Chasing a White Christmas

One the great things about having no fixed travel itinery is that you can change your plans very easily. With Dubai being close to lots of places this gives us lots of options. We started to rethink our travel plans in Vietnam. Initially the plan was to spend Christmas and NYE in Dubai but we brought this forward with the aim of spending Christmas and NYE somewhere else. We met some lovely Belgian ladies on the Halong Bay cruise and asked them where they thought we should spend Christmas and NYE. They suggested a white Christmas in Prague and NYE in another location, to be revealed. So yesterday we booked flights to Prague. This was no small feat as some flights left at midnight with a 10 hour stopover in Ukraine. Direct flights were up to triple the price of other flights. We managed to find a flight at a semi decent time, 6.55am, with just a 2 hour stopover in Ukraine. Finally we booked the ticket and then decided to check the weather report. Turns out it may or may not be snowing in Prague on Christmas day….

Du-bye for now

It is now day 9 and our last full day in Dubai – we fly out tomorrow morning at 6:55am on the hunt for a white Christmas. We have had a great time in Dubai. Highlights have included: • The fountain at the Dubai Mall at night; a choreographed light and water spectacle to music hits such as ‘Thriller’ against the backdrop of Burj Khalifa.

• The opulent shopping malls; luxurious labyrinths so huge the best way to find your way back to a certain spot is to retrace your steps. As well as the designer names there are great boutiques with sales and promotions so there is many a bargain to be had.

• The people; such a cosmopolitan mix of races and backgrounds (apparently there are less than one million Dubai nationals and a large expat community).

We met this lovely family holidaying in Dubai from Saudi Arabia. They were very open about their customs and traditions. I told the mum, in the middle, that she looked great for her age and she laughed indicating her burkha. • Witnessing the vision that has gone into creating this wonder in the dessert

• Brunch at the Burj Al Arab

Naturally with highlights come lowlights: • Crazy Cabbies; note to cab drivers, Dubai is not a Grand Prix Circuit and your taxi is not a Formula One Ferrari. I have had to threaten to throw up more than once to entice the driver to slow down. It doesn’t help when this is a cue for your delightful children to yell, ‘go faster, go faster… see if you can make her throw up.’ • Alcohol restrictions; Not being able to have a wine or beer with your meal at over ninety per cent of restaurants - though this does have the advantage of everyone being extremely well behaved.

Brunch at the Burj Al Arab

Often in life hours and days can pass with nothing particularly out of the ordinary occurring. Days become weeks, weeks become years, years become lives. When we step outside our usual routines the surprising can and does occur. Some experiences, like the sleeping bus, you never care to repeat. And then there are those experiences you wish could freeze in time because you know that no matter how long you live, or where you go or what happens life will never - could not possibly- be better than it is right at this exact moment. As I sit writing this, at brunch at the Burj, I am in one of those excruciating beautiful moments in life. It's not that it's seven stars, though that helps, it's the series of events that lead us to a place I have always wanted to see, in a way that exceeds any expectations I had. I always wanted to see Palm Jumeriah and 'the world'...just didn't imagine it at this viewpoint - PJ to the left, the world to the right and clear blue ocaen as far as the eye can see. Frank and the boys are in heaven, oh and I've finally tracked down some white wine.

There is every food imaginable - caviar, lobster, crabs, oysters...an indian station...japanese station with sushi chef...thai station...pastry station...it goes on and on. What did Rocco and Sam choose to eat? Despite the sushi chef making something especially for Rocco, french fries and chocolate ice cream are the pick of the day.

Loving the Burkha

Walking the Dubai Malls nothing is as stylish as the Burkha. Add a Chanel bag, a gold rolex, some YSL sunglasses and a pair of Jimmy Choo's or Manolo's and you will be the epitome of Dubai fashion. The look is elegant and carries an aura of mistique that displaying your muffin top, bra strap, VPL or dragon tattoo just can't compete with. Not only that, the burkha is also practical, you can enjoy one of the many brunches in Dubai without having to undo your fly. Going swimming, no problem, the Burkini hides a multitude of winter sins and you don't need a spray tan. The fact you don't have to do your hair, if you choose not to, is another advantage.

The male equivalent is the kaendoura and it has just as many benefits.

It is very flattering on the more cuddly gentleman.

Dubai-licious

Before leaving Cambodia we stumbled across the Cambodian body building championships. There was lots of entertainment including a Justice Crew style dance performance.

