Trip to Dubai

Com Date Nov /Dec 2009	Happenings at Dubai,United Arab Emirates(UAE)
26/Thurs First day	Dubai,here we come! Depart KLIA at 1930 to Dubai with family and Da ku. 7 hours journey on Emirates. Entertainment(games,TV,movies,CD songs) on screen,good food with main course,bread and butter,a piece of cake,salad/vegetables,juice and plain water.Coffee or tea or liquor. Dinner Hindu meal for dad YTM and Marvin.Curry chicken delicious).Seafood meal for mum GC,Lycher and Da ku.Fish meal.good.Supper consists of bread. Pouch gift with eye cover and little story book for Lycher. Camera outside aircraft to show on screen the flight on board. Arrive at Dubai airport at 2230,local time. Yen there to meet us.Back to her one room penthouse in a cab.Cost 20 minutes from airport to Yen’s apartment.
27/Fri Second day	Burjuman Dubai,Yas Rihana Hotel at Abu Dhabi Cosy and comfortable place of stay at Yen’s.Long kitchen,a cosy living room,spacious dining table,big room with a queen sized bed and a sofa bed with attached bathroom with a tub and a sink. Another bathroom near the kitchen.Yen’s situated at roof top floor, next to a gym and opposite the swimming pool.Lots of privacy. Yen’s apartment is behind Orange supermarket and Max budget shopping complex,with the Khalid Al –Waheeda metro station facing the Max. Burjuman shopping mall nearby at the opposite road. The embassies is just in front at the opposite road nearby. Went to Yas Rihana Hotel at Yas island in Abu Dhabi(the next state of UAE) for buffet lunch.Stop by the beach on the way. Great place and a wide variety of food.Live oyster,lobster,big prawns,salmon,sushi,mushroom soup,Indian food like pita and capati,and others Middle east cuisine,Baskin Robbins ice cream,chocolate fountain,noodle soup,asparagus,fruits and fruit juice……and many more. Dhms 60 per pax,promotion rate.What more can one ask for? Took photos outside the Formula One track,debut in Dubai 2009.Ferrari red roof.Still under construction.Saw the glass like dome hotel in the middle of the track which it seems will change colour at night. Dinner at home.
28/Sat Third day	Mercanto mall,The Palms at Jumeira and the Atlantis Hotel. Stop at Marina walk to see lovely posh personal yatch,motor boat and ship.Stop by Starbucks for coffee(Yen and Marvin). After that stop at Mercanto shopping mall.Unique architecture with beautiful toilets.Very unique,classic shop structure. Then proceed to The Palms at Jumeira.Modern structure of apartments costing millions per unit.Took photos of the Burj of Dubai which is the landmark/icon/6 0r 7 star hotel of Dubai along the highway with pedestrian pathway.Got to pay to view the hotel. Went to The Atlantis which is the peak of the palms.It is a hotel with big glass screen from floor to the ceiling, overlooking sharks,sting ray and other fishes. They have aquaadventure(Dhms 100 adult),dolphins feeding programme(Dhms 300)Expensive and got to prebook. Lunch at the food court(Chinese set cost about Dhms 22 per person) of Burcutta mall with many sections such as Chinese(Junk/ship),Indian(elephant),Iran and Egypt.Each section comes with detailed ceilings,beautiful and clean toilets and shop decorations. Food is very expensive in Dubai. Fireworks at night,for 5 days countdown to 2 Dec which is the national day of UAE.Watched from the rooftop.Spectacular!
29/Sun Fourth day	Dessert trip at Liwa,Abu Dhabi. About 4 hours drive from Burjuman,guided tour.Another French family joined the drive into the dessert from Liwa Hotel. Liwa is a small town with the most Oasis.Did not see any lakes with water though.But do have plantation and vegetation in this town. The drive starts from tar road detour into white sandy flatland.The the road becomes bumpy and yellow sand seen as the drive goes inner into the dessert.Sand dunes of different height,can go as high as 200m is seen as the sand becomes reddish.Salt flatland is observed and dried lake surrounded by dunes.We had fun rollercoasting in the 4x4 and sand avalanche with sound effect fron the 4x4.No joke.it takes an experience driver with the correct specs. of 4x4,those meant for tough rides to have an unstuck drive in the sand.Cheers to our guide,Mr Kareem! We stop by 2 camel farms to snap some photos.The camels are reared for its milk and for camel racing.Gone are the days where camels are used for cargoes. Picked up two gypsum mineral stones,which is reddish in colour.Called dessert rose on the ground,near the campsite. Had packed lunch of nasi briyani,chicken and salad at the campsite of Mr Kareem.Juice and plain water in cooler box is inclusive in the package of Dhms 500 per pax.Quite pricey but for those who have not been there and would like to have a go at it,once a lifetime experience.Do not go during summer for it will be too hot then.Winter is the best time.The sun is still up but cooling,not burning. Back in Dubai at 1800.tired but fulfilled.
30/Mon Fifth day	Souks,Mall of the Emirates(MOE) and Water fountain at Dubai Mall First visit of the day to the popular Gold souk and Spice souk across the river and textile souk at old Dubai.Travel either by car or ferry taxi with aircon,return Dhms 4,or boat ferry without aircon at Dhms 2. Lots of red gold,white gold and some silver along gold souk.Beautiful design and great choices. Lots of different spices at the spice souk.Bought pistachio(Dhms 20 for 500 gm) and (Dhms 15 for 500 gm) cashew nuts there. Some unique coloured pebbles chocolate for Dhms 40 per kilo. Took a ferry taxi across the river to old Dubai which is the textile souk.Lots of beautiful textiles/saris and Arabian shoes. Went to Mall of the Emirates(MOE) during the day.Took some photos in the mall,festivals of the world and outside the mall with diversified tall buildings like the tallest in the world Dubai tower as the background.Saw part of a rooftop swimming pool from ground.Unique. Lunch at an Indian restaurant.Very good and posh looking place at a complex selling Indian clothes near Yen’s place.Took banana leaf lunch at Watch dancing water fountain at Dubai mall.One of the largest mall in Dubai.Awesome!show! Starts from 1800 till 2200 every 20 mins with different music and movement.
1 Dec /Tues Sixth day	Dubai mall,Sega City Lunch at the food court of Dubai mall.Took Taqo,which is the Mexican version of pita.Dhms 5 per pax.Worth it.Taste good.Not filling enough for men though. Kids and dad,YTM at Sega City,Dubai’s version of Berjaya Times Square and Genting Indoor,2-in-1 are for kids and youngsters. Shopping in Dubai mall,lots of branded goods.90% of it are imported stuff at really exhorbitant price.The Gulf shoppers jus take their stuff from the shelf to the cashier and pay for them without even checking the price.Jus like Mr Kareem says,”Price is secondary”These citizens can afford to splash.They live in petroleum producing countries. Bought some stuff though.A pair of working boots like shoes,a short and sassy dress,a tight fitting black leathery pant,a unique design white t-shirt and a shinning grey long sleeve over coat,all for less than Dhms 500,not forgetting a non slip socks for Lycher.
2 Dec /Wed Last day	Back to Malaysia. Depart Dubai at 1030 to KLIA.Da ku and Yen depart at 1050 to Africa for their holidays.Two cabs fare Dhms 25x2 cabs Arrive at KLIA at 2130.7 hours flight. Praise the Lord for safe journey to and fro.