Dec07 trip - Dubai

Dec 1, 2007 Left in the afternoon from IAH airport. Since John flew Business, we were able to hang out at the President Club for about an hour before our flight. We got in simply because of some invitation coupons from Continental Airline. The 3 hours flight from IAH to JFK was great. Both boys were well behaved. The transit at JFK was terrible. We made a mistake for making a transit here. We should have flown out of USA and transit in Europe. Due to Emirate Airline's policy, we had to exit and request a new boarding pass from Emirate check-in counter. The security line was a chaos filled with crying kids and impatient passengers. Our flight was calling for boarding by the time we passed the security check point.

Dec 2, 2007 Arrived in Dubai safely. Logan and Atticus were tired and slept most of the flight. We got really lucky here. We arrived at The Fairmont Hotel by free Limo service by Emirates. The hotel was really nice. We didn't do much after our arrival only sleeping and resting in the hotel room.

Dec 3-8, 2007 Dubai
We took the boys to Emirates Mall. Logan and Daddy had fun at the snow city in the mall. It is amazing that you can see man-made snow in the mall.
I took the boys to The Children City. Logan and Atticus had a lot of fun there. (See pics)


One thing I leant from this trip is not doing this alone. This is the first time I had Atticus in the carrier and held Logan with one hand while waiting by the side of express way for a cab. Luckily I managed to have the booth lady called a cab for me. It was very dangerous to wave for a cab on the side road. I learnt that public transportations are not very tourist friendly in Dubai. I guess the local are rich and cars are very affordable. I won't forget how tired Logan was and he just sat down on the side street.
I'm glad I got to meet up with my cousin Ah Eng and his girlfriend Yang Yang. We had a few meals together, went to the beach and walked at the Emirates Mall and World Malls (not sure about it's name).

There was one day I took Logan and Atticus to the Dubai Museum and Logan got scared by the exhibits. He also had a big cry at the Museum because he wanted a Hana tattoo on his hand. A very nice man gave him the Hana tattoo for free. It was a butterfly Hana on his hand. Here is the pic.

John finally finished his conference at the Dubai World Trade Convention Center. We spent some quality time at the Mall and great meal by the water of the Mall. Here is the photo we took at the outdoor restaurant.
I remembered the last part of our trip was so boring. We actually called the airline and tried to get on an earlier flight. Too bad, it was a full flight.
Overall, Dubai is not an idea city for family to visit. Cost of living is high and there isn't any natural beauty in Dubai. I will not visit this city again.

Dec 8, 2007 We finally landed in KUL airport. The kids were good on the plane. It took us more than an hour to wait for our last luggage. A lot of people were pissed and cursed the airline. I was mad because Atticus was hungry and I had to wait to feed him. Logan kept disturbing his brother as he was bored. Of course, the main reason was the anxiety to see my family who were waiting for our arrival. We finally found our luggage at another belt. KUL is such a terrible airport and I would give it a rating of an “F” - fail.