Hello Dubai [YQrtw Day 9 Apr 16]

Location: Dubai, UAE [Day 1]

I reached Dubai late last night and only got to see lots of street lights and bright signboards.

Oh, I did get to see the inside of the airport and it was modern and clean. (I even feel that it’s surpassing Changi Airpot in WOW! factor.)

Back to the day’s activities. In the morning, I allowed myself to sleep in a little more because I slept quite late last night (a combination of a late flight and excitement).

First stop was Dubai Museum. From the outside, the museum looked tiny. But on the inside, it’s quite spacious because they have most of their galleries underground.

The underground museum part reminded me very much of National Museum of Singapore. In fact, a lot of Dubai reminds me of Singapore. I even think that Dubai is Singapore on steroids.

After the museum, it was back under the sun. I walked aimlessly and found one of the airconditioned bus stops. Unfortunately, the air conditioning of that particular stop was broken and I sat in the heat but sheltered.

Bus C07 came. I took a bus to nowhere (to Dubai Healthcare City, to be more precise). On the bus, the driver asked me where I was going. I told him I didn’t know where I was going. I think that confused him a little.

We chat a little about Malaysia and how many petroleum companies from Malaysia have set up business in Sudan where the driver came from.

Dubai buses are a wonderful escape from the heat. The air conditioning was so powerful that I could hear the wind blowing from the vents.

Besides the nice cool air, the buses are great to see what Dubai looks like. Some parts of the metro are underground so it’s not as good a choice.

Lunch was at a Filipino place I spotted when the bus drove by. My bottle of 500ml water cost me about S$0.60. Yikes!

After lunch, I decided to head to Dubai Mall because I have no idea where else to go.

From the metro, it’s a long walk to Dubai Mall but I didn’t have to worry about the heat because they had this passage connecting the metro to the mall.

The mall was crazy big and just plain crazy. Some of the touristy sides were like Resorts World Sentosa but 10 times more expensive and perfumed.

I saw a humungous aquarium, a gigantic indoor waterfall (more like water trickling down the wall), a gigiantic indoor ice skating rink.

Dubai Mall’s layout also reminded me of Singapore because the escalators are positioned awkwardly. I suspect the architects for Vivocity had a go at Dubai Mall too.

After walking aimlessly around and getting a not-so-cheap local SIM, I sat at a not-so-cheap coffee place (there is no such thing as cheap in the mall). There, I tried to finish Game of Thrones which I have been taking too much time to read.

Before 6:00 p.m., I went to sit outside to wait for the fountain show to start. This show is the top attraction on Tripadvisor for Dubai so I just had to find out how good it is.

Turns out, it’s very good. But it’s better to see the show after the sun sets. I saw two performances while the sun was still out and they were alright.

After the show, it was time to head back. I think I’m staying in Mobile Phone Accessory Land because there are just too many mobile phone accessories stores around.

Until tomorrow, safe travels.