May 13, 2022 20:47:37 GMT iNCY said:

I have a really crap schedule and now have too many hours in Dubai airport.

Does the airport have a foreigners section to keep you from being arrested for breaking some random Dubai law?

May 12, 2022 5:04:44 GMT System said:

May 11, 2022 22:09:49 GMT iNCY said:

They did just burn down the president's house, which tends to be a sign that things are not going particularly well.

What about the Maldives instead or too pricey?

May 14, 2022 1:16:27 GMT iron maiden said:

May 12, 2022 5:04:44 GMT System said:

What about the Maldives instead or too pricey?

My coworker went there and loved it.

May 13, 2022 21:03:26 GMT Gyro LC said:

May 13, 2022 20:47:37 GMT iNCY said:

I have a really crap schedule and now have too many hours in Dubai airport.

Does the airport have a foreigners section to keep you from being arrested for breaking some random Dubai law?

Fortunately, I am in the first class lounge so I can hide amongst the other degenerates. They have a quiet room for napping with lying down chairs, which is pretty epic. I was having an awesome nap until the morning call to prayer woke me up. So now I have decided to go WILD. I just ordered a Wagyu burger and then I'm going to go have a shower.

This is easiest the largest first class lounge in the world I reckon.

May 12, 2022 16:03:36 GMT iNCY said:

Earlier this week

Check out Mr style here.

Awesome pants.

May 14, 2022 2:12:42 GMT c said:

May 12, 2022 16:03:36 GMT iNCY said:

Earlier this week

Check out Mr style here.

Awesome pants.

They're not that colour in real life... But all my pants are those stretchy cargo pants these days.

More evidence of my thug life

I live for those stretch pants these days too. I tend to go with the more business looking ones instead of cargo though.

Hold on, is that a burger & fries...and toast?!

Pastry selection. Incy doesn't speak poor.


Also wait, Incy been hold out of on us.  Post the awesome travel pics!!!  Come on, we know you are all over, got to have some awesome travel pics.

May 16, 2022 5:30:03 GMT @admin said:

Hold on, is that a burger & fries...and toast?!

So the Emirates lounge has a quiet room for napping, I was having an awesome nap and then for my first time in Dubai I was woken by the morning call to prayer played in the PA in the airport... Not in the lounge.

So I wandered over to the restaurant and it was breakfast time, but I didn't feel like breakfast. As soon as you sit down as c, ,called it they bring you a pastry selection: crossaint and Danish type deal.
Any other time during the day you get an amazing freshly baked bread selection instead... Which is better.

Missed you by two weeks iNCY, not that I’ll be in the lounge but will be in Dubai the 1st of June :lol:

May 16, 2022 9:21:37 GMT System said:

Missed you by two weeks iNCY, not that I’ll be in the lounge but will be in Dubai the 1st of June :lol:

It's a really nice lounge, but one of the better airports I think.
I'd probably put Changi and HKG before it.

The weather was good, we arrived at 11pm and it was 32 Celsius.

Going to Dallas for a few days, anyone got restaurant recs?

(If I have time, is work trip)

Have been in UAE since the start of the month, weather lives up to its reputation but has been great otherwise.


View from Burj Khalifa


Leap of Faith @ Atlantis Aquaventure waterpark




Motiongate Dubai, my pass says it’s indoors. Glad I checked before going as it’s only indoors in parts. 41c (105.8 f) day ^


Loving life on world’s fastest rollercoaster yesterday
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi

Sonic and SF2. He reppin.

Jun 8, 2022 14:45:03 GMT System said:

Have been in UAE since the start of the month, weather lives up to its reputation but has been great otherwise.


View from Burj Khalifa

Palms sweaty -> Knees weak -> Mom's spaghetti ✅

Absolute mad lad.

Jun 8, 2022 14:45:03 GMT System said:

Have been in UAE since the start of the month, weather lives up to its reputation but has been great otherwise.


View from Burj Khalifa


Leap of Faith @ Atlantis Aquaventure waterpark




Motiongate Dubai, my pass says it’s indoors. Glad I checked before going as it’s only indoors in parts. 41c (105.8 f) day ^


Loving life on world’s fastest rollercoaster yesterday
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi

This all looks insanely good, every time I fly Emirates they have the ads for Atlantis the Palms and I always think it looks amazing.
Not really able to get my wife interested in a visit to a Middle Eastern country though.
I am thinking we will probably do it on a stopover to Europe some day.

Is the mask thing you or the law there? 41 degrees and a mask would be a total deal breaker for me.

iNCY

Indoors yes, outdoors no from what I understand.


all the signs say to wear a mask indoors in Dubai, most people are but some without with no issue so a bit confusing, same with the dress code.

Much more stricter in Abu Dhabi, had to show I had a negative PCR test in last 14 days + vaccine certification to get into Yas Mall/Ferrari World and people constantly getting pulled up for no mask. So I just forgot to take the mask off last minute for the roller coaster as they wanted you to wear one in line.

