After being back off holiday for at let's a week I have finally finished writing up my Dubai travel journal! Its been hard trying to juggle writing this and doing my uni essays so I'm sorry its late, but better late than never! I've posted a few pictures of the trip on my Instagram, but for now here's the holiday...
WEDNESDAY 25th March
Mid Morning
So I came home from uni for the day as it was my brothers 21st birthday. Once he finally woke up and opened his cards; myself, mam and dad were getting excited for him to open his final present- his trip to Dubai. It had bene booked since January and it was so hard to try and keep it a secret from him, but I thought he knew about it and wouldn't be surprised. How wrong was I! He finally got around to opening his designer leather holdal and we were urging him to try and open it and see the flight details inside the bag.
Mid Morning
So I came home from uni for the day as it was my brothers 21st birthday. Once he finally woke up and opened his cards; myself, mam and dad were getting excited for him to open his final present- his trip to Dubai. It had bene booked since January and it was so hard to try and keep it a secret from him, but I thought he knew about it and wouldn't be surprised. How wrong was I! He finally got around to opening his designer leather holdal and we were urging him to try and open it and see the flight details inside the bag.
SUNDAY 29th
11am
As the taxi pulled up to our house to take us to the airport it was time to say bye to our doggy, as usual mam was getting all emotional but we were only going away for 6 nights... After a short journey to the airport and arriving in the queue for the check in dad decided to be cheeky and ask one of the Emirates staff to see if there were any more seats in business class, it was for a special occasion after all (for my parents silver wedding anniversary as well as my brothers 21st), and for a pay for 2 seats get 2 free deal we were bumped up to business class!
11am
As the taxi pulled up to our house to take us to the airport it was time to say bye to our doggy, as usual mam was getting all emotional but we were only going away for 6 nights... After a short journey to the airport and arriving in the queue for the check in dad decided to be cheeky and ask one of the Emirates staff to see if there were any more seats in business class, it was for a special occasion after all (for my parents silver wedding anniversary as well as my brothers 21st), and for a pay for 2 seats get 2 free deal we were bumped up to business class!
2:15
Finally time to board business class for the first time! Wow, it felt good pretending to be superior to economy class! As we were making our way to the gate there was a big queue we were allowed to push past, the look of disgust on their faces was fantastic. "This is the queue you know" a snooty woman said to me while I was trying to squeeze past her, "business class" I replied holding my ticket to her face and not giving her a second glance, a small 'oh' was her sign of annoyance as she had to let me by. It was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. A 7 hour flight was just made spectacular. Everything was free and luxury! Complimentary drinks on arrival and then Grey Goose on ice once we had taken off with warm mixed nuts. A fine dining experience with a little table cloth on our fold away table and a gorgeous and well presented 3 course meal on plates. Proper plates, and cutlery! All while being in a large chair with built in massage system, a remote to recline into a full horizontal bed and watching Frozen and Paddington on the big screen in front of me. And it was all good that there were no annoying children or fat people next to you and not feeling claustrophobic with 'peasant class' :P
Finally time to board business class for the first time! Wow, it felt good pretending to be superior to economy class! As we were making our way to the gate there was a big queue we were allowed to push past, the look of disgust on their faces was fantastic. "This is the queue you know" a snooty woman said to me while I was trying to squeeze past her, "business class" I replied holding my ticket to her face and not giving her a second glance, a small 'oh' was her sign of annoyance as she had to let me by. It was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. A 7 hour flight was just made spectacular. Everything was free and luxury! Complimentary drinks on arrival and then Grey Goose on ice once we had taken off with warm mixed nuts. A fine dining experience with a little table cloth on our fold away table and a gorgeous and well presented 3 course meal on plates. Proper plates, and cutlery! All while being in a large chair with built in massage system, a remote to recline into a full horizontal bed and watching Frozen and Paddington on the big screen in front of me. And it was all good that there were no annoying children or fat people next to you and not feeling claustrophobic with 'peasant class' :P
MONDAY 30th
0:55 (local time)
After a very relaxing flight, fast track through passport control and baggage, it was time to go to our hotel. After encounting the terrifying road rage of Dubai and seeing some sights in the dark, we finally made it to our hotel, JA Ocean View Hotel in Jumeirah. A swift check in with a bellhop taking luggage up to our room and a drink on arrival I knew I was going to like it here, not even seeing my room yet! And the room... It wasn't just a bog standard hotel room, you got complimentary dressing gowns and slippers as well as a little rubber duck shower buddy which was so cute! It really is the tiny things that make a place so special.
