everywhere

That is no good. FriendlySkies, get on it.

jetsetr

I know some of you are still recovering from brunch/last night, but if anyone else is awake and cares to join, I'm in the PH restaurant having breakfast. See some folks at the dune bashing!

ung1

Quick note to everyone going skiing. Meet outside Ski Dubai, Mall of the Emirates, at 2 pm.

cawhite

^^ That was FANTASTIC!!! A huge thank you to Phil, Tim & Frank!!! ^^

This morning gave a whole new meaning to the term "Super Bowl."

I do have sunglasses for the person who left them in Tim's Jeep and will bring them to dinner tonight.

KU104

Heading to the airport now a BIG thanks to all those involved in planning and logistics of the DO. Shame I couldn't hang around for the rest, but it was great meeting everyone, making new friends and knowing the peope behind the posts. Enjoy the rest of the Do guys!

PanGalactic

Well, that was fun

I got to Burj Khalifa around 5:30 to find a queue of about 100 people also waiting to collect tickets, after finally getting through that I put the bag through the airport style scanner and was asked If I had a glass bottle in my bag, explained I had a bottle of champagne in there and was told "this is not allowed sir", so I went back to the start and tried to give the bottle to the security desk to look after it for me, and they told me I could not leave it there either!!

I wasn't happy, but asked if they could dispose of it for me, "this is not allowed sir, there is a bin outside". So I asked "what if I just put it in my bag so you don't see it and leave that with you?". A couple of phone calls were made and eventually they said, ok leave the bag here. So I did!

Got to the top and asked a few people if they were from FT, I met a doctor, a school teacher among others, but noone from FT

Better luck next time I guess

Also, "At The Top" is a bit of a dodgy description IMO, as there was at least 1 Canary Wharf worth of Burj Khalifa still to go above the observation tower, although I guess it wouldn't be so popular if they called it "At 3/4 of The Top", LOL

Anyway, I'm back in cold, rainy London now with my bottle of LP and will drink to your healths later tonight, sorry I missed you guys Maybe next time!

Weatherboy

Looks like 2 nights of cancelled service followed by a messed up flight last night that diverted to London and ending up canceling there. On the bright side, this means my 777 tomorrow (and the one for tonight) is the new configuration.

Hope everyone gets home fine!

eightblack

Folks

After brunch on Friday, a group of us sat outside and had a few quiet drinks, to calm our nerves.

Someone left a pair of black, rectangular framed Ray Ban sunglasses on the table, which have a prescription fitted. I know, because after I put them on, I started to feel faint and needed a lie down.

PM if they are yours...

SIMON

From NYC

Sorry I had to pass on the final dinner, and saying goodbye to everyone. My knees were done in by all the walking we did on today's terrific tours, and I forgot to bring oil to keep them lubed.

Enormous thanks to Simon, Khalid, and Derek for their generosity, time and good cheer.

It was great seeing everyone again, or anew, and I look forward to the next time we gather, wherever that might be.

Safe travels home, everyone.

cawhite

I'm currently in the SEN Lounge waiting for the flight home. What a fantastic weekend! Will see a few of you later tonight, and hope to see the rest of you all soon.

I don't know where to begin with on the thank you's, so I will start with Simon.
+ Simon - for all the work you put into coordinating this weekend
+ Zol - for getting today's airport tour done
+ Derek - for being the host with the most and letting us invade your home last night. But we all know the real magician was Bridget and another big thank you to her.
+ Phil and his two buddies for taking us out dune bashing yesterday. All I can say is WOW.
+ weatherboy and paranoiaTX for the helping hand when it was needed and appreciated
+ cyesq for driving us back to Dubai from Abu Dhabi and dealing with the logistics for Thursday night's dinner
+ From NYC for coordinating our time in Abu Dhabi

Something tells me I'll sleep well on the flight home tonight regardless of whether this upgrade clears.

Top of climb

I just want to echo the thanks to everyone that have already been said - eightblack for being crazy enough to try to pull something like this off in the middle of the desert in scorchy season and pulling it off brilliantly, Zol for the airport tour string pulling and farewell dinner organizing, derekmines for risking the wrath of his neighbors and his rental bond by letting us invade his residence for the BBQ and all the friends, both new and old, that helped make the DO the blast that it was.

Sitting in a packed BA lounge awaiting departure of my clapped out subbed in 772 back to a drizzly London, opened up my bag and saw the DO nametag lanyard and already had a tinge of DO withdrawal.

Safe travels home everyone and until next time!

dedehans

I too echo all the previous sentiments. What a great do and thank you Simon, Khalid, Derek, Ung1 for everything.

I don't participate in everything as some of you know but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE it all and will be back in a heartbeat.

In Biz lounge waiting for the ever delayed Delta flight.....Wish our lounges would learn from these lovey ones. Not a package of hummus anywhere!

Thanks again and look forward to seeing everyone next year here.

dede

cyesq

Thanks to all of you for helping make my first Do a really great one! I enjoyed meeting so many new folks and I can honestly say that I would love to stay in touch with most of you! Kudos to Simon for his tireless energy and enthusiasm - what a great job of putting a successful Do together. Many thanks as well to Derek and Bridgette for allowing us to share a great dinner with them and for all the work that went into that dinner.

As I mentioned to Simon, let's consider putting an Abu Dhabi leg with this if everyone wants to do another Dubai Do next year. I would really recommend that we consider a better month for the temperatures - when we can still get some decent rates from the hotels. Both October and April are generally quite good for outdoor activities and/or dinners. If you do want to have some activities in Abu Dhabi, I'll be glad to assist with the coordination.

Thanks to all of you who made me feel welcome as a newcomer. It was a pleasure to meet you and participate in the activities. I shall be looking forward to seeing you again.

Best regards, Cora

jetsetr

Thanks again for a fantastic weekend, Simon, Ung1, Zol, Derek and friends new and old. Looking back, it's amazing how much was done and accomplished in such a short period of time. Next DO, I'll have to make sure to join the festivities in time to make the brunch! Look forward to the next gathering!

From NYC, FriendlySkies, cawhite and I all just landed at IAD. And we all secured upgrades TATL

It was a pleasure meeting folks and reconnecting with old friends. Such fantastic experiences and such wonderful memories. Saturday morning dehydration in the desert followed by skiing in the afternoon - who could ask for anything more?!? And the Sunday Emirates Catering and DXB tours were an #avgeek's dream.

And once again, Simon, sincere thanks for all of your help with Emirates on my inbound trip. Truly and deeply appreciated..

Safe travels all and until next time.

flo_147

What else can I add to the previous posts besides: yes, it was an awesome weekend full of fun, joy and informative talks. Big kudos to all the guys, who were involved in organizing this do - I do hope it was not the last one!

Special thanks to Simon, not only for spending so much of his free time to organize this all, but also for being a wag to all of us (i am looking forward to get some support from ya the next time when it comes to a boobs session lol).
Derek, thanks a lot for being our host on saturday and sry again for disturbing yr neighbors
Last but not least, Unmuckt my friend, I hope you also had some fun after the BBQ at Derek's place ... Furthermore, I do hope that you will not sue me now for those 500 AED, which actually should have been mine lol

Having said that, I also wanna apologize for not being able to join ya all at the final eve! Thanks again guys it was simply amazing... Cya soon again

@ Zol: dude, hit me up for the RA cert
@ bloody mary aka filipino : thx for the kind note! Yes, I maaaaaybe will ...

Cheers
Florian