Usual Holiday Inn setup: comfortable clean rooms, with individual temperature control in the rooms, friendly staff. The hotel has a bar, which is a plus in these regions, where you can get international alcohol. Selection is slim but varied. It's really hard to comment on location, you have to take the taxi everywhere as with anything in Dubai. The difference is, some hotel has restaurants within walking distance. The restaurant staff is friendly but the menu is slim. The buffet is worthwhile for 55.00AED. Small selection but you can feast and stuff yourself. The front staff is friendly but not very knowlegeable about anything around Dubai. I'll give it a few more months since the hotel is fairly new. Overall, a good affordable hotel in Dubai. It is central to everything meaning everything is within a taxi reach for about 20-30 AED including to the airport (depending on traffic) which is not bad.

The ad promised more than it delivered. We were picked up from our hotel and then driven just outside of Dubai to the desert. The ride to the dunes was horrible. Our driver was blasting the music in the car while he chatted on his mobile. First stop was a place where we can buy water and use the toilets. The tour promised unlimited drinks and yet we have not been offered one since getting on the 4x4. He also failed to tell us that we we had stopped was where we would go dune bashing with an ATV which all the guys in the jeep wanted to do. He motioned and grumbled something that none of us understood. Then we went on dune bashing with the 4X4 that took all of 5 minutes. When asked when we would go dune bashing with an ATV, he said we wont because he already asked us if we wanted to go and no one said anything. Then we sat and waited on top of the hill for all the other cars to arrive. After about an hour and half of doing nothing but sitting in the car, all the other cars arrived and we headed off to another sand hill to watch the sunset. I've seen better sunset including the sun setting on the gulf from Atlantis Hotel. After that we were taken to where we would be dining. When we go there, there was a camerl ride...a 30 second ride. The food was awful and the coffe tasted like it was instant. The show was horrible as well. I've seen better belly dancing at a friend's party in North America than here. There was no horse dancing show as promised or sand boarding as promised as well since it is much too dark in the desert to be doing anything. Ovrall, this tour was a joke. Would not recommend it to anyone. If your tour include the Bedoin or Hatta, do that one. I heard good things about it but can't confirm. But that tour sounds more believalbe as it is all day. This tour offered by Atlanta and the others that offer this tour as well in the same spot is a rip-off.

Located in a gated community of Etisalat Academy, the hostel provides a 1* accomodation to the students attending courses in the academy. Rates include three meals a day (buffet style). Close to the airport but far from everything else. There is no public transport service to get in and out of the academy or the area. You have to take a taxi everywhere. Unfortuantely the taxi do not know where the academy is so here's a tip - take note only the address of the academny but the district it is in. There is a City Center Mall bus that comes once a day at 6pm and comes back to the academy at 9:30pm. Friendly staff but very basic service. The plus is free internet access in the rooms.

i was very excited for my dubai trip. i was looking forward to seeing my youngest brother after 4 years. it was in 2004 that we last saw each other. he went to work in dubai while i went to work in lagos, nigeria. i arrived at dubai at around 4am, and even if it was such an early morning, i can feel the heat already. i was there august, the  height of summer in dubai so to speak. on my first day, i visited several of their shopping malls, and i enjoyed hunting for items to bring to some friends back home. my brother took me to the desert safari. we went to these beautiful sand dunes. i experienced riding a camel albeit a short period of time only, then the quad bike ride, which is exhilaring for me and then it was capped with a dinner. i made some new friends as well that night. i also went to a city tour of dubai, seeing the iconic 7 burj al arab made the trip for me plus the going to ithe gold souk and other usual tourist attraction like ski dubai. in between sightseeing, i was also seeing some good friends back in the good ol' university days who are noew based in dubai. i met one friend at chilis, and we enjoyed the steak; another friend at food rockers, and i'm telling you the burgers were ginormous :) another set of friends met at baskin and robbins and nandos where we enjoyed the chicken peri peri. all in all, dubai was an enjoyable trip because i met up once again with beloved family and friends. my stay in dubai this 2008 might just be for a week, but in my heart, i am carrying those beautiful memories for a thousand and one night even till infinity and beyond ;)

I just saw a 45-minute fireworks display by my apartment window, yes it was 45-minutes, I timed it.  But that is not the highlight of my day.  It was drinking hot chocolate while watching the sunset, 37,000 feet above sea level.  Today, I realized that I prefer sunsets over fireworks =)