0:55 (local time)
After a very relaxing flight, fast track through passport control and baggage, it was time to go to our hotel. After encounting the terrifying road rage of Dubai and seeing some sights in the dark, we finally made it to our hotel, JA Ocean View Hotel in Jumeirah. A swift check in with a bellhop taking luggage up to our room and a drink on arrival I knew I was going to like it here, not even seeing my room yet! And the room... It wasn't just a bog standard hotel room, you got complimentary dressing gowns and slippers as well as a little rubber duck shower buddy which was so cute! It really is the tiny things that make a place so special.
After abit of a lie in (well not really we only slept for about 4 hours based on UK time) we went down to the restaurant to try the breakfast. There really was something for everyone at this hotel and catered for all, vegetarians, vegans, Muslim's it was very thoughtful and there was so much choice including curry! Curry for breakfast!!
As we always do as a family, on the first day of a holiday we always explore the local area. Our hotel was metres away from the beach front and the newly developed 'Walk' with an array of restaurants and shops including a Sephora and Victoria's Secret a stones throw away! We Aldo walked around the back end of the hotel around the marina which was quite draining really because it was nearly 4 miles long! Nevertheless there was plenty of photo ops capturing all the skyscrapers. We also decided to try the local trams as they were 5 minutes away from the hotel which would take us to the Jumeirah Palm and on a monorail to the famous Atlantis Hotel, however we never ended up on the monorail due to a misunderstanding with the tickets we bought but there was always another day to see it.
After a well needed afternoon nap, we got ready for dinner at the hotel, once again in buffet style, but with a little bit less choice for vegetarians. Thank god for the salad and bread stations where I filled up. Also there was so much choice at the Dessert station, it was just a shame I had to miss out on a lot of them because I still wasn't eating chocolate for Lent. After our meal we went along The Walk to see what it was like in the evening and it felt like a completely different place, it was so busy and so much going on; not like street artists or hair braiders you get in Europe but just the general atmosphere itself with the friendliness and cleanliness of the area. One thing we learnt was that there were hardly any places that served alcohol. Because we were in the middle east and because Muslims don't drink, we noticed that they like to drink mocktails and hot drinks in the evening so we spent our time in one bar having mocktails. My 'mockjito' was actually very nice!
TUESDAY 31st
Today was my parents silver wedding anniversary, we wanted to do something special today. We tried to get into the Burj Al Arab, the 7* hotel for high tea but unfortunately it was fully booked but also so expensive. We also wanted to see if we could have a drink on the top floor but I ruined that one because you had to be 21, I thought my days of worrying about being underage were over! However we were recommended a little place near it called Souk Madinat which gets referred to as 'Little Venice' as it had a canal going around it. It was what I would call a hidden treasure. It was such a cute little escapism from modern Dubai and a quiet serenity which you could still get a great view of the Burj al Arab when we took a canal boat around the area where we learnt that it was also a hotel residence where people traveled pretty much every where via the little canal boats. In the evening we decided to have a wander around the marina where we could see all the lights in the rooftop clubs and music blaring while we were drinking our coffees before an earlier night as we had big plans for the next day.
Today was my parents silver wedding anniversary, we wanted to do something special today. We tried to get into the Burj Al Arab, the 7* hotel for high tea but unfortunately it was fully booked but also so expensive. We also wanted to see if we could have a drink on the top floor but I ruined that one because you had to be 21, I thought my days of worrying about being underage were over! However we were recommended a little place near it called Souk Madinat which gets referred to as 'Little Venice' as it had a canal going around it. It was what I would call a hidden treasure. It was such a cute little escapism from modern Dubai and a quiet serenity which you could still get a great view of the Burj al Arab when we took a canal boat around the area where we learnt that it was also a hotel residence where people traveled pretty much every where via the little canal boats. In the evening we decided to have a wander around the marina where we could see all the lights in the rooftop clubs and music blaring while we were drinking our coffees before an earlier night as we had big plans for the next day.
