Cheese @ The Lodge
(a bit delayed.. because I actually have work to do!)
After a lie-in on Friday, Kate thought that we should go check out New Look to see if we could buy some cheap shoes (and possibly find an outfit for that night). After missing the turn and thinking we were on the road where theres no exit till Sharjah.. and then getting lost in I-dont-know-where.. we finally found Deira Centre and embarked on a 5hr shopping expedition which turned out to be relatively fruitless (besides a cute H&M mixtape dress I got for 44dhs!)
We werent attending Quintin's birthday buffet dinner, so we thought that we'd have the evening to relax before meeting everyone after. Kate (now known as K.Jax from here on in) got a call from her friend Kate (i've never known so many Kate's in my life) and they were all heading up to the Rooftop bar at The One & Only Mirage (thats its real name!) for pre-drinks. After sending out a few messages, Ben said he was at Barasti, so we'd planned to see Ben first and then go next door to the Mirage.
After an outfit dilemmas (I hate not having my wardrobe here!), we made it to Barasti and found Ben amongst the crowd. Had a couple of drinks and a bit of a sweat with time flying by before we had to jump in a cab, get the group from Mirage and head straight to the Lodge before 11pm (or else we'd have to pay 75dhs!)
We actually got there late, but Sophia somehow blagged us all in and thus begins my first experience of a party called CHEESE at The Lodge. Its run by a guy called Tim Cheddar (cheese) who happens to be friends with the boys from the office, which is why the birthday afterparty was there.. but after talking to other people, it appears that he knows half of Dubai one way or another!
I'd never been to 'Cheese on Toast' in Canberra, but I figured it would be something similar. Like a retro night at the Bristol Arms. The bar setup is pretty amazing. Apparently it sucks in summer as its all indoors in the 2 (3?) different rooms, but seeing as the weather is so much nicer now, they opened up the outdoor dancefloor/tent.
After midnight, the voice over the mic asks for the floor to be cleared and everyone is crowding around with the lights going crazy. Out from the side comes Tim Cheddar, in a pair of skates and short cut-off jeans singing "It Must Be Love". The night then kicks off again with the Theme song from the Muppets and songs like Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now', 'Cant Touch This', 'Ice Ice Baby', 'Jump Around', 'Tequila', A conga line for 'Hot Hot Hot', Violent Femmes 'Blister in the Sun', The Killers, Outkast and a old school house rave session and Faithless 'I Cant Get No Sleep' and Underworld 'Larger'. So you kinda get what its about.
Juggy was out so it was good to finally catch up with him.. even after he'd be sweating it out on the DF to Bon Jovi or something. Haha!
Someone kept ordering the table bottles of vodka (at 600dhs a bottle, it works out cheaper than buying individual drinks) and by 3am (when clubs shut), 3 bottles were gone and they were playing Spandau Ballet's 'Gold' as the last song - A Site Image 'Red Hot Hits vol.1' classic that has the lyrics changed to "JO..jo.. always believe in your soul.."
K.Jax was a right mess (as was most) and I'm pretty glad Quintin was around to help me get her blabbering mess out of there (at snail pace). A group was going back to Matt E's villa, but after 20mins of waiting for a cab and me running 4 lanes of traffic to flag one down, I dropped K.Jax and Quintin in Satwa and kept onwards to Jumeira.
Photos: Cheese@The Lodge
I crashed out on the bed of exhaustion only to be woken up at 6am, still dressed, by K.Jax asking me to let her in because she didnt take her key. She walked in with someone else's clothes on because she had been thrown (fallen?) into Matt's pool.
I woke up about 9am by the kids running around outside (sounded like they were right on my balcony!).. K.Jax woke up a few hours later and we spent the afternoon lounging around, watching shitty skipping DVDs before putting on series 1 of 24 and watching a couple of episodes before pulling ourselves away to shower and go do something!
I decided to take a neighbourhood stroll and the weather was pretty nice with a good breeze. After zig-zagging the back streets, I found myself a couple of kilometers down the Jumeira Beach Road down near the Mosque. So I hung out in the air-con at Spinneys, grabbed a frappacino from Starbucks and grabbed a cab back to the Villa to watch a few more episodes of 24 (are you proud, Ray?) .. deciding not to go meet people at Barasti to watch the rugby world cup final (Eng vs SA) and have an early night.
