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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

The restaurant was Bait Al Mandi, a popular Yemeni joint.

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

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

We moved on shortly after.

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

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

DIFC village office building Dubai — The Dubai International Financial Centre

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.

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.

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.

Yes, 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 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 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

Of 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.

Up 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.

We 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

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

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

There’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’.

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

UAE 2010: Mall of Emirates and Times Square Center

Date: 8th April 2010

After yesterday’s tiring walk (despite being an eventful day), it was back to more mall-hopping today. After Dubai Mall, it was off to the next most popular mall in Dubai: Mall of Emirates.

As usual, I took the metro from Union Station.

Mall of Emirates is located after Dubai Mall (as per the metro line) so the ride takes nearly 20 minutes.

To-Let office Sheikh Zayed road — To-let office building on the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed road

There is a Mall of Emirates stop on the metro line and a walk-way metro link connects directly to the mall.

Now Mall of Emirates isn’t the most impressive-looking of malls (architecture wise) — or at least compared to the expensive Dubai Mall. Therefore you’re not going to see a whole lot of photos in this post, simply because I didn’t take that many.

The only portion of the mall that impressed me was this bit…

… that was it.

Oh, Mall of Emirates also houses Ski Dubai – the first in-door ski resort in the Middle East.

Mall of Emirates Ski Dubai inside slope panorama — Panorama comprised of 7 shots

Mall of Emirates St. Moritz cafe — Nice (artificially created) mountain view

I was tempted to go in and check it out because I have yet to experience snow — and yes, I know Ski Dubai uses fake snow. But still, something for next time.

Not much else to say about the mall. It was the usual collection of high-end brands but what I liked about Mall of Emirates is that it still offers something for everyone. Maybe it was the anchor tenant Carrefour, but I saw more people in Mall of Emirates than I did see in Dubai Mall… and this was on a week day morning.

More people were shopping too. I mean actually buying stuff unlike most of the visitors I saw in Dubai Mall.

I was one of those shoppers. I was in the hunt for a particular lens (which was hard to come by) and my friend did advice me to check out the Virgin Megastore in the Mall of Emirates. Which I did. Then I saw a lot of stuff I wanted to buy… and then told the sales people I would be back because what I wanted to buy was kinda big.

I had to check out electronics retailer Sharaf DG, whose largest outlet in UAE was located in another mall. And so I decided to step out of Mall of Emirates, have lunch at the Lulu Center nearby and take a taxi to Times Square Center.

Building for rent near Lulu center — Just another empty building on the way to Lulu Hypermarket

After an India lunch, I hopped in to a taxi and went to Times Square Center which was actually before Mall of Emirates (as per the metro line).

Times Square Center isn’t very big (comparatively by Dubai’s new standards). As soon as I walked in, lay before me stood these machines.

I don’t know if it was Yellow Hat who put them up, but the collection was impressive.

Sharaf DG was located on the top floor in Times Square Center.

The outlet is definitely big and has pretty much everything you need — except that the lens I wanted was out of stock. Sharaf DG make a claim that if they don’t have something in stock, the buyer will get a hefty discount*.

They still took my information down and told me they would contact me once the Tamron lens I wanted would arrive. The price they quoted was much less than what it cost in India, even from the grey market.

I soon left and made my way back to Mall of Emirates by cab…

Mall of Emirates Ski Dubai from outside — That's Ski Dubai from the outside

… hopped backed into Virgin Megastore and spent close to Dhs 1000.

I then struggled to carry my purchases to the taxi and in the process, managed to get the only workout during my time in UAE.

I finally managed to get it all back to the room.

So what did I buy?

Band Hero gaming haul Dubai — Band Hero (the complete set + Guitar Hero World Tour the game), Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and Batman Arkham Asylum

The Band Hero set was a straight 25% off on the price (and they threw in a free copy of Guitar Hero World Tour — which I already had). I got Arkham Asylum pretty cheap too (considering it wasn’t an old game by any means) and I got a free Nintendo t-shirt too. All-in-all, a great deal!

Now all I had to worry about was how to get it all back to Bangalore.

Next posts in this series:

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

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

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

Date: 7th April, 2010

(This is a continuation of Part 1)

Once you are allowed in past the At The Top ticket counter, you wait at the lobby until it’s time for you go up.

At the lobby are some facts, figures and interactive displays comparing the Burj Khalifa to other tall structures around the world.

In the above display, you choose a location (it’s a touch screen) and it then shows you a simulation of what the Burj Khalifa would look like in that chosen landscape.

Dubai Mall Burj Khalifa lobby structures comparison — Compared to other tall buildings from around the world

When it was time, I went through security and made my way to the lift. (Oh yeah, the lift is the fastest in the world.)

There are other displays en route to the lift.

