Pics and Recap from our absolutely amazing trip to DUBAI!!!!
 

Hey Everyone. Just thought I'd share some pics from our vacation last month. I wouldn't usually post these but the trip was so damn amazing I just had to spread the word of how cool Dubai is. For our trip we spent a week in London and a week in Dubai. Everybody knows and has heard so much about London so i won't bore anybody with the London details other than the fact one night we were at our hotel bar (at the Metropolitan in London) and Jessica and Ashlee Simpson were in the booth right next to us :thumbsup

Anybody who has ever thought of going to Dubai, JUST DO IT! We decided to go to Dubai at the last minute and it was the best decision. It truly is the most amazing place i've ever been to. The people there are without a doubt the nicest, friendliest and most accomodating that i've met. The whole area is amazing. Words and pictures do not do it justice. They are determined to be the #1 destination in the world. Here is a list a few of the crazy tidbits about Dubai.
- Building the tallest residential building in the world. The Burj Dubai is estimated top be 3000 Feet Tall when complete.
- Dubai Land which is supposed to be 4 times the size of Disney. 4 TIMES!!!
- Sports City. The biggest sports city in the world.
- Insane Man Made Islands. Palm Islands as well as the World Island (island made in the shape of the world).
- Real Life Jurassic Park. Will have more than 100 animatronic dinosaurs.
- Building the world's largest mall.
- Building the world's largest hotel (will span 10km), 29,000 rooms and $27 billion to build. Managing housekeeping would be a million dollar job LOL.
- Building the World City. Basically it is a large mass of land that will rebuild all the major cities of the world. So you can buy a condo in New York in Dubai. It will be built to look just like the original city. One of the ideas behind the World is to allow film companies to come to Dubai and be able to film entire movies that take place in multiple big cities but film the whole movie in Dubai.
- building the world's largest indoor ski hill
- 60% of all the world's cranes are currently in Dubai. 60%!!!!!

Those are just a few of the interesting facts regarding Dubai. It truly is an absolutely amazing place. We were there for a week and it was definitely not long enough. We will be going back in the near future and and hopefully staying longer. As you can probably tell i can't say enough about it. Beth and I were blown away. Beth is ready to move there.

Anyhow here are the pics. Remember I'm no Dean Capture :winkwink:

Our Cabin on our Virgin Flight from Nassau to London. For the long flight nothing beats a seat that converts into a bed and a cabin that has a bar :thumbsup
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/virgin/IMG_1953-01.jpg

Ski Dubai. Indoor skiing in the desert
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/SkiDubai/IMG_2122.jpg

Dubai's Media City. One of the many skyscraper packed cities they are building.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/med...MG_2502-01.jpg

Condos being build on the Palm Island
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/med...MG_2499-01.jpg

View from our first hotel room. We stayed in 4 places including the Burj Al Arab seen in this pic
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/kempinski/IMG_2022.jpg

Pic of the Emirates Palace hotel. Hotel we stayed at in Abu Dhabi for 2 nights. It's known by some as the 2nd 7 Star Hotel in the world.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2349-01.jpg

I didn't know Jeff (from Karups) was staying at the Emirates Palace as well. Must have been a long drive from Detroit.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2476-01.jpg

Pic from our desert dune bashing trip. You go out in an SUV take air out of the tires and then plow thru the desert. Think of a roller coaster ride in an SUV. Very cool. Also did some Sand Boarding.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/san...MG_2689-01.jpg

Desert Sunset
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/san...MG_2748-01.jpg

fucking sweet, I always wanted to go there, maybe next year. I love that indoor ski thing they built it is absolutely amazing.

Dang shap, that sounds awesome. I am actually glad every time I pay for gas I am building that stuff. Looks rad!!!

very nice pics.... i like the most "Desert Sunset"

Here are some pics from our stay at the only 7 star hotel in the world the Burj Al Arab. It was absolutely insane. All rooms are 2 floors and great. You get your own butler and really don't have to move a finger. Nice way to live lol.

View of the Burj Al Arab
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/bur...MG_2889-01.jpg

Transportation available for all Burj Guests. We got a ride in the Rolls but I have to say it wasn't as nice as Ron Cadwell's :thumbsup
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/burj2/IMG_2880-01.jpg

Transportation available if you want to drive yourself :winkwink:
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/burj2/IMG_2883-01.jpg

View of the 1st floor of our room
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Burj/IMG_2517-01.jpg

Sunset view from our room (note that is the Palm Jumeriah Island)
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Burj/IMG_2551-01.jpg

And killing the Internet Myth! I asked if i could play on the top floor tennis court and they laughed at me. It was all photoshopped. Agassi never played on the Burj's Helipad :1orglaugh
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/kempinski/IMG_2091.jpg

thats freaking sweat dubai is one of my top
"to visit" places

One day I would like to go there also, I hear it is fantastic! Post more pics!

and are you sure the court was photoshopped?
they showed it on espn where they transformed the helipad into a tennis court for agassi

My buddy is swearing it's real. I asked everybody in the hotel and they all laughed that it wasn't real. Now i'm confused LOL.

wow amazing pics

Great pics Shap!! Glad you and Beth finally got away on a good vacation!!

- Brent

Those pics look absolutely incredible, I've always wanted to take a vacation to Dubai and especially stay in the 7-star hotel. Looks like a true dream vacation to stay there!

The tennis court was the helipad that was retrofitted for a promotional shot in magazines. It was the same pad but that was just a promotion, its not actually a tennis court.

WG

how much was a room at the Burj Al Arab
im thinkin of a visit next year

Wow, looks like an absolutely amazing trip!

wow. that is badass!

wow, that place is crazy. i gotta go there someday...

Nice place to visit by the look.

So you were having the time of your life in Dubai while I was here...slaving my ass off shooting the most beautiful nude models in the world for you???

:winkwink:

thats amazing.

More pics coming. Chinese take out just got here. Time to eat :thumbsup

great pics looks like a exciting trip

Sick pictures. I hear everything costs an arm and a leg over there. Is this true>?

WOW!!! Amazing trip Shap and Shapette. The Misses and I were just discussing Palm Island and what a vision that whole thing is.

Congrats and glad you two enjoyed yourselves.

cool pics! :thumbsup

I think a lot of people would like to know what a vacation like that costs..let us know :)

Awesome pics Shap..looks like it was a blast

sweet place to vacation
a place I would like to go to but never will.
thanks for the great pics :thumbsup

Wow.. amazing pictures

Did you see women covered up or did they dress in shorts and stuff?

Looks stunning !!

Damn man really great post with nice photos...Thanks a lot for sharing Shap

So let me get this straight? At the hotel bar in London there was:

Ricky Martin
Jessica Simpson
Ashley Simpson and a
Bond Girl??

Now thats a good time!

- Brent

What are the odds they are doing a piece on Dubai on 20/20 right now.
Looks like that was a tennis court for a promo.

btw i'm noticing a few false reportings by 20/20 on this one. I can already tell they are building this up to be look at the riches and look how shitty they treat foreign workers. The prices they are quoting for rooms and places are inaccurate in my opinion.

The Palm islands they are building are insane, they are going to be gorgeous when complete.

Hehe, looks like a GFY tour to Dubai, I was there this summer (hotels are up to 50% cheaper than in autumn or winter, but you should like it really warm).

All covered up, traditional arab dresses, women black, men white. The women even go swimming totally covered up while their husband are running around in shorts...pretty unusual view. You won't see many arabs, except inside the shopping centers, on the streets it looks more like you are in india, 80%+ of the population are foreign workers.

For tourists, almost everything goes, since all hotels have private beaches a bikini is fine, topless is not. On the street you see alot of tourists wearing the usual holiday outfits, but women should try to avoid very sexy clothes.

I saw a show where an american girl was walking down the street with her male american friends in the middle east and they were throwing rocks at her because she was wearing shorts and that was insulting to them.

How much does a night in the 7 star joint go for... 10k?

i go very far out of my way to avoid americans in foreign countries for this exact reason.

Dubai looks amazing... the crazy thing is that they just keep going and going with new and amazing stuff.

Just saw that on 20/20. I guess the hotel workers were unaware of that LOL. They laughed at me and I thought wtf i was sure that was real.

Here are a few more pics

Beth getting ready to ski
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/SkiDubai/IMG_2126.jpg

Here I am skiing backwards. Btw behind me is the mall and food court of the mall. So from the mall you watch people ski. Really cool
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/SkiDubai/IMG_2151.jpg

Road Sign. I just like this pic somehow.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/abu...MG_2183-01.jpg

Emirates Mall and Ski Dubai (the tube is the Ski Slope). On the right our hotel the first two nights the Kempinski Hotel.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/abu...MG_2207-01.jpg

Construction Everywhere
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/abu...MG_2228-01.jpg

Cool little park with benches. This was along the side of the road and there were about 10 side by side.
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/abu...MG_2284-01.jpg

Downtown Abu Dhabi
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/abu...MG_2300-01.jpg

View from our hotel room at the Emirate Palace
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2372-01.jpg

Pic of the pool. The pool bar and all restaurants in Dubai were closed during daylight hours during Ramadan (note we happened to be there during Ramadan).
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2405-01.jpg

Pic walking around the Emirates Palace grounds
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2448-01.jpg

Women's Restroom
http://fiyolo.com/cpg1410/albums/Emi...MG_2450-01.jpg

The Burj Al Arab is $1400 a night. It may sound like a lot but once you are there I swear it feels like a bargain. We were blown away. Really neat thing about both the Burj Al Arab and the Emirates Palace is the number of cars they have for transportation. They have the Rolls, Maybach, Bentley etc and in the parking lot they actually have 12 to 20 7-series Bmws. They look like butlers waiting to serve you. Really nice touch.

Hey Hal. I've seen alot of your pics and posts. From what I know about you you would absolutely love it there. There is a real positive energy that is unlike anything I've felt in any other city. They were very caring and genuine people. All they wanted to do was welcome you with open arms and let you know you are very welcome and appreciated in their country. It definitely wasn't what I expected. They were also very open about discussing any questions we had about their culture.

:winkwink: :winkwink:

Petro trash. If they want to become like Singapore or Switzerland they better get over Americans and others walking in shorts.

Awesome pic.. thank you so much for the insane pics.. absolutely gorgeous hotel to live.. I heard there are gold everywhere? is it true?

pretty neat to have snow in the middle east aigh't... cooool!

Hi Emthree. My perception of expensive may be skewed because we live on an island but I really felt it was extremely affordable and even somewhat cheap there. Obviously staying at the Burj Al Arab was expensive. But besides that we found it to be very affordable. The prices in the mall were on par or cheaper than Miami. The prices at the grocery store were cheaper than Miami. Eating out was about the same price as Miami. Gas is obviously much cheaper.

In terms of cost of a vacation there I'd say it can be expensive but really doesn't have to be. Obviously if you want to stay in 5 and 7 star hotels it's going to cost you but for the most part it was extremely affordable. We went there from London so everything in Dubai seemed like a huge bargain :winkwink:

I would say to live there the cost of living is definitely not expensive one bit. In fact luxury cars are apparently 20 to 30% cheaper than in Europe and the US. Housing is also much cheaper. From the research Beth and I did we really felt the weather and lifestyle is similar to Miami and the price of real estate looked to be about what miami was 10 to 15 years ago. I may be way off that is just the feeling we had.

If any of you have Google Earth click this link. It will take you to Dubai on google earth and you'll see the world and palm islands. It really is unbelievable to see.

http://explorer.altopix.com/gotoearth.php?id=qu1fix
Be sure to scroll up to the coast to see the palm islands.

Wow. Fucking amazing pics. Now, dubai is on my "Places to visit" list.

Check this out.

Before the construction of the islands started.
http://static.flickr.com/77/163680732_bfc6a45a59.jpg

Now with the Palm Islands. This is the view on Google Earth
http://static.flickr.com/54/163680733_0f1be24196.jpg

Depends if you want to know what a vacation the way we did it costs or how much an average trip to Dubai would cost :winkwink: