Day 002: We woke up this morning and had our second breakfast in the Hyatt Place Wasl District. I messaged with a friend at home while eating. During our exchange I mentioned several things that I'll quote here too:
'Dubai is a crossroads, so they have to please the crowds. African, Indian, Iranian, Filipino, eastern block, European. The variety is a reason we like to spend time here. And food is so much cheaper ...'
'One thing that always strikes me in Dubai is the number of employees. As many are from low-wage countries, a business hires about four times as many employees as we're used to. This makes for amazing service and little waiting. Each staff member realizes that if they make a good impression, they might move up or onward. For example, we got a cake for breakfast just for being smiling guests.'
I should add we were in a different room than last night. During yesterday's nap time, we heard the kids from the adjoining room. It seems that the entire hotel has dreaded locked doorways between rooms. This is convenient for family and groups of friends when travelling together. It was not so welcomed between seniors who like things quiet, and a family with young children. The staff was very understanding and moved us from a premium room to one on a lower floor. Not until the middle of the night, Jay discovered the new room could pick up a background boom-boom sound from a nightclub in the building. It would've been better if we'd stayed in our original room. However, live and learn!
We checked out at around 11:30 am and made our way to the Bur Dubai side of the creek across the first bridge to cross it. We have ten nights in the Rose Garden Apartment Hotel behind the BurJuman Mall. This is the third time we'll stay here with Jay's sisters and our fourth time since 2021. We organized some things and even went to a supermarket to begin supplying the apartment's kitchen.
Flight EK651 from Colombo arrived about 20 minutes early today. Jay's sisters, Renuka and Kanthi were aboard. They were accompanied by Nazeer, a family friend. They came through immigration, got their luggage, and hired an airport taxi. They were here 1:50 pm.
