The Saddest Theme Park

I met up yesterday with my friend Ann who's based in Abu Dhabi and we visited one of Dubai's local theme parks. But unfortunately, it was the saddest theme park I have ever visited in my entire life. The place was deserted, eerily silent and just plain sad. Most rides were closed too, the cafes were only serving bland chicken burger, pool was already closed and there were countless black crows hovering above the entire place. A sad little brown horse was walking around and even the prize stuffed toys on the shooting area seemed a bit too cranky and freaky for a happy child's taste. Seriously, it's a scene straight out of Children of the Corn. :(

Simply put, everything about it looks dull, wasted and abandoned. Such a shame because the place has so much amazing potential if only the management or owners would care to unleash it. Very heartbreaking because it's so far from the theme parks of my childhood which were always brimming with so much life and energy. My eyes would instantly light up with the mere mention of "theme park" as it conjures the happiest and fondest memories of summers during my childhood. Our summers back then wouldn't be complete without a trip or two to a local theme park or carnival. It has always been one of the best highlights of our school breaks and I still smile because of it whenever I look back.

My heart sank when I saw the gloomy horse (both the live one and the one on the carousel) and much more when I saw the stuffed red chilies. They looked kinda traumatized I think. Who wouldn't be when you're supposed to be in the happiest place on earth and you're not having fun?

But thanks to our wicked sense of humor and crazy love for adventure, the experience was still so much fun. Though the place and almost everything in it tried to suck out our positive energy at first, we still managed to enjoy ourselves and took advantage of whatever's left of the theme park.

Ann's company never fails to crack me up big time. She doesn't miss out on any opportunity, giving out no excuse to enjoy life's every single moment. As you can see above, she even had the courage to ride the Taga Disco all by herself! And mind you, it was an excruciatingly long fast spin and the ride didn't have a seatbelt or anything! Something I would never ever see myself do for sure. But this friend of mine amazes me to no end. Will truly never trade yesterday's experience for anything. So glad to spend it in the saddest theme park in the whole wide world. :)

How was your weekend, lovelies?