Atlantis Light Check Photos

Some ridiculously awesome photos of the light check.

Atlantis Videos

Atlantis Opening

Atlantis Hotel had a $20 million star-studded opening the day I left. We were very fortunate to get to eat there three days before, at their fancy seafood restaurant Ossiana. From their website:

"Santi Santamaria, the three star Michelin chef, offers gourmet seafood and a seductive ambience in the underwater world of Atlantis. In his first venture outside Europe, the ‘Architect of Food’ offers an intensity of flavours and a focus on technique with his Catalan cuisine in an elegant space inspired by the ocean depths. It’s the perfect location for an intimate dining experience, with unmatched views of the exotic marine life of the Ambassador Lagoon."

Chris called ahead and was told that the dress code is formal. YAY! Time to break out the prom dress!!!! The four of us - Carleen, Chris, Roman and I - glammed it up and hopped in a taxi for the unexciting 15 minute ride to the tippy tip of the Palm Jumeirah. The Atlantis is on the breaker that surrounds the palm, connected to the trunk by crazy tunnel. I had nightmares of the walls breaking and seawater flooding in, but we made it through just fine.

As we drove the final stretch to the hotel, we saw car a mile-long line of cars parked along the side of the road. Apparently they don't have much parking there. Ha. Pulling up to valet we saw all sorts of fancy. It's the cheesey Atlantis chain, WAY Vegas-y and over the top. The people are divided into 2 obvious groups: fancy schmancy overdressed (diamonds and black tie) and American casual (tank tops and flip flops). Kids running around, screaming, while their parents don't even have the decency to pretend they care. Tourists and locals taking photos in every possible area... it was something.

The dinner was amazing. We had a table right by the giant fish tank. We each ordered 2 courses, but the chef sent out so many tastings that we ended up with (no lie) 9 courses. Deeeeelicious! Part of the reason it was so good, was that it was extremely fresh. Sadly, they actually kill the fish after you order. That was a little hard to think about, but I forgot about it as soon as little Nemo arrived, cooked and looking quite tasty, to my table.

Here's a quick overview of our meal:

1- Amuse bouche - beet puree with yogurt

2- Canapes - tomato with cheese, mushroom tart, crab on fruit, peach with macadamia nut-daikon radish with caviar

3- Zucchini flowers with goat cheese

4- Boullibase (my app)

5- Hamachi

6- Cod (bacalao) with hummus and quail egg

7- Seabass with baby artichokes and pumpkin puree (my entree)

(Carleen and Chris had grouper - Roman had turbot with lamb and lentils)

8- Cheese plate

9- Assorted dessert sampler - 6 different dessert bites, like little truffles or canapes made from chocolate and assorted fruit and nut flavors

Tour of Dubai

My boss hooked us up for a little tour of the city, including the spice market, gold souk and creek. YAY!! We were all excited as we hopped in the Land Rover (or whatever the hell it was) and made our way through the hideous traffic to Old Dubai. Unfortunately we had a REALLY annoying and inappropriate tour guide who seemed well-travelled and worldly, but who had an awful chip on his shoulder about the gays. I happened to be with 3 people who are (as my mom says) festive. When he went off on the first tirade, within the first 5 minutes of meeting, we all had to smile and nod, so that he wouldn't take us into a back alley and kill us. Luckily (for him) he managed to stay off that topic and the rest of the morning was quite pleasant.

More Gala Photos

The Main Event

Meanwhile, we were still always working on the Main Event. A Gala Dinner for 540 guests in the Madinat Arena. You saw the "before" pic below - basically a huge empty box that we had to build out and decorate. First we rigged 25' drape on truss around the perimeter of the dinner space, as well as sound, light and video. Then we brought in 20' palm trees, chandeliers, baffle walls, video surrounds and other custom set pieces. The tables were custom-built in order to seat the number of guests we need per table while accommodating the huge plates, which obviously meant custom linens, runners, napkins to match. We shipped some items (drape, baffles, video screens and surrounds) from the U.S. and had others (linens, runners, napkins, chairs) made in Dubai by a local company. All in all it came together beautifully!!

Pierchic Dinner

One of the events we helped with was a dinner for the Laurates and the Rolex VIPs at the Pierchic restaurant, which is at the end of the pier off of the Madinat Beach. It has an amazing view of the Madinat Resort, the Burj Al Arab to the east and the Palm to the west. The restaurant is supposed to be delicious, but unfortunately I didn't have time to try it out.

Mall of the Emirates

We needed some items for the production office, so we drove off to the local mall, the Mall of the Emirates. This is the smaller, closer one. The Dubai Mall, which is supposed to be the largest in the world, is downtown in Old Dubai. Emirates is about a mile from the hotel, which would have taken only about 5 minutes, if the freeways weren't so damn confusing and sent us off onto the Palm trunk. Anyhow, we got there after a bit of a tour, and parked in the massive garage, which is really just like any mall parking at home. Then we walked into the building... also much like any mall at home. But this one is crazy big - so much so that I can't even imagine what the bigger one is like. Mall of the Emirates bills itself as the world's first shopping resort. Awesome, huh? It's multi-level and has too many stores to count, as well as movie theaters, a Via Rodeo (a solid copy of the actual shopping street in Beverly Hills) and a ski slope.

Now I'm in London

...and am trying to catch up. The past week was really busy with the events and jet lag finally hitting me, so I wasn't able to blog. But I'm in London now, chillin' at my new favorite hotel, and ready to play catch up.

