Month: <span>August 2010</span>

Date: 10th April 2010

After a tiring previous day (and only hitting the bed at 4am), I got up early to receive my parents from Bur Dubai bus stand as they were visiting from Abu Dhabi. Since today and tomorrow were all going to be ‘family time,’ we were going to be staying with my father’s friend, in his nice, posh little flat in Karama.

Once we all landed at my father’s friend’s place post-lunch, we rested for some time before heading out.

It was back to Dubai Mall for me — but for my parents, despite having lived in Abu Dhabi for nearly an year, it was going to be their first time experiencing Dubai Aquarium and At The Top of Burj Khalifa.

First up, the aquarium:

Dubai Aquarium little sting ray Acha touch — My father really enjoyed being this close to sea creatures

Dubai Aquarium under sting ray face — That’s what a stingray’s face looks like

Dubai Aquarium divers working — Well, hello there!

For more photos and videos from inside Dubai Aquarium, check out my first post. Next up, we waited for our turn to go up the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai Mall At The Top gift shop parents — My parents at the At The Top gift shop

Burj Khalifa statistics Story in numbers facts figures — 200+ storeys; 95kms – from where one can see the top of the spire; 12,000 slaves… sorry, labourers; 57 elevators; 500,000 tonnes – weight of the empty building

I had booked for an evening slot for the At The Top visit, hoping I could see Dubai all lit up. But as we got up, the sun was still very much above the horizon.

Burj Khalifa parents At the Top view — Regardless, my parents loved the view

Dubai Financial Center from Burj Khalifa evening — Dubai financial center

Burj Khalifa floors above At The Top — That’s how many floors there still are above the observation deck

Burj Khalifa sunset over The World islands — The sun setting over the yet to be completed The World islands

Burj Khalifa tourists watching sunset — Watching the sun set from atop the world’s tallest building is a great idea

For more photos and videos from At The Top, check out my first post.

We finished our tour of Burj Khalifa, made our way out and to the Dubai Fountain site. The $200 million-plus Dubai Fountain is an attraction built on the artificial (duh) lake just outside Dubai Mall.

Dubai Mall The Address hotel at night — The Address hotel in the back

Dubai mall Dubai fountain site at night — The crowds wait for the show to start

Built by the same people behind the famous Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas, Dubai obviously had to up the ante. So these fountains shoot water up higher, 500 feet high (150 metres)!

Shows are every half an hour between 6pm to 10pm. Here’s the show I saw: Since it’s free, and since I can’t afford to go to Las Vegas just yet, this was great!

Burj Khalifa Mithun parents portrait — Me and my folks in front of a massive concrete & steel Christmas tree

After the show, we made our way to the buses that drop visitors to the metro station.

Pink Porsche Dubai mall parking — Why, why would someone do that to a Porsche?

Burj Khalifa glowing at night dubai — Architectural beauty

The next day with my parents…

The next morning, I took my parents to Bur Dubai for some shopping and to show them around.

Bur Dubai souk father pushing cart — My father considering ‘post-retirement’ work

Bur Dubai souk Chinese man with father — My father bothering some random Chinese dude for a photo

After showing them the souk station, I took them to the Hindu temple (photos of both can be seen in my first post).

Bur Dubai souk park parents sitting — Taking a break from all the walking

Bur Dubai creek morning pigeons — Pigeons by the creek

And with that, we were done. Took a taxi and headed back to my father’s colleague’s place. He offered to drop us off near Jebel Ali power station, where we had been invited for lunch by our relatives.

Inside Mr. Nandakumar's Peugot car with sunroof — Inside Mr. Nandakumar’s Peugot

Once again, it was a drive on Sheikh Zayed Road.

Emirates Towers Dubai from car — Emirates Towers

Dubai Hard Rock cafe Sheikh Zayed road — Those guitars used to be where Dubai’s Hard Rock Cafe was

Jebel Ali station flat view — The view from my uncle’s flat near Jebel Ali power station, where he works

After lunch, we decided to check out Ibn Battuta Mall, which was nearby. This was the last major mall I had yet to see and the one my friends highly recommended, just because it was different.

The mall business in Dubai is, let’s just say, quite cut throat. For such a small state, Dubai has some of the largest malls in the world. And since just about every mall offers the same set of stores, mall operators come up with differentiators to draw the crowds in.

What’s the differentiator for Ibn Battuta Mall? For one (if you haven’t figured out already), it’s named after the great Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta. The entire mall is themed after his travels across China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Andalusia with a section dedicated to each zone.

We parked near the China entrance. Each of the sections have a lobby with a major attraction specific to that zone. This is what the China court looks like.

Ibn Battuta mall China court panorama — Panorama comprised of 6 shots

The main attraction here being a replica of a Chinese sailing ship supposedly used by Ibn Battuta in his travels.

Ibn Battuta mall Grand cinemas IMAX — Ibn Battuta Mall houses the only IMAX screen in Dubai

From China, we then moved on to India.

Ibn Battuta India court elephant rider — India Court’s big attraction

From India into Persia. Persia Court’s big attraction is a replica of a Starbucks Coffee outlet*.

Ibn Battuta Mall Persia court dome Starbucks — *just kidding

From Persia, you have two paths to Egypt.

Ibn Battuta Mall Egypt court street lamps — Both paths eventually meet

Ibn Battuta mall Egypt court corridor — The Egypt Court houses a lot of history, facts and trivia about Ibn Battuta

And finally Andalusia.

Ibn Battuta Mall Andalusia court fountains — Andalusia Court’s main attraction

With that, we had conquered all five regions of Ibn Battuta’s mall. So we made our journey back, passing by more displays.

Ibn Battuta mall China hall pillars ceiling — Back in China Court

Ibn Battuta Mall truly is a must-see in my opinion. It was a good move on Nakheel Properties’ part to use a theme like this to set the mall apart from Dubai’s other shopping centers.

Once out of Ibn Battuta Mall, we wished our relatives goodbye and took the metro to Bur Dubai bus stand. I was heading back to Abu Dhabi.

And with this, ends my Dubai sojourn — for now.