I think I've finally found a way to do business trips right, in a way that feels sustainable and doesn't leave me drained and needing another vacation once I get back home. The answer is at once glaringly simple yet also counter-intuitive to basic productivity: build in the longest layovers possible.
I'm sure there are far more efficient ways of getting from Seoul to Lusaka than via Dubai. But flying that route gave me a fairly decent night of sleep on the plane, followed by a four hour layover in Dubai. It was the most relaxing and rejuvenating four hours I've spent in an airport: I splurged on a massage, which then gave me access to an incredible hot shower afterwards. I took a morning flight to Lusaka feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
On the way back home to Seoul (home to Seoul, did you catch that?! -- it's really starting to feel that way), I outdid myself in terms of layovers. Landed at 6am this past Friday and didn't leave until 3am on Saturday. My "old" self would have tried to see everything in this 21 hours. But my "new" relaxed self decided to just focus on one thing: food. I would eat my way through Dubai and learn something about the city's history along the way.
Good thing I had a trusty guide. My friend and former colleague, Arva, left consulting to return to Dubai and start a food tour company called Frying Pan Adventures (they're really amazing; check them out here). While she was at the Drones for Good conference for another company she's helping run, she left me with an incredible treasure map: a foodie trail of Old Dubai (full article here).
I can't say the morning started on a good note. This being a Friday and thus the holy day, the subway was closed until 1pm. I went outside to get a cab, finding myself being ushered to the "ladies cab" section (only women drivers and passengers), with a driver extremely judgmental of my choice of destination ("Old Dubai?! Why would you want to go there? I can take you to the mall instead -- it's very nice.") Some negotiation later, she reluctantly dropped me off in Old Dubai.
Now, for those of you who have been to Old Delhi or Charminar (the old part of Hyderabad), you have a sense of what I was expecting: narrow, curved alleys; the smell of spices wafting in the air... let's just say Old Dubai is not like this. There are sidewalks with palm trees and old concrete buildings that seem more like from the 1970s (not 1870s). But after re-adjusting my expectations, I realized this actually is a really interesting part of town, which exhibits "old" Dubai from the days before oil was discovered in 1966 and utterly transformed the landscape. Looking around, the restaurants represent an old Spice Trail of sorts, with various ethnicities represented. Arva writes: "A discerning visitor who is willing to trawl the streets of Old Dubai will find that this city plays a unique role in preserving and showcasing culinary traditions from across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian subcontinent."
Since the foodie trail guide did not have actual addresses, it was a bit like going on a delicious scavenger hunt. My heart skipped a beat when I found the small eatery I was most excited to try: a Lebanese breakfast place called "Breakfast to Breakfast" that serves Manakeesh (essentially a breakfast pizza from an open-faced oven). I followed Arva's recommendations and ordered a Manakeesh with za'atar (which I learned is a fragrant herb mix of thyme, sesame seeds, a lemony spice called sumac, and other "secret" herbs that comprise the restaurant's secret blend) and labneh (a thick yogurt).
Feeling stuffed from breakfast #1, I wondered how I would continue on this breakfast tour of Old Dubai. I got a reassuring text from Tyler saying: "Fight the good fight." So with that, I continued.
The next stop was close to a mosque (which made me smile because this was the place I first tried to get my cab driver to drop me off at: "What do you mean, it's near a mosque?! There are mosques on every street!") It's a small Egyptian eatery called Soarikh, with a proudly all-Egyptian staff. I go off-menu and again heed Arva's recommendation, ordering Alexandrian Foul Medames, a brown fava beans stew of sorts, with a history that can remarkably be traced back to Pharaonic Egypt. It's not necessarily much to look at, but boy is it filling. I took my time with this, sitting upstairs with traditional stringed music playing and people watching down on the street below.
Completely stuffed, I waddle outside. I find myself noticing all the amazing restaurants of various ethnicities in the area, like this Iraqi restaurant with beautiful doors.
