Caught by the magic of the Middle East

Dubai, a shopping heaven...

Hey all welcome to our last entry!!!

After a long time of humidity and Thai food we are quite happy to experience a desert feeling again. Dubai is one of the most influencing cities in the United Arab Emirates due to its growing economy and wealth. One of the main status symbols is the highest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. If you are born in Dubai, Sheikh Muhammad bin Raschid Al Maktum provides you a home for you and your family. However, if you look at the population of Dubai you realize that almost 90% are foreigners. However, you still see many Emiratis where men wearing white robes and their wife’s are covered in black.
Although the skyline looks like a part of the future Dubai has still houses of living with a strong oriental flair according to their sand colors, round windows and lots of flowers and palm trees. Next to that you have huge shopping malls that contain really all kind of shops and articles your heart dreams of…especially mine.
For that reason we went on the first day to the Mall of the Emirates, which has next to millions of shops also an artificial ski hall! I went crazy and I think I spent too much money here. Mike couldn’t stop me this time…

220 000 square meters of shops!!

Let's go and have fun in the snow...

The idea that someone would be that crazy to build up a ski hall in the middle of the desert was so fascinating that we couldn’t resist the temptation and got us a ticket for a Arabian “Hüttengaudi”, do zorbing, “rodln” and going up the artificial mountain via a chair lift.

A chair lift fixed on the roof...

Rodln...

Snowboarder with kaftan.

The ice channel, called mountain thrill, is really exciting. This was the fastest and best “rodl” ride we ever did.

A clearly astonishing experience is the contrast, when you walk out from -10°C (cold nose, no feelings in my feet) to +50°C – it feels a little bit like walking straight into an oven…

The next day we had enough of snow and went to the Jumeira Beach Park, a huge park with access to the white beach and the crystal clear water (>30°C). It is not allowed to take photos at the beach and as a woman you have to wear a swim suit. Nevertheless, no one accepted this rule. Spending the morning on the beach we realized that the women here are really looking, like in the fairytale of “1000 and one night”; no wonder most of them are covered during the day, although they haven’t covered their incredible beautiful eyes so the whole thing is pointless. Mike even saw one or two ladies which were wearing just a g-string under their black robes – even strong religious constraints cannot prevent the slut in some of us to break free ;)

Jumeira Beach Park

In the afternoon we went to Burj Khalifa. As I said before that is the tallest building in the world with a height of more than 800 m providing 200 floors of luxurious apartments, congress centers, hotels, Armani mansions, etc. Imagine, its surface equals 17 soccer fields and it has more than 24000 glass windows, from where they collect more than 15 million liters of condense water a year. The elevator that brings you up to the observation platform (just 124th floor) takes just 1 min…yes you ears are plugged when u arrive there.

We could see the Burj Khalifa already from our hotel!

The park infront of the Burj Khalifa

infront of it...

Let's go on the top!

Have a look on the skyline...and the sand...

 On the observation deck (452 m) you feel already very high but if you look up you realize that it can be even higher…

Look up on 124 floor...

...and at night...

 Next to this astonishing monument, you have again… a shopping mall (the biggest in the world)…Dubai mall!

Dubai mall from inside...

...from the top...

...and at night!

 My shopping sensor was activated again and my little demon inside forced me to go into the GUESS by Marciano shop…
Finally outside the shopping mall, u can experience one of the greatest water fountain shows in the world; it starts playing classical music along with a water fountain ballet dancing to the music.

That was definitely a great final for our journey and we are happy to see u guys again and share some of our exiting stories and pictures (and videos) with you!

 Kisses jiny and Mike

Castaway in the Gulf of Thailand

Dear all;)

Get ready for our new travel blog entry...there we go:

After we managed to get ot of Bangkok without a hangover or getting into serious troubles, we arrived safely on the beautiful island of Samui (Ko is the Thai word for island). The visit of this island had just one purpose...I wanted to learn Muay Thai kick boxing - and I did.

The gym

The schedule was pretty tough: session 1 was from 8-10 in the morning and session 2 from 5-7 in the evening. In between I couldn't really do anything else than just relax and there was almost no time for party, as I really needed the sleep to survive this thrill.

...you're in the army now...

Take that!

Kick it...

Mike isn't really into kicking people or objects and decide to spend most of the time in the gym. They had a fully equipped fitness gym next to the boxing rings and as he hadn't been in a gym for so long, it was really hard to get him anywhere else.

After a few days I started to NOT feel my body all the time anymore and finally became friends with the punching bag...

Our kinky mascot still didn't get it's punishment for the turmoil it caused at the airport in Singapore and now we were at the right place to do so:

One thing you defenitely have to do when you come to Thailand is elephant trekking; this was an incredible experience. Compared to horseback riding the elephant doesn't really seem to feel any difference, if someone is sitting on it or not - and there is literally nothing in the jungle, that could stop it. It's really funny when the tiny Mahoud (Elephant guide) is trying to make the elephant to continue on the trek, when it decided to eat the next tree - there is only one thing you can do...wait!
We could also ride on the elephant's neck - that felt really odd. This gives you an idea, what real power is:)

Well, no party at all doesn't really work for us, so we jumped into the night life of Samui on a Friday night  - with ambivalent experiences. We went to club sound, which is a very nice club with good music but the gogos are an absolute no-go...

