It's my first time to go to Dubai. The country does not hold much interest to me because I was deathly afraid of a culture I do not understand. But then, I got an invitation from Abdulla J M Kalban to attend the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. So, like any ordinary person, how can I say NO to a freebie like this.
I did not know what to expect as I boarded the Singapore Airlines going to Dubai. But when I reached their immigration, I was dumbfounded as I saw for the first time the Arabs wearing their traditional dress. I only saw them in my TinTin comics, and they always played the villain there, so I was afraid once again. But I cannot deny the fact that they have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Soulful eyes, simply breathtaking! I just wondered what was beneath their white garb.
We were greeted by a hospitality girl assigned especially for us at the very doors of the aircraft. She saw to it that we breezed through the immigration with minimal efforts. We were then driven to our hotel, Al Qasr Hotel, which means "The Palace" and is the summer home of the Sheik. It is one of the hotels in Madinat Jumeirah.
http://www.jumeirah.com/hotels-and-resorts/Destinations/Dubai/Madinat-Jumeirah/Al-Qasr-Hotel/
The villa is so beautiful, very very spacious. The hotel has its own boats to bring you from one place to another, if that isn't spacious I don't know what is. The hotel boasts of 44 restaurants and we are given an unlimited credit to the restaurants 24/7.
One of the restaurants I went to is Pierchic. It is an award-winning restaurant that serves seafood with the beautiful view of the Gulf. The restaurant is actually situated in the middle of the Gulf. So there's a walkway they built from the beach to the restaurant. Former President GMA dined in this same restaurant when she visited Dubai. (The Filipino waiters shared me this news, else I was not interested with any news from GMA)
So, how do they fare? Hmmm.... if I were to give an award to this restaurant, I would give it top awards for location. Aside from that, I don't see its difference with our own fancy dining places in Manila.
One of the joys is their breakfast. It is nowhere near our lavish breakfast buffets here in Manila, but the selection is something to behold. They have fresh blueberry smoothies, fresh raspberry juice, fresh strawberry juice, etc. I truly enjoy fresh fruit juices and smoothies in the morning. It makes a world of difference to me. And having to eat breakfast beside the swimming pool is very relaxing for me. Not much people opt for this restaurant for breakfast because the selections are fewer. But for me, this would do. This definitely would do.
But my most unforgettable food in this whole place was the humble cafe beside the beach. It is because they served me such a great Caesar Salad. See the Jumbo Shrimps with my Caesar Salad? that was spontaneous. When I ordered Caesar Salad, the waiter asked "do you want to order a main course to be served after your caesar salad?" I answered, "No, I just want a light fare today." And he said "well, if you aren't ordering anything else, maybe you want something to add to your caesar salad." And I replied "Given the choice, I would choose Prawns to be added to my caesar salad, but you don't have to do that if it's any trouble." And the waiter assured me it's no trouble at all. The result was the picture below. Awesome! Simply Ultra Delicious! The sauce was very airy and light. It did not dampen the crunchiness of the lettuce at all. And the prawns were so fresh. And fresh seafood is everything in a dish. Their croutons were a bit larger than usual but it only highlighted the garlicky butter that was generously applied to it.
Filipinos are known for its hospitality. But the Arabs re-defined it for me. Upon arriving the hotel, they welcome us with a beautiful gift of a pocket TV. And every meeting I attended would mean another gift bag. Hotel staff are always ready to assist me in any matter. They don't just smile at me, they actually help me out till I solve my problem. Once, I got lost in the hotel, and I was just asking a hotel staff passing by, if I should turn right or left, and she accompanied me all the way to my room. And that was a long way from where I was, so I truly appreciated their sincere help. Now, that is premium service!
I love their beach. They see to your every comfort at every turn. If it's too hot, they give you ice, offer you cold fresh juices, change the towels. This is the first time I encountered a hotel staff that actually anticipate your every need. And it's such a huge hotel. It rankles my brain on how HR manage to instill in the hotel staff this kind of service.
Our hotel is located 5 minutes away from Burj al Arab, the 7 star hotel in Dubai. We actually share the same beach as the guests of this hotel. I wish I took the time out to visit this hotel, but I didn't. I'm just not too interested to see a 7 star hotel. I'd rather lie down in this beach and read a book while sipping my cold cold juice.
The rest of the days were filled up with interesting activities such as horse racing at Al Meydan Race Course, that included a sumptuous dinner buffet, with champagne, a desert safari adventure in a 4X4 with dinner in a Bedouin-style camp that has a very enticing belly dancer showing us her talents, and an Arabian-themed evening at Dolphin Bay (Atlantis The Palm) with a bevy of belly dancers and an Arabian buffet dinner. I didn't even bother to check the buffet before getting my choice of food. It was just too many. My feet would get swollen before I finish making my rounds. So I just picked up a plate, and get what I found interesting. To complete the Arabian-themed dinner, they provided all of us with an Arabian dress to put us all in the mood for an Arabian night. Camels were abound and belly dancers were everywhere to entertain us. My seatmates who hailed from Hong Kong and are respected suppliers of coal, turned into silly schoolboys upon meeting the half-dressed belly dancers.
Dubai is an eye-sore for car lovers. Beautiful sexy women that you only see in James Bond movies are found here on a daily basis. Standing at the lobby, I felt like Im in the middle of a Hollywood movie. Surely, I would wake up soon enough.
I'm very thankful for the hospitality that our Arab friends have shown us. It was surely beyond any of our expectations. But what touched my heart the most was when I talked to our fellow compatriots in this country and I learned that their Arab employers shoulder their children's tuition fees, provided them a decent house and a generous salary with a good pension plan. Now, that's what I call "world-class".
