Dubai, Day 4

May 23, 2009

Dubai, UAE

We slept in late and had a breakfast of parahta and an amazing array of fruits, including the best mangos I have ever had, fresh figs, chikoos (a sweet, slightly gritty fruit), and lychees (a round white fruit that tasted like rose water).

The showroom was definitely "showy," designed to attract money from potential investors

The day's outing took us to the Dubailand Show Room, an elaborate set up displaying the amusement park now under construction.  When I say "amusement park," I really mean a crazy city with themed districts, rides, attractions, and a lot of superlatives, like what will be the world's largest ferris wheel.

The largest model took up an entire room and had a raised walkway around it so you could look down on the whole thing

This bored tiger paced an enclosure in the lobby

Illika, being a dinosaur

After the showroom, we drove to Jameira Islands, a housing development made by digging moats to make a grouping of small "islands," each with a different theme.  People in Dubai seem to have an interesting fixation on water, showing off as many ponds and fountains as they can.  But they're still in the middle of a desert.

Houses in Jameira Islands

The view back towards Dubai.  Check out all those cranes on the horizon.

We went next to the Mall of the Emirates, where we saw the famed Ski Dubai, the one and only indoor ski slope.  Only in Dubai...

It even had a chair lift.  And check out the people, all in the same clothes.  No one in the desert owns a coat, so they all have to wear rentals

Hilary with an arabic Barbie

A Ferrari rocking horse, for the children of the really, really rich.

We capped off the day with a dinner of crab, from the fish market the day before.  This meal was made even messier by the fact that in Dubai, they use tissues instead of napkins.  There's a reason tissues are for your nose, and not your messy fingers; they just can't hold up to crab dinner.

Dubai, Day 3

May 22, 2009

Dubai, UAE

We spent the morning in the fish market.  Our goal was to get the most non-tourist experience possible.  Goal: accomplished.  A portion of the market sold produce (including some delicious dates).  The fish portion was huge, and full of tables covered with whole fish, sharks, shrimp, lobster, and stuff I couldn't even name.  People with wheelbarrows followed us around, asking to carry our fish for us.  All the fishermen, standing by there tables, were eager to get us to buy their fish.  One man kept holding up his jumbo shrimp, which was alive and kicking, and letting it flick its tail at us so that we could see how fresh it was.

Following a little afternoon nap, Illika's mom drove us around the city for a little tour.  We drove out to the man-made Palm Islands, and to the Sheik's palace (no visitors allowed, but we got close to it).

A sailboat off the Palm Islands

Picture time on the coast of the Palm Islands

The enormous Atlantis hotel, on the Palm Islands

We stopped for refreshments.  Here, Hillary's drinking an aloe vera peach, a drink with actual chunks of aloe vera floating in it.  It was delicious.

Peacocks lined the driveway to the Sheik's palace

We walked around the beach at the Creek Club, a park and golf club on the riverbank.  Then for dinner, we had some of the seafood we'd picked up at the fish market that morning.

The Creek Club

We watched the sunset as we walked along the beach

Dubai, Day 2

May 21, 2009

Dubai, UAE

This was a day of a lot of walking.  We started off with some window shopping at an upscale mall called Wafi.  This was my first experience with the Emirates concept of "mall;" huge, and very snazzy.  This one had an egyptian theme, and was shaped like a pyramid.

Giant stained glass window forming the tip of the pyramid.

The shortest escalators I've ever seen.  Silly lazy people.

The basement of the mall had a Moroccan theme

Starbucks really is everywhere.  The sign is in Arabic, read right to left.

In one computer store, I spotted the keyboards-- with English and Arabic letters.  I got some very funny looks taking pictures of the laptop.

We stopped in an arabic sweet shop in the mall, which was great because all the workers there were quite enthusiastic about feeding us samples of the various baclava and other sweets.

We ate lunch at a little Indian restaurant, where I had a delicious dosa and a mango lassi.  We all (especially Hillary and I, the clearly American-looking ones) got a lot of stares from the regulars there-- this was clearly no tourist joint.

Dosa-- something like a crepe.  There is a small amount of filling in the middle, but mostly you "rip and dip" the outside into the 3 dips you see on the tray.

