Gone fishing...

Darling, I am off to London in a few days, for a few days...(can I BE any more vague!!!).
Additional details and photos to come.

Cheerio,
Frederique

M.J - MamaSay MamaSa MamaCuSa

My sister had a brown distressed leather jacket.

On this jacket, there were approx. 30 or so buttons of Michael Jackson. I thought she was a freak.
Not knowing then that this was the day that I was being introduced to the King Of Pop.

My most recent memory was in Europe.
The Thriller album on full blast while driving the Swiss Alps into Lugano to Como - Mama say mama sa mama cu sa'ing all the way through.

What an incredible talent.

Dubai -- Burj Al Arab

Once measured as the tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Al Arab is an experience of contradiction. The opulence and decadence is obvious but the lacking of refined service and under par cuisine were over whelming. Luxury at this point should be a complete package and not half gestured in execution.

I’ve wanted to visit the Burj Al Arab after seeing images of the hotel in various travel magazines and financial publications. The images were definitely striking and more so in real life as we viewed the hotel in our chauffeured ride from the airport.

Upon entering the artificial island you are greeted by the staff along with a garden of luxury cars (Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley…-very PDiddy) that guests can rent during their stay. I thought this amenity was not necessary, at least not for my taste- but hey, it’s not called the Burj Al LaSalle.

The Burj Al Arab is constructed in the image of the sail of a boat and is quiet a mesmerising visual treat with 28 floors and over 200 suites. The suites are very large duplex rooms with panaramic views of the Arabian Gulf. Each floor has its own personal concierge while each room comes equipt with a personal butler. The rooms are decorated, well -rather boldly and way over the top…very Las Vegas. In the bedroom you have the option of choosing from a menu -a pillow menu - with 13 varieties of pillows. Seriously! Oh, lets not forget the gold framed mirror thats positioned right above the bed. So 80’s!

The bathroom is also rather large and gifted with full sizes of Hermes Eau des Merveilles products. Call me simple but my favorite touch was the superimposed clock on the wall at the top of the stair. SIMPLE!

My cause of disapointment came during our dining experiences at Al Mahar and Al Muntaha.

Al Mahar is an “underwater” dining experience that begins with a “submarine ride”, by elevator, from the reception to the bar. Upon entering the main dining area, you are greeted with the vision of an enormous oval aqauriam filled with all sorts of exotic fishes and various sea animals.

I forgot what I ordered as the meal was far from memorable (sorry). To entertain ourselves, my partner and I performed a little experiment to see how often our waiter or ANYONE for that matter, would walk past our table without refreshing our glasses of wine with the bottle of Margaux (?) we ordered with our meal – NOR, did anyone remove our dinner plates. A count of 12 that stretched the span of about 7-10 minutes was the final tally. Not what I expected from a seven star hotel.

Then there is… Al Muntaha…pure qualms and disdain.

My pallete has been trained and spoilt with some of the most desirable and pound generating dishes from various world wide locale. Al Muntaha was tremendously unsavory and disappointing. Our disdainful experience began with afternoon tea (awful awful sandwiches!) and continued during our last night, in which we experienced the terrible dinner options. In between our high tea experience and our dinner, we did however, enjoyed a few cocktails at the Skyview bar during our stay. Nothing impressive (other then the view) as the SAME repugnant high tea sandwiches were being served as late night snacks.

To be fair, the Burj Al Arab is an awe inspiring anomaly that is…, well, should be experienced. Just remember not to dine there and that the interior decoration, is..., well- not good.

Please enjoy the following video of the Burj Al Arab.

Have a lovely weekend darlings.