London & Dubai

As this journey is nearing the end and we are leaving London, I am
feeling happily content and satisfied. These last ten days have been
quite an adventure... we had lots of laughs, many "firsts," and crazy
stories.

I'm excited to be going home and will treasure these memories always...

*katie

The London Eye

Here I am! Finally riding the London Eye!! The views up here are
great.. It probably is the best way to experience the London skyline.

Reflection on London...

I just wanted to take a moment to share how wonderfully easy it is to
navigate London as a tourist.

The Underground, more commonly referred to as "The Tube," is the
greatest invention ever. If you're in town for a few days just buy an
Oyster Card with a set amount of £'s and you'll be good to go!!

Day Nine

This morning we headed out early (being our last day, half-day, in
London) to catch a ride on the London Eye.

The Eiffel Tower

After a lovely lunch "petit dejeuner" at a French cafe of wine,
cheese, bread, and croque madame sandwiches... We made our way to the
Eiffel Tower, which really was a reasonable walk.

The Eiffel Tower is amazing and much larger in person - which I can
attest to, as I did get a little frightened by the height and openness
of the stairs.

Le Louvre

Venus du Milo

The Mona Lisa

...here we have Lisa posing with the Mona Lisa, by DaVinci.

Now, I've always heard that the Mona Lisa was surprisingly small and
wasn't sure what all the hype was about (since I had seen multiple
reprints and pictures since I was seven).

BUT, this trip has made quite an impression on me - the Mona Lisa is
beautiful in person, pictures do not accurately show the colors of the
mountainous background or fine facial details. I highly recommend
seeing the Mona Lisa in person at least once in your lifetime...

First Stop: Le Louvre

So the one thing that I had to do was visit the Louvre.. Isn't it
beautiful? We found ourselves here via a quick cab ride in less than
five minutes!

Bon Soir from PARIS

Umm... yeah, so a few of us found it WAY too tempting to not hop a
train this morning to Paris!! Lisa and I woke up to our third alarm
clock at 4:45am, after a night of dancing in Piccadilly Square,
London. Next we met up with Erdal in the lobby by 5:40 & walked to the
nearest Tube stop to meet Lisa's brother Jason & catch a connection to
our 6:55 train to Paris Nord - we're SO tired, but this was SO worth
it!!

Yo! Sushi

Last night, before exploring the nightlife of Piccadilly Square, we
stumbled upon this gem, Yo! Sushi.

It's one of those neat sushi places where you can just select your
meal items from the conveyor belt. If you see something you like, just
take it - eat - and enjoy!!

Panel Discussion at FIE

This past morning (of day seven) we met back at the FIE building for
an exciting panel discussion with CEOs, Chairmen, and Advisory
Councils. Topics included: Doing Business with the Middle East, The
Qur'anic View towards Life, The Business Markets of Jordan, and...
Western Views of Business in the Middle East.

Some snipets... "the Middle East is the richest region in NPV - Net
Present Value" ... "In order to go fast, you need to slow down" ...
"You cannot separate life from business" ... "We need to change our
attitudes & perspectives about the Middle East... there is more to
this region than sand and oil"

Fun Fact: The Jordanian gov't is currently involved in a Red Sea-Dead
Sea project (along with the surrounding countries) to help preserve
this historical, natural beauty. The water level is dangerously low.

House of Parliament

"Hey look kids, it's Big Ben!"

Later this afternoon we had a tour of the Houses of Parliament. It's
so amazing how rich in history their customs & procedures are. I
wasn't sure that I'd be interested in this hour and a half walk around
Parliament, but I found myself hanging on the tour guide's every word!

Pub Lunch

Day Seven we had a nice pub lunch after our seminars and I had a
lovely pint of my favorite beer, Hoegaarden - phonetically pronounced
as.. "who-gar-den"

The Tate Modern

The Tate Modern, museum of modern art, was the next stop on our list -
after we saw the re-built version of The Globe Theatre (Shakespeare).

Here we have two large replica sculptures. The red sculpture is by the
artist, Alexander Calder.

Walking the Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge

Next we walked across the Tower Bridge - the most beautiful bridge in
London (most commonly mistaken for the London Bridge).

I love the bright blue colors!!

Next Stop: The Tower of London

On our walk to the Tower of London, we spotted this funny sign with
visual symbols like "Beheading"

How do you like Emilio and Iakob's demonstration of beheading?

Saint Katherine's Docks

Day Six

Well, yesterday was our first full day in London. I must say, I think
I'm falling in love with this city. The Tube is great & SO easy to
learn! The accents are so fun to listen to and the people are wonderful.

We spent the morning at FIE, listening to a presentation on Islamic
financing & mortgages in the UK. And just before the yummy Indian
feast we had for lunch, we went on a walking tour around Bangla-London.

This is the bell foundary that made The Liberty Bell!!

Pub Lunch

Of course we did find some time for a good London Lunch: Lisa, Mike
and I enjoyed a perfect meal of fish & chips, peas, and a couple of
pints.

It's only been one day, but I really do LOVE London - the people here
are so friendly & kind.

Big Ben !!

All along our walk, during the afternoon, we found many opportunities
for taking photos of Big Ben...

Westminister Abbey

We are really luck - the weather here has been beautiful!

So, after the Palace, we walked over the Westminister Abbey and toured
the amazing cathedral ceilings and famous tombs (reflecting much of
British/European history).

