Dubai for Hogmanay

The flight and time difference hit me hard.

I decided to go to visit my sister in Dubi after spending Christams in Ho Chi Minh city, I was in need of some family comfort.

Kirsty was working on flight so I had the day to myself. I had planned to get up early and see the sights but I couldn’t get out of bed, despite my multiple snooze alarms. I eventually got up round 1:30. I got on the metro from the Burj Khalifa and headed to Dubai Marina. The weather was ideal, mid-twenties and with the sun shining; so much better than the humidity of HCM and the cold of Hanoi.

I spent an hour or so walking around the marina, looking at the yachts and immense skyscrapers. From there, I headed to JBR, a public beach where I sat for a couple of hours people-watching and following the sun go down. The sunset was gorgeous and relaxing. At around 6, I headed back to the flat to heat up the dinner my sister had left me while watching a movie with a cup of hot chocolate in an apartment filled with Christmas decorations. It was like being back home!

I headed to bed early-ish as I was still tired from the flight. I got up at 9 on Sunday to let Kirsty back into the flat and her own bed. She was tired from working her night flight, so I let her sleep while I headed to the gym and pool in her building. I spent the afternoon sunbathing until she woke up.

New Year’s Eve:

We chilled in the apartment and caught up since the last time we met a few weeks previous. Her bf, Jamal, came over as we were deciding what to do with our New Year’s Eve. None of us were that fussed on what to do. Dubai is crazy at that time of year as the 1st of January is a National holiday, so everyone is off work. The streets were already packed by 5pm and there were barriers everywhere in order to direct pedestrian traffic. Restaurants were full and expensive so we decided to walk about outside to get a sense of the atmosphere. We were walking towards one of the main skyscrapers so we decided to stop off there for a drink with a view. The bar on the top floor ended up being ‘reservation only’ so we settled for a Thai restaurant where we had some cocktails.

After an hour or so, we headed back to Kirsty’s flat, being directed in a massive detour due to the congestion. We stopped for pizza on the way! Once we got in, we were chatting and drinking some Buck’s Fizz to get in the mood. At twenty to twelve, we headed downstairs to watch the laser show from the Burj Khalifa. It ended up being rather anticlimactic as there was hardly a countdown. I looked at my phone to see 00:00, not even realising we had started the New Year. Most years, the Burj puts on an amazing firework show, I was unfortunate enough to come the year when they decided to put on a strange light show instead!

Kirsty, Jamal and I headed back upstairs where we put on traditional Scottish Hogmanay music to show Jamal how we celebrate back home. After that, we played cheesy songs from our childhoods and were dancing like idiots. It was a fun and cosy night topped off with a delivery of Lebanese food!

We decided to spend New Year’s Day in the desert! Kirsty’s friend and her sister were also in Dubai at the time, so the five of us all went together. The tour was with a company called EaglesTours. They picked us up and drove us out into the desert. We endured a 4x4 desert dune ride, bumping up and down the sand dunes, feeling like we were on a rollercoaster – thank god none of us were hungover!

We stopped off on one of the dunes and got a shot of sand surfing – I fell over, of course. We then had some time to take pictures of the beautiful sunset over the Arabian desert. It was gorgeous, so calm and peaceful compared to the rush of Dubai’s city centre. We were then driven back across the dunes to a camp where we got to try on traditional dress, sit on a camel, get henna tattoos and watch traditional dancing. There was also a barbecue serving delicious food accompanied by shisha! The tour lasted from 3:30 to around 9 and cost around £40 each. It was a great way to start the New Year.

Once back home we were all exhausted. The next day, Kirsty and I decided to sleep in and have a chilled last day. We went out for lunch together at The Reform Social & Grill at The Lakes. It was like a traditional British pub selling fish and chips and burgers, it was amazing!

From there, we went to The Miracle Garden; a park surrounded by sculptures made of flowers! It was beautiful, especially during the sunset.

After that, we drove over to the beach, to a new resort called La Mer. It's not fully complete as many of the restaurants were't open yet. However, it was nice to walk around as the sun was falling and the calm of the sea along the promenade.

For dinner we were invited over to Jamal’s house where his mum cooked a traditional Lebanese meal. I love trying homemade food like that, so it was a real treat!

I had a flight back to Vietnam at 3:30am so I had to be at the airport by 1:30. We rushed home, packed my bag and headed straight there. It was an amazing weekend – a great break from work that felt like being back at home while still being on holiday!

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