This has been a roller coaster of a trip with a lot of good friends! Now on this last day of the year we are just planning to relax before the long night ahead of us.
One guy is going golfing at the Emirates Golf Club for an afternoon tee time, two guys are playing tennis, and two of us are going swimming then going for a shave. I found a spa here which has gentlemen’s shave and they use The Art of Shaving which I love. This spa is located inside the Grosvenor House which gives me more reason to stay at this hotel.
I’m still waiting on one of my friends who is stuck at work, he might be able to come so I won’t know until the afternoon.
We are going to have a long night ahead of us, and hopefully we are going to enjoy it. I hope everyone has a good new year’s night as well.
This has been one hell of a vacation, from meeting with all my friends and going to all the dinners with friends. Three days in Egypt were insane, with very little sleep and the wedding was nothing short of fantastic. It was a great wedding at the Four Seasons at the Nile with about 350 people. It was hectic since we were with the groom and he had a lot on his plate and helping him with a lot of different things.
I was only there for a three days in total and on the fourth day I traveled with a few friends to spend New Years in Dubai.
This flight was really too early, I slept at 1:00 am and woke up at 3:45 am to make sure I had everything packed up. I left the house around 6:05 am to check in into my 7:30 am flight. It is the first time I fly Gulf Air and I kept hearing a lot of horror stories about how its worse then Kuwait Airways, so I was preparing myself for a shock. I’m just hoping they don’t lose my bags, its always worring when its a connecting flught.
I got onto the plane which wasn’t too full and it was a very easy flight. I have to stay for what the plane was lacking the staff made up for it in attitude, they were very nice and courteous unlike my experience on Kuwait Airways. The plane felt like it was stuck between the 80s and 70s in style and functionality, I haven’t used a manual chair in business class in a long time, I think since 1998 when they started changing the planes. I think they just need a cosmetic overhaul but the staff is very nice, and the best part I had my laptop on before take-off and I didn’t switch it off until after landing and nobody said a word to me, so the truth is that electronic equipment has no affect on the plane equipment, the airlines just want to be annoying about it.
I’m 80% that I’m going to fall asleep on the next flight since its around 4 hours, I can get some sleep in before the hectic day ahead.
This is going to be a roller coaster of a trip, I haven’t had time to sit and think about this whole coming trip but it seems its going to be a big one.
This trip is in two phases and multiple flights because everything is booked up in every direction, so this trip turned out to be patch work and it is going to be funny and hectic.
Phase One:
Going to Egypt for my best friend’s wedding.
His engagement party was in July that I went to with a few guys, and this time about 16 guys from the states are flying in for his wedding in Egypt, and some of them have never been to this side of the world before.
Going to be there for three days, then taking a few of the guys to Dubai for New Years, I have never been in Dubai for New Years but probably more to do there then most places for people visiting the Middle East. The funny part is that because the flights are all booked up from Cairo to Dubai so we are flying out of Alexandria, so the day after the wedding we have to drive to Alexandria to catch the 1:00pm flight to Dubai, and its a 2 – 3 hour drive. We are going to be five guys in total, and this is going to be a hilarious adventure.
Phase Two:
We are staying in Dubai for 6 days, and I’m planning on taking them to the Safari and doing a full tour of Dubai for them to enjoy. Some of the guys want to go golfing, and I don’t mind doing that since I haven’t been golfing in a while.
Of course going to Dubai is costing an arm and a leg, so we are working out the details of everything.
Map Breakdown:
- Blue: My Flight Plan
- Green: The Guys Arriving from the US Trip
- Orange: Return for one of the guys back to Cairo for a few more days of vacation
- Red: Return for the rest of the guys back to the US
This was probably one of the most interesting and surprising conversation that I have had in a long time.
I got a call in the morning and he said “hello, Mr So and So, this is So & So from the British Embassy”
Me, “Yes, Hello”
Him, “I’m calling regarding your Visa application, your Visa has been denied”
Me, “What?!? Why, what happened? Or what was wrong”
Him, “Sir, in our system you are a British National and you are entitled to the British Nationality”
Me, “What? What are you talking about, something must be very wrong.”
Him, “It says that you were born in the UK before 1983, and therefore you are a British National”
Me, “That is true, but I didn’t apply to a citizenship and I am a Kuwaiti National, and I don’t want to change that”
Him, “Sir you could apply for a different entry which is called the Certificate of Entightlement, which means you are a British National with a different passport living outside the UK.”
