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Menara KL tower top view Public Bank Petronas buildings

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Apr 11, 2011
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Malaysia, Travel

Date: 3rd October 2010

Today was going to be our last full day in Kuala Lumpur, so we had to make the most of it. Some of us had shopping to do, and I wanted to see a bit more of KL.

But the first thing we did in the morning was get ready to go the Petronas Towers again. And when I say “we,” I mean Ramesh and I. Loi wanted to sleep in.

The reason why we were going back to the towers were to try and a get a ticket for the sky bridge/observation deck. Why “try”? Because that’s how the system is. You go there early enough, wait in line until the ticket counters open and whoever gets the tickets, gets to up at a pre-determined time. The earlier you are in the line, the sooner you get to go up. It’s free, but an inconvenient method. (EDIT: Turns out there is a much higher observation deck at the 86th floor for which you can pay RM40 and go. I didn’t know about it until much research after coming back from this trip)

When we did our research, we saw videos of the view from the 41st & 42nd floor and after having been to the top of Burj Khalifa, the view from the Petronas Towers wasn’t astounding or anything. Which is why I was more keen on going up Menara KL (KL Tower), something I was going to do later in the day anyway.

Still, since we didn’t have a whole lot planned for the morning, myself and Ramesh thought: “What the hell, last day in KL. Might as well try and get a ticket”.

So we set out, took the monorail and got down at Bukit Nanas station.

Malaysia Tourism Centre Kuala Lumpur — The Malaysia Tourism Centre

We walked towards the KLCC Suria and when we finally made it to the ticketing counter…

Petronas Tower skybridge tickets sold out timing — … it was 8:55am when I took this

Sold out. Oh well.

Not that we were sorely disappointed or anything, but if you are one who is very keen to visit the Sky Bridge, be in line by at least 7:30-8:00am.

Me and Ramesh then just decided to check out the mall.

Suria mall mostly caters to high end brands and luxury designer wear, most of which are on the lower floors. We checked out a few electronics stores, Ramesh checked out the Harley Davidson store, and then we decided to find out where the Aquaria was.

Ryan Seacrest Fly FM banner Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Oh Ryan Seacrest, there is no escaping you is there?

KLCC Aquaria entrance Malaysia — It wasn’t open yet

Ramesh was keen on checking out the Aquaria, the largest aquarium in Kuala Lumpur. I, on the other hand, wanted to see more of the city, so we parted ways. I inquired on how to get to Merdeka Square while Ramesh went in to Aquaria.

Here are a few photos from inside the Aquaria, all of which are from Ramesh’s camera.

KLCC Aquaria inside directory Malaysia — Entry is RM35 (Rs. 510/$11/€8) for adults

KLCC Aquaria piranha closeup Malaysia — Wonder what they feed piranhas here

KLCC Aquaria electric eel Malaysia — Well, that’s a bit harsh on the eel isn’t it?

KLCC Aquaria Matamata Malaysia — This ‘turtle+croc+weird’ looking creature is called the Matamata

KLCC Aquaria coatimundi Malaysia — This one is called a Coatimundi

KLCC Aquaria fish tree glass cylinder Malaysia — Pretty cool

KLCC Aquaria diver playing around with tourist — Cheeky

KLCC Aquaria inside underwater tunnel — The Aquaria has the obligatory underwater tunnel

KLCC Aquaria Pincecone fish ikan Malaysia — Pinecone fish

The above are only a few of the photos Ramesh took. He took much more. There are sharks, lion fish, water rats and all sorts of other waterborne creatures. From his account, Ramesh said the experience was “okay” — so I don’t know how it compares to a similar offering I experienced in Dubai Mall.

When Ramesh stepped out, he saw a gathering of superbikes and stalls by Yamaha on the occasion of next week’s Malaysian MotoGP.

That concludes what Ramesh saw.

Now back to me 🙂

When I left the Petronas Towers, I took the monorail to Hang Tuah station. From there I transferred to the RapidKL line, for which you need to buy another ticket/pass as the monorail card won’t work on this rail service. From Hang Tuah, I headed towards Masjid Jamek station.

