A different trip report...travelling like Prince Ali to the U.A.E.

[Angrypenguin]

Hi there.

Trip reports I’ve written about the past here concentrate primarily on Disney. Makes sense, considering this website. However, this fall I had an opportunity to take a trip that was slightly different, and this being the first year in many years that we haven’t gone to Disney World (okay, it’s been 8 months, but that’s a long time for us!), I wanted to share my experiences since this is a trip report that may be drastically different than many of us have experienced, and I wanted to share it with everyone. Mods, if I’ve broken any labor laws, please feel free to move to the appropriate forum.

Let’s back up a bit first. My wife and I are fortunate to live in SoCal, where we get our Disney addiction fed continuously by Walt’s original park. However, we have a love affair with Disney World since we first visited as “adults” 10 years ago, got married there, and have visited on a regular basis. We’re fans of the DISunplugged, and WDW is as much a part of our lives as our dog, Jiko (see what we did there?). Here’s the obligatory shot of Jiko:



One of my quirks is that I’m really cheap, except when I’m not. I gladly pay full price for an unlocked iPhone, chucking my open wallet at Apple and screaming “gimme!” but refuse to pay for new socks, waiting until my one toe hole grows into a toe(s) hole, effectively turning my sock into a handkerchief wrapped around my foot. Lately over the years, I’ve come to detest purchasing plane tickets. Constantly monitoring prices, paying for a service to visit family that I may or may not particularly want to see, and being crammed in like cattle didn’t particularly appeal to me. This changed somewhat last year when I flew business class to London for the first time. I got to sit in the lounge, have plenty of space, and was actually treated like a human being during the flight. Obviously I would never pay myself for a ticket that expensive, but now I was spoiled. I vowed if there was a way, I’d avoid flying in economy. Like a Kardashian. But that was just wishful thinking, wasn’t it?

The internet is a wonderful thing. Needless to say, there are many ways outside of actually flying to chase frequent flyer miles and points, allowing luxury for next to nothing. I won’t bore you with the details, as there are plenty of websites/blogs/forums that give good advice to do what I did, but suffice it to say that during this year I accumulated a lot of miles. And I hardly flew. Not to mention that since my wife changed jobs last year, I have significantly more vacation time than she does. Now, I love my wife dearly, and I couldn’t imagine going on a trip anywhere without her. Unless it’s somewhere she’s not particularly interested in going.

Enter my friend. Last year, he took a position at his company in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Being so far away, not many people have visited him. My wife wasn’t particularly interested in the middle east because a. it’s far, and b. she wasn’t sure how it would be for her as a woman, and c., she’d rather use her vacation for our upcoming London/Paris trip. Well, I have extra vacation, and look, all these miles! She’s the one that actually suggested I use some of my miles to go visit him.

I felt like this:

So, with her blessing, I was given the green light to go visit my friend. Not only that, I would get to fly on one of the most highly ranked airlines in the world, Etihad Airways (usually duking it out with Cathay Pacific and Emirates Airlines for the top airline rankings. Not surprisingly, the American carriers are usually scraping the bottom of international airline rankings). It’s a 16+ hr flight from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi (which is only an hour away from Dubai), so even on a nicer airline there was no way I could survive. Getting into fist fights over reclining space and scrounging for barely edible food to didn’t sound appealing.

I wanted to travel like this.

Luckily, Etihad is a partner of American Airlines. Taking a look at award availability, I saw first class availability for the dates I wanted and grabbed them. 180,000 American Airlines miles and 85 bucks in taxes, and I was on my way. I know exactly what you're thinking.

Was I nervous? Sure. I had stereotypes of what it would be like in my head. Rightly or wrongly, there’s a stereotype of the Middle East, where all of the Middle Eastern countries get lumped together. On the other hand, I’ve heard that Dubai and the UAE are the new center of commerce and opulence, where everybody has a Rolls Royce. Or, if you’re poor, a Bentley. Which would be true? Would I be targeted for harassment for being an American? (side note: I’m ethnically Chinese, so as a back-up plan I figured I’d just wave my arms around and start speaking Mandarin and pretend that I was a Chinese tourist in case doo-doo hit the fan)

During this report I’ll cover my flight, my impressions of the culture and the sights, my impressions on the ethnic diversity of the region, and my impressions of how different (or really, not that different) the U.A.E. is different from the U.S.A.