Me, “Is that my only option, I don’t want to do that, or pay UK Taxes”
Him, “You are exempted from Taxes, and you have to apply for that”
Me, “I have been applying for the regular Visit Visa for the past 26 years what exactly happened in the last year”
Him, “This rule has been enacted since that time, but they have gotten stricter this past year over all the rules, and it has applied to a lot of Kuwaitis who were born in the UK”
The conversation was a lot longer then that, and there was a lot of give and take with information. The gentlemen was very helpful and he pointed me to forms that I could submit directly to the embassy instead of the application center so I don’t lose paying my fee, which is 120 KD. All that they needed was my original UK Birth certificate which I had no clue where it was and it took a few hours to find it. Now they shall be giving me that little sticker in my passport which is basically an entry type which lasts as long as my passport.
First thought in my head after things became clearer later in the day, “I don’t want to serve the Queen” and “I could become James Bond”
I’m getting all the Visas for my new passport so the first one on the list is the UK Visa. It was at an application area which is in a building to the right of the Central Bank of Kuwait opposite Al Seef Palace. The parking lot is always full so I parked in area where I wouldn’t get in people’s way, and its hard to not see something that big.
What You Need:
- 6 month Bank Statement
- Picture With White Background
- Fill out the form
If you don’t have your 6 month bank statement there is place next door that can print it for you but for 5 KD, which is insane, so make sure to have your 6 month bank statement.
Once you sit with a person who asks you a few questions, she told me an interesting fact. I was applying for the 10 year visa, but you can’t apply for a 10 year visa unless you have had a 5 year Visa, so then the Embassy would decide what you could get. They took the finger prints of all 10 of my fingers, first the right four, then the left four, and then both my thumbs.
They give you a serial number, and phone number to call in between 3:00 and 4:00 pm, if the passport is done pick up is from 4:00 to 5:30 pm. It takes two to three working days, and they are very systematic in their process and really organized.
I had to go through Medinat Jumerah to get to The Meat Co, and we walked through it after finishing up. The whole thing is a like mini-city in its size and design, it really is a city in itself and looks amazing from every angle. You feel transported when you are inside the Medinat Jumerah, there is a lot of walking that can be done and then there are the boats that could take you to different parts of Medinat Jumerah.
Who ever designed this must have been a genius because once you enter you can’t really leave, and its worth walking around. The scenery is very nice and there is a lot to do, there is a few auditoriums for concerts and other events within the resort and then there are the rooms that look over this man made oasis.
After coming to Dubai multiple times this year I have once remembered to get the E-Gate Card before passing security.
Its an office locaeted at Door 2 of the Emirates Terminal on the second floor to the right.
You take a ticket to wait your turn, and there were only a few people ahead of me. When it came to my turn I only had my Civil ID with me since my passport is currently processing all the damn visas that I have to get.
The lady wasn’t sure if I could get everything done with my Civil ID but another person helped her out. So you can apply using just your Civil ID.
They take all your information, and I was very surprised they already have a lot of information about me. The Ministry of Interior seems to have a solid system with lots of different kinds of information. I can only imagine the statistics they have on hand.
She plugged in all the information I had, and used my Civil ID number instead of the passport number. And only GCC nationals can use their Civil IDs. As a profession she put General Computer Engineer, which I don’t know what that exactly means but it will do. They took prints of both my left and right index fingers and then a photo of me which made me look like a criminal if it wasn’t for the smirk on my face.
All in all it took 10 minutes and cost 200 AED (15KD), and it will save me a lot of time.
Link: UAE E-Gate
Checkout of the hotel, everything was pretty much ready. I wanted to make one stop before going to the airport but I was running late. I wanted to pass by the Tristar in Dubai and see their setup but didn’t have a chance, it would have taken over an hour to go to the shop and come back because of traffic but I wasn’t sure I had the time.
There wasn’t too much traffic on the drive to the airport, and it was really nice and cool on the way there. This time I was checking into the Business Class which has a different entrance, made things a lot quicker. After checking in I decided to go get the E-Gate Card since it would make entering and exiting that much simpler.
The airport was packed full of people, after security there is that long walk way from the security to the checkin, I don’t think they could make it any damn longer.
When I got to Kuwai the airport was packed with people, the immigrations were over flowing. It felt like it was friday market and it was a free for all, just pure insanity. I managed to get my bags quickly and got to my car in the parking pretty quickly.
Its been interesting with work here, mornings in a seminar and then hands on training with a few items. Since its the last day I get to relax for one day but I just have to meet with a few people and tie up a few loose ends.
I know I’m going to go to the movies since I have some time to go see what I want. I was thinking about doing what I used to do while I was college, to go to three movies in a row nonstop, but then I won’t be able to do too much shopping.
Its funny when walking around in the mall you really don’t feel like your in an arab country, its a nice feeling to able to enjoy just walking around and you can see all these families with their kids in hand. The whole enviroment and feeling in the mall gives off a good vibe. You don’t see any males harrassing any of the women walking around, the funny part is when you notice that the mall is filled with these highschool kids and notice that they got off school so all of them go to the mall.
