XingXhang:


You look too decent

Are you unhappy about it?

'God has answered my prayers' hmmmm so God said you should have sex and get pregnant out of marriage? Ok oooo

The day breeze will blow and fowl yansh go open as to who he really is, will be priceless..

Jochabed:
Why is everyone getting pregnant out of Wedlock? And when the come to break the news,the start "thanking God" Like he approved of the sex the had. mtchewww

Your head correct gan.... nowadays we celebrate mediocrity and foolishness

samee72:


Oh really? Suba used to be great, anyway I make a habit of not staying in a hotel twice, I'm always sampling especially when I hear good things about the hotel and normally I stay in two different hotels during my trips, the first one near the hospital where I go for treatment and a different one after treatment in a different area.

To me, it wasn't just worth the hype... over sold but under delivered. There was nothing out of the blues other than iPad controlled room.

I pray whatever it is that makes you frequent the hospital will vanish suddenly oooo.

cutieme:
I can cry like a river don't worry ,just let me know when u are ready for me to do that.

hope my clear cut diamond ring is ready then?

otokx:
Welcome back

Most Nigerian International travellers returning back always experience a form of depressing spell on arrival, good thing those extortionists (customs and immigrations) did not see you.

Nice narration, you may wish to add jara.

Which jara again ooooo?

samee72:
My dear I really enjoyed reading your story, I've been to Dubai countless times though most of them are for medical treatments but whenever I hear anything Dubai I get all excited and get this thrill, I've also been to Abu Dhabi and some of the emirates and honestly the highlight of Abu Dhabi to me was the Grand Mosque not even Ferrari world or Yas Island, whenever I'm traveling to Dubai I get so happy and when coming back I get so depressed that I instantly fall sick in the plane back.
Concerning the transformation of Dubai I really agree with you on how fast they are developing the first time I traveled to Dubai was 2007 and Dubai was still coming up then, the metro wasn't even there then, though it was rolled out at the end of 2007, but between 2007 to now I marvel at the level of developments that have taken place, the once desolate lands that are now beautiful sights to behold.
I'm guessing you stayed at Suba Hotel at Al Rigga right? From your description on using iPad to operate things in the room, I might be wrong anyway there could be other hotels there with similar mode of operation.
Welcome back to Nigeria my dear, as for me I'm getting ready for another trip there but that will be after Ramadan, @NONNYG I hope that your offer for Dubai resorts still holds o, though coming again when it's going to be extremely hot.

Yes, Suba oooo but I will never stay there again. Wasn't worth the hype abeg

chicoMX:
And the pictures did get better with time, you made feel like I was in Dubai already

lol... then i did a good job . Mission accomplished

@Olumig

@NifemiKolade

@Nowpresence

The pleasure was all mine. Thank you for reading.

hayboss:

Couldn't believe I read through your post smiling sheepishly as I remember my stay in Dubai a few years ago. From my hotel on Al-rigga to touring malls and constant visit every night to the Al Ghurair Centre, having to choose where to dine every night among the wide varieties of fast foods.
Whew! I over shopped and luckily I scaled through my extra 29kg baggage allowance. And it's true, dirham will hardly follow you back to Naija...toll free goods too...chai

Naija will get there someday...

Al rigga in the building!!! AMEN, i believe we actually would get there one day

giga02:
I enjoyed your writeup only that you making me dream of going there but you didn't give any sort of hope in terms of average cost that can take someone to enjoy him/herself in 10days or less. Thanks
Hope u can systematically tell us an average cost.

I depends on your budget.. for some, they like to splurge on hotel, while others don't mind staying any hotel.

Shopping is another thing, the difference between H&M & Gucci shopping or buying at the market vs buying in malls is money.

Do you want to tour as well? Money is involved. The minimum I can advise you to hold is $1k as your spending money but be prudent. As for the hotel, choice is key.

..........


Finally, we are all board and the journey commence; the cabin crew ladies were on point – YOUNG, FINE and EAGER TO PLEASE with their red lipsticks (I’m not bi or a lesbian but if something looks good, say it and move on). Food was flowing, drinks were flowing and when I could not take it again (because someone was watching in front of me), I tuned to CNN to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot. It was beautiful; her dress STUNNING, and her tiara according to a gossip site was worth $100m. Prince Harry was crying oooo (dear future husband, if you cannot cry on our wedding day, I‘ll need a refund ooo).


