My Private Driver, Again? I Love It!

Goldie, At The Top of a Beautiful Day in Dubai

Foie gras with Apple Jelly and Chocolate

Baby Chicken with lemon,olives and Carmelized onions at Aspen’s

Deborah En Route to Airport

5 Minute Monorail Ride to Atlantis . The First Resort Built on the Palm

Atlantis, water park

The Address, still can’t touch Kempinski

The Palace — still can’t touch Kempinski

The Palace —- no way!

Nice Way To End the Day at Salero ‘s

Retail Therapy — A Real Pick Me up:)

Next Year, the Beaches of Oman

Beautiful Oman Beach

I like the way they rock it here in this fast-paced, glitzy glamorous town. It looks like we may do this a 3rd time in the Fall of 2015.
Last night dinner was in Aspen, a tres cool restaurant just off the hotel’s lobby, before you get to the indoor “Ski Dubai”. The menus are on bright orange, leather bound IPads, the food is incredible and the service is always on point. Now, I’m a lover of foie gras (fwa gra) a delicacy in French cuisine, rich, buttery and delicate; unlike that of an ordinary duck or goose liver. I’ve had it from all parts of France but baby, this chef put a serious twist on it. Check it: there was a thin layer of apple jelly sandwiched between the foie gras and on top, a thin layer of hardened chocolate. The plate was garnished with berries and slices of figs that resembled slices of watermelon. In a word…AWESOME. The dressing for the Prawn Caesar salad was perfect; nice and creamy and not tangy at all. My main course, “Baby Chicken” tasted like somebody’s mama was in the kitchen throwin’ down. I guess the Chef must have felt my vibes of appreciation because he came out and introduced himself.

Today, my roomie, Deborah returned back to Kuwait to wrap up her vacay with her phenomenal daughter, Yvonne, there on a job assignment. As Deborah’s stretch limo pulled away, I was ushered to my waiting vehicle with guide and driver for the day.
First stop was the monorail station which takes you on a 5 minute ride to the iconic Atlantis. You see it head on if you are in the first car. You are above the Palm and Palm fronds —riding on the trunk, and you have a perfect view of everything. After a short tour of Atlantis– high end shops galore and eating establishments, we headed to check out 2
5 Star hotel possibilities for next year, THE ADDRESS at Dubai Mall and The Palace. They both are lovely properties in their own right,but I hate to say, with some shortcomings. Because of this Kempinski wins in every category; location, accessibility, decor, room size, customer service, cost —– just everything.

Dinner tonight would be with the family but before that I had tapas and a wonderful fresh strawberry non alcoholic drink at Kempinski’s Salero’s, a new lounge on the first level. We had Shrimp in garlic and chili peppers, 2) razor clams 3)slices of buttered toast (you rub with fresh garlic, drizzle the juice from halved tomatoes, and topped with olive oil).
It’s been another wonderful Dubai visit.
If we can make it happen next year there will be a few changes made: a day cruise on The Palm, a short after stay for beach lovers in Oman which is a short 1 hr flight away. Thanks for traveling with me on this short getaway. Hopefully you enjoyed it and just maybe you will join us next time. Next 3 weeks, South Africa.

Abu Dhabi- Great Mosque, Emirates Palace, Ferrari World

At Mosque Entrance

Kat, Ready For The Mosque

The Great Mosque

Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi

Sakari, Getting Accustomed to the Finer Things

Gold Flakes on Baked Delights

Jewels at the Palace

It’s a Family Affair at the Palace

4 Million Dollars worth of McLarens at the Palace

Last Stop – Ferrari World. Then back To Our World at the 5 Star Kempinski, in Dubai

Monday evening was our sunset dinner cruise around the Dubai Creek. It was a nice evening for enjoying the company of those in the group that we had not gotten to chat with. This was another great group that has come together from all parts of the United States. The chefs on the boat are Swiss trained and the food preparation did not disappoint. Tuesday was a leisure day so everybody just did their own thing —- shopping, spa treatments, hangin out in the cabanas poolside or enjoying high teas.

Wednesday was a very full day. We were dressed appropriately for our visit to the Sheik Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which is a 2 hr ride from Dubai. The Mosque is amazing, from the architecture to the interior. This year the $110 lunch at Emirates Palace was included and we made the Desert Safari optional. That was sweet! The Emirates Palace is the most expensively built hotel in the world. The Sheik didnt like it for his place of residence when built, so hotel it became! This is one of the places one can purchase the 24K gold cappuccino. Aside from their signature drink, gold flakes and shavings are used in many of the bakery delights there.

Lunch was quite a spread! The lamb chops, potato leek soup, cannelloni, potatoes au gratin, crab, cocktail shrimp, and sashimi were my favorites. Sakari did just fine in a high chair nibbling from mom and dad’s plates and saying hello to those passing by. After lunch, we strolled leisurely through this opulent hotel, passing the Gold to Go ATM, and admiring the exquisite jewels in cases valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just outside the entrance, the expensive vehicles were lining up….What a show! Upon leaving Abu Dhabi, we made a pit stop at Ferrari World where some purchased souvenirs and others got their Starbucks fixes.

