Today is a long awaited moving day. I am moving out of an office that I have had for the last 12 years and into a new building. I’ll have an office with a window looking out over the united center, where the chicago bulls and blackhawks play.
So my computer will be down and the baseball games will not be posted until late afternoon if at all today.
One thing that is easy to see when you travel is how much we Americans take drinking water for granted. I love just drinking ice cold water. But many of the places I have gone to do not have ice because the tap water is not drinkable. You go to a restaurants, pay about 4 bucks for a water or coke, and they give you a bottle of water or a can of coke. At least you can usually find a local grocery store selling cold bottles of water for 2 or 3 bottles for a dollar.
I wasn’t too impressed with the middle eastern food. It didn’t seem to be that unique. The first few days I was tasting a lot of curry but after that it got much more plain. The food in China was more enjoyable. A lot of people on this trip go sick, I’m not sure exactly where it came from, but I am still feeling effects of it.
Another surprise to me was the leading american fast food chain in both Dubai and Cairo seemed to be KFC. I thought I would see more McDonalds.
I didn’t write as much towards the end of the trip.
Day 6
This is the day most were waiting for. We began the day with a relatively short drive to Giza. Some people on high floors and on the right side could actually see the pyramids from the hotel. We started out at pyramids 1 and 2. There are basically three options of things to do. 1. Just walk around viewing the and taking photos of the pyramids. You can pay five bucks to enter pyramid two. The is a passage way about 4 foot tall by 3 feet wide that is both the way in and the way out. You go down aways to a small room then go back up a little bit to the burial chamber. Cameras are not allowed inside. It’s really just a hot, humid passageway crammed with people. Not really much to see, just an opportunity to say you were inside the pyramids. We then took a camel ride though the desert to pyramid 3. Then we stopped at the sphinx on the way out. The Sphinx was one thing I was looking forward too. But they only gave us about 15 minutes there, we didn’t get to walk around it, only take pictures from the front. Then surprisingly enough, it was just across the street from the Sphinx to either KFC or Pizza Hut for lunch. They said we had a full day but in reality the 2nd half of the day was visiting a papyrus shop and a carpet making factory. We pretty much had the same carpet factory tour in China. We finished the night with a dinner cruise on the Nile. These dinner cruises on the river are getting a little old.
Day 7
We started the day at the Egyptian museum. One thing I was surprised to find out is that the one of the most historical museums in the world does not have air conditioning. It was good that our guide went inside with us to give us the story of King Tut. Everything that was found in King Tut’s tomb can be found inside this museum except for the two outer coffins and the body itself. Those remain at the tomb site down south at the Valley of the Kings. Our guide who has been with us the two days in Cairo studied to be an Egyptologist and did a good job giving us the historical background. We spent most of out time at the museum in Tut’s section. The mask of Tutankhamen was really impressive. We had to pay extra to get into the Royal mummies rooms. Inside there they have the unwrapped mummies of such rulers as Ramses II. Another interesting one is the sun of Ramses II, who is believed to be the pharaoh in the story of Moses. Our guide said that recent tests found traces of water from the Red Sea, which matches the story of Pharoah’s army drowning as they chased Moses. In the afternoon we took an hour long sail boat ride on the Nile. Tonight we will going to the sound and light show at the pyramids. As I said before. I didn’t read great things about it on the internet but I’m hear, it is the pyramids, so I might as well do it. This is the final night of the trip, we have a free day tomorrow until around 2pm, then load the bus for the airport for the long trip home. We have a 4 hours flight back to Dubai, a 2 hour layover, then a 14 hour flight back to New York. I then have another 5 hour layover before a flight back to Chicago. All in all, the trip home will be at least 30 hours.
Day 8
I visited a church which is traditionally believe to be the place that Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus stayed when they fled to Egypt.
It was an unbelievably long trip home.
I tried to keep a log of what I did at least every couple of days when I had free time.
DAY 1.
The trip began with a 13 hour flight from New York JFK to Dubai aboard Emirates Airlines. I have to say I was impressed with their on board entertainment. Each seat back had a 15 inch digital monitor. There was about 600 video s on demand to choose from and just as many cd’s you could listen too. I thought I would watch movies to pass the time but I was so sleepy I mostly listened to music while trying to sleep. But it was a long flight, so I still watched two movies and two episodes of the Simpsons.
