Dubai is like no other place that I’ve been to. I mean it’s just ODD. I’ve heard it being described as an adult version of Disney Land and actually that’s a pretty good comparison. It’s a man-made bubble where nothing seems real. It’s brand new and squeaky clean and where the design philosophy seems to be ‘the bigger the better’. So that means the tallest building in the world, the biggest mall in the world, the biggest fish tank in the world etc etc. And all this carved out from a vast inhospitable dessert – surely that deserves a “wow”. It’s a city full of workers, there are no ‘natives’ and those that can be called that have probably only been living there for a decade or so. I liken Dubai to the Venus flytrap: it lures you in as a safe haven and a place to find riches (tax free salary, big bonuses) and then you’re trapped. It is a superb trap nonetheless; having everything you could ever want and all those things that you could miss from your real home too like a Big Mac perhaps or Heinz beans and if it’s too hot to leave your air conditioned apartment to go get them then don’t worry, they’ll deliver it all to you! But sooner or later the workers do want out and hopefully it’s before the flytrap devours their souls.
Oh I’m sorry for being so critical towards you dear Dubai. The truth is that everyone I’ve ever spoken to about Dubai either loves it or loathes it. When Zarek and I went there for the first time in 2009 we hated it and vowed never to go back again. Then, four years later, on one random evening we ate our words and booked a last minute break with friends (let’s call them S&F). I wanted to leave all my previous prejudices behind and go with a fresh mind. I knew that there really is not a whole lot to do in Dubai – like I said it’s a relatively young city so you don’t go there to discover a rich history and diverse culture but you go there to soak up the sun and the VIP lifestyle. With my expectations suitably adjusted I went and had a brilliant time. I’m not saying I loved it but I accepted Dubai for what it was. So here’s how we spent our five days in Dubai.
We arrived late night in Dubai and made our way to our apartment in the Dubai Marina area by Metro. Taxis are the easiest way to get around and they’re not too expensive but by our second day we realised there is an art to hailing them (I’ll get to that a bit later). If you’re not in a hurry then you should take the Metro. It connects most of the main highlights of Dubai – which are generally located on one straight road (Sheikh Zayed Road) and it’s very affordable. About an hour later we finally left the air conditioned confines of the airport and the Metro and the balmy March weather in Dubai hit me. The warm pleasant nights alone are a good reason to come here. As we turned a corner pulling our suitcases I glimpsed the Marina. The first thing you see is the cluster of high-rise buildings. It’s like a mini metropolis all lit up fantastic with yachts everywhere. All around the Marina there are restaurants and places with people kicking back on tables outside with a shisha pipe. I’m so glad that we stayed in the Marina because it’s got that constant holiday feel. We dropped our bags at the apartment and went out again for a late dinner. The Marina has lots of international food chains as well as some other more local based ones. We decided on Johnny Rockets for a quick munch and as we sat around waiting for the food it all seemed like a dream. Just earlier that day we were back at home where it was cold and grey and I was wrapped up to the max in scarves and gloves and now I was sitting there outside without even a jacket. I felt pretty fortunate for being born in an era where travel is so ridiculously easy.
The only thing we set out to do on this holiday was to relax and it turns out relaxing is not as easy as it sounds. But since we had already seen many of the main attractions on our first visit like the malls, water park and desert safari, the pressure to see everything was definitely off and meant that we were doing things on the fly depending on what we felt like in the moment. It’s funny how even on holiday you get into a routine. Ours would be Zarek waking up first, huffing about waiting for the rest of us three getting up. A little while later we’d all be found sprayed across the sofa or hanging on the balcony eating toast and talking trash. For me it’s these moments that are the best thing about holidays with friends and chances are that in years to come I’ll forget all the things we did and saw in Dubai but will remember these random times and laughs.
