Yallah to a Mosque, Yallah to a Palace

My Ascension Holiday Weekend was roughly 2 months in the making.

And it all started with a 15-minute browse in GulfNews.com

That was in early March, but being a perennial optimist, I instantly lit up at the sight of a holiday in May.

Al Isra’a Wal Mi’raj was expected to fall on May 5, a Thursday.

Great.

Awesome.

But wait a minute. What’s Al Isra’a Wal Mi’raj?

I love living in a Muslim country!

There are just so many new things to learn about every day.

And so many new holidays to celebrate.

My reflex action was to grab my phone and punch in a hasty text to L–, one of the few friends I had made since coming to Dubai.

She had previously (though passingly) expressed a wish to go sightseeing in the capital.

So I booked us a good hotel deal (one-night stay, free breakfast, free swimming pool access — the works), and by the time May 5 came around, L– and I hopped on the 11am bus to the city of Abu Dhabi.

Again.

As in, for the fourth time.

But what can I say?

Abu Dhabi isn’t 87% of the United Arab Emites for nothing.

I may have checked out a little bit of Yas Mall, Ferrari World, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, and Al Ain last December, but I have no intention of leaving a single Abu Dhabi stone unturned a la No Stone Unturned: Fort Fahidi, Al Bastakiya, and the Textile Souk.

If it’s going to take me 10, 20, 30 more trips to the capital, then so be it.

L– and I grabbed some Popeye’s for lunch at Al Wahda Mall before checking in our hotel in Mina Street and starting the first leg of our tour in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

And it was every bit as lovely as the last time I’d seen it.

But before gaining entry into the premises, us infidels first had to pick up our abayas.

–Which, by the way, looked great paired with white Jeremy Scott trainers!

The Grand Mosque was filled with weekend-ers like ourselves, but you could never tell when the Inner Courtyard swept you off your feet like so…

It’s okay.

You can gawk.

Especially you, atheists.

When the idea of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was first conceived, it was meant to showcase a unity of the world of sorts.

It was to be so much more than a House of God.

It was also to be a melting pot of cultures from the East (India, Morocco, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, China, Macedonia, and of course the U.A.E.) and the West (Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, and New Zealand).

The end result of a decade’s worth of chef d’œuvre is a megastructure to be reckoned with.

It may be only May in the U.A.E., but you can already feel the sweltering heat even inside the main prayer hall.

It’s not “Winter is coming.”

It’s Summer.

Summer is coming.

And abayas and sunglasses are this season’s shopping must-haves.

From Al Maqtaa to Al Ras Al Akhdar, the next stop was Emirates Palace.

Being a five-star, not-just-a-hotel-but-also-a-palace, I didn’t think I could get in the place…

… But in I did.

And what better way to mark the occasion than to take a jump shot?

Or two?

Or lots?

Because why not?

Emirates Palace is a definite must-see in Abu Dhabi, but what surprises most people is that they can do so without spending a fils.

You can totes check out the hotel grounds with its dancing fountains.

Plus, you can take an effortlessly cool shot of the Etihad Towers.

I feel tall.

Well, almost.

Inside Emirates Palace, the amount of gold cannot be underestimated.

I mean, seriously.

Who let King Midas out on a golden-fingered rampage?

It was 6-ish by the time L– and I finished exploring the palatial hotel. We decided to head over to Heritage Village which, according to my Abu Dhabi Mini Explorer map, was only 5 minutes away.

But before we leave, may I just take this time to make a big shukran shoutout to the valets of Emirates Palace? They made us penniless paupers feel like princesses by opening the cab doors for us. Now that’s what I call hospitality!

The Heritage Village was indeed just 5 minutes away.

But it was closed for the holiday, so L– and I trudged our way on the outskirts of the corniche.

Which is always loveliest at sunset.

We were treated to a nice lutong-bahay-inspired dinner along Hamdan Street, courtesy of L–‘s old college buddy who was trying to make amends for missing her last birthday party.

I ended the day with A– with whom I celebrated our first monthsary with.

Aaand that’s about it, really.

That is, until my next U.A.E. holiday.