Going to Dubai

 My husband has a business trip planned to Dubai and I get to go.  The trip is in April so I will be 4.5 months out from surgery.  We are considering reserving a table at Al Iwan which is a restaurant in the the famous Burj Al Arab hotel.  It is a buffet.  How much realistically would I be able to eat?  I will probably never get a chance like this again in my lifetime.  We are expecting to pay about $300 or more for this meal!  I want it to be worth it.  We are solidly middle class; this is a very big deal.  If I could eat 4-6 oz it might be okay.  But if I'm still at 2 oz I'll save my money for the gold market.  

At 4.5 months I was eating 4 ounces.

 Dubai......really?   I'm so stinking jealous.  That is on my Bucket List!  I think you have to have the meal if only for the experience.  If I can fit in your suit case by then I want to go!  Too bad you have to stay covered up there, in 4 1/2 months your body will be rocking!

You don't have to cover up in Dubai.... I go there fairly often and I wear whatever I normally wear. Depends where you go in Dubai but all the main hotels and shopping areas are just fine if you are normally (and decently) dressed. Poolside all sorts of very skimpy bikinis are very much in! No worries there.

 My suggestion is to Save your money for the gold market.  Enjoy the visual opulence that Dubai has to offer.  At 22 months out I can still only eat 6 ozs of fish or 4 oz of meat and a few bites of lettuce. I went to Provence at 4 months out and could only eat 2-3 ounces. Not worth $300 when everything is so expensive there.   You'll probably remember a beautiful piece of jewelry much longer.

Two years ago my son spent a year in Dubai. He was on a Fulbright Scholarship from the government to teach storytelling and documentary filmmaking to university students.

The facade that Dubai portrays to the world is not the reality of how life is there.  Zach couldn't wait to get back to manhattan.

I thought about going to visit him but decided to send Zach a ticket to meet me for two weeks in Russia instead.  I didn't want to support the UAE' s opinions about women and Jewish people.

Have a great time and get lots of pics of your new svelte gorgeous self!

Wow, sounds like  a great trip.

LOL - I hate to even pay for a buffet meal now.  I just don't feel like I can get my monies worth.  I know I would spend my money on something I could bring home with me!!  Can you just tour the hotel?

Have fun.  Can't wait to see pictures.

Linda 

I know you hate to hear this but you will literally eat about a dollars worth at that point.  Seriously.  We just cannot eat that much during this first year.  Tell your hubby to go all out on it but if it was me, I would skip it as I would be sitting there thinking about how I just wasted my $$.  But then I am frugal way too much of the time and have mostly goodwilled it so far with replacing my clothing!

Dubai will be a blast without the buffet!!!!  

~~Jennifer

I was avoiding buffets for a long time because I couldn't eat much but then I realized that even when I was big I could never eat enough to get my money's worth.  They pay so little for the food that even if I ate 4 plates they would still be ahead, unless it was 4 plates of shrimp or steak.
Now I go just to have some variety.  I take a spoonful of whatever looks good and is OK for me to eat.  I still leave a lot behind but I don't feel bad about that since I paid for it.  To tell you the truth, if it were me and it was supposed to be a great experience I would probably go.  I am worth $300 even if I don't eat that much.
Believe me, even your husband isn't going to eat $300 worth of food.

At almost 10 months out there is no way I could eat enough to begin to justify that expense, no matter how cool the restaurant. And like Lee, I refuse to support a situation that is so discriminating toward women.

i think it is great that you are getting to go.  My best friends DH worked there for a couple of years and she went to visit a few times.  She did see both side of the situation and wasn't totally comfortable with all the stuff she experienced.  but she was glad she went.  For me, even as much as I like a good meal, I won't pay that for a meal.  I would definately same my $$ for the gold market.  I like to experience a variety of food when traveling but the cheap local places can do that for me pretty well.

As an example, on the cruise we had 5 course meals.  There was no way I could even eat a bite or 2 of each course and eat the protein from the main course.  I'm over a year out.

Buffets are a whole different animal and mind set.  I went to our local chinese buffett not long ago for the first time since surgery.  It has aways been one of my favorite places because they has steamed shrimp and oysters on the bar and I could pig out on those.  I did start with my oysters and shrimp, with a much smaller number of each, then when back for bok choy and spinach,  I think I had the meat out of some other concoction.  One coconut macaroon for desert.  I was definately full but felt like I did ok with my choices.  Did I get my money's worth?  Well my shrimp and oysters anywhere else would have been as much a my meal there so I think I did.  But I probably ate 1/4 to 1/8 what I would have.  That's ok, DH and DS wipe them out so they eat enough for me too.