After leaving NY at 11:am and a 13 hour flight it was 8am when we arrived in Dubai. Dubai is an open city to US resident. All you need is a passport, no visa or any other entry fees. We were taken to our hotel. We got there at closet to 10 and unfortunately our rooms would not be available until around 2:00. The hotel was across the street from the Dubai hotel. So that was were we started to fill our time. It is a small place built inside an old fort. It is actually underground beneath the fort. The nice thing about it was that was it was cool, compared to the heat and humidity outside. My 5th floor hotel has a window looking out over the fort/museum. We did a little walking around the area, the immediate area contained mostly textile shops, shops selling raw fabrics. Two of the guys and one of the girls found a shop selling clothes so they came back dressed in white gown like outfits like the local Arabs. My main objective was to fine a grocery store and buy some cold water. After waiting a couple hours in the hotel lobby our rooms were finally ready. Me and my roommate, Darrell (and no, he didn’t have a brother named Darrell like people were asking) who I met for the first time at the Hotel, got our room key and pretty much just went up and took a nap. I was certainly tire after not sleeping much for the past 48 hours. We got about a 3 hour nap. Then it was down stairs to meet for the evening activity, which was a dinner cruise about a wooden ship called a Dhow. The cruise itself was very similar to a cruise I took last year in Shanghai. Shanghai was much more impressive. But I think Dubai has every intention of catching up. The dinner was average, a buffet of some middle eastern foods but I was so hungry I was ready to eat anything. We got back to the hotel about 11pm and went straight to bed.
DAY 2
For the morning of day 2 a bus tour of the city is scheduled. This is pretty much just to orienteer us to places we may want to visit on our free day. We went by the gold and spice markets. We droves as close as we were allowed to the Sheik’s residence. The entrance boulevard was populated with peacocks. We stopped at the beach, a very nice white beach with barely a person on it and had a group photo taken with the Burj, the worlds only 7 star hotel in the background.
The highlight of the day, and most likely for the time in Dubai was the evening desert safari. We were picked up at the hotel in 4 wheel drive land cruisers. The drove us about an hour out into the desert. We stopped to give us a chance to take a break and shop for suvineers, while the drivers let air out of the tires. We started back up again and a few minutes later we veered off the highway and out into the desert. Most people describe like a roller coaster. We drove up and down dunes, sometimes slide down them sideways. It was definitely a fun experience. Our first stop was just to let the car engines cool off and for us to take pictures of the sand dunes as far as you could see in every direction. We then later made a second stop where they had some snow boards and gave everyone a chance to ‘sand board’ down one of the dunes. From there we went to a spot to watch the sunset, but I don’t think we were able to get to the place the wanted in time so we just stopped where we were, so that wasn’t as nice as I had hoped. The final stop was a camp out in the middle of the desert. I rode a camel, got a henna tattoo on my ankle, the women were getting them all over, down the arm or leg, neck or even on their chest. The had the ‘hubbly bubbly’ available for anyone that wanted to smoke it. I passed on that. There was a belly dancer to give entertainment before a bar-b-que dinner. Even though temperatures were over 100 I didn’t really feel it was that bad out in the desert at night.
Day 3 is going to be a full day trip to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, UAE. Dubai is one of the Sheikdoms of the UAE.
DAY 3
I really didn’t get much out of the day in Abu Dhabi. I didn’t realize that it was going to be almost entirely a bus tour. It took 2-3 hours to drive there, then for most sites we just drove by them. We stopped at a fruit and vegetable market to allow people to buy dates. I never knew that dates come from palm trees. We stopped at a fish market for reasons I don’t really know, it was just a fish market. We drove by the personal houses of the the UEA leader and his 19 sons. You are not allowed to take pictures. Finally we stopped at a Muslim mosque that is open to the public. It is a huge affair started by the previous ruler.
The one thing interesting about Abu Dhabi is that they are trying to turn the desert green. They have planted trees in an attempt to grow a forest and are trying to turn the sand into grass. They say that the greenery will make it rain more and that you can already see it working. It now rains a couple times a year December/January. On the way back to Dubai we had the option to get out at the Mall of the Emirates, home of Ski Dubai, and indoor ski mountain, or hill. That was another disappointment. I didn’t actually ski or go to the snow park. Some did, I considered the park where you could sled or tube but it looked rather small.
DAY 4
Day four was a free day. Dubai is most famous for their Gold and Spice markets so I wanted to make sure I went through them. So me and my roommate took the abra, or water taxi, across the creek to the other side where the markets were. These markets were also a disappointment. We must not have been in the right spot, There was one shop selling spices at the entrance but I did not see any more spices the entire time. I did see the gold shops but I’m not really in the market for a gold necklace. We took the abra back to where we started, my roommate decided he had had enough of the heat, I continued walking around the creek to a couple of museums, the Heritage and Diving village and Sheik Seaeed’s house, the former home of the ruling Maktoum family. In both places I was pretty much the only person there. For a city trying to build itself on tourism the heat is going to be a major battle.
