45th Birthday in Abu Dhabi!

My 45th birthday fell on a weekend, but it also fell on the day before Islamic New Year, so that means no alcohol from 6pm.  Bummer.  No problem, there are ways around that.  

1. Brunch.  Brunch isn't just a meal that falls between breakfast and lunch.  No.  Brunch is an event. Brunch can cost from about $30.00 to $200.00!  It usually includes all you can drink alcohol, which spells trouble for most people.  So, a couple of my friends and I headed to Abu Dhabi for some brunch and some drinks.

After brunch, I headed to a GREAT room I reserved at the St. Regis Hotel.  It was really beautiful, and includes a butler that will come and press your clothes for you if needed.

View from my room at the St. Regis Hotel.

Super comfy beds!

Hmmm...a "relief" pack.  What's that?

Ahhhh...got it.

The bathroom was done completely in a gorgeous marble.

For freshening up a bit!

Shower?

A t.v. built into the mirror in case you want to watch Mission Impossible III while taking a bath.

I loved the light fixtures too!

2. Champagne in the room!  After a night of films at the film festival and alcohol isn't being served, just bring your own!

Beautiful smelling gardenias.

A view of Emirates Palace from our hotel.

Lastly, before starting my workout regimen on my new elliptical trainer I bought for my birthday...a huge bucket of mussels from the Belgium Cafe.  Yum!

Abu Dhabi 5th Annual Film Festival

This year, I had to make another trip to the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. I was especially fascinated with the Emirates Film Short Competition. Mad Camel was my favorite. I loved the baby with the giant unibrow!

This year I went with the women that live in my building. We made a stop at Emirates Palace and I contemplated buying some gold from the ATM. That's right, they have a gold ATM machine.

Driving back from Abu Dhabi. I have been trying to get a picture of this sign forever!

Abu Dhabi Film Festival!

I drove up to Abu Dhabi twice for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. On the first day, I went to the Emirates Shorts Competition. Some very weird (but not in a good way films). I think I only really understood the message of one or two of them.

The following weekend I drove up again. I went with another friend. We got a room at the Beach Rotana and I realized I forgot my bathing suit. Damn! So we went over to the attached Abu Dhabi Mall to buy one (not cheap.) Unfortunately, that completely threw our timing off. We planned to see a movie at 8pm and discovered the tickets were standby only. We decided to skip dinner, head over and try to get in to the movie that would end at 10pm, and still be back to the hotel to have dinner at Benihana by 11:30.
Long story short. Turns out it was closing ceremonies so the red carpet started late which meant no movie until at least 9pm, which means no dinner! Yikes! We tried to sneak in and made it over to the red carpet...we soon decided that there wouldn't be any celebrities we know and decided to leave and get dinner instead. We went to Benihana (yum) and then headed outside for the Octoberfest where the hotel had an Austrian polka band in Lederhosen singing "Teddy bear" by Elvis Presley! Next morning the newspaper headlines read that Uma Thurman was at the closing ceremonies red carpet event. Damn!
The next day, we went to see the student short films. They were a much better quality than the supposedly professional shorts, but their themes weren't much more enlightening. Take the British Film "Wednesday Afternoons" for instance. Scene: An old guy hanging out at home having soup. Soon, his best buddy comes over top play chess (presumably this is their Wednesday routine). Dude goes in his kitchen to make tea and hears a strange sound. He goes out to the living room to find his friend dead with a pawn still clutched between his fingers. Dude takes his own king, lays it on its side and cries. End scene.
What? That's it? Who came up with that idea? How depressing!

Not sure what these buildings are.

The Emirates Palace Hotel.

My friend dared me to disco dance in the middle of the huge lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel. She asked me how much she would have to pay me. I said, "Hell, I don't care! I'll do it for free!" Hmmmm...this may be a new trend!