Today we rested and had a late breakfast. That is allowed after all – we are on vacation! Breakfast ends at 11am and I think we showed up at 10am so that was not that bad! I had a surprise in store for me today – the chef had made my avocado toast with the GF buns that they have – which was delicious! I had all my other standard buffet items of a small omelette, fruit and yogurt and veggies and hummus and that rounded out the breakfast / lunch for the day. In fact, we have been having big breakfasts (as they are free with my Marriott level) and sometimes a snack in the afternoon and then dinner – just down to 2 meals in a day. Partly due to the heat also, I just hate eating food when I am hot!
We then went up to the pool which was also on the 43rd floor and had a relaxing time – the pool is on the other side of where the bar is located – so it takes up half the roof and the bar takes up the other half. There was both a pool (not very deep) and what I thought was a hot tub but actually was a kids pool. It was just a bit hotter than the main pool. I dipped my toes into both pools however ended up just hanging out on the pool chairs and relaxing and trying not to get burnt! Andrew did the same. Of course I was knitting, which garners some strange looks in Dubai and Andrew was contemplating life as he normally does.
We had a 5pm entry ticket to the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world, however not for long as the Emir that runs the next state over, where Abu Dubai is, is building a TALLER building which will be finished in a year or two. Oh my, this excess at times kind of bothers me. So at about 3pm we took a taxi to where I thought would be the Burj Khalifa building, but nope, it was to the same taxi stand that we had departed from the other day – they only have one place where you get dropped off and depart from at a taxi for the HUGE Dubai Mall complex – which made walking so some places long distance! As we arrived fairly fast, we took the time to go upstairs (as recommended) and took a picture of the skating rink in the mall – reminded me of West Edmonton Mall and then we were off to find the entrance to the Burj Khalifa! One thing the Dubai Mall as LOTS of is escalators. What it does NOT have a lot of is elevators! Not wanting to get in trouble and take an escalator unless really needed, we went on a search for an elevator and ended up in the “posh” part of the mall where the brand name clothes are sold – sure enough they had an elevator hidden away! Downstairs we went and eventually found the entrance to the Burj Khalifa where there was one LONG line up! Knowing I had bought tickets to see the sunset, I was concerned that the line was going to be a couple of hours long and it was already 4pm. So I asked the man supervising the line where we needed to line up with our tickets and he ushered me into a separate line but I had a problem – Andrew had wandered off somewhere! Andrew figured he would go stand in the line. Good grief. Now re-united we went down the special line and were checked in and cleared security and were up top by 4:30pm. I found a spot by the window in order to watch the sunset and Andrew watched from the wall behind me. It was an “average” sunset – nothing spectacular – also the glass is tinted so not that brilliant either.
After the sunset we walked around more of the 125th floor. Soon it was dark and we could take some great night photos! The one with me in front of the angel wings is a very popular photo to be taken at this building. Then you can WALK down a set of stairs to the 124th floor however a hostess came up to me and offered me a elevator ride down which was nice! Nothing really different on this floor – still another gift shop and windows however fewer people while we were there we watched the water show going on in the lakes below outside of the Dubai Mall. The water show is very similar to the one in Las Vegas in front of the Bellagio Hotel – but a bit shorter it seemed in Dubai.
We then went back up to the 125th floor to take the elevator back down to the safety of the ground floor. On the way to the exit there were some fascinating pictures and videos of the building of the Burj Khalifa that were almost hard to believe! Such as how many floors they would raise in a week.
After we exited I had seen while reading about the Dubai Mall and its plethora of restaurants that there is a PF Changs restaurant – the same as the chain restaurants you can find predominantly in the USA (with a couple in Canada). So once we found it (that was an exercise in itself), I asked if they have a gluten free menu – as they have an excellent one in North American and it is primarily why I like to go to the restaurant. The receptionist was very nice and explained that they do not but they can make certain dishes gluten free for me. He seemed to understand what he was talking about and sat us down and proceeded to introduce the manager to me who came with an allergen sheet so she knew exactly what I could order. This seemed to be going well! I could have edamame, the egg drop soup, salmon, chicken or beef. As I had edamame at our hotel room left over, I was not interested in that, I have a “thing” about frozen salmon and I was hungry, so I chose the chicken dish. Andrew had some beef dish and we were not sharing like we normally do. She said that my dish might take a few minutes longer was that okay? I said fine. I was thinking though that in a restaurant like this with only two dishes it should not be hard to coordinate them to come to the table at the same time. Oh was I wrong!
The first “unique” thing that happened is they sanitized my half of the table and brought me new plates and cutlery. That was interesting! Then we enjoyed our drinks and after 30 minutes Andrew’s beef dish arrived, which considering the restaurant was half full, was to be expected. Just after he was served, Andrew, who was facing the open kitchen, saw a new wok being unboxed. Now we thought that was interesting but they probably have already prepared my meal – it was probably for someone else. Another 30 minutes goes by and at this point, besides being hungry and Andrew eating VERY slowly so he does not finish before I get fed, I decide to ask what is going on. The manager said my meal would be done in 5 minutes. Then, at 15 minutes, I realized it was 8pm and the National Celiac Conference was beginning online at 9pm Dubai time and I really wanted to attend and hear the 1st two speakers. So I asked the manager now for my meal to go. They were not happy about it but I explained that after over an hour of waiting, I could not wait any longer and needed to leave due to a prior commitment. So they boxed up my meal and what was left of Andrews and we left. They did not charge me for my meal, which was good. I did not even have to say anything – they took care of it. I must admit, it was the most beautiful PF Changs that I had ever been to, however they went over the top in preparing my gluten free meal and while I was happy they took such care, the time it actually took was far too long.
Next we went to take a taxi back to the hotel and I had a HUGE ah-ha moment. Unlike the other day when we took a taxi, and there was a long line that snaked back and forth, this time there was a short line of about 10 people. I was tired and they had just closed the door after letting a group of people out to get into taxi’s, so I sat down on my walker. Then about 10 minutes later, the doors opened up again, I got up and walked along with the others in the line to get in queue for a taxi when the attendant said to me “You know to line up over here – I did not know you were in the line!” Which I replied that I was not aware that I was supposed to line up somewhere else and he then explained that for “people of determination” they do not have to line up. All of a sudden the light went on in my head – all the times that people have seen me and opened up lines or had me go into a different door to skip a line – that must have to do with some rule in Dubai. So once in the taxi, I looked it up on Google and sure enough – in 2007, the Dubai government/ruler passed a law outlining how “people of determination” should be handled (for lack of a better word) and one of the things is they do not have to line up. Good to know as the behaviour that I had seen from the airport until now had been puzzling me – to the point that it felt like I was wearing something on my forehead saying “I get priority” which was driving me bonkers!
So back at the hotel, we enjoyed a lovely dinner on the bed while I started watching the National Celiac Canada conference! It is so amazing to use Zoom and be in Dubai, attending a conference in Canada with speakers from Canada, USA and England all participating! I lasted through the first two speakers however once I got to the third speaker it was lights out for me as it was after midnight and we had a busy day!




















Now we moved down to the 124th floor and watched the fountain show –
Video of Fountain Show on Lake 124 Floors below!





