Eid, please.

So here we are in the last days of Ramadan, anxiously awaiting Eid. Which I have learned is the public holiday that is decided at the last minute. It's the final push and everyone in the public sector gets a few days off work. It's been a quiet month for us, with very few notable events for the most part. But, of course, everything seems quiet and then the chaos strikes all at once. All month, I've been dreading...turning 30! Yes, it's official, I'm no longer in my 20's and therefore I must act appropriately. A friend from back home gave me a few insider tips... No more caffeine after 6 pm, exercise isn't optional and Oil of Olay will be my new best friend!

John did a wonderful job of planning the birthday celebrations, and he managed to keep everything under wraps until the appropriate time. Kudos to John! Unfortunately, his flight Wednesday night was delayed, and he didn’t arrive home until after 3am. I was up waiting for him so we both started Thursday in that groggy stupor…which eventually faded on our way to breakfast. After hitting the snooze button for the third time, my cell phone rang, it was my good friends with a melodious serenade of the birthday song and ‘hip-hip’ hoorays. The harmony was quite nice and it put a smile to my face. After a short chat, we rushed to get ready for the day. John warned me to bring my swim suit and a changes of clothes and that’s all I knew. So having packed all the necessaries, we made our way to breakfast…but not before hitting traffic! Murphy’s Law of course! So, even though we left on time, we ended up 45 minutes behind schedule. So what after seemed like an eternity, we arrived at the Lime Tree Café, which was wonderful as usual. John apparently ordered a cake, and was supposed to pick it up, but it wasn’t ready when we arrived, so plans to pick it up were arranged for later, which threatened John’s perfectly planned day. So, after a filling breakfast, we started out for our next destination. But on the way, John started to realize that I would have to be let in on the secret because we were behind schedule. He pulled out some papers and I read through them to discover that we were headed to the new Atlantis Resort on the Palm Jumeirah to swim with the dolphins! What an awesome surprise! By the time we got there, and squared away entry…which was just a little unorganized.. We were suited up and sitting in orientation, learning the rules and proper dolphin etiquette. We met out leader Bina, who introduced us to the trainer Rico, who then introduced us to Tina… the dolphin. These trainers really love these animals… such affection I’ve never seen! We had 6 in our group and we all learned how to interact with Tina. We each got to ‘hug’ and ‘kiss’ Tina and we learned some interesting facts about these amazing animals. After our interactive experience, we headed to check out our photos… which costs and arm and a leg… but how can you have such an experience and not have photos of it? Despite how camera shy I am, I wanted evidence that I kissed a dolphin!

Photos in hand, we made our way to the Aqua Adventure Park at Atlantis. If you visit us here in Dubai, this will be a must do! I’ve been to more water parks then I’d like to admit to, but this tops them all. We spent 5 hours floating on tubes going from slide to rapids to tidal waves, we barely walked anywhere! We also got to go through the shark tank, which is a freezing cold water slide that ends in a square tube in the shark tank…pretty awesome…pretty cold! At 4pm we both got hit with instant tiredness and made our way out of the park. We had to take a side track to pick up the ‘surprise cake’ at Lime Tree, and we ended up eating a light snack before heading home.

We had enough time to change and get ready for the evening events, when John got a call that we had to go back to the Atlantis to pick up his credit card that he had left behind…. He assured me we had extra time. So all dressed up, we went back to the Palm to pick up his credit card. Once we arrived, I got in the driver’s seat and drove around, to avoid valet parking… and my phone rang. They wouldn’t give the card back to John unless I testified his identity! So I got to the valet entrance and John came out and told me to let them park the car and we would just go in together….but he had to grab the cake!! So he couldn’t keep it a secret any longer, at that point I knew he was taking me to a restaurant inside for dinner… what I didn’t know was that our friends were awaiting my arrival and they sprang up with the birthday tune. The restaurant is called Seafire Steakhouse, swanky, snooty, and expensive!!! But John assured me that you only turn 30 once! The food was wonderful, the company delightful and our waiter attentive. I was especially impressed because, this steak house not only had great steak, but it had USDA steaks! I was extremely grateful for some homegrown beef, however much it cost! They served my ‘surprise’ cake… a 2 layered carrot cake special ordered from the Lime Tree! So good!

After a long and strangely complicated wait for our check we all headed out to walk through the hotel and take a gander at the aquarium. Fantastically done, however it lacked a bit of color. Most of the marine life in it was grey…but it was still impressive. At the end of our walk we happened on a Cold Stone, and John managed to get the entire staff to sing happy birthday to me again! I wish I had a recording! It was something like 15 Pilipinos busting out with a chant like birthday melody… fantastic! So I HAD to get some ice cream! By this time I was completely tired and we all went our separate ways to get some much needed sleep.

I was so tired the next day that when John muttered to me in the morning I declared that I was too tired to hear him and I rolled over! We didn’t make it out all day… normally John rests at home the day after his trips, but he didn’t get to this week and since I didn’t sleep much I was just as tired as him, so we rested all day.

We did make it out for a walk in Safa Park around 6:30… but we missed the firing of the cannon. They fire the cannon at the official sunset time each day during Ramadan to let everyone know it’s ok to break your fast. There were so many people there with picnics and children running all over. The park even has its own camel and pony stationed there at all time for rides and petting. I’m sure we will be frequenting that park more often as the weather cools down. We then ran home to get ready for the Ramadan Tent experience. Our church group organized this outing where we could all experience a traditional Iftar meal. We were booked at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (the one that looks like a wave). It had a glorious view of the Burj Al Arab, the sail-looking hotel, which was all lit up. The entrance to the tent was filled with all sorts of lavish seating and curtains… ‘circus meets a renaissance festival’ is the best way I can describe it. We were led to our long table and we all sat town to a traditional Arabic meal, which resembles what you would find in most Arabic restaurants around town. The only difference is that we were in a tent. The service was so-so, the music, while to the Arabic ear pleasant... was loud to most of us. And eventually the smoke from all the shisha made our eyes water. Also because these meals must be eaten after sunset, our group was booked at the 9:30 seating, a very late meal! But most Muslims stay out at these tents until 3 or 4am so it’s was unusual for them to see a large group leave ‘early’. All in all it was a good experience and now that I have done it once, I don’t expect to do it again, not unless we are invited to a personal tent… which would then be a more intimate environment, therefore you can learn more and of course relax!

Now, having celebrated another year and partaking in a traditional Iftar, I am preparing for my trip to England. When you live in Dubai, you have to get out every once and a while. It’s highly recommended! John gets to leave quite often, so this trip is special for me since it will be the first time I will see rain and naturally rich terrain in 5 months. On top of the fact that I get to spend some time with my aunt and uncle and see some sights I’ve wanted to see for a long, long time. Pictures and funny stories are sure to follow!