Abu Dhabi, UAE (17 Jan - 22 Jan)

I recently travelled to Abu Dhabi and had the privilege to spend approximately 4 days there. As soon as the plane touched down on this beautiful part of the U.A.E
( United Arab Emirates), we were greeted by the sight of endless white sand and the most remarkable airport architecture that I have ever set my eyes on. Instead of the ubiqitious shapes that you see in airports, the sand coloured edifice were shaped similiar to a ball-like structure with each ball connected via a passageway. The buildings created a surreal feeling like it came straight from the set of Star Wars Episode IV or Dune.

While on the bus to city centre, I was immediately struck by the sheer cleanliness of the entire stretch of road despite the long distance from the airport to the city. ( approx 30 mins). The roads were lined with palm trees,sprawling white/sand coloured bungalows and beautiful white-washed mosques. Either the city council has a remarkable team of cleaners or the citizens were extremely neat and clean people to actually maintain such clean living.

We eventually reached the city centre and finally to our hotel. However, as it was nearing night, my friends and myself quickly changed to grab a bite before retreating into our hotel room.

Day 2 consisted of slight visit around the city centre and of course, the shopping mall! As with all girls, we heard that Abu Dhabi was similar to Dubai, that is, everything here is tax free. Therefore, we visited Marina Mall which carries big brands such as Nine West, Zara, Mango, LV, Gucci, etc. The mall had perpetual sales going on everywhere causing us gals go into a shopping frenzy!Unfortunately, having moved out recently, I was in a budgetary fix and prevented myself to make impulse purchases. Many are very happy with the life here as education, expenses were all within reach, which may not be as accessible to some of them in their own countries.

After hectic day of shopping, most of us got a chance to look at the buildings around the city. Each buildings had very unique and individual design, some of it just breathtaking. There was this building which just had a huge ball at the top! Recently, I have a friend that mentioned the architecture of the city actually represents the lifestyle or the social structure of the society there, which got me thinking.

Even though the city was in the middle east, there were many migrants of all nationalities coming into the city, especially into the service industry. Many of them were given good pay, free accommodation and schooling for their kids in international schools. This was not only exclusive to CEO, CFO or directors, but also to ppl with everyday jobs such as tour guides, waiters, front office, etc. The unique designs represented the vast number of migrants in the city while the cleanlines n beauty represented the simplicity and comforts the citizens enjoyed.

Of course, the adventurous and impulsive me decided to do something while in Abu Dhabi. At day 3 I went Dune Bashing, sand skiing, camel riding and seesha smoking. I enjoyed the sand skiing part, however, it took quite a bit of effort to actually get to the top of the hill before i could actually ski down! Having smoked sheesha and done camel riding in Cairo recently, the activites were not as fun as previously.

Day 4 consisted of sleep, watching tonnes of cable and of course, flying back to good ole Singapore!