The 53rd post!

Yes, who would have thought that after only 8 months of Emirates, and 7 months of blogging, we'd reach the all-important 53rd post milestone! I know, I know, it really is amazing. I was wavering at 52, but commitment and determination saw me through. Now I have been a little disheartened this week to know that the majority of my nearest and dearest had no idea I was coming to Brisbane this weekend, although it has been mentioned a number of times on here! I am toying with the idea of discontinuing the blog altogether, so feel free to lend a voice of support in the comments section. My web-tracker reports that over 70 people a week come to the site on average, but that could easily be my two obsessed fans coming back 35 times each, so....

We had a HUGE sandstorm in Dubai yesterday and I photographed what I could from the safety of my bedroom window. I'll use a clear picture from last week to compare for you :)

Man vs The Machine!

As you may remember, I had my interview for the US Visa last weekend which was a tedious and long-winded process, even though I'm sure I 'll be happy when I get a JFK flight on my roster next month! Anyway to cut a crappy long story short, I had to go back the next day to collect my passport "after 2pm." So I rock up to the embassy at 2.45 on Sunday expecting to pick it up, to find they closed 15 minutes prior! Basically this left me without the ability to work on my flight to Uganda the next morning and Emirates marked me as ABSENT! This is about the worst thing that can be dished out to anyone, and can affect promotion, rosters and will cost me about $250 as a penalty when essentially I didn't do anything wrong. I am currently fighting the battle to have the absent days reversed and converted to ordinary days off.

The plus side of this is the eight days I've had in Dubai with nothing to do but sleep in, eat out, go clubbing and general mischief. I thought I would introduce or re-aquaint you with some of my good Dubai friends.


The Nicole and Daniel show continues!


Caio (Franck's boyfriend), Franck( Caio's boyfriend, and my housemate) with Nicole


Tomas (Sydney/Prague) and Mitch (Brisbane) then.... Caio, Patrick (Ireland - at the bottom), Rodrigo (Brazil) and Nicole


Nicole, Patrick, some hottie, and James (Brisbane via Adelaide)


Kath Day-Knight played by the beautiful Sam, and Kel Graham Knight (Purveyor of Fine Meats) played by moi!

The view from Room B, Apartment 306, U.P. Tower, Dubai!

As one can see from the pictures below, I live next to a construction site (as do approximately 98% of Dubaites) and in about a year it will very closely resemble Big Ben. That's right, Dubai can come up with NOTHING NEW - always a copy of something! And because of said construction site, my bedroom windows are usually filthy on the outside. Thankfully they were cleaned yesterday for the first time in ages, so I took some photos of my view. It's not as great as some as I'm only on the 3rd floor, but its better than the poor and unfortunate souls on the SECOND floor! Can you IMAGINE!!!!!????

Umm yeah, so a bit stuck for a title here. Oh gee, crap! The pressure! Oh, I have one - MY SISTER AND I IN LONDON, ENGLAND!

Now I know London is becoming a little too regular a feature on my roster - and I'm going back tomorrow! - but last week I was there and caught up with sister Jessica who was traveling with her friends. She was there for 9 days before heading off on a Contiki tour around Europe, and we had a few hours there on the night I was there. I'm trying to get her to join Emirates so she can see the world for free rather than fork out thousands for each overseas trip, but we'll see! Anyway we went to Harrod's, had dinner in an Italian restaurant that left alot to be desired, then went over to Westminster to see Big Ben and the London Eye. It had just closed when we got there but I might try next time. So here are the photos! (I had lent my camera to Patrick for the week - he had his first Brisbane trip - so these were all taken on the mobile phone)

Also a formal and public apology to Sue-Ellen, Mr M. Itchalot, and Mutch for the delay in getting this post out. It can be difficult to get things done in Dubai when you're busy doing nothing!

Hard to believe that Christmas decorations are out in August!
One for Nanna's mantelpiece!


Houses of Parliament and...
...Clock Tower and Big Ben (the name of just the bell inside, not the whole tower as I previosly thought)
Another one for Nanna
London Eye from Westminster Station
Getting arty under the 'Eye' as it oft called by the witty locals!

