23rd December – Monday
I was still at work today, so I left around 2pm, helped with some final clearing & packing, before our taxi came at 5pm. We got to Heathrow at around 6pm and after checking in and going through security, we met the rest of the troops, who had been here a while – they got picked up at 4pm. We went and sat near the gate whilst having some of our pastries, whilst Neer and Prisha had some take away melt.
On the plane, Airyen fell asleep soon after take off, whilst I was fully intending to watch some TV, but fell asleep. Bhavni however did not have a great sleep.
24th December- Tuesday
We arrived in Abu Dhabi at 7am and disembarked the plane going through the security. Milan did a proper change by the time we got to baggage claim.
The bags came out without too much trouble and we got some taxis (changing a bit of cash from the changers). The taxi ride was not that long and we soon were crossing over onto Yas island and to Radisson Blu.
Although we checked into the hotel, it was too early to get our rooms, though we could use the hotel facilities. So we left our bags and split up. Bhavni and I went to parentages room / Mitens room to say hello (though we got a guest opposite saying we were talking too loud). After hellos @9.30 we left Bhavni and Fathering and went down to the main restaurant as we had asked for breakfast for a few of us and the children. Bhavni came down half an hour later.
We spent the next couple of hours outside waiting. Bhavni went to her parents room and went to sleep, so I spent a bit of time mooching around near pool, but it was not that comfortable and Airyen was getting fidgetty. In the end I found our costumes from our bags so that I could let Airyen put his feet in the pool. Slowly he shuffled around the pool edge splashing away.
It was around 2pm when we got our room – 6th floor. It was nice to get there change, and start to unpack. Airyen fell asleep before 3, and after unpacking even I had a cat nap. It was around 4.30 when Bhavni showed up.
We had agreed to go for dinner at 7, which was in the main restaurant. We got a big table and all of us went to see what was in the buffet. The food choice seemed ok but the labelling was awful, so we had to be a bit weary of what we took.
After dinner we went to the mezzanine floor (which I had seen whilst exploring earlier), for all 13 of us to chill. Milan and I tried for night cap in the executive lounge, but it was already finished at 8pm. Back down we stayed for a while, before retiring for the night. Airyen was a little excited still so it took a little longer for him to sleep.
25th December – Wednesday
Airyen got up at 7am, ran to the curtain, pulled it open and exclaimed it is morning…. too early with the time difference. Luckily he fell asleep again.
In the end we went down for breakfast at 9.30. Breakfast was in the ballroom, and we all eventually congregated around one of the big tables, taking turns to go for the buffet – mixture of continental with some middle eastern.
After breakfast we all gathered in our room, for the opening of the secret Santa presents. Some great gifts and some interesting ones.
It was time to head to the pool. I went for the gym for a little bit first though, whilst the rest went into the water. The pool was not the biggest and was quite busy, so we did not stay in for very long.
It was around 2pm and some of the guys were getting hungry, so they ordered some food which was eaten outside near the pool – pizza and pasta. Most then went to their rooms as we had to meet at 4. We stayed out in the sun for a bit, going up just to get ready.
It was around 4.30 when we caught the taxis to the Grand Mosque, about a 20min drive. What a difference, when we came here last time a few years ago, we drove in and it was quite peaceful. Now we had to walk from the dropoff point through a shopping center and then quite a decent walk (with travilators) to the entrance of the mosque, with lots of crowds. Taking Airyen in his stroller was an advantage as half us were fast tracked, whilst the others got fast tracked because of parentage.
This time you had to follow a much more guided path around the complex, so much so that you could not even go into the main carpentered area, as it was all cordoned off and required a special ticket. I was with Neer, Prisha and Airyen, so we got around quite quick. Getting back to the entrance we waited for the rest to come – some were taking rides back, some were slow.
