Tuesday, Jan. 12th, 2021
I’m German – so my routine doesn’t really change…
At sharply 0900 we were down for breakfast, choosing the main restaurant ‘Brasserie’ instead of the more intimate Club Lounge, to check out the wider selection
The choice, especially the Indian section made my morning, the noise level of the many children not. But I got what I wanted, Plain Dosa with Sambar and Chutney,
as well as Masala Omelet with Mango pickles and Paratha.
For Marina it was the first ‘Indian breakfast’, she enjoyed the Dosa, didn’t really like the quite salty Mango pickles.
When having a smoke at our private ‘smoking lounge’, in the far distance we can see ‘Atlantis’ at The Palm. When doing my research for this trip I took it under consideration – but when reading the reviews, I decided ‘that’s not my cup of tea’, even they offered very interesting rates.
After breakfast we quickly changed to ‘beach dress’, walked towards the beach, quite a long way passing 3 pools.
The beach was pretty empty, no problem to find a sunbed. But you need to select wisely, because the many skyscrapers right in front of the beach create shadow, especially before 1100.
In the sun it was warm enough to get hot, so we walked to the sea – but the water was too cold. Anyway, Dubai isn’t about the beach, it’s quite ugly, no charm, no atmosphere.
In addition, between the beach of our hotel and ‘The Palm’ there’s the airstrip of the Sky jumping company, the aircrafts during takeoff quite disturbing. Luckily there is another beach club nearby, playing some good techno music, loud enough so we could enjoy the music, too.
From Thailand I’m used to get free cold water at the beach – of course not in Dubai. So we ordered a bottle of Italian Sparking water, served ice cold.
Until noon the beach area got more crowded, I would guess 75% Russians and Ukrainians, mostly families with children.
After nearly 3 hours at the beach we left back our hotel room, quickly changed and went to the Gym.
Yes, ‘Gym’ is the main reason I decided to leave Ukraine during lockdown, don’t want to be 2 ½ weeks without training.
At 1345 we arrived at the Gym and were informed that, due to disinfection, it’s closed until 1400. So we waited for some minutes, then started our program,
me doing ‘arms’, Marina ‘...’ plus running for an hour, with a nice view towards pools and beach.
For us a bit uncommon to wear a mask inside the Gym, only taking it slightly down when taking heavy weights or running.
After 1 ½ hours we left, had a quick shower, inspected our meanwhile arrived welcome present,
went to the Club Lounge where ‘High Tea’ is served from 1530 to 1700. As you may know, I’m normally not a big fan of Club Lounges – but the one at the Le Royal Meridien I really like, the layout, the view and the snacks,
including the scones with whipped cream and strawberry jam.
A big problem in Dubai is, that you can’t make calls via Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp and even Facetime. That’s not good for business, so I need to handle everything via voice messages.
I’m dreaming myself back to the deserted beaches of Khao Lak end of March 2020, trying not to see the ugly skyline of Dubai when at the beach. I hardly can understand why people are making a holiday in Dubai under normal circumstances.
After we rested for a while and I did some business via voice messages we left the hotel around 1930, driving towards ‘Mall of Emirates’.
No, we didn’t go for shopping but for a nearby restaurant, recommended by the Indian concierge of our hotel.
The Mall isn’t impressive. Yes, it’s quite big, but old, nothing to be compared to Malls in Thailand or Singapore. Also prices in Dubai are quite high, higher than in Ukraine or Europe. No reason for shopping.
We stepped outside, made our way, saw a lot of advertisement laying on the sidewalk:
I wanted Indian food, Pani Puri and stuff like that. The concierge recommended ‘Bikanervala’, a very simple kind of restaurant, but serving all I was asking for plus a big selection of Indian sweets.
We first checked the available items,
ordered at the counter, took a seat.
First Pani Puri and Kachori with lentils were served,
then the Veg Tandoori Platter, comprising of Paneer, Aloo and mushrooms arrived.
Well, yes, I had better Pani Puri and Kachori in India, but the Tandoor was pretty good.
Then arrived our desserts, wow, fantastic, the taste of India. I even forgot to make a photo.
We selected some items to take back to the hotel – Indian Sweets are the best !
We picked up out car, drove towards Burj Khalifa
and back to the hotel.
Writing the trip report is a bit of a pain, because upload speed is maximum 20 kB/s. I called the IT staff – but they told ‘it’s normal’. What ??? Even in the desert of Namibia I had better WiFi internet.