Stepping out of Masjid Jamek station Citin hotel — Once you come out of the station…

Jalan Melayu shopping Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — … you are on Jalan Melayu

Jalan Melayu Endhiran poster ticket offer Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Luring customers with tickets to new Rajinikant film. Works wherever Tamilians exist 🙂

Jalan Melayu street market Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Nothing special in here. The usual street market stocking the usual goods.

I came here to go to Merdeka Square, which is a significant landmark in Malaysia’s independence from Britain.

Merdeka Square lawn palm trees Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Merdeka Square literally means “Independence Square”

Merdeka Square film shoot Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — There was a film shoot happening

Merdeka Square film stars Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — No clue if this was a South Indian/Malay-Tamil/Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi production

Merdeka Square flag pole Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This flag pole is nearly 312 ft high, one of the tallest in the world

Restoran Warisan Merdeka Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Merdeka Square is surrounded by old colonial buildings

Merdeka Sqaure old Dutch buildings lawn Kuala Lumpur — Not sure what these buildings were

Merdeka Square Sultan Abdul Samad building Malaysia — Plenty of tourist buses stop in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad building

Merdeka Square Sultan Abdul Samad building bank headquarters Malaysia — Sultan Abdul Samad building in front, several bank HQs in the background

Merdeka Square highest flag pole Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Merdeka Square is the venue for Malaysia’s annual National Day Parade

Merdeka square filming actress Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The one on the right seems like the lead actress in this shoot; they were shooting with RED cameras (Yes, I’m a nerd, I notice these things)

It was time for me to move on.

Merdeka Square bricked road Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Not that I knew where I was headed next

Kuala Lumpur city river stream banks — I just like to roam about and explore

After passing by an area full of businesses serving Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, I found myself in an alley which housed what looked like a Chinese temple.

Sin Sze Si Sze Ya Chinese temple entrance Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — So I went in

Sin Sze Si Sze Ya Chinese temple parking Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — As I left the temple, I found out the name of the place

Jalan Tun Tan Cheng lock yellow building graffiti — I walked a bit further out…

Jalan Petaling street main road entrance daytime traffic — … and I soon realized I was in China Town

There was a shopping complex right opposite the entrance to Petaling Street and so I decided to check it out. I unfortunately couldn’t take any photographs inside because the security guard asked me not to. But inside were stores selling essentially the same goods I saw yesterday night in Petaling Street, but at far lower prices.

So word of advice, just because you see bags on Petaling Street with it’s street market appearance, don’t assume the prices are low. There are plenty of other places, like this not-so-fancy shopping complex right outside Petaling Street selling the same stuff at lower prices.

In fact when I called up Loi to tell him about bag prices here, he told me he found similar prices in the shops on the higher floors of Times Square shopping mall.

I had lunch from a burger joint and continued my ‘walk around town’. I asked around for where “Little India” was and was directed to walk towards KL Tower.

Mydin Wholesale Reject shop Kuala Lumpur — I stepped in but quickly found nothing worthwhile

Brickfields Indian restoran Kuala Lumpur — Yes, to the right is a ‘chapathi house’ named Restoran Santa

Brickfields Little India Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — I came across this street which looked more like “Little Chennai”

There’s a slew of silk shops, and plenty of pure-veg restaurants on this street.

Masjid Jema' Bandaraya entrance Kuala Lumpur — I found myself back at Masjid Jemak

Masjid Jema' Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur — Masjid Jema’ (mosque)

Masjid Jemak dress code etika Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — I didn’t qualify for any of the above, so didn’t bother going in

It was time for me to head back to the room and catch up with Ramesh and Loi.

Beauty show Berjaya Times Square KL — Some beauty show at Berjaya Times Square

Once I got back to Irsia, the three of us decided to go to Midvalley Megamall, one of Kuala Lumpur’s largest malls.

