Seaplane ride over Dubai ... part 1 ... take off!

Tim and I splurged and did a seaplane ride over Dubai. Given the man-made islands and the crazy-tall buildings, we thought it would be a great way to see the city.

And we were right.

This adventure, however, took a little consideration on my part, because there are times that I still have trepidation over flying.  (Not too often any more! And you are thinking "well, I should hope not, given how far she has to fly now to get home!") 

When we were in Vancouver a couple of years ago, we had taken a seaplane from Vancouver, British Columbia to Victoria Island, and back. And we loved it. You fly low and slow enough that the view is amazing, and our flight in Vancouver was wonderfully smooth.

I did have a bit of an anxious time during parts of this Dubai flight, as the pilot -- in my opinion -- understated that we were going to have a bit of turbulence, especially when we would go "behind" (inland) the skyscrapers. But as freaked as I was several times, bouncing around, I was determined to make the most of this and not miss the amazing views.

With that, I took a lot of photos and videos, so I need to break this up into bite size blog posts. You will therefore have several posts about this to enjoy. (In addition to the fact that it is fantastic to have Tim here for visits, the bonus is that we go out and about and I get lots of material for this blog!)

Let's start at the beginning. For friends looking at maps online, you start from Dubai Creek, in the area of Deira. This is the old area of Dubai, where Tim and I took our 45-minute Abra ride before the flight. We take off from the Dubai Creek Golf Club, which is next to the Park Hyatt.

The plane seats 9 guests and the pilot. 3 pairs of single seats, 2 seats next to each other in the back, and 1 person sits next to the pilot. They supply cold water, an "in an emergency" sheet, a map of the route so you can know what you are seeing, and a bag for if you get sick.

Everyone gets a window.

Tim and I are in the second seats back.

The plane taxied for a distance on the Dubai Creek, and then off we go, into the wild blue  yonder.

The sail-shaped building in the video is part of the Dubai Creek Golf Club. The buildings that I can see out my window, we went near on our Abra boat cruise earlier.

We head toward the Gulf. It stays pretty hazy along the coast, between high humidity and sand in the air. But this gives you an idea of the colors ... they are amazingly vibrant in person. Here you see some harbor and breakwater where the Dubai Creek meets the Gulf.

Some dredging going on.

Next blog, a view of the World ... islands, that is.

Dubai's indoor aquarium

The second largest indoor aquarium in the world is located in the Dubai Mall.

While Tim was visiting in May, we spent a couple of days in Dubai.

One of the sites to be seen in the Dubai Mall is the world's second largest indoor aquarium. 

(I realize that as I pan back to the left, it looks like I'm tracking or following a specific couple. Really, I'm not. They just were in the way of my video!)

You can certainly view if from several feet away, as it is huge (wide, and a couple of stories tall); but for a nominal fee, you can buy a pass to walk through a clear tunnel that goes through the aquarium.  You can also pay to help feed the fish, or even learn how to scuba dive in the aquarium.

As we approached the stand to pay to go inside the aquarium tunnel, what immediately stood out to us were the scuba divers in the tank. There was a pair, feeding the fishies.  One had some sort of food in a container; the other had a rod about 3 feet long ... I am assuming the rod was for fish that might get too eager. The sharks perhaps?

This little bit of video shows the size of some of the fish:

There are all types of fish. More obvious ones are various sting rays and sharks. Others include Batfish, Humphead Wrasse, Potato Cod, Sergeant Major, Unicorn Fish. 

One of the divers' jobs was cleaning the rocks and coral.  My sister-in-law Amanda might want to skip this video ... shark ...

Et Moi.

Water show under the Burj Khalifa

When Tim and were in Dubai in May, one of the things I wanted to see (because I had heard it was well worth the time) is a water fountain "show", next to the Dubai Mall and under the shadow of the Burj Khalifa.

If you have forgotten what the Burj Khalifa looks like ...

The water fountain 'dances' to music. Shows start at 6 p.m. and continues every 30 minutes throughout the evening. I wanted to get some photos and video of it.

