Last Day...full of goodbyes!

Sadly, the last day is finally here...not a big fan of good-byes, so it'll be 'see ya later's' from me!

We headed out to see 2 more Emirate cities today: Sharjah & Ajman. Hit the Blue Souk in Sharjah - what a beautiful city with a river & a coast!

We then headed back to Conrete Jungle and went to the Dubai mall. Yes, I was just here last night, but now we had some wander-around time...and photos. Course I had to take my pic wtih the Burj - it will definitely hold specialy memories after last night!

The mall is 4 floors, huge... even has an aquarium that costs about $17 to go thru the tunnel and you could even swim in there too...huge!

Caught a cab back to the hotel for our farewell dinner. Amazing how quickly the 104+ hours can fly by, but yet feel like we were here forever. It's been an amazing week full of new friends and definitely new places!

Helping make this a great time were the EF StafF: Ennie, Matt, Amy, Thea & Brandi!

Many thanks to out to them - great times!!

Also, many thanks to the new friends I made (pictured below).

I hope that our paths cross again soon!!

One group just set off to the airport at 11 pm for their 1:30 a.m. flight. Mine departs at 8:30 a.m. and I have a 5 am bus transfere. REALLY wish I was on United the whole way since this trip just bumped me up to Premier Executive!!! Yippee!!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this long weekend in a place I would have never envisioned being able to visit. It's been quite eye-opening, exciting, awe-inspiring, amazing, memorable time. I'm not looking forward to my 24 hr journey back home nor my lovely Monday inservice, but Work Hard, Play Hard!!

Will be in touch in March, if not before, as I will be spending my Spring Break in China with my nephews ... and Eric & Lori too! :)

Hugs to all - thanks for reading & responding - love it!

~steph :

Most Amazing New Years EVER!!!

Well, today goes on record as being one of the most memorable days ever!! What a way to spend a New Years!

So, today we headed out of town for a bit to the East Coast to Bitnah, Fujairah, and Khorfakkan. All the oil refineries and off shore tankers were unreal... the pipelines were everywhere. It was nice to get out of the Concrete Jungle and see what more this penninsula has to offer. The rugged mountains and gorgeous coastline were such a sharp contrast to Dubai.

A couple highlights included dipping my toes in the Arabian Sea...

...and also in the Indian Ocean.

We headed back to Dubai after our excursion. Since it's a big holiday, and Friday/Saturday is their weekend, there was a bit of traffic. We had time to change before heading out for New Years. Our evening festivities were happening at a restaurant, Zeta, located in a hotel balcony directly across from the Burj Khalifa - perfect locale for watching the evening events. After 4 courses of exquisite (but very little) food, the clock struck midnight. There was no countdown, but lots of activity. First off was a water/light show, pictured below. It's similar to the one in Vegas.

Then the fireworks started... as you can see they came from all over the place... from the marina off to the side, but more importantly up and down off the Burj Khalifa. The most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen. I'm sure it's on YouTube that you could find it. Unreal...and surreal all at once. Sadly no other New Years Eve will come close to this experience and I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to see this... definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I soon will not forget!!

Happy New Years to all! May it be a great 2011!!