Big City living his very busy, which is why I haven’t updated my blog as often as I would like. I wish I had Ramsey here to help with the updates, but she arrives around January 10th.
The work in the shipyard has been full throttle, which is fine with me as I would like to slow it down a bit when Ramsey arrives. I might even take a day off when she gets here. If your wondering, I am not going to work a full day Christmas. I am going to try and find the church and the starbucks. The church is across town as best I can tell… so it should be an adventure.
So as not to keep this too long, I have gone to a few restaurants, driven around town, seen all the iconic buildings, and generally felt like a tourist. One particular night we went to a beautiful restaurant called “Vu’s” in the Emirates Towers. It is posh and pretentious, so it fits in well in Dubai. I wasn’t complaining.
The bar is located on the 51st floor, overlooking Dubai and the beach. The bar was trendy, and possibly the nicest place I had ever had a drink. Sticking with my usual business drink I had a glass of red wine, the pour was on the small side, but again, I wasn’t concerned. I did a quick scan of the glass front refrigerators, just to make sure there was no Shiner.
If dinner wasn’t going to be enough of an experience, I secretly decided that if I had never heard of anything on the menu, I was going to order it. My selections for the evening was wagyu, lamb, and red. Pop Quiz- Does anyone know what Waygu is? Me either.. So I ordered it.
Apparently it is impossibly thin sliced Kobe style beef. In this instance, it came with plenty of other fine ingrediants, with the perfect presentation. A more discerning diner would have considered twice destroying the presentation, I have no such reservations, and after one bite decided it was the best thing I have ever eaten.
It was mind blowing. The second thing I thought about was the hundreds of cows at the Meitl farm… and how they could all become Waygu, and how I could eat it everyday for the rest of my life…..
The main course was lamb loin, which was perfect, but needs no long explanation.
Finally desert arrived. Appropriately named, everything on the plate was red as the name suggestd. It must have had 6 different little pieces of desert, all very nice. It would not have been enough desert for Ramsey so if I ever take her here, I will be sure to order at least 3 deserts ahead of time, as that’s her favorite part of any meal.
Truly it was a great meal, apparently the highest restaurant and bar in Dubai. On that note, anyone who comes to visit, I’ll buy the drinks at Vu’s.
More information here:
http://www.jumeirah.com/Hotels-and-Resorts/Destinations/Dubai/Jumeirah-Emirates-Towers/Restaurants--Nightlife/Vus-Restaurant/The-World-with-Vus/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
SAKI
My days so far has been pretty uneventful, We have been working pretty late nights, and the hotel is less than half a mile from my office, so I have been walking back every night.
Last night however, we went to dinner with the shipyard personnel. We went to a Hyatt a few miles from here to a Japanese restaurant. There were 8 of us, so they sat us at the hibachi, where an Indian national prepared our Japanese food. It reminds me of Ichabon, where a Mexican national speaking in a terrible Japanese accent cooks the food and makes the same jokes every single time.
Regardless, they served about 7 courses of food, one course at a time… about the 4th course, the gentlemen I was with decided it wasn’t going to be enough food, and ordered no less than another 4 courses for each person… It if swam in the sea or crawled on land, it was ordered. Fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, steak, chicken, pork, were all ordered in addition to the original meal. After course 7 it was plainly obvious we had over ordered. The meal took 3 hours, and cost over 200 dollars a head, but it was amazing.
We took a taxi from the restaurant back to my hotel. It was about a 10 minute taxi ride, and it costs about 16 dirhams, or less than 6 dollars. Cheapest taxi ride of my life, so Ramsey should be able to move around town rather affordably.
I should have a car in a day or two, and an apartment in a week or so. More to come.
Last night however, we went to dinner with the shipyard personnel. We went to a Hyatt a few miles from here to a Japanese restaurant. There were 8 of us, so they sat us at the hibachi, where an Indian national prepared our Japanese food. It reminds me of Ichabon, where a Mexican national speaking in a terrible Japanese accent cooks the food and makes the same jokes every single time.