At 14:58, we landed in Lagos and all I saw were duplexes with red roof (dear God, am I back to this again? Pick my call na) and upon final stop at the airport, the view I was greeted with just made my shake my head. Chai, WHAT IS THIS?
After baggage claim, now it was time for immigration. Can these people ever change? What orientation do they give them upon recruitment? They were stopping people by the size of their bags and guess what? They stopped me! He asked ‘when did you leave the country?’ I said ‘last week’. He says ‘is this bag new?’ I said ‘yes (why should I lie?’ and proceeds to make me open for searching. When he sees there was nothing out of the blue, he told me to close it and go!!!
HALLELUYAHHHH I’m free! It’s welcome back y’all.

Thank you for reading; hope it makes the front page.


Justwise
DisGuy
Lalasticlala

.......

It’s Saturday morning and I do my last-minute packing – Emirates flight to Lagos at 10:15am is calling. The first time I came here, I was in a hurry to leave because of the alarming rate at which I was swiping my card but this time feels different. I was sad to leave; it feels like home to me. I didn’t want to go back to face the chaos in Nigeria. I love the ease of Dubai – they are grinding here but the standard of living is great. I said my prayers with care – ‘oh Lord, let no officer in Nigeria tamper with my bags; oh Lord, let no immigration officer disturb me’. I had 21 Dirhams left which I had saved up in case of any emergency at the airport and grudgingly reserved $50 to change at the airport in Nigeria.
I got to the airport around a few minutes to eight and check-in was easy breezy (you know these folks here know what they are doing and are timely and efficient at their jobs). As I was making my way to passport control, I was beckoned by a lady who happened to be a Nigerian and was travelling back to Nigeria as well. She had 2 and the half bags as hand luggage! Nigerians, just because they are doing sales does not mean we should abuse our baggage allowance na. Of course, she was turned back because her hand luggage had passed hand level. She asked me to help her check in one of her bags as mine and in my mind I was like ‘akoba, adaba, Olorun ma ja ri’ (may we not be implicated oo). She tried to unpack the little she could to show me that there was nothing hidden but that didn’t pacify me. For one, passing off someone’s bag as mine AT THE AIRPORT is very risky; what if something happens? Secondly, it is an integrity issue; I can’t say something is mine when it ain’t. So, what I did was tell her to follow me and HOLD HER BAGS HERSELF but when we got to where to weigh it, I asked the officer if my hand luggage was ‘transferrable’ to her and he said ‘NO; what if something happens’ and I turned to her and said ‘sorry’, carried myself and left. I can’t not carry someone else’s load on my head and drag my own on the floor na.


I went to stamp out at immigration and a cutie stamped me out. He kept looking at me and my passport maybe my pic in the passport was much baby-ish but I choose to interpret it as Mc Galaxy’s song ‘na who born this fine girl’ (lol) . Finally, it’s time to locate my gate C39 and I had to take a big ass lift to the next floor (oh, when will MMIA look like this?’ and then I was at duty free shortly. Dubai Duty Free is NOT for the faint hearted (I learnt that in my previous trip) so this time I said to myself (Mobola, don’t be unfortunate; just keep moving). But as I was about to enter my gate I saw this store ‘with love from Dubai’ (I think) and something possessed me to enter it. Remember, I said I had only 21 AED and $50 left; I knew that a demonic spirit would have to be in play for me to spend that $50 because I needed instant cash on arrival and ATM wouldn’t cut it for me because I left my card at home. But I was curious to see what I could buy for 20 AED; I saw my favorite chocolate selling for 97 AED and I wasn’t even bothered because I had taken care of that at the supermarket. Lo and behold, shortly I found a beautiful bracelet for 20 AED and I said ‘mission completed; Dirhams finished’. I made my purchase and proceed to my boarding gate.


Flight EK 783 was boarding at 9: 15am and I said ‘chai, na Nigeria I dey go like this?’ but we made our way through the walkway and suddenly we were put in a bus to take us to where the plane was. I was surprised; what happened to the walk-way tunnel? It wasn’t until we endured a 5 minute plus bus ride to another remote location at the airport close to the road that I came to the conclusion that Nigeria was not respected. These nations see the ridiculousness that goes on in Nigeria but they won’t say don’t come to their country, after all we are coming to boost their economy but they won’t give Nigeria any 5-star treatment. How do you put Nigeria at the remote part of the airport but put Air Algeria at the tunnel walkway? Isn’t that an insult? I am in no way looking down at any country, but fact is fact; do we not boost their economy (even at the detriment of ours)? Our leaders and some Nigerians in the diaspora are not representing the image of this country well and all these world leaders see it even though they enable foolishness by giving the president of Nigeria audience and useless hand shake (yeah, I said it; it’s the truth and I am shaking the table vigorously).