EMIRATES' NEW BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE IN DUBAI I'm not fortunate enough to be an airline lounge lizard so I can't give many comparisons. Regardless, I think Emirates' new Business Class Lounge in Terminal 3 of Dubai airport is pretty amazing. I qualify for entry because of a Silver status in their generous Skywards frequent flyer programme (see below). It stretches a substantial length of the terminal and is located somewhat in the loft of the building. Despite the size, it didn't have a big barn feel ... the many seating areas are partitioned and done in different styles. There are general open seating areas in clusters, plus plenty of two-some areas too. There were also several buffets, bars and dining halls through the length of the lounge, plus one main one offering a broader range of food. Like another lounge I've used in Dubai, they serve hot time. This is unlike some lounges I've been to, giving only snacks and finger food. At each bar is a friendly bar attendant who will pour you a soft drink, juice, French wine and Veuve Clicquot. One impressive aspect is that the waiters will offer you a drink while combing through the lounge or when collecting your empty glass. Self-service is optional! Five times a day, the prayers are piped in through the PA as a reminder so (if applicable) you can fulfil your obligations in the prayer room. The bathrooms were clean ... sometimes with an attendant handing you proper cloth handtowel. The showers were good too with a couple of extra jets for the body ... this seemed to be attended by someone as well, giving you a nicely laundered pacakge of towel and bath mat. Naturally Wifi is free and so are the desktop computers in a dedicated room. There are also some X-box type gaming setups (with multi-screens). My criticism of the previous lounge is that there wasn't enough room during peak periods but this seems to be resolved now. Provided I retain my eligibility to enter the lounge, I can see myself flying with Emirates whenever possible ... it makes an arduous transit into a pleasurable and memorable interlude. EMIRATES' FREQUENT FLYER "SKYWARDS" Emirates' frequent flyer programme "Skywards" is one of the more (most?) generous around. I flew from Auckland to Europe return on a discounted fare and that qualified me for Silver status, bringing benefits such as: - lounge access in Dubai (and Sri Lanka at that time). - additional baggage allowance - personal acknowledgement by crew on board - earning 25% more miles (Silver bonus) With other airlines I'd have to buy more than two non bargain basement type fares in order to qualify for a similar status. Further, with their recent Double Miles promotion (combined with the Silver 25% bonus and Online Booking bonus of 30%), my trip earned earn enough miles for a trip of similar value!!! Unreal ... so I'll save it for a Singapore trip maybe.

So after a day of catching up with sleep, Henry and I decided to go out and see a little bit of Dubai.  We soon learned that we are actually quite a distance locale-wise to any hip places in Dubai except for Festival City which was recommended by our hotel's reception.  Since there are no bus systems that go in our direction, Henry suggested we take a taxi.  He must have been bored all day waiting for me to get up and get my bearings.  Old gnomes tend to get up early or do not need as much sleep as I young bloke like me.  Mind you, he will argue that I am no spring chicken.  So off to the races we go.  20 Dirhams later, we made it to Festival City.  Excited to see our first mall in this land of malls, we hopped to it and found ourselves a map of the mall.  We wandered aimlessly and pass some surely expensive department store - Paris something or other.  We headed upstairs where the action seems to be. Everywhere we turned was a feast to the eye.  Henry was googley-eyed at everything he was seeing.  I think he was getting a little overwhelmed.  The windows of shops looked all very new to Henry.  He has never seen much expensive shops in his old age.  He has only seen cheap travel shoppers and bargain hunter type spenders on his web site so he is not quite used to it.  He asked if we could sit down for a bit so that he can take it all in.  We plopped ourselves on some nice leather couches in the mall and decided to go people watching instead.  He decided he didn't want to sit on the chair instead he wanted to be with the plants.  He said it feels like home to him and he could comfortably watch people where he was.  We observed many as the mall seems to be packed with shoppers this late in the evening.  Henry was fascinated with the men wearing the Thobe.  He has never seen that before he said.  I told Henry that in this region, it is common to wear the thobe.  He noticed that not only old people wearing it, but the young ones too.  Then he noticed about the others wearing baseball caps instead of the ghutra which he thought was more respectful and more official(the ghutra not the baseball cap).  He thinks I should get one.  I said I think I will as long as it is not disrespectful to the culture if I wore it.  But I told him I definitely want the scarf or get the ghutra but wear it as a scarf.  After a while we decided to continue walking and found ourselves in the food court where there was a McDonald's.  Well, you all now what my thoughts are on the McDonald's and let me tell you, Henry thought it was very interesting as well.  Henry was growing tired, so I said that I will just go to the grocey store and then we will be on our way.  This was when I realized Henry and I were a match.  I freaked out when I saw the crowd...no sorry...the zoo of people in the grocery store and the shambles they leave behind as they strip the shelves of its products.  My jaw must have dropped subconsciously as Henry quickly dove into my backpack to hide.  I quickly made my way through the crowd of people shoulder to shoulder of each other, banging carts together as products were flung in the air (10 Dirhams for a giant box of cereal must have been a good deal), and found 1.5 litres bottled water.  I grabbed two and quickly made it to the checkout counter.  After I had paid, I checked on Henry inside my backpack and told him I was out of the grocery store.  He peeked his little head out of the bag and took a deep breath.  Our ordeal we thought was over.  I told him we are getting a cab soon to get home.  After getting into the cab, we told the driver where we wanted to go. An annoyed grin appeared when the driver said he didn't know where we wanted to go.  OY!  Henry rolled his eyes and dove back in the bag.  The driver called up a friend on his mobile and handed it to me.  His friend asked me to describe the area where I think I reside and he will tell his friend.  I said "we are in a gated community near the airport, in an Academy...new development...nothing around...not even street lights...a lot of things under construction".  Then he said "Everything in Dubai is under construction".  It is to laugh.  In any event, the guy figured out where it is and told me to hand the phone over to the driver.  Henry didn't want to even come up for air until we got back into our room.  He quicly got washed for bed and said good night.  He thanked me for taking him window shopping.  He said he can't wait for our next adventure....as long as it doesn't involve going to the grocery store or dealing with the taxi man.  He said he will let me do that alone.

