My Brother's Visit To Dubai

On the 10th of March my brother came to visit me in Dubai. We did the Big Bus tour, Dubai Museum, Wild Wadi (the water park) and a desert safari. Below are the pictures.
My brother Jaegen and I on the top deck of the Big Bus.
Our tour guide on the Big Bus.

A view of the Sheikh Zayed Road area from the bus.

The entrance to Dubai's Gold Souk (market).

Us outside the Dubai Museum.
Me and a stuffed camel!
Jaegen and a fake lady selling fake fish.
You would think it would be quite easy to take a picture like this wouldn't you? Check out my brother's attempt of one of me below...
Bad isn't it! This is supposed to be a picture of me holding up one of the towers at the old Dubai Fort.

An Abra (water taxi) on the creek. It costs 1 Dirham (approx 15p or 33c Australian) to go from one side to the other.

The jeeps that we went on our desert safari in.
Going down a dune.
Another view.

April 07 Roster (Updated 25/04)

My roster for April:

01APR DUBAI - SHANGHAI
02APR SHANGHAI - DUBAI (ARR 03APR)
06APR DUBAI - ALEXANDRIA (EGYPT) - DUBAI
08APR DUBAI - BEIRUT (LEBANON) - DUBAI
10APR DUBAI - MALÉ (MALDIVES) - COLOMBO (SRI LANKA)
11APR COLOMBO - DUBAI
12APR LEAVE
13APR LEAVE
14APR LEAVE
15APR LEAVE
16APR LEAVE
17APR LEAVE
23APR DUBAI - PERTH
24APR PERTH - DUBAI (ARR 25APR)
29APR DUBAI - NAIROBI
30APR NAIROBI - DUBAI

My Small Bite Of The Big Apple

31 hours is just not enough time to explore the many sights of this amazing city. The evening of our arrival was spent catching up on sleep after the 14 hour non-stop flight to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport from Dubai. A double Bailey's was also taken to help ease the pain! It was up bright and early the next day to join 2 crew members from the flight for a great American diner breakfast and a whistlestop bus and ferry tour of NYC. The New Yorkers have gone security mad after that awful day in 2001. I had to pass through a metal detector to go up the Empire State Building and also to catch a ferry. I was nearly fully undressed at the airport trying to get through security there! Life in New York is way to fast for my liking. I found the New Yorkers very rude compared to the other Americans I have met on previous LA and Chicago trips. I must say that it's worth putting up with it all just to see the city. Hopefully another trip to the US will feature on April's roster!

My first glimpse of the Big Apple. Our hotel is in central Manhattan!

Ever wondered what a hotel lobby full of cabin crew suitcases looked like? Well now you know.

Claudia (England) and Ivan (Bulgaria) with our breakfast at the diner in Times Square.

The Empire State Building.

The entrance to the Empire State Building. Now I think it's time for a few 'views from the top'.
You can just about make out the Statue of Liberty in this one.
You can see Central Park in the background if you look closely.
And the Chrysler Building in this one.

The United Nations Head Office. The NYC Police hold Roll Call on the streets of Manhattan. Now a regular sight to help deter would-be terrorists. The Rockerfeller Center Ice Rink. As seen in many movies! They also put the New York Christmas tree up here. Times Square. The Triangle Building.
Ground Zero. Not really much to look at but it still makes you feel bad seeing it. Macy's. The world's biggest department store.
Madisson Square Garden. It's not square! Real New York City taxis! New York City Hall.
The Circle Line ferry which took us to... The Statue of Liberty. A lot smaller than she looks on TV! A view of New York from the Circle Line.

Deutschland: Geschlossen am Sonntag

Düsseldorf was my second German destination with Emirates. The night we arrived a few of the crew decided to go out for some typical German cuisine. I had schnitzel with hunter sauce. Very tasty! I didn't really get to explore much of the city as EVERYTHING in Germany is closed on Sunday. Hopefully I will be back soon.
Düsseldorf Airport.
Our hotel.
The restaurant where we had dinner. Emirates crew visit so often that we have our logo in the window!
Kristel (South Africa), First Officer Tareq (USA), Captain Guy (South Africa) and Jeanette (New Zealand) after the meal.

A quiet Düsseldorf street on Sunday.

Arabian Nights

I thought it was time for a little more of the Dubai experience, so last night we went out for an Iranian meal. It was really nice and so filling. The restaurant is very different, you sit on the table! Afterwards we had a few games of pool. Marcos thrashed us all! Only one week to go until my brother arrives for our holiday to Australia.
Justine and Marcos on the table!
The menu.
The Iranian food.
Iranian tea and sweets for dessert.

Justine about to take a shot. She didn't pot it! :-)

Back To The UK

Birmingham was the latest stop on my Emirates tour of the world. It was great to be back, as it was one of the last airports I flew from during my charter season at bmi. The hotel we stay at is located in Solihull, an area of Birmingham I had heard of but never visited. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the town. It was nothing like I had imagined from all the stories I'd heard from other crew. I'd forgotten just how cold it could be in the UK! I was so happy that I remembered to pack a warm jacket. :-)

Birmingham Airport. Or BHX as it is known to all the airline staff.

The hotel sign in Solihull.

The hotel entrance.
The bed in my room. It was so comfortable!
The hotel pool.
Solihull High Street.

And again from another viewpoint.