Category Archives: Travel

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : More pictures from Dubai

Here are a few more pictures from Dubai. I’ll post a full album when I get home. This trip has been so amazing. Words cannot describe what it’s like here. My friends and I have been soaking it all in and in awe. We’ve been asking ourselves if such a fascinating place is sustainable or whether or not we would consider living and working here at some point. Not sure about the answer to the first question, but I could totally see myself living and working here if the right opportunity presented itself. For now I’ll just have to reminisce and look at these pictures. This is a trip I’ll never forget. A special thanks to Nick Ingle for making this all happen. This was a great vacation!

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : Sanboarding and riding camels

Wow! That was fun. I just got back from the Arabian Adventure in the desert where my friends and I road camels for the first time. We went off-road, romping over dunes in (believe it or not, a 2007 Chevy Tahoe). The Tahoe actually got stuck in the sand and it was a bitch to get that thing out. We also tried our luck in the new sport of “sand boarding” (like snowboarding, only in sand instead of snow). It was cool, but I still prefer snowboarding. Here’s a few pictures, more will be posted soon!

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : My adventures in Dubai continue

The past couple of days have been really busy so I haven’t had much of a chance to post feedback on this blog, but I assure you there’s a lot going on here in Dubai! I’m just having too much fun. It’s like a fantasy world!

Wednesday we visited the Mall of the Emirates, hat lunch at our hotel and went to (of all places) TGI Fridays for dinner. This was just one of the many western food franchises I recognized near the Crowne Plaza Holiday Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road (the main road through Dubai). It’s amazing how familiar things are here; the cars, the restaurants, the hotels, etc. are more similar what we have in the United States than I ever would have thought.

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : Surprise! Welcome to the Burj Al Arab!

I’ve officially landed in the middle east in the enchanting city of Dubai, UAE. This is amazing! It’s late here so I donr’t have much time to write (almost 1am Dubai time / 2pm Tuesday Phoenix time). Jet lag has me a bit tired, but really I’m also really excited at the same time. My friend Nick surprised me and our other friend Luke by pulling up to the entrance of the Burj Al Arab for a 2 night stay! This is apparently the only 7 star hotel in the world). Damn Nick, you definitely went all out for your 30th birthday. This feels like a dream, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I thought it was some kind of joke at first, but it turns out we’re staying here for the first two nights.

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : Touchdown in London (Day 1 & 2)

After a long flight Saturday night on into Sunday morning, we arrived in London at 2:30pm local time on October 1st. A trip on the Heathrow Express into Central London and my first experience in Europe had officially begun. Sunday night was fairly casual. We walked around, saw Big Ben, the Parliament building, and had dinner at a nearby pub.

Today involved walking around in the (bloody) rain, but I manged to take some great pictures of the London Eye (the giant observation wheel seen in all the post cards of London). I also had the chance to visit Buckingham Palace- what a beautiful place! Tonight we had Dinner at a place called OXO over looking the Thames- great food, great view, and so cool! Just a couple hours ago we saw London Towers, a real

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : Traveling to Dubai during Ramadan

Almost there. Two days left and I’m on my way to Dubai! Coincidentally I just learned my trip to Dubai happens during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. What does this mean exactly? Well, it affects my trip in regards respecting the culture, religion, and following the rules set by the government and/or state religion (Islam). I knew about Ramadan before (since one of my good friends in high school was Muslim), but in case you’re not familiar, Muslims in Dubai (and all over the world) abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and other indulgences

2007 London-Dubai Vacation : Dubai to get 20% share in Nasdaq

Here’s more interesting news and a couple videos I found regarding Dubai investments in the US and UK. I’m so excited for my upcoming trip. Less than 5 days now!

Dubai to get 20% share in Nasdaq

Dubai’s New Buy: Nasdaq