Mariinee and LivingFree are just ravages

I have come to accept Airforce who he is... let's just let him enjoy na. Love indeed is sweet and intoxicating

[quote author=Lookandlaugh post=67682254]I'm giving you an uncountable accolades,
You did a fantastic job,your writing skills were superb,thank you once again.
I think you should consider going into the tour business.


Awwwww

Thnx a bunsh. I work for a Travel agency

almaj:


Thanks a lot for this account. Please don't forget to share your experiences at Dubai airport on your outward trip and the MMIA on arrival.

I intend to...

sisisioge:


Happy birthday... May God bless your years.

Amennnn

sisisioge:


No jare darling. I was hoping the OP would gift me ni. It was actually last week .

I'm speechless

shynerd:
Thanks so much for this beautiful rendition. May God be with you on your journey back to Nigeria.

Amennnn.. and thank you

..........


As all activities on this trip are gradually winding down, I can say it’s being wonderful. I really can’t wait to come back or even be a permanent resident here. Dubai has been amazing. God bless Dubai, the UAE and even Nigeria. God bless us all!

sisisioge:


I'm gonna ask not demand, just once. Buy me a laptop baby, my birthday is tomorrow

Is today your birthday? We may be birthday mates oooo

.....


As my trip to Dubai currently whines down and Lagos is becoming clearly visible in my mind’s eye, I did some last-minute shopping trips. I tried to eat as much as I could from places I knew weren’t in Nigeria but the more I tried to try something different, it became obvious to me that one cannot sample all delicacies in Dubai except you are a resident there. There are just too many. UK & US food franchises were making their marks there and even Indian and Chinese restaurants were not lagging behind either. In Dubai, customer service is key; the way people greet you when you enter a store or restaurant is nice (Nigeria take note) whether you patronize them or not. It’s a habit we need to inculcate in our service delivery here; restaurants staff, boutique staff, and even fuel attendants are harsh and rude (sometimes).


I understand that we are angry as a nation, but our attitude has got to reflect in our jobs. The pace at which pedestrians cross the roads here in Dubai is amusing and somewhat annoying. They don’t cross in groups or walk fast so it may be that as someone finishes crossing, another person wants to start, and you MUST wait. I have become accustomed to walking and crossing with ease as well (Lagos is waiting for me). Even boutiques at the shopping malls are not exempted in some type of customer service. When shopping and taking clothes from the rack to try on in the fitting room, the ones that don’t fit shouldn’t be taken out to the rack at the fitting room entrance or even the rack at the store but no, not here in Dubai! They just leave it on the floor in battalions for the staff to pick up (nah, I didn’t partake in such though I was tempted to). Sales attendants in boutiques over here are trying; I hope their staff discount is huge.


Pic is of a changing room stall in the mall

......


Today was experience; they have sighted the moon so fasting started today. Ramadan makes Dubai look like a shadow of itself. Everywhere was on lock up and Muslim women were wearing their Abaya (for a slight second that I thought every woman was to wear that). I looked out my window and I was unsure – women wearing Abaya, people weren’t all bubbling and in my mind I said ‘ile ya (it’s time for home)’. I had to find out from the reception if I had to cover my hair but he said no, only that I was not allowed to eat and drink in public places. So, during Ramadan, NOBODY is allowed to eat, drink and smoke in public. When I couldn’t take the hunger anymore at 12:30pm, I dressed up and hit the mall area. Everywhere was dry; some food vendors were closed, and the ones opened would only serve from 12noon till downwards or 3pm downwards but it had to be takeout. I went to Mc Donald’s and it looked like a graveyard; the sales lady told me she could only serve me on takeout basis which I was cool with. Ramadan is when these restaurants’ delivery guys would work a great deal – don’t get me wrong, people were buying food but most of them were invisible (thanks to delivery men). What you could do was order you food and take it to your destination to eat. I took my order and graciously went to my hotel room to do justice to it and when it was about past 6pm, I decided to go out to observe and beloved, Dubai was coming back to life. People were coming out to dine and wine and smokers were just lurking around the corner waiting for their moment to huff and puff away.

......


