Ehhh... blogger is different now. This is weird. After so many years, they finally decided to change the interface?
Dubai.. dubai.. From where shall I start? Actually Dubai was on my plan long time ago thinking there will be nothing much to see in Dubai but truth is, a week is not enough yo. Roughly, Dubai made you having an ambition of marrying a super rich guy because it is all about money in Dubai. You'll see girls as young as 12 or 13 maybe, towing a Juicy Couture bag in one hand, Blackberry/Iphone with another and a maid walking behind carrying their loot for the day. Who brings along maids to shopping? You will see families with small kids in the Burberry Kids, Armani Junior and Dior Kids. Tsk..tsk..
Anyway,
As we arrived in Dubai trying to figure out the transport system, the major thing that we found out was if you wanted to travel by Metro to get into the city or your hotel, do not be there on Fridays because the Metro will only start at noon after Friday prayers. So, you either have to take a taxi which is very expensive as they will start the meter on 25dirhams or wait for the Metro. We chose taxi and arrived safely at Rush Inn Hotel. Rush Inn Hotel was a good budget hotel. Our room was clean, the hotel is very near to public transport and nearby there is a pharmacy and a supermarket. Pretty much convenient.
That evening we were picked up by the agency for Desert Safari by 3.30pm and reaches the desert in half an hour time I think. It was super fun and really worth the money. We have dune bashing where the driver drove with his mad skills in the desert (they were trained by the way) and with us inside jumping up and down. Thank God for the seat belts.
The three pseudo Arabian men.
Jakunlah ok.
Huehue. More like Mongolian than Arabian. Lol
These guys deserved standing ovation. I bet they can pass tandem walking test after twirling like mad for 20minutes maybe?
A belly dancer named Lubna if I am not mistaken and she's like an internationally acclaimed belly dancer, that was what they say. Men were gawking at her the entire time while old ladies or the wives trying to eat their food silently. The food was nice by the way and the dances were like a deviation for us from taking more food I guess. I always thought that belly dancing was like a torture to your hips. I winced at times seeing this. Haha.
The closing dance which was extremely weird and horrifying. but most of us enjoyed it. Maybe because it was too funny.
The next day, we went to Dubai Museum which was within walking distance from our hotel. For 3 dirhams there were many so things to see. Dubai Museum was partly air-conditioned because it was a fort previously. It was built with coral rock and mortar. I don't even know what coral rock is but from the texture and the look of it, it looks like corals. Google lah. I malas.
I did not expect much from the museum because from outside the museum looked small but surprisingly the museum filled up our entire morning. It was very interesting in my opinion but history wise, Dubai was pretty much about trading and business.
The mannequins awesomely looked real! It must be scary at nights if you are alone.
Night at the Museum : Battle of Sheesha and drinking teas.
This reminds me when I was small. Ayah pegang rotan ke ha? but one ustazah at school pinched me very hard and made me stand in front of the class. She taught me Quran. I kinda don't like her from that point onward.
Then we walked around to reach the creek to take an Abra to cross the Dubai Creek to reach Deira. It was hot and I am still amazed, how we managed to walk about in the heat. We literally bathing in our own sweats.
Sweaty Malaysian-always-being-mistaken-as-Filipino people.
This is Abra. Only 1dirham to board.
Due to the overwhelming heat, we decided to take a metro, off to Dubai Mall and bought tickets for Burj Khalifa. Before that, I think we went to Deira City Centre. Dubai has lots and lots of shopping malls. Even on weekdays, we saw many people in the mall as if they have nothing else to do but shopping. By evening, we were again being picked up for our Dhow Dinner Cruise. Dhow is basically a large boat to carry things.
If the Dhow went a bit faster during the summer time, I will surely recommend to sit and enjoy the view upstairs for the open-air view because it was hot really even at nights making us appreciate Mysore's weather more. The food was OK but I loved the veg lasagna. Yeah, veg.
View from the dhow. It was really really really nice.
Certainly not for people seeking calm and relaxing dinner that night but it was entertaining to see these ladies. We even took pictures together. Hohohoho.
The next day, we decided to go and see Jumeirah. We traveled a lot by their public transport. What I like about their public transport is there are seats for buses and a coach for the metros allocated for women only. We queued to buy bus tickets to Abu Dhabi the next day but they called us two girls to go directly into the bus. No need to queue. How awesome was that?
So we went to Jumeirah. The first stop is Jumeirah Mosque. There were two volunteers inside the mosque telling about Islam basically. How we pray, why we pray in the directions of Kaabah, why we women cover ourselves from head to toe, why some women wear jilbab and all those stuff. I think it is a good effort to introduce Islam to those who never knew what Islam really is. I am very happy at the end of the tour. Maybe one day I will do the same thing as this.
Jumeirah mosque.
