Dancing Donovan

I'll get a real post up one day. For now, here is some entertainment.

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Birthday Pizza & Giggles

I think this is one if my favorite videos, ever.
Birthday Pizza

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Sun and Fun

Hi everyone.  Things are going well for me over here.  I've been working hard, but having lots of fun too.  Here's some pictures to show what I've been up to.  Since the fun stuff is more exciting, I'll focus on that instead of the work stuff.

This is a picture of old town Dubai.  I liked the way this street looked so I took a picture.  It reminded me of something you'd see in a movie.

This was the restaurant we decided to eat at, also in old town Dubai.  We wanted something authentic and original.  When we found out they served camel burgers, this place won.

Taha and I relaxing before our meal.  We had a choice to sit at a table or eat the traditional Arabic way... I can sit at a table anywhere I go to eat, we chose the traditional method.

Mentally preparing for a delicious meal.

Lunch is served!  The camel burger tasted fantastic.  It seemed like a leaner type of meat, but all in all it tasted like a regular hamburger to me.

Dubai has a lot of interesting architecture.  I took several pictures of the skyline, so I thought I'd share a few.

I like the building on the far right. :)

The building in the middle is still under construction, but it's one of my favorite in the city.  I like the way it looks twisted.

I believe this is a hotel, but I'm not sure of the name.  I like the way it spans the street.

This is the Burj Khalifa.  It's the tallest building in the world.  The growth of Dubai is impressive.  None of these buildings were here 25-30 years ago.  The Emirati's have done an  amazing job creating this place.

Here's another picture of the twisting building.  I liked this picture too, so I had to post it.

This is the river that splits the city.  It reminded me a little of Chicago.

We went to the Ibn Battuta Mall.  This is probably the prettiest mall I've ever been in.  Each section of the mall is themed after a different part of the world.

This was the entrance to the French section.

France

Egypt

Egypt

Tunusia

Tunusia

India

India

China (I like the face on the back of the boat)

China

Look Brooke, I'm in China.  ;)

I also got to go to the Dubai Mall.  I believe this is the biggest mall in the world.  It sits right next to the Burj Khalifa.

This was the entrance to the Souk, or market part of the mall.  It was set up like a souk, but there was no negotiating on prices.

I would describe this mall with two words, big and expensive.  There was lots of stuff I wanted, but nothing I felt I could afford.

Lots and lots of people too.  When we bought dinner there was no place to sit.  I think the crowds were a little bigger than normal because Ramadan is right around the corner.

Olympic size ice skating rink.

I miss you Mason.

I miss you Donovan.

I also got to go on the Dubai Creek cruise.  We were served juice, sandwiches, and desserts.  It was a great time.

I saw a school bus floating in the water.  Our tour guide said this bus was made by a company in California and cost more than $1M.

Enjoying the ride and the view.

These boats travel all over the Middle East and Asia.  I thought it'd be cool to work on one of them for a year and see parts of the world few get to see.  Don't worry Brooke, it was just a thought.  :)

This is another picture of old town Dubai.  The tower on the right is the old way they used to cool their homes.  The wind would be captured by the openings at the top of the tower and would funnel down, creating a breeze through the entire house.  Thank you A/C, I can't imagine living here without it!

  I also got to visit the Dubai Museum.  This is the oldest building in the city.

This is the way they used to build their homes.  Their version of A/C was the breeze blowing through the openings in the walls.  I'm not sure that would have worked for me in 135 degree heat.

I couldn't resist trying on a dishdasha.  The salesmen inside this shop were a lot of fun, and I had a great time negotiating a price.  They didn't know who they were dealing with, I got a great price... don't mess!

This was inside the souk, or market.  Walking through here was fun.  I think I had someone ask me to buy a watch or some kind of cheap knock-off every 30 seconds.  I had a great time.  I think this was the best part of the trip for me.


We finished off the trip at what I would call a commercialized souk.  This place was too expensive for me, but it was fun to walk through.

The trip ended with my good friend Jerry.  We had dinner at a Belgian restaurant... inspired by my wife.  I also got to go to the Atlantis water park a couple of weeks ago, but this blog is long enough.  I'll post details on that adventure another time.  I hope everyone is doing well back home.  Take care... lots of love.