January 2017
We had heard tales of a magical land on the edge of the desert where skyscrapers and islands would appear overnight. There was only one way to find out if it was real or a mirage – and there was only one way to get there. On a windy San Francisco afternoon, we boarded the brand new Emirates double decker A380 and embarked on a 16 hour flight to Dubai.
The main reason for our trip was to attend the wedding of our close friends from Dubai, Waleed & Dilan. More on their grand event later…
As our behemoth jet descended out of the clouds and into the Dubai night sky, the first thing we saw was the Burj Khalifa. As the tallest building on the entire planet you can pretty much set your navigation system to direct to it from anywhere in the world and it will guide you straight to the UAE. Once we touched down in Dubai around 8pm, we hopped into a taxi and checked into the extravagant Roda al Murooj – just blocks from the Burj Khalifa.
82 Hours Left…
We had a complimentary cup of Arabic coffee and a couple of sweet dates upon checking in, dropped our bags, and took an Uber to Grosvenor House where we had dinner reservations at Indego by Vineet, a culinary masterpiece overlooking the Dubai Marina and lead by the first Indian chef to hold a Michelin star. We started with crispy papadum and a trio of house-made chutneys.
We were dreaming about Vineet’s famous lamb shank since we left SFO, so we ordered that for dinner along with the perfect set of complements – pomegranate raita and garlic naan. When it comes to eating lamb, we keep it simple – that’s our motto. The lamb was phenomenal and deserved all the hype. To be quite honest, it is actually the taste of the garlic naan that we most fondly remember. His garlic naan was a dose of pure allium-tastic ecstasy.
We didn’t want the first night to end – and when you have traveled over 8,000 miles for only three days, you can’t afford to waste a single night to jetlag. Knowing that, we ordered two Arabic coffees thinking we would be given two small cups to take like shots before heading out to party. To our surprise, we were given two massive French presses full of bold, aromatic Arabic coffee. Needless to say, after two and a half cups of coffee each, we were totally wired and forgot that we hadn’t slept in over 30 hours.
Rather than taking an Uber, we opted for a long walk through the Dubai Marina and then finally made our way to the coast of the Persian Gulf where we followed flocks of people into Barasti Beach. There is nothing quite like being at a party at sea level which can probably be heard from the top of the highest point in the world, the Burj Khalifa.
We grabbed a drink, and wandered around the vast complex of bars, dancefloors, restaurants, and party goers. We took the stairs down to the beach where we kicked off our shoes, settled in on a lounge couch, and dug our beers into the sand while enjoying a peach and lemon-mint flavored hookah. We shared a quick laugh of disbelief that we were sitting mere feet from waves crashing on our left, a rowdy dance floor in front, and the view of the vibrant Dubai Marina to our right. This weekend was starting strong and looked very promising!
At around 2am, we took an Uber back to the hotel and called it a night. After all, we had to be ready for the main event the next day – the wedding of Prince Waleed and Princess Dilan <3
74 Hours Left…
We woke up to a rose colored desert sky painted over the Dubai skyline.
After stuffing our faces with beef kebab wraps filled with hummus, tomato, lettuce, and onion, we headed for one of the most iconic sites in the world and the only recorded seven star hotel – Burj al Arab.
The Dubai Marathon was taking place and the finish line was at the hotel, so we cheered on some athletes, including our friend, Santiago. GO SANTI!
A handful of camel statues later, we walked through the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and walked along the pier to the 360° Bar. Even among the enormous yachts, our eyes were still captivated by the massive Burj Khalifa hovering in the distance.
We were itching to go across the water to the Burj al Arab (which sits on its own island), but it is known to only allow hotel guests onto the premises. With some quick thinking, we called the hotel and made a lunch reservation at their poolside cafe and within a minute, we were picked up in a golf cart and ushered like royalty to the front door of 7th heaven.
Maya said it best – the trick is to walk in like they’re expecting you on the helipad…or the tennis court which sits 690 feet off the ground. We enjoyed a few cocktails poolside and then had a hankering for some seafood.
We walked up the beach to Bu Qtair and arrived just when they opened at 10:30am. The folks who run the joint don’t speak English, so when you get to the front of the line to order, you have to point at your favorite fish in a large cooler and do a vague hand gesture to signal how much spicy shrimp you want. After 40 minutes, you are not sure whether you will get anything even remotely close to what you thought you ordered, but what comes out of the kitchen is steaming hot, fresh seafood made-to-order. No forks necessary here! Roll up your sleeves and get to picking. We dug in with our hands and polished off our plates down to the limes they served us as garnish.
After lunch, we met some friends at the hotel, popped a bottle of champagne for Santi’s birthday and post-marathon celebrations, and then got ready for the wedding. Waleed & Dilan’s wedding was at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, which as you can imagine, is a locale out of a fairytale. We got on the Uber app and swiped over to the UberCHOPPER option to see if we could arrive in style. Unfortunately we received the “There are currently no choppers available” message…oh well.
Once we arrived at the venue we were greeted by 3 handsome stallions – a Ferrari, a Bentley, and a Mercedes. Rikun, Jonas, and Santi were looking pretty dashing too 🙂
The wedding oozed opulence and was tons of fun. After a fabulous night of dancing, eating, and partying, we headed back to our hotel to crash.