After a lie-in on Friday, Kate thought that we should go check out New Look to see if we could buy some cheap shoes (and possibly find an outfit for that night). After missing the turn and thinking we were on the road where theres no exit till Sharjah.. and then getting lost in I-dont-know-where.. we finally found Deira Centre and embarked on a 5hr shopping expedition which turned out to be relatively fruitless (besides a cute H&M mixtape dress I got for 44dhs!)
We werent attending Quintin's birthday buffet dinner, so we thought that we'd have the evening to relax before meeting everyone after. Kate (now known as K.Jax from here on in) got a call from her friend Kate (i've never known so many Kate's in my life) and they were all heading up to the Rooftop bar at The One & Only Mirage (thats its real name!) for pre-drinks. After sending out a few messages, Ben said he was at Barasti, so we'd planned to see Ben first and then go next door to the Mirage.
After an outfit dilemmas (I hate not having my wardrobe here!), we made it to Barasti and found Ben amongst the crowd. Had a couple of drinks and a bit of a sweat with time flying by before we had to jump in a cab, get the group from Mirage and head straight to the Lodge before 11pm (or else we'd have to pay 75dhs!)
We actually got there late, but Sophia somehow blagged us all in and thus begins my first experience of a party called CHEESE at The Lodge. Its run by a guy called Tim Cheddar (cheese) who happens to be friends with the boys from the office, which is why the birthday afterparty was there.. but after talking to other people, it appears that he knows half of Dubai one way or another!
I'd never been to 'Cheese on Toast' in Canberra, but I figured it would be something similar. Like a retro night at the Bristol Arms. The bar setup is pretty amazing. Apparently it sucks in summer as its all indoors in the 2 (3?) different rooms, but seeing as the weather is so much nicer now, they opened up the outdoor dancefloor/tent.
After midnight, the voice over the mic asks for the floor to be cleared and everyone is crowding around with the lights going crazy. Out from the side comes Tim Cheddar, in a pair of skates and short cut-off jeans singing "It Must Be Love". The night then kicks off again with the Theme song from the Muppets and songs like Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now', 'Cant Touch This', 'Ice Ice Baby', 'Jump Around', 'Tequila', A conga line for 'Hot Hot Hot', Violent Femmes 'Blister in the Sun', The Killers, Outkast and a old school house rave session and Faithless 'I Cant Get No Sleep' and Underworld 'Larger'. So you kinda get what its about.
Juggy was out so it was good to finally catch up with him.. even after he'd be sweating it out on the DF to Bon Jovi or something. Haha!
Someone kept ordering the table bottles of vodka (at 600dhs a bottle, it works out cheaper than buying individual drinks) and by 3am (when clubs shut), 3 bottles were gone and they were playing Spandau Ballet's 'Gold' as the last song - A Site Image 'Red Hot Hits vol.1' classic that has the lyrics changed to "JO..jo.. always believe in your soul.."
K.Jax was a right mess (as was most) and I'm pretty glad Quintin was around to help me get her blabbering mess out of there (at snail pace). A group was going back to Matt E's villa, but after 20mins of waiting for a cab and me running 4 lanes of traffic to flag one down, I dropped K.Jax and Quintin in Satwa and kept onwards to Jumeira.
Photos: Cheese@The Lodge
I crashed out on the bed of exhaustion only to be woken up at 6am, still dressed, by K.Jax asking me to let her in because she didnt take her key. She walked in with someone else's clothes on because she had been thrown (fallen?) into Matt's pool.
I woke up about 9am by the kids running around outside (sounded like they were right on my balcony!).. K.Jax woke up a few hours later and we spent the afternoon lounging around, watching shitty skipping DVDs before putting on series 1 of 24 and watching a couple of episodes before pulling ourselves away to shower and go do something!
I decided to take a neighbourhood stroll and the weather was pretty nice with a good breeze. After zig-zagging the back streets, I found myself a couple of kilometers down the Jumeira Beach Road down near the Mosque. So I hung out in the air-con at Spinneys, grabbed a frappacino from Starbucks and grabbed a cab back to the Villa to watch a few more episodes of 24 (are you proud, Ray?) .. deciding not to go meet people at Barasti to watch the rugby world cup final (Eng vs SA) and have an early night.