Dave got the opportunity to go out to Dubai for a work
trade-show. Other than the long 15 hour flight from Atlanta to Dubai and
adjusting to the different time zone, it was a good experience. The flight out
was a safe one because former President Jimmy Carter was on the flight (the white haired guy).
After traveling for more than a day it was a relief to see a
bed… fortunately works allows for good lodging arrangements J.
The room they gave me had a great view of downtown Dubai. The city was
really pretty and being there you can’t but help notice there is a lot of
money. My coworker made the comment that it reminded him of Las Vegas minus all
of the gambling and other stuff that happens in Vegas.
After a goodnight’s rest and a pretty good breakfast we
first headed off to setup the trade-show booth. Fortunately, that didn't take
too long so we headed off to the world’s largest mall. Man, that place was huge
and we didn't walk the whole place. The mall had a nice looking water area
where at night they would have a water works show.
The mall is located near the world’s largest building which
is almost 1 km tall. It was really crazy to stand next to it.
Exploring further into the mall we found the world’s largest
in-door aquarium (apparently, they want everything to be LARGE lol).
Well, all of the exploring had to end. The next day we had
the booth already and had one of their royal family members walking the
floor with his entourage of around 20 people. He appeared to be a nice fellow.
After the first day of booth duty they had a vendors’ dinner
to welcome everyone. They served us a buffet type of Middle Eastern food. It
was pretty good; I’m always up to finding some new type of food to try.
The conference went well. It was interesting to speak with
people from that area of the world and to get a glimpse at their customs.
For one of our dinners we were able to go to a fancy Indian
restaurant (Armani/Amal) that was located on the third floor the Burj Khalifa
(the world’s tallest building). It was fun to wind down a bit and enjoy eating outside
and being able to watch the water works show that would occur every 30 minute
or so. The food was really good and it was interesting to be waited on hand and
foot.
After the entire trade show was finished we were invited to
come along on a Safari expedition with a lady and her family that we got to
know because we had neighboring booths.
The expedition was fun. They drove us out to a sand dune
area where the sand was super fine.
First they unloaded us into a new Toyota Land Cruiser and took us 4-wheeling for about half an hour or so.
After that, they took us to the serving area where we had
dinner and a local dance show.
While there I got to do two different things that really
made the trip. The first item was to hold a falcon.
The second was to ride a camel! It was pretty awesome.
While in the entertainment area I was able to try on some of
the local type of dress… I don’t think I would fit in with the culture if
I wore this.
We got to eat sitting down on some pillows which was
interesting but made the experience that much more enjoyable.
On our last day in Dubai and before our flight we decided to
go check out the beach area quickly. The beach area was really nice and it was
fun to be in a warm area in March… also,
now I can say I have been in the Indian ocean.
As everyone knows, there are a lot of expensive cars in
Dubai. This wasn’t the first or last Ferrari I saw while I was out there… too bad they didn’t leave the keys in the ignition so I could take it for a quick
joy ride lol.
Our last thing we decided to do was to hit the Mall of the
Emirates. On the way there we passed a decently sized mosk.
While at the mall I got to see snow… who would of thought
there would be snow in the Middle East? But they have a ski resort.
One of the last things was to take a load off of my feet
before we went to the airport. However, I was quickly asked to get off of the
fountain shortly after this picture lol.
The trip back was a bit long. On the flight back they
decided not to fly over a certain Middle Eastern country, so that added another
hour to an already 15.5 hour long flight, but I survived it ;) It was an
exciting and interesting trip but it is always great to be back in the USA to be with
my beautiful wife.