To get to Midvalley Megamall from Berjaya Times Square, take the monorail from Imbi to KL Sentral. Then, you need to transfer to the Komuter train line, and Midvalley has a stop by itself.

Midvalley Megamall Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The mall is pretty huge

Midvalley houses a Carrefour, JUSCO, Toys ‘R’ Us, Harvey Norman and plenty of other brands. It isn’t ‘high street’ fare like KLCC Suria mall in Petronas Towers.

Jigsaw puzzle world Midvalley Megamall KL — This store had a whole bunch of cool imports from Japan

After Loi’s shopping from Toys R Us, Ramesh’s purchases from Carrefour, we headed up to the top most floor.

Midvalley Megamall centre court Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — They have an exclusive ManU store and an 18-screen multiplex up here

Midvalley Megamall Anime Tech store — Went in here as well

Midvalley has a few nerdy joints up here, including video arcades and a store dedicated to board games. But we couldn’t hang out any longer, it was nearing 7pm. There was one last thing I wanted to do for our last day in Kuala Lumpur — head to the observation deck at KL Tower to get a view of Kuala Lumpur city at night.

To save time, we took a taxi… and got a driver with some pretty good taste in music 🙂

After an enjoyable ride, we reached Menara KL, which is perched atop a small hill called Bukit Nanas. Thus making it ‘taller’ than the Petronas Towers. Myself and Loi bought our tickets and made our way up, Ramesh stayed below to check out an F1 Zone.

Menara KL Tower elevator observation deck — Tickets cost RM38 (Rs. 550/$12/€8) for adults

I was more keen on visiting the observation deck of KL Tower than the Skybridge at Petronas Towers, simply because the viewing height at Menara KL is much higher.

View from Menara KL tower night Kuala Lumpur — And I was right…

Menara KL tower view of Kuala Lumpur city at night — … the view was great!

Menara KL tower observation deck glass reflection — But there was one annoying problem

Menara KL tower observation deck souvenir shop — The bright lights from the shops up here!

The whole experience of the view at night from up here is marred by the lights reflecting off of the glass — which also made for tricky photography. And because I didn’t have a tripod, it was tough for me to get steady shots.

Menara KL tower observation deck jewelry shop — Why on earth would you want to sell jewelry up here? ‘High’ prices?

Menara KL tower observation deck view city lights — We went around the observation deck

Menara KL tower World's Tallest comparison — They have a display showing you the other tall telecommunications towers around the world

Menara KL tower observation deck Petronas Towers at night — Menara KL is the fourth largest telecom tower in the world

Menara KL tower World's tallest towers comparison — The tallest is still the CN Tower in Toronto

Menara KL tower observation deck Times Square view — You can see Berjaya Times Square from up here — also ‘cos it isn’t that far 🙂

Menara KL tower observation deck view at night — I took one final shot of the Petronas Towers before heading back down

Menara KL tower observation deck restaurants — There are two ‘sky high’ restaurants at KL Tower

Menara KL tower elevator lift lobby — This is the elevator lobby

Menara KL tower ticket counter — Timings are 9:30am to 9:30pm

Menara KL tower Malaysia cultural village — Your ticket also includes entry to the Cultural Village, which was closed by 8pm

Menara KL Tower F1 Simulator zone dummy cars — So we used our ticket to avail the one free ride around the (virtual) Sepang circuit

Menara KL F1 simulator zone dummy BMW car — In the small cars though, you have to pay to sit in one these life-size replica cars

Menara KL F1 simulator zone Sepang game — Ramesh paid to sit & play in the Ferrari car

Menara KL Tower F1 simulator zone Ferrari store Kuala Lumpur — There’s an F1 store here as well

Menara KL tower pony ride Malaysia — You can opt to use your ticket for a complimentary ride as well

Menara KL Tower free shuttle service — We waited for the free ride down to the base of the hill

Once at the base, we walked towards Bukit Nanas monorail station.

