Parents in Dubai

In September, my parents came to visit us here in Dubai for one week. The week went by so quickly, and we did tons of great things around the city. My parents had spent about 3 weeks on safari in Kenya, so Dubai was on their way home back to Canada. While I have lived abroad in many countries for short amounts of time, this was the first time that they had come to visit me in my own place - what a grown up feeling, to host your parents in your very own apartment!

During the week we took them on a tour of the city and did many different things. They got to see that when Dubai sets its sights on something, it goes bigger & better than anywhere else. Everything from the Burj Khalifa, to JBR, the Palm, the Burj Al Arab, the Dubai Mall to name a few. We also spent a lot of time at the pool just relaxing & keeping cool! It was extremely hot the week they were here so we tried to stay cool as best we could.

Short summary of the week :
* We stopped by the Atlantis to view the hotel, it's grounds & the fishtank. While we didnt go in for the aqaurium tour, the tanks at the Atlantis are much nicer than the one in the Dubai Mall (in my opinion). You can spend hours looking at the different fish and watching their behaviours! The hotel is lavish, it's almost a bit tacky - like Vegas, but it's not something you see in Ottawa or Canada really.

* One night for dinner we stopped at Flavours on Two in the Towers Rotana. They have a great dinner brunch with a different theme each night. That night it was Indian, and so we indulged in a bit of food and a lot of wine. With the engagement two nights prior, and all the excitment of having my parents in Dubai, it was not a pleasant following morning for me YIKES ! hahaha

* We spent one afternoon relaxing on the beach in the Jumeirah Beach Park. I had never been, but it was beautiful ! When I was a child, we used to go on beach holidays and spend every day on the beach for hours on end. This reminded me of those times, and it was great. We swam in the warm ocean, read our books, people watched and I got a sunburn. And while I had told them the ocean would be warm - not even refreshing really, they were incredibly surprised to experience it for themselves. The ocean is quite clear, the sand was really soft, you could walk into the sea for a long time, and the waves were little - so it was perfect.

* My Mom had wanted to see the fountains, so I had taken her on two different nights. We must have seen them over a dozen times since one night they had a show every 15 minutes or so. No matter how many times you see the fountains, it is always amazing & never gets boring. Although I am rather disappointed that we didn't see the Thriller show, but we did see the Celine Dion one, the Whitney Houston one, some Arabic music ones, and a few Opera ones. On the way to the airport, we stopped to watch the fountains one last time before departure. My parents was amazed, and couldn't believe this was in our city - and it's free !

* When we visited the Fountains, we also toured the Dubai Mall. With it's own aquarium, a skating rink, Sega game world, a waterfall, and such, we didn't see it all - but we did tour the high end designer stores, which was quite a thrill. And what I always find amazing about this Mall is that it is always full and busy!

* We also ventured to the Bur Dubai area to see the Gold & Spice Souk. I had also never been, but it was terrific. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Dubai, and to those who live here. At the Spice Souk we got great little spice packages - they had vendors upon vendors with so many different spices and flavours on display, it was beautiful. Similarly in the Gold Souk, we just toured around the shops and couldn't believe the worth of all that gold just sitting in all those shops! My mom had wanted to buy something original as her Dubai souvenir, but we didnt' come across anything too remarkable. In both places you can negotiate the prices which add a little excitment to the shopping experience, and the spices were definitely cheaper than at the grocery stores here.

* With so many great places to visit, we decided to stop by the Souk Madinat. We ended up taking a little boat ride around the Madinat and the surrounding hotels, and it was quite nice. The grounds there are absolutely beautiful, and it was like we had ventured to another part of the world, but with the Burj Al Arab in the background. The shops were relatively quiet since it was a Friday afternoon, but my Mom did manage to find her great Dubai souvenir - a silk cover up that really could be a dress. It is a piece of art in itself.

* On our last night together, we went to Channels dinner brunch at the Media Rotana. It was Asian fusion night, but it left us all with a bad stomach. Needless to say, I dont recommend it. After we stopped in Nelson's and danced for quite a while. The DJ was playing some oldies tunes, and taking requests as well, so we all joined in on the dancefloor. I must say it was rather cute to see my parents dancing in the bar !

The week went by way too quickly, and it was sad to see them off. Now that they are both retired, they can technically come visit whenever they want ! There were still things we didn't get to do, so it is an excuse to come back - although visiting me should be excuse enough! haha It's too bad it's just so darn far with an expensive visit visa haha. Showing my parents around, and seeing their perspective on this city, also gave me a new appreciation of the city. When I had first arrived, I was just like them - in awe of the city, and loving it. But it gets so easy to focus on the negatives in every day life, and to forget the great things - I mean we are living in a foreign country tax free with such a great standard of living, great restaurants & shopping, beaches, hot weather, really almost anything we could want. Life in Dubai is great !

Mom & Dad thank you so much for everything, it was such a beautiful week ! Can't wait for your next trip :)

xox <3 xox

Thanksgiving in Dubai

Canadian Thanksgiving:

     This year, Canadian Thanksgiving seemd to come quick on Monday October 10th. For those of you who don't know, Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated the second Monday in the month of October, while American Thanksgiving is on the 4th Thursday in November. While the dates differ, the meaning is esentially the same - as the name would suggest, to give thanks for what we have with friends and family. Food usually consists of turkey, veggies, gravy, desserts - you know, all those yummy things!

   Seeing as we are rather far from family & friends, I started my own tradition in Dubai. HI thought Id cook a feast. For the appetizers, I put shaved turkey, hummus, cheese & herbs on a cracker, and warmed it in the over. Mmmm. I then served a roast chicken, asparagus, potato roasties, gravy & buns, and a large garden salad for dinner. Mmmm. It was also my lucky day since I found some Clamato juice in the Waitrose supermarket, as well as celery, so I treated myself to a delicious Caesar! Mmmm. We ended the night with two different desserts with a lot of chocolote and peanut peanut butter. Mmmm.

   There was a lot to be grateful this year, and we took the time to recognize it all. I am grateful for our health, for our work, for our happiness, for our wonderful families, for amazing friends, for good times & those not so fun times, everything! These are the things that I am grateful for all the time - not just one day of the year. Unfortunately, we often forget how lucky we are in this world, so it is nice to take the time to appreciate.
  

   Thanksgiving this year brought some very happy news ! A very good friend of the family had been diagnosed with cancer this year. Doctors weren't really sure what the situation was until they could operate, and remove the cancerous cells. After the surgery, there was a long 2 week waiting game... But then, right before Thanksgiving weekend, the doctors had let him know that they had managed to get everything and that he was in fact going to be ok ! He will now get a second lease on life, and everyone is just so happy for him and his family! I really couldnt have wished for better news, and what good timing :)

   October is a great month with Thanksgiving, Halloween, fall colours turning in Ottawa, cooler weather in Dubai - what a great time of year. I cant wait for Halloween here !

****

   Thank you for the continued support on this blog, I know I say it alot, but I truly mean it ~ I have nearly hit 3,000 hits from around the world ! I am a bit behind in my posts with some posts about our vacation to England unfinished, and I'd also like to post about my parents visiting here in Dubai ! What a great time :) That sums it up for now!

   xox <3 xox