Since no food was served during the flight, I was absolutely starving. After gobbling the hotel breakfast, I went out for a tour of Dubai with Nisha. Burj Al-Arab, the tallest hotel in the world, looked majestic under the blue sky and if it weren’t for the tight schedule we were on, I would have definitely gone inside for a drink. We next headed to the Madinat Jumeirah resort and took few photos at the Souk. Dubai looked really impressive so far and an array of tall beautiful buildings including the Emirates towers gave it that wee-bit extra charm over Doha and its other Arab competitors. "Wait till the Burj Dubai is built here, it will be the tallest building in the world", Nisha said pointing towards a construction site with an incomplete structure that had about 3 dozen Indians and Pakistanis on it, in yellow hard hats, working meticulously to build the most magnificent structure ever on this planet. Forget the Taipei tower or the Petronas towers, this 810m high structure was something special and I started wondering how soon would the world's 2nd tallest building be constructed in Katangi. Of course it would be India's major contribution to Asia's existing skyline and something, which even the coming generations would be proud of. Nisha zipped past hundreds of semi-completed buildings including the construction site which was destined to be the world's largest mall, followed by the stunning palace belonging to Sheikh Mohammed. "Filthy rich dogs", I grunted in jealousy as more lavish bungalows followed. "The government provides these properties to the lazy Sheikhs for peanuts and they either rent it out or sell it further for a bomb. That's how they make so much money", Nisha said adding fuel to the fire. I, for the next 5 mins, just wanted to be as rich as them and own the whole Palm Village.
I tried looking for a good party-shirt in the city's various malls but couldn't find any. Though Nisha chose this really gaudy shirt for me which even Govinda had been embarrassed to wear, I completely ignored it with as polite smile as I could give out after 48 sleepless hours. Finally, I just decided to stick with my good old white shirt I bought from Bombay in Easters, regardless of the fact that I had been wearing it continuously for the past 6 weekends to Jess's amusement. We then picked up a sandwich from the petrol station and despite stern warnings from the person at the counter, we parked the car at a mall’s parking and started wolfing down the food and Sprite while hiding inside the car. We played some ice hockey inside the Emirates mall, which is the largest shopping mall outside North America, and then gave Shilpi a call to see what she was upto. Though it had been 4 yrs since we had spoken with each other, it didn't take much time to get on the same wavelength and a plan was swiftly chalked out to meet at KDs in Hyatt at 7pm.
I was suddenly woken up by Aamir Khan's advert endorsing Coke's safe recipe. I looked around and noticed my shoes-clad feet on the bed apart from the high volume the TV was on. I didn't realise what time I nodded off and when the alarm went off. It was 6:24 and I was a bit behind schedule, though no calls from Nisha meant that even she was asleep and I was safe. We reached KDs at about 7:25pm which was just about the right time as people soon started to storm the place for food or shisha after their usual Ramadan rituals and that place had a waiting list in place within half an hour. Sitting on a nice candle-lit table next to the creek, we ordered some chicken starters and apple-flavoured shishas. The person would come now and then, change the coals and get the shisha back to its efficient best. After KDs we said goodbye to Shilpi, who unfortunately had a pre-diwali party arranged at her friend's place. Armed with the aftereffects of apple-smoke, Nisha took the roof of her convertible Mercedes SLK off and soon we were patrolling the Sheikh Zaied Road like kings.
Next pit stop was made at Buddha Bar inside the Grosvenor hotel. “Wow!!”, I appreciated the atmosphere as soon as we entered. The dim lights along with the huge Buddha statue in the middle gave it the perfect ambience and I hadn't been to such a chilled-out bar for a long long time. All the eating tables were full and there were hardly any vacant couches either. I ordered the bar's special champagne cocktail for myself and a glass of coke for Nisha as she was driving. It was one of the best 45 mins I've spent in a bar ever and we had to reluctantly leave that place to continue our mini pub-crawl. The Valet got the car and Nisha sped to Vu’s Bar in hope of finally parking the car safely and getting some alcohol down her throat too. This modern bar on the 51st floor of Emirates Tower was a much smaller one compared to its predecessor and had no music on due to Ramadan. Regardless it had a very good feel about it and soon we were gulping mojitos and tequilas to celebrate the occasion.