Menara KL tower lit up night — One final look

Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur bikes parked — Walked past the Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur

Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur Harley Davidson Club — Which saw a gathering of Harley Davidson owners that night

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers surrounding buildings panorama — One final look at the beautiful twin towers

Kuala Lumpur monorail network station map Malaysia — This is the monorail network map

Inside monorail train Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The monorail trains aren’t very big

Once back in the room, we decided to enjoy our final dinner of this trip, and sit somewhere nice. There are a few cosy eateries behind Berjaya Times Square, where we were and so, we sat down at Wings musicafe.

Wings musicafe Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — They have a live stage where artists perform every night

Wings musicafe Kilkenny beer Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Had Kilkenny Irish beer for the first time

It was a relaxing dinner to end our last day of sight-seeing in Kuala Lumpur. The musicians were mostly local artists, aspiring singers who performed mellow acoustic fare. Much needed for us tired souls.

Once back in the room, we packed up. And when I mean “we,” I mean myself and Ramesh…

Loiyumba bed Irsia — … this guy was too lazy to do any packing — and he had the most luggage!

Tomorrow morning, all we had to do was check out and head to the airport in the afternoon for our after Air Asia flight back to Bangalore.

So, it’s not over yet… there’s one more post left! 🙂

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

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

Date: 9th April 2010

(Part one can be found here)

Dubai Fairmont hotel Palm Jumeirah — The Fairmont Palm Hotel and Residences

As we came out of the tunnel, to our right was our next stop.

Once we took a left and got on to “The Walk,” I pretty much knew why people throng to this place. It’s essentially Dubai’s ‘Exhibition Road’ (a once very popular stretch in Bahrain where traffic moves slowly and people, well, come to show off — among other things).

The Walk is part of Jumeirah Group’s massive property by Jumeirah beach. Lined along the stretch are shops, restaurants, hotels and the Jumeirah residences.

Jumeirah The Walk Sofitel hotel — The Sofitel Hotel, Jumeirah

We finally managed to get a parking spot and while there were the usual luxury brands, given this is Dubai, one really needs something too rare to really stand out from the crowd.

And whoever was the owner of this Batmobile-esque Mercedes McLaren SLR, surely had it!

Freakin’ sweet. A supercar indeed!

Jumeirah Beach Residences apartments — Jumeirah Beach Residences

Jumeirah Beach Dubai Marina sunset — The (not so great) beach

After watching the sun set, we went back to the parking lot.

Jumeirah Beach Dubai Marina stretch Hummer limo — Before you ask… yes, petrol is cheap out here

Since it was time sunset prayer, Azhad and Jassim made their way to the prayer hall like good muslims, while I waited out looking at the slow moving traffic.

After prayers, we moved on.

Jumeirah Residences flats apartments towers — Passing through Jumeirah Residences

Jumeirah Residences big elevator lift Azhad — Big elevators for big people and their big cars (not Azhad)

Jassim told me that we needed to crossed over to the other side as he wanted to show me something. I didn’t really know what or why but I figured it would be more buildings.

It was buildings alright…. but I never expected this!

Dubai Marina at night panorama — Panorama consisting of 7 shots

Beautiful.

I really wasn’t expecting a sight like this in, of all the places, Dubai. I was looking forward to seeing all this when I go to Singapore in September and in Hong Kong next year, but in the middle of a freaking desert? Wow.

Now I get what Dubai Marina is all about. It’s like the guys at Emaar Properties (the same folks behind Burj Khalifa) visited Marina Bay in Singapore and Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay and went: “Hmmm, very bretty… very nice… we like… we want also.* ”

And then came back, spent a few billion, dug out a lot of sand and half a decade later — voila!

Dubai Marina stairs Jumeirah residences — The steps we came down from (Jumeirah residences in the background)

Dubai Marina at night Azhad — Azhad talking away

Dubai Marina building lit up yacht — Private yachts can be rented for cruise parties

Dubai Marina steps up — We went up to take a walk across the bridge

Dubai Marina crossing road — We crossed the bridge road over to the other side

After being mighty impressed with the world’s largest man-made marina, we headed back to ‘show-off boulevard’.

