Many of you know, I like to make an event out of getting my Christmas tree each year. I thought I'd do what I could here and as one of my co-workers pointed out, if you're not going to go with something traditional, you might as well go with something wildly different (she's opted for a red foil bling tree.)
So I dragged along my colleague who lives in the apartment/hotel and we took the space age metro to a place called the Dubai Garden Centre. It was a nice day so we opted to stroll the 1/2 mi from the metro stop to the garden centre. Our route took us past a kind of mini mall dedicated to gold and diamond sales, an automotive salesroom featuring several nice looking Jeeps and a souped up Charger in the window right next to the fancy glass chandelier shop
and then suddenly, a jungle. Complete with animatronic dinosaurs roaring among the lovely fruit trees and water features.There's also a used book store, a cool tropical fish section, bonsai trees, an excessive amount of fake fruit, a giant gorilla and a cafe where we had a snack.
I picked out a leggy plant that blooms bright red and is called a Desert Rose. I liked that it was kind of cartoony looking and also that it needs full sun and can keep living in a pot. We put it in a bag and each took a handle to walk it back to the metro. Do other city dwellers haul live plants the size of toddlers on the metro? I didn't see any others on this trip. We rode in the women and children only cars on the way back as they were a tiny bit less crowded.
I decorated my "tree" back at the hotel apartment with an ornament my niece, Caroline, gave me just before I left, a small handwoven keyring thing I picked up at the Heritage Village last weekend and a pin someone gave me for National Day. I wrapped the ugly pot in a Thai sarong and an India doorway decoration I brought along and then today, added some lights!
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| oh tannenbaum? |
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| flower buds are another ornament |
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| my light stringing needs work | | |
Many of you know, I like to make an event out of getting my Christmas tree each year. I thought I'd do what I could here and as one of my co-workers pointed out, if you're not going to go with something traditional, you might as well go with something wildly different (she's opted for a red foil bling tree.)
and then suddenly, a jungle. Complete with animatronic dinosaurs roaring among the lovely fruit trees and water features.There's also a used book store, a cool tropical fish section, bonsai trees, an excessive amount of fake fruit, a giant gorilla and a cafe where we had a snack.
I decorated my "tree" back at the hotel apartment with an ornament my niece, Caroline, gave me just before I left, a small handwoven keyring thing I picked up at the Heritage Village last weekend and a pin someone gave me for National Day. I wrapped the ugly pot in a Thai sarong and an India doorway decoration I brought along and then today, added some lights!
The holidays in the Emirates are, well, complicated. Lots of decorations for the seasons--even a place where you can do snow--but a different world. Wait until the Shopping Festival!
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