I did not know what to expect as I boarded the Singapore Airlines going to Dubai. But when I reached their immigration, I was dumbfounded as I saw for the first time the Arabs wearing their traditional dress. I only saw them in my TinTin comics, and they always played the villain there, so I was afraid once again. But I cannot deny the fact that they have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Soulful eyes, simply breathtaking! I just wondered what was beneath their white garb.
We were greeted by a hospitality girl assigned especially for us at the very doors of the aircraft. She saw to it that we breezed through the immigration with minimal efforts. We were then driven to our hotel, Al Qasr Hotel, which means "The Palace" and is the summer home of the Sheik. It is one of the hotels in Madinat Jumeirah. http://www.jumeirah.com/hotels-and-resorts/Destinations/Dubai/Madinat-Jumeirah/Al-Qasr-Hotel/
The villa is so beautiful, very very spacious. The hotel has its own boats to bring you from one place to another, if that isn't spacious I don't know what is. The hotel boasts of 44 restaurants and we are given an unlimited credit to the restaurants 24/7.
One of the restaurants I went to is Pierchic. It is an award-winning restaurant that serves seafood with the beautiful view of the Gulf. The restaurant is actually situated in the middle of the Gulf. So there's a walkway they built from the beach to the restaurant. Former President GMA dined in this same restaurant when she visited Dubai. (The Filipino waiters shared me this news, else I was not interested with any news from GMA)
 |
| Pierchic |
So, how do they fare? Hmmm.... if I were to give an award to this restaurant, I would give it top awards for location. Aside from that, I don't see its difference with our own fancy dining places in Manila. |
| my breakfast table for 8 days |
One of the joys is their breakfast. It is nowhere near our lavish breakfast buffets here in Manila, but the selection is something to behold. They have fresh blueberry smoothies, fresh raspberry juice, fresh strawberry juice, etc. I truly enjoy fresh fruit juices and smoothies in the morning. It makes a world of difference to me. And having to eat breakfast beside the swimming pool is very relaxing for me. Not much people opt for this restaurant for breakfast because the selections are fewer. But for me, this would do. This definitely would do.
But my most unforgettable food in this whole place was the humble cafe beside the beach. It is because they served me such a great Caesar Salad. See the Jumbo Shrimps with my Caesar Salad? that was spontaneous. When I ordered Caesar Salad, the waiter asked "do you want to order a main course to be served after your caesar salad?" I answered, "No, I just want a light fare today." And he said "well, if you aren't ordering anything else, maybe you want something to add to your caesar salad." And I replied "Given the choice, I would choose Prawns to be added to my caesar salad, but you don't have to do that if it's any trouble." And the waiter assured me it's no trouble at all. The result was the picture below. Awesome! Simply Ultra Delicious! The sauce was very airy and light. It did not dampen the crunchiness of the lettuce at all. And the prawns were so fresh. And fresh seafood is everything in a dish. Their croutons were a bit larger than usual but it only highlighted the garlicky butter that was generously applied to it.Filipinos are known for its hospitality. But the Arabs re-defined it for me. Upon arriving the hotel, they welcome us with a beautiful gift of a pocket TV. And every meeting I attended would mean another gift bag. Hotel staff are always ready to assist me in any matter. They don't just smile at me, they actually help me out till I solve my problem. Once, I got lost in the hotel, and I was just asking a hotel staff passing by, if I should turn right or left, and she accompanied me all the way to my room. And that was a long way from where I was, so I truly appreciated their sincere help. Now, that is premium service!
 |
| Burj al Arab Hotel, with Pierchic and the beach |
The rest of the days were filled up with interesting activities such as horse racing at Al Meydan Race Course, that included a sumptuous dinner buffet, with champagne, a desert safari adventure in a 4X4 with dinner in a Bedouin-style camp that has a very enticing belly dancer showing us her talents, and an Arabian-themed evening at Dolphin Bay (Atlantis The Palm) with a bevy of belly dancers and an Arabian buffet dinner. I didn't even bother to check the buffet before getting my choice of food. It was just too many. My feet would get swollen before I finish making my rounds. So I just picked up a plate, and get what I found interesting. To complete the Arabian-themed dinner, they provided all of us with an Arabian dress to put us all in the mood for an Arabian night. Camels were abound and belly dancers were everywhere to entertain us. My seatmates who hailed from Hong Kong and are respected suppliers of coal, turned into silly schoolboys upon meeting the half-dressed belly dancers.  |
| Look what I found in the desert? |
I'm very thankful for the hospitality that our Arab friends have shown us. It was surely beyond any of our expectations. But what touched my heart the most was when I talked to our fellow compatriots in this country and I learned that their Arab employers shoulder their children's tuition fees, provided them a decent house and a generous salary with a good pension plan. Now, that's what I call "world-class".
Did you avail for the desert safari trail? I was in a talent exchange program of our company 3 years ago in Abu Dhabi and happened to visit Dubai also where my brother works. I must say that i preferred the streets of Abu Dhabi (not as chaotic and with more space). You should have went to Al Ain also and explored the Jabel Hafeet mountains, its comparable to the Colorado mountains "daw"...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I was not able to go to Abu Dhabi. But I heard they are not as tolerable to western cultures as Dubai, so I stayed in Dubai. If I get lucky, I'll be invited again next year, and I would surely visit the Jabel Hafeet mountains.
DeleteNot really, it's also an open city like Dubai but its less crowded, less buildings being constructed and has more space. I forgot the name of the Marina but i used to jog their almost every other day while we were staying on some villa nearby and their are a lot of Filipinos also so you won't get homesick =)
Deleteokay, I should take note of that and visit that place if I get the chance. I met a lot of Filipinos there and they seem happy with their situation.
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