We had checked into our hotel (the Dusit Thani), which was near the Dubai Mall (next photo below; hotel rooms are on the top floors). 

We took a taxi over, a) because the mall gets busy on a Friday, and b) I had wanted a glass of wine with dinner. (You do NOT drink and drive here ... .001 on a breathalizer and you are going to jail. No exaggeration.)

I have described to Tim how crowded a mall can be on a Friday evening. What I had not factored in my brain was we are talking the Dubai Mall.  VERY popular place.

Outside of the mall, along the water where the fountain show is, are some restaurants with outdoor seating. It was warm but bearable.  We had to get through quite the crowd both in and outside the mall (lots of other people want to see the fountain show as well). You leave the mall, walk over a little foot bridge that spans a canal that feeds into the fountain area. We were so glad to get through the mass of bodies (reminiscent of Disneyland on a crowded summer day), that we stopped at the first restaurant because it had tables ready and waiting. Ended up being an Italian restaurant. As we settled into our chairs and began to look through the menus, I realized -- with disappointment -- that it was unlicensed ... aka, dry. No wine for me that night!

The food was fine. Not fantabulous. But the setting, very cool indeed. Under the Burj Khalifa, which is uplit at various levels of the building, so very striking. And from our table, we could see a could portion of the fountain.

Apparently, every 30 minutes that there is a show, the music is different, as is the motion of the fountain. So that was fun. We saw 3 in the time we were sitting or standing there, and the music ranged from American pop to Arabic.

Here is some video ... 

As a bonus video, here is a random video (25 seconds) of Dubai skyscrapers as we went up the E11 in Dubai. Admittedly, it's not a great video or ultra smooth (from a taxi ... with a driver who didn't amuse use with the swerving and speeding); but you might find it a bit interesting, nonetheless. 

A trip to the Abu Dhabi Fish Market

Tim made his second trip to Abu Dhabi; he was here the last two weeks of May. We had a great time. It helped that I could use some vacation days while he was here (a perk of not being director of the academy), and we had time to explore.

Things I'll be writing about over several blog posts: fish market, Dubai Creek boat ride, seaplane ride over Dubai, water fountain show, aquarium ... with photos and videos.

I'm going to start here with the Fish Market.

We had heard from a few people that it was best to go in the morning before it gets hot. Logical ... the hotter it gets, the more pungent it must be.  So we took their advice and went mid-morning.

We had heard from a few people that you should be prepared to come home and change into other clothes, because you the fish smell can stay with you. We did change a little later; the smell was not bad, but it was definitely there enough. And it was as stinky inside as we had imagined.

We had also heard from a few people to wear shoes you don't care about, and not to wear flip-flops, because the ground is damp from ice melting and dripping, and there is an area where you can have the fish cleaned and prepared and apparently it gets, shall we say, messy. I / we chose not to walk over to that area. But cool that you can have it cleaned and prepared, without getting messy yourself.

There is also an area where you can have your fish (or more common in this English-is-a-second-language area, "fishs" !) cooked, to eat there or to take home.

There are many stalls. 

Quite the variety of fish ("fishs") and shrimp ("shrimps").

When the fish that ends up on your plate or in a tin, you forget how big some fish are (in this case, check out the tuna here in the middle):

I think that people find their favorite fish vendor and go back to them regularly. Am sure restaurant buyers come here, or have the fish brought to their establishments; fresh fish on menus is common in many restaurants.

We stopped at one stall (#40) and talked to a friendly guy (Faisal). He quizzed and educated us on the different fish he had on display, and shared about the texture and flavors of the different fish. His English was very good, and it was fun to learn about fish common to this area, many of which are found in nearby waters. He explained the different colors of some of the fish and crab. If I buy fish, I'll go back to his stall.

One of the area's popular fish (probably been caught and eaten for decades) is Hammour. Unfortunately, it is apparently being fished into extinction. Hopefully they will make a concerted effort to make it a sustainable, because I have tried it and it is quite tasty, and it is part of the culture of the region. Fortunately, lot of other fish options to enjoy.

Old photos of Dubai Creek

Funny, that I just posted about Dubai Creek yesterday (June 4th post), and today in The National (online), there were some old photos of Dubai Creek.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/in-pictures-dubai-creek-in-the-60s-and-70s#7

45 minutes on Dubai Creek in an Abra

While Tim was here in May, we spent two days in Dubai.

(There are times it's still a bit surreal, about being here in the UAE. And to see sights like Dubai that we've all seen featured on documentaries and in the movies, there are times it seems perfectly normal, and then other times, the "wow" factor kicks in again.)

Our big splurge was a seaplane ride over Dubai ... a few posts on that coming up. (Multiple posts because I took many photos and quite a bit of video.)

We drove up on a Friday morning. We had an idea of where we needed to go, and wanted to get there early. Did not want to miss the plane ride, and we also wanted to figure out where our hotel was.

I had taken Thursday off, so I had to keep remembering that it was Friday (not Saturday). And once in awhile I forget that on Fridays, most places are not open until the afternoon. (Holy day of worship.) We had intentionally drawn up our plans to go to Dubai on Friday/Saturday, because we wanted to catch up with my colleague Ahmed; he and Tim hit if off his last trip, and lunch on a Saturday is going to work best for Ahmed.

We found the Park Hyatt and the Dubai Creek Golf Club where the seaplane departs. We parked, and grabbed a taxi to the old souk area. (Not a whole lot of parking there.)

The seaplane takes off from Dubai Creek, which is near the old part of Dubai, along Dubai Creek. Along the creek is the old souk. A traditional rabbit warren of walkways. As I mentioned, it was Friday and not open until later in the afternoon, but we thought it would be fun to check it out anyway ... if nothing else, we know where to find it at a later date. Also in the area is an old fort and a museum, and we know the area where we can find that during another trip (not on a Friday!).

We walked around the souk just a bit, to get a taste for it. It would be fun to check it out when it's in full swing.

Along Dubai Creek are Abras -- small wooden boats. They serve as water taxis, taking people back and forth from one side of the creek to the other, for something like 1 dirham a person. We found out that they also will take you on a 45 minute ride on the creek. We had time to spare and thought "why not". You can pile on as many people who can sit, for 120 dirhams an hour. (120 AED divided by 3.67 = about $33 USD) 

Here are a couple of abras:

Riding in an abra is a casual affair, as is piloting the boat ... 

It's a wood boat. The material on top of the sitting area is contact paper. Holds up to the weather and easy to wipe off and keep clean. 

Life jackets are stored in plastic sleeves on the underside of the overhead wood canopy:

Pretty clever, actually. And glad to know there are some safety precautions. Not so sure about the fire retardant canister:

Tied up along the creek are larger dhows. Most carry cargo across the Persian Gulf, many traveling to and from Iran with goods.  I think I'd be hoping for calm seas, as I think these would toss a bit in rough weather.

In addition to cargo dhows, there were some lovely yachts.  I like the contrast of old and new in these next two photos:

A fun building along the Dubai Creek (bank building).

As you go by on the Creek, you can see your little boat's reflection ... we are the brown smudge in the water, toward the right.

Some of the dhows are used for dinner cruises:

The tall spire in the background of the photo (above) is the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world at the moment.

A couple of side notes. There were two mosques right next to Dubai Creek, both on the same side of the Creek. At prayer time, you usually here the singing/chanting of the Quran. These two mosques caught my attention, because it wasn't singing/chanting that I heard at the noon-ish prayer time ... it was spoken, and honestly, it sounded like the two were shouting at each other. (The prayers are amplified.) And it went on for quite awhile. I will have to ask someone about that ... see what that is about.

The other side note -- the people of and the businesses in the UAE really like to honor their leaders with large banners. The gentleman on the left is Crown Prince Mohammed, and the gentleman on the right is His Royal Highness Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE.

And our bonus round photos ... I thought this photo with some of the Dubai skyline in the back was fun:

And, if you haven't seen him in awhile, here's Timothy:

So ... all in all, a nice unexpected diversion that afternoon, before our seaplane ride.