The camel, the straw, the back, the call bell...

What a fun couple of days! After an extended time off with the fam visiting, I was actually semi-excited to get back on a plane! I was off to one of my favourite Emirates destinatons - Munich. The crew were not bad, and managed to latch on to a few guys that seemed like fun, and were up for some (not always easy!) I knew I should have done a bit more sight-seeing and maybe organised a tour, but instead we went into the city centre at Marienplatz and went looking for litres of beer and pork products! We found both quite quickly! And by 'we' I mean First Officer Michael (Brisbane), Ian (Canada) and Peter (Ireland).

I didn't take as many pictures as usual but here is what I did take. The play of the day goes to barmaid Helga, who I snapped in haste as we payed the bill when she wasn't paying attention. I'm very glad she's not my Nanna!


Nanna Helga struts her stuff!


Shots inside the Verulianmarkt


Myself, Michael, Ian and Peter inside the Hofbrauhaus


Kids, can you spell G-L-O-C-K-E-N-S-P-I-E-L?

The flight home was sehr crap! Completely full of non-sleeping, demanding German know-it-alls who managed to press every button there was to press! They knew how to press the call bell, but for some reason were unable to turn on their reading light using the button directly next to it. Then the very next call bell was for the same thing, only she couldn't turn her light OFF! What is wrong with these people?! Also, if you walked into someone's house and they were sitting down having dinner, would you ask them for a drink or get it yourself, or better still, WAIT TIL THEY WERE FINISHED!!!!? Okay,now my frustrations are out!

Thanks for the memories, Munich!

07 3102 3537

I have set up a Skype-In number, so everyone in Australia can call me for the cost of a call to a local Brisbane number! Granted I won't ALWAYS be at my computer to answer the call, and if not it gets diverted to my mobile anyway! How did I live without it! I have enabled voice mail on the line, so PLEASE leave a message if I don't pick up!

The number is: (07) 3102 3537

To collect your roster changes, please press 1...

Slight update to travel plans for the remainder of October:

12th - 14th MUNICH, Germany
16th - 17th COLOMBO, Sri Lanka

Rest of the month as before.

Day 1 - Wednesday

After a LOT of phaphing around, the big day finally arrived last Wednesday when my Dad arrived in Dubai for a visit, along with my sister Emily and brother Beetle. I was extremely excited and hardly slept the night before and evidently neither had they. After meeting them at around 6am we were whisked back to 306 UP Tower where a lazy day of swimming, movies, laptop and Nintendo ensued. I rallied the troops for a bit of compulsory sight-seeing, and though weary-eyed and sleep deprived, they all managed to take in the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah area, as well as gobble down a sensational Iftar buffet on the beachfront at the Sheraton. (Iftar is the time every day during Ramadan when the fast is broken at sunset, usually 6pm.) My Victorian family seemed to suffer in the oppressive Dubai night time heat, but by holidays end they were pros! This, and the next four posts, will hopefully give you an idea of how much fun a five day Dubai holiday can be! PLEASE COME VISIT!!!!


At the Souk Madinat Jumeirah

The mandatory 'by-the-Burj' photograph!

Iftar - TIME TO EAT!


Free camel rides for the kiddies - though mine were too tired...

Day 2 - Thursday

Day two was 'Arabia for Dummies' day and so off we headed into the Great Beyond for the famous Dubai Desert Safari!. What does that pacifically entail you might ask. Well pacifically it involved being picked up in a 4WD from your accomodation and taken dune bashing for a while which is 'eaps of fun. Then we headed to a traditional Arabic-style base camp for a bit of camel riding, sheesha smoking, kofta eating, abaya wearing, henna painting action! It opened our eyes and our minds as well! I think everyone got a lot out of it, kulcha-wise.


Nothing like a friendly sand dune race, uphill in mid thirties sunshine to get the blood pumping!

The Bedouin-style base camp, where all the action captured below took place.

Who looks happier to be here?

I don't think a camel has ever worked so hard in it's life. Mine could barely stand up when I got on it! Hello, Diet Factory!


