Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Day 5: Dubai, UAE

OMG. Time flies like rocket. Just a blink it's already Day 5. Noooooo~

Again, there are no plans. I figured out to stop by here, the Emirates Mall. It was really close by to SP's place.

This is so nice.

This is part of the Mall of Emirates with 22,500 square meters. Of course, this is man-made indoor ski. With the hot weather in the desert, this is the chance for you to experience the cold weather, and the snow.

Pricing depends on the packages you take. Being an amateur, there are trainers available. If you're a pro, then you can enjoy the 5 slopes of different steepness.

Hehe ... I just have to do this. Thank you, stranger!

In Dubai, the buildings are very interesting with various shapes and designs, unlike the typical shape of a building back home.

Another one

We went for Ladies Night and there is an overview of the Burj Khalifa and the night scene here. Or probably, when the sun slept. Splendid!

It's a nice view of the Financial Hub in Dubai

It starts at 7PM. We get 2 drinks per person. This was in Mint Leaf, all the way from London. Hooray! The cocktails selections were great!

That night when we went, they served Indian food. Imagine, you get this big portion and it's called finger food! Just do bar hopping and you will be bloated. You don't really need to sit down for a proper meal anymore. That's something good in Dubai for the ladies. It's free for ladies night.

We weren't there for too long, as we need to fill in our stomach with this. Uh .. the amount of food we had.
That's us! SP's kingdom. This, I have no idea where was this.

Walked and we headed to this nearby bar. I don't know what bar was this. Haha.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Day 4: Dubai, UAE

Day 4 was a chilled out day. Nothing too hectic to recover from the day before. It's pointless to have a holiday and you are all beat. So, this is just a day to rest before the next hectic day, which is the next day.

We went to the Dubai Outlet Mall, a 30 minute drive away from the city centre. Nevertheless, don't expect too much from this place. The price isn't THAT cheap. You gotta hunt for it. To me personally, I am not someone who goes for brands, so I wouldn't enjoy it. Again, from a normal shopaholic perspective, I think it's quite a let down. I only got a football jersey. I think it's not worth it to go all the way there.

For dinner, we went to Deira, a restaurant called Al Tawasol. It's actually a Yemenese Middle Eastern restaurant. It served really GOOD food and for the first time, it was cheap and I was all damn satisfied.

SP gathered the Malaysian. I met my long lost friend, and SP brought her other Malaysian friends, and of course, Malaysian gatherings come with great food. haha.

We then headed over for dessert. It's baklava. It's a Turkish rich sweet pastry and today, it's a well-known pastry all over the the Middle Eastern countries. When visiting this country, I was really thankful that my first job really opened my eyes and somehow, introduced me to a certain extent, the culture of the Middle Eastern community.

He was nice enough to pack and seal my baklava for me even though I didn't buy the minimum amount. Shukran! Yeah, I learned that back in KL. haha.

That's my long lost friend. The first we met was in 2007 over this blog when both of us were studying in Swiss. When there was no smart phones, nothing like what you get today, yet, there were ways to meet people over an online platform. I'm amazed.

I don't know what's this place called. It was after dinner, a third round. It has a very nice windy ambiance. 

They serve alcohol, and shisha, the past time of the Middle Eastern. Oh and the shaky boat. haha.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Day 3: Dibba Musandam, Oman

We started Day 3 early. The plan was to go over to Dibba Musandam in Oman for a day cruise tour. More like boat tour. The journey over to Oman is about 5 hours drive. That's a hectic one. Since I didn't have enough sleep the night before, it's my opportunity to just sleep all the way. I couldn't even open my eyes.

We have reached Oman. It's a very quiet, peaceful area and you don't see anyone on the streets at all. I wonder where are all the humans.

 That's us, before getting down

Look at the boats! haha. The weather was good throughout the day.

Of course, you can jump down whenever you want for a swim. It's sooooo salty.

Then, we got into a small boat, we went to this small island here. The donkey is a really sad donkey. He's alone! He doesn't have any friends there :(

This is a proof I was there in Oman haha. We did try to fish and no result. I realized, I just can't do fishing. It's really not my thing haha.

We went for another boat ride, it was nice with the wind blowing us though those people with us were not nice at all. It doesn't harm to be nice. They took us around the area.

That's us. There were supposed to be other activities like kayaking, banana boat and stuff like that but all were canceled due to an accident that happened just days before that.

Yoohoo ... and the sun tells us it's time to go home.

That's the shore. Auction for fishes!

We then had our dinner, and we went home and ... fainted. There's no way we can do anything early the next day, it will be too exhausting. Back to work for those who are working. As for me, time to rest.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Day 2: Global Village, Dubai

After the comatose, we got ready to get going again. It doesn't end just like that right.

We headed over to Global Village. A little bit about the place. It runs only during winter, from November to March. I was THAT lucky, managed to be there as that was the last few days before it closes for the season. It's a huge place, get ready for some walks. It displays a little bit of culture of every country and every nationality. It's a definite successful project to attract tourists and locals alike. Apart from that, there are fountains, performances both dancing and singing, and fireworks too.

The face after comatose. Jang jang jang! Oh and we took the shuttle bus from Union station and it's about 30 minutes travel time or more, depending on traffic. Another way, is from Al Ghubaiba station. I think we tried that first but couldn't find any bus station there. 