Then we all got some taxis to go to the world trade centre, which was a short ride away. There we made our way to Tamba, which we had booked for dinner. It was a modern take on Indian, and had some nice and interesting dishes, though I’m not sure you could get away using liquid nitrogen whilst serving food in the UK. We had a some birthday cakes and deserts at the end for the wedding anniversary and the upcoming birthdays.
It was then back to the hotel at 11pm. We got an interesting driver who was Sri Lankan and had worked in quite a few of the gulf cities. But in the end we forgot the stroller, though I did not notice until the next morning.
26th December – Thursday
First thing was to go down to the reception and talk to the concierge about our missing stroller. Then it was time to go to breakfast, with Airyen and Bhavni coming soon after. The rest of our group slowly make appearances.
After breakfast a number of us went and got ready, to meet at the entrance at around 10.30. We crossed the Yaz Plaza to get the blue bus to Ferrari world. A bit of fun was had by some Indians trying to reserve seating on the bus, with Milan exclaiming “This is not India”.
After getting into the venue with the tickets that Milan had pre purchased, Miten hired a stroller for Airyen. First things first was to go on a coaster, so we made our way to Formula Rossa, apparently the fastest coaster. Only Saanya, Bhavni and Airyen stayed behind. It was fast, but was quite simple and over quickly. It was time for Bhavni to go, with Neer who wanted to go again – however soon they were back as there was a technical fault.
So we went towards Flying Aces. Bhani went instead of me, instead I joined the slow moving queue for Bell’ Italia. Eventually Airyen and I got on the car, which he immensely enjoyed pretending to drive. It was quite interesting as most of the towns that we “passed”, we had travelled around in Italy only a few months ago. Getting out I joined Milan and some of the others having another go on Flying aces. We got into the queue, and there was a announcement that there was a technical problem. We decided to stick it out, luckily 10 minutes later it was working again. Now this ride was quite good – though apparently bit fast for Miten.
We went to look at Gravity – which goes vertical, but we thought the queue was too long, so we went as a group to see a simulator ride, but Airyen was 4cm too short. So whilst the rest went in, Airyen and I wondered – the show Bhavni suggested was already in progress, but we got into a silly show with magic and dancing.
After meeting the rest we tried to see Made in Malano – but guess what it was broken, so we got out and everyone went for lunch – pizzas and chips. Whilst the rest were still finishing off, we took the children to the ice skating show to get good seats – which we did. The rest made it in time, though they had to sit to the side. It was quite a good show.
We then went to the GT Challenge, the queue was not to crazy. The ride was a bit boring, but Miten thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Milan, Neer and I then joined the queue to Gravity, which was quite long for what it was. Yes it went vertical and backwards, but was quick.
We then took our time looking at some of the shops there, with the model F1 car around which Airyen ran. Bhanvni and I went with Airyen to Benno’s Great Race. I don’t think we realised how long a queue it was as it took an hour to get through. We got an applause from the rest as we left – apparently they could not do the ride they were intending to go on, so had been waiting for us.
It was time to go back. We caught the bus back and freshened up before dinner. They initially set us up outside, which would have been nice, but there were stray cats walking around and climbing on the chairs, with much screaming from some, so we got moved inside. Food choice was quite limited. Our stroller was returned to us.
After dinner we reconvened on the mezzanine level, where we played a interactive game using our phones – I won the geography round.
27th December – Friday
For some reason I was up early, so I bided my time for a bit on the balcony with the laptop, until Airyen awoke, at which point I went up to the 8th level lounge. We got thrown out after a bit as no children were allowed. Both of us then went down, the ballroom was being used for a meeting of a church, so we had a bit of breakfast, before returning upstairs, to get Bhavni up.
We all went down proper, where as usual everyone started appearing. After breakfast we got ready and headed to the pool – the second one near the twin hotel, which was smaller but quieter. Neer and I went to the gym for a while.
Lunch was had outside, after which some of us caught the bus to Yaz Mall. We had a wonder around (splitting up), not really buying anything (though Miten nearly bought a apple ipad at the apple store). I was disappointed I could not get bubble tea from anywhere.
