Sunday 19 August 2012

First glimpses

We arrived on Thursday arvo, the heat almost knocking us over as we stepped off the plane.

At first glance Dubai is a strange place. It looks unfinished, dusty like a construction site and then you step inside and it's marble and glitz.

We got to our hotel/apartment and ate and crashed as we'd been awake for a long time. Despite flying business class Darbs cried and whinged the whole flight so sips of Moët were had as I paced the aisle and there were no sleeps in the lie-flat seat. The girls on the other hand lived it up ordering lemonades, watching movies, they loved it. At least someone did.

Day one: we woke early and had a brekkie that looked pretty similar to home. We hit the pool in an attempt to cool down. We then hit the Dubai Mall, the largest in the world. The girls marvelled at the aquarium and the many kids designer shops (Baby Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, it went on and on).

The website told me that the food court was open during Ramadan, which it was but despite being able to buy food you weren't allowed to eat it there. It made no sense to me, why be open if you can't eat? Oh well, we're all learning a lot! A whole new world to experience. I'm totally ignorant at the moment.

Instead we checked out the supermarket which was surprisingly good, a lot of Aussie produce and cheaper than home. Even the pork products were great, even if they're tucked behind a secret door.

Day two: After a good nights sleep it was time to brave the traffic in our hire car. We found the girls' school and checked out potential areas to live. We found Skip's twisted work tower. We saw the indoor ski ramp from the outside. We kept cool from 48 degree heat.

We tried to soak in the place and imagine ourselves living here. At the moment it all feels like a holiday. We have to keep pinching ourselves that this is our new life as we look around and realise we're not in the inner west of Sydney any more.

Eid (the celebration for the end of Ramadan) is about to start and it's going to be amazing to see what that entails. It's a long weekend here and everyone is having five days off.

So, so far so good. Bring on our Dubai life!

16 comments:

  1. I went to Dubai for my 40th birthday. I LOVED it!! Good luck with your new life.

    If I can give you and your husband just one tip. Brunch at the Fairmont, amazing food and plenty of Moet. It is amazing.

    Enjoy :)

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  2. As we Americans would say, "We're not in Kansas anymore!"
    Sending love,
    El

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  3. Glad you arrived safely. Good luck settling in to your new adventure x

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  4. I can't imagine the stress of pacing the aisles of a plane with an unsettled baby, big hugs for that one xx

    You're really there, my gosh!

    I'm so glad you found vegemite!

    Australia misses you xx

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  5. Wow what an adventure you are starting on! Look forward to hearing more xx

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  6. I had a friend who lived in Abu Dhabi and she said similar things about ramadan… Foreigners who were non muslim were allowed to eat and drink but they still had to be very discreet about it, eating behind closed doors etc! Can you purchase take home alcohol in Dubai? are you only allowed to spend a percentage of your income on it? That was another thing I heard about Abu Dhabi… What a different world you've walked into. Good luck!

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    1. Yes, you can't eat or drink in public during Ramadan, not law but very frowned upon. Apparently some restaurants were open but had the windows blacked out. I didn't see any though, everything was shut. You can purchase take home alcohol, but you have to have a license and it's based on a percentage of your wage. It's a different world for sure!

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  7. Wow that airplane trip must have been quite full on. Reading your words, I absolutely felt your pain.

    Your photos are great! Like everyone is saying, what an adventure! Your kidlets must be soaking it all up!

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  8. Wow - it begins.
    What an adventure ahead.
    :-) xx

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  9. How exciting Corinne! It all looks so different, so surreal... and it obviously feels that way too! 48 DEGREES, are you joking??? WOW, I think I could handle that actually, I do love my heat.
    And that giant shopping centre, now I could handle that definitely.
    I'm so looking forward to experiencing your adventures with you xoxo

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  10. Happy to hear that you arrived safely. I font think I'd enjoy the heat but the rest sounds great. Enjoy!

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