Palm Islands Jumeirah Atlantis hotel Dubai

UAE 2010: Driving around Dubai (Souk Madinat Jumeirah, The Atlantis & The Palm Islands) – Part 1

Date: 9th April 2010

Today was going to be one heck of an ‘out-&-about’ day. My friend Jassim was free to drive me around and show me the parts of Dubai (as of the above date) the metro service hasn’t covered yet. After all the sight-seeing, we were then going to close out the night with one of the biggest events of this trip — catching David Guetta’s performance in Dubai!

But first, the day.

The morning started out slow and I was mostly indoors. As for lunch, Azhad decided to treat me to a local experience. So we headed to Al Rigga road in Deira.

Golden Fish restaurant Deira Dubai
The Russians must love shrimp
Chinese union society Deira Dubai
The Chinese presence in Dubai is exponential

Deira parking lotDeira small mosque DubaiThe restaurant was Bait Al Mandi, a popular Yemeni joint.

Bait Al-Mandi restaurant Deira DubaiWhat’s unique about this place? Well, they serve Al Mandi — essentially meat on top of flavoured rice. You might be thinking biriyani. but you’ll get a better picture once you see the photos.

We sat upstairs, where you had individuals cabins in which you sit down on the floor.

Inside Bait Al-Mandi Deira Dubai Mithun
That's me
Inside Bait Al-Mandi Deira Dubai slippers
Slippers outside
Bait Al-Mandi chicken mutton rice
Food inside

The meal consists of a lentil soup (which was lovely), an entire cup of curd,  and the main dish itself — be it mutton or chicken. And yes, that is an entire half chicken you see above.

Bait Al-Mandi Deira Dubai Azhad
Thumbs up on the food alright

Just that… it was too much! We couldn’t finish all the meat. And the amazing thing is, all this costs less than Dhs 50 (Rs. 600/$13/€11). You can’t ask for a more filling meal in Dubai.

Once we were (partly) done with our heavy lunch, our friend Jassim arrived to pick us up. He had a plan in mind (since he’s done these ‘tours’ for visiting family) and we began our drive.

Dubai clock tower roundabout
Before all the buildings, this was once Dubai's most iconic landmark

Dubai flyover constructionDubai flyover intersection landscaping artDubai flyover underpass art

Dubai Honda showroom building to-let
Dubai Festival City in the distance

Al Badia Hillside Village

We made a quick stop at the Al Badia Golf Club — an impressive, built completely from the ground up, golf course.

Al Badia golf club DubaiAl Badia Golf club dubai lakeRoundabout near Al Badia golf clubWe moved on shortly after.

Dubai flyover roadDubai flyover street lightsDubai flyover road building constructionDubai skyline buildings afternoon

Dubai skyline buildings afternoon Burj Khalifa
Never tired of Dubai's skyline

Dubai flyover towards Sheikh Zyed roadDubai flyover towards Burj Khalifa

Sheikh Zayed buildings Dubai
(Took these photos from inside the car)

Buildings road behind Sheikh Zayed Dubai Buildings road behind Sheikh Zayed Dubai Rotana

DIFC village office building Dubai
The Dubai International Financial Centre

DIFC village office building DubaiSheikh Zayed Dubai office buildings

Dubai Rotana tower

Sheikh Zayed buildings

Sheikh Zayed LG old building
This is the oldest building on Sheikh Zayed Road

We then made a brief stop at the gas station to stock up on junk food.

Eppco petrol station dubaiEppco donuts Dubai

Vimto light can drink Dubai Eppco
Ahhh Vimto, how I missed you. (Now available in 'Light')

After stocking up, Jassim then took us to Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

Road to Jumeirah Dubai

Jumeirah traffic lightSouk Madinat Jumeirah entrance Dubai

The souk is the shopping mall attached to the Madinat Jumeirah resort, an impressive resort offering from the Jumeirah Group — the owners of the iconic Burj Al Arab.

Souk Madinat Jumeirah Burj Al Arab DubaiYes, this yet another mall and I thought I was done with malls because once you’ve seen the biggest and the best, it takes a lot to interest you in another. But Jassim assured me this was a mall that was quite different from the others.

Madinat Jumeirah in Arabic translates to ‘City of Jumeirah’ and is resort complex designed keeping in mind old Arab architecture. It houses two hotels, several restaurants and a few hundred stores.

Souk Madinat Jumeirah elevator
From the elevators...
Souk Madinat Jumeirah hall way stores
... to the mall,
Souk Madinat Jumeirah water
... the place tries to invoke an 'old Arabia' atmosphere

We just did a roam-around of the mall.