WEDNESDAY 1st April
After my mam woke me up at 7:30, went down to have breakfast and get ready for the day we were then waiting for our private tour of modern Dubai! Once we were picked up we were taken to the other side of the Marina (the part which was too far to walk to) and had the chance to have look around, get a few photos learn about the twisted skyscraper a drunk architect designed. Afterwards we were taken for a great photo op of the Jumeirah skyline at Montgomery golf club which was just spectacular. I knew that today would be the day where my camera would be filled... Then after failing to go on the Jumeirah Palm on the Monday we had direct access to it today with pre paid monorail tickets. Now I'm not a racist person but that monorail ride was hilarious because there was so many Chinese tourists and they are exactly like what you see in films; faces pressed up against the windows with their iPads trying to get photos of everything... EVERYTHING! Even getting off the monorail they were waiting until the last minute to get off as they were posing to get their picture taken on it... Like moths to a flame, it really was. Anyways we got to see the famous Atlantis hotel with its private water park and learnt that on each palm strand, each villa had a private beach which would be worth £2.5million :O better start saving cause they looked gorgeous, and David Beckham or Shakira could possibly be my neighbour! We also saw the Burj al Arab once again from a different angle but didn't stay there very long as we encountered the same Chinese tourists as we did on the monorail here. Seriously all of this took us to about lunchtime, Dubai is so spread out! Then we finally reached Dubai Mall where the entrance to the Burj Khalifa was located. I was quite excited for this but being only 5ft, going up the tallest building in the world was also quite daunting for little old me. However, once we were in the lift going up it showed you a hologram on the walls telling you how high you currently were going up the lift and showing you that you were currently higher than otherworld landmarks such as Big Ben, Eiffel tower, Empire state building and so o. The view at the top was breathtaking, you couldn't see as far out as I imagined you cause because it was so not it was the air quite hazy. After our view from the top we decided not to stay at the Mall and go there tomorrow, so we got a lift back to the hotel and prepared ourselves for a few hours on the beach just to chill. In the evening we went back to 'Little Venice' which had a totally different atmosphere from the day time. We could also enjoy a proper drink here because we were at a hotel resort and they had an alcohol licence and, my god, they don't half make sure they're strong!
After my mam woke me up at 7:30, went down to have breakfast and get ready for the day we were then waiting for our private tour of modern Dubai! Once we were picked up we were taken to the other side of the Marina (the part which was too far to walk to) and had the chance to have look around, get a few photos learn about the twisted skyscraper a drunk architect designed. Afterwards we were taken for a great photo op of the Jumeirah skyline at Montgomery golf club which was just spectacular. I knew that today would be the day where my camera would be filled... Then after failing to go on the Jumeirah Palm on the Monday we had direct access to it today with pre paid monorail tickets. Now I'm not a racist person but that monorail ride was hilarious because there was so many Chinese tourists and they are exactly like what you see in films; faces pressed up against the windows with their iPads trying to get photos of everything... EVERYTHING! Even getting off the monorail they were waiting until the last minute to get off as they were posing to get their picture taken on it... Like moths to a flame, it really was. Anyways we got to see the famous Atlantis hotel with its private water park and learnt that on each palm strand, each villa had a private beach which would be worth £2.5million :O better start saving cause they looked gorgeous, and David Beckham or Shakira could possibly be my neighbour! We also saw the Burj al Arab once again from a different angle but didn't stay there very long as we encountered the same Chinese tourists as we did on the monorail here. Seriously all of this took us to about lunchtime, Dubai is so spread out! Then we finally reached Dubai Mall where the entrance to the Burj Khalifa was located. I was quite excited for this but being only 5ft, going up the tallest building in the world was also quite daunting for little old me. However, once we were in the lift going up it showed you a hologram on the walls telling you how high you currently were going up the lift and showing you that you were currently higher than otherworld landmarks such as Big Ben, Eiffel tower, Empire state building and so o. The view at the top was breathtaking, you couldn't see as far out as I imagined you cause because it was so not it was the air quite hazy. After our view from the top we decided not to stay at the Mall and go there tomorrow, so we got a lift back to the hotel and prepared ourselves for a few hours on the beach just to chill. In the evening we went back to 'Little Venice' which had a totally different atmosphere from the day time. We could also enjoy a proper drink here because we were at a hotel resort and they had an alcohol licence and, my god, they don't half make sure they're strong!