13+ hours of flying then 3 trains to catch once I arrive in Sydney, adding a few more hours to the trip

Fun times 🥳

Made it home, ironically getting back into Australia which I am a citizen of was much more of a hassle than entering UAE :lol:

Also if you anyone on PW suddenly plans to visit Australia, DON’T BRING FOOD with you. There’s so many warnings telling you what food is prohibited yet countless people try to bring in meats/fruit/veg and are shocked they get in trouble with customs/have to throw it out.

As for Dubai, UAE:

Positives

Probably the best location I could have chosen for a solo traveller, unlike other popular destinations where pickpocketing is common..in UAE people just leave their belongings on a table to reserve it. On the bus coming back from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, bus driver left his keys outside on a bench of a petrol station with the bus door open for 10 minutes..still there when he got back. Obviously the strict laws are a factor in that but very convenient for me if had to put my bag down etc I wasn’t worried it was going to get stolen. Incredibly clean too.

Almost all attractions lived up to their reputation and the malls are all spectacular. Can see why they are so popular as there’s so much stuff cool stuff inside + shops/restaurants without having to go outside. Also stores being open to Midnight-1am is great, definitely not a thing in most of Australia.

Careem/Talabat which are like UBerEats are very affordable & popular so easy to get food delivered to hotel if I was done travelling for the day.
Probably not as exciting for people in North America but so many US brands we don’t have in Australia I was excited to try.

Considering everyone talks about expensive Dubai is, cheaper than I thought. I wasn’t playing on buying a Rolex or going to any 5 star restaurants but funds were manageable. Conversation rate also helps.

Much less strict with some stuff than I thought. They didn’t enforce dress code at all, that I saw. They didn’t care about people taking photos/videos with people in the background on you phone at all..unless you had a professional camera then they were onto them like moths to flame. I made sure to have shorts covering my knees etc but plenty of women wearing stuff that wouldn’t be considered “modest” with no issue.

GoCity pass saved me thousands of dollars, I paid $960 AUD upfront for a pass to most of the major attractions in Dubai. If I would have paid individually I would have easily spent almost triple that amount.

Hotel I choose was in very convenient location. In Deira which is part of “old Dubai” but was only a 350m walk to metro station with shops along the way.


Negatives:

Being worried at first about saying the wrong thing, even on social media. Relaxed towards the end but definitely waited until I got home to make this thread :lol:.

The weather. Now I wanted a summer holiday and that’s what I got & it was a lot cheaper for accomodation as I went during the off-season so I’m not really complaining just explaining but

I’ve lived in outback Australian before for years which gets up to mid 40s a lot (113f)…nothing on the humid Dubai heat. As the taxi drivers said…
“Other places hot, Dubai…special Hot”. I went to an outdoor attraction at 8:30pm when the sun had set…I was covered in sweat and had to shower immediately when I got back to the hotel.

Not a walkable city AT ALL, wouldn’t be advised to do in summer anyway but I do like walking around cities when on holidays to discover new places I might not know about. Not feasible in Dubai.

The metro is very cheap, however it gets INCREDIBLY crowded. Which wouldn’t be an issue too much if their wasn’t the concern of getting in trouble for accidentally touching someone, especially women. There was separate carriages for Women/children if they wanted to use them, but quite a few didn’t. Thankfully that didn’t happen but definitely worth paying double for Gold Class if you have a long trip.

Not my photo but what it’s like:

SPOILER: Click to show

People driving like morons, merge across 5 lanes without Indicating and cut people off at a moment’s notice. I didn’t drive over their myself but on edge the first few times I caught a taxi. I read that you couldn’t take photos of car accidents over there & wondered what were the odds of seeing the aftermath of that…without exaggerating I saw the aftermath of 15 incidents in the 17 days I was there, with one of them looking fatal so very sad to see.

Certain websites even if they aren’t banned, may not be accessible.
I still haven’t watched Hell in a Cell as I couldn’t get on the network nor could I get on Disney+. WWE Network was on a different streaming service there which was $30 a month so I wasn’t going to pay that just to watch HIAC. Not a huge deal as I was on holiday but would have been nice to watch something other than YouTube when I was done for the day.

Abu Dhabi which is a separate emirate (state) to Dubai was way more stricter with everything, especially Covid matters. Mask + Vaccine certificate + proof of negative test within last 14 days (for everyone not just tourists) just to be allowed into Yas Mall.

=====

Photos (if they work:)

The Palm Jumeirah


Dubai Frame



Inside Dubai Frame


Dubai Garden Glow

System Glad you had a good trip and didn’t end up in the gulag. Those are some nice pictures.

Humidity makes everything worse.

I've had stopovers in Abu Dhabi, and Doha and my lord.. the heat, even at 3am in the morning it's exhausting.

I think it was Doha, that makes you actually go outside to a bus to transfer you to your terminal. Christ, that's the last thing I need after 17 hours in economy.

Looks like you had a great time System.. where to next?

