Well, here we are!!! We have reached the last day in Dubai. It ended up being a very busy day for us. Have I ever mentioned how awesome my little brother is and how much I love him?!?!? Well, in case I haven't.......
We had some last minute souvenir shopping to do and luckily Aaron had some grocery shopping to do. We still had to pack and so the idea was that we would run to the nearest mall, do the grocery shopping and souvenir shopping then head home to pack and relax...........
Well, the mall we went to had closed down their souvenir shop and the souvenir section of the grocery store, which used to be pretty big and nice was now small and crappy. We had to get frozen stuffs and the other malls were a bit out of our way. But being the awesome son/brother that he is, we bought the cold stuff, ran and dropped it off at home, and then went to another mall so my mom and I could finish our souvenir shopping. See? Isn't he just the best?!?!?!
As usual, I started off my day with Mango loves. I'm not a dog person in the sense that I would never want to own a dog, but I am more than happy to love on other people's dogs. Cats are still my preferred animal of choice, always have been and always will. Having said that, I am sure going to miss my Mango nephew.
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| Later on in the day, after all of our shopping and such, we were going through all of our souvenirs in preparation to getting them packed in our luggage. Both my mom and I, somewhere along our journey, had bought some key chain animals that were made out of real fur. It was so funny because Mango got a whiff of them and oh boy, he wanted them!! He got so excited!! His tail was wagging a mile a minute and his nose was sniffing around like mad. He was trying to climb over anything and everything to play with whatever it was that smelled so good. We were getting a huge kick out of it. He just thought that we had brought him something fun just for him. We had to take those items upstairs and pack them first. But even after that, he kept looking around for them. |
The first mall we went to had a very interesting display that caught my eye.....
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| The Floating Seahorse??? |
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| I love that I caught this guy mid-yawm. His job must be so "thrilling." |
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| My curiosity was peaked, but not enough to want to wander down and check things out from a closer view. So I told myself I would look them up when I got home....... |
Ya'll, I think I have found the place I want to retire to......
Let me introduce you to, The Floating Seahorse - Signature Edition. It is for those adventurous types who have always dreamed of living under the sea. You can now live out your fantasy in this stunning holiday villa which is located about two miles off the coast of Dubai.
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| Each villa has three levels, underwater, sea, and upper, with plenty of space to relax in the sun or enjoy views of the sea. |
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| You can choose between the 3,100 square foot one bedroom villa or the 4,004 square foot villa with up to four bedrooms. |
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| Underwater master bedroom and bathroom, with a free-standing tub and heated mirrors. I do have to wonder what the purpose of heated mirrors is for. I'd rather have heated floors. |
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| The Floating Seahorse is fully customized and personalized to suit your individual style and taste. |
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| Each villa is luxuriously appointed and equipped with the latest technology, with access to high-speed internet and satellite TV. |
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| The Floating Seahorse got its name because the artificial reefs will be a protected area where seahorses can safely breed and live. |
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| Guests won't have to worry about the heat either as the villa is equipped with air conditioning. |
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| Each Floating Seahorse villa is equipped with automated systems that control lighting, heating, and cooling with one touch. |
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| Each Floating Seahorse villa will have butler service and room service. A personal chef will be available upon request. |
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| On the mid-level, there is an exterior deck for sunbathing and a ladder for climbing in and out of the sea. |
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| Guests will be able to admire marine life and coral life from the comfort of their bed in a bedroom with floor to ceiling windows. |
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| On the upper deck, guests can enjoy views of Dubai in the distance from a hot tub that has a glass floor looking into the living room, a relaxation area, external shower, kitchenette, and mini-bar. Some of the space could be converted into an outdoor bedroom. |
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| The middle deck, called the sea level, has an open-plan layout with a living room, dining room, fully fitted kitchen, and bathroom. |
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| Underneath each villa, you'll find a man-made coral-garden....an artificial coral reef of sorts that spans an area of 495 square feet. |
I would totally not mind living in one of these somewhere tropical and warm.
After our disappointing grocery shopping/souvenir shopping trip to the mall, we dropped the food off at home and Aaron drove us back out to the Dubai Mall (home of the Burj Khalifa and is the biggest mall in the world). We came in a different door than we had the previous visit and much to my surprise I saw this restaurant......
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| Yes, you are reading that sign right. This is the Cereal Killer Cafe, where....... |
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| ..........You can order whatever cereal you want and then eat it on a bed, and not just any bed, a kids bed with kids sheets. |
Did you know that the Dubai Mall is large enough to have a hot air balloon in it and still have tons of room???