Mercato mall. I like this mall.
Crazy tourists going to the beach at 2pm.
Then we walked around and I think this was the nearest we "the miskins" can get to Burj Al-Arab. Lol.
15 dirhams if you want to see Jumeirah Palace. From the outside.
Jumeirah Palace where the filthy stinking rich people reside. The ambition level increased even more around this point of time.
The residential area. It was very lovely.
Santek~
We then headed back to the city to Dubai Mall. We were gonna have our At The Top: Burj Khalifa experience. I was very much excited about this since Dad went to Dubai and didn't get the chance to go up there.
No idea which building is which.
Burj Khalifa. You should hear the metro guy saying burj khalifa. It was funny.
Current records
- Tallest skyscraper (to top of spire): 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m/1,671 ft)
- Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft)
- Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft)
- Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft)
- Building with most floors: 160 (previously Willis Tower – 108)
- Building with world's highest occupied floor: 160th floor
- World's highest elevator installation (situated inside a rod at the very top of the building)
- World's fastest elevators: 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 449.2 m/1,474 ft)
- First world's tallest structure in history to include residential space
- World's highest outdoor observation deck: 124th floor at 452 m (1,483 ft)
- World's highest mosque: 158th floor
- World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass facade: 512 m (1,680 ft)
- World's second highest swimming pool: 76th floor[28] (world's highest swimming pool is located on 108th floor of Ritz-Carlton Hotel at International Commerce Centre, Hong-Kong)
- World's highest nightclub: 144th floor
- World's highest restaurant (At.mosphere): 122nd floor at 442 m (1,450 ft) (previously 360, at a height of 350 m/1,148 ft in CN Tower)
- World's highest New Year display of fireworks.
GILO!
Those with super mahal camera must really appreciate their camera now.
Abu Dhabi was our destination the next day. It took us 2 hours to reach Abu Dhabi from Dubai and costing us 15 dirhams which was okay.
This is the Emirates Palace Hotel. Also where the filthy stinking rich resides. The taxi driver said usually they let tourist go in, take pictures but sadly that day was not our day.
Ada rules and regulations lagi kat depan.
Siapa ok gila nak duduk luar makan-makan takdek payung ngan ekon?
We then went to Sheikh Zayed Mosque. It was listed in Listverse for Top 10 Heavyweight Mosque. Worth the heat to see this mosque. It was stunningly beautiful. Oh I just read in wiki, the carpet in the main hall for prayers is considered to be the largest carpet in the world!
Swarovski crystals all they way for the chandeliers.
Back to Dubai by bus. 39 degrees? Like really?
The next morning, as our usual routine, we bought breakfast from Supermarket. Nothing fancy. We were on a budget holiday. I bought "Laban" almost everyday. I remembered when we went to Mekah or Madinah on Ramadhan, there was like people giving off free Laban and dates. Triggered by curiosity, we asked Dad to buy Laban for us. It was yucky but then I bought it again in Dubai just to remember what it tasted like. I liked it actually. It tasted like yogurt drink without sugar or flavour. I am turning old.
We went to Bastakiya after that. Not much things to see here but I like the building though. And it was steaming hot. Mandi peluh everyday.
After going around in Bastakiya, we finally had enough and decided to cool off and so we went to Mall of Emirates. They have this one of the largest indoor ski slope. Orang Dubai tak ada kerja. Semua nak jadi world record.
Aha. One interesting thing that we saw was this. Gold ATM. Because they are too rich they can buy gold straight from vending machine. The cheapest was prolly 1k dirhams. For one ounce of gold you can pay directly by cash or by card, 6k+ dirhams. and then..
These will be yours.
We never really confirmed to enter Ski Dubai because it was quite costly but after much deliberation, we decided to go. For 200 dirhams we had this Superpass where we can do anything we want but skiing. For skiing you need to at least complete Level One and have beginner lesson which was even more costly. For group lesson, 220 dirhams perperson.
Excited faces before entering.
Excited faces again. Yeah, the snow is not real but heck who cares. We were in the world third largest indoor ski slope.
The temperature was -3 degrees. Outside the temperature was 36-37 degrees. Extreme temperature change in one day. Pity our skin pores all right.
We headed to Dubai Mall again to see Dubai Fountain. This was super awesome.
Tsk. Already missing Dubai.
here. not my video but this was what we saw the other day. Really awesome.
To sum up, Dubai is a fascinating place but it is full with Filipinos and Indians. And please Filipinos working in Dubai, not all tourists with a slight mata sepet and tan skin is a Filipino too. *sigh*
Okie dokie.
2 weeks more to go for home. Tak sabar!
p/s: Thanks to Fibi, Dzul, Fahim and Hafiz for this wonderful holiday. If I ever did or say something wrong, I am sorry.heh
