“Action action we want action!”

Lucky for my sister, her visit coincided with a field trip at school. Now, when I said “field trip” you might have thought that we’d visit the library or the zoo or the science center or the theater or anything educational.

Newsflash.

Educational field trips are for suckahs!!!

We headed to Action Zone!

Sarah and I were relieved to see that the students were fully contained inside the walls of Action Zone. We didn’t have much to do besides take photos and laugh as our girls went flying around us on the rides. Jana, however, bolted to the shopping center across the parking lot. I can’t say I blame her… the bus ride there was crazy enough.

xo, jill

“Madame, you can ski?”

Who would have thought that a girl who grew up just a short distance from mountains would experience her first time skiing… in the Middle East.

I’ve never had much of an interest in snow sports. Despite living a short drive from Mount Hood and later Mount Baker, I never had much desire to exercise in snow. It’s so cold. But introduce me to an artificial ski slope inside a mall? I’m all over that. Naturally.

Top of the list of attractions during Jana’s visit was a trip to Ski Dubai. Time to Sister Ski!

Lucky for us, we had our very own Canadian to give us a few tips.

After a quick lesson and a few runs down the very baby bunny slope, we hopped on the lift. Big mistake.

In order to preserve our dignity, I’ll skip over the part where we fell our way down the slope landing in immobile positions and blocking the more experienced patrons, and instead talk about the tasty hot cocoa on offer at the lodge.

I have zero desire to ski again… at least without a proper lesson and a very gradual incline to practice on. But I’m glad I’ve ticked off “skiing in a mall” on my list of ridiculous things to experience in life.

xo, jill

Resting up.

Day Two of Jana’s visit we kept the excitement to a minimum. We started out the day with a late breakfast and early lunch at Jones the Grocer.

In the evening friends came over to play Apples to Apples.

And a bit later on we headed to Trader Vic’s.

xo, jill

It’s the hot air.

The past two days we’ve been having a crazy sand storm over here. Today was especially bad. Walking outside meant a face full of sand and your skirt up around your neck. It also meant indoor recess… bleh.

After school I snapped a few photos to show you just what it’s like.

The sky is gray, not the usual blue.

Sand collected all over my car.

Sand even took over the highway!

xo, jill

Just the highlights.

I expertly planned my sister’s itinerary to allow for maximum fun times. She arrived late Wednesday evening which allowed her to rest while I worked on Thursday. By Thursday afternoon we were ready to dash up to Dubai to check out all the highlights.

Our first stop was an ADNOC station to indulge in a little novelty snack fuel.

Novelty Snack: Nacho N Dip
Description:“Flavor of the cinema.”
Tastes Like: Stale chips and nacho cheese you ate while having a Jolly Rancher in your mouth
Verdict: Thumbs neutral for Jana, way down for me

With a novelty snack out of the way, we checked out Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah. It’s so fancy! And it’s built on a palm tree shaped island!

After Atlantis we zipped over to Madinat Jumeirah to view another famous hotel, the Burj Al Arab. My sister was completely taken with the faux traditional Arab souk (marketplace). I think a direct quote was, “Um, this is so weird. Everything’s fake!”

Two hotels down and it was time for the Dubai Mall. Never in my life did I think I’d take family/friends to the mall as a tourist destination… but, I also never thought I’d be living in the UAE.

The mall boasts an aquarium…

…a gigantic indoor fountain…

…light show… and much much more.

My sister treated me to dinner before we ascended the World’s Tallest Building, the Burj Khalifa. I’d describe the experience as a very expensive elevator ride. Of course it’s amazing to look out over the city, but there’s not much else to do At The Top. And oh yeah, you’re not “at the top!” You’re on the 124th floor of a 200+ story building. You couldn’t build the observation deck any higher???

After descending we made our way back to Abu Dhabi.

xo, jill