Regardless, they served about 7 courses of food, one course at a time… about the 4th course, the gentlemen I was with decided it wasn’t going to be enough food, and ordered no less than another 4 courses for each person… It if swam in the sea or crawled on land, it was ordered. Fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, steak, chicken, pork, were all ordered in addition to the original meal. After course 7 it was plainly obvious we had over ordered. The meal took 3 hours, and cost over 200 dollars a head, but it was amazing.
We took a taxi from the restaurant back to my hotel. It was about a 10 minute taxi ride, and it costs about 16 dirhams, or less than 6 dollars. Cheapest taxi ride of my life, so Ramsey should be able to move around town rather affordably.
I should have a car in a day or two, and an apartment in a week or so. More to come.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Arrival Dubai
Today I arrived in Dubai, my new home. If you wish, you can draw painful comparisons and laugh about, that in about 8 weeks I will have lived in Dubai longer than I have lived in the house I purchased last year. Life is unpredictable, and I never thought I would be living in Dubai in 2010, but Ramsey and I are really excited for the chance.
I flew out of Houston on Friday night, on packed flight. There was not a single empty seat which I thought was odd because I booked my flight only three days prior on Tuesday without any trouble. I flew on Emirates air for the first time, their terminal in Houston is rather plain, lacking the glitz and glam of Continentals terminal C. What Emirates lack in Houston, they make up for in Dubai. The airport here is brand new, and tastefully done. It’s as modern as airports get, with signs in Arabic and English, I am not worried when Ramsey travels here alone in January, she should be fine.
When I arrived last night the temperature was about 70 degrees and it was raining slightly as we walked towards our waiting car. In Dubai, license plates for cars were issued first to influential families starting with the royal family, who were issued number 1. I was curious to see how low a license plate number I could see, and thereby see someone of influence. The minivan taking us to the airport was parked next to plate number 3, a white Mercedes S 500… effectively ending any eye-spy license plate game.
I am staying at a holiday inn express near the shipyard, it’s a nice hotel about 7 stories, and is very clean. The rooms are nicely appointed but small. Imagine living in one of the “example rooms” at Ikea, where they place a queen bed, couch, tv, bathroom, office space, and a closet in about 150 square feet. Its comfortable.
Dubai is a city built smack in the middle of the desert, and ironically enough it has rained all day today, a steady hard rain. I suspect in a few months I will dedicate 1000 words comparing the Dubai heat to the hellish Houston heat.
More updates coming.
I flew out of Houston on Friday night, on packed flight. There was not a single empty seat which I thought was odd because I booked my flight only three days prior on Tuesday without any trouble. I flew on Emirates air for the first time, their terminal in Houston is rather plain, lacking the glitz and glam of Continentals terminal C. What Emirates lack in Houston, they make up for in Dubai. The airport here is brand new, and tastefully done. It’s as modern as airports get, with signs in Arabic and English, I am not worried when Ramsey travels here alone in January, she should be fine.
When I arrived last night the temperature was about 70 degrees and it was raining slightly as we walked towards our waiting car. In Dubai, license plates for cars were issued first to influential families starting with the royal family, who were issued number 1. I was curious to see how low a license plate number I could see, and thereby see someone of influence. The minivan taking us to the airport was parked next to plate number 3, a white Mercedes S 500… effectively ending any eye-spy license plate game.
I am staying at a holiday inn express near the shipyard, it’s a nice hotel about 7 stories, and is very clean. The rooms are nicely appointed but small. Imagine living in one of the “example rooms” at Ikea, where they place a queen bed, couch, tv, bathroom, office space, and a closet in about 150 square feet. Its comfortable.
Dubai is a city built smack in the middle of the desert, and ironically enough it has rained all day today, a steady hard rain. I suspect in a few months I will dedicate 1000 words comparing the Dubai heat to the hellish Houston heat.
More updates coming.
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