Two hours after we arrived back at Flora Park Hotel from a London flight, all the crew gathered at one of the flats and said farewell messages to one of the ladies who was resigning and doing her last flight with us. When we got back to our own rooms, Rachel saw that I was online on Facebook so she asked where I was. We both found out that we were both in Dubai. She went to my room until we decided to go to Jumeirah beach.
I thought I was staying inside the hotel for the whole day but I was very much thankful for her presence. We slept for less than three hours. When we were ready, I accompanied her first to buy a cargo bag at City Center. Afterwards, we took a taxi and the driver dropped us off the Jumeirah open/public beach. Though we could only see the Burj Al Arab from afar, we could see the Jumeirah Mosque opposite the beach. The place was very beautiful, clean, white and sandy. It was full of white people trying to get sun-kissed tan. Dark colored ones like us and Indians were everywhere, too. The beach has sun loungers, big umbrellas for shelter from the intense heat of the sun and lifeguards.
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| Rachel and I under the shade of a big umbrella we paid for 10AED. It was one of the best times to take the tripod with me. :) |
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| This is a view of the open beach. A small walk is required to go near the seashore. |
As Rich and I started to wet ourselves into the water, we were approached by a group of Filipinos. They were nice and friendly. We introduced ourselves and our jobs and started to share other topics. They invited us to have a lunch with them at their house. Since they seemed to be very good people, we joined them. We first went to Deira Fish Market. When we arrived at their place, there were more of them. They seemed like family though they were only groups of friends, some were couples. Being there with them felt like being with our own families. Seeing them together was like a typical family in the Philippines. Some cooked. Others were watching a basketball game and others entertained us with their abroad and job histories and stories. We were impressed by the entire people in the house for the overwhelming and friendly welcome we received from them.
It was nice meeting all of them especially Kuya Criss, Manny and Ate Marissa who still took their time to take us back to the hotel. Filipinos are indeed hospitable wherever they go.