I consider taking a break from eating (as Tyler's former colleague would say when over-worked: "I'm just one man!")... but the next stop is breakfast dessert, so how can I stop now. Thankfully, it involves a bit of walking, so I'm able to digest just a bit.
The directions are awesome: "Wander to the right and get lured into a neighborhood baklava store that has satiated many a sweet tooth since the 1980s: Al Samedi Sweets." Walking inside is a bit like being transported to what I imagine dessert places in 1950s America were like: glass displays showing all sorts of culinary decadents. I ogle at the dessert "pizza" and the "birds nest" of pistachio seeds, which I learn are called "Ashulbulbul", a salty-sweet Lebanese dessert.
I order a Kunafa in Ka'ak -- a Palestinian semolina and cheese pie drizzled with sugar syrup inside a sesame bun -- along with a Turkish coffee, and the proprietor asks me if I'm a friend of Arva's.
Lingering over my coffee, I finally get kicked out for what I assume is their lunch break. I walk for a while, taking in all the palm trees and amazing weather.
Then I head to Part II of my self-guided food tour: New Dubai.
It's a bit hard to adequately describe Dubai Mall. For one thing, it's the largest mall in the world, with over 1,200 retail stores. As if that's not enough, it also has the largest fountain in the world (the Dancing Fountain, which apparently did a full-day tribute to Michael Jackson when he died, with the water doing the moonwalk), the largest book store, the largest indoor ice skating rink... the list goes on and on. It feels a bit like Vegas, in that "not-real-life" sort-of way.
Here, I meet Asim, another Acumen Fellow who I had only "met" a couple weeks before over email (a bit like a modern day pen pal!)
I have the most amazing complement to my morning of gluttony: an avocado salad with a refreshing fresh mint lemonade and succulent sweet dates for dessert.
Feeling fueled up, we're now ready to brave the Dubai Mall. It's all a bit overwhelming, but I'm not gonna lie: it made me super excited to see Eataly and Magnolia Bakery... felt like a bit of a walking dream, with all my New York favorites in one surreal giant mall.
I have Shake Shack for dinner (even better than I remember it) and then sleepily head over to the airport for my final leg home. Thank you, Dubai. My stomach leaves happy.
I'm sure there are far more efficient ways of getting from Seoul to Lusaka than via Dubai. But flying that route gave me a fairly decent night of sleep on the plane, followed by a four hour layover in Dubai. It was the most relaxing and rejuvenating four hours I've spent in an airport: I splurged on a massage, which then gave me access to an incredible hot shower afterwards. I took a morning flight to Lusaka feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
On the way back home to Seoul (home to Seoul, did you catch that?! -- it's really starting to feel that way), I outdid myself in terms of layovers. Landed at 6am this past Friday and didn't leave until 3am on Saturday. My "old" self would have tried to see everything in this 21 hours. But my "new" relaxed self decided to just focus on one thing: food. I would eat my way through Dubai and learn something about the city's history along the way.
Good thing I had a trusty guide. My friend and former colleague, Arva, left consulting to return to Dubai and start a food tour company called Frying Pan Adventures (they're really amazing; check them out here). While she was at the Drones for Good conference for another company she's helping run, she left me with an incredible treasure map: a foodie trail of Old Dubai (full article here).
I can't say the morning started on a good note. This being a Friday and thus the holy day, the subway was closed until 1pm. I went outside to get a cab, finding myself being ushered to the "ladies cab" section (only women drivers and passengers), with a driver extremely judgmental of my choice of destination ("Old Dubai?! Why would you want to go there? I can take you to the mall instead -- it's very nice.") Some negotiation later, she reluctantly dropped me off in Old Dubai.
Now, for those of you who have been to Old Delhi or Charminar (the old part of Hyderabad), you have a sense of what I was expecting: narrow, curved alleys; the smell of spices wafting in the air... let's just say Old Dubai is not like this. There are sidewalks with palm trees and old concrete buildings that seem more like from the 1970s (not 1870s). But after re-adjusting my expectations, I realized this actually is a really interesting part of town, which exhibits "old" Dubai from the days before oil was discovered in 1966 and utterly transformed the landscape. Looking around, the restaurants represent an old Spice Trail of sorts, with various ethnicities represented. Arva writes: "A discerning visitor who is willing to trawl the streets of Old Dubai will find that this city plays a unique role in preserving and showcasing culinary traditions from across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian subcontinent."