I tried looking for a good party-shirt in the city's various malls but couldn't find any. Though Nisha chose this really gaudy shirt for me which even Govinda had been embarrassed to wear, I completely ignored it with as polite smile as I could give out after 48 sleepless hours. Finally, I just decided to stick with my good old white shirt I bought from Bombay in Easters, regardless of the fact that I had been wearing it continuously for the past 6 weekends to Jess's amusement. We then picked up a sandwich from the petrol station and despite stern warnings from the person at the counter, we parked the car at a mall’s parking and started wolfing down the food and Sprite while hiding inside the car. We played some ice hockey inside the Emirates mall, which is the largest shopping mall outside North America, and then gave Shilpi a call to see what she was upto. Though it had been 4 yrs since we had spoken with each other, it didn't take much time to get on the same wavelength and a plan was swiftly chalked out to meet at KDs in Hyatt at 7pm.
I was suddenly woken up by Aamir Khan's advert endorsing Coke's safe recipe. I looked around and noticed my shoes-clad feet on the bed apart from the high volume the TV was on. I didn't realise what time I nodded off and when the alarm went off. It was 6:24 and I was a bit behind schedule, though no calls from Nisha meant that even she was asleep and I was safe. We reached KDs at about 7:25pm which was just about the right time as people soon started to storm the place for food or shisha after their usual Ramadan rituals and that place had a waiting list in place within half an hour. Sitting on a nice candle-lit table next to the creek, we ordered some chicken starters and apple-flavoured shishas. The person would come now and then, change the coals and get the shisha back to its efficient best. After KDs we said goodbye to Shilpi, who unfortunately had a pre-diwali party arranged at her friend's place. Armed with the aftereffects of apple-smoke, Nisha took the roof of her convertible Mercedes SLK off and soon we were patrolling the Sheikh Zaied Road like kings.
Next pit stop was made at Buddha Bar inside the Grosvenor hotel. “Wow!!”, I appreciated the atmosphere as soon as we entered. The dim lights along with the huge Buddha statue in the middle gave it the perfect ambience and I hadn't been to such a chilled-out bar for a long long time. All the eating tables were full and there were hardly any vacant couches either. I ordered the bar's special champagne cocktail for myself and a glass of coke for Nisha as she was driving. It was one of the best 45 mins I've spent in a bar ever and we had to reluctantly leave that place to continue our mini pub-crawl. The Valet got the car and Nisha sped to Vu’s Bar in hope of finally parking the car safely and getting some alcohol down her throat too. This modern bar on the 51st floor of Emirates Tower was a much smaller one compared to its predecessor and had no music on due to Ramadan. Regardless it had a very good feel about it and soon we were gulping mojitos and tequilas to celebrate the occasion.
After a sound sleep of 4 hrs thanks to the delicious grilled chicken I had the night before, it was time to pack my bags and head to the airport for my motherland. I spent a bomb at Swarovski buying my sisters some gifts and after getting some perfumes and the renowned Dates, it was time to leave the duty-free and board the aircraft. Unfortunately the person next to me was way too interested in knowing as to why Thames Water had applied for the drought order and what it was planning to do for the 2012 Olympics. Though reluctantly, I spent the next hour explaining to him how complicated it was to repair leaks in an old city like London and how the Mayor was in a conflict with us over the issue of a desalination plant. Finally satisfied with the answers, he now spent (read as wasted) the next 30 mins telling me how his HR consultancy kept him busy with trips to London and New York every month. I was least bothered and at the slightest hint of silence, I put the headphones on and closed my eyes. In another few hours I was due to meet Amit, Sejal and co. for yet another night out in Bombay - I thought to myself, "Either I get an hour's sleep now or try risking death coz of exhaustion". Funnily enough, I didn’t get any!!
At KDs in Dubai - (L2R: Shilpi, Nisha and Me)
Holiday Jai Ganesham - II ◄ ► Holiday Jai Ganesham - IV
2 comments:
hmm.. gettin carried away lil bit while writin abt yr experiences?? wel i think its all good..
You have your own style of writing.. a good one.. dont change it!!
@ Anonymous: Thanks for the comment.
@Bunkr: I take your point seriously. Will try to mix things a bit.
But there're people out there who'll probably differ with your opinion - a variety of 3rd point of views. Hopefully, I make more of them think alike with time.
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