On this day, we left Dubai for Abu Dhabi.

(Views from the world’s highest tower)

We did visit the highest tower in Dubai which was used as background for Mission Impossible. It was really stunning. I wanted to purchase some souvenirs there but the price was out of the question. There is an available shooting service which takes your pictures and photoshop-s them with funny background. Me and Cheese took a couple of pictures and queued up to receive our pictures. It turned out to be that one picture costs us nearly 2,000,000 VND (What the heck). We gave up on it. Price was unexpectedly high. But it came no surprise to us because we were in Dubai- one of the most luxurious place that ever existed on earth.

Then we got to Dubai and the world’s largest shopping center which consists of internationally known brands such as Armani, Dior, Gucci, Forever 21, H&M, Rolex (I felt so close to this brand- My created character in fiction wears a Rolex watch, every time he touches his partner, he makes her chill to the bone), and Levi’s (Oh man, he wears Levi ‘s jeans too)… We felt kind of lost in shopping world. It offered free wifi. How could we expect more? I told Cheese that I would love to visit Candylicious to buy some candies for friends and Bath and Body Works for Secret Wonderland (In Vietnam, this product was nowhere to be seen, I wondered if it was still available in Dubai), then I would follow Cheese to any stores she wanted. After paying a short visit to a couple of stores, her feet started to feel hurt and she decided to sit and wait for me. I could get to the first store but never made it to Bath and Body Works. On the way to back to the meeting place, I visited a few more shops to buy some small souvenirs (stuffed toys and key chains) with reasonable prices (of course). Only 1.5 hours for shopping could not satisfy me. As people in my tour came outside to take pictures with the world’s highest building, I wandered around shops nearby and got excited at finding a souvenir shop where I bought for me and Cheese beautiful hanging decoration accessories. Take a look at it.

But I came back late as a result of it. The tourist guide who thought I lost somewhere tried to find me outside. Oh I am so sorry for that. My bad

The next destination was the ice coffee. Before entering it, we were given heavy coats, headphone, and hats to keep our body warm. It was warned that the main coffee hall was 6 degree below, which did not turn out to be a joke. It was exceptionally cold. In spite of the coat I was wearing, I felt chilled to my bones and frozen. Luckily, we were offered free hot milk chocolate. I had to take my gloves off to take a few pictures. After approximately 10 minutes, we got out of that freaking cold place. OMG. The ticket was so high and for an individual who couldn’t stand low temperature like me, it was a waste of money.

The next stop was filled with fun. We visited a garment workshop where they sold Persian carpets. I believe that the Persian have mastered the level of the art of making carpets as one carpet does not resemble each other and each one has exceptionally beautiful features. Carpets’ textures look so fine. It was such a shame that I couldn’t take photo since I was not allowed to. They even attach gold to carpets to make them look super luxurious. Of course, the price was as high as Dubai’s Khalifa Burj. But we can still bargain. One family in my tour gave $350 for a medium sized carpet whose original price was $2500. You know what. The seller accepted and transaction was made. I didn’t know if it was a rip-off or not. Anyways, it was none of my business. When me and Cheese were walking around the store, we bumped into a salesman who had all features of a typical Middle East men: black beard, stunning eyes, spectacular heights, sweet voice, tanned skin and super polite manner. It was so nice talking with bae. Then we played a little game called: ”Can you guess my age?”. He said that I looked like 17-year-old girl. Oh, what a bae! You had a really expressive sales skill.

We kept on talking but the conversation started to get weird.

Bae: ”Where is your mother?”

Me: “She’s living in Vietnam” (*Thinking: Why does he ask me about mother? Is he going to ask for my mother’s permission to take me out for a date?)

Bae: ”I thought she was on a tour with you. If she’d been there, I would have sold the carpet for her”

I laughed so hard but felt butter inside. His sales skill was so good that went beyond my expectation. Anyways, it was fun and so refreshing. That story became a legend to me that i couldn’t help telling my friends about it.

After 2 hour driving, we finally got back to Abu Dhabi and stayed at the same hotel- Novotel. As tomorrow, we would fly at 8 AM, so it was better off leaving at 5 AM. That means we had to wake up and pack our stuff at 4 AM. Since we had to get up early in the morning, after dinner, Cheese got back to the hotel room to take a rest while I went shopping with another lovely family in my tour. The mall was rather big but we just couldn’t have enough time for all. The best option was to wander around it. I bought a candy jar for my girls in Vietnam.

The fourth day had nothing to tell as we got nothing to explore except for 6-hour flight. So, I decided to attach it together with the third day. But I got something to entertain me, besides available films and music in the flight.

Seriously, if I do some works like this, my boss would beat the hell out of me.

