I got up at the wonderfully early pre-dawn hour of 5.30 this morning and joined the hordes of people waiting for their loved ones at Dubai's airport. My brother, aptly named Ferret Face was scheduled to arrive from Brisbane at 6.20am and there was no way I was going to miss him coming through those doors.
He was travelling on a dirt-cheap staff ticket, which is fantastic for the travel opportunities, but scary because sub loads mean STANDBY. Also, those on standby are worth less than cargo, so he stood the chance of not getting on in Brisbane or of being carted off like a deportee in Singapore if a full fare paying passenger happened to fancy a trip to Dubai. As I was flying back from London while he was on route to Singapore, I was pretty much in the dark as to where he'd end up. When I landed, I was thrilled to get a message that said 'I'm in Singapore and will be in Dubai in the morning.'
I was all excited and set my alarm and climbed into bed for a few short hours. Luckily my rather noisy flatmate woke me up as she departed for the ultra-glam Paris. Had I not heard her clanging around, I'd have woken up at 9.30, not 5.30! That would NOT have been the best first impression of the uber cool sister who lives overseas that I wanted to portray. Instead I turned up at the airport looking like a human incubator for god knows what disease!
He finally came through at about 7.15 and I realised that the 17 year old Patrick is no longer my 'little' brother. He's about my height now (6 foot) and looks like a serious rugby player. I nearly didn't recognise him through my teary sneeze-induced eyes!
We made it back to the apartment, where our head security guard that we've affectionately named Mufasa eyed him warily. I had a giggle when his eyebrows shot up under his hairline when I announced that this was my brother. Apart from him being a boy with blue eyes and me being a girly girl with brown eyes, Pat and I look fairly similar. Mufasa is always on the lookout for intruders and I think he was mildy disappointed when he couldn't order one of his minions to march us from the premises. Nah, just kidding, he's rather sweet. He always opens the door for me and has a smile at the ready.
We had some brekky, watched a bit of tv and then I indulged in a small nanna nap before heading to the clinic to be diagnosed with a sinus infection and being presented with all the drugs I'd need to start my own drug ring. We then hit the Mall of the Emirates, where his eyes bulged at the sheer size of it. Not to mention the indoor ski slope! We wandered, ate and then started to grow weary.
We have grand plans for a desert safari later in the week, as well as an attempt to take Ski Dubai by storm. The boy's never been skiing before, so this should be rather amusing!
Stay tuned for further updates.....
He was travelling on a dirt-cheap staff ticket, which is fantastic for the travel opportunities, but scary because sub loads mean STANDBY. Also, those on standby are worth less than cargo, so he stood the chance of not getting on in Brisbane or of being carted off like a deportee in Singapore if a full fare paying passenger happened to fancy a trip to Dubai. As I was flying back from London while he was on route to Singapore, I was pretty much in the dark as to where he'd end up. When I landed, I was thrilled to get a message that said 'I'm in Singapore and will be in Dubai in the morning.'
I was all excited and set my alarm and climbed into bed for a few short hours. Luckily my rather noisy flatmate woke me up as she departed for the ultra-glam Paris. Had I not heard her clanging around, I'd have woken up at 9.30, not 5.30! That would NOT have been the best first impression of the uber cool sister who lives overseas that I wanted to portray. Instead I turned up at the airport looking like a human incubator for god knows what disease!
He finally came through at about 7.15 and I realised that the 17 year old Patrick is no longer my 'little' brother. He's about my height now (6 foot) and looks like a serious rugby player. I nearly didn't recognise him through my teary sneeze-induced eyes!
We made it back to the apartment, where our head security guard that we've affectionately named Mufasa eyed him warily. I had a giggle when his eyebrows shot up under his hairline when I announced that this was my brother. Apart from him being a boy with blue eyes and me being a girly girl with brown eyes, Pat and I look fairly similar. Mufasa is always on the lookout for intruders and I think he was mildy disappointed when he couldn't order one of his minions to march us from the premises. Nah, just kidding, he's rather sweet. He always opens the door for me and has a smile at the ready.
We had some brekky, watched a bit of tv and then I indulged in a small nanna nap before heading to the clinic to be diagnosed with a sinus infection and being presented with all the drugs I'd need to start my own drug ring. We then hit the Mall of the Emirates, where his eyes bulged at the sheer size of it. Not to mention the indoor ski slope! We wandered, ate and then started to grow weary.
We have grand plans for a desert safari later in the week, as well as an attempt to take Ski Dubai by storm. The boy's never been skiing before, so this should be rather amusing!
Stay tuned for further updates.....
No comments:
Post a Comment