World Tour 08-09: December 27-28, 2008

On our first full day in Dubai, Saturday, December 27, we were both a little jet-lagged but decided to get out and explore a bit. We made our way to the Mall of the Emirates and wondered around. After walking around and finding it to be just about like every mall we have ever been to (complete with a quick lunch at Chili’s) we made our way to Ski Dubai.

Bucket List:
Learn to Snowboard – Check
Visit Ski Dubai – Check

For those of you who do not know, Ski Dubai is a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates. There is a small snow park in the facility where people can play in the snow and ride little bob-sled routes. But that is not what Chris wanted to do. He decided that we should take an hour-long snowboarding lesson. I must have been feeling adventurous – or maybe I was just suffering temporary insanity – but I agreed. After getting on our boots, snow-suit and our snowboard, we made our way over to ski-school to meet our Bulgarian snowboard instructor Emile.


Chris and I were the only takers in the 3PM snowboard class so we had a lot of hands-on instruction, unlike those individuals in the ski-class (which had like 10 people) and it turned out to actually be a good thing - we needed all the help we could get. We learned the basics of snowboarding, like we need to wear gloves (oops, how did we miss that one?), which foot is our strong foot (I’m a “goofy”, Chris is “regular”), and how to ride the little conveyer belt to the top of the bunny hill (which was not fluffy or even a hill – more like the edge of a gigantic gorge!).


This photo actually makes Chris look like he knows what he was doing, but he was really screaming like a little girl and fell down very shortly after

Surprisingly, I realized I’m a bit better of a snowboarder than I expected – but then again, next to Chris I looked like I was ready for the Olympics. We went down the bunny-hill three times with a flat board (meaning not skate-board style, but with our feet straight ahead) and I only fell the final time at the very bottom. By the time our hour was over, I was exhausted but very happy I had the experience. And even have my little certificate of accomplishment. We then went to the grocery store in the mall so that Chris could find some Middle-Eastern Ben-Gay to recover from his many (and I mean MANY) falls on the bunny-hill. Back at the hotel, we made our way to the Club Lounge to have complimentary drinks and appetizers in lieu of dinner and I went back to our room to hit the sack, while Chris went for a short swim. Not a bad way to start the trip.

On Sunday, December 28, we spoke with the receptionist at the hotel who directed us to the new Dubai Mall to look around. The mall is quite extensive and contains a very large aquarium at the entrance. After watching the fish for a few moments, we wandered around for a bit before deciding to visit the Camel Races near the horse track. Unfortunately for us, Sunday was the first day of the Islamic New Year and there were no Camel Races today, so we went to the Gold Souk to look for gifts for friends and family back home.

After spending too much money at the Souk, we came back to the hotel before venturing out for a nice dinner of Shrimp and kabobs at a restaurant called Automatic near our hotel. While walking back to the hotel, we both commented that it was a beautiful evening for a walk (low 70's, slightly breezy), stopped at a gas station for some snacks, and even got propositioned by an Asian hooker (talk about someone who needed to work on her client identification skills). Day 2 also seemed to be a winner!