That's the first country at the entrance, took a picture with Habibi. Maximizing opportunity with the camels. Without a doubt, that's the homeland, UAE. They closed that early! Right after we reached, took pics, we saw them closing o.O

If I were to give a conclusion, Africa is the most interesting compared to the others. They were selling things that represent Africa, and there was a guy who dresses up in African's traditional costume taking pictures with tourists, along with African music.

Turkey was alright too. They were selling a lot of Turkish things as well as Turkish delights.

There comes my country, which is very disappointing. Whatever they were selling is not a Malaysian thing. They were selling clothes, phone casings? Mops? Oh except for the biscuits. Our country is so small that we had to combine with Singapore.

UK was not impressive either. They had only this backdrop. Other than that, there wasn't anything.

That's the dancing performance I mentioned earlier in the post. Yay!

We walked, walked and walked and still, we didn't cover every little corner. We were beat already.

If you have not taken any food, not to worry. There are so many food stalls around, and restaurants, you will not go hungry.

Oh and Egypt. The pavilion is nice, it is their famous pyramid.

Of course, there are many many more countries and it's not that I can include all in a post. But, these are the highlights. South-east-asians were just not accurate.

For 15 AED, I think it's worth a visit at least once. There are people who really love the place that they visit every single year. I guess, once is enough for me. It is open til 12AM on their normal weekdays (Saturday til Wednesday) and Thursday, Friday & Public holidays til 1AM.

Monday, July 13, 2015

The End

At this age, our friends will have their own partners, they get upgraded, they change status, they have different priorities. That's totally fine and normal.

Then, you have someone, who vanished from thin air when they get a bf/gf. Okay, I'll give the honeymoon period of 6 months. Non-contactable of 6 months is actually non-acceptable but I'll try to be understanding, the max is 6 months. That means, not a meet up, no calls, no messages, nothing.

They just, disappear. When they were weak and down, people were there to pick them up. If you have been talking to someone, or to some people, I think it's only right if you tell them that you got someone and you will be seeing less of them. As friends, I'm sure they understand. But, without a word when you have been talking to each other every single day? That shows how much respect you have for your friends.

After a year, it is safe to conclude that this person will not be reaching out to you anymore, ever. It's best to just remove this person from your life because that's what they asked. We, as human beings, just reciprocate what they have done. It's okay, karma won't get back to you. Instead, it will be to that person who is unappreciative for what you had done. People love taking others for granted. That includes, people, who may or may not be your friend. That's how people are these days.

Sometimes, you will just wish you weren't there when they were down. *pats back* you did a great job. Don't worry about that. There are so many who are appreciative *proud smile* It's all good and in the end, it's worth it. Those that don't, when you fall again, that's because you deserve it. You'll suffer much more than how you did. haha.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Day 2: Al-Hatta Desert, UAE

So, we are at Day 2 now. It starts with a drive to Al Hatta desert. That's about 1.5 hours drive away.

SP's friend was so nice. He drove us all the way from Al Zayeed street to the place. I mean, so damn nice right?

We couldn't find the place for quad biking. So, we did a pit stop and took pic with the camels first. Mind you, this was before the Mers outbreak. It was still fine back then.

I haven't done the ATV back home. Probably, similar. But, I enjoyed this, except it was too hot. I was burned.

And, SP's bike was hijacked. hahaa. We had to share haha.

So in a desert, these 4W get stuck in the sand and stuff like that, which is very common. They have this rope to pull you out from the sand and you are good to go. How nice.

With all the sweat and energy drained, it's time for our lunch. That's me of course having buffet, in Feast, Sheraton. One thing about Dubai is that, they have the same hotel, like Sheraton, a few of them in the same street. That's how good the hotel business is over there.

Even though I have taken buffet in different countries, this is a whole new level of buffet. It was SO good. There are so many nationalities working in the same hotel, it's amazing. With voucher, it costs 150 per person after buy 1 free 1. Otherwise, it's 300. I've never come across a buffet with alcohol. If opt for alcohol, it's about 400-500 for a brunch buffet and alcoholics can go for that. It's cheaper than drinking per glass outside.

The SPs. Haha. After this session, we had comatose hahaha.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Day 1: Dubai, UAE

It was quite an unplanned trip. I was thinking of going to Laos, or even Vietnam. But, it's mad to be going alone there. I know everyone will be like, don't be crazy! I know! I know! That's when SP said, come to Dubai! Fate fall upon me. MAS was having a promotion, for that 2 days. After I bought it, it increased to 3K plus. Insane.

That's when in March, I flew over to Dubai, all alone. It has been so many years I haven't flown alone.

The moment I reached to Dubai, left my luggage in SP's house, then we headed over to Dubai Mall haha. Had dinner at Desperados and omg, this is crazy. I had currency shock, with Buy 1 Free 1, we still paid 100 each.

That's the skyscrapper, Burj Khalifa, tallest man-made structure in the world. The main contractor was from Samsung, South Korea haha.

This is just at Souk Al Bahar which means market of the sailor due to its stones and architecture of the building. There are restaurants, shops, bars, cafes here. Of course, there is a musical fountain here. It's actually located between Burj Khalifa, Souk Al Bahar and the Dubai Mall. It's actually a dancing fountain that plays every half an hour after 6 PM with variety of songs. I enjoyed this!

Then, we headed over to Dubai Mall with the giant aquarium!

Of course, it's then time to head back to SP's place in the Financial Hub and it's about 15 minutes walk to the Metro station haha. Oh when you talk about the Malaysians there, somehow you meet people from the hospitality industry. That happened to be working in the same hotel as me before. haha.