Also, it’s bloody hot over there.

Also, it’s really far. Here was our flight path.
LAX AUH by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Oh wait, the world’s not flat. Sorry, had a Republican moment.
gcmap circle by kevinkyen, on Flickr

So if you’d like to join me, I’ll be sharing my experiences of a few different things:
-Visiting the tallest building in the world
-Visiting the biggest mall in the world
-Visiting the only 7-star hotel in the world
-Pretty much if it’s anything “____ in the world” it’s there
-Snowboarding in 100 degree weather
-Crazy architecture
-Eating the best lambchops in the world (my humble opinion)
-Having a real “holy crap” moment when visiting the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque
-Seeing the Atlantis Resort in Dubai, and comparing it to the one in the Bahamas
-Buying from the Gold Vending machine

Now, I’m going to apologize for some of the pictures in this report. I take some pride in my photography, and I took a lot of photos, but often times I couldn't use my “real” camera and had to use my iPhone camera. People get skittish when you pull out a camera the size of large tactical ordinance (that’s what she said), so many times I had to be in stealth mode and use my iPhone, like all other tourists who don’t know any better.

A quick preview (all iPhone shots)
IMG_4062 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

IMG_4187 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

IMG_4145 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

 

[Angrypenguin]

Morning! Slowly going through all my photos, and I have some that I can't wait to share. Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[Angrypenguin]

(Reserved)

 

[Angrypenguin]

Finally.

I always get nervous prior to travelling. Doesn't matter how many times I’ve done it, I still get jittery. My flight wasn't until the late afternoon, so I had all day to obsess over everything that could go wrong. Watching cable news, I suddenly panicked at the thought of contracting Ebola on the airplane, and then being kidnapped by ISIS as soon as I landed. Thinking about it, if I DID contract Ebola and then WAS captured by ISIS, and spread Ebola throughout ISIS, I’d probably be a hero. For some reason that made me feel better.

I got to the airport around 2, checked in, and headed to the lounge. This was my first first-class trip, and I’d read that there would be tons of food in the air, so I didn’t want to fill up too much on the ground. Didn’t mean I could avoid same tasty desserts, though.

First time in the fist class lounge. I felt a little intimidated!
IMG_3982 by kevinkyen, on Flickr


Seeing it was time, I left the lounge and made my way through boarding. I was led to my seat immediately, and was very exciting to be sitting in FC for the first time. But I tried to play it cool, like I’d been here before. I tried taking some pictures as discreetly as I could.

IMG_3988 by kevinkyen, on Flickr
IMG_3991 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Etihad has been trying a new concept of “onboard chef”. He’ll essentially make whatever is on the menu, or can whip up some combination of dishes from the menu or, if you let him, just do whatever he wants. “Parcien” (or Poncien?) came over and introduced himself, and took my dinner order. After a pre-departure champagne and receiving my amenity kit/pajamas, we were off in the air for the next 16 hrs!

Because I love food too much, and it shows, I started out with the Arabic Mezze to get myself in the mood. It was okay; while executed fine, it really just wasn’t a palette I preferred.

IMG_4007 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

This was followed by the Oso Bucco with Saffron Rice:

IMG_4009 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Then the dessert sampler.

IMG_4010 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

I occupied my time by watching “Edge of Tomorrow” and rewatching “The Fault in Our Stars” and ended up dozing for a bit. I’ve never been able to sleep well in planes, and when I woke up, I had a nasty itch in my throat. Panicking that I was either a. Getting sick or b. dehydrated, I drank some water. And then more water. And then more water. With all my excellent hydration, and about 8 hours left in the flight, I believe I made it to the restroom over 12 times in 8 hrs.

Finally, we were getting close. Hello, Middle East!

IMG_4019 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

We're pretty far from Kansas now.
IMG_4036 by kevinkyen, on Flickr

Next: My hotel and a day in Dubai.

IMG_5467 by kevinkyen, on Flickr