Month: February 2014

On the bus to the Emirates Mall!

Here’s my hotel:

So the plan was to get 6-7 hours of sleep, to help reset my internal clock. The clock obviously doesn’t like that idea, so I’m up at 7:15, and try as I might to force myself to stay in what was an extremely comfortable bed, I was compelled to get up and scope out the view. The clock was not slighted!
I figured as long as I was awake of take a shower. The bathroom was cavernous (I’m at the JW Marriot) and had one of those overhead rainfall showers. I really like them…might have to consider a home retrofit.
Breakfast was delicious, and although I had a choice of local-style, Asian or Indian fare, I played it safe (chickened out) and opted for a tasty omelet, potatoes, mushrooms and thick slabs of “turkey bacon”. I’m not convinced turkeys were used at all it’s creation. Delicious none the less!
After this I have until 1pm to hang out, so I’ll drop by the concierge and see if there are tours to the Birj.

It’s 4am, I’m here in Saudi Arabia after my plane got delayed until 3pm. I bought an hour of wireless internet for AED 25.00, so here are some pics of the journey so far.

Oh and the best thing was talking to my wife from halfway around the world.
Okay. That’s it. I need some sleep. Goodnight Dubai.

I’ve gotta say, it’s not so shabby. Hot face towel, glass of champagne, bowl of warm mixed nuts…and we haven’t even taken off yet!
So let me paint the scene. I’m sitting in business class seat 7K, which is nicely nestled against the right bulkhead of the plane. I’ve been playing with the myriad toys that Emirates provides, including an adjustable seat with massage, multi-function tablet that controls the entertainment center and aforementioned seat, and a rather old-school looking phone handset, complete with tether!
I was hoping that there would be wifi on the flight, alas I can’t see any. The ancient handset is supposed to provide SMS and email. Well, I have 15 hours to figure it out.
Entertainment is abundant, which makes sense given the duration I the flight. Fifteen-hundred channels to pick from! That’s about 4 times worse than cable! I’m watching Thor, the movie, again. Later I may try an Arabic one. After dinner.
Oh, and dinner is, by the way, as abundant as the movie channels. Five courses, if I counted correctly. I’m not even that hungry, but what the heck! How often do you get to enjoy a 5-course meal?

So one of the things I was regretting by having a short layover in SAE was that I really couldn’t get to see the Birj Khalifa.
Well, as it turns out, I’ve stumbled across quite a bit of fortune in misfortune. Our flight was delayed, so we are stuck a while more in SAE. Sucks. But! I am getting to stay at the JW Marriot overnight. Guess what is just across the street?? Yep.
Pictures coming up!
Oh, it’s 3am. I barely remember my own name after 16 hours on the plane and 3 hours waiting to get re-ticketed and to find accommodations. Worked out pretty well, tho!

And so begins the journey…

And I’m off!

Today I’m leaving my cozy home to travel halfway around the world to India. It wasn’t my idea. My boss told me I had to! Up until now, as I sit here in the Emirates business-class lounge, I’ve been vacillating between feelings of uplifting curiosity to down-right discomfort when I think about the journey. I’ve never traveled this far before, and although I work with many people from the culture, it’s one thing to have a meeting in my day-to-day office  versus flying almost 20 hours to a continent, country and company that is totally foreign to me.

But as I said, up to now my feelings have been swinging to and fro. Now I’m here, at the lounge, with the huge nose of a Boeing 777 just on the other side of the long row of windows I keep staring out. Not much I can do about it now (yes, I had entertained the notion of somehow putting the trip off entirely).

Since my path is set, I figure I’d make the most of it by blogging my adventure. And so, chapter one begins with kissing my beautiful wife good-bye, climbing into a Lincoln town car (thanks, Emirates!), and in a short time, boarding that triple-7 for the first leg of my adventure.

My first stop will be Dubai, for a layover which will last 6 hours. I hear the lounge is very good, so I’m hoping time will pass pleasantly. Besides, I’ve been given an assignment from my wife to thoroughly scope out the Duty Free shop. Between these two activities, and perhaps wandering about the airport, I’m thinking I’ll be able to shake off the 16 hours it’ll take us to fly there.

After the break, we board another plane for the 3.5 hour flight over to Hyderabad, my first ‘port of call’. Since the flight from SFO was delayed 3 hours due to fog, we’ll end up landing there early in the morning on Monday (it’s still Saturday here in San Francisco). I was initially slated to land at 3am, collect my bag and dash off to the hotel for a few scant hours of sleep before showing up at ‘work’. Now it appears I’ll just have enough time to shower, drop off my clothes and grab a taxi to the office! I really do hope I sleep on the plane.

So there you have it. The journey commences! Come along and experience the sights!