... a stream of conciousness about staying in the Burj Khalifa. There's so much more I wish to share, I just need to put my thoughts together.

This was a trip of a lifetime, and yes, I think I will only have this memory of visiting (and staying in) the tallest building in the world. It was an opportunity we could not pass up, especially when we had an offer to stay here with a friend. Welcome to the Burj Khalifa. 163 floors of pure vertigo, symmetry, and steel.

There were many things that I loved about staying at the Burj Khalifa. Of course, there are the bragging rights. Even our Abu Dhabi tour guide felt bolder about dropping us off at our "hotel." As a scientific and mathematical person, I marveled at the grandeur of this spire. There was so much symmetry happening here, the three intersecting sections, the tiered floors, and definitely the geometric art deco vibes. Of course, I loved visiting the underground garage to peek at the expensive luxury cars and pristine classics.

Then there were some strange things. Every other hotel and skyscraper boasted about having a view of the Burj Khalifa. That meant, we were likely hundreds of tourist photos. Since we were in the building at night, we did not witness the spectacular nightly light show that played upon our building. Also, for the first two night, I thought an obnoxious car was playing its music really loudly from the street, when in fact, it was the Whitney Houston "I will always love you" finale of the hourly water show. Of course, security was tight. We needed to release our passports to security for approval upon arrival. Then we had to tag our entrance cards no less than 8 times to get from the entrance to our friend's residence. The weirdest thing was that the Burj Khalifa was connected to a mall, and it was at this mall that we would get our groceries, kill time in the air conditioning, and connect to restaurants. If we wanted to re-enter through the gift shop and flow against the stream of tourists coming from the Observation Deck.

Here is the view from 122nd floor, where Adrian and I had high tea to celebrate his birthday. To get here, Adrian had to trade in his Birkenstocks for some loafers, as commanded by the nice lady in the lobby. From here, it looked like we were looking at a miniature set of the city. Also from here, you can see all the other skyscrapers and where they meet the endless desert.

The food in Dubai was amazing. I guess that is what you get when you set high standards and pay a premium for the best produce to be flown or shipped.