Room 417, Savoy Hotel Apartments
The good thing is, there's actually a match I want to watch tonight. And I have cup noodles to keep me company. :)The bad thing is...actually I can't really think of one. I've already got my stuff packed, and although I didn't get everything I wanted, at least I managed enough souvenirs to go around. And we're leaving tomorrow! Yay!
But about today. Woke up even later so I only had time for one round at the breakfast buffet before going off.
First off we had that 2-hour ride to Ras Al Khaimah, which is an emirate north of Dubai and near the border of Oman. The scenery consisted mainly of deserts, but as we entered the emirate the red-gold Hajjar mountains could be seen in the distance. Pity the visibility wasn't too good.
We were pretty early and there was talk of stopping at a mall (which obviously perked me up), but then there was a delay and we found out we could reach the college earlier, so the idea was scrapped.
Boo.
We drove around a bit before pulling into the carpark of the Ras Al Khaimah Women's College, to be greeted outside by some enthusiastic students and teachers.
We had been warned beforehand to be at our quietest and politest behaviour as we were meeting students from a more conservative background.
Turns out we ended up being the shy quiet ones whilst the girls giggled and waved in their groups!
There was time for a tour of the school grounds, which was fully air-conditioned and each block was at most two stories high. Then we had lunch and mingled in the big auditorium, where there was a presentation on Singapore and a beatboxing performance by SP.
Before filing out, we were each given nice postcards with handwritten messages at the back. Then we headed for our tour bus whilst some students climbed aboard their school bus.
Not long after, we arrived at the museum. We spent a short while observing all the exhibits in the various rooms - mostly ancient tools and other objects from archaeological digs - before assembling in the courtyard for some group pictures.
This was followed by a short exhange of gifts, before we finally said goodbye and were back on the road again.
It seemed like a short while later when we stopped outside a large indoor souk by the river.
For the first time ever, we were given ample time - slightly more than 2 hours - to explore the whole place by ourselves.
The first thought that struck me when I stepped inside, was that it didn't look too big after all. There were mostly jewellery shops on the ground floor and basically nothing of much interest. Then I climbed the stairs to the upper floor and that's when the fun really started, because along the narrow corridors were countless antique and souvenir shops selling their wares at wholesale prices!
I spent a long time in the first shop I entered, waiting while some students bargained down the price of some sand souvenirs (the exact ones we wanted yesterday) a few of us had a agreed to get together. At the same time I picked out two little Aladdin lamps. The sand souvenirs were heavy, and I had three, so I was a little weighed down as I went exploring down the corridors again.
Like in any souk, store owners stood outside beckoning every passing person into their stores - the narrow corridors didn't exactly help me much. I had just passed by a few more souvenir shops when I reached the entrance of a textile shop, where a particularly pretty pink shawl was hanging outside.
I took it and entered the shop, where the same shawl in different colours were laid out. However the pink (the only one) seemed the nicest, so I went to ask for the price. As it was pure silk (and therefore so soft), it cost 75 Dhs.
Which, by the way, was more than yesterday's three shawls combined. So because I am such a cheapskate, I managed to bargain the thing down to 55 Dhs, then left happily.
*is very proud that I managed to bargain*
I wandered around aimlessly some more, until some cute T-shirts decorated with a cloth animal, caught my eye. I entered the shop and left with more souvenirs - including a magnet, postcards and a more elaborate Aladdin lamp - but not the shirt. Haha.
There was still a lot of time left to kill so I wandered around aimlessly again, until I realised there were narrow passages on the upper floor leading to who-knows-where.
Who-knows-where turned out to be another wing of the complex. I had gotten enough souvenirs (you could tell by how many bags I was carrying!), so I went to the ground floor, where there seemed to be more clothes shops than in the previous wing.
I walked up and down the ground floor for some time, before deciding that the best place to pick up a (fake) jersey was in a shop coincidentally named "Manchester". Tried on a few sizes before going to the cashier. The helpful store owner, who looked highly amused I was buying a (fake) jersey for myself, gave me a discount in the end. Haha.
That particular shopping stop had taken up quite some time, and I only had ten minutes left. So I headed back to the other wing and found the entrance (where a few students were loitering). The sun was setting and I took a few more pictures.
The bus was rather late and I was really relieved to be sitting alone - a lot more space to place all my bags!
We got back to the hotel early and had a lot of time to pack our stuff, because dinner would only be served at 9.30 p.m.
Instead of packing though, a group of us left the hotel almost immediately to do some grocery shopping at the supermarkets behind the hotel. A lot stocked up on chocolates and candy, but my main reason for visiting the supermarket was to get some chocolate-coated dates that my mother wanted.
Once I had found them, I allowed myself some Tom Yam cup noodles. :)
By the time we got back, dinner was about to start. So we put those packing plans on hold again and went upstairs for our last buffet. I wasn't really in the mood to eat, but somehow we got so caught up laughing around and taking pictures, that it took some time before we returned to our rooms.
And then I really had to pack.
<< Home