Souk Madinat Jumeirah hall Jassim
(That's our friend Jassim)

Souk Madinat Jumeirah courtyard waterwaysSouk Madinat Jumeirah bridgeSouk Madinat Jumeirah Jassim AzhadSouk Madinat Jumeirah cooling vents old Arab architectureSouk Madinat Jumeirah Cinnabon DubaiSouk Madinat Jumeirah outside cartsSouk Madinat Jumeirah outside shop carts

Souk Madinat Jumeirah coffee shop restaurant boats
Madinat Jumeirah is a very popular wedding venue too
Souk Madinat Jumeirah bridge abra dock
There are traditional abras to take guests for rides around the water way

Souk Madinat Jumeirah bridge Burj Al ArabSouk Madinat Jumeirah restaurant waterway

Souk Madinat Jumeirah waterway Mithun Burj Al Arab
The obligatory 'You know i'm in Dubai because you can see the Burj Al Arab in the background' photo

Souk Madinat Jumeirah mall DubaiSouk Madinat Jumeirah roof wooden ceilingOf all the malls I’ve been to in Dubai, the Souk Madinat Jumeirah really stands out as one of the best. It really is a great place to visit, be it for a date or a casual hangout. Plenty of restaurant options and you really can’t beat the setting.

With that, we were done.

Jumeirah road towards Dubai MarinaUp next was another landmark of Dubai — and one that is best seen from the sky.

But since we couldn’t afford a helicopter ride, we had to see The Palm Jumeirah islands from the ground.

Road to Palm Islands JumeirahPalm Islands Jumeirah trunk empty apartmentsPalm Islands Jumeirah empty apartmentsWe drove past a lot of (what looked liked to me) empty apartments. To the left of the above photo was the proposed Trump Tower, now on hold.

We were heading towards to tip of The Palm Islands to see the famed Atlantis resort.

Palm Islands Jumeirah monorail Atlantis hotel Dubai

Road to Palm Islands Jumeirah monorail

Palm Islands Jumeirah tunnel to Atlantis hotel Dubai
And then you go under water

Palm Islands Jumeirah tunnel to Atlantis hotel Dubai GPSPalm Islands jumeirah getting to Atlantis hotel Dubai

Palm Islands Jumeirah Atlantis hotel Dubai
Parking was a bit of a problem so I couldn't spend too much time outside the car

Palm Islands Jumeirah Atlantis hotel Dubai Filipino women

Palm Islands Jumeirah Atlantis hotel Big Bus Dubai
Very much a major tourist attraction in Dubai

Palm Islands Jumeirah Atlantis hotel sea boatThere’s a lot more to Atlantis The Palm than it’s exterior — but to enter the hotel, unless you are guest, you have to pay an entrance fee. I wasn’t too bothered because we had still more on ‘Jassim’s planned drive tour’ of Dubai’s hotspots.

So we made our way back to the ‘mainland’.

Palm Islands tunnel to Atlantis hotel Dubai cars
Read Part 2 here.


Next posts in this series:

UAE 2010: Dubai Marina, Jumeirah, The Walk and David Guetta concert – Part 2

UAE 2010: Showing my parents the sights of Dubai; inside Ibn Battuta Mall

UAE 2010: From the desert sands of Abu Dhabi to the corniche

UAE 2010: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi – Ferrari World and Yas Marina Circuit

Previous posts in this series:

UAE 2010: Heading back to the Gulf after 7 years

UAE 2010: Driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (& back)

UAE 2010: Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi

UAE 2010: Heading to Dubai by bus; checking out Bur Dubai

UAE 2010: Dubai Mall (Aquarium, Underwater Zoo & Gold Souk) – Part 1

UAE 2010: Burj Khalifa, At the Top (and Wafi Mall) – Part 2

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7 Comments

  • SALMAN

    20/12/2010

    I LIVE IN DUBAI SEE THESE BUILDINGS EVERYDAY. BUT THE WAY YOU HAVE PRESENTED IS REALLY NICE.

    Mithun Divakaran Reply:

    Thanks Salman 🙂

  • Raffi Zobian

    11/05/2011

    im a big fan of Dubai and the city itself plus the nice people, thank you Mithun for sharing the photos i appreciate it . would like to see more

    Mithun Divakaran Reply:

    Thank you Raffi!

  • Ange

    26/05/2011

    you are very talented guy thanks for the picture , u made me wanna go and c Dubai

  • Sahar Amer

    28/08/2011

    I TOTALLY AGREE, BAIT AL MANDI IS THE BEST RESTAURANT I EVER ATE FROM, THE FOOD IS AMAZING AND I TAKE MY FAMILY THERE EVERY WEEKEND!! I THINK YOU ALL SHOULD GO AND TRY THE FOOD, YOU WONT REGRET IT (lol, look at me i sound like an advertiser, but hey im serious, that res is a killer)

    Mithun Divakaran Reply:

    Okay, you can turn off Caps-Lock now 🙂

Comments are closed.