Event Site

We are having the Gala Dinner for 520 guests in the Madinat Arena. The event is Tuesday evening. Load-in officially started this morning. Here's a "before" pic.

We are hanging drape, installing carpet, putting in all sorts of good stuff...

This is not a vacation

I got about 3 hours of sleep, and was up and talking to the LA office a full hour before my 7:30 wake-up call. Not intentionally, mind you. I would have loved to sleep in, but I'm on some funky sleep schedule. A nap during the day, and a few hours of sleep at night. Kind of like Cannes, just sleeping when there's a little down-time. Hopefully I'll get into some kind groove. Probably the day I leave.

Walking back from the gym I noticed the stunning views from the hall windows. The Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah in the distance, Pierchic out over the water, Jumeirah Beach, abras, buggys, guests playing by the pool, in the waves and along the walkways... and here I am, hittin' the gym at 8 am, talking biz-ness with my boss, checking my blackberry every 5 minutes. I was patting myself on the back, all impressed with my industriousness. However, as I passed a couple in the hall, it hit me: I'm not on vacation.

I SHOULD be getting up at 7. I SHOULD be checking my e-mail every 5 minutes. I SHOULD be in my room on my computer, instead of lounging by the pool. It's my job. Not a bad one, either. I'm pretty happy. :)

Abra ride

The resort has abras (little boats) to transport guests along a saltwater waterway that winds its way around the entire property. It takes approximately 20 minutes to get from one side to the other. After Pierchic we hopped on an abra to get a quick tour, and caught a glimpse of the thai restaurant (Pai Thai) where we later had dinner.

After dinner we met up with the production company and watched our decor (packed in crates, which were air shipped from home) load in to the Arena. So far so good. Tomorrow (today?) is a big day - the last one before the rigging begins on Saturday morning at 10.

It's now 2:25 am. I have to be up in 5 hours. Eeeeew!

PS - Tomorrow we're having dinner at the new Atlantis, which is on the Palm Jumeirah!! Can't wait!!

I need steady-cam

Sorry for giving you seizures. I don't mean to. I'll try to be better. Today we stopped in for a meeting at the Pierchic restaurant, where we are helping with a little dinner for the Laureates on Monday night. This place is pretty cool... it's at the end of the pier that runs off the hotel beach, right between the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah, and there are great views of both, as well as of the entire Madinat resort.

Dubai - Day 2

I'm still trying to get on local time. Woke up about 4 am and worked for a couple hours. Was able to grab another hour of sleep, but it wasn't great. Unfortunately I can't just will myself to get on the schedule. So I'm trying all of the tricks, including working out. The gym is gorgeous - lap pool, squash courts (I tried, but suck at it), steam rooms, all the fancy cardio equipment, free weights and other excercise goodies. It's nicer than the Equinox at home!!

Mina A'Salam

Dubai - Day 1

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow! This place is crazy. First, we had to navigate through the airport. No big deal there - all signs are in English. Customs/Immigration and baggage claim were super-smooth. No troubles to speak of. We then went to Hertz and picked up our rental car - a Toyota Fortuna, which is basically a Forerunner. Nice ride. It's the same side of the car and road as in the U.S., so I decided to drive. Chris navigated. It's a little tricky getting out of the airport, and Chris isn't a skilled co-pilot, so it took us about 20 minutes to get our bearings, check my bberry's GPS (which, btw, my bberry is the BEST thing EVER - cuz it also saved me from Verizon's crappy phone service). Anyhow, we eventually made it to the hotel and (long story short?) checked in. We also did some work stuff - met up with the hotel contact, checked out the event site, printed out some docs. My room is awesome. Actually, Chris and Roman said their rooms look identical to mine, so I think all the rooms are pretty darn cool. They all seem to be mini-suites.

Heathrow - more layover

Heathrow 8 hour layover

Off the plane and straight to a pub... for lunch! We chose a cute place called Huxleys, in the new(ish?) British Airways' Terminal 5. Food was not at all what I wanted... all choices too heavy. I chose the smoked salmon and cucumber sandwich, with a green salad on the side. Better choice than the hamburger, roast beef, full English breakfast, fish and chips.... wow. Food was dismal. But - hey - it's an airport. I hope the real London food is better. **note - dessert was bread and butter pudding with clotted cream of some description - it was AWESOME (and calorie-free I'm sure).
We are hanging out at the restaurant, enjoying the free wifi, blogging away. My co-worker, Chris, has started one too - www.cgcarrington.blogspot.com - and will be on the Dubai portion with me. He brought a 18-200 mm lens for his Rebel and is planning to get some good shots.
Here are a few shots of where we are now.

Off to Dubai!

Just arrived at Heathrow. Slept 9 of the 10 hours, waking only to the air pressure change as we begas our descent into the London area. YES!

Dear Ambien,

I was skeptical when I first heard about you. Drug addictions, adverse effects... you (maybe not YOU, but your kind) had a bad rep. But then I talked to my doctor about how I didn't sleep for any of my last flight over and was miserable the first few days, and she introduced me to you. And xanax, but let's focus on YOU. Just 10 mg and I passed out - and in COACH! Slept through breakfast, which was probably a blessing. Put on some mascara (that's the black goop for your lashes), fluffed my hair, and was a completely new person.

THANK YOU!!!

Long (2:30) video of landing... can't edit it at this point - I'll cut down later.