My Order: McTasty (available only outside of North America as it were...if you know it exists somewhere in North America, please let me know as I have never found it in that continent). Medium Fanta Medium Fries Price: 17.50 AED You can pretty much guess what this is. If the golden arches didn't give you a clue, you need to go out more often. The English sign is actually on the left side but I thought the Arabic sign is much more fun to look at. I took a personal vow to eat in at least one McDonalds in every country I go to (if they have one), especially if they have McTasty (fave burger outside of North America), and so far I have and Dubai would definitely not be an exeption. The sign on the side wall of the counter intrigued me. I know that culturally they eat halal meats here and sure enough McDonalds is in the halal business here too. The ad says "Halal Meat 100% Guaranteed for your satisfaction". Now, I like halal chicken...somehow it tastes different to me. And just the thought of eating something not stepped on (oh dont go there) to be killed is a little bit more tasty. Well, let me tell you...this McTasty was like a party in my mouth. Man alive! I could taste meat. A taste I thought would never exist in a hamburger. It didn't taste like a recycled cardboard box or meat byproducts delicately disguised in its salty taste. No, this was real meat! From a cow! That another cow would recognize! I don't know if it is the cheese on it was well (totally different type of cheese from the others I've had in the past), but the explosion of flavour overwhelmend me a little. Even the fries were good. I don't normally rave about food at MickeyD's, I mean, it is insane to rave about fast food, and of all places, McDonalds. But if you ever find yourself in Dubai. Try the McDonalds. It's like nothing you've ever tasted. BTW, this was at the McDonalds in Festival City. 90% of the staff are flips and I joked "no McSpaghetti?" and they didn't get it. Ah well...must only be a Manila-type joke.

I’d like to introduce you to my new travel companion hereby named Henry. I wanted to name him Rupert, but it wasn’t very fitting. Then, the name Henry came to mind. He seemed okay with it, so meet Henry.

If you are asking yourself, is that the Travelocity Gnome that is also in Amazing Race? Yes, yes it is. I first saw a Henry-look alike on Tracy’s Facebook profile photo, and I thought “I didn’t know those were available”. I asked her where she got it and she said her boss gave it to her. Then I thought that wouldn’t it be funny if I travelled with one, but Tracy beat me to it. She took her gnome on her journey to Australia…shy of a few days before I took mine on the road. I quickly ordered Henry through the website in hopes of receiving him before my next trip. I tracked Henry’s journey from OH to Toronto via UPS including his “jail time” at customs hoping that he will get to me in time. Luck was on our side; Henry arrived just two hours before I left the house. I quickly unwrapped Henry from his styrofoam box and put him in my backpack. So en route to the airport we go, just early enough with ample time for check in and time to take advantage of the Maple Leaf Lounge offering. I wanted Henry’s first overseas travel with me in style. We may not be flying first class today, but we certainly get first class treatment. He-he-he-he.

On to the first leg of our flight ��" a 7-hour gate-to-gate flight from Toronto to Frankfurt. It was a pleasant flight over all. A flight attendant noticed Henry looking out the window and commented on how funny he looked. He didn’t mind being noticed.

