Hello from Dubai!

We are in port again for a few days.   This time we're in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates. 

 

I took a tour the other day and got some fun photos of around the country. 

 

This is a photo of the tallest building on a man made island/ground.   

It's actually advertised to be the only 7-star hotel in the world.  Of course, the real rating only goes to 5 stars, so that's a little silly.  But, it's supposed to be ultra nice.  In fact, to even visit the hotel, you have to make a reservation for a meal or afternoon tea in one of their restaurants.

This photo is mostly for my brother.  I believe those around me said this was a Lamborghini.  I thought they looked different than that, but who knows...  It is a very pretty car!

We went to the Marina, I think this is in Dubai.  No matter where it was, Dubai has many, many buildings with very interesting architecture.  This one has a twisted building, but I saw some that were round, curved, and every shape and size.  Mostly very big! 

 

 

This is the Atlantis Hotel.  They have the worlds largest indoor aquarium.  UAE is realIy big on having the biggest and the best!  And it really is pretty amazing. 

 

This hotel is on/near the man-made Palm island structure.  We drove thru the heart of the palm tree island/peninsula and saw all the multi-million dollar waterfront luxury apartments, condos and homes.

 

I guess they've started another man made marvel - a map of the world - out of man made islands.  Pretty incredible.

 

Within the Mall of the Emirates, they have the worlds largest indoor skiing facility.   It's all glassed in, so you can walk by while shopping and watch the skiiers.  They also have giant hamster balls that you can tumble down the mountain in.  It looked super fun!  But, we aren't allowed to do that.  Maybe next time.

 

The Dubai Mall is right next to the tallest building in the world.  It's called the Burch Kalifa. 

My Guys are Pretty Amazing

We recently celebrated the Navy's birthday.  What we usually do for celebrations is have a cake cutting ceremony on the Mess Decks.  The Captain comes down and says a little, then we have someone who volunteers to talk a little about the history of the event or person that we are celebrating.

And, there's the cake.  My Senior Chief decorated this cake.  You probably can't tell, but this is all made with the star tip of the cake decorating choices.   

He also makes a pretty impressive version of an aircraft carrier - that's a lot of black and grey icing.  I'll try to remember to get a photo of it next time.  Those are usually reserved for receptions with very important people.  :o)

I have two Culinary Specialists who are especially good at carving fruit and vegetables to look like flowers.  These are some of my favorites...and trying to catch a few different styles of flowers. 

The little tulips are made of carrots! 

I don't know if you can see the vase.  There are some weird melons here that look like a cantaloupe on the outside, but a honeydew on the inside.  I forget what they are called.

The little daisies are made of a little cut away of cantaloupes and the funny honeydews

This one that sort of looks like Lilli pads is my very

favorite - and of course, I can't figure out how to turn the photo in my blog.  The one I used to download it was turned - I don't know why it doesn't stay that way. 

Can you believe they turned a watermelon into a rose?!?  And, those are potatoes (regular and sweet) that look like such beautiful roses.

And these flowers are made of orange and grapefruit rinds.  Pretty cool, huh? 

Some of the stuff they come up with is pretty amazing! 

We're getting ready for a special inspection - CARL VINSON and GEORGE H.W. BUSH are in competition for the best carrier galley in the fleet.  It's a pretty big deal, I've never been on a ship that had won the NEY before. 

The Captain's Corner on our ship's Facebook page usually has some pretty interesting stories - last week he talked about all the food we bring onboard to feed 5,000 people. 

On November 5th, he noticed as he walked by the 127 pallets of fresh fruits and vegetables we brought onboard one day that they represented products from all over the world.

It really is pretty amazing how we do it all.  To me, it's just another Wednesday.

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