My favorite spots were College Park, a lovely green adjacent to the
side of the Abbey, and the poet-writers section of the tombs, which
showcased a statue of William Shakespere & included plaques for the
Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Keets, and others.

A tribute to Princess Diana

Buckingam Palace

One of the first things we did, once in London (day five), was hop on
The Tube and travel south to Green Park. After walking around a bit,
we found Buckingham Palace and realized that we were just in time for
"the changing of the guards!" They came riding in on all these horses,
it was pretty cool

Day Five

As you might be able to tell from the photo, we have arrived in London!!

From top to bottom: me, Lisa, and Theresa stuffed in a red phone booth.

A Special Surprise from Our Hosts!!

After touring around the beautiful Jumeriah Hotel, our lovely hostess
(Pace Alum and resident of the UAE) surprised us with a special
"treat" - a beautiful boat ride around the lazy river of the resort!!

The views, beautiful water, and relaxing atmosphere sealed the deal -
I'm def. staying here next time.

Friends Pic

Here are some of my new friends: from the left... Erdel, Theresa, Wai,
Meena, and Nujunda in the front.

Some more Glitz & Glamour!

This picture was taken at The Jumeriah Beach Hotel...

I would definitely stay HERE next time! As you'll see in the next
pics, this resort location is more serene, romantic, fun, and relaxing.

Fountain at the Burj Al Arab

Another View of The Burj Atrium

Inside the Burj Hotel

I gotta say, this is not my type of hotel, too flashy, not romantic at
all. I do like some of the architecture and desin concepts, but the
interior design is not modern or chic, but covered in gold and very
bold colors...

Here are some of my favorite pics!

I told you Tiger Woods Dubai was BIG

Inspiration for 18th hole at Tiger Woods Dubailand

Sketch of the 18th Hole

Tiger Woods' FIRST Golf Course

Next we got a tour of the Tiger Woods gold course and resort/village.
I say village hesistantly since this massive quantity of land includes
the plans for many villas, mansions, & palaces!!

Autopark Dubailand!!

Check out the AUTOPARK at Dubailand :-)

Dubailand cont...

We were priveledged to see SO many different models and creative
concepts that are in development at the entertainment/ knowledge park.

You should check it out online!

Dubailand 2012ish

Yesterday we received a site tour at Dubailand. The location/site is
about five times the size of Singapore! The launch date for Dubailand
is December 10th of 2011 - with the recent (global) economic events,
construction has slowed and some projects have been delayed.

The student group has been having so much fun (everyone IS really cool
here) that we all want to have reunion when it opens, probably by 2012!

The Burj Al Arab

The only 7 Star Hotel in World

Third Night

And lastly we got scooped up at out hotel by the tour company for our
Dubai Creek dinner cruise!!

The views were awesome, the intercontinental buffet was scrumptious,
and the music and entertainment was fun.. The singer even dedicated
her second song to us!! Of course it was a country song :-)

wasl company visit

Yesterday afternoon (day three) we visited the company "wasl" - a real
estate / property management group, fully owned by the Dubai government.

wasl - btw... this word loosely translates in Islamic to "making
connections" and "building value"

I love the design of their logo - and the bright orange! (not so sure
about the lower-case brand name though) Their office buildings and
interior design reflect the bright oranges, yellows, and reds of their
"brand."

It was a great presentation on their mission (they are a very young
company) and upcoming/current real estate projects - I really hope to
keep in touch with some of the connections we made there!

We have struck GOLD

This afternoon a group of the students and I grabbed a ride to the
Gold Souk, which loosely translates to "the gold market."

It was a great experience, we each were able to secure awesome deals
on things like gold rings, bangles, and textiles. Proof that PACE
students have excellent negotiating & bargaining skills!!

Traveling w/ class

Here's a picture of about half of our class, waiting outside the
"wasi" building. More on that business meeting in a later post!!

Rolling in the dough!

Here I am in the hotel lobby of the Star Metro, fanning out about
$2,000 dirham. (I won't tell you what that translates into USD, you
wouldn't be impressed)

Anywho... Today I was collecting money from the group as Emilio and I
have organized a dinner cruise down the Dubai Creek - I should be able
to take some pretty awesome pictures of all the buildings, but that's
later tonight...

The man behind it all...

The Pearl Museum was a gift from Sultan Ali Al Owan, to the Emirates
National Bank of Dubai.

Scale: Gold vs. Pearls

Here - Theresa, Lisa, and I are standing around the display of gold
weights against pearls.

Pearls were SO valuable back then!! Cartier purchased their building
in Manhattan with a necklace made of two strands of pearls, valued at
over $1.5 million!!!

The Pearl Museum

After this morning's presentation, we were led downstairs to the
famous Dubai Pearl Museum.

Dubai originated as a pearling / fishing village, before the UAE
became oil rich. The life for these "pearl divers" was extremely hard,
as they would leave their family for months at a time, diving day
after day for these precious, and rare at the time, natural beauties.

The UAE prospered and grew as a nation with the wealth earned through
pearl trading, up until the point in time when cultured pearls from
Japan became popular. It is thought by some that God (Allah) provided
the oil reserves to relieve the burden of the lost resource.

Emirates National Bank of Dubai

This morning (day three) we got an early start to travel north to
Emirates National Bank, which overlooks Dubai Creek. We received a
presentation by the Head of Investor Relations about an Economic
Update on the UAE and Dubai.

Our speaker informed us that they are forecasting positive GDP growth
at about 1.5% for this year. Additionally, there has been a sharp
decline in inflation, which is also good.