Burj Khalifa observation deck 124th floor — I didn’t align this right but if you get it all in the center, it points to the 124th floor — which is where the observation deck is

Dubai Mall Burj Khalifa At the Top message — Behind the tape: “I *was* Burj Dubai”

I queued for the lift (there’s two) and it wasn’t a capsule (or glass) lift so you can’t see how fast you are going. The feeling was just amazing (video is below)! You hardly feel anything. The noise is cut out due to the music that plays and the only indication you are going up at 64kmph is that you feel like something is pushing down on you.

Also, the ride takes less than 30 seconds.

And then, you step out.

Burj Khalifa observation deck — The observation deck

Dubai Mall from top Burj Khalifa observation deck — Dubai Mall from up above

Sheikh Zayed road panorama from Burj Khalifa — That’s Dubai: tall buildings and sand. (Panorama comprised of 7 shots)

Dubai Mall Burj Khalifa At the Top view fountain — That weird design in the pool is the base of Dubai Fountain

I walked around to take in views from every angle.

Burj Khalifa The World project — There was a slight dust storm that day but what you see in the distance is The World islands

Burj Khalifa observation deck zoom viewer — These digital telescopes give you an accurate simulation of what the view would be at day and at night

Burj Khalifa Downtown Dubai construction — The Downtown Dubai construction site

Burj Khalifa Downtown Dubai desert — There’s a lot of empty land still left in Dubai

(Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this article to see the HD video I made)

After the tour, I got into an empty lift going down.

But pictures aren’t as cool as an HD video right?

Once out, there was more to see.

Burj Khalifa Downtoun Dubai project — The (planned) Downtoun Dubai project

Burj Khalifa various design changes — The design (& height) changes Burj Khalifa went through

Downtown Dubai buildings fountain — Looking out

At the Top people behind Burj Khalifa — A few people behind this massive project get a mention too

Burj Khalifa Shebbir Ahmed workers — “Edaa Shebbiru…!”

Burj Khalifa exit walkalator lcds — And with that, the tour ends

You come out near the At The Top ticket counter itself.

Burj Khalifa At the Top sold out — This is why you need to be in early or book well in advance

Dubai Mall Dior stairs ceiling art — Wow, even the ‘under-the-escalators’ get attention

It was past 5pm by this time and I had initially planned on waiting for the Dubai Fountain show which begins at sunset.

But my legs were aching!

All that walking around, with my camera bag… my body couldn’t take it anymore. So I decided to catch the fountain show the next time I would be coming here — which would be 2 days from now.

Outside Dubai Mall towards metro — Making my way back to the metro station

Dubai Metro inside — Inside the driver-less Dubai Metro

After heading back to Azhad’s room, I gave my legs a rest before heading out again at night. I had dinner plans with a friend, Payal, from my school days who shifted from Bahrain to Dubai a few years ago.

We met up at BurJuman Shopping Center from where we weighed in our dinner options.

Payal inside Honda Civic Dubai — Payal’s book of infinite choices (& discount coupons)

She took me to Wafi City — one of the more interesting real estate projects in Dubai city. A mixed use complex which houses a mall (duh), residences, and a Raffles hotel.

Wafi mall pyramids Citibank Dubai — The Raffles Dubai hotel is the pyramid in the center

What makes Wafi unique is that the whole place is themed around ancient Egypt.

We first checked out the mall a bit.

Wafi Mall glass pillar ceiling — Not sure if this was a part of Egyptian history, but looks cool anyway.

We walked past Asha’s and ended up sitting down at Mahi Mahi, a seafood restaurant and a favourite of Payal’s.

We sat out at the balcony and I would advice anyone to do so if the weather permits — the setting is great.

Wafi Mall panorama Dubai — A panorama comprised of 7 shots

Wafi Mall restaurant chandlier — The ambiance inside Mahi Mahi isn’t bad either

Our dinner conversation ranged from the extreme superficiality of people in Dubai to Payal’s Las Vegas plans to my travel plans for this year. (Yes, I will be travelling again later this year)

Wafi Mall restaurant dinner payal — My friend Payal

Wafi Mall restaurant Thai dinner — Our (mostly) seafood dinner

Mahi Mahi is a slightly upscale joint but the portions and food are well worth the price. You can’t beat the night time atmosphere either.

Wafi Mall seafood restaurant — The seafood is very fresh

By 11pm, we left Wafi City (after a bit of Lebanese sweets-shopping).

Dubai felt quiet for some time that night.

But once Payal dropped me back in Deira, the signs of life were still buzzing even as today came to an end.

I went back to the room, knackered. Absolutely knackered.

After yesterday’s tiring walk and today’s exploration of Dubai Mall, my legs were crying for rest. Tomorrow was going to be more mall hopping and meeting another friend for dinner.

All said and done, I got what I came for. I was very happy with the photos and it was well worth it.

(Now you know why I took so long on these posts.)

P.S: Here’s the HD video tour of the Burj Khalifa, enjoy:

Next posts in this series:

UAE 2010: Mall of Emirates and Times Square Center

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

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