Salam Aleikum Dubai :)

Reason to Smile: My weekends for the past 5 yrs have always been happening. But this time it was madness. It all started with just one conversation with a friend in Dubai that he would have holidays and I should book my tickets if I really wish to see that country. Not for a second did I have any doubts about not going there and exploring it on my own. And then Boom ! Tickets booked and I know I am flying to Dubai !! :)

As we would all know Dubai has this magnificent aura of richness when we think of the country / city. Even the thought of just having a slight glance from an airplane made me feel so rich already :P

Dubai indeed is all about - Lights; Camera; and Action !! :D

Take 1 - Friday it was (28th November) with all the excitement of finally experiencing Dubai with its Islamic culture, cuisine and state of the art infrastructure. True to all the adjectives one can name, Dubai in real is a beauty ! So went home with all the to do list and checklist and I get a call from Jeanette and Piyush (along with Rahul) that they want to hog on some eateries near my house. Call picked and all I hear is "Come down to eat" :P{Can never have a choice to say no to these wonderful friends :P}We ate, we talked about some plans, we hogged and then when we just decide to part ways, Rohan, Rajjo jumped to join in. Piyush had to board the bus to Hcg with Tattva at Dadar. Guess what ! He did not feel like leaving us nor the trek so to help him find a mid way, it so got decided that we go to drop him at Dadar, meet the others in the gang too and come back in the same bus till Ghatkopar. Wow. I was surely dragged to be a part of this :P So while I kinda went down at 8pm with those pyjamas and a tee as my nightwear for just a hog, I went all the way to Dadar, met the gang, enjoyed the hellos and the laughs, and reached home by 12.30 am ! Hey Bhagwan ! Love you guys for this crazyness :P

Take 2 - After the entire Friday affair when I am just to feel relaxed that I have a weekend to pack up stuff; my mother feels like going on a long drive ! Hell yeah, how can we not fulfill her wishes :P So, there we are. After our Saturday Lunch meal at Trident we drove straight to Pune and gave my sister a surprise. It was indeed a great, unplanned fun weekend with them. My Yashu baby was delighted to have us home. He was so excited that he dint want us to go back at all ;)

Take 3 - After boarding a spicejet flight that's delayed by an hour at about 3.30am, I wake up rubbing my eyes, look down from my business class window seat to see an unbelievable structure standing tall with an unwavering and a dashing look lighting up to itself pointing at me as if its telling me - Welcome to Dubai ! To that, while the airplane taking its turn for landing, my hand naturally raises its palm to my face responding to the beauty - Assalam Aleikum Dubai :) Hope you treat me well :)

And it does it so bloody well indeed. Mind blowing and unbelievable it is I say.

Take 4 - I roam about the city like hell by foot, metro trains, trams (that run only in downtown Dubai) and the buses too ! The metro that exits directly at the Mall of Emirates was literally exciting :P I have eaten all Indian food and tried some Arabic salads at the Desert Safari too. The miracle garden fully made of natural food and flowers is a treat to watch. Global Village has pavillions created of more than 30 countries for you to explore and galore! Yes, each country is represented verbatim with its culture, shopping, food, arts and apparels, etc in that ground spread across acres and acres of land. Pakistan was my favourite among the pictures that I clicked of others starting the seven wonders of the world; Kuwait, Thailand, Palestine, Spain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Americas, UK, Japan, China, Africa, Paris, Australia, Yemen, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, Bahrain, Indonesia, and India that had the largest and the biggest pavillion !!! ;)

Take 5 - Dubai Mall, Bhurj Khalifa, Al Bhurj Arab, Palm Jumeira, Jumeira Beach, Marina Bay, Dubai Marina, Atlantis, Gold Souk, Deira, Abu Hail, Heritage Village, Dubai Museum are some of the popular places I enjoyed too. The Abra dining experience was also world class at the Creek :) The food is awesome and worth hogging. Though there are limitations for the vegetarian species like us, but its fun to be there by late evening and enjoy the sun set. Its just like Marine Drive here in Mumbai. Gold Souk has a finger ring made full of gold that weighs about 64 Kgs ! It has a Guiness book of world records certificate attached to it in one of the shops there. The place is called - Dubai City of Gold :)

Dubai has no beggars, no stray dogs, no honking / horns allowed, no street fights, has only 3% accident rates across the city and no problem-parking found (though to get a parking is a fight ofcourse with so many high end cars to its display :P) There are towers meant for Parking only too. I incidentally came across a bollywood radio channel called City 101 being aired that had one of the India RJs narrating his story of Dubai. He said 'When I came here, I was so fascinated with the discipline and the system this country has that I felt great. But some days later, I suddenly missed India so much that I gave 10 Dhms to my taxi driver and begged him to HONK! LOL :D Haha :P No unnecessary honking or horns is what Dubai is all about - what a great city indeed ! :)

Take 6 - Back to my country feels like home for sure :) Missing Dubai and its richness too :P

Hope you liked reading this movie :P ;)

Oh yes, by the way I also got inspired by Tamasha, a movie based on story tellers and finding the real you (which I also saw at Dubai Burjuman Center :P) Ranbir Kapoor as usual steals the show :)

My heartfelt and special Thanks to Siddharth Lakhani who made sure I enjoy the city to the core. He has left no stone un-turned to drive me through all the jittery places and enjoy the best Indian food and shopping. This was one of the best experience of travelling with a buddy that cares so much. I am indeed blessed to have a friend like him :) Touch wood.

Some pics on FB :)

Keep dreaming; Keep Smiling :)