Why don’t you ask me, I can do it for you, especially it’s free of charge. So embarrassing!

After a so-so buffet in the hotel, we headed to the museum and market for shopping. Before that, we paid a quick visit to Al Bastakiya, which is a historic district in Dubai.

According to the local tourist guide, no one lived there anymore. It has grabbed tourists’ attention for picturesque sight and one of a kind design which is made of sand. Because it was left empty, the whole place brought me a state of peaceful mind. It just started to get noisier when other foreign visitors came. I read that the history of Al Bastakiya dates back in 1890s, so, the design was heavily influenced by traditional Islamic architecture. There were elegant houses, hanging oil lamps, small lattice, and sophisticated windows… I really appreciate effort of Dubai Municipality to bring back historic buildings back to life.

Then we took a short walk to Dubai Museum which displays history of Dubai to public. It was so hot that I couldn’t even enjoy this place, plus, it was full of people. I felt better when we came inside of the museum. It was cool but dark, which freaked me out a little. Imagine in the dark there was a man whose face was unseen cutting a piece of wood. He was moving. The vision was unclear. Everything was dark. I almost shouted my lung out when just seeing. Even though it was just a video, it just chilled me to the bones, which made me want to get out of it ASAP.

The part I enjoyed the most was the souvenir corner where I bought some stuff for friends and me. Back home, I had a small decorative bowl which was a gift from my beloved Hong Kong teacher. I thought she/he would need a partner, so, I bought another one to be his/her partner. LOL. Look at them.

(On my way to Golden Souk and Spicy Souk)

We did a couple of shopping tasks around Golden Souk (Golden market- a market specializing in selling golden jewelries, necklaces, rings, and even clothes) and Spicy Souk (Spice market). We even passed by a store which displays the world’s largest ring. There was a store putting golden dress and related accessories on display.

Then, it came to my acknowledgement that in high class family, it was a custom that grooms have to purchase that valuable dress for their wives-to-be. It was so nice and elegantly made but I wonder if it was heavy to put that dress on. It didn’t look really light. Then, we went around the market to buy some souvenir. I even got a “I love Dubai” T-shirt. Really cool!

We had lunch at Thailand restaurant. It was so much better than Shanghai one. Thailand curry and noodles were my cup of cake, so, I did enjoy my meals. The dessert was good as well. Sweet soups tasted so good. I hoped my mother who loved sweet stuff had been there.

Then, we got back to the hotel to take a 15 minute break before the next destination- Desert Safari. We were divided into two groups: one group would go straight to the desert and another would take Land Cruiser for a dune drive to the desert. It was shameful that the first choice was recommended for pregnant women and the elderly. But me and Cheese chose it. I am not a big fan of extreme games so, being on a crazy car driving ups and downs is a huge off to me, which eventually led to our decision to go straight to the camp safety on a wide and flat lane.

(Sights along the road)

(Imagine how scary it would be to be lost in a big desert)

It came as no surprise that we were the first group to come (of course, other people were busy surfing the desert). We were offered free soft drink and food (at that time, food was still unprepared and raw). Here came camels. It was my first time seeing that type of animal, thus, I felt awkward, especially at their heights which exceed horses’ ones. This is an 11- year-old camel. He was gentle, harmless and cute. I didn’t get why they locked camels’ mouths. Later I learned that it was used to prevent sand from entering their noses (it’s not good for them) and camels from being sunburnt. The camel owner urged me to ride on him and promised to take me nice pictures. But I couldn’t dare do it and ended up sitting on the back of him. Oh, I love him so much, my little camie.

We came back to the camp where I tried Shisha which is a water-pipe smoking tool. It allows us to smoke flavored tobacco which is not as heavy as ordinary tobacco. As a normal girl with two exceptional abilities which are transforming oxygen into carbon oxygen and getting under my boss’ skin, I failed to smoke shisha miserably. So, I quickly moved out of that zone and went to paint Hena which is an artistic painting technique. I had an Indian girl paint a beautiful flower running from my waist to the top of my finger.

The sunburnt hands- i used to hold- Autumn leaves

Sunset in the desert

Before we had dinner, there was a special performance, which was pretty impressive. But at that time, I was so hungry that I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the show. Much to my disappointment, food tasted really odd that I gave up eating soon. In the campaign, there was available food, and soft drink, everything was at your fingertips, but it was just No- No. Then my beloved tour partners gave me a couple of sandwiches, cheese and fruits, which helped me survive that night.

It was until we got back to the hotel that I got really sick in my stomach, to the point of vomiting any times. It was relatively shock on the way driving back home and I was playing Cheese’s Ipad. That’s why. That’s what I got.

