Dubai...

Where to begin..?

OK.. The plane journey to Dubai was amazing- Got onto the aeroplane (slightly tearful) and saw huge plush cream leather seats, with personal T.V, phone and desk space.. lots of space around actually.. only 4/5 seats to each row - it looked fab. Of course this was business class and I was told to keep moving, but hey it cheered me up! Our actual seats were pretty good too.. I was sat in the middle aisle seat - and the guy next to me moved to an isle seat too so I had lots of room (and his cushion).Within an hour we were served our dinner- which was amazing! (some kind of salmon with sauce), and I settled down to watch Hairspray and The Nanny Diaries with my pillow and blanket.

Bit of a nightmare when I got to Dubai because the stupid taxi woman with the pink hat in the pink car dropped me off at a completely random place, and no one knew where I was going. And people just laugh- i mean seriously- why are you laughing at a woman on her own in the middle of the desert with tears in her eyes!!? Taxi's stopped and then drove off again. At that point I was ready to go back to the airport and go home. Eventually got there- and the week got better.

Vicki's apartment was nice, very spacious and the building had a roof top pool (where i spent most of my time). Her flatmate Gem is lovely as are a few others (hey guys). The sun was out first couple of days and then the sandstorm hit. Tiger Woods was playing golf in Dubai same day as sandstorm but I believe he still won ... ? Wanted to see him but it was a couple of hours away in a taxi and didnt fancy being blown away. But congrats Tiger!

Anyway, the few days after that wasnt too hot. We went shopping to the Mall of the Emirates- which is just enormous! It has all the shops you ever need including H&M, Topshop, River Island, all the designer shops etc.. felt just like home. Dubai also has every food place you can think of.. KFC, MacDonalds,Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, even TGI Fridays. Went out to the Lodge that week, which is a big club where the majority of it is outside and I also went to the local supermarket a couple of times and the co-op. The supermarkets stock everything from Galaxy bars to Johnsons moisturiser to Dorito's. The Co-op even sold homewear and T.V and clothes.

2nd week the sun was out- so I spent hours by the pool- oh and I swam a length of the pool all by myself on my own! With no arm bands! Went to a couple more malls, went to a couple more bars, and to a place called the Irish Village- which is an Irish bar surrounded by some others. If felt just like home, full of English people and even got served by an Irish barman! ... helped cooked a Sunday dinner with Tony (on a Thursday), had dinner with Gem and some other cabin crew Sunday night at a tapas bar called Sevilles in Wafi's (which was lovely) and did a desert safari Monday afternoon/night.

The safari was good.. We got picked up in a jeep type car- I was with a Swedish family and a lady from Cardiff. We dune bashed (for what seemed like forever) Good at first but then i got sea sick (I know I was in a car but it felt like I was on a speed boat coz of the motion- or a rollercoaster for an hour). We had a daredevil driver too- youngest one there and the only one to wear a leather jacket in the middle of the desert! There was about 20 or so cars. By the way the Chinese love this kind of thing! We stopped and did some sandboarding- which I was pretty good at- I didnt fall off! And I got a couple of good sunset photos.

After that we drove to an marquee type area (with no cover) where I saw a camel (but didnt ride it- ran out of time). There was a low stage in the centre and rows of wooden tables surrounding it, with cushions on the floor as seats. I got my foor henna painted and had the most amazing BBQ- plates were piled high. I sat with Fiona (the lady from Cardiff) and we met a couple, Simon and Jacqueline from England. They were staying near the Palm Islands- which they said is just like a building site at the moment. It was a lovely evening. Saw people smoking Sheesha, and then the belly dancing show started. She was good- very entertaining- and she pulled people out from the audience. I even got a go!

In the airport on the way home I had 50 dirhams left -which is about 8 pound (i've just realised there's no pound sign on this keyboard). So I wondered what to do with it- had a look in duty free - looked at the alcohol- came to the Smirnoff Vodka in all flavours- and that was 39DH, so i had a look around - and discovered a whole lot of things dearer than the bottle of vodka. For exampe a box of chocolates, a simple piece of make-up- eg eyeliner, equivalent to 2 packs of face wipes and cheaper than- a magazine! So I bought raspberry vodka.

That was my two weeks in Dubai.