The situation is pretty much the same as everywhere in Thailand. First the guys try to pick up a Western girl - meanwhile the concentration of Thai "girls" in the club rises exponentially with every hour - at around 3am the lucky ones leave and the others are left behind - but not for long. As soon as the amount of foreign girls (a natural spacer) decreases, they start to attack. Most of the times it's really hard to tell if it's a girl or something in between, but one thing is for sure: nobody goes home alone unless he really, really wants to.



On that night we unintentionally stumbled into the shop of a tailor with very convincing sales skills. After initial doubts we decided to get ourselfs a tailor-made suit/dress as the price is really unbelievable low. To our surprise the first fitting took place already the next day. As the results were convincing, Mike decided to get himself two more suits and 6 tailor-made shirts - just to point that out: It was Saturday evening and the tailor knew, that he would have only until Tuesday...it was 7:45pm...and at 9:30 Mike had already the first fitting for the new suits!!! If you order a suit in Austria, you usually wait about 4-5 weeks for the first fitting. On Sunday Mike decided to also get 3 vest to his suits; on Monday evening I ordered another tailor-made dress - and on Tuesday evening we picked up the complete order of 3 full suits, 6 shirts, 3 dresses and 5 ties for free - for about €1000. Its also worth to mention that this price includes only the finest material - everything we ordered (except the shirts) is made of 50% cashmere, 50% silk. For that material you'd pay in Austria at least €2000 for one suit alone... Have a look on the results:

The suit Mike wanted to have...

Mike with Peter before the final adjustments...

me and Mike dressed up;)

Peter and his crew did really an awesome job, for an unbeatable price and at the speed of light. If anyone is interested in having tailor-made stuff (suits, dresses, shirts, shoes,...) let us know - they ship worldwide. Anyway I would recommend to go there the first time so that they can take your measures, and then you can re-order at any time. 14 days of Thailand + a couple of suits is still cheaper than one suit at home...and very often the Austrian tailor just take the measures and order from Thailand; Mike's last one did that too and this is probably the reason, why it takes them so long to get them ready.




After getting beaten up and dresses in Samui it was time to party again and so we took the ferry to Koh Phangan.

We stayed at Black & White bungalows at Haad Rin beach, were the world famous full moon party takes place. Every evening there are fire shows, games and lots of party on the beach.

One game was to set a pole on fire by breathing fire - I hadn't ever done it with liquids before, but my skills were good enough to win the competition immedieately - have a look:

I even won a bucket of alcohol for that, but I didn't get too much of it because of my thirsty mascot :(

 Well, not all of the contesters did it with so much style as I did...

Borat on fire...

Beside partying every evening I did a wakeboard course for 4 days - really, really cool!!! I think I will continue wakeboarding on the Donausinsel this summer...as well as Muay Thai boxing;)

A gas station on the way...

I'm to sexy for my board...

On Sunday a friend of us we got to know in Rio visited us in Pha ngan. As we had one extra bed in our hotel room...and we got to know each other on couchsurfing, we hosted him for three nights until the full moon party.

Our friend Faou with our mascot;)

The full moon party took place on Thuesday evening...and it was savage. Thousands of people on the beach...in the pouring rain!

me, Faou and Mike

...but as you can see in the next pic, I was in party mood and there was nothing that could have stopped me...

me in party mood

...not even Thai rain. Its not like rain we have back home - its like beeing under the shower...

Mike under the "shower"

The party continued until dawn and around 6am the beach was still full of peolpe. As we had to catch the ferry back to Samui at 11:40 it was time now to go home and say good bye to Pha ngan.

Thailand is really and awesome place to work out, relax and have fun...

Tomorrow we will get on the plane again and fly into the desert...to Dubai.

With this nice shot I say good bye this time and see you soon in the UAE.

Kisses

Jiny

Bangkok has them now

Hi my loyal readers!

This time I will report you about Bangkok, capital city of Thailand. Before we arrived we had some problems at Singapore airport because it is not allowed to take handcuffs on board and my kinky maskot was wearing them on its ears (u guys know that these handcuffs are just a toy and are very tiny, so the worst thing I can do with them is wrapping them around my fingers). I burst in to laughter and couldn't stop...however the only chance to keep them was to put them with my little backpack to the general luggage.

Directly after we arrived at BKK, we put our stuff in the hotel and headed to the Chatuchak weekend market (THX Lia for the recommendation kiss kiss). This is the biggest market I have been so far!

You can buy everything here: clothes, shoes, vintage, bracelets, watches, pictures and even little (living) dogs:

Besides very cheap shopping satisfaction you can also fill your stomach with real Thai snacks...such as worms, bugs or maggots...

