After a Day in the Doob

What a day.

Emirates continues to come through after a hiccup at the airport as they put me up in a hotel for free. Plus I saw a lot of the city in just an afternoon.

As for the hiccup, Dubai was covered in fog upon arrival causing my plane and every other hopeful aircraft to hover around for three hours.

Leo kept me company in "Inception" but then the pilot came on the speaker in the nasally-pilot voice and said 'we have to land at the other airport and wait for the other planes to land.' That was another two hours.

Nevertheless, I got to the DUX and got the hell off the plane. 19 hours trip. Now I actually have some bragging rights on my brother who thinks flying 18 hours in business class to Thailand makes him a big shot. Try 21 in economy with screaming children.

Anyway, my day in Dubai was nothing short or awesome.

Upon arrival, I threw my stuff in the hotel room and made my way to the lobby to ask about transportation. A guy with traditional Arab garb was sitting on the lobby couch so I walked up to him. I opened my mouth and before I said a word the bearded man pointed to where I came from and said "the metro is the easiest way to get around. Its out the back entrence."

The metro was pretty easy to figure out, and as an aspiring architect I B-lined it to the Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world. Exciting, I know.

In order to get to the Burj from the metro, you have to go through the mall. It's not just a mall, its an entire city. It has to be the biggest mall in the world. I couldn't even get out. After over an hour I finally stumbled out of a small exit near a bathroom. Then I was blasted with light, and as my vision adjusted, the blue-plated glow of the Burj came into view. Cool.

I wandered around the city square and found a place to eat where I could admire the Burj. I ate an entire bowl of hummus and pita bread, then decided to make my way back through the mall. I followed the highway-style signs the mall uses back to my metro stop, and passed out on my way back to the hotel.

I awoke by the sound of my stop being communicated through the speakers, first in Arabic, then English.

Upon my return, I threw on my board shorts and milked my layover some more in the insane swimming pool. I had it all to myself, so it must have been closed.