So on day one we had a late lunch locally and then headed to the Atlantis Palm. Dubai is all about the architecture. The buildings are epic with so many different styles and each one looks like it’s trying to out-do the last one. I felt like I spent most of my time looking up and staring at this battle of the buildings. The highways are super-sized too and yet it’s normal to find standstill traffic during peak times. People drive crazy fast and as our taxi whizzed in and out through the mad spaghetti junctions I felt like I was in a computer game. I found it hard to shake off the surreal feeling.
The Atlantis Palm is a gorgeous five star resort. The outside resembles an exotic Arabian Palace and the theme inside is based on the Greek myth of the underwater Atlantis City. There are fancy boutiques and restaurants inside and its main attractions include the Aquaventure Waterpark and Dolphin Bay which we skipped this time, although we opted to stroll through the Lost Chambers Aquarium which is home to thousands of interesting fish and sea creatures. The best bit is definitely the Ambassador’s Lagoon which is a ginormous tank with a plethora of sea creatures like sharks, stingrays, some sweet tropical fishes and a few ugly ones too (sorry mama nature). There are floor cushions in front of many of the tanks which was a pretty good idea because I could spend ages staring away at the wonderful marine life and when you’re least expecting it one of the marine biologists will swim by in their scuba gear striking a few poses for you (top ten jobs of all times maybe?)
We stopped for ice cream before leaving Atlantis and walked along the coast. The staff had fun throwing balls of ice cream across the shop to each other while they make yummy sundaes and smoothies. The nearby beaches are exclusive for the hotel guests only but there are public beaches nearby like Nasimi Beach. The next thing on the day’s agenda was learning a valuable lesson in how to hail a Dubai taxi. It seemed that as soon as we found a free taxi and told them where we wanted to go they would just drive off without any explanation. After much waiting and frustration we turned around and headed back to the hotel to try and grab one of the local ones. Eventually one of the nice guards at the hotel flagged a taxi for us. He explained that taxi drivers can’t be bothered with short rides so sometimes the best way to get a taxi ride is to lie and tell them a false far away destination. Once you’re well on the way you then tell them the right destination. Yep it’s cheeky and wrong but from our experience sometimes it was the only way to get anywhere in Dubai!
While we waited for a taxi I saw buses drive by that looked like tin boxes packed full of workers. These are the guys that work tirelessly building this city of extremes and each evening they’re driven out to some far and not-talked about shanty town where they live. They were probably also promised riches when they left their homes mostly in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan but their reality is so different to all the other ex-pats in Dubai. I felt both sad and guilty when I saw their hopeless faces. And that’s probably the reason that they are shipped out of the city each evening so that tourists like me don’t feel guilty for spending our cash on all these luxuries. Every place has an ugly underbelly and that was my taster of Dubai’s.
Our friends had some other friends staying in Dubai and they offered to take us out that evening. Deira is the oldest part of Dubai, it use to be the commercial hub of Dubai but now the big corps and sky scrapers have moved further in town near Sheikh Zayed Road (the city’s arterial road). Now Deira is more synonymous with shopping and great food. Driving through Deira all you see is shops and more shops selling everything from indian clothes, mobile phones, tacky toys to car engines and tires. Apparently you can find it all here – real or fake. The place has a constant buzz with the neon lights and steaming food, it it felt like the night before Eid. Our hosts took us to one of their favourite Afghan spot. We enjoyed fragrant fluffy pulao, lamb karahi, a massive platter of mixed meat and buttery naans. More than the food it was the atmosphere that was delicious but the food was pretty good too.
