Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - you still owe us

Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

11 September - 13 September 2019

This story commenced with what was to have been a wonderful NYE in Dubai as we ticked over from 2017 to 2018. The NYE that died painfully, as captured in that post, was meant to have met its inevitable crescendo with a typically extravagant Emirati fireworks display that would be set to ignite the cockles of our deepest hopes and dreams, inspiring in us a year of endeavour and achievement. That's what all the good marketing had us believe.

At the stroke of midnight however all that anticipation and excitement floundered like the flaccid phallus of a 70 year old man that left his blue pills in the overhead baggage compartment of his last flight. 

What we had been advised in the immediate aftermath of the greatest of letdowns was that for this year...just this year...Dubai had elected to for a light show, rather than its globally renowned fireworks display. What's more, that light show could not be seen from the Shangri-La Hotel, located on the opposite side of the Burj Khalifa, the focal point of NYE celebrations in Dubai.

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

I was livid of course. The Shangri-La had known of this for weeks. Long before I had purchased tickets for the event, and additionally, had sold the event as one of the best vantage points to witness the famous NYE fireworks and festivities of Dubai.

On returning to Belgrade I made the Shangri-La well aware of my grievances and we both settled on two free nights accommodation at the Shangri-La, at a time of my choosing, and, a dinner for two, inclusive of a bottle of wine at their iKandy outdoor restaurant/poolside bar. More than 18 months after the event we had decided to cash in our chips.

Dubai isn't a city for everyone. On my first trip to the burgeoning centre of wild ideas, grand inspiration and engineering marvel, I left feeling more bemused than anything. Admittedly that first time was in 2006, and now, 13 years later, the growth steroids consumed by the emirate has transformed it into a monolithic characterisation of what capitalism does when it runs rampant on the back of petrodollars, human exploitation...and...wild ideas. There's a lot about how the system operates that probably should have me questioning my ethics but if I did that to absolutely everything in my life then where would I be?

View from iKandy @ the Shangri-La - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Where else would Inga be at 9:00am?

This is Inga letting me know exactly where she is

So really, Dubai is like a wondrous Disneyland without sinful overtones that would have align  to a town such as Las Vegas. It's grand, in many ways brash, it drips with money and privilege, sucking you into its realm of both the possible and impossible. For those that love a hot dry climate, then this place has it in spade. For those that love sheesha, great cuisine, cocktails bars, shopping, exploring and about any other touristic venture you can think of, then my, this is a place for you also.

When evening descends in Dubai the night scape scene morphs into something resembling  the dystopian city of LA out of Blade Runner. Not that Dubai is at all sinister or a place where you wouldn't want to spend time but there's something imposing and imperial about the long line of buildings presiding along Al Maktoum Road that both excites and imparts an atmosphere of mystery. It's enigmatic, puzzling at times but full of possibility, and to me, that a great quality for a city to have. Why wouldn't you want to go out and discover what a place such as this has to offer? A city doesn't have to be aesthetically pleasing to be engaging. I personally would rate Dubai as an attractive city, but, it has so much to keep you occupied, and sometimes that's all you need.

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Shangri-La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

With all that said, having a 6 month old on your books means that you're restricted into what, where, when and how you can enjoy a place like this. On this occasion we mostly spent our time in the Shangri-La with only the odd excursion outside of the front doors. This was to be expected. Still, it doesn't diminish how I feel about Dubai now, nor will it dissuade me from making my way to this part of the world again soon. In my books, its a cool place to be for a time.

Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - Dark side of the moon

DUBAI (United Arab Emirates)
30 December 2017 - 01 January 2018

We wanted to end this year on an epic high, we wanted it to be big, we wanted a show that was iconic, in the class of Sydney, Rio de Janeiro or New York.

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

After bringing in 2017 with an absolute whimper we committed to lighting a bonfire under the start of 2018 and identified Dubai as being the centre of all things grandiose. This city is the Texas of the middle east, in fact, its extravagant and outlandish in all that it does that everything that's oversized about Texas could in fact be encapsulated within this 'city on steroids'.

I'd seen the NYE fireworks from Dubai in previous years. With their world class locations such as The Atlantis on Palm Island,  The Burj al Arab and the Burj Khalifa, to me it felt as though Dubai was blowing itself up every NYE...thus the need for massive reconstruction during the year.

NYE traffic - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Even when you read the write-ups regarding how magnificent the displays are what you get consistently are descriptions such as this;

BURJ KHALIFA FIREWORKS

In Dubai, New Year’s Eve and fireworks are pretty much synonymous. The city is known for hosting a magnificent display of lights every year that attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators around the world. This year won’t be any different, with an extravagant pyrotechnic show at Burj Khalifa and water-music dance at the Dubai Fountain.

