Dubai - Day 1

Hi all. I have arrived in Dubai!

The plane trip was 14 hours. My entertainment system didn't work but luckily I sat next to Geoff Hermon, a pagoda builder extraordinaire from Dural, who had had a very interesting life - so the conversation flowed free and fast and I forgot about the missing movies. Ultimately, Geoff fell asleep (I sometimes have thet effect on people) and I read until it was time for me to dose up on sleeping pills and try to align with the UAE time zone. The plane landed at 5.45ish.

View from my hotel room - the Persian Gulf is in the distance.











Customs was a breeze as I had a special assistant/chaperon to lead me through. The customs officer had a flick through my passport to confirm I hadn't travelled to Israel ( a no-no), Transport to the hotel (to be home for 2 weeks) was waiting outside in the coolish but warming Dubai winter morning.

I felt how I looked.













Whenever I arrive in another country I always perform the sniff test as, mostly, each country/place has a unique smell. To my surprise, Dubai did not have a distinct smell. Maybe it was the desert environment.

Another view from my window with a mosque in the centre.

After having a shower and unpacking, I called Warren Thomson - a friend who I used to work with at G+T. Warren picked me up just before lunch. The day had started to heat up but was absolutely beautiful with a light breeze. Warren took me back to his place where I met his wife and son. We then drove the Mall of the Emirates that houses the world's largest indoor ski field.

It is huge. The photo below is of the central hall. This is just a fraction. We all had lunch at TGI Friday, wandered around the acres of shops, and I grabbed a power plug adapter.

After visiting the mall Warren dropped me back to the hotel. I crashed - exhausted but exhilirated.