*Pictures of the day:

It was a 5-day and 4-night trip and began on Tuesday. We took a 6 hour red eye flight to Abu Dhabi, which is the capital and second populous city in the United Arab Emirates. I couldn’t bring myself to answer why night flights are called red eye ones. Now I know. When your back really hurts and you can’t sleep no matter how sleepy you feel, your eyes turn really red. LOL. I don’t know. But my eyes were red the day after that I thought I had an eye sore. Never mind. Vietnam is 3 hour ahead of UEA. So, by the time we got to the hotel, it had been already 3 AM in the morning, which means we had 4.5 hours to sleep before our exploration trip began.

On the first day, we headed to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the most iconic landmarks of Abu Dhabi. This Aladdin’s palace-looking-alike was named after Sheikh Zayed, who brought Emirates into federation and initially came up with the construction. The structure was brought into completion in 2007- 3 years after the ruler’s death. Covering an area of 12 hectares, it has been considered the largest mosque in UAE. Moreover, it has risen to public’s prominence as the most celebrated grand mosque, with a large number of pilgrims. Noticeably, during Eid, it can even come up to 40,000 people.

As it is a holy place, we have to wear formal clothes. It is not really formal, as long as your top and bottom cover your wrists and ankles and are not transparent, you are allowed to access the mosque. One more thing. I heard from my tourist guide that hair is considered sexy. So, you must wear a cloth that covers your hair as well. If you don’t follow the rule, you will get expelled. So, you’d better not play with it.

Ok. I was permitted to enter the mosque. The large structure was just breathtaking, spellbinding, just a pure pleasure to my eyes. It is all covered in white theme, so, sophisticated golden designs are quite prominent. There is a way leading to the main hall. I was overwhelmingly impressed by two crystal clear water ponds that I was even able to see my reflection. It is never wrong to say that Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the living proof of modern Islamic architecture and design. It is a brilliant mixture of different architecture styles, which makes it a popular tourist spot.

Before entering the main hall, I had to take my shoes off. It was really cool to put my bare feet on the floor. It is said that the mosque was made of gold, precious stones that are able to withstand 500C (really impressive!).

I was surprised even more when reaching the main hall. I am not really a huge fan of Swarovski but they just did an excellent job of creating sparkling and shining crystal chandeliers. It comes to term with the fact that the largest chandelier weighs 80 tons. They, along with sophisticated and large carpet, bring the main hall luxurious feel.

I like walls and windows too. It was such a brilliant design. On the main hall, you will see 100 flowers with 99 names respectively on the wall. As for one left unnamed, you will know when you go to the heaven. It was easy to catch palm tree pillars around the mosque since palm trees are the symbol of Abu Dhabi, which significantly adds its charms. I heard that they were made of gold too. Abu Dhabi is so rich in gold and oil, and they know how to make best use of them. As for the restroom, I could say that it was on par with 7 star hotels since it smells so good and clean. I am not allowed to take pictures of the restroom, I am not even allowed to speak when going to the restroom (I know it’s strict, but it is the rule).

(The best I could do was to take the picture of drinking sink)

So, we left Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to head to Dubai, which took us 2.5 hours by car. Along the way there, I took many pictures of Abu Dhabi’s renowned structures and skyscrapers, including Capital Gates- which is the world’s furthest leaning towers.

By the way, we did visit a Shanghai restaurant for lunch. I am not that into Chinese food and it was just acceptable. The lunch was considered an informal get together meeting with other people in tour. Me and Cheese made friends with a nice middle age couple and other two member family. It was good. I took a picture of rice which was imported from India. It was so different from Vietnam’s and of course, not as good as Vietnam’s.

The place we first visited in Dubai was Palm island- a Dubai based man made island. It was home to richest and first class people in the world. In addition to hotels, there are high class restaurants, water park (oh my dream), shopping mall and entertainment center… Small kingdom for them, right? The sky monorail we got on allowed us to have a bird eye view of the whole island.

The local tourist guide named Honey said that the price for 1 house here is 100 million USD (if I am not wrong). If you want a one day stay, then pay 1,500 USD for average class. Other levels must be higher. I can’t help feeling jealous with the rich, so ended up feeling so bad for myself. Hey wait, if I cannot own a house there, maybe my husband could. Hence, it means that I have to marry a rich guy. No. No. Couldn’t let myself drawn in negative and material thoughts. We stayed there for 2 hours ( I think). It was around 7 PM (Vietnamese hour), thus, we dropped by a fast-food restaurant where a really handsome waiter served me. He asked me if I enjoyed the food, and where I came from. I just didn’t like the way he addressed me as “madam”. Too polite, I would say. After satisfying our grumbling stomach, we went out to take pictures of the beach and a 7 star hotel.

We ended up reaching to the hotel which I didn’t know the name. By the way, it didn’t matter much since I didn’t go out that night.