We got our souvenirs and made our way to the food court for lunch. This is the mall where I had my very first taste of Schwarma and so I decided I would end out my trip with some more.
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| mmmmmm, tasty. |
Aaron entrusted me with 100 durims (dhs, local money). Now before you think that I was given a ton of money, take that and divide by 3.67.....about $27 bucks, enough to get a tasty lunch. Let me tell you, I was constantly pulling out my cell phone calculator so I could figure out what everything translated to in the good ole US dollar. I did, however snap a few pictures of the change I got back.
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| Front? Five Durims, aka $1.36 and 10 Durims, aka $2.72 |
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| Back? Not only are they different colors, they are different sizes as well. |
While I was waiting for my lunch, the afternoon or Duhur prayer Muezzin was going off. I think I got a pretty good and clear sampling of it this time.
On our way out of the mall, I saw the Lamborghini store. I had to stop and get a picture. The police in Dubai drive Lamborghini's. I saw them with my very own two eyes. We were driving at the time and I wasn't fast enough to snap a picture, but it is really really true, the police do drive them.
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| You think of it, Dubai has a store for it in one of their many, many mega-mega-MEGA-malls. |
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| Too bad I couldn't have got this home, Meow-meow would love it. |
On our drive back to Aaron's house, I saw more strange architecture. I would like to introduce you to the DAMAC Towers - C......
I did my best to get pictures from a moving vehicle to do this building justice, I think I did pretty well. It's four separate towers on a joining base. Naturally, I had to see if I could find out some info on this crazy building......
DAMAC Towers - C by Paramount Hotels and Resorts Dubai is a hotel and residential complex located in the heart of the stylish Burj area.
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| It is a four tower development which houses the worlds first Paramount Hotel and Paramount Residences. Three towers have "Paramount Residences" and the fourth tower has the "Paramount Hotel." |
Each of the four towers stretch over 820 feet (69 stories), joined by a multi-level plaza ("podium") with an overall square footage of approximately 2 million square feet.
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| The Paramount Residences feature one, two, and three-bedroom luxury service branded apartments set to "be a reflection of the Hollywood glamour and the California "cool" lifestyle, synonymous with Paramount Pictures over the past 105 years." The five star Paramount Hotel complex has 823 rooms and suites, including a 3,444 square foot Producer Sweet. |
This is not my picture, but I needed one more, so I snagged it off of the internets.
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| The four towers, a multi-level connecting plaza ("podium") has exclusive access to two landscaped swimming pool areas, themed restaurants and bars, events facilities, two private screening rooms, four fitness centers, kids studio club, signature work/play suites, hair and beauty salon, a barbershop, numerous health facilities, on-site parking, and a retail zone based on Paramount-branded products......the perfect combination of global luxury and California "cool", just like Rodeo Drive. |
When we finally made it back to Aaron's house, that is when the "fun" began. We somehow had to pack all of our goodies into our luggage. Now I had my suitcase and carry-on and my parents, between them, had four suitcases and two carry-on's. One would think that would be plenty of room....... ha ha, you are funny if you thought that. Between my mom and I, we had a TON of souvenirs, on top of the fun stuff we bought for ourselves, the sand from the beach, the sea shells, my fossil rocks, and our......um.......sand....... Not for nothing, my dad is the master packer and we were able to make it all fit, but just barely.
We played outside with the niece and nephews until dinner, then we played Ticket to Ride with the nephews. That is pretty much the game of choice, well that and Monopoly. We played those games every night we were there. Strangely enough, I did not get tired of Ticket to Ride, it is a fun game. I'm lame and only have the America board. I really want to get the Asia board......One day.......and maybe one day I can convince my kids to play it with me......sigh!! I guess it just means I'll have to go back to Dubai next year so I can get my Ticket to Ride fix........now to just convince my hubby and kids to let me go again. Apparently I was missed.
Before bed we decided to take some family photos.
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| Even Mango got in on the family photo shoot. He's my buddy. |
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| Such an adorable family. I love them all so much!!!! |
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| I'm not sure I could have made it through the evening without Mango. Just as we were finishing dinner, I got the text from Nathan telling me that my cat, Mighty Mouse had been hit by a car and killed. I think Mango could sense my sadness because he was extra lovey. |
After that, it was off to bed to get a good nights sleep before our early departure the next day.