Burj Khalifa & The Dubai Fountain

You can’t imagine a better view of Dubai’s most awe-inspiring New Year’s Eve celebration than from the very footsteps of Burj Khalifa. Thousands gather along the waterfront of the Dubai Fountain to catch the spectacular light and water show at midnight, so make sure to get a head start. Arrive as early as 6pm to avoid traffic and grab a top spot. Or, book a table at one of the famous restaurants lining the waterfront by The Dubai Mall to guarantee yourself a good seat. Plan ahead as roads and access to the Downtown area will be restricted on the night for crowd control.

Doesn't that sound like its the place to be!?!

After researching a few locations for a great meal, entertaining and spectacular views, I located the iKandy Ultralounge at the Shangri La Hotel.

Now the Shangri La we knew well, we actually stayed there a few nights whilst on our honeymoon some 6 months earlier. We also knew the iKandy Ultralounge to be a funky, cool, outdoor lounge that had direct views to the Burj Khalifa. The idea in itself seemed perfect. A great setting, a fantastic dinner, bottomless champagne & shisha without the hassle of being amongst the masses that would inevitably inhabit the area around Dubai Mall and Dubai fountain.

Once I'd zeroed in on the location getting us there was easy. This was set to be a monster of a NYE, guaranteed.

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Arriving on the 30th we actually flew into Abu Dhabi before driving up to Dubai and making our way to a hotel only a block or so from the Shangri La. As you can imagine, it seems that everywhere around the world NYE prices for a standard room involve an immediate tripling of standard rates and a request for a three (3) night minimum stay.

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Needless to say, all was forgotten when the 31st rolled around, and this time, Inga and I were ready. We were set for what was inevitably going to be an amazing night.

We took the 5-7 min walk down to the Shangri La, all ready to enter the iKandy Ultralounge stratosphere. And hey, didn't the crew at iKandy deliver. It was just as they had advertised, funky, cool, exclusive and in many way quite private. Small tables had been set up around the lounge and pool area. Inga and I actually had a fairly secluded area on one side of the pool with a direct view to the stage and with the wonderfully regal Burj Khalifa behind us, it felt like we had one of the best views in Dubai for the evening.

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

How good did the place look!

How good did we look!!

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

With the party in full swing, the champagne was flowing, the food was abundant and the shisha was the guilty pleasure that just topped off a fantastic event. Everything seemed to be going perfectly, I mean what can be better than an NYE that you don't really need to think about. I'm sure all of us have experienced those nights where we'd built up these unrealistic expectations, only to be let down by the location, by friends, family, whatever it may have been. This on the other hand was going much better than either of us had planned.

Eyes on the Burj Khalifa!!! iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

The food was superb - iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

iKandy Ultralounge - Shangri La Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

And just like that, the night melted away

As the remaining time on the year that was 2017 dwindled and we inched closer to 2018, the small gathering at iKandy assembled itself around the pool area and cast their eyes in anticipation towards the Burj Khalifa, waiting for the inevitable explosion of colour that would bring in the New Year of 2018.

Then in a somewhat impromptu countdown that someone around us initiated we got into the final 10 seconds, '10, 9, 8....3, 2, 1'

All eyes locked on the Burj Khalifa..........

All eyes locked on the Burj Khalifa

All eyes still locked on the FREAKIN' BURJ KHALIFA

Hey, BURJ KHALIFA, SHOW TIME!!!!

No reaction from the Burj Khalifa. There were a few floodlights crisscrossing each other but something had gone wrong here...and then the whispers commenced. From somewhere I heard 'something' about no fireworks this year.

What do you mean no fireworks? That's like Santa forgetting to deliver presents! That's like being single on Valentine's Day or running out of Malbec in Buenos Aires!

I needed clarification, I needed to find out what the hell was going on.

I pulled one of the staff aside and asked them what the deal was, his response, 'Oh yes, for safety reasons this year we have a light show, apparently its very good'.

Huh, 'apparently its very good',  well maybe that might be the case, the only issue is that we're on the wrong side of the 'pretty good' light show.  We couldn't see ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!

Inga was looking at me and all she could say was 'Henry, do something'

But this one was too big, I had nothing active in my ready bag of tricks.

DUBAI you MOFO! Seriously, of all THE years, this is the one to play up to your SAFETY CONCERNS!!!

...And so our night of magnificence, of monumental glory, fell the same way as our NYE in Belgrade, petering out to a whimper, nothing more than a forgotten puff in the night sky. 2018 had arrived and our mood had been halved and then halved again,

We felt cheated, we felt unfairly done by.

And so we walked back to our hotel, disgruntled, vanquished and trampled.

postscript

I did get in touch with the Shangri La for falsely advertising their event and the 'view of the fireworks' when they knew that for this year it would not be happening. The fact that their staff were completely aware of this meant that they were not caught unaware and thus advertised falsely.

For calling them out on the false advertising I received two nights complimentary accommodation, a meal at iKandy and a bottle of wine. It took more than 18 months to be able to take them up on the offer but it's going to be happening, 11th & 12th of September, 2019. Watch this space.