An early start to my day of travel starting at Bristol Temple Meads, changing at Reading and arriving at Gatwick Airport where upon I met my fellow travelers Louis, Theo, Chisanga and Becky. We swiftly checked our bags, received our boarding passes and made it through security without any hindrance. Soon, we were on board a Boeing 777 enjoying free drinks, good food and great films. Six and a half hours passed before we alighted our plane, hopped into a taxi and drove to our hotel. It was difficult to distinguish the different buildings along the skyline but the horizon was lit up by the variety of skyscrapers reaching up into the night sky. It was 03:30 by the time I turned out my light - the alarm was set to sound in only 4 hour's time!
WEDNESDAY 25TH MARCH
What felt like an early start after only 4 hours sleep was actually an hour and a half lie-in compared to the time I usually get up in the UK. However, strong coffee and energy was needed for the day ahead.
Elias arrive with Mohammed and Cayhan, introductions were made and we were off for a full day of store visits, talking with partners and assessing what we could do differently to improve what we do for our MEA territory. Along the way, we traveled along the Sheikh Zayed Road - a 12 lane highway running its course through the middle of Dubai - I was able to marvel at the towering buildings of glass, steel and concrete.
It was during lunch that I had my first taste of authentic middle Eastern food and it was delicious. Elias took us to a Lebanese restaurant where the flavors and variety of food was inspiring. Sampling true Arabian coffee was a euphoria for my taste buds.
Driving towards Madinat Jumeirah, an astounding mock-Arabian city home to a string of lavish hotels and leisure activities, the iconic Burj al Arab (Tower of the Arabs) was in full view. This sail shaped hotel towers gracefully on the coast and is the de facto symbol of Dubai. It is the world's most expensive hotel, costing an estimated $2bn to build.
It was gone 01:00 by the time we arrived back at our hotel and the lights turned out.
THURSDAY 26TH MARCH
Today was show time; visiting our Clarks office and presenting to the MEA team. After a quick run through of notes, tweaking of the PowerPoint and a spritz of after shave, I was ready. We arrived at our building in Downtown Dubai and were greeting by Elias who swiftly took us to the 13th floor and to our office. We greeted the team, admired the views and got on with the task in hand - it was a great success!
Following lunch, we continued with store visits and admiring the sights of Dubai. To attract shoppers to the malls, each tries to have a unique selling point. In the Mall of Emirates is Ski Dubai, a huge indoor ski resort boosting regular snow falls on its faux-Alpine mountainside complete with chairlift. Skiing, snowboarding, snow school and a variety of runs with different difficulties are all on offer here.
The Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world (by size) with 1200 shops, 120 cafes and restaurants and a further 220 shops in a self-contained souk, is home to the Dubai Aquarium complete with 33,000 fish, 70 species and 10 million litres of water. It's so big that you can go diving below the water and observe the cocktail of marine life swimming right before your eyes, all from the safety of a shark cage: yes, the aquarium hosts sharks too!
From here, it was time for the big one: The Burj Kalifa, the world's tallest building. Opening in 2010 after 5 years construction, it is 828m tall and returned the record of the tallest building to the Middle East. The Middle East previously held the record until 1311 when the towers of Lincoln Cathedral surpassed the The Great Pyramid of Giza. Other records held include the building with the most floors (163, plus an additional 46 maintenance levels in the spire), the highest and quickest lifts, highest mosque (158th floor) and highest swimming pool (76th floor).
On each ticket to the top was a fact: mine was titled 'Two Sunsets' and read Burj Khalifa is so tall that you can watch the sunset from the base of the building, get into an elevator right to the top and watch the sunset all over again.
The lift traveled from the ground floor to the viewing deck (floor 124) in 60 seconds and the views were sensational.
The balcony of the restaurant where we sat for our evening meal was situated opposite the Burj Kalifa and infront of the Burj Kalifa Lake and Dubai Fountains, the largest dancing fountains in the world.
A night on the tiles was replaced by an earlier night in bed, for tomorrow was a free morning and there were many sights still to see.
FRIDAY 27TH MARCH
Our final day and only a few hours to explore before our flight would take us home. During breakfast, we decided to head to Deira, north of the creek and the second of the 'old' areas of Dubai. This area has a more residential, local feel than than modern areas of Downtown Dubai and is home to many of the souks. Our first stop was the gold souk where shop after shop display gold jewellery from necklaces to earring, bracelets and rings. This was swiftly followed by the spice souk. The exotic aromas and colourful sights enticed us into a few shops, plus the appeal of wearing traditional Arabian clothing was too much of a temptation.
From the souks we traveled across the creek by boat and found Sheikh Saeed al Maktoum House, the main residence of Dubai's ruling family from 1896 - 1958, and a rare sight of grass and flowers before heading to the airport and saying goodbye to the incredible emirate of Dubai.
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