Sunday December 12th 2021. Meeting Annie's Friends and Family
We decided we would go out for breakfast then check out the Dubai Marina. We found a McDonald's on the way and I welcomed more American food . Once again the coffee was just like that at home. After breakfast we drove on to the Marina and parked in the Marina Mall parking lot. I loved having the convenience of having a car but finding parking is always a hassle and a little stressful. After we parked we walked straight through the mall to the Marina Walk. What an amazing place. The architecture of the buildings surrounding the marina are beautiful. The twisted design of the Cayan Building is especially intriguing. Everything in Dubai is new and beautiful. There was a souvenir stand that was run by a Filipino lady. Her and Annie talked while I looked for and ultimately bought a small Aladdin's Lantern. After taking some photos we headed back inside the Mall. There we found a grocery store and bought several items including oatmeal for Annie's oatmeal pancakes.
Later Annie received the address of her cousin Marwin and we drove the short distance to pick him up. He shares an apartment with his sister Mia and her family in Jebel Ali Village. Mia and Marwin are Annie's cousins on her father's side of the family. Mia works at Emirates Airlines in the cargo department. Riggi, Mia's husband, offered me a beer that went well with some noodles that Mia served us. Together they have a beautiful young daughter and baby. A really nice family that welcomed me as one of their own.
After our short visit the three of us drove north to Al Sharjah to pick up Annie's friend Jane. Jane had the next day off and was spending the night at our apartment. The three of us were scheduled to tour Burl Khalifa the next day. Unfortunately Marwin had to work.
Once again Google Maps navigated us to our destination and after some precise directions from Jane we finally found her. On the way back to our neck of the woods Marwin directed us to a predominantly Filipino shopping area just north of downtown Dubai. Once we were parked, we found a small restaurant and Marwin ordered Shawarma for each of us. Very yummy. Then we had some local frozen ice cream dishes. I was supposed to share mine with Annie but since she was busy catching Jane and Marwin up on all the news I was forced to eat most of it myself. At least that's the story I'm sticking to. It was very tasty and I couldn't help myself. There is something about ice cream. It doesn't matter how big the serving is, I always want more. After our dinner we walked a short distance to a clothing store and shopped for a jacket Annie could wear on our desert safari tour scheduled for the 14th.
After funding a light jacket we drove back to Jebel Ali Village and dropped off Marwin. The three of us went back to our apartment at Staycia Ghalia. It was early morning and I was exhausted.