Where on Earth is Imogen? : Christmas in Dubai

I was lucky enough to be invited to Dubai to spend Christmas with Alex and his family rather than stay in China where Christmas doesn't really seem to exist! Xiamen University doesn't have a holiday for Christmas meaning that classes continued almost as normal throughout Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I think my teacher gave the class the morning off on Christmas Day itself but that was it. I'd prepared myself for a strange Christmas in China eating noodles without my family, the first Christmas I'd spent without them, so it was lovely to find out I could still have a family Christmas outside China but with Alex's family instead.

We flew with Cathay Pacific/Dragonair which meant a stopover in Hong Kong. This worked out perfectly as we planned to spend new year there so it was just a longer stopover than usual with no change to the price of the ticket. Our flight to Hong Kong was on 20th December so we left Xiang'an the evening before and went to Siming on the island as it would be easier to get to the airport. We had a last Chinese meal at a DongBei (northeastern Chinese food) restaurant near the main campus which was really good.

Alex enjoying our last Chinese meal for a while

The journey went well and we managed to watch a couple of good films on the main flight from Hong Kong to Dubai. I, as a languages student, watched a French film "Les Femmes du 6eme Etage" which I thoroughly recommend. The film was about Spanish maids living in Paris so there was some Spanish in there as well! We chose our seats in advance so that I could have a window seat which was definitely worth it as we could see the lights of Dubai as we arrived at about 11pm on Friday evening. Alex's parents and sister were there at the airport to meet us and take us to their apartment.

First sight of Dubai from the air

The next day Alex decided to show me round the marina and take me out to the palm.

Driving round the marina

We went out to Atlantis which is a big ocean themed hotel with a water park and shopping centre at the very top of the palm

Driving up to Atlantis

In front of Atlantis

On the Palm with the marina in the background

On Monday we decided to go on desert safari which is one of the main touristy things to do in Dubai. We were picked up at 3:30pm by our driver for the evening in a 4x4 before picking up the rest of the passengers, an Indian family, and making our way to the desert. It soon became clear that it was not just our car doing this trip. The driver stopped in a car park by a couple of small shops where a lot of similar cars were parked so that people could use toilets, buy snacks/drinks and so that the drivers could take some air out of the tyres before going over the sand dunes. We got back in the car for a short way until we reached the desert and yet more cars. It seemed we were waiting for the rest of the Arabian Nights (tour company) cars to turn up before going over the sand dunes together. We used this opportunity to walk around in the desert sand and take photos. Once all the cars had arrived we started going over the sand dunes in a line, not something I'd recommend to anyone who gets car sick! I really enjoyed it and they even stopped so we could get some pictures of the sunset.

On the way to desert safari

Cars waiting to go over the sand dunes

Going over the sand dunes

Sunset over the desert

Me in the desert

We ended up at a camp in another part of the desert where we stayed until 8pm. At the camp you could ride a camel, go sand boarding, ride quad bikes (for a price), dress up in traditional Arabic dress, an eagle, get Henna tattoos and get photographs taken. There was also a buffet and a stage in the middle for live entertainment consisting of a guy who span around for about 15 minutes (actually quite impressive) and a belly dancer. I enjoyed the evening and would recommend it to anyone going to Dubai.

Riding a camel

Sand boarding

Some locals

The camp

Queuing for food

He just kept spinning!

His dress had lights on it

Buffet

Belly dancer

Eagle

On Christmas Eve we went to the beach because we could and it was warm enough to! We brought Santa hats and took photos wearing them with our swimwear. Danish people begin celebrating Christmas in the evening of Christmas Eve so we went back and smartened up for the Christmas meal afterwards.

Christmas Eve at the beach

God jul! (Merry Christmas in Danish)

Chinese Christmas tree decorations

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Alex's family which was really nice. Eating, opening presents, eating, watching Love Actually and going out for a coffee in the evening on Christmas Day. I had a phone call with my own family as well meaning I got to talk to my parents, two younger brothers and Gran which was lovely.

On the Friday we went out to Friday brunch. I don't really know what I was expecting, a buffet containing breakfast and lunch items maybe, but what Friday brunch actually was, definitely wasn't it. There were several rooms containing buffets with all kinds of food and drink as well as an outside area with live band. Alex and I avoided the Chinese food room but made sure we filled up on other things! The waiters made sure that our champagne glasses were always full which was quite strange considering it was early in the afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the food as I was too busy admiring it, but I got some photos at the end when they were clearing up.

Burj Al Arab in the background

Chinese lanterns leading to the Chinese food room

Boats

Christmas tree

BBQ Pit

Over the course of the week I got to meet Alex's friends from sixth form and experience Dubai nightlife. They all seemed like really nice people! On the Saturday though I met up with some friends from Southampton, something I hadn't thought would happen on my year abroad. Caitlin, Josh and Ali's parents all live there and Rebecca was visiting Caitlin so it was nice to meet up at a beach bar for a catch up whilst also being a bit surreal.

Alex's parents got us tickets to go up the Burj Khalifa on our last day in Dubai. I can now say I've been up the tallest building in the world! We went up at 5pm so managed to see both a day and a night view from the viewing platform, the sun setting while we were up there. It was a nice way to end the trip as I could recognise places I saw below. Afterwards we had a last family meal and wandered around Dubai Mall (largest shopping centre in the world) before going to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong where we spent new year. Thank you to Alex's family for making my time in Dubai so enjoyable.