After really stressing that my flight was going to be cancelled due to the snow, I finally left London Heathrow Terminal 5 an hour and a half late on Friday night, 6Feb. The pilot said due to the air over Europe being quiet that time of night, he's going to take a few short cuts, and will reduce the flight time by 40 minutes, which he did! After landing in Dubai, dying for a cigarette and some fresh air, I was delayed at customes for an hour because I only had a copy on my visa, as Carine was told she did not have to take the original in (which she had to apply for me in Dubai). They had to drive home to get the original, and hand it in. After finally getting the visa, I had to queue for a retina scan, and finally managed to locate my bag, which at that stage was in the lost baggase store!
Outside the humidity hit me, but is was a lovely 25 degrees - which is a nice change from the minus 4 I left behind in London.
We went to Carine and Koster's flat, where we relaxed for a while, and had a few drinks for my 30th!
We then took a taxi to the Souk (market) Madinat in Jumeirah. A beautiful mall on the beach close to the 7 star Bur Al Arab Hotel. The souk is built in the way of an old Dubai street market, and is just enormous!!!! We had some drinks at the South African restaurant - Meat Co. I had to drink a Castle! With great views of the Burj Al Arab behind us.
We took a taxi back to the flat, which I must say is really scary! Their driving is appaling, and it feels like you are going to die. Try thinking a crazy Italian in the mountains of Sardinia meets a minibus taxi on the Ben Schoeman!!! Even worse than that.
At home we had a braai, with some proper pap!
The credit cruch is also hitting Dubai, with lots of project being halted, and people losing their jobs.
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here for more photos of my first day