THURSDAY 2nd
Another busy day... Up early to get the free shuttle bus to the souk markets in old Dubai. But once we realised that the shuttle bus was full we decided to get a taxi there. Today wasn't the best weather, I was experiencing my first sand storm and locals were trying to sell you masks to protect your nose and mouth, nothing a scarf couldn't do. But anyway we were dropped off in old Dubai with no souks in sight. We were wandering around trying to find this souk, and after a run in with one of the locals (which i still find too uncomfortable to talk about) we got into the nearest taxi where we were told that the taxi driver dropped is off at the wrong place so the new one took us to the real souk markets. We were there for 15 minutes Max, the atmosphere was exactly the same as where we were previously. We got to see the side of Dubai that isn't advertised to tourists and, for me, I personally felt like a target. I was that uncomfortable I was crying. We swiftly found another taxi which took us back to civilisation, The Dubai Mall. After getting a glance at it yesterday it was fair to say that I was excited to do abit of retail therapy in the biggest shopping mall in the world using the bank of daddy. First place I went to was Sephora, I was so excited to go here as we don't have a Sephora in the Uk so I wanted to see what it was all about and I could have spent a small fortune in there! I only bought 2 things as I had already bought some stuff in duty free in the airport, I am going to do a post on what I bought and a mini review on each product at a later date. It was so easy to kill time in there because there was 4 floors to the shopping mall which included an indoor aquarium, ice rink, cinema and a theme park! We shopped for ages, spending most of the time waiting for my brother looking for Raybans and Armani watches to spend his birthday money on, but we were there for quite a while and got to see the fountains illuminate in the evening which were gorgeous. After that, we did our usual routine of going back to the hotel, having dinner and going out in search for alcohol.
Another busy day... Up early to get the free shuttle bus to the souk markets in old Dubai. But once we realised that the shuttle bus was full we decided to get a taxi there. Today wasn't the best weather, I was experiencing my first sand storm and locals were trying to sell you masks to protect your nose and mouth, nothing a scarf couldn't do. But anyway we were dropped off in old Dubai with no souks in sight. We were wandering around trying to find this souk, and after a run in with one of the locals (which i still find too uncomfortable to talk about) we got into the nearest taxi where we were told that the taxi driver dropped is off at the wrong place so the new one took us to the real souk markets. We were there for 15 minutes Max, the atmosphere was exactly the same as where we were previously. We got to see the side of Dubai that isn't advertised to tourists and, for me, I personally felt like a target. I was that uncomfortable I was crying. We swiftly found another taxi which took us back to civilisation, The Dubai Mall. After getting a glance at it yesterday it was fair to say that I was excited to do abit of retail therapy in the biggest shopping mall in the world using the bank of daddy. First place I went to was Sephora, I was so excited to go here as we don't have a Sephora in the Uk so I wanted to see what it was all about and I could have spent a small fortune in there! I only bought 2 things as I had already bought some stuff in duty free in the airport, I am going to do a post on what I bought and a mini review on each product at a later date. It was so easy to kill time in there because there was 4 floors to the shopping mall which included an indoor aquarium, ice rink, cinema and a theme park! We shopped for ages, spending most of the time waiting for my brother looking for Raybans and Armani watches to spend his birthday money on, but we were there for quite a while and got to see the fountains illuminate in the evening which were gorgeous. After that, we did our usual routine of going back to the hotel, having dinner and going out in search for alcohol.
FRIDAY 3rd
It was hard to believe that this was our last day, we had done so much and had seen so much of Dubai that we hardly used the beach and hadn't even been in the hotel's infinity pool yet. So after a nice lie in and a late breakfast that is what we decided to do; it was the day I burnt to a crisp :-( to be fair, I'm surprised I hadn't burnt sooner in the holiday but it probably wasn't wise to snooze between midday and 1pm with only factor 10 on... So it was kind of my fault but I paid the price in the evening I was aching so bad! But nothing an antihistamine couldn't fix; life goes on. But it got to the point where I was packing to leave this stunning place and I honestly didn't want to go, I would be back there in a heart beat if I could. If the UK could adopt their laws and government then we would be living in a much better society. Anyways, after our final dinner and evening walk, it was time to go to bed... For 2 hours.
