Dubai it all over again

We had a long weekend and a short break from school, so we took it upon ourselves to make a break from internship searching and Buraimi along with Miriam and Aaron - to Dubai. We had a few "check it off the list" things to do (or attempt to do) and we, of course, hit the bookstores (as always) - because we are big dorks.

One of the attempted checkmarks was the much-talked-about Burj Dubai (now tallest building in the world?) observation deck. CLOSED. Boo. Although signage and gossip seemed to indicate it was open, we tried every which way to get in and had no success. We had to settle for an outside, but close-up view from outside the Dubai Mall.

Which, on the happier side of things put us close to our lunch destination. Mmmmm...CPK. Check (not really on the list, but never a bad idea).

Which, in turn, was right next door to the fanciest chocolatier we've ever seen. Having walked by it several times over the last 8 months, we decided to go in. We were tended by a man in a suit, who insisted we take samples (lavendar dark chocolate ganache with lavendar blooms on it), which he handed us from his be[white]gloved hands, just before telling us the price: 550AED/Kilo, or about $78/pound. Hid shocked (SHOCKED!) face, tried to look thoughtful and considerate before pulling out "must ask husband" excuse and hightailing it out of there. Check.

Later, we drove (yes, drove) to the metro station so we could try out Dubai's first mass-public-transport-operation, which debuted with much fanfare on 9-9-9 at 9:09. Having worked out the kinks of random people pulling emergency stops "just to see what they would do" (since there are no drivers and the whole operation is robot-operated), it was quite impressive, clean and, of course, a cheap thrill for us kids from Buraimi up in the big city. Ha ha. But no, really. Check.