46 Hours Left…
The next morning, we left the hotel early to spend the day exploring Dubai’s more historic landmarks. We started with the Jumeirah Mosque which is said to be one of the most photographed mosques in Dubai. They have organized tours, but we opted to roam around the complex by ourselves.
Next, we took a taxi to Old Dubai. We were pleased to find out that most taxi drivers in Dubai speak Hindi, so we had no trouble navigating around the older parts of the city. We wandered around the narrow streets and visited the Grand Mosque. Then, we walked around the souks of Old Dubai and got lost looking at all the stalls selling fruits, harem pants, colorful lanterns, and hookahs.
We were starving and found a quiet little restaurant, Al Bait Al Qadeem, where we stuffed ourselves full of beef kebabs, lamb kebabs, chicken kebabs, Mediterranean salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, turmeric stained rice, freshly baked bread the size of the sun, and the most delicious bowl of garlicky hummus we have ever tasted. We washed down the amazing grub with some freshly squeezed orange juice and mint tea.
We hurried back to the hotel for a quick wardrobe change as our next adventure awaited us. Around 3pm, we embarked on a “Desert Safari.” First up, we had to look the part…
Next, we took a 4×4 out into the desert and went “dune bashing.” This was like nothing we had ever experienced before. It was a 1 hour rollercoaster up and down the desert dunes at about 60 mph. Our driver was definitely a veteran, and led the pack of 4x4s through the Arabian Desert like a wild line of ants on Speed. He also blasted Arabic house music and it felt like every beat drop was perfectly timed with each dip through the sand dunes.
The tour ended with some food, hookah, entertainment, and serene views of the sunset from a desert campsite.
Once we were back at the hotel, we got ready to meet the newlyweds at Karma Kafe at the base of the Burj Khalifa. Google Maps told us it was only a 1.1 mile walk, so we decided to walk instead of taking a 5 minute taxi ride. Worst. Decision. Ever. If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas, you know how walking 1 mile can take you forever due to the funky sidewalks, escalators, pedestrians, and slow crosswalks – this was 10 times worse. It took us nearly 90 minutes to walk 1 mile to the Burj Khalifa (although we did get fairly lost in between since many roads are closed off at night for safety reasons). Once we finally made it to Karma Kafe, we had a few drinks to celebrate the couple, closed down the bar, and then opted for a quick taxi ride home at 2am.
22 Hours Left…
Sunday morning came and it was time for us to defy gravity by ascending to the top of the Burj Khalifa. Rather than buying a visitor ticket for the observation deck, we decided to make reservations in advance at At.Mosphere, the world’s highest restaurant situated on Level 122 of the Burj Khalifa. This was a breakfast like no other as we sat next to the window overlooking the fountains of the Dubai Mall, and basically everything else in the whole world. We enjoyed fresh orange juice, tea, steak & eggs, and a ham & gruyere crêpe. Somehow they knew it was Maya’s birthday, so we polished off a decadent chocolate cake that was brought to us as well.
After breakfast, we roamed around the luxurious Armani Hotel which takes up many of the floors of the Burj Khalifa. This hotel was picture perfect and while walking through, you just knew that everyone around you had to either be making some serious bank or be part-royalty to be staying there.
Next we walked along the fountains of the Dubai Mall and through the mall itself.
The Dubai Mall (the largest in the world) is home to an entire theme park, an aquarium, a movie theater, hundreds of designer shops, fabulous restaurants, a luxury hotel, and a zoo. You have to see it to believe it. We only had time to explore a few corners of it, but we were completely blown away.
In the afternoon, we decided to take a spontaneous day trip to Abu Dhabi. We tried our luck with UberCHOPPER (but struck out, again) so we hopped in a regular Uber and went straight to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – the largest in the UAE. The inner prayer courtyard is expansive and pristine, and the turquoise pools around the outside pose a beautiful contrast with the bright white marble.
After walking around the grounds of the mosque, we took a taxi to the opulent Emirates Palace Hotel where we sat on the beach and enjoyed the sunset over the UAE Presidential Palace. When you arrive in front of the Emirates Palace Hotel, it is hard to imagine that it is not in fact the royal palace.
It isn’t until you make your way to the back of the hotel and look out over the Persian Gulf to the left that you see true grandeur. The UAE Presidential Palace truly seems like a mirage across the waters.
We stopped at Meylas on the way back to our hotel for an authentic Emiraati dinner which consisted of grilled fresh fish, spiced prawns, and chicken with mixed rice. We indulged in a pot of warm camel milk tea (not to be confused with chamomile tea) with honey as a nightcap before heading back to Dubai.
4 Hours Left…
We woke up, dusted the sand out of our Nikes, took one last look at the mighty Burj Khalifa and headed to DXB airport at 8:45am. We enjoyed the last 16 hours of luxury on the Emirates jet, and landed back at SFO by 12:45pm – just in time to head to work and finish off the afternoon at our desks.
Dubai is truly the city of superlatives where everything is “the world’s first” or “the world’s largest.” Everything felt smaller and simpler once we were back in California, and that was going to take some getting used to!