In the late afternoon we took a taxi to Madubat Jumeriah which was a mall and Hotel on the gulf just to the left of the Burj Hotel. We ended up making a long walk to the entrance to the Burj to take a few pictures, the Burj is on a man made island just off shore. We continued on to the public beach and waited for darkness to see the hotel lit of up at night. The Burj is a very impressive building, built in the shape of a open sail. But I really had no interest of going inside, which you couldn’t do without reservations for tea, drinks, or a room. Several people made reservations for tea or drinks, it cost over $100 just to get in, before the cost of the drinks. A few people even decided to pass up or hotel and reserve a room there, at almost $2000 for a single night. On our way back to our hotel we had a Pakastani taxi driver that talked about how poorly the non-citizen employees are treated here. The united arab emirates is a real melting pot of middle eastern peoples, the come here to get work. There are big Indian and Filipino populations here.
Day 5
It’s day five and we are finally going to Egypt today. This was the reason I came on this trip. I’m choosing to stay in the hotel rather than do anything in the heat this morning, before we leave for the airport at noon. It is almost a four hour flight to Cairo, we are scheduled to arrive in Cairo at 6pm. I’m not sure if we will be able to make it in time but I think the plan was to go the the sound and light show at the pyramids. I haven’t read great things about this show but like last night seeing the Burj at night from the beach, I think It would be nice to see the pyramids at night.
This turned into a wasted day, as we did not arrive in our hotel until around 8:30
Today is our last full day in Dubai and we have the day to do whatever we want. I’ve wandered some markets then broke off by myself and visited a couple of museums. On my way back to the hotel looking for a place to eat I found a internet store so I decided to stop in a check email. I have been writing down what I have done each day and will post it all when I return. I don’t really expect to get another connection until I return home. Tomorrow I fly to Cairo. Then Thursday will spend the day at the pyramids and Friday at the Egyptian museum. That is the part of the trip I have looked forward to the most.
My trip to Egypt is underway. I left home this afternoon, took a flight from Chicago to JFK airport in New York. Unfortunately this is where I am spending the night. I’m currently hanging out in the baggage claim area of the Jet Blue terminal for their free wi-fi. It is nearing 11:00 pm NY time but this place is really busy. I don’t know if I will be able to get much sleep but I think this is where I will stay. The next step will be to find a place where I can recharge the laptop. I’ve got my eye on a spot that I am hoping to get when it is a little less crowded, a seat near an electrical outlet. I have about 12 hours until my flight to Dubai leaves tomorrow morning. I will meet the larger group I am going with for that flight. This is not exactly the fun part of traveling. Spending the night in an airport followed by a 13 hour flight. So about 24 hours from now, and probably with little sleep, I’ll arive at Dubai at 8:20 am.
I don’t expect to have much internet connectivity on this trip, they will have it in the hotel but it is not worth the price they charge. So if I have time I am going to try to write what I do each day and then post it when I get home. I learned I should have done that in China last year.
I am going to start posting some baseball picks. This is in testing a chase system where you bet on every game every day. I would like to see first if it will even make money. And then if it is better to average losses across all games, distribute the larger losses across new chases, or not distributing losses at all. I’ll be posting the picks over at http://www.thepredictiontracker.com/baseballpicks.php
Two weeks from tomorrow I am off on a vacation to Dubai and Cairo. I think I have the bandwidth here so that I can create my own photo album instead of using something like snapfish or photobucket, where I put some China pictures.
A paper for which I am a co-author is being published today in Archives of General Psychiatry. The title is “Change in depressive symptoms during the prodromal phase of Alzheimer’s disease”
12 of the original 14 chases have won, plus I restarted the 6 that won game one and have won each of these. Unfortunately one of the two original chases that hasn’t ended has been because one of the biggest underdogs, the Kansas City Royals swept Detroit. They totally shut down a Tiger offense that was supposed to be one of the best in the majors this year. The second unfinished chase had an unlucky push last night with a last minute pitching change. So as the second series start today I’m needing a Royal loss and a Pittsburgh under. Two new chases start today with the Dodgers and Indians beginning road trips. Assuming the KC and Pitt chases end as wins it will be a nice +19 unit opening week.