Tropical Freeze: Dubai

After waking prematurely at 545am, I rose, put on my mocassins and pyjamas, grabbed a blanket and pillow, and went to the living room. The sky outside was dark and the birds were silent. I picked up my phone and turned the volume to medium as I found Jon Kabat-Zinn’ Guided Mindfulness Meditations’ on the Poweramp app. I settled myself on the sofa, selected the ‘Sounds’ recording, pressed play and, with my arms down by my side, palms facing upwards, followed along attentively to Mr Kabat-Zinn’s calming Brooklyn-hued tones.

Once the family were awake, breakfast completed (Rice bubbles for E, 4 rounds of toast and jam for I, toast for A, while I had a mushroom omelette) and final bags packed, I called for an Uber XL to take us to the airport. The Uber app connecting screen pulsed, pensively, for some moments as it found my driver, selecting and discarding two candidates before landing successfully with Miz, 13 minutes away in a Kia Sorrento. I watched the graphic automobile inch slowly along the black marked route as the time to destination decreased slowly to zero and the navy SUV eased into our drive.

The route to the airport on this overcast autumn Sunday was uneventful, the freeway uncongested with no delays despite the mass of construction on both sides of the road. The enigmatic gaze of the De Rucci Furniture man met our eyes as we pulled into the drop off point, weaving calmly between taxis and hatchbacks. Miz helped us with our bags, and I clicked the right-most star on the Uber app screen,the fifth, denoting 'fine service'. When prompted to make a compliment I clicked the ‘Excellent conversation’ tab - we had chatted about the reliability of Kia cars, and the general satisfaction of the Cerato as a 'good everyday car'.

At check in we were advised the plane was only half full and we would have two spare seats beside us. With luggage deposited we took ourselves through customs, and entered the newly built Duty Free Mall, a vast concourse of designer goods bathed in blinding white, past Haribou and Hermes displays, a Hendricks counter decked out in English garden party style, all ivy and lattice and jugs of Pimms. I purchased two bottles of Take Off pure spring water, 'bottled at the source located at the upper Mangrove Mountain NSW', which required presentation of my boarding pass, and I stuffed the eceipt haphazardly in my jacket pocket. Passing through the ghastly mall into the no-less ghastly collection of top-shelf fashion outlets, the lighting dimmed to a subdued gold, matching the bronzed Max Mara fur coats (coveted by I.), the Rolexes and TG Heuers ('Don't crack under pressure'), and Tiffany trinkets. Burberry displayed a collection of twinned jewel-encrusted leather satchels with matching teddy bears. Purely Merino was a mess of fluffy twee. Billabong, Tumi Luggage, Bally, Prada, Sunglass Hut. Taylor Swift's 1989 and Ed Sheeran bled over the PA.

We sat in the first cafe we found, Cafe Vue, all black with Croissant shaped light fixtures, industrial chic exposed wiring and a return to the Hendricks English garden motif with latticework and wicker furniture. A chocolate croissant was $7. The seating pan, displayed on a tablet, resembled a Constructivist Lissitsky painting.

The passengers boarded without problems. Business class passengers and those in preferential rows A and B were asked to board first, as were those with children. Indeed the plane was half full. Entertainment was dominated by Marvel franchise CGI violence and the entire Harry Potter series. I glanced through the airline company's inflight magazine, the Muh Bah, noting the usual advertisements for jewelry and expensive cars, and read the commercial for Baidiri Bank: 'Enjoy preferential treatment worthy of your status'. An article on pampering in Bangkok promised the delights to be experienced at the Let's Relax chain of reflexology clinics.