Well what can we say! Our stop over in Dubai was a lucky coincidence, which made it even more amazing when we got there. It's like living in the future! the buildings were huge; the hotel we was in was the same height as The Hilton Manchester but it was distinctly average in size for there! Our view from the rooftop pool (yes we were spoilt!) was unbelievable. You could see Burj Dubai, which is the tallest building in the world, Burj Al Arab, which is the 7 * hotel and on a clear day you could see the Atlantis on Palm island. It's so built up though and there's so much construction work on, you wonder who's going to accmmodate all of these buildings.
The culture is difficult to adapt to. Emirati men and women wear tradiotional clothing for that region; many women cover up completely and they are very strict about Westerners covering up, particluarly at night and when walking through malls. However, they're quite happy to go watch belly dancers and let girls into clubs wearing something you'd see on Booze Britain! Seems slightly conflicting to me, however i'm sure it's a lot to do with religion and culture- something I wasn't going to delve into when I could be sunbathing on Jumeirah beach! Dubai has so many South Asian workers there. The city itsef is only made up of 8% Emiratis! So it's a great place to go for cultural diversity.
One thing we realised when we was there is it's all about wealth and status. There's so much money in that country! Every mile there seems to be a mall, which puts the Trafford Centre to shame. They have aquariums, ski resorts and theme parks in them. Each one has designer stores in too, so you can see how they like to spend their money. The Metro system is currently being built and the stations can only genreally be used by business people or touritst. The locals (the poorer ones) have their own station, which doesn't have air conditioning etc (I know this because Sian's step dad is building it!) which sums up their perception of Dubai- or how they wish it to be perceived! They definitely do have a hierarchical system going on. Original Emiraits don't belive they should queue and instead walk to the front of it. A lot of pople can be rude in terms of barging past and not saying sorry etc; however that may be down to it being such a busy city. They really do cater for the tourists though- especially Westerners. Plug sockets are UK standard, they have every restaurant possible from Nando's to Wagamamas and KFC!
The old part of Dubai is completely different to the new high-rise area. It's full of souks selling fish, spices gold etc and if you like to haggle and get a good bargain that's where you should head! The people mither though but it's just like any country you visit I suppose. The buildings there are completely different too- a World away from the modern Dubai.
Anyway enough of that- I've only just arrived in Sydney and I've got plenty of exploring to do (by that I mean heading to the 7-11 for some much needed alcohol)
Will report back on Syndey soon!

Laters,

love Philippa and Sian x x