believe it or not I had more internet access in SE Asia than in Dubai and Istanbul (at least until today), hence my terrible neglect of this blog
let's see - I flew to Dubai on Tuesday 3 March and got more jet lag flying there from SIN than I had from San Francisco to Asia - partly cause the flight was shorter so I didn't really get a chance to sleep properly (plus not wanting to miss a moment of being treated like a queen by singapore airlines - i got in trouble with the purser because i got up to get a magazine for myself - i was told very firmly that i 'was there to be pampered!') and then it was also daylight the whole way
Dubai is the absolute strangest place in the world - many more thank yous to my friend and former Innovative colleague Robin for allowing me to stay at her place - lots and lots of skyscrapers and freeways, at least in town - she did drive me out to the desert to get some pix of dunes and camels (but when we stopped at the side of the highway to get some shots of moms and babies, the moms heard and smelt us, so they quickly shepherded/camelherded their children away from us) - we also went riding over the dunes in crazy four-wheeled motorcycles for 1/2 hour which was huge fun - and i went skiing for the first and probably only time in my life - it actually only cost 180 dirhams (about 50 USD) for everything including Discovery Lesson (for complete newbies - there were 2 lovely ladies from Alabama, currently working in Iraq, in the class with me), jacket and pants, skis, boots and gloves - our teacher Relu was absolutely gorgeous as well as necessarily patient and also funny - and it was BIG fun in a very scary way (understand that the 'slope' was probably about 5 degrees) - i will post photos when i get access to a USB port
finished rambling for the moment but will continue later (maybe tomorrow) about Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace here in Istanbul (a young couple from New Zealand and I hired a guide - so young they'd never heard of the movie called Topkapi (came out in 1964) - our guide is named Mustafa - 81 years young who's been a guide for 60 years and was full of info about the incredible sights in both sites / definitely do the harem for an extra 15 lira (about 6 or 7 USD) and check out the gorgeous tile work