It was hard to believe that this was our last day, we had done so much and had seen so much of Dubai that we hardly used the beach and hadn't even been in the hotel's infinity pool yet. So after a nice lie in and a late breakfast that is what we decided to do; it was the day I burnt to a crisp :-( to be fair, I'm surprised I hadn't burnt sooner in the holiday but it probably wasn't wise to snooze between midday and 1pm with only factor 10 on... So it was kind of my fault but I paid the price in the evening I was aching so bad! But nothing an antihistamine couldn't fix; life goes on. But it got to the point where I was packing to leave this stunning place and I honestly didn't want to go, I would be back there in a heart beat if I could. If the UK could adopt their laws and government then we would be living in a much better society. Anyways, after our final dinner and evening walk, it was time to go to bed... For 2 hours.
SATURDAY 4th
3:30am (local time)
Mam's wakeup call put me in a bad mood, I was only running on 2 hours sleep and knowing I was going to be in cramped, stuffy peasant class on the plane home wasn't making me feel any more excited about going back home to see my doggy and my boyfriend. We got ourselves together and were down in the lobby to be picked up at 4:15.
3:30am (local time)
Mam's wakeup call put me in a bad mood, I was only running on 2 hours sleep and knowing I was going to be in cramped, stuffy peasant class on the plane home wasn't making me feel any more excited about going back home to see my doggy and my boyfriend. We got ourselves together and were down in the lobby to be picked up at 4:15.
6am ish... Well I have no clue tbh I was so tired
After checking in at Terminal 3 and making it through security we had a small breakfast in the departure lounge, our flight was delayed by 50 minutes but it was needed because the departure lounge was massive! It took you 20 minutes to get you from one end to the other.
After checking in at Terminal 3 and making it through security we had a small breakfast in the departure lounge, our flight was delayed by 50 minutes but it was needed because the departure lounge was massive! It took you 20 minutes to get you from one end to the other.
8:45
After another delay cause some inconsiderate people decided the flight wouldn't leve without them, we finally left Dubai and were up in the air. I'm going to be honest, I was feeling quite uptight in the flight home and complaining of claustrophobia compared to business class, but I still got my vegetarian breakfast but really wasn't feeling it as it was smothered in olives, which I hate. For entertainment, I listened to the whole of Ariana Grande's album 'My Everything' which is so worth a listen! I also watched Tangled for the first time, I was trying to hide my tears when Rapunzel and Flynn were singing on the boat but I was OK (probably tears of tiredness as well), and watched Horrible Bosses 2, which was just as disappointing as the first one. I also started watching the series 'Mom' as it was from the same people who did Two and a Half Men, it was actually quite funny.
After another delay cause some inconsiderate people decided the flight wouldn't leve without them, we finally left Dubai and were up in the air. I'm going to be honest, I was feeling quite uptight in the flight home and complaining of claustrophobia compared to business class, but I still got my vegetarian breakfast but really wasn't feeling it as it was smothered in olives, which I hate. For entertainment, I listened to the whole of Ariana Grande's album 'My Everything' which is so worth a listen! I also watched Tangled for the first time, I was trying to hide my tears when Rapunzel and Flynn were singing on the boat but I was OK (probably tears of tiredness as well), and watched Horrible Bosses 2, which was just as disappointing as the first one. I also started watching the series 'Mom' as it was from the same people who did Two and a Half Men, it was actually quite funny.
1pm (UK time)
Finally touchdown in Newcastle! It always feels good to be on home turf and hear the Geordie accent. We thought it would be a swift exit through the airport but, of course, our cases were last to come off the belt, however our taxi driver was right outside the airport ready to take us straight home!
Finally touchdown in Newcastle! It always feels good to be on home turf and hear the Geordie accent. We thought it would be a swift exit through the airport but, of course, our cases were last to come off the belt, however our taxi driver was right outside the airport ready to take us straight home!
I can honestly say that Dubai really is something spectacular. I would urge anyone who wants to go there to do it, it really is worth it! There are no more words, there really isn't. Just go there and find out for yourself.
Have you been to Dubai? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or Tweet me @Elisa_A__
Elisa :-) x
Comments
Post a Comment