The weekend falls on Friday and Saturday in Dubai. A typical weekend for the locals involves a long drawn out brunch, followed by all day chilling at a beach and then getting all glammed up for a night out in the town. Our Friday followed something a little similar. After a lazy lie-in we wanted to chill at a beach. Lucky for us we were only ten minutes away from the very popular Barasti Beach. This is located on the beach side of Le Meridien Mina Seyahi resort. Most public beaches are owned by a restaurant or hotel, so you grab food and drinks from there and then hang out on the beach. The vibe at Barasti beach was young and fun and I almost felt like I had walked into a Palm Springs pool party (not that I’ve ever been to Palm Springs). The beach was tiny but then it’s hardly the place for serious swimmers. It’s just a fun backdrop to meet you friends, talk about your hectic work week and make evening plans. There was a barbeque shack on the beach that smelled real good but the food didn’t look substantial enough. So we waited to be seated at the restaurant on the top deck. Zarek and I shared some tapas because there was to much to chose from and we wanted it all. I was expecting six smallish plates but instead a mammoth amount of food was brought out to us. The calamari and chicken wings were definitely the best and the Mediterranean dips were yummy too. The next few hours just flew away with eating and people gazing. Soon the day crowds began picking up their things and leaving and the new evening crowd started trickling in as the beach transforms to a bar with a DJ playing tunes to this lively crowd. We had other evening plans so we headed back to our apartment to get ready but just had time for a quick shisha detour at the Marina – which was so crucial for our strict chilling regime.
Zarek and I never go to clubs, not at home and definitely not on holiday (we’re just not cool like that). But since we have a good friend who lives in Dubai we let him sort out our evening plans. He asked us to meet us at the Calabar. This place is real slick, the vibe is laid back and Latin and the crowd is well dressed and cool but the best bit is the backdrop. As you walk out into the bar’s terrace you’ll be met by the Burj Khalifa, you know just standing there all giant and stuff. I reckon it’d be pretty idyllic at sundown but too bad that we happened to be there on one of the maybe two nights of the year when it’s chili in Dubai! We had a few mocktails and since Dubai has a lot of non-(alcohol) drinkers they really do get inventive with their flavours which is a real treat. We moved on to a club where it was fun to see the Dubai glitterati glamming it up and ended the night on a high with a shwarma wrap on Sheikh Zayed Road. It was real fun living it up like a local.
So you probably know already that Dubai is full of Malls. I don’t quite know why they need so many but I guess when it gets unbearably hot hanging around in giant air conditioned malls is not a bad option. On day three we headed to the Dubai Mall primarily to try and get tickets to the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the World). But it was almost fully booked and the only slots that were available were at weird times so we gave it a miss. You can book online so if you really want to catch the views from the viewing platform on the 124th floor then it’s best to do it way in advance. Also, I think it’s just me but the Burj Khalifa looks kind of demonic.
So anyway back to the Mall. Well it’s just huge, like a little city in itself. So many shops and places to eat and yet another gigantic fish tank and aquarium – I guess the Emeriti’s really like their fish. This aquarium is the one with the underwater tunnel and it’s pretty good but we went on our last trip already. So I appreciated looking around the shops for the first 40ish minutes and then it just got boring – I mean what’s the point when you’re not buying? So we went looking for lunch instead. We chose one of the restaurants outside infront of the Fountains. The starters were delish but my veal ossobuco was not and I actually ended up guiltily returning it! We waited around for the dancing fountain show which is every half hour starting from five o’clock. The fun bit is that they do it to a different song every half hour and the better the song the better the show but I was expecting more colours and was a little disappointed with that. We quickly browsed the Souk Al Bahar which is full of shops which are laid out like a traditional Arab souk. It’s pretty for a stroll with the stone corridors, the archways and lanterns and shops selling handicrafts, jewellery and pretty rugs but I didn’t even consider buying anything as I’m sure it was massively overpriced. We couldn’t resist a quick dim sum break on our way out of the Mall. By the way, if you’re planning on taking the Metro to the Mall then factor in about 15 minutes walking from the metro station to the Mall. It’s just ridiculous as the metro stop is dedicated for the Mall yet is so far! Well at least it built up our appetite for dinner.
The one day we were really hoping for baking hot heat the Dubai weather chose to take it’s own back on us and became all cloudy and windy.