Jumeirah The Walk at night cars bikes — Back at the The Walk

We set off into town and made our way to the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the venue for tonight’s David Guetta’s concert.

Twin towers on Sheikh Zayed road traffic from metro — Kinda looks like New York’s Chrysler building — but of course Dubai had to out-do NY, so they made two!

Dubai Rotana towers hotel at night — The Rotana Tower Hotel

Upon reaching the venue, we figured we still had some time to enter so we decided to do dinner. Jassim parked his car near Emirates Towers and we made our way to Nando’s.

Dubai Metro station exterior — They have these ‘space stations’ (a.k.a Metro stations) all over the place

Inside Dubai Metro station traffic — Trying to take photos while on the travelator

Dubai Metro station train late night — The trains have no driver by the way — it’s all automatic

Dubai Nando's chicken dinner — What I ate at Nando’s

Me and Jassim had a good meal, Azhad didn’t 🙂 … and wanted to get home quick!

So after seeing our friend off at the metro, me and Jassim went back to the car to get ready for ‘the party’.

Emirates Towers office hotel at night — Emirates Towers in the distance

Dubai offices at night Burj Khalifa — And there she is in the distance

After finding a parking spot, we walked towards to the concert hall where there were a lot of guys with heavily waxed hair and girls with heavily waxed skins.

And boy were we glad we bought our tickets well in advance! The show was sold out and many were around seeking extra tickets. We got in around 11pm where an opening DJ was was warming up the crowd.

The man himself didn’t hit the stage until 1am. And just when he was about to… disappointment. My Nokia E72 with the 5 mega-pixel camera dies out on me. All I’m left with is my mom’s basic 2mpx Nokia and even that was low on battery.

Sorry, but these grainy photos are all I have. (Some are from my friend Jassim’s iPhone)

David Guetta Dubai 2010 concert lights — This is when he hit the stage

Grainy photos won’t do the concert justice, so just watch this if you want to know what the atmosphere was like:

To sum in up in one word: AWESOME! This was one of the best concerts I have been to. The crowd was insane! Over 10,000 people packed into one massive hall. And I would so pay to see David Guetta live again!

David Guetta left the stage exactly at 3am, the time when all of Dubai has to shut off it’s loud music and stop the sale of liqour.

David Guetta Dubai 2010 crowd leaving exhibition center — The tired crowd making their way out of the exhibition center

David Guetta Dubai 2010 crowd taxi queue — The (very) long queue for taxis

By the time we reached the car, our legs were tired as hell! This was one packed-evening/night/dawn. I saw a lot, ate a lot and danced a lot.

And man was I enjoying it!

Next posts in this series:

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

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

Date: 7th April, 2010

After a tiring walk around Bur Dubai the previous day, I had to give my feet some rest.

But I was just too damn excited about today. And so, as Azhad headed off to work early in the morning, I too got ready to set out early for the Downtown Dubai site.

I took the metro (from Union Station) to Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall (of course they were going to get their own stop). As soon as I stepped out…

Burj Khalifa from Metro Station — … there it was!

It really is a beauty, unlike the last building that earned the title “tallest building in the world”.

There’s a bit of a walk to be had to get to Dubai Mall (there’s a bus service too but I chose to walk just to see the surroundings)

Burj Khalifa Emaar site offices Downtown Dubai — EMAAR is the company behind the Downtown Dubai

Burj Khalifa surrounding office buildings — Offices, (empty) offices, and more (empty) offices everywhere…

Burj Khalifa construction worker Dubai — Thousands of people like him build that

I got into Dubai Mall through the parking lot — because I couldn’t find any other entrance that side.

Dubai Mall parking space lot — Parking capacity: 14,000 cars

I had gotten to Dubai Mall quite early. Most stores hadn’t opened or were just waiting for the first customer to walk in. I was going to check out the mall of course, but first things first. I wanted to buy tickets for the observation deck on Burj Khalifa. The observation deck was closed just a few weeks after it had opened due to some technical snags. It had re-opened only a week before, so I knew there was going to be a mad rush for the tickets.

