Dubai: Days 5 & 6

Day 5: Jumeirah Beach, Shake Shack, Dubai Mall Fountain 

This morning we headed to the beach! Back in the Marina district, there is a beautiful walkway, lined with restaurants and shops on one side and public beach on the other. The painted pathway is the cleanest you'll ever find anywhere. It is literally someone's job to stand there and sweep the sand back to its proper place. You'll find attendents in the bathrooms, ensuring that you'll likely never be in a public beach restroom as dry as this again.

Our first stop on our beach day: Splash Pad. My friend and her friend brought their toddlers to play in the water. The enclosed water playground resembles a mini version of a water park - but with only the little kiddie areas, and of course a classic large bucket that periodically dumps water on your head.   Pay by the hour or all day for your child and adults are free to accompany. Since we arrived early, we had the place to ourselves for a bit - a nice relaxing start to the morning.

Next, we headed to the sand. The Persian Gulf waters are warm and extremely salty - watch that you don't get it in your eyes! It felt airing to the skin - better than a spa. We rest in the shallows with the boys, finding little starfish and enjoying the view of the waters in one direction and those mega skyscrapers in the other. Occasionally a camel bearing tourists roams along the sand. As we left for lunch, the sand grew significantly hotter, so watch you feet!

After quick showers at the restroom, we headed toward the Shake Shack, a delicious burger joint. It's rare to find pork in Dubai, so instead you'll find veal bacon. Great burger, although on the pricier side, but you get what you pay for!

As we left, a DJ started spinning in a legitimate DJ booth. At noon. At a public beach. On a Tuesday.

Only in Dubai.

That evening we returned to the Dubai Mall for a Lebonese meal in the Souk. As we walked up to out, a man performed the dance we'd seen at the campsite the night before, with slight variations. I guess Lebonese culture has a greater impact her than I thought! The kids stood entranced by his spinning round and round and round. As he finished his performance, he approached each kid and spun the fabric high above their heads. Fun way to start dinner.

The restaurant decor seemed lavish and detailed with rich fabrics on love seats and carved designs on pointed wooden chairs. We started with smooth, creamy hummus and a hollow, crispy bread - definitely hit the spot.  Ordering rice and chicken dishes, the presentation outshined the taste of the food (the food was good but delivery was better). The server set large copper pots with lids before us and "unveiled" our meal to us, nice and hot.

After dinner we scurried to the other side of the mall to see the fountain show. Every night starting at 6pm, every 30 minutes the fountain outside the mall puts on a show with music and dancing waters, similar to the Venitian in Vegas. We arrived just in time to push through the crowd to see one corridinated with an Enrique Iglesias song. We stuck around to see one more, this time to a local, traditional, Arabic song. Water flew through the air, emphasized by glowing lights. The Burj Khalifa stood as an impressive back drop. If you know me - Enrique wins every time, and so was the case tonight.

Day 6: Cultural Breakfast, The Observatory, Goodbyes

This morning we made our way to the Sheik Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding to experience a cultural breakfast. The idea behind the center is to simulate inviting people from different backgrounds to enjoy a traditional Emirates meal with a real Emirates host, to answer any questions - literally any question - about their culture or dress or lifestyle. I didn't expect it to be one of the highlights of the trip.

Our host, who's name I can't pronounce or remember, immediately made us feel at ease. With media portraying people in their dress as terrorists, most people are unsure of how to act an afraid to talk to an Emirates. He made us laugh and assured us that we can talk about anything - stating that someone once asked what they wore underneath their cloths. I won't go into everything he taught us, but as coffee was served, he explained the history of coffee, poked fun at our names for drinks when their origins don't align with the names, and suggested that even if you don't drink coffee, it's rude in their culture to not accept a drink when offered. For example, when he is offered champagne when traveling, he accepts and discretely places it to the side somewhere, as to not offend the host.

We had all of this discussion while sitting on floor pillows, surrounding a long rectangular cloth on the floor in the center. This cloth acted as our "table," and is what  you would find in any local's home. (Local here means a true Emirates. Even though my friend has lived here for several years and her son was born here, they will never be considered "locals.") The thinking behind not having a table is that often they have several extended family members gathering for a meal; many more people can surround a cloth in this way than on a table with chairs.

Dates served before the meal coat the stomach, preparing it for food. The Date Palm is Dubai's national tree, so you'll find dates as a snack and dessert here, as well. After discussing culture and traditions, it was time to "attack": chickpeas, an egg and Chinese noodle mix, some bread similar to pancakes, served with date syrup of course, and small donut holes, but not sweet. We served ourselves on our knees, buffet style, scooting along to fill our plates. Click here for their website with more details on the food and the center.

Following the meal, he went over head to tow the male and female style of dress. He had a volunteer put on the Abaya, the female dress, to describe each portion. They gave my friends son a coloring book which had a picture with labels, so:

From our breakfast we returned again to the Marina, this time to The Observatory at the top of the Marriott Harbor Hotel. (Parking is free for customers!) Enjoying a bottle of champagne and light lunch, we gazed out over The Palm from 52 stories up. The Palm is a collection of man made islands in the gulf, forming a palm leaf in the water. Each island has colleges built and occupied. Being the last day, we really just enjoyed chatting for a couple hours with the beautiful view. I highly recommend this place.

Time to go! Laundry and quick bite at the house, she took me to the airport and escorted me to the counter. I'm so glad she did - I almost didn't get on the plane. My flight leaving Guilin to Vietnam had been cancelled and not yetvrebooked, so I had no proof that I would leave China. If you don't have the proof, they won't let you in. Fortunately, I remembered the Hong Kong counts as an exit, so with my flight confirmation from Shanghai, they finally issued me my ticket.

My friend walked with me to security, and this time I actually got teary. Maybe it's because I enjoyed spending time with her so much and didn't know when I'd see her again, or maybe it was because the backpacking portion was finally beginning and I was extremely nervous.

Here goes nothing!