Since the foodie trail guide did not have actual addresses, it was a bit like going on a delicious scavenger hunt. My heart skipped a beat when I found the small eatery I was most excited to try: a Lebanese breakfast place called "Breakfast to Breakfast" that serves Manakeesh (essentially a breakfast pizza from an open-faced oven). I followed Arva's recommendations and ordered a Manakeesh with za'atar (which I learned is a fragrant herb mix of thyme, sesame seeds, a lemony spice called sumac, and other "secret" herbs that comprise the restaurant's secret blend) and labneh (a thick yogurt).
Feeling stuffed from breakfast #1, I wondered how I would continue on this breakfast tour of Old Dubai. I got a reassuring text from Tyler saying: "Fight the good fight." So with that, I continued.
The next stop was close to a mosque (which made me smile because this was the place I first tried to get my cab driver to drop me off at: "What do you mean, it's near a mosque?! There are mosques on every street!") It's a small Egyptian eatery called Soarikh, with a proudly all-Egyptian staff. I go off-menu and again heed Arva's recommendation, ordering Alexandrian Foul Medames, a brown fava beans stew of sorts, with a history that can remarkably be traced back to Pharaonic Egypt. It's not necessarily much to look at, but boy is it filling. I took my time with this, sitting upstairs with traditional stringed music playing and people watching down on the street below.
Completely stuffed, I waddle outside. I find myself noticing all the amazing restaurants of various ethnicities in the area, like this Iraqi restaurant with beautiful doors.
I consider taking a break from eating (as Tyler's former colleague would say when over-worked: "I'm just one man!")... but the next stop is breakfast dessert, so how can I stop now. Thankfully, it involves a bit of walking, so I'm able to digest just a bit.
The directions are awesome: "Wander to the right and get lured into a neighborhood baklava store that has satiated many a sweet tooth since the 1980s: Al Samedi Sweets." Walking inside is a bit like being transported to what I imagine dessert places in 1950s America were like: glass displays showing all sorts of culinary decadents. I ogle at the dessert "pizza" and the "birds nest" of pistachio seeds, which I learn are called "Ashulbulbul", a salty-sweet Lebanese dessert.
I order a Kunafa in Ka'ak -- a Palestinian semolina and cheese pie drizzled with sugar syrup inside a sesame bun -- along with a Turkish coffee, and the proprietor asks me if I'm a friend of Arva's.
Lingering over my coffee, I finally get kicked out for what I assume is their lunch break. I walk for a while, taking in all the palm trees and amazing weather.
Then I head to Part II of my self-guided food tour: New Dubai.
It's a bit hard to adequately describe Dubai Mall. For one thing, it's the largest mall in the world, with over 1,200 retail stores. As if that's not enough, it also has the largest fountain in the world (the Dancing Fountain, which apparently did a full-day tribute to Michael Jackson when he died, with the water doing the moonwalk), the largest book store, the largest indoor ice skating rink... the list goes on and on. It feels a bit like Vegas, in that "not-real-life" sort-of way.
Here, I meet Asim, another Acumen Fellow who I had only "met" a couple weeks before over email (a bit like a modern day pen pal!)
I have the most amazing complement to my morning of gluttony: an avocado salad with a refreshing fresh mint lemonade and succulent sweet dates for dessert.
Feeling fueled up, we're now ready to brave the Dubai Mall. It's all a bit overwhelming, but I'm not gonna lie: it made me super excited to see Eataly and Magnolia Bakery... felt like a bit of a walking dream, with all my New York favorites in one surreal giant mall.
I have Shake Shack for dinner (even better than I remember it) and then sleepily head over to the airport for my final leg home. Thank you, Dubai. My stomach leaves happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment