Girls trip to Dubai

What a trip! I’ve always enjoyed Dubai but it seems better each time I visit. I can’t believe I’ve visited Dubai three times and Abu Dhabi once. I rarely go to the same place twice, but Dubai does have its appeal. 

This trip was planned for my lovely friend, Vicki’s, birthday. We first met in The Philippines last April. Then she popped over to London in August and now we’re in Dubai. 


It’s awesome making friends through travel. We’ve got similar mind-sets, pretty chilled but also very outgoing. From the moment I saw Vicki at the airport, we were in fits of laughter. 


We luckily both arrived at similar times, me from snowy London and her from sunny Brisbane. After a short taxi ride to the hotel, a freshen up at the Hilton JBR then it was time to hit Cove Beach Club. 


The weather in Dubai is usually so nice but it was overcast and windy as hell. We tried to brave the sea but it was too chilly. Nothing warms you up more than wine though. 


The ladies nights in Dubai are amazing. It cost us AED100 (roughly £20) for entrance to the beach club, lunch and unlimited drinks until 5pm. We got there at 11am. Needless the say, we got our money’s worth. 

After six solid hours drinking, chatting to some friendly ex pats from Ireland and embarrassing Vicki with a pre birthday dessert and singing, it was time to head back to the hotel. 

I’d love to tell you about the taxi ride back however, we kind of can’t remember leaving the club. My memory loss when drinking is so bad sometimes. And it appears Vicki is the same lol

We ended up falling asleep when we got back to the hotel. We woke up at 11pm (5 hours nap) and decided to go grab some dinner. Everywhere is open so late so it was easy heading to Chili for dinner. 

The next day was Vicki’s birthday. I bought some personalised banners to put in the room and Vicki loved them. We had breakfast then chilled for a bit. The weather wasn’t great so we shortly got ready to head to The Fairmont Hotel, on the palm, for afternoon tea. 

The hotel was stunning! Gorgeous flowers everywhere and the staff were so friendly. The food was delicious and the iced tea so refreshing. It was nice to sit back and just chat about life. I’m so pleased to have made such a lovely friend in Vicki. We’re very similar so it’s cool hanging out. 

In the evening we got ourselves dolled up and headed out for free drinks. Again good old ladies night offered us free drinks. We decided to walk to one of the hotels, I forgot how many people stare. I thought we were fairly covered but apparently not. 

After a taxi (Vicki insisted) ride to Tribeca for more drinks, we walked into a cool club. The music was awesome and we soon got chatting to a group of ex pats. 

I did some research and it turns out only 1/5th of people living in the UAE are locals (Arabs), the rest are ex pats. I was pretty shocked by that. 

The group we got chatting to were lovely. Many local Essex lads. All very friendly and they were heading to another place called Mahiki’s (same chain as London) so we decided to go with them. 


The music in Mahiki was amazing!! We danced all night. I love how friendly and open people are. I was chatting to the guys and they were saying what it’s like living in Dubai. It sounds fun but so superficial. 

We remembered our taxi ride home this time and left about 2:30am. We woke up the next day (Friday) with every intention of going to brunch however the thought of day time drinking was not appealing to either of us. 

The weather has been terrible. So unusual as it’s often lovely so we decided to explore a little. We headed to Dubai Mall. I wanted to show Vicki the water fountains but sadly the show is only in the evenings. 

We hopped in a taxi to check out some Souks. The shopping is great here but rather expensive. All the perfumes are amazing, so different from the high street brands. 

After a nap (another great think about Vicki is she likes naps too!), we walked over to the marina. Lots of beautiful yachts and the buildings lit up at night is stunning. It reminds me of the Hong Kong skyline. 

After our two big days/nights, we decided on an early night. Finally the sun decided to show on Saturday so it was time to chill on the beach (after my morning jog) ahead of the desert safari. 


The car for the safari was full with seven of us. We sadly got stuck next to a lady who suffered from motion sickness. The whole ride we were praying she wouldn’t be sick and thankfully she held in her pink sick until we got out of the car. Me being the horrible person I am, had an inappropriate fit of giggles. There’s been quite a few of those this trip.

I think with the stress of the competition and how busy work has been, I’ve needed this time to be silly and relax. Sadly though my mind hasn’t been able to switch off and I’ve been having some slight panic attacks and bad dreams. Hopefully they’ll pass soon. 


The desert safari was great. Walking over the silky sand was lovely. The sun set so quickly. The red sky looked incredible. The food was traditional Arabic food and then entertainment. One thing we couldn’t understand was for such a reserved country whom dress conservatively, how can they have belly dancers jiggling their boobs in public?

We had a huge night planned for Saturday. Trey Songz was playing at White Dubai however by the time we returned from the desert, we were both pretty knacked so we went to somewhere local for a drink. It was a pretty quiet night as Saturday is there Sunday night so drinks were cut short for another early night.  


Sunday was another beautiful day. It’s typical only two good days of weather but I hear we’ve had much better weather than the -5 degrees at home. 


I’ve had such a great time with Vicki. I’ve laughed so much. Mainly laughing at how I can’t pronounce things properly (I want a crepe is not I want a crap) and also it’s been so nice being with someone so like minded. Usually I’d be sad to go home but I’m very excited. I’ve felt so guilty leaving Shiloh in the kennels with the cold weather. I’m also very excited to see a certain man. 


I’ll be back 19 days then heading off again. So excited to be heading to Australia and it’ll be super to see Vicki again. I know once again how lucky I am that travel and have such amazing experiences. 

Desert Safari

I decided to mix up the beach/pool dilemma and opt to go on a desert safari tour.

The very helpful staff at the hotel helped me book with ABC Tours. They picked me up from the hotel at 3.30pm and after a couple more pick ups, we were in the desert.

There were so many different tour groups out there so it wasn't exactly peaceful but then saying that, we switch from the nice luxury (that word again) car to a big (white again) Geep.

There was some arguing about who was going to go in the back, some people are very sad and get worked up over silly things. I was fine cramed in the back but I felt very sorry for the older lady stuck in the middle.

Our driver took us over the sand dunes- it was crazy! At some points I honestly thought we were going to topple over but thankfully we didn't. I even let out a little dolphin squeal (I managed to suppress most of it).

I've got this travelling solo down to a fine art now. I'm not sure whether people feel sorry for me or they are just being friendly but I've not had to use my selfie stick at all! I have personal photographers everywhere.

The driver took the best jumping picture for me on the dunes- I was suitable impressed with his photography skills as well as he's driving skills.

After another thrilling ride over the dunes, we arrived at this great camp where we were having dinner. There were two camels out front so I had a little ride on one. I forgot how scary it is when they sit back down (yep I squealed again!).

They also had sand boarding which I really wanted to try but it was literally a board with no one helping. I thought I don't fancy breaking anything so I opted for the safer option and ordered a glass of wine.

Dinner was incredible! A mix of so many different dishes such as lamb, rice, hummus, chickpeas etc It reminded me a lot of Turkish food, maybe it's all similar influences.

During dinner there was an amazing belly dancer. Now I can roll my belly (thanks Dad for teaching me) but she was incredible. It got me thinking that she was very good and looked sexy doing it, but I'm sure no on bats an eyelid when she says she does belly dancing. Yet me doing pole dancing is always thought of negatively- so frustrating!

I decided to get a traditional henna tattoo on my hand/arm. The women doing it was from Pakistan. I think everyone I have spoken to here has been from either Pakistan or India. They said its a much better lifestyle out here compared to home. It's really interesting seeing other people living in another country. I wish I was brave enough to do it!