TBK Travels- Eid Al Adha 2021 in Dubai

May I start this blog, my second from this trip to Dubai, with my Eid Greetings to you all - Eid Mubarak.

The Sunrise Eid Prayers outside my hotel on the First day of Eid at 5,30 am

Who would have guessed back in December when I sent my belongings to Palawan that I would still be here in the Middle East celebrating Eid. But I am and so I decided to make the most of it!

Street art near the Arabian tea room

On Arafat day after a very late breakfast ( 11 am) and sleeping until the unheard of 9 am, I went for my daily walk by the Creek. The clouds and rain had gone and it was a very hot 40 degrees ( and they are predicting 48 on 2nd August!) . In the afternoon I met with an Indonesian friend ( a real one Corleen) and we went to one of my favourite restaurants at the oldest hotel in Dubai , for dinner.

We had a shared Arabic starter of Hummus, Muttabel and then he had Tuna cutlets and I had a delicious Vegetarian curry with Dahl called Mujadara

( To see the Mujadara recipe click here: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/mujadara-51100640 )

The Mujadara at the oldest hotel in Dubai

Then we had a little walk around the Heritage Village as it had cooled down a little and then I went to collect my laundry ( 8 bd for a weeks clothes to be washed and ironed and it was done in 6 hrs.!) . There is a wonderful exhibition of old doors and I just love the message on display there.

As I read it a tear came to my eye as I thought of all the doors that had opened for me and all the hard times ( often of my own making) that I had overcome. I never stopped knocking on those doors and I have been fortunate to never have been out of work since I was 16 years old. That's why I am able to enjoy such a wonderful vacation now.

The next day ( The first day of Eid, Tuesday 20 July) I decided it was time to step up my exercise regime ( having seen my fat tummy in my pictures) and invited another Pinoy friend, Jay, to come swimming with me in the hotel pool. However he did not turn up so I had a massage instead!

One of Dubai's many free public sandy beaches, unheard of in Bahrain

Thursday was the first of Erickson's 3 days off so we planned to go to the beach by the Mandarin Oriental hotel . However he overslept and did not arrive until 2 pm by which time it was too hot for the beach.

Last week one of my readers commented that he was surprised to see pictures of women in Bikinis on the beach in Dubai. It is a very cosmopolitan place and you will see people in Bikinis alongside people in Burqas.

( for those unfamiliar with Middle Easter dress click here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa)

However they do have strict laws relating to indecency and whilst Bikinis are allowed on the beach dress elsewhere must be less revealing ( Click on the link below for a useful guide on public decency for visitors to Dubai)

Beach etiquette in Dubai

I love the line "Board shorts are OK but it’s wise to avoid short tight shorts or budgie smugglers to escape the indecency tag."

Note to self- do not wear these shorts on the beach Neil!

In the afternoon we headed for afternoon tea, and after much research ( click on the link below) Erickson chose this place for our treat.

https://whatson.ae/2021/07/indulgent-afternoon-teas-to-try-in-dubai/

However he did not book and when we eventually arrived at The Intercontinental hotel at Festival city they told us they were fully booked and had run out of tea .

Instead we took some photos of the nice cars outside while we waited for another taxi to take us to a restaurant called Ustad, recommended by Waqas Nadeem .

I learnt from his brother , Anis, that Waqas spent some months in Dubai and Ajman and has recommended several places for us to visit on this trip. The restaurant he suggested was walking distance from the hotel and served amazing Muton kebabs ( regular readers will know I love my meat!). It was established in 1978 and serves the best Iranian Kebabs in Dubai.

The Family run restaurant ( The Ansari Family!) have welcomed celebrities from around the world and their pictures are on the walls. You can see more about the restaurant by clicking the link below:

Inside Ustad Special Kabab, Dubai's 'celeb' kebab shop

We watched a Cuynon movie called the Ploning when we got back to the hotel and then had an early nights sleep .

At 7 am after coffee and a shower we walked down the road to the lovely Arabian Tearoom for breakfast. This time I had pancakes and avoided the Omlette after Rachelle told me I should only have one egg every other day. After breakfast Erickson ordered a taxi to the beach. It was very quiet and empty ( apart from the noisy Pakistanis making movies of each other swimming ( one, two , three and ACTION") , the guys on jet skis and the helicopters - only in Dubai!). However after an hour and a swim we were too hot and headed to a café for Merianda.

From there we had another taxi back to the hotel for a nap before taking yet another taxi to the Address Boulevard, for our much awaited afternoon tea. It was really quiet and we had a great view of Burj Khalifa. The Pinoy staff were excellent and the tea was beautifully presented in a chest of drawers.

Once we had devoured everything we had another taxi back to the hotel for another nap and did not bother with dinner. So ended my second week in Dubai- just 6 more to go!