Daniel's MIRACULOUS roster!

Well I had some good news on Saturday afternoon with the publication of my roster for September. Bearing in mind I am very low in seniority and on 'bottom bid' for the month (crew are divided into 7 groups, which are given bidding priority on a rotational basis - my group is last this month.)

So here it is:

SEPTEMBER
2-3 LONDON HEATHROW
7-14 SINGAPORE/BRISBANE!!!!!!!!! (cue instant happy mood - I'll be in Brisbane from the 9th to the 13th)
19-21 NAGOYA, Japan (a brand new Emirates destination, and I'm flying with my good friend Dache)
22-24 RESERVE DAYS
28 TEHRAN, Iran (turnaround flight)
30 KUWAIT (turnaround flight)

All other days I'll be baking in Dubai!

London with Jessica pictures will be up tomorrow :)

A Dubai Summer Surprise!

Well two weeks ago I shared some pictures of the Dubai most tourists flock to - the new Jumeirah Beach area with the hotels, restaurants, clubs and the Burj. Now I bring you some of the old Dubai - the Dubai which is much more relevant to the locals. Nicole's family friends recently came to visit and I took these to capture the spirit of the evening.

My roster will be out Saturday night, and while I am expecting NO miracles, there is always hope!

The outside of Sheikh Saeed Al Mahktoum's House
The inside of the house - now a museum
Yes, that is a door, and yes, I am enourmous
Dubai Creek
The douws (traditional Arabic boats)
Boarding time - hats and smiles people!
Cruising up the Creek
I'm not sure if these boats are used as homes or commercially...
...I'll aim to uncover the truth in the next edition.
The fairly dirty, messy streets of downtown Deira (the biggest suburb of Dubai - NOT where I live!) Note the temperature at the time (around 7pm) was a VERY muggy 40 degrees. We were sweating like bushpigs!
The Mosque in the background was blaring the siren for prayer time - a very interesting time of the day!
Jackpot time at the gold souks!
MARHABA is Arabic for WELCOME and part of the staple vocab diet for cabin crew!

Some AMAZING downtown Dubai pics, coming your way Friday night!

A BLOG BackLOG

Now Emirates have been working me like a dog of late, so keeping the blog up to date has been a slight challenge. I want to take my laptop on my layovers with me, but it can be a rather expensive exercise (usually 30 Oz Dollars for 24 hours) so I wait to come back to Dubai, hence the delay.

The last week has taken me to London and Munich which were both pretty great trips. The first was pretty interesting due to the security scare in the UK. First of all we had to divert to Birmingham then drive to London, and then on the way home we were delayed many hours due to the extensive security checks we had to go through. My phone, ipod, camera, toiletry bag and Emirates fobkey all had to be taken out and placed in my suitcase which made me feel part of the global community against terror! I spent some time with Arta and Tania from the flight, and we went to Harrod's, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace- the first time for me to all the above!

Two London landmarks - Harrod's and the Underground
The Egyptian staircase in Harrod's, and...
...the Diana and Dodi tribute, which was a little wierd.
Moi at the Hyde Park lake/pond thingy...
My friends from the flight - Arta (French/Iranian) and Tania (Indian)
The beautifully brown Hyde Park
Pick up Liz, I KNOW you're in there!

She let Rolf Harris in but not me! What's with that?!


Then it was off to Munich, where I was able to catch up with a long time friend of mine who I hadn't seen in many years, and spend some time being a Contiki-er! Since leaving Australia, Aaron (aforementioned friend) has become a tour guide and I was able to join the group of 40 or so for the afternoon/evening! I felt like I was in my mid-twenties seeing the world again! I really loved the city and the summertime, beer-swigging, pretzel-eating, pork-inhaling atmosphere! I really hope I get this trip again soon.

At the town centre - and up the glockenspiel we head!


Stunning views of Munchen from the top of the tower.
Outside the popular-with-tourists HOFBRAUHAUS....
....where one litre beers are the order of the day!
Our trusty guide Aaron poses with some really hot guy...
And the band played on (do their wives know they're here!)