...if you prefer something more habitual, then you definitely should try coconuts as ice or freshly opened (way more tasty and bigger than in Rio).

hmmmm coconut!

Back in our hotel near the democracy monument we relaxed and made up our plans for the next day: first to the Grand Palace, second to the Wat Pho (where the Giant Buddha is situated) and third to the Wat Arun temple...quite a lot for a day ha?

Democracy monument

How do we get there?...by cab, because it is sooo cheap. We avoided the Tuc Tucs because they always want to bring you somewhere else...and try to persuade you to buy something in a shop or go in a specific restaurant because they get a sort of promotion for that.

Another thing what you should be aware of in Bangkok is that near all classcial sights (especially the grand palace) you have guys that try to pull a fast one...they tell you that the palace is closed for a specific time and that they can offer you some bla bla bla...don't trust them. Already from outside you can hears the speakers saying: "don't trust anyone outside the building"! Hmmm...

The palace is originally used as the residence of the king but today it is more a place to hold royal ceremonies and state functional meetings. However, its architecture and statues are very impressive.
But to get in you have to borrow some clothes in order to meet their requirements...

Miniaturized model of Anchor Wat.

 Before we left the palace, we were lucky to see some real monks.

Did you know that women are not allowed to touch them? If a women does, the monk has to undergo a specific cleaning ritual... (something like "contamination alarm" from the movie Monsters, Inc.)
Also in a Buddha temple, you should know that it is not appropriate to point your feet towards Buddha. Hence, monks sit with crossed legs. The temple of the emerald buddha you see on the picture below was very impressive (pics are only allowed from outside)

From the palace we strolled to Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha and also known as the birthplace of Thai massage.

By ferry we finally headed to our last sight seeing spot for that day, the Wat Arun temple, the temple of dawn. It is so named because the first light of the morning reflects off the surface of the temple with pearly iridescence. If you go up you have a great view over Bangkok and if you go down you realize that the stairs are very steep.

Wat Arun temple

So enough about sight seeing, we needed a brake and food. The food is soo cheap, e.g. you pay for a Pad Thai just 40-70 Baht (ca. 1 Euro). Pad Thai is a classical dish in Thailand which consists of stir-fried noodels with egg, fish sauche tamarind juice, red chilly plus any vegetables (especially bean sprouts), shrimps, chicken or tofu. You can add crushed peanuts, coriander, lime, vinegar and sugar (I never added sugar...but thats a Thai thing).

Pad Thai...yammy!

A coconut costs just 20-25 Baht (50 cents), so we enjoyed the moment and relaxed with coconut juice and delicious soups.

I had a a Tom Yum Kung soup...for me the best soup in the world! It is spicy and rich in taste!

Tom Yum Kung

Where is the best place to go shopping, having some drinks and getting a massage? Khao San Road offers all of it (THX again Lia for ur tips kiss kiss)! Luckily, our hotel is near that area ;)

Khao San Road

There you find lots of shops offering very nice shirts and skirts (the shirt I am wearing in the pic below is from there for just 200 Baht - 5 Euro), people they try to sell you all kinda stuff while walking (got dammit, I am not interested in a ping-pong show...no really not,...I give up!) and also when sitting down for a drink...

no thx no umbrella...

Travellers love to spent time here because you meet people from all nationalities and most of the hostels in Bangkok are situated here. This street is lively almost the whole day and you get its touch with artists, break dancers and (unfortunately) also old dudes with young Thai chicks:

no comment...

Another aspect are massage studios which are spreaded all over the street. One hour costs ca. 200 Baht (5 Euro)...very very cheap compared to Austria! One specific offer caught our attention, a fish spa...if you do not know what that is, have a look on that video:

On our final day in Bangkok we didn't do so much, just a walk in the Lumphini park (almost in the city center). To my surprise, I did not expect that Mike had a great plan for the evening...he kept it as a secret for the whole day and after sunset he kidnapped me via taxi to the "Dome at Lebua" (in the state tower), the second highest sky bar in the world. He just said before we left that I have to wear something sexy...so I did :)

This bar is one of the most luxurious things I have seen so far...cocktails I have never heard before, like a "Passion fruit sour"...and sweet snacks like cinnemon ice cream...yammy.

As you can see...I was very happy...

You may know exactly what place that is, when you have a look at the following picture:

Does this picture ring a bell?

Remember Hangover 2, the beginning scene where they were totally fucked up? It was exactly on those stairs ;)

 ...the Sirocco restaurant is also the place, where Mr. Chow get arrested at the end of the movie

We did not have a hangover...just a great time...

There we met a great couple, Linda and Davey, from Holland and had conversations about everything and anything with them. Hope you guys are fine, kisses jiny ;)

Me and Linda

All in all, a great night.

Next day we had to get up very early and headed to the airport again because our next stop is Koh Samui, where I will do a one week intense Muay Thai kickbox training (I think about u Lily :P) at Superprosamui.

So follow my next entry...

Kisses jiny and Mike