A Day (and Night) on the Town in Dubai

Friday, August 29th, the first day of my first real Dubai weekend, our school took us for a breakfast cruise on Dubai Creek. There are several companies who do this, with Bateaux Dubai, the one that we used, being one of the more famous. The food was splendid, the sights marvelous, and the company, consisting solely of our new faculty and staff that had become such good friends over the past week, was quite enjoyable.

Following the cruise, our buses took us to the Burj al Arab hotel, the tallest and perhaps most famous hotel in the world, and architecturally one of the new wonders of the world. The hotel is normally closed off to visitors; the guests paying $10,000+ a night enjoy their privacy and quiet, and a constant stream of gaping shutterbug tourists filling the corridors would detract from their relaxation. You can only go inside the hotel if you are staying as a guest, or if you book a reservation at one of the many acclaimed restaurants housed within. Lucky for us, though, the son of the manager of the hotel is a student at our school, so we not only gained admission to the hotel, but we also got an exclusive VIP tour that included several of the restaurants, the spa, several exclusive balconies (one that was reserved for a wedding reception that would be coming through a few minutes after we were gone), and a tour of one of the luxurious two-story, 7212-square-foot suites. Our tour culminated in a reception with drinks and snacks at an indoor observation deck near the top of the hotel, with spectacular views of the area from two walls of windows.

After we left the Burj, we headed to the nearby Madinat Jumeirah Souq, a modern mall of sorts made to look like a traditional souq (or bazaar). The atmosphere was nice, but the Cinnabon in the food court kind of killed the image (but hey, Cinnabon is “world-famous”).

After coming back to our apartments and getting some rest, some of us went out to find a nightclub to do some dancing. Unfortunately, the clubs were either not open or not playing music, as Ramadan (the Muslim holy month, in which, among other things, dancing and loud music is forbidden) was just a few days away. We were disappointed, as we were trying to get one last dance night in before Ramadan, but to no avail. Instead, we went to the Irish Village, a pub/restaurant that serves (surprise!) Irish food and beverages, and is quite popular among the ex-patriot crowd. I met a few of the returning teachers there and generally enjoyed my first foray into the world of expat nightlife.

I’m gonna try to get some pics up of this awesome day as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, enjoy my other (albeit less detailed) entry on the rest of my second week.