mission accomplished 1

we had a long but successful day in dubai on friday! we woke at 4:45am in order to arrive at the airport in enough time for our 8am flight. the flight itself was only 40 minutes total, with a +1 hour time difference. since we were only there for the day, the plan was to hit the mall - the mall of the emirates. we arrived in dubai in yet another sandstorm - what's up with us and sandstorms? we visited the pyramids in cairo during a sandstorm, we moved to doha during a sandstorm and now this!?! things come in threes i guess. well, at least it didn't make us feel guilty spending our time in a mall as it wasn't a good day for sightseeing anyways.
on our way to the mall, we drove past the burj dubai - now the tallest building in the world overtaking the CN tower. currently, it is still under construction at 168 floors and counting. apparently, they are going to keep going until they are unable to build any higher!! it was absolutely incredible even during a sandstorm!!the mall of the emirates opened in 2005 and is the largest mall outside of north america. there is over 450 retail stores and 70 restaurants/ coffee houses. the best feature of all is the indoor ski resort - ski dubai!!! i am sure everyone has heard of!?!

an indoor ski resort in the middle of the desert - it is as amazing as it sounds! it has 5 runs that vary in difficulty, height and gradient with the longest run stretching 400 metres with a fall over 60 metres for skiers and snowboarders alike. it also had a bob sled track and a snow park complete with ice sculptures!

the temperature is maintained at -1 to -2 degrees and snow covers 22,500 square metres. it was great watching kids play in the snow. most have probably not seen snow before in their lives - something us canadians take for granted! the photos i have posted are from the website - again no camera, as our pocket size one is out of commission at the moment :(turns out that we visited during the dubai shopping festival which means sales, sales , sales!! although we did get a few good deal, a lot of the merchandise in the shops were picked over not to mention some looked as though they were pulled from last year's leftover stock - kinda like London's boxing week sale! a bit disappointing. after spending half the day at the mall of the emirates we made our way to another highly recommended mall - wafi city. here we found a CLUB MONACO!!! for those of you who don't know CM is probably one of mike and i's favourite stores from back home! needless to say, we spent a majority of our shopping money here!!!

we flew out at 9pm - a good solid day of shopping! the flight was a bit bouncy due to the high winds of the sandstorm. nevertheless, we arrived back safe and sound AND with no queries or problems they let me back into the country - mission accomplished!!! this time on a 60 day visitor's visa - perfect as it will coincide with our next planned vacation.

on saturday, we decided to have everyone over to scott and joanne's for a good old canadian bbq. but first, mike and i visited the ritz hotel to do some shopping in their boutiques...yep, more shopping!!! we are like the energizer bunny when it comes to shopping, we keep going and going and going...hehe. anyways, as we entered the ritz crossing the lobby, you will never guess who was walking towards us? actor edward norton (the star of fight club, american history x, red dragon, the italian job, etc). walked right passed us!!! OMG! only he could get away with wearing shorts, t-shirt, flip flops and the craziest bed head ever walking through one of doha's posh-est hotels!! what he is doing in doha, i have no idea.

the bbq was a great success - good company and tons of food. mike was on bbq duty and did a great job! he even managed to find some beers to keep up with bbq tradition! you name it we had it - homemade hamburgers, chicken and veggie kebabs, sweet and 'regualr' potatoes, ceasar salad, prawns, brie wheel, grilled haloumi cheese and even sushi and a homemade lemon meringue pie, thanks to jen!

it was a busy weekend - not much R&R for mike who has been working quite hard these past few weeks. don't think he felt like he had much of a weekend but i thank him for making the short trip to dubai with me! next weekend we are already planning a day by the pool!!!

tonight i had another frustrating experience trying to have a phone conversation with my sista, Mel. no doubt we tried but there was at least a 5-7 second delay and again the line kept continuously cutting out! after a trying 20 minutes of getting no where, the line went dead at my end. i read in the paper today that about 30-40 percent of the internet and telephone network in qatar has been 'down' due to the breakdown of the undersea cable network, one near egypt and the second in the gcc region (not sure if this news has made its way to you?). i guess we fall in the 30-40 percentile. they are working on an alternative solution - until then it's all down to email...

while we are on frustrating issues - we still haven't heard back about our condo!!! i have been told that 'these things take time' but it will be 4 weeks tomorrow since we have been homeless in doha! i really want to get settled into our own place. urgh.

on a more positive note, i hope everyone enjoyed their weekends and have a good week ahead!!

p.s. apologies for any mis-spelling as the spellcheck is no longer working...?