wakeskeer: The Second Weekend

I went home to shower and clean up before I went back out to meet David and Pedro. While I was back at the hotel, I realized that my phone wouldn’t turn on. There goes calling David to meet up. I hope they gave me good enough directions. That adds getting my phone fixed to my weekend plans.

I wanted to take a taxi to Hotel Majestic and I was going straight from dinner, so that limited dinner to walking distance. I found TGI Friday’s or McDonalds. TFIG it is. I’ve never seen a TGIF like this. They served all the regular food, but the whole staff, who is nothing but young Chinese women, is totally decked in flair (reference: Jennifer Anniston in Office Space) from head to toe, floppy jester hat included. They have on American pop music. Everytime Rihanna or Sean Paul come on, they stop their jobs, meet in the center of the restaurant and rock out to this line dance that is rather suggestive, especially for this conservative Arab country. Dinner is over, I’ve got some time to kill so I walk around for a bit. Catch a Taxi. Like most cabs, my driver is Indian, he drives like he has a death-wish and knows some god forsaken back alley that will get us there faster. He doesn’t speak any English, and I certainly don’t know Indian, so it was a pretty quiet ride. I tried to ask him the names of the roads we were on. His only response was that the roads were new, no name yet. Okay.

We stop at Hotel Majestic and I pay him. I tried to tip him, but he yells at me to get out of the cab. I walk into “Music Club.” I find Pedro and David at a table near the stage. Pedro is Filipino and had suggested this bar because, as I now see, this is a big Filipino hang out spot. He informs us that the band, three Filipino women wearing short skirts and fishnets and two Filipino men, who looked as if they had abused drugs for the past 30 years, have been the same act for the past three years. They play only American hard rock and metal. I walk to the bar for a beer.

{Sidebar: The UAE is a dry country. Drinking is strictly not allowed in Islam. Obviously, to attract this many expats, they had to make some allowances. Alcohol, albeit highly regulated, is allowed to be served in "tourist" hotels. Drinking and driving is strictly prohibited and punishable by large fines and 25 years in jail. Public drunkennes is punishable by 10 years in jail. The average cost of a beer on tap is between $12 and $15. "Good" beers cost more. End Sidebar}

I started talking to a girl at the bar. Okay, no big deal. About thirty seconds into the conversation I realize what’s going on here. It’s time for me to take my beer and leave. I make my way back to the table and ask if encounters like these are similar in the U.A.E. The guys laugh and decide when we finish our beers they’re going to take me to another place.

We walk in this place and it looks like a cool scene. I buy a round of Carlsson, Probably the best beer in the world. (I don’t actually think this is a great beer, that’s a reference to the guys I went to Italy with.) The band is again playing American music. The predominantly male band is either Canadian or American and dressed in jeans and Cowboy hats, including the single female singer. They’ve got the place hopping.

A minute after we arrive, two Chinese girls approach and start talking to us. They ask us our names and where we’re from. This starts sounding familiar to that 30 second conversation I had at the last bar. Folks, the world’s oldest profession is alive and well in Dubai. I swear to you we had no less than 35 girls (at least 32 of which were Chinese) and ask a simple, routine set of four questions:

1) What’s your name?

2) Where are you from?

3) How long have you been here?

4) Would you like to go home with me tonight?

After another round, my fourth since arriving in this country 10 days ago (yes mother, I’m being good), Pedro and I have decided we’ve had enough. We give David the high sign and head home, ALONE.

My plan for Friday was to check out the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, DOSC, and see if I could crew on a big boat, or take out my own dinghy. As it turns out, a couple waste trucks had pumped out in a storm sewer that drained into the DOSC basin. Despite the start of racing season, DOSC is closed for health reasons. New plan.

I checked the hotel guide book out and saw sand skiing, this sounds interesting, but I just went to the desert last weekend. Wait a second, Dubai is supposed to have an indoor snow skiing hill. I can’t come to Dubai and not check this thing out. A’ight, game time. I track it down. Cleverly enough, its called “Ski Dubai.” It’s located at the end of Emirates Mall a few exits beyond my office. Done.

Emirates mall is gigantic. I’ve never seen a mall this big. Or this nice. The mall is yet another 5 star establishment. To walk from one side to the other, at a good clip, is about 15-20 minutes, to walk front to back, is another 10-15 minutes. The american movie theater is playing all the latest movies. All of the designer stores are here. I check out Lacoste hoping to catch a good deal on the exchange rate. Negative, a shirt is $150 US. Finally, in the last of four corners, I find Ski Dubai.

The view entering Emirates Mall.

Looking across at one of the Cafes in Emirates Mall

A two hour lift ticket, including rentals and a locker is $70. Oh well, how often do you get to ski in a desert. Of course, the slope is basic, but the snow is actually not half bad. The staff is enormous and like any western resort is all decked out in matching snow team gear. There are I somehow neglected to bring my ski helmet from home... Oh well, I got in a good first of the season run. I didn't rent a jacket and snowpants, instead opting for jeans and a sweatshirt. At first some of the staff kind of laughed at me but after a run or two, they got jealous asked me if I could teach them to ski...