We arrived in Frankfurt at 0730 this morning a little tired. I personally got no more than 20 minutes of light sleep. A kid on the next aisle kept screaming. It wasn’t the kid’s fault after I investigated. Her mother kept wanting to put her to sleep when clearly she wants to walk up and down the aisle (I figured this out after noticing that she is most quiet when she was walking and would start screaming as her mother force-cradled her to sleep). But çe la vie as they say. I have 6 hours to kill in Frankfurt before our second leg of the flight to our destination ��" Dubai. Thankfully, I am a Super Elite Member so I am milking as much of it as I can when I travel. We originally asked to be dropped off at the Business Class Lounge in Frankfurt to pass the time ��" free food, couches, a TV, and clean toilets. But we were turned away…apparently there is a much better lounge where we qualify. The Lufthansa folks told us to go to the Senator’s Lounge. Now there is much better free food (full breakfast in fact but minus eggs and bacon), a full alcohol bar, much business desk to work from and get internet access, rows and rows of leather comfy chairs, two big screen TVs, very clean toilets and even shower rooms! I think we’ll like passing the time here. I do need a nap now that I’ve had a nice typical European breakfast (minus the beer and Nutella ��" I still can’t bring myself to do that).

So with that, Henry and I now leave you. We need to take a power nap and then freshen up before our next flight….6 hours later.

Once again, I leave Sana'a, a very special city to go home ... via Dubai with 14 hours in transit.  Because it would largely be day-time, it wasn't worthwhile getting a hotel room.  Fortunately I have a choice of two lounges to choose from at the airport. 

Emirates' new Business Class lounge is HUGE ... with many sitting areas, nooks-and-crannies, dining areas (plural) with great food, bars, spa, kids area, Playstation rooms, business centre ... WOW!  And during prayer times, the Azan piped through the PA system  :-)

Definition: The  hp f4809a battery pack is a group of rechargeable battery cells made out of either nickel cadmium (Ni-CD) or nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) with a set of negative and positive terminals.
The Battery Pack Powers the Motor: Almost always the RC controller uses 4 or more "AA" or "AAA" or 9 volt alkaline or rechargeable sony a1012 battery  By contrast, the RC vehicle itself often uses a rechargeable battery pack to power the motor.

The receiver and speed controller plug into the battery pack. Some electric RC vehicles include a charger for recharging the battery pack between uses.

Friends..... what am I do to without them! My stay in Dubai would have never been that fun without these great friends I have made over the years. Some of them have left the place before me and some friends were made just before I left. But friendship never ends and thank goodness there is internet which helps bring everyone together :-)

One can just be amayed and impressed by the designs, size, heights, shapes, etc of the buildings in Dubai. There is always room for immagination and creativity for the architects designing the buildings. Despite all the interesting buildings or tallest building, my favourite is still Burj Al Arab, the hotel in the shape of a sail. One gets the best view from Al Qasr Hotel, especially on the walk to Pierchic Restaurant. It is beautiful to watch sunset from here and then the night lightings of the hotels.

Burj Dubai is impressive, with a height of 700+ meters and drawfing all other builidng, set to be the world's next tallest building. Another favourite hunt of mine is the indoor garden of the Grand Hyatt. Very well done with lots of greenery and a serene feeling from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The Atlantis was one of the latest attractions in September 2008 and I took the opportunity to visit the place with two good friends transiting in Dubai then. The Lost Chambers at the Atlantis was just amazing with the huge variety of fishes.

The Ambassador Lagoon is a window into the wonders of the ocean and the importance of conservation and preservation. There are over two hundred and fifty species of fish and sea creatures to be seen in the open-air marine habitat at Atlantis, including sharks, eels, rays, piranhas, as well as multitudes of exotic fish. This rich variety of marine life is managed by a team of more than one hundred and sixty five full-time Marine Specialists. Very amazing and a great experience!

This was such a silly adventure! My friend and I took the new Volvo C70 convertible for a spin and ended up at my favourite desert. For the sake of picture taking, we drove the car to the edge of the sand but it unfortunately went an inch too far and was stuck. The more we tried to reverse the car out, the more the car would not bludge from the sand. Finally it took six friendly locals and half an hour to move the car out. One of them invited us to his farm nearby for a visit. Although he spoke no English and we spoke no Arabic, it was still a very nice gesture trying to show us his goodies in the farm. It was amazing to see what they could grow in the sand with proper irrigation!!! Of course we left with our hands full of the fresh produce.