BZ Travel Diary - London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul and Reykjavik
London, UK
Checked out Google UK and DeepMind, which is also part of Alphabet focusing on long-term general artificial intelligence study.
Experienced local small coffee shop and store (e.g. coffee stand in the local market, bookshop on a boat, English tea place called Bea’s cafe, Indian brunch place, French cuisine…)
Talked about inspiration in life, what drives us and what status relationship should be.
Went to local bars to grab a beer and talk with local lads. People in London will order a book, stand on the street in front of the bar and just hang out there.
Watched Harry Potter Broadway Part 1 and 2 (on March 03) - Highly recommended
Travel tips: (1) Buy an oyster card to travel within the city and from/to the airports. Note: you cannot use the card to go to STN airport, however they do allow you to use that card to get in but you may get a fine for doing it. (2) London have 5 different airports, find out which one you are using and plan ahead.
Dubai
Checked out the sites: Burj Khalifa (no need to go to 124, or 125); Dubai Malls, Dubai Fountains
Visited the local markets and old Dubai. You can try the water taxi for a few bucks. Note that people in the market will try to hustle you so be aware of it and be prepared.
Tried Sand board, Camel ride, bbq and watched belly dancing and fire show performance in the Red Dune Desert.
Stayed in Atlantis, the Palm Dubai. With the night stay, you can access to the beaches and also gain free access to the water park, in which there is a famous ride called leap of faith and you can slide through the shark tank.
Note: Their weekend is Friday and Saturday. Plan accordingly
人成长的方式有三种：读书，聊天，旅游；把这个当作自己的爱好，也把这个作为自己平时一直坚持的事情，总会有进步。
Abu Dhabi
U.A.E National Tree: Ghaf - Desert, requires less water, represents Tolerance
U.A.E National Airline: Etihad instead of Emirate (which only flies out of Dubai not Abu Dhabi)
Abu Dhabi is the capital and where the king and leaves, Dubai is the commercial center and where the vice-king leaves
10% of Dubai capital are local and they can sponsor business from other countries to setup here in U.A.E. They just need to sign and can get 5,000 dirham to 100,000 dirham depends on the business
Dubai Mosque costs $3 billion and it comes from the personal account of the prince at that time to honor his father. It could take 7,000 men to pray at the same time. People pray 5-6 time per day. It has the world’s largest mat and chandelier The mosque takes in Indian, Pakistan and Egypt inspiration and design
U.A.E rich people love their falcon more than their kids. They take them on vacation in the first class flight. Those falcons have their passport and ID as well.
U.A.E does not have beauty pageant for women but have those for camels. Winner could take home $3 million dirham
U.A.E king get rejected to have Disneyland in U.A.E because he wants it to be the largest Disneyland. They he decided to build one 10 times larger than Disneyland called DubaiLand
If there is a building taller than Burj Khalifa, the king will build another one to be 1k taller than that one.
Travel Note: Book a local tour who will drive you around. The thing I like the most is the talk by the tour guide, which includes a lot of local knowledge and interesting things that you would not have while traveling on your own.
Istanbul, Turkey
Places to visit
Sultanahmet or the Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia
Cistern Basilica
Transportation
You can leave your luggage at the airport for layovers and go out enjoy the city. On international arrival level . - Left Luggage. 25 Lira per bag for a day
Havabus (a bus taking me to the Taksim square) then take the train from there to the blue mosque
What to eat
Desert place: restaurant called hafiz mustafa near Sultanahmet, try tavuk gogsu (a desert with chicken in it), salep (a turkish milk drink made of a root of a plant) - They are super sweet.
Meatball place: Sultanahmet Koftecisi
Turkish Delights
Reykjavik, Iceland
Drove to blue lagoon after land and enjoyed a hot bath
Drove to hostel and get dinner and drinks (lobster soup, and famous hotdog)
Watched an Opera - La Traviata （茶花女）
Went to local bars to grab a drink
Tried my luck to see northern lights at Grótta Lighthouse (7 mins drive from downtown)
Checked out the SEO 101 artist restaurant
Checked out of the Pearl (Percan) museum, watch aurora shows and explore the ice cave
Note: Be spontaneous and trust your instinct to make decisions. Normally it will turn out to be great.
