I'd like to apologise to anyone who reads my rather dull blog, as I've not had the chance to update it over the last week or so.
I was busy enjoying the Sun, Sea and Sand in sunny Dubai. I decided to take this rather adventurous journey to see a friend who was going to be celebrating his 30th birthday - and he sure celebrated the week in style.
Evo (pictured with me) teaches in Dubai, and he was given the task of giving me and a friend a roof over our heads while we stayed there. As soon as we landed at Dubai International Airport, Evo picked us up and took us to the villa where he lives (sorry I meant to say Porn Palace). We dropped off our suitcases and jumped straight back into the car and headed off to the Palm Jumeirah - at 1.30am (local time), talk about being nuts!
We ended up going to a place called The Sanctuary - which was off the hook! As we were entering The Sanctuary, one of us pointed out that some guy who just rushed past us looked like Sol Campbell, and With it being my first night in Dubai I didn't quite expect to be bumping into people who are more or less known in the UK.
Once we were in - the Sol Campbell look-alike was chilling out in one corner on his own so I though I'd go up to him and talk to him just to find out whether he is Sol or not - and it actually turned out to be Sol. What were the chances of that happening? Wasn't he supposed to be playing football on the Saturday - I mean a few hours later? If he was then what the hell was he doing in Dubai at 1.30am (local time)?
Oh well, it's his career down the pan then - why should I worry about it? We ended up calling it a night at around 4am and went to sleep. We woke up a few hours later wondering what craziness Evo has planned for us today (Saturday) and it came about that we're all going to a Pool Party / Barbecue which has been organised by his Aussie friends. We had a fun time chilling out in the sun as there were more plans for the evening where we were invited to a house party! No - not a house party like what Kid 'n Play used to hold back in the 80's - but this was more of a down right chilled out party where I met some crazy people like Tom and Chin Chin.
Don't worry I'm not going to be explaining each day in detail but give you more of an overview on what my trip was like! Come Sunday, we all woke up a little late, got changed and had showers, we had a meal booked with Evo's 'adopted family', who are called The Deans. I have to just say one thing about the Dean's and they are just Super Cool! We got to meet Norm (who recruits teachers for the school he works at) and Sue (Norm's wife), along with Andy Mowat (another Aussie with a crazy sense of humour) and the infamous Jack Patel who was just mad!
We first went to the Dubai Creek Park which has some stunning views and oh did I mention that IT WAS HUGE! There were sky rides at the park (yes just a normal park!) whilst most rented out huge cycles to cycle around the park - the sky ride was out of order (due to a slight breeze) and the cycles - well we just couldn't be bothered queuing for an hour for the cycles!
After the park, we decided to take a cruise on the Al Abras - travelling from the Deira side of Dubai to the Bur Dubai side (to the markets). Once in the markets, we decided to do a little shopping and I think Jack was astounded by my bartering! Jack - if you're reading this and need lessons in bartering, just get in touch! After the markets we travelled back to the Deira side of Dubai via the Al Abras and we ended up in a little restaurant, which was the size of a small corner shop. We sat outside to eat in the warm air of Dubai - man that was a great experience as we all dug in into the Shawarma plates we ordered whilst having a laugh!
We then walked back to the cars and took a few photos before parting for the evening. Monday was just around the corner and Evo was at work. Sid (my friend who came with me) and I made some plans of our own. We took a taxi to Jumeirah beach where we walked along the beach before we headed off to Dubai's famous water park - Wild Wadi.
If you've never been to Wild Wadi whilst you are in Dubai then you're certainly missing out on an excellent experience. We both did lots of body surfing as well as lunging down the big Sceirah (I think that's what it's called) slide. The slide certainly scared the pants off me!
After an eventful afternoon at the Wild Wadi Water Park, we headed off to the Mall Of The Emirates where Evo was meeting us for an experience in Ski Dubai. Here in the UK, we have a skiing / snowboarding place called Chill Factore - Ski Dubai is actually nearly double the size of Chill Factore.
We got our snowboards, gloves and clothes on and headed straight onto the ski lifts. We managed to get right to the top of the slopes and Evo gave us some instructions on how to snowboard. I think I spent most of my time sliding down the slopes on my bum! After me, Sid and Evo made it down to the bottom we decided to have another go and see if we can do any better. We got back on the lifts and this time Sid struggled on the ski lift. He couldn't lift his snowboard and he ended up hanging on by his elbows as the ski lift rose higher and higher. I just couldn't stop laughing.
After the ski lift was around 10 - 12 feet high, the staff noticed that Sid was literally hanging off, they decided to stop the lift, rush over to him and take off his snowboard and get Sid to jump down. After Sid got down he was too embarrassed to get back on the ski lift so he ended up spending most of his evening on the bottom waiting for me and Evo. However, when I got to the top of the slopes, I somehow managed to break my snowboard! I haven't got a clue how I did that but it was quite funny. I got put back onto the lifts as I couldn't snowboard down and was sent packing!
Tuesday, Sid and I decided to trek back to Bur Dubai and Deira to do a little shopping. After buying myself a Breitling watch (which I'm chuffed about) and Sid buying a Rado watch, we made our way back to the Villa on the other side of the city. Today we had a plan to go for a meal with Evo's friends (some we met over the last couple of days). This meal was classed as Evo's birthday meal. The restaurant we went to was excellent (I think it was called Spice Island) and you could even create your own curry. I just ended up having a Mongolian as it was quite tasty. After the meal, we went to a little place called the Boudoir, and after knackering myself out - we retired for the night at around 4am!
Wednesday was a different kind of day. Me and Sid woke up around 12pm and booked ourselves into a Desert Safari. Even though this was my second experience of a safari (as I've been to Dubai before), it was a different experience altogether. We did a lot of sand dune surfing as well as spending time on quad bikes and smoking some sheesha whilst the belly dancer wooed most of the people that joined the group.
Thursday and Friday were a lot more relaxed. On Thursday we went to the Dubai Mall where half the shops haven't even opened and we celebrated an engagement in the evening at an engagement party where 2 of Evo's friends were of course getting engaged. On Friday, we went for a dip in the sea at Jumeirah Beach where we caught a few waves and then in the evening we went to a club called Chi @ The Lounge where towards the end of the night Evo managed to get himself kicked out. That was pretty hilarious!
Last but not least (thank god I'm going to stop waffling soon), on Saturday before our flights we went to the Madinat to do some shopping and then we were invited for a meal at some of Evo's friends before heading off to the Airport. All in all - Sid and I had a fantastic time and I'm sure if I get another opportunity, I'll go back to Dubai to celebrate Evo's birthday again.