BIG BROWN PIECE..

Aha.. I just came back from Brisbane and it brings me back so much memory that I nearly cried when i think of it.. I remembered, few years back, my parents 'vormit' out all their money just to bring the whole family to Brisbane & Gold Coast for holiday and we had so much fun that till now, most of the memory are still fresh in my brain.. Stayed there for 1 night only and there's nothing much to talk about for that trip as I spent most of my time shopping and looking for post office.. =P

Anyway, back to 'BIG BROWN PIECE'.. Few weeks back I was assigned for a flight to Abu Dhabi.. Me and my colleagues stayed there for 5 nights and basically we have done almost everything you can do in Abu Dhabi.. Abu Dhabi is one of the state under UAE (United Arab Emirates) along with Dubai, Riyadh etc and its quite modernly developed as most of the locals there are filthy rich as their land is richly blessed with Oil..

The most memorable thing that I've done when I was there is the Desert Tour.. Although its the most expensive TOUR I have paid so far but the trip was trully unforgetable. I enjoyed and laughed throughout the trip and went back hotel all tired.. The whole Half Day desert tour cost me 220 Dirhams (originally 270 Dirhams but Crew got discount.. hahaha) and till now, I still can feel the pinch.. Dirhams currency is almost like Malaysia currency just that they are slightly stronger.. So technically, I paid around RM230 for the tour.. OUCH..

In the morning, 2 very nice tour guides cum drivers came and greeted us with 2 4-wheel-drive in our hotel and we drove out of Abu Dhabi city.. The driver that brought me and my 5 other colleagues was Muhammad and he was really a cool driver.. Cooler than those in Need for Speed.. A family that sat on the plane that we worked on (and stayed in the same hotel as us)and 2 other Japanese girls of the Captain's friends sat on another 4-wheel.. (sounds confusing?)

Then..

We reached here.. The place where they raised Camels.. The 'AROMA' that greeted us was stronger than the sun on that day.. The whole land was filled with tiny little pieces of camels poo poo.. Due to winter season, the desert wasn't that hot.. therefore, it is highly recommended to take these tours during winter/autumn season as it will not be too hot.. It fact, it was quite windy and comfortable..
Of course, I must take picture with the 'ICON'.. I think the camel looked better than me.. I look so tired..

Then a group pic for memory.. Tracy, me, Captain, Sharina, Rahman and 1st Officer Lim..

The mama of the camels.. She's huge ok!!! HUGE!

Group bonding and fellowship under the sun..

After some time spent at the camel area, we sat back on Muhammad's 4-wheel and started our Desert Roller coaster ride.. I was so excited.. but basically, there's nothing much to see in the desert other than this..

The BEST part was when the drivers drive down on high slopes like this.. There were more than 6 4-wheels on that day itself.. 1 4-wheel can accomodate at least 7 tourists.. Looks like business is very good...

BIG BROWN PIECE.. i've never seen such a big piece of BROWN in my entire life..

Ladies and Gentlemen! May I introduce the DRIVER of that day.. I call him 'CHE SAN' (cantonese).. He's Mr Muhammad of Pakistan origin.. super nice man working hard for a living for his family..

The drivers can even drift on sand k!!! Dont play play.. i dont think Michael Schumarker (sorry la.. i dont really know how to spell his name, but u get the picture right?) can drive better than these desert drivers..

Then they stopped us here.. and you can see how hard is it to walk on those soft silky sands.. Especially when u wanna climb up a simple small slope..

Group pic before the sun sets..

My seniors..

Ah lim.. the nicest pilot I've met so far..

Rahman from Malaysia.. Very sweet guy..

Someone tried to Surfboard on sand.. but it wasn't that easy.. I was so tempted to try.. but dont know how I can climb back up to the high point when I go down.. So, in the end.. I did not do it.. REGRET...

The crew with the DRIVER

Dont be fooled by our happy faces.. we were enduring the strong wind that comes with soft tiny sands.. our clothes were covered by sand and our mouths were eating sand.. not easy k..

Those are the 2 sons of the family that sat on our plane and came to the same tour as us.. They were having a great time playing sands.. How I wish I can be so playful like them.. but, i can't.. i have to take care of my image..

As the night approaches, the drivers drove us all to another place where we will have our dinner and entertained by belly dancer.. Before the dinner starts, we get to ride on camels for free but just for one small round.. Not so a big deal la..

The camel was quite temperamental and there were too many tourists eager and waiting to ride on the poor camel, so i decided to give the camel a break.. After all, I ride on horses, ostrich, motorbikes etc before.. hahaha

Lim and I decided to go for something more thrilling..

These bikes look normal but the fun part was to ride on sand at night when everything is dark.. Of course we have a guide that lead us.. We paid extra 50 Dirhams for 10 minutes ride, in the end, we rode for more than 15 minutes because some people lost their way.. Blessing in disguise for me..

Wasn't able to take pic of me riding because when it was our turn, the sky was pitch black and too busy to pose for pictures anyway.. I was thrown out of the bike during the ride when I was not concentrating and the bike swirf down to a high slope.. then, 'BAM!' I landed hard and got a few bruises on my legs that took me weeks to get rid of it.. But.. the fun....... PRICELESS!!

After that, we went back to the dining area and due to power failuer, there were no electricity and the Drivers have to use their cars to have lights shining the whole big square of their 'kampung' at different angle.. It was quite a turn off but that did not stop us from having fun.. Some of the tourists were getting 'Hannahs' done.. its a type of tattoo which is brown in colour..

This is where we can get some hot drinks and dates.. the dates are really yummy.. And ya, my camera is covered by sand too..

The night was chilly and we sat on a big piece of carpet facing a big stage.. Then we started our Desert Buffet Dinner which is like 6.3 stars out of 10 for me..

While waiting for the Belly dancing to start, I walked around with Mrs Ho-the passenger that came for the same tour as us.. She's the mother of the 2 sons and came to Abu Dhabi for a conference along with her husband for a holiday as well.. (save money man)..

Me and Mrs Ho alongwith the cute little local boy.. She's a very nice mother and a very friendly lady..

Then the belly dancing starts.. And to my dissapointment, there were only 1 Belly Dancer and not a group like what I expected.. But she's not that bad la.. The only problem is, I've seen better Belly Dancers..

I took so many pics of the belly dancer but due to bad lighting and frequent movements, I was unable to capture her personally.. sorry guys.. She's quite old anyway..

After the Belly dancing performance, we were ushered to another open area where they set up many of this..

Yes.. those really cool looking pipes that smells very good when you blow out the smoke.. Its all fruity.. Sorry.. I really can't recall the name of this thing..

Even the Japanese (that wore smartly with coat to desert) were having a great time trying these stuffs..

And to end this entry.. I have a confession to make..

I also got smoke..

One suck...

*cough*

Blow..

HIGH... lol...

Its not good at all.. Just the smell of the smoke was really nice and fruity.. Still dont understand why people smoke..

p/s: Thanks Ivy for your super early birthday + christmas card that was sent to my house in Sin all the way from Klang.. Can't thank u enough! U brighthen up my day.. Love u gal!