Getting to Dubai from Siam Reap was quite the experience. A long day, with a seven hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur. We had a hair raising 20 minute bus trip from the Air Asia terminal to the International terminal. At one point we were speeding down the highway and I said to Frank, ‘how can the front of the bus be in one lane and the back of it in another lane (where we were) when we’re heading in a straight line?’ Still haven’t figured that one out… We have now been in Dubai for five days and have had an amazing time. Quite a few people did not have good things to say about Dubai – hot, expensive etc. It just goes to show that you need to make up your own mind about a destination. The weather has been glorious; it is the perfect time of year to be in Dubai. We hear the weather is great for seven months of the year and in the forties and fifties for the rest of the time, peaking in June and July.

Is it expensive, absolutely, if you choose to do and see all the amazing things on offer – skiing, ice skating, zero gravity, kidzania…shopping, great restaurants, safari…there is so much to do here. The most expensive and elusive activity is drinking alcohol. This is a bit of a shame because a lot of things go very well with a nice glass of SBS or bubbles. Trying to track down a glass has led us to quite a few amazing places; the Dubai Film Festival, colourful souks, jaw dropping hotels… yadda, yadda. My forced sobriety has not been boring. I haven’t written the blog much in Dubai because we have had limited internet access at our hotel and when we do have access, like at the Dubai Mall, there is so much to do… One of the highlights so far has been Burj Khalifa; the world’s tallest building is a piece of modern art.

Dubai Marina and the beach are also gorgeous.

For the kids, Kidzania was a highlight. It is in the Dubai Mall and kids enter via an airport terminal. They have to clear immigration and customs and they then go to the bank where they get Kidzania dollars. They can use this money on rides and at the barber shop or beauty salon etc. If they need more money they can get a job as a policeman, fire fighter, ambo, in a shop, as a dentist etc. Mini incidents requiring emergency response are staged so that the kids can put their new skills to the test. For the creative there are jobs as an actor, dancer, singer or painter. If they want to earn more money they can go to uni and get a 'certificate'.

We visited the pork section of Carrefour; it felt naughty like going into Adult Shop or something. There is a massive canned section - I had no idea pork was in so many things.

Nearly had our children seized off us because we let them have a smoke of mango on the shisha pipe. Who knew fruit could be bad for your health…

Could we live in Dubai - abso...lutely!

Inspiration at Angkor Wat

Experiencing new things you often don't know what to expect and need to tread that fine line being being overly optimistic (and thus perhaps face disappointment) or that pain in the arse traveller who always expects the worst. We reached Angkor Wat in the early morning (not sunrise early but lazily wake up, get dressed and enjoy breakfast first early which with 2 kids was about 11am). With little expectation and quiet excitement we left our tuk tuk driver, Miow, and walked up the stairs into the main temple of Angkor Wat. I did not expect to feel so awestruck and overwhelmed as we walked part of these amazing temples which cover 25km's and took 300 years to build.

Angkor Wat deserves its place as one of the seven man made wonders of the world!

A holy man in the main temple tied a bracelet on each of us. This image of a young child sleeping was my favourite of the day.

Angkor Wat was a truly breath-taking experience:

After the temples we had a late lunch in 'pub street' where Rocco and Sam played games on the Ipod and shared pizza with a couple of lovely local kids.

How cute is this little boy? We had a great time in Siem Reap and I would love to come back some day. Yesterday Sam and I got a Thai massage. Sam fell into a deep sleep after five minutes. While Sam slept oblivious, I became human origami; I have never been folded in so many different directions. I woke up with a very sore lower back. The chemist tried to give me an unknown medication for chronic arthritis with side effects including - may cause excessive facial hair, blindness and mental illness. I'll stick with the back pain thanks...Did manage to get some ibuprofen. Will come in handy tomorrow - a day we are not particularly looking forward to - 3 hour flight, seven hours at KL airport, 7 hour flight to Dubai.

We are all very curious about Dubai and can't wait to see it...

Going with the fro

The boys do not like getting their hair cut...this morning we decided it was time to lose the locks before landing in the heat of Dubai. The boys each selected a style they would like. Rocco chose this style:

Sam chose a very similar cut, well almost identical except it was on David Beckham. Both the boys were very happy with their cuts. So much so that Sam didn't want to go swimming for fear of ruining the style.

Frank had his head shaved number '0', complete with free eyebrow trim.

All this for only US$3 each.