Archives for 2011

from the future!

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to visit the future… twice.

Masdar City is a giant zero-carbon environmental project coming to fruition just outside of Abu Dhabi. Right now the project is only in phase 1, but when it’s complete the city will house 55,000 people, 1,000 businesses, and a university… all running on renewable resources!

We went to check the place out. There’s not too much happening out there now… the university is running, and a few businesses are open. We shopped at the small organic store, ate dinner at Sumo Sushi, and checked out Caribou Coffee for dessert.

The best part was the transportation… driverless pods!

You climb into a little bug of a vehicle, push a button, and you’re off! The pod is powered with solar energy and uses magnets to navigate. Awesome.

Hopefully Masdar’s sustainability will begin to creep into the mainstream Abu Dhabi lifestyle. It certainly will be interesting to see what the project looks like as the next stages are completed.

xo, jill

…break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!

While on our way to Ras Al Khaimah the week before last, something caught my eye just south of Dubai. Something I had never noticed. A Kit Kat factory! We decided we’d check it out on our return, if only for a photoshoot.

Luckily, on our way home we took an accidental alternate route that brought us near to the proper industrial park. We thought it might be gated up or secured somehow… but nope. We drove right up to the factory with the Kit Kat bars we had purchased for the occasion.

In the few minutes we spent outside taking these photos, the chocolate completely turned to soup. Molly did her best to rehabilitate them with the air conditioning during the rest of the drive, but it was messy little treat nonetheless.

xo, jill

“Ras Al Khaimah is best emirate. Not like Abu Dhabi.” – grade 3 student

Last weekend Molly and I took advantage of another GoNabIt voucher. We decided to spend a little Jolly Time (Jill + Molly) relaxing at the Golden Tulip in Ras Al Khaimah. The voucher included a 1 night stay, 30 minute massage, 100AED dinner voucher, breakfast, and access to the warm springs. The level of adventure wasn’t quite the same as last year’s weekend getaways (Egypt and India), but for $50 each, we weren’t complaining.

Since the hotel is located in the middle of nowhere and the heat was too intense for any hiking, it truly was a relaxing stay. We lounged at the pool, enjoyed our massages, lounged a bit more, attempted a snail shower, and happily ate our pizza and soup dinner.

The next morning we walked down a steep hill to the warm springs. Warm springs in 100F heat… not too smart. We didn’t last long in the water but I’m happy to report the absence of any fainting spells. (Triumph!) And since I wanted to remain upright, we requested a van for the journey back up.

It was a fun weekend with one of my very favorite friends. More on our sweet discovery soon!

xo, jill

PS The last time Molly and I visited RAK together we did quite a bit more exploring: museum, abandoned village, sleeping with goats.

In the Arabian Gulf.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to view Dubai from a new perspective: the water! We took a two hour sunset boat cruise with Seven Seas Marine.

Seeing the landmarks we’ve all come accustomed to from a new angle felt like quite the treat. Highlights included the Burj Al Arab and Atlantis. Although we were initially told we’d tour the World Islands, boats aren’t allowed to cruise very close. All we could see was a streak of beige on the horizon. A sheik somewhat recently built a palace there and subsequently “put security around ‘The World.'” At least that’s what we were told…

Atlantis

photo by Sarah

photo by Sarah

Jen got the wettest seat on the boat. Photo by Sarah.

photo by Sarah

photo by Sarah

photo by Mike

photo by Sarah

We purchased our cruise via GoNabIt, a group-buying site for the Middle East. Have you joined a group-buying site where you live?