Finally, we go to the grand finale of the trip ‘Ferrari World’ and it is BREATHTAKING. Ferrari world as the name implies is the world of Ferrari. It is massive with a number of Ferraris parked there and of course EXPENSIVE! When I say expensive, my people I mean EXPENSIVE! I saw t-shirts (t-shirts ooo) sold for AED 229 (haba, those people do not have the fear of God). To take pictures in the Ferrari F1 car with the race clothes and of course the picture would be taken by their photographer was AED175. Let’s just say there were recouping their money back.


There is a Ferrari store where everything there was made by Ferrari – shoes (2k+ AED), luggage, handbags, perfumes, sporting gears, t-shirts, face caps and even pens! It truly was a Ferrari world and it costs money. Ferrari world houses the fastest rollercoaster in the world so for a fee you can enjoy the best 2-minute adrenaline experience of your life (if you are brave enough). There is also a shopping mall located in the Ferrari world so you can covered from food to drinks to souvenirs. After taking in the sight and beautify of the place, it was time to head back to Dubai. I’m not someone who sleeps on journey, but boy did I sleep on this journey to and fro. When I got back to Dubai, did some light purchases and went back to my hotel to have dinner.

....


The next stop was Etihad towers and if you remember Fast & Furious 7, you would understand my excitement – all I could imagine was Vin Diesel & Paul Walker doing their car stunt. Etihad Towers is BEAUTIFUL and tall; it was hard to take a picture that could fit all buildings. You can’t take pictures in front of the tower because there was nowhere to park so all pictures had to be taken across the towers. Next to Etihad Towers was Grand Hyatt Hotel which was also a sight to behold but you need no prophet to tell you that your wallet mustn’t be empty.

More pictures from Any Dhabi tour

1. The coin building is the government house; sorry the picture isn't so clear. It was taken in the car ride

2. Other buildings in the city

3. Marina mall Abu Dhabi

.....


Then we proceeded to see Abu Dhabi and I must say, though Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate of the 7 emirates, Dubai is the life of UAE. Abu Dhabi has lots of islands – over 200 of them, some are man-made and some are natural. I really wouldn’t like to live in Abu Dhabi full time; it is too dull, not much to do. We stopped at the President’s palace (of course we couldn’t enter, as no one could pop in to the seat of power uninvited) and took pictures from a distance. My people, that palace is GINORMOUS – only for one person! Apparently, nobody knows the exact number of Sheikh Zayed family – there are always official and unofficial wives and of course, children could spring forth from these unions.

More pictures


There are many more pictures of the mosque, I guess these will do for now

More on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

......

Ninety minutes later we arrived at the famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and it is BEAUTIFUL. It’s Arab money in its glory! It is the 8th biggest mosque in the world but holds the record for the most luxurious mosque. It also holds the record for the longest carpet and largest chandeliers (all Swarovski crystals) in the world. The top of the mosque was all pure gold; inside the mosque were marbles and exquisite finishing. First, we the women had to wear their Abaya (Islamic clothing) because at least for me, my Ankara top was short sleeve and we were given rent free. We proceeded to go inside but first we had to take off our shoes (hmmm); apparently it was standard for everybody (even the security guards). The marble floors were clean and sparkling white with cleaners on standby to clean it around the clock. What I can say are order and neatness were maintained round the Mosque. They were lots of tourists there and all of us snapping away with our phones and cameras. There is a gift and coffee shop in mosque building selling at tourist price (of course) so feel free to shop away but after a while, I got tired of the place. I had taken enough pictures.

......

Today started out slow for me; I was tired and exhausted, but my Abu Dhabi trip was scheduled for today. I kept snoozing the alarm severally hoping to catch few more minutes of sleep but alas, I had to get up, eat and get ready because I hate keeping people waiting. The tour rep told me to be ready between 8 & 8.30am and I did just that. It was a Landcruiser jeep taking 5 of us (2 couples from 2 different hotels and I) to Abu Dhabi. Shortly we began our journey for the at least 90 minutes car ride.


Driving out of Dubai we were able to see all the buildings with a better and I took some pictures (hope they come out nice). Burj Khalifa was shining so bright like a diamond that it was and Burj Al Arab was standing out from other buildings as it should; one of the couples in the car told us that she tried to have dinner at the Burj Al Arab some nights back and was told it was 750 AED, she ran back! Yes, they were selling the experience of a 7-star hotel as well as picture stories!


The following are pictures of my ride along in Dubai