Our traditional tattoos (called 'henna' around these parts) were a bit of fun. My scorpion seemed to win the popular vote on the night.

Is there a more refreshing, uplifting sight than two children smoking of an evening?

Settle Saddam, we are just PRETENDING!

Day 3 - Friday

Analysts, critics and taller-than-average Victorian children alike are hailing Ski Dubai as 'a modern marvel', 'a veritable treasure trove of fun', and 'good'.

Whatever fun appears to be being had in these pictures, you can bet your bottom dirham it's genuine. We decided not to take a skiing or snow boarding lesson and instead played in the Snow Park instead - complete with tabogganing, tyre rides, igloos, caves and sculptures. I had never done it myself and it was like, so, like, fun!


Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone would be proud, I feel!


claustrophobia.com.ae

This could be anyone but trust me when I say it's not. I'm about 35% sure it's Dad and Emily.


The zoo animals looking back out at the people. Ski Dubai as it is known to both the people who own it and the people who go there, is part of the Mall of the Emirates complex - the largest mall in the world outside North America.

Day 4 - Saturday

Day four was 'get Deb a present' day so off we trundled, albeit a little begrudgeoningly on the part of the young ones, to the Gold Souks - an area of Dubai famous for gold, jewellery, copy handbags, glasses and perfumes etc. It's crowded and noisy and one needs a certain stamina and a resolved steel to tackle it at the best of times. We were led down a coupe of back alleys (complete with mangey kittens in dustbins) to secret back rooms where we found a plethora of copy merchandise slash scary Indian men. Emily and Beetle, knowing that the relative comforts of City Centre - a major mall - were just minutes away by cab, were keen to leave immediately, and after a few mandatory purchases were made, off we went.

No trip to Dubai is complete without a trip to the Carrefour Hypermarket on a weekend evening - it is manic! I couldn't let the photo op pass us by, so out came the mobile! If you are EVER short on Jif bathroom cleanser, give me a call. As you can see, there is definitely not a supply issue here!


Survivor: Gold Souks

Survivor: Carrefour

Day 5 - Sunday

After a dubious start involving a late wake-up call, a broken-but-not suitcase, a missing birth certificate and a few valuable lessons, the family plus Nicole headed for Wild Wadi Water Park for a day of frivolity, unbridled joy and potential melanomas.
Wild Wadi is set on the beach between the two of the world's best hotels, the Burj Al Arab and the Jumierah Beach Hotel which you'll see below. Wild Wadi is just about the only Ramadan-Free zone in all of Dubai so we were able to eat, drink, smoke and swear as we pleased! We had a ball, literally.


Hotels as mentioned above...now you'll HAVE to go back and read it!

Chillin' by the Burj!

Before and after shots of the big bucket unloading on the childrens' play area!

Live from India!

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In order to boost my hours for the month so I can afford to eat in November, I swapped some days off for this trip to Kolkata (Calcutta) here in the east of India. Not knowing if I would be able to do anything when I got here, I brought my laptop and all the cords so if nothing else I would be able to play on the internet and watch dvds... and write a blog entry of course! The hotel we are staying in is the Hyatt Regency and it is a beacon of opulence in an otherwise poverty-stricken neighbourhood. You'll be able to get a small idea from the pictures I took below. On the streets I saw naked men showering in dirty water, urinating off bridges, children playing in the dirt, street-side barbershops, dogs with broken legs hobbling, cows and goats roaming freely, women washing their hair, tiny general stores manned by women and kids - a complete mish-mash of impoverished society, right by the roadside. I didn't get too many photos but this should give you an idea of what I was looking at.

Dad, Emily and Beetle arrive tomorrow and this blogger is a wee bit excited to be able to show off Dubai properly for the first time!


The super-modern Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport








Not quite Manhattan, but the shiny yellow cabs were borderline funky!


Click to enlarge, you will see the detail here - women bathing, the tiny shops... it's all here in Kolkata!


By contrast, this is the hotel I'm typing this blog from right now - across the street from the aforedisplayed poverty.


The view from Room 452