Happy Birthday Sis!
My mum was feeling a bit low, 2005 was not turning into a great year for my family back home; my uncles death and then my aunt’s cancer returned. A short break is a great tonic and my sisters upcoming 30th birthday gave mum a perfect excuse for one. She decided that our Jakis’ birthday present would be a flight to Dubai, so called to say that they’d had been looking at flights to come over for a few days. Of course I was delighted, I really love visitors and as I was no longer working I could look after them. So I searched the web for cheap flights. As usual, his nibs was the man of action and only an hour after me telling him of their plans he’d booked the flight! So on October 3rd I headed to the airport for yet another long wait to pick up Thelma and Louise as they’d named themselves (think of my new car).
We drove from the airport with the top down, and even though I was sticking to the speed limit mum was not impressed at how fast I was going. The fact that she was in the back getting the worst of the wind had nothing to do with it! I’d moved house since their last visit and the guestroom had been redecorated for their arrival. They were delighted with their digs, of course the large garden and pool helped. The next morning mum dragged Jaki out of bed before 9 am even though we’d not got to bed before 3am. As they were only here for 5 days there was not a minute to waste. They helped themselves to breakfast and 2 of the sunloungers by the pool; well my home is their home.
Jaki in the pool and mum on the patio, both making the most of the October sun...
As I said this trip was my sisters 30th birthday present, mum paid for her flight and my dad took a week of work to look after Megan and Macaulay. They were left in a damp Blighty with a list of jobs for dad to complete at Jakis’ house during his ‘holiday’. Do we have great parents or what? His nibs and I had decided to take mum and Jaki to dinner at the Burj Al Arab for her birthday gift. You won’t have seen a picture of Dubai without the Burj, the only 7 star hotel in the world; I’d never been even though I could see it from our living room window. You see unlike most hotels in Dubai you can’t just go in for a beer, you must have a reservation at one of the restaurants and they don’t come cheap! It was an excuse for us to dress up and have a night of real luxury. Mum and Jaki had been shopping a few weeks earlier for their outfits, I on the other hand was still to find one; so a ladies shopping expedition to the recently opened Mall of the Emirates was required.
On the day of Jakis birthday we lounged by the pool and then the preparations for our big night out began. Poor Alain, he arrived home from work to find the house blasting with ‘getting ready’ music and 3 women styling their hair and making up faces. Doing the only sensible thing he retreated to our bedroom for a snooze. Now I’m not one of those women who can’t leave the house without their face on and their nails done, nor thankfully is my mum and sister. We’re far more natural and casual people. However I must admit that with that extra bit of effort and our new glad rags on we scrubbed up really well. The pink Champagne was popped and we had a photo session to remind us that it is possible for us to look glamorous every once in a while.
The highlight of the evening though was in the toilet… Here we are in a 7 star hotel, dressed in our Sunday best and our Jaki almost leaves the toilet with her dress tucked in her knickers. You can take the girl out of St Helens but you can’t take St Helens out of the girl!
For the last day of their stay we headed to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. They have a lovely beach with great views of the Burj and pool where we sat and caught some rays whilst the hotel staff delivered cold towels and ice lollies to cool us down, simply perfect!
We drove from the airport with the top down, and even though I was sticking to the speed limit mum was not impressed at how fast I was going. The fact that she was in the back getting the worst of the wind had nothing to do with it! I’d moved house since their last visit and the guestroom had been redecorated for their arrival. They were delighted with their digs, of course the large garden and pool helped. The next morning mum dragged Jaki out of bed before 9 am even though we’d not got to bed before 3am. As they were only here for 5 days there was not a minute to waste. They helped themselves to breakfast and 2 of the sunloungers by the pool; well my home is their home.
Jaki in the pool and mum on the patio, both making the most of the October sun...
As I said this trip was my sisters 30th birthday present, mum paid for her flight and my dad took a week of work to look after Megan and Macaulay. They were left in a damp Blighty with a list of jobs for dad to complete at Jakis’ house during his ‘holiday’. Do we have great parents or what? His nibs and I had decided to take mum and Jaki to dinner at the Burj Al Arab for her birthday gift. You won’t have seen a picture of Dubai without the Burj, the only 7 star hotel in the world; I’d never been even though I could see it from our living room window. You see unlike most hotels in Dubai you can’t just go in for a beer, you must have a reservation at one of the restaurants and they don’t come cheap! It was an excuse for us to dress up and have a night of real luxury. Mum and Jaki had been shopping a few weeks earlier for their outfits, I on the other hand was still to find one; so a ladies shopping expedition to the recently opened Mall of the Emirates was required.
On the day of Jakis birthday we lounged by the pool and then the preparations for our big night out began. Poor Alain, he arrived home from work to find the house blasting with ‘getting ready’ music and 3 women styling their hair and making up faces. Doing the only sensible thing he retreated to our bedroom for a snooze. Now I’m not one of those women who can’t leave the house without their face on and their nails done, nor thankfully is my mum and sister. We’re far more natural and casual people. However I must admit that with that extra bit of effort and our new glad rags on we scrubbed up really well. The pink Champagne was popped and we had a photo session to remind us that it is possible for us to look glamorous every once in a while.
A rose between two thorns!
We arrived at the Burj and after a look-see at the amazing reception headed to the glass lift that would take us up 200 metres to the Al Muntaha restaurant. Once at the top we walked through the tunnel to what can only be described as the worst interior designed restaurant I’ve ever been in. It looks like the dinning hall of a P&O ferry. Lots of mirrors and shiny chrome, a navy blue carpet with bright yellow, red and green splodges and the wave shaped ceiling with the same bright colours is enough to put you off your food. The hotel blarb describes it as having “a sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere”, well the food and service maybe but the décor is definitely not, more loud and tacky! That said we did have a great evening; the food was excellent and the service second to none.
The garish interior of Al Muntaha
The highlight of the evening though was in the toilet… Here we are in a 7 star hotel, dressed in our Sunday best and our Jaki almost leaves the toilet with her dress tucked in her knickers. You can take the girl out of St Helens but you can’t take St Helens out of the girl!
For the last day of their stay we headed to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. They have a lovely beach with great views of the Burj and pool where we sat and caught some rays whilst the hotel staff delivered cold towels and ice lollies to cool us down, simply perfect!
posted by Bev @ 1:02 pm
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