Being over on this side of the world allows you to go on some pretty awesome vacations. Me and my team and some other colleagues from another city took a 12 day vacation in Dubai. I never thought I would said that I’ve been to Dubai! It was full of a lot of adventures.
We started off our vacation with celebrating CH’s birthday, the 30th! We went shopping at some of our favorite stores and got to buy him some new clothes for his birthday. And yes, he did buy stuff from Forever 21 and H&M. I mean who can resist? We ate dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We all loaded up on beef burgers and steaks! We were so excited to have cow beef for the first time in a LONG time! While at dinner we got to watch a water show just like in Vegas at the Bellagio hotel. And we got to see the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalif all lit up. It sparkled every once in a while like the Eiffel Tower!
The Burj Khalifa - tallest building in the world!
CH with his bleans (black jeans) from Gap! Happy birthday!
The team on CH's birthday at Outback Steakhouse!
The boys and their purchases from Forever 21!!!
Finally New Year’s Eve. We had a great plan to go eat at Chili’s then go to the beach to watch fireworks where we heard had some of the best shows. Unfortunately the plan didn’t work out like we had hoped. While we were in Dubai, our Indian SIM cards didn’t work and only a few of us actually bought them. So we said to meet at Chili’s on Jumeria Road, but little did we know that there were 2 Chili’s within 30 minutes of each other. So our team got split up. We had dinner and then headed down to the beach. CH, Claire, Gordo, Caleb, and I were together for the fireworks show. We got to the beach at 11:30, just in time for the incredible show. Apparently the people in Dubai have so much money that they fly in firework experts just for New Years. Ridiculous, but I didn’t mind too much! We got to watch about 5 different fireworks shows all next one of Dubai’s self-proclaimed 7-star hotel, Burj Al Arab. It was an incredible New Years!
Claire and I getting ready for a fun night out!
On Jumeria beach ready for the fireworks!
Caleb, Gordo, Claire, Me and CH on New Year's Eve
An incredible show!
While in Dubai, we got to do a ton of fun thing! We got to go to the beach several times, play sand volleyball, shop, shop, and shop. But there were 4 things about Dubai that just made the trip completely unforgettable: slip-n-slide soccer, dune bashing, global village, and ski Dubai.
While playing sand-volleyball one day, we discovered that you could play slip-n-slide soccer on the beach. What they had done was put some padding down on the pavement, put blow-up walls on the sides and soccer goals on each end, then covered the entire surface with soap and water. It was such a fun experience. I don’t think one person was able to stay on their feet the entire time. For the first 30 minutes we just messed around and slid everywhere, but then started to play soccer. We had to shuffle our feet in hopes of getting near the ball. It was definitely a blast. There were some injuries, but nothing too serious to keep the game from continuing!
Slip and slide soccer at it's finest!
Later that day, we went dune bashing! This was an incredible experience. Our car held me, Heather, Ballgame, Caleb, and Scott. They took us out to the desert and drove us up and down the dunes! Unfortunately, our driver wasn’t the best and we kept getting stuck in the sand. We got a new driver for a little bit and he was driving incredible fast, I felt like we were on a roller coaster because we were going all over the inside of the car and I felt like we were about to flip over! Now, that’s my kind of ride!!! WOOHOO!! We reached the camp where they fed us food, let us ride camels and gave us a show! A few of us went to the top of some dunes and I put on some music and we had a little dance party!
Picture on the dunes before the adventure begins: Scott, Me, Heather, Ballgame, and Caleb
Bucklin' Up!
The Hyderabad girls that went bashing!
The team!
Heather and I on a camel ride!
We had a girls night out and we decided to go to Global Village, which is a bigger and better version of Epcott in Disney World. It has a ton of countries and in each country, they had a market where you could by good from each country. It was incredible. We only had time to spend 2 hours there, but I definitely could have stayed there all day! I went to Africa and bought a bracelet, but also wanted to buy some rings, but they wouldn’t bargain with me like I wanted them to. They also had food from some of the countries and dancers doing their cultural dance! It was so fun!
Dubai also has an indoor snow ski area called Ski Dubai. You might have seen it on Amazing Race! I LOVE THAT SHOW! Christina and I decided to go splurge and take 2 hours to go snow skiing in the desert! It's pretty cool because they give you everything that you need! Problem is: everyone looks alike! Haha. But it was worth it! We had so much fun! We skied til my fingers and toes were numb then took a break in the lodge that was on the "mountain" then went back to the "slopes!"
Christina and I before our first run down the "mountain" in our matching outfits.
Ski Dubai!
Dubai was fun and full of lots of memories with my India team. Love getting to spend time with my team, especially these girls!
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