Dubai...Again

So last weekend I set off again to Dubai for a mini-vacation despite the impending tropical storm.  As you may recall, I am not a fan of Dubai, but some friends convinced me that rather than trudging around a mall and lamenting that Dubai was like a more expensive and less fun Vegas I should instead treat Dubai like a beach vacation.  So a friend found a great deal on a night at the Atlantis resort and I decided to give Dubai another chance. 

And now I see why so many people living in Oman head there for the weekends...

So first off, it's gorgeous.  And even though it was hotter than the surface of the sun, between the pool, the beach and the water park, there were plenty of ways to stay cool.  We didn't even make it to the lazy river.

 

That's Dubai in the background.  I'd much rather look at palm trees than endless skyscrapers.



The view of the pool and beach from my balcony.

We also decided to be big kids and go swimming with sea lions (they also had swims with dolphins, but this is the first time I'd seen sea lions as an option, so we opted for that).  I really balked at the price of doing it, but ultimately had to stop converting dirhams to dollars in order to enjoy my time at Atlantis without being appalled at how much money I managed to spend in two days.  But the sea lions were totally awesome.

 

We arrived in time for breakfast, so you could see all the little piglets gathering for fish.

 

There was a guy with a bucket of fish just on the other side of the wall. 

 

The sea lions really just reminded me of dogs.  They can learn just as many commands as dogs (sit, stay, rollover, fetch, etc.), love belly rubs and to be scratched behind their ears.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and made me miss my dog even more.

And while I say I hate shopping in Dubai, no trip to Dubai would be complete without at least a little shopping.  The hard part is that the prices in Dubai are easily double or triple what they would be in the US -- for example, I went into Banana Republic in Dubai and all the clothes were easily twice what they would go for in the US.  But the frustrating part is that I just can't get certain things here in Oman, so I have the choice of paying double for things in Dubai (and even triple) or waiting a month to ship it from the US (and then paying customs to get it into Oman). 

I was a little worried that when I returned home from Dubai my house would be flooded (like the last time I had gone to Dubai), but it turns out that Tropical Storm Nanook didn't make it here.  I frankly have no idea what happened to the storm, but it looks like Muscat missed its one chance for rain for about the next 6 months.  And it's hotter than ever here now...