From what I understand of Dubai, they have low crime because if you commit a crime you get a fast trial and likely tossed into prison. Very different justice system than most of the world since the courts are very simplified with a judge determining your fate and sentence and not a jury.  

Jun 19, 2022 0:10:55 GMT c said:

From what I understand of Dubai, they have low crime because if you commit a crime you get a fast trial and likely tossed into prison. Very different justice system than most of the world since the courts are very simplified with a judge determining your fate and sentence and not a jury.  

I've always imagined that is what wrestling court is. Taker laying bombs on fools.

I've been in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon for a few days now and I hate it. Can't take 10 steps without a scammer approaching me or being offered services. 
Literally took 1 step out of my hotel & guy follows me down the alleyway rambling on with shit about a lighter or something. Pretty sure guy on motorbike was about to attempt to steal my wallet until I realized I put in my pocket not my bumbag/fanny pack (highly advised as pickpocket central here). 
Locked out my phone which is due to my own stupidity so that already put me in a bad mood but this trip isn't doing much to remedy that. Don't really know what I was expecting TBH. 


Whoever said millennials can't live without their phone is absolutely right, I'm locked out of so much stuff (emails etc) because I can't access it.  
So I've just been quickly going out to get food & coming back to my hotel room to chill on my laptop all day, fun times.

Why Vietnam System ?
It may be a bit racist, but I have had my fill of third world countries.
I could see Vietnam or Thailand being awesome if you got tright of the beaten track, as in hiring a motorbike and getting out into the rural villages... But big cities, no thank you!
The real Aussie thing to do is spend two weeks in Bali or Phuket, but neither appeals to me.
I hate the whole gleaming 5-Star resort but walk out the door and it is poverty, beggars and scammers.

When I was 21 I spent a month in India visiting friends in Mumbai and Goa... Goa was nice, by Mumbai is everything you imagine is terrible about a city full of poverty and beggars.
While it was an amazing experience that I wouldn't swap for anything, once was enough.
I have been travelling to China for the best part of 20 years and the markets there are the same.
Scammers scamming scammers, it is all so wearisome... Fake Rolex they open the price at $500 USD because "in the store much more expensive" Ughh....
Plus people following you down the street going 'Gucci Prada Rolex" is exhausting.
When I come out of the exhibitions there there's crowds of men trying to sell you prostitutes and they throw business cards at you like a ticker tape parade and stuffing them in your pockets while you wait for a taxi.
I went for a massage in the 5-Star Western hotel and was offered a happy ending by the masseur, she was genuinely shocked when I said no.

Over it...
Plus when you go the markets now, they close the curtains and open a secret door behind a bookshelf to show you the good fake stuff... I just don't enjoy it any more.
I would rather own one real Rolex than 5 excellent fakes, my wife is the same with the handbags etc.

NATH45 in Vietnam now 

iNCY 

Affordability + Never been to SE Asia before & the war stuff interests me so I thought it may have been more interesting than Indonesia or Thailand that most Aussies travel to. Looks like Da Nang would have been a better destination for me but I'll try to make the best of it. Just constantly on edge the moment I step out on the street to avoid pickpockets,motorbikes, scammers, stray dogs, garbage..I'm amazed when I see the very few other tourists here wearing thongs (flip flops). Will pick up a burner phone tomorrow but things I took for granted like GPS & the currency conversion app while travelling in the UAE would really come in handy. 

And for those unaware this is how you cross the street here so it's not pleasant: 

Jul 19, 2022 1:39:41 GMT System said:

NATH45 in Vietnam now 

iNCY  

Affordability + Never been to SE Asia before & the war stuff interests me so I thought it may have been more interesting than Indonesia or Thailand that most Aussies travel to. Looks like Da Nang would have been a better destination for me but I'll try to make the best of it. Just constantly on edge the moment I step out on the street to avoid pickpockets,motorbikes, scammers, stray dogs, garbage..I'm amazed when I see the very few other tourists here wearing thongs (flip flops). Will pick up a burner phone tomorrow but things I took for granted like GPS & the currency conversion app while travelling in the UAE would really come in handy. 

And for those unaware this is how you cross the street here so it's not pleasant: 

Yeah, that is the South Asian way of crossing the street everywhere.
I find that the drivers are pretty courteous though, they will go around you and they don't scream...

This is my most vivid memory of Mumbai, catching the train was like this:




I am not a small bloke, I am 6'2" and 100kg when I was there.
because of the weather I was wearing a wife beater, bandanna and sun glasses.
The Indian guy told me when the train stopped we had to claw our way into the carriage like the video.
So the train stops and I put my shoulder down and make a run at it...
The crowd saw me and parted like the Red sea, you should have seen the look of the fear in their eyes, it was pretty funny, it's a big WWE market and some guys on the train were saying I looked like the Undertaker.
Really I look more like the demented offspring of a Prince Albert and Mankind clone.

System doing a travel vlog. Dude I can't with the street.

iNCY enters the Mumbai train 0:56: