STARVING TO YET ANOTHER EMIRATE!!!

John and I woke up,  made a great breakfast chock full of protein, with plans on travelling to yet another emirate: Fujairah!!  But, first things first....here's what we woke up to:

What a sight to behold!!  Next, I want to show you our breakfast......I'm not sure if I've ever told you, but the eggs in Dubai are absolutely amazing!!  The yolks are almost orange and the taste is just fantastic!  We ate a lot of protein......as you can see by the picture!

We did this as part of our "Master Plan" to drive to another emirate, Fujairah, without starving.  As you know, Ramadan continues!  Oh, and did I mention that we got John's company car?  Last week we were told that it would come this week....so I only imagined that we would see it sometime in September! But it actually came!  Wonders never cease!

It was great getting the car.....especially because of this:

I think these "cool boxes" are standard in the UAE!  It is actually inside the front console between the two seats!  We put a couple of waters inside along with our lunch (protein bars)!  We were all prepared to make it through the day without starving!!!

Oh, and guess what I found between my two feet in this car?  No, not a fire extinguisher......

Just the Tedmeister!!

Here's a map of the emirates we've been to so far.....Dubai, of course, Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, and as of today, Fujairah!

Our trip took about two hours and the scenery was much the same -- rocky and mountainous!  But the villages/towns were quite interesting with their shops, cafes (closed, of course!), "super"markets, mosques....

Along one of the roads we were travelling we saw stands after stands with men selling carpets, pottery, fruits, and vegetables!  Of course we stopped and bought some of the fruits and vegetables (which turned out to be absolutely mouth watering good!). 

We finally made it to Fujairah, which is on the coast of the Gulf of Oman (also called the Indian Ocean).  When we were here two years ago we went snorkeling in the Gulf of Oman and was surprised to find the water actually cool as compared to the Arabian Sea (also known as the Persian Gulf) which was as warm as bathtub water!  Fujairah was beautiful!  Some high rises, some constructions, and lots and lots of water!

We looked for the place we went snorkeling two years ago.....to no avail!  So we drove up the coastline
in search of the spot-- a beautiful beach with a huge rock out in the water several 100 yards out.  A boat dropped us off to snorkel where we saw many sea turtles, shark, stingrays and other amazing sea creatures!  It was fabulous snorkeling and we wanted to see the place again!!  Here's John and Ted and then Ted and I searching for our snorkeling spot!!

 Finally, our drive up the coastline ended in Dibba (can you see it?  It is right on the border of Oman on the top right tip of the map!) and, would you believe, we found the resort!  It's called Royal Beach Al Faqeet Hotel & Resort and Freestyle Divers is right next door.  This is where we snorkeled two years ago--out there by that huge rock!!  SIMPLY AMAZING!!

As we left Dibba, I found the decor in the center of their roundabouts to be quite spectacular:

We continued home to Dubai (doesn't sound quite so strange anymore!) from Dibba through the mountains and away from the water.  What a day!  Our plan worked, I'm happy to report!  With a huge breakfast of protein, then water and a protein bar for lunch, we really and truly DID NOT starve to yet another emirate!!  But, uh, I gotta ask, "What's for dinner?"

STARVING THROUGH ANOTHER EMIRATE PART TWO!!

Okay, so I'm still learning this posting stuff!  I guess there's a limit in what you can say on a post?  Do you think the Blog Guru is trying to tell me to wrap it up?  Okay, so I'll try to be quick!!

There were Bentleys and Beamers and Cadillac Escalades lined up in the parking lot.  I remembered when John told me about seeing them and asking his customer about it.  They were all there -- a fleet of expensive cars -- for hotel guests to use!!

And, for those of you that are interested, here's a bathroom shot!!  Come on, admit it, you were wondering too, right?

And that was it!  My camera battery died and our little tour had come to an end!  Back to the car and back on the road and time to enjoy our discrete little car picnic!  It was a quick glimpse at Abu Dhabi, but I am sure we will go back sometime to stay a little longer!  And when we do, I pledge to find ALL of the Sex In The City ladies.  I pledge to lug around my new fabulous Nikon camera!  And, most importantly, I pledge to carry a spare battery so I won't miss any shots when my camera battery dies!!! 

And next time, I pledge, it won't be during Ramadan!  I saw way too many quaint cafes that would make "Starving Through Another Emirate" quite impossible!!  Thank heavens!!

STARVING THROUGH ANOTHER EMIRATE PART ONE!!

