Tuesday 7 Dec 21 Dubai Day 1

I'm having a hard time believing I was in Dubai for 2 weeks. It went by so fast. The main purpose of the trip was to meet and spend time with Annie.

Annie:

I met Annie on a Asian Dating Site in July. We have talked via various social networking sites on a daily basis since then. Shortly after meeting her I knew I wanted to meet her in person. Since the Immigration Bureau of the Philippines doesn't currently allow non citizens to visit there due to COVID-19 we decided to meet in Dubai.

Annie lives in Lapu-Lapu which is on the small island Mactan just off the coast of the Cebu Island, one of the main Philippine Islands.

The City of Cebu is on Cebu Island and is the fifth largest city in the Philippines. The population in the city of Cebu is slightly less than 1 million. The Cebu International Airport CEB is actually on the small Mactan Island.

A little history about Lapu-Lapu. It is named after a Warrior Chief. He and his warriors defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 27th 1521. This is the same Magellan that had just circumnavigated the globe. After his death his body was placed in a coffin. Rocks were tied to the coffin and it was lowered into the sea directly above a sea cave. The Magellan Shrine is there in the city of Lapu-Lapu.

Prior to our departure we had made a list of the most popular attractions in Dubai but did not have any set agenda. We did manage to see a lot things while we were there. We also met some of her family and a close friend of hers.

There is supposedly a good Metro there but I decided to rent a car prior to the trip. That really gave us a lot of freedom to come and go as we liked. The roads there are amazing. The whole city is only 50 years old and they were actively celebrating the anniversary. I departed on December 7th and arrived on December 8th. Annie departed on December 9th and arrived very early the morning of December 10th.

Following is the events of the first day of the trip to Dubai

Day 1:

I left the house around 7:15 and and arrived to the airport just before 8. I had no issues checking in. My checked bag weighed exactly 50 pounds. I was asked for my PCR test results but not my vaccine card.

Side note, My Covid Vaccination:

At Annie's request I gotten the J&J vaccine. She'd expressed concerns that I might not be able to get into events and  restaurants which ultimately persuaded me to get the vaccine. I had been very hesitant to get vaccinated since I'd had Covid in November of 2020 and had read numerous reports stating that natural imunity was as good if not better than any vaccine. The one shot Johnson & Johnson was my only option so I went the next day to the Walmart in Clinton and was told they had the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

I should have gotten the vaccine then but I decided I would try and see if there was any other way to assure that I would not be restricted in my movements in Dubai without having the vaccine. I went to the Davis county health department in Clearfield and got a record of my positive covid notification from November 2020. The health department suggested that I also get the positive test results from Tanner Clinic which had performed the test.

The next day after much deliberation I decided I would get the vaccine at the Layton Walmart while I was there picking up some things for the trip. Once there I was told by the head pharmacist that they didn't have the Johnson and Johnson vaccine nor did any of the other Walmarts in the area. I called several other pharmacies but no one had the J&J. I also  called the Health department in Farmington since I was told the day before I could schedule an appointment to get the J&J vaccine there. They informed me they did not have the J&J however. I was starting to panic but finally decided to see if the Walmart in Clinton actually had it. I was pleasantly surprised they did and proceeded to get the injection.

Back to Day 1:

After I got through TSA security I had quite a bit of time to kill before my flight to Seattle so I got some breakfast.  I boarded the plane around 11:30 and we departed on schedule. The flight to Seattle was uneventful.  Once there I proceeded directly to the departure gate for my Emirates flight to Dubai. While waiting for the flight I got a text from Annie. It may well have been the worst text I've ever received.  Not to go into detail but it concerned something that I had willingly kept from Annie. It was of such a nature that I was pretty certain I would be spending the next two weeks in Dubai by myself. I was devastated but totally responsible for the situation I found myself in. I was so thankful that Annie ultimately agreed to continue with our plans and that we would talk about it in Dubai.

The flight to Dubai was about 15 hours. I was served two meals and generally speaking it was a good flight.

Once I arrived in Dubai I made my way to the Budget car rental booth. It took an extremely long time to get all the paperwork completed. I was then directed to the lot and was assisted there to check out the car. A white nice Sunny. Before departing the lot I found the hotel on Google Maps and hoped it w would direct me there which it did.

Once at the apartment Staycea Ghalia a DAMAC property I parked nearby and went to the reception. There I was told to contact my agent Kapil through Whatsapp. I had arrived around 8pm which was after normal check-in but after some waiting the agent called the receptionist which gave me the key to the apartment. The studio apartment was on the tenth floor. The room was nice but less than what I had expected. After settling in I called Annie and we talked for a bit before I retired for the day.

Tuesday December 7th Flight to Dubai