Away in Dubai, Part 1

I've had the opportunity to get sent to Dubai on a 5-day, 2-part course. Of course, Emirates Air are excellent, as usual, even though i had a nap on on the plane, I knew they served excellent food because my neighbor's stomach growled loudly at one point right before we landed, which is always a good culinary indicator.

I arrived at the Kempinski-Mall of the Emirates around 45 minutes after i touched down!! I was lucky enough to grab a free "limousine' ride from the airport to the Hotel, courtesy of Emirates Air's Business & First Class services. The driver-i imagine-must have some little pics of Michael Schumacher in his pocket because we were doing between 140 to 160KPH! I didn't, mind, i was eager to get a shower & unwind, especially after the slight turbulence we came across along the way!

I liked my hotel straight away! The Reception's ambiance was bright, modern, fresh, square motifs all over the place. I walked into my room and it was the same...square motifs, excellent layout, nice view, terrific bathroom...I had a shower almost immediately, ordered some dinner, watched TV on my 40-inch Plasma Widescreen LG TV.....but....

I tossed & turned all night! The pillows were so squashy & collapsible that my posture was never quire comfortable for sleep. Eventually all I could muster was 4 hours' sleep.

Woke up at 8am, reported to the classroom at 8:30 sharp..struggled to stay awake until the end of the fist day. Went back to my room to try & sleep some more, didn't amount to much.

Got up, dressed, walked down to the Mall, got some starbuck's to wake me up, did some window-shopping, & eventually decided to watch "Shooter" which is nothing more than crappy copy attempts from Commando, Sniper, Assassins, all wrapped together into one American-propagandized waste of time.

Point of Observation: Everywhere I look around I see non-locals as the majority, and they're all strutting to & fro, lugging sophisticated PDA's, talking to their friends, business associates or customers, or managers, always working or playing...in other words, living their lives. The locals, when they're around, are to some extent walking around, hunting for women, or sitting at coffee shops AND hunting around for women. I guess certain habits are across-the-board in the Gulf!