After lunch we walked to a pool hall for a mid-afternoon break.  This was a very common thing to do-- spend the hottest hours of the afternoon indoors, sitting around talking and relaxing.  And it was REALY hot that day.  The walk to the pool hall in the 106 degree heat was killer.  You could literally feel the sun baking your skin.

A flower that grows on some trees there, very orange and very big.  Translated, the name means "fire in the forest."

We spent the afternoon at Karama, a market district where more locals shop.  It was quite the reverse of Wafi, including some intense haggling that was really interesting to watch.

For dinner, we went out with Illika's parents to a restaurant next to the fountain show.  Here, we ate outside while watching a very well choreographed fountain show every half hour.

This fountain is the tallest in the world-- 15 stories high.

Dubai, Day 1

May 20, 2009

Bur Dubai, UAE

Since we didn't get in to Illika's house until 5am (Dubai time), we all slept soundly until 2pm when Illika roused us. We had a brunch of aloo parahta (potato tortilla things) and dahi (yogurt), which served as our intro to the rip and dip method, common in the food of this area.

Hillary, Tahra, and Illika in an air-conditioned bus stop-- sounds frivolous, but it does get insanely hot

Illika's mom dropped us at Madinat, a recreation of an old-style souk (market). We poked 

around the shops inside and the fountains outside, getting our first view of Bourg Al Arab (the world's only 7 star hotel) in the distance. We took a taxi to Jameira beach, and I had my first 

7 Star Hotel: to get into the lobby, you just have to buy a cup of coffee (which happens to cost 70 US dollars)

dip in the Arabian Sea. We watched the sunset on the beach, then made our way back to Illika's.

With time to kill before dinner, Illika took us to Mina Bizaar, a shopping area near her house. Hillary, Tahra and I were a bit surprised by the agressiveness of the salespeople-- everyone spoke to us as we passed by, wanting us to come into their shop.  The colors of everything, especially the clothes, were very vibrant.

The line up in a clothing store at Mina Bazaar

For dinner, we ate at Illika's house with some family friends. Dinner was cowswey, a Burmese make your own noodle type dish. After dinner, we showered, then tried our best to bed early.

Dubai, Headlines Update

So this is just a quick and dirty update, no pictures (sorry, I didn't bring the cord for my camera here), that I fully plan to redo later.

travel time = fairly amazing. first flight (Chicago to London) was bumped up to first class free of charge, second flight (London to Dubai) was so empty we all had a row of 4 seats to ourselves

first day = sleeping and readjusting after getting in at 5am Dubai time. slept til 2pm, then went to a souk (market), the beach for sunset (and a dip in the Arabian Sea), a showarma, a trip to a bazaar, and a dinner with family friends. excellent dinner/food all around (very flavorful)

second day = lots of walking/shopping. window shopping at Wafi (upscale) in the morning, Indian food (dosa, kind of like a crazy crepe, and mango lassi, smoothie-type thing), afternoon break to avoid 104 degree sun, shopping at Karama (real local market with hard core haggling), dinner out with the family to see the new fountain show (world's tallest fountain, 15 stories high)

UPDATE 2:

third day = zatar and cheese for breakfast, morning at the fish market (extreme haggling), afternoon nap, drive to palm island (crazy man made island), saw sheik's palace and his peacocks, saw burg al arab, drank aloe vera, seafood and Arabic food for dinner

fourth day = sleep in, late breakfast of parahta and crazy fruits (mango, fig, chickoo, lychee, yummy), visit Dubai Land showroom and Jameira islands, crab dinner at home, watched a movie at Illika's

fifth day = parahta for breakfast, shopping at the dihrum store (aka dollar store), lunch out at Gazeebo (Indian food) with Link and his family, walked around Dubai museum, crossed the creek in an abra (boat), shopped at textile souk and gold souk, pani-porri (exploding crazy street food)

UPDATE 3:

sixth day = visiting Olsen in Abu Dhabi (another Emirate), got up very early and ate an interesting brunch-meal cooked by Olsen, visited the third largest mosque in the world, went to the Palace Hotel (used to be a Sheik's palace, now converted to a very swanky hotel), back in Dubai we had very spicy and delicious Pakistani food.

