Wednesday

Wednesday's new sun brought with it a new energy as the crew was starting to getting over the jetlag-induced lethargy and getting that spring back in their step. With this spring we hopped on down to the local Police Academy which, unlike every other building in Dubai, had actually been completed structurally. (Seriously, there is 25% of the world's cranes in Dubai alone! The city looks like a display centre for Scaffolding World).

At the Police Academy we had our main training session on their soccer pitch. The most difficult part of the session, other than trying to get goals under the crossbar, was physically getting onto the pitch in our footy boots – the floors were marble you see and not very conducive to good grip with footy studs. But the session was really well executed by the boys and made our prospects look promising if we manage to take that form into the game against Collingwood on Saturday. Youngsters Jarrhan Jacky and James Sellar looked in capable form leading up the first round of NAB Cup proceedings.

Once we returned to the hotel, everyone was looking forward to what we all have come to agree is a blessing and a curse – buffet meals. Now, don't get me wrong here, I love my food as do all the players and our hotel has put on some of the best food and service I've experienced in a while (NB: this is not a paid plug, just the truth). But the problem with a buffet is that it's the meal equivalent of having a bowl of peanuts in front of you. Whether you want them or not, they're right there, so you keep on eating. If we had this kind of culinary offering any longer than a week, I doubt Barrie 'BJ' Downs (our property steward) would have any XXXL apparel left to give out.

In the afternoon, we took a bus to Rob Gerard's new factory for his new Dubai venture, Pierlite. The highlight of this ceremony was the visit from the local Sheikh. He came in a personalised Rolls Royce bearing the number plate '1' and an entourage to make the cast of HBO's show Entourage jealous. The opening went without a hitch (i.e. the scissors worked) and the entertainment following included fire throwers, dancers with torches and demonstrations of factory equipment.

Later on, Rob treated us to a boat cruise along the river (Dubai Creek) which runs through the city. It showcased all the fascinating designs of the buildings throughout the CBD. And, as with just about anything organised by Rob, the food was amazing as was the experience.

Thursday

Thursday begun with a quick (buffet) breakfast and a recovery session by the hotel pool. To kill time while waiting for the trainers to get organised, a few guys were playing a game of hackey sack but with a football instead of a sack. Things turned ugly when someone kicked the ball a little too hard and hit Richard 'Dicky Dougwell' Douglas in the face. I didn't see it happen, but during recovery he had a bit of a shiner. Either that or he was just really tired on one half of his face.
Later in the day, we all enjoyed our first block of free time for the trip and took the opportunity to explore the malls and markets that Dubai has to offer. The Mall of the Emirates is a gargantuan establishment from which not everyone emerges from on the same day they entered. And as a backdrop to the shopping experience, the world's largest indoor skiing complex sits visible through most of the southern windows in the mall. I think it's important to note though that his will not be the world's largest indoor skiing facility for much longer. Another larger one will open next year in, you guessed it, Dubai. The mall was not the most cultural experience Dubai had to offer I must say, but the shopping was good and, as it says in the brochure "very competitively priced."

After the mall, Brad Symes, Andy 'Otto' Otten, Richard 'I've already been mentioned in this blog' Douglas and myself headed to some markets nearby the 800m+ tall, 180-odd storey monstrosity: the Burj Dubai (I should also let you know that, even though one year out from completion and with 23 storeys yet to be built, the Burj Dubai is the tallest structure in the world, there is construction underway to build another tower which will stand at 1.2km tall upon completion!). At the markets, we found a number of bargains to be bartered and a number of pushy sales people trying to drag us into their respective stores. Let me share a quick bit of dialogue that was commonly experienced during the afternoon:
Store attendant: "Hello sir, you like watch?"
Brad 'The Viper' Symes: "Nah mate, I'm just after a hat"
Store attendant: "OK"
(Store attendant disappears for a period and returns with a box)
Store attendant: "Which watch you like?"

And there were similar stories from the other three of us. If you feel like retelling these stories to someone, just replace the word 'hat' with anything you might purchase at a market place - jewellery, t-shirts, souvenirs, etc - and the story is readymade and accurate. There were some great games and sports stores in the market too, retailing games and sports garments with all the big names emblazoned on them: Ronildo; Kobe Bryan; Super Nario; Davod Beckham and my favourite - Micheal Jodan.

Come dinner time we filed into our accident-prone bus (we hit another item on the way to dinner) and headed to the AFL NAB Cup Launch Ceremony at a nearby hotel with the Collingwood players, ourselves and a number of dignitaries, businesspeople, AFL members and fans. An enjoyable evening of good food and company promoting the game to the people who already knew about it and thanking the people who deserved to be thanked when it came to the incredible amount of organisation this trip required.

I'll leave you with that as this is too long already. I'll post a more concise entry soon. Until then, stay cool, go Crows,

Gilly #1