Dinner in Dubai

I've reserved a room at the Le Meridien Fairway because it's cheap ($100), near the airport and Meridiens tend to be nice enough. The Starwood site says its "situated within close proximity of the enchanting Dubai Creek and provides guests with an intimate hotel experience and a restful place to retreat." I say none of that was evident to me. It's on a highway-ish thoroughfare surrounding by light industrial buildings as one normally finds near an airport. But I don't care, I just need a comfy, perfume free bed. We get upgraded to a huge suite. Scott thinks I'm a total player.

Scott has an acquaintance who's managing the Dubai branch of a hot London restaurant. They exchanged emails and the acquaintance encouraged us to come by the restaurant. With the prospect of great (and maybe free?) food we head out of the hotel. Scott doesn't have an address so we ask at the front desk and the concierge. Neither can help. Scott manages to manipulate the browser on his Blackberry to give up an address. We get a taxi to the Dubai International Financial Center Gate 6. We arrive at a monstrously large complex. I jump out and ask to make sure we're in the right spot. We get directed to the other side of the building. The taxi takes us there and we hop out. It's hot and we're hungry, but we're in the building in no time and the concierge has pointed us in the right direction. Well maybe not the exact right direction. We ask someone else who sends us upstairs. Where we find someone else who guides us outside to the wrong restaurant. We find someone else who says we need to be at "Village Gate 6", not "Gate 6". She gives us directions. We approach Village Gate 6 with some hesitation. There doesn't really seem to be anyone around; it just doesn't feel like we're heading to a trendy restaurant. We reach Village Gate 6 and the concierge knows exactly where the restaurant is. Finally, Victory! He walks us through the lobby and opens the door to our restaurant which is ... still under construction.

We get another taxi and head over to some vaguely Venetian hotel near the Burj Al Arab. We eat decent Persian food as Scott tries to calculate how much abuse he's going to take for the missing restaurant excursion. People are riding around on motorized gondolas - they look happy enough. Even at 10:30 it's pretty darn hot out and humid to boot. Back at the hotel I go right to bed. Scott, flush with his nine hours (nine!) of sleep in a day shortened by eight hours stays up to watch the Olympics.