The Journey From Nowhere To Somewhere

Members of our group were flying in from all over, with the majority of them all on Emirates from LAX. Others from Boston, Houston, San Francisco still on Emirates all landed within minutes of our L.A. Flight. Emirates is “special”. They have their own terminal and it’s highly organized compared to where the other carriers fly in and out of. I should know,I flew in on United last year. This is not a public service announcement but treat yourself to the Emirates Airline’s A380 experience. The A380’s are only presently flying from Los Angeles and New York.
After hotel check in, I was more than pleased with my room. It’s basically the same Grande Luxe room type I had last year but I guess I did not pay attention to the 6 ft mirrored wall in the separate shower room, with its shower bench and rain tree shower. There was also the 5 ft by 5 ft mirrored wall above the large soaking tub. Actually the bathroom slightly reminds me of the fabulous bathrooms at the 5 Star Michaelangelo in Johannesburg, South Africa.

I was delighted to have Gail Jackson, owner of Tree House Resort in Negril, Jamaica join us. She loves skiing and spas and this destination provided both experiences. I was also blessed to have my daughter, DeeDee and her family, including 18 month old Sakari, returning guest from last year is cousin Kutina who brought her mother, Patricia this time. Also my favorite cousins Lisa and Weldon Clemons are part of this years group. Yes, this is going to be a very different but still very exciting trip.

We had the same knowledgeable guide as before, Vijay who met us all at the airport and got us safely to the hotel. Before we left home, several had already made reservations for the BEST spas, BEST Restaurants, High Teas and nightclubs. Dubai, 41 years ago, there were no paved roads, no electricity, and no water and now to look at where she is and where she continues to go as she grows is almost incomprehensible. Dubai, even with its reputation of High End Glitz and Glam, it is one of our least expensive tours but also one of those places where you can do what you want to do based on your budget. Take your pick… If you want you can spend $300 per person dining at the Burj Kalifah or $15 at one if the 60+ eating establishments in the Emirates Mall adjacent to our 5 Star Kempinski Hotel. Also Adjacent is “Ski Dubai”, an indoor ski resort, by the way, where avid skier Gail Jackson will be hitting the slopes with several of the ladies in our group this week.

Our first tour day included a full day of seeing and learning about this fascinating new city on the world map. We were up close and personal with the Burj Al Arab, where Tiger Woods teed off from the helipad. You will find nothing but “Suites” here, nothing here is called a room. We visited the Palm, and saw the iconic Atlantis hotel with her underwater hotel suites. We took a 2 hr break at the worlds largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall, a visit by water taxi over to the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk. Gold everywhere you turn and there’s no escaping the aggressive vendors selling every knock off handbag imaginable but seriously, this is the souvenir spot. The finishing touch on the day’s events was the 60 second ride to observation deck on the 124th floor of the Burj Kalifa in the “translevator but the building has 163 floors. Some purchased the handsomely bound color photo of themselves overlooking this beautiful city, quite a nice memento. Tonight will be the sunset dinner cruise.

Burj Al Arab

Kat in her Abaya

Burj khalifa

Gold shops galore at the Souk

Emirates – Let’s Get It Started Right

Here we are, back to one of the most over the top, out of the box destinations known to modern man. I am truly a loyal United Mileage Plus member with Platinum status but after last year flying United with their less than desirable schedule; this year I said “screw the 18K miles I would earn, I want the Emirates experience. They are only flying the A-380 out of LAX and JFK. All other gateways are flying the 777 to Dubai. I did have love for the triple 7 (777) but this is it right here. This is as close as it gets to flying in your own private jet. Several in our group received the unbelievable email offer to upgrade to Business Class for a mere $1,000. Two favored young ladies accepted and were beside themselves with delight. The normal fare here is $15,000 r/t and First Class $25,000 with her private suites and shower spas on the upper deck. This bad baby is configured for almost 500 passengers and when she effortlessly airlifted up to 41K ft in the clouds; all I could do was shake my head, smile and say, “thank you, Lord”. At any rate, those of us in Economy were satisfied with extra legroom, 1500 channels of entertainment, nonstop wi fi throughout the cabin, good service and hot towels. I was in the first cabin, 45C. It begins at row 43 with only 13 rows. Eighteen month old Granddaughter, Sakari was farther back in another cabin with mom and dad and in her own seat. Another 3 hrs, we are there and she’s been great. However, she had her own agenda on the Southwest flight to lax. She was like daddy, get out of my seat, get your own. Usually a chocolate chip cookie fixes any problem with her but not this one.
A couple hours ago, I got an email from Gail who has already arrived, settled in, and inquiring who wants to join her on the ski slopes. The indoor resort is connected to our 5 Star hotel, as is the mall with over 60 eating joints.
This adventure will definitely equal last year’s if not surpass it.