But finding the ticket counter for At The Top proved a bit difficult (at first). Since there wasn’t anyone at the information desks, I simply followed the signs out to the Burj Khalifa thinking, well, that the counter would be at the ground floor of the Burj Khalifa itself.

Burj Khalifa Dubai steel morning — What US$1.5 billion gets you

Downtown Dubai The Address old town — The Address hotel on the left

Dubai Mall The Address panorama — A panorama comprised of 5 photos

Problem is, when I tried to get to the entrance of the Burj Khalifa, that didn’t seem possible either. Everything was cordoned off due to construction work still going on or was restricted access. I asked around but ended up back inside Dubai Mall.

Once inside, I finally found a security guard and asked him how I could get to the At the Top counter.

Dubai Mall Ermenegildo Zegna — I followed his directions and took the lift near the Ermenegildo Zegna store

I was instructed to go to the food court at the ground floor.

The ticket counter only opens at 10am but at 9:45am, a few had already started a queue. I asked if tickets were available for the morning but they said only ‘Immediate Entry’ tickets were available.

You see, they have two types of tickets. The regular admission ticket costs Dhs 100 (Rs. 1200/US$27/€21) but needs to be booked a few hours/days in advance. But if you need to see it “immediately” or (truth be told) just show up at the ticket counter, you have to pay Dhs 400 (Rs. 5,100/US$108/€86) if you wish to go in then itself.

I ended up buying tickets for the 4:00pm slot (they let people in every 30 minutes) and also three tickets for a later date.

And now that I had plenty of time to kill until then, I began checking out the empty mall.

But as I got up to the first floor, I got distracted by the Dubai Aquarium. So I bought the Dhs 50 (Rs. 630/US$13/€10) ticket to see the largest (& probably the only) indoor aquarium in the Middle East. (The Dhs 50 ticket is the aquarium plus the Underwater Zoo. The standalone ticket for the Aquarium is Dhs 25)

Dubai Mall Aquarium glass reflection — There’s over 30,000 species of fish in this tank (or so they claim)

And then you enter the tunnel.

Dubai Mall Aquarium baby sharks — They have a lot of sharks…

Dubai Mall Aquarium Stingray — … and a few stingrays

You can check out the HD video I took here:

Once you step out the tunnel, the path takes you past souvenirs and a themed restaurant.

… before leading out to the escalator that takes you up to the first floor.

There, you find the entrance to the Underwater Zoo.

Dubai Aquarium underwater zoo otter — Otters

Dubai Mall Aquarium underwater zoo water rat — Water rats

Dubai Mall aquarium Dory Marlin — Dory and Marlin are still friends^, awwwww…

Dubai Mall Aquarium school tour — The operations at the back

The aquarium was obviously very popular for school kids.

Dubai Mall Aquarium underwater zoo jellyfish — Jellyfish

Dubai Mall underwater zoo coming attractions — There’s more coming

Here’s a video I took:

Dubai Mall Aquarium from top — From outside the Underwater Zoo

After that, I checked out the rest of the mall.

Dubai Mall Pucci store — Pucci: Poor man’s Gucci*

*not really

Dubai Mall Wooden floor lobby — If there ever was a material used in construction, you’ll find it used for Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall sofa rest stops — It took advantage of these everywhere around the mall

After nearly an hour of window shopping, I decided to have lunch at the food court at the basement, near the At The Top counter.

Dubai Mall Fatburger beef — Lunch was at Fatburger, which I never tried before

The burger was okay, nothing exceptional. Of course, I only had the regular beef burger. (Not really ‘Fat’, just regular)

After lunch, it was back to roaming around a bit more. This time I explored the Gold Souk.

As the name suggests, this is the section of the mall dedicated to just gold stores and other pricey items.

It was also the quietest part of the mall.

Given the high price of gold now and the fact that there wasn’t a whole lot of folks shopping anyway, it wasn’t surprising to see very few customers walk through these corridors.