Still, that didn’t deter us from our water park plans. We went to the Wild Wadi water park the last time we came and had so much fun. Zarek was really bigging it up to S&F and I worried that maybe it wasn’t as good as we remembered. We had breakfast at a café in the Marina and then battled with a taxi driver to get a ride to the park. When Zarek managed to convince one to take us there was an awkward silence in the taxi, we were scared to even talk but incidentally he was playing a really soothing song over and over again so actually I didn’t mind the silence. The entrance ticket is around 230 dirhams and you pay extra for towels and lockers (I think it was 270 in total per person). The park was pretty sparse (probably due to the weather) and meant that we didn’t have to wait in line for any of the rides. Oh and this place was as fun as we remembered! There are loads of rides; some are interconnected so although they’re lots of individual ones you think it’s just one big ride. You can choose to sit on either a single doughnut or a double doughnut and then you get propelled uphill by jets or you slide downhill through a crazy waterway maze. You can even catch the surreal views of the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach on the way. There are a few really scary rides too like the Jumeirah Sceirah water slide which drops riders through a trapdoor at 80 kph!. Too thrilling for me to try but Zarek had an extreme time on it. In between the rides we floated in the wave pool which was so nice because it was heated.
There are a few places to eat in the park but they’re not great but fine for keeping your energy up. We stayed till closing time (6pm), showered and then walked to the Souk Madinat Jumeirah a few minutes away. Basically this is a little complex of shops and restaurants designed like a traditional souk with narrow alleys and some courtyards. The souk is part of the massive Madinet Jumeirah resort, which looks really lovely by the way and if I could stay in any of the Dubai resorts I think I’d pick this one. They’ve even got they’re own creek with Dhow boats who’s purpose is just to take hotel guests from the hotel to the shops – well why not? It’s a really pretty place especially in the evening with the twinkling lights and palm trees. Zarek and I had dinner at Japengo. We sat outside and could barely see our menus in the single candle light. Zarek ordered nasi gorang and I had a beef stir fry that was served in an edible potato basket. Both were excellent and the setting was so lovely that I think this was my favourite meal of the holiday. S& F had gone to meet some other friends so after dinner and dessert we headed back to the Marina to meet them and did some last night chilling with shisha and that awesome view again. I don’t think I ever got use to that crazy twisted building and I think it trumps the Burj Khalifa any day.
On our final day Dubai really turned the heat up. It was sweltering hot and I loved it! We took the water taxi to the Marina mall to have brunch. The water taxis is the easiest and most relaxed way to get to the mall and It’s only two dirhams! We ate at the Shakespeare co which is a really lovely spot – it’s got that whole shabby chic feel going on. We ordered some fancy sandwiches, some fun drinks and just sat back enjoying the atmosphere. The rest of the day we did nothing but laze around rotating between the sun lounger and the pool, all the while trying to fathom this crazy city, even looking up from the pool all we could see were skyscrapers.
For our last dinner I wanted to check out the Jumeirah beach road. This is a long strip of restaurants along the beach but I couldn’t see any sign of the beach because there was so much construction work happening. Just cranes’ everywhere building yet more structures as if there weren’t already enough apartment blocks here. This road was originally built for the Jumeirah beach residence which is a sand coloured set of apartment blocks. This area was nice enough but lacked soul and even any sort of buzz. We walked up and down the road trying to choose somewhere to eat out of the hundreds of places but nothing struck our fancy. As it was so close to the Marina just a few minutes drive away we decided to go back to Marina and have sushi at a place that we had walked past a few times and wanted to try. It was good but we found it weird eating sushi infront of fishes swimming in tanks, I don’t know if it was torture for them or us?!
And just like that our fun five days in the glitzy dessert were over. Usually Zarek and I book holidays to places that have a stronger cultural or historical element but going back to Dubai I realised that it’s good to mix-up your holidays from time to time. This break allowed us to really take it easy and I came back feeling refreshed. Dubai really does have a lot to offer and above all it is a great looking city – so I would definitely recommend it as a short break. We headed to the airport for our flight back to London Town and back to the cold and straight back to work for me. ahh the joys of only having 25 days off!
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