So, our adventure finally begins! We've been planning for so long, I'm not quite sure it's sinking in that we've finally started our trip. Our emirates flight was great, we both watched 3 films each which we thoroughly enjoyed and the food was pretty much okay! We walk through customs etc and I ask James "where's Katie meeting us?" James replies with "oh... Ummm I dunno, I didn't ask!" Great I think! But luckily we walk through arrivals and within minutes meet Katie, James university friend who's lived here for 16 years. She grew up here when she was small and then came back after uni. One thing we notice right away on arrival is the heat! Wow wee and even more so when we speak to Katie about it and she explains it's cooled down....! We drive through the city feeling like proper tourists looking out the window spotting all the landmarks and having a great intro tour from Katie. Arriving at Katie's apartment it feels like we're arriving at a hotel, we're very lucky that she's lent us her room in her shared apartment for the 2 nights. It's beautiful and in a great location within Dubai Marina. We drop our bags, get some water and a quick change head out for a chilled drink at Baristi Beach Bar, a bar connected to a hotel because all places serving alcohol in Dubai have to be connected to a hotel due to the strict Muslim laws. Although it's dark, Katie explains that the bar is right on the beach so we look forward to coming back another day.

The next morning we head to Dubai Mall, the biggest mall in the world with 1200 shops ! It's MASSIVE and you truly get lost! The floor to ceiling windows into the aquarium are cool and right next door there was a fab sweet and chocolate shop which felt like a willy wonkas chocolate factory!! The Dubai mall is home of the Dubai Fountains, the worlds largest dancing fountain and designed by the same people who designed Las Vegas's famous fountain. We plan to head back the following day and see the display.. We spend the rest of our day chilling by Katie's apartment pool. Bliss! We meet up with Katie, Alex and Laura in the evening and go to The Meat Company. A Steak house which was also recommended by James Aunt. We both had delicious steaks, some of the best we've ever tasted!

Friday we head back to the Barista beach bar for some chilling time! The beach bar have a section if the beach marked out for them complete with comfy beds and lifeguards. It opens from 11, so as we wait for approx 15 mins we realise just how hot it is already! Then as the security open the steps down to the beach, we're surprised to see a rush of people as they rush to get the best beds! We of course feel obliged to join in and get a comfy double sized bed sunbed with, thank goodness, an umbrella to give us some shade. I'd been warned by James and his friends that the sea would be warm and not bitter cold like at home, so was excited to find out for myself that it was just like a warm bath... The only sea I think I've ever got in and not had to take a deep breath because of the cold! We coped for as long as we could on the beach but I'm sad to say it wasn't long. 3-4 hours and we were roasting. Not like me, usually the sun worshiper! It was simply too hot! For

Friday evening we booked to go up the world's tallest building Burj khalifa. It looks amazing from the outside, stupidly tall and rather thin and brilliantly lit up. We chose to go at 6pm hoping to see the view from the top during day and night and we did achieve this but sadly and disappointingly the daytime was too hazy to see too far. We enjoyed the night time better but we were a little disappointed and had higher expectations. We could see the Dubai Fountains below so headed down to see. They didn't disappoint, the light was great and the water to music was excellent! We had a good spot at the front so enjoyed the show and then came back and enjoyed it again from further back. Overall we loved Dubai most for the friends we saw there and for the taste of what money can buy you. The cars, the shops, the hotels, the whole place felt like a lot of money was around, which it is. It was great to experience and maybe one day we'll have the budget to go back but our 6 month budget would be gobbled up quickly there so we were glad we'd enjoyed our 2 days and were now moving on to the next stop... Singapore.