We got back in time for sunset, after which we relaxed for a bit until dinner time, with Milan, Miten and I going to the lounge for a drink. Dinner was in the hotel, they has made corn sagg with paratha especially for us, which was by far the nicest thing we had had at the hotel at dinner. After dinner we did the usual and went to the mezzanine level for a bit.
28th December – Saturday
Today we all managed to have a slightly later start, all going down for breakfast at 9 onwards, which was back in the ball room.
For the morning we spent some time around the pools (initially at the secondary pool). After which we all met in the main restaurant for the lunch buffet.
We all were to get ready and meet at 3pm in the reception – but IST applied so it was nearly 30 mins later when we all caught taxis to go to the dates market. Airyen went with Milan and Rajvi – unfortunately their taxi dropped them to the wrong place (the fish market), so they had to make their way to the market – 10 mins walk away. In the mean time Bijal did a lot of bargaining and buying quite a few dates.
After everyone had their fill, Miten ordered some taxis to go to Rotana Mall (a place that Milan chose assuming it would be a good place to get some food), however the Mall was a dump, so we quickly made an exit and just walked to the Cornish. There we took some sunset photos (and enquired about getting some “family” trike for the ones that could not walk much, but it was not suitable). So in the end a lot of us walked to the Nation Galleria, whilst we sent the others by Taxi to there.
At the mall we found everyone and took a weird vote about dinner – settling for Leopold’s of London (only in UAE). We had a lot dishes which we shared. After which there was cake and candles for 4 children.
We then sent the non walkers (including Airyen) via taxi, whilst we walked to the Palace hotel, taking pictures along the way. However our group got stopped and were not allowed in – due to the “dress code” (Bhavni and I were not foul of that). This got into a heated argument between the security and Miten, but to no – avail. In the end we sent Milan and Rajvi in to get the troops inside sorted (as they had not seen it before – whereas Bhavni and I had). We got taxis back and at the hotel and we went back to out room.
29th December
After breakfast, we headed for the pool area, with some of us swimming whilst the rest when they turned up playing cards. We had lunch outside near the pool area with some drinks. Most of the group went up to chill, while we stayed down (along with Anji and Saanya). Airyen entertained pretending the chairs were carriages of a train.
We got ready to leave at 5pm, where we dropped Airyen to Parentages so that they and Anji could look after him. Then we took the 30 minute walk to the Marina circuit for the public biking. We were the only people walking – some of us faster then others.
When we got there, we signed in and went to collect our bikes. Bhavni convinced me to go for a road bike, so I had to ask as I had not ridden on one before.
Then it was time to get in line. With best intentions we started of in a small gaggle – Milan, Prisha, Neer, Saanya, Bhavni and I, but that only lasted a bit, as Neer and I went ahead. We ended up doing 2 laps in under 25 minutes. It was slightly surreal cycling on a race track, but it was very nice, and well organised. After the 2, we caught up with Milan and Saanya, so I did a partial round with him before going ahead. I was about to wait after the 3rd, when Rajvi (who walked a bit) said that the others had just gone, so I did a last round, catching up quickly with Miten, Bhavni and Prisha. We did a really lazy round together.
After the 4th round we finished, taking some photos, then returning our bikes. Then it was a odd debate about some taking Taxis back. I walked back with Neer, Rajvi and Milan.
I got back and Airyen was still asleep, so I had time to freshen up before our dinner at 8.30. Dinner was paneer with parotha.
We all met in Anjis room after.
30th December
Our last morning here. By the time we had awoken Miten, Bijal and Parentage were at the airport. We woke to a foggy morning, so Airyen and I went and took some reluctant photos. With the rest joining us for breakfast, we found that our flight was delayed an hour, so we ended leaving for the Airport at 12.00.
It was not a long journey to the airport and soon we were checked in. The flight was on a Dreamliner and Airyen fell asleep for 3h. I in the mean time watched 4 films.
We got pick up by Hamid and got home, pretty tired.