seventh day = went for a swim in the morning at Illika's, then Olsen and Link joined us for a desert safari which included dune bashing (think desert version of a rollercoaster, carried out in an off-road vehicle), camel rides, sand boarding, belly dancing, an a falcon. got back late, then went for deserts near Illika's house.

eigth day = Dubai mall (largest mall in the world-- are you getting the feeling that Dubai really likes it's superlatives?), which included a skating rink in the middle of the mall and an aquarium complete with sharks and scuba divers. Buboti for dinner (south African dish at Illika's)

ninth day = Tahra and Hillary's last day before they hit London. henna in the morning, Mina Bazar after lunch, burf-ka-golla (snow cone on a stick type Indian dessert) and masala chai (the real version of what Starbucks tries and fails to make with their chai tea), porri (crazy bread stuff), aloo (potato), shrikhand (hung yogurt), dal-petti (lentils with dumplings)

more/better description later, +pictures

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Saturday, May 9, 2009
Libe Slope, Ithaca, NY

Hillary, Tahra, and I finally got the chance (perfect weather + free time) to fly the $2 kites we bought at Target a few weeks ago.  We took them out to Libe Slope, where you get the wind off Lake Cayuga.  Luckily, the slope was relatively free of people since the cloudy weather deterred the usual sun bathers.  The kites took to the air immediately, and we all had great fun with the childhood throwback as we made the kites swoop and dive (we only accidentally dive-bombed one innocent bystander).  When the wind that was carrying our kites so well finally delivered the storm it was bringing, we reeled in the kites and reluctantly returned to our studying.

Our three kites, battling it out.

Me with my 2.50 Sesame Street kite.  Well worth it.

Illika also got a dandelion crown for the day.  It seemed fitting.

Slope Day

Friday, May 1, 2009

Libe Slope, Ithaca, NY

Slope Day is the giant, Cornell-wide celebration of the last day of classes.  The university books us big name musical groups for an outdoor concert on Libe Slope (my favorite hill ever), and they provide all kinds of food and fun free stuff.  This year's musical groups were Apples in the Stereo (a smaller name, warm-up group), Asher Roth (a fairly well-known rapper, for those who know rap), and The Pussycat Dolls (not so much a musical group as a group of scantily-clad women).

Hillary and I trying to take our hats really seriously

Tahra and Illika with their hats (looking only slightly less silly than me and Hillary).  Melissa decided she was too dignified for such behavior

After some tasty food, free smoothies, and free (ridiculously trashy) airbrushed hats, Tahra, Hillary, Illika, Melissa and I staked out "seats" on the grass in front of the stage.  We were pretty early, so we ended up right up front.  I really enjoyed the first group, which was much 

Apples in the Stereo

more my style of music (if I have a style).  But I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed Asher Roth, seeing as I'm really not a rap fan.  We were really close, and I think seeing the 

We were really close-- this is Asher Roth, taken without zoom

actual performance (plus being surrounded by a crowd that was really into it) made it really fun.

I didn't have so much interest in The Pussycat Dolls, so Hillary and I made our way out of the crowd (easier said than done), and found some fresh air farther up the hill.  You really got a feel 

The crowd went on like this in both directions-- literally almost everyone who goes to Cornell was on the slope

for the size of the crowd from that perspective; the hill was covered in people.  We met up with Tahra and Link, who also escaped the crowd, and after some more delicious snacks, we set out on the other mission for the day: use the secret library tunnel.

Link with the not-so-secret sign proclaiming directions to the secret tunnel

Once a year, for 6 hours during the Slope Day festivities, the tunnel connecting Olin and Uris libraries is opened up.  This is so that they can close all the regular entrances to prevent Slope Day party-ers from coming in to the library and disrupting those who actually need to study.  It was strange standing underneath Ho Plaza, instead of on it.

Just as we left the library, there was a mass-exodus from the slope as a storm opened up over our heads.  We headed back to the dorm and enjoyed a 90's flashback diner of dino nuggets, tater tots, fish sticks, and gushers.  All in all, a nice way to unwind after classes.  Unfortunately, it also means the start of finals.