. The good thing is that they brought me a ton of food and my plate included shish kebabs, but get this...They didn't come on a stick...I saw the cook, cook them on a metal stick but then he just dropped them on a foil plate that did not resemble the beautiful white dish and wooden stick shish kebabs I had ...

... in earlier. Luckily they had a toilet they were willing to share with Shane. Lucky for them! We cruised back across the river and walked around Deira for a short while. There were so many Indians around it felt like we were in New Delhi. Pete couldn't get enough of the local street-side food option: shwarma. You can get them on nearly any street corner and they all taste a little different. (hmm, is that chicken or stray cat?). Day 4 On our last day ...