Yesterday morning John and I travelled to yet another Emirate, Abu Dhabi.  We went for very different reasons, however!  John went for a meeting with an architect.  I went in search of Sex In The City.  I know, I know -- Sex In The City wasn't really filmed in Abu Dhabi, but a girl can pretend, right? 

When you travel south and leave Dubai you drive through Jebel Ali, which is the Free Zone where many corporations, like P&G, have offices.  I'm not sure of all the benefits of locating there but the major one is that a company does not have to have a sponsor.  That, in and of itself, is huge!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebel_Ali 

Anyway, as we headed out of Dubai I couldn't help but notice that it isn't exactly the pretty end of the emirate!  Lots of power lines are there and it looks rather industrial.  The new airport that John is working on is located in this area.  The road out was, of course, Sheikh Zayed Rd. which took us all the way to Abu Dhabi.  You know how to tell when you cross over into Abu Dhabi?  This is what you see:

Miles and miles of this fence speaks loudly that, "You're in Abu Dhabi now, folks!"  It took us about an hour and half to make the trip!  I was really hoping to spot Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda at the mall where John was going to drop me off!

We arrived and it was beautiful!  The buildings are typical buildings--NOT!

                                    

                                    

This actually is an office building!  Can you even imagine?  And the odd shaped building below is a new Hyatt Regency -- sorry, but it was taken through our car window!

                                       

The mosques were typical mosques -- NOT!!

                                   

                                    

The streets were typical streets.

Except for the names of the streets -- Oh my goodness -- here's an example:

And, if the sign itself isn't quite long enough....

...you can always abbreviate!!  Although we had a map, we had a difficult time finding the office where John's meeting was.  When you're looking for streets with names like the one above, it isn't exactly an easy task!  But, lo and behold, we finally found the office with no time to spare.  And that meant no time to drop me off at a mall!  So I walked around downtown, hoping to spot "the girls".  I spent some time here:

                               

If you look closely, it does say "Mall"!  Let's just say it was a grocery store with two floors of our Dollar Tree thrown in for free!  I had fun, though!  You know, the little things are sometimes the best things!

First of all, I bought Hummus and flat bread and apples -- I wasn't about to go all day without food!  We ate it later in the car on the highway bending low so no one would see us!!  Sorry people, but we Americans have got to eat!

Then I ventured into the good parts of the store and I found some interesting things!  First of all, I found some potential outfits for the Iftar (sunset) Buffet we will be attending.  What do you think?

                                          

No, you know me!  I like color!  So, of course, I really liked these outfits, but couldn't decide which I liked better!

                                              

I searched and searched for a dressing room, to no avail.  When I asked for help, a gentleman pointed to this:

                                          

Ahhhhhh yes!!  Now why didn't I know that a Trial Room was a Dressing Room?  I opted out of trying on these beautiful gowns as the Trial Room kind of resembled a Broom Closet!  And then I saw the perfect outfits for John and for me to wear:

                                            

I quickly forgot about these outfits when I spotted......a sale rack!!  Don't ask me how I knew it was a sale rack, but somehow I did!!

                                       

Yes, it was the "End Of Range" rack that was the best!!  And then I spotted these:

                                  

They really do have top loading washer/dryers (now that's another story!) here in the UAE!  Crock pots, however, are non-existent here.  We've searched and searched and this is all we've found:

                                       

They may resemble crock pots but these are rice cookers.  And, man, do they have tons and tons of rice cookers -- probably over 150 makes and models!  Just in case you're in the market!

It was puzzling to me why I had not spotted any of the Sex And The City girls here in the crowded aisles of this pseudo-mall!  So, carrying my bag of hummus, flat bread and apples, I went back outside only to be taunted, once again, by my American friends.....who were, of course, CLOSED DUE TO RAMADAN!

DUNKIN DONUTS, BASKIN ROBBINS, PIZZA HUT

Finally my phone rang.....John's meeting was over so it was time to head back to the car.  Just then.....I spotted.....I'm just sure of it.......I couldn't quite tell, but I think it was Miranda and Samantha........

                                             

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!  I met up with John and we both agreed that we were really hungry and that under ordinary circumstances we would stop at a cafe and enjoy a brief lunch.  But, noooooooooo!!  So we hopped in the car and on our way out of Abu Dahbi we stopped by the Emirates Palace Hotel.  OMG....see for yourself what an unbelievable place this is!!!

FRONT "GATE"

A PEAK INSIDE...TO BE CONTINUED....