Emirate Hoppin' in UAE (Part 2): Dubai's Highest Towers, Fanciest Hotels, Infinite Deserts

- December 26-27, 2016, Monday-Tuesday.

- Directly coming back to Dubai from our Monday morning trip to Ras al-Khaimah (click here for Part 1,) our tour group went to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa in the heart of Dubai. The Burj Khalifa is currently the world's tallest tower with 163 floors since 2009; it was built in honor of the current UAE president, Sheikh Khalifa. Apart from this, the tower also boasts other records, such as having the highest elevator, the highest observatory, among others. Inside the Burj Khalifa, there is the Armani Hotel, Armani Residences, the very high-up "At.mosphere" restaurant, and the observatory.

- The Burj Khalifa is right beside Dubai Mall, but to go up the observatory (124th floor of the Burj Khalifa, also called "At the Top,") one would need to go inside Dubai Mall at the far end of the ground floor. There, tickets can be purchased for the observatory. Since this was still part of the group tour itinerary, our tickets were pre-bought. I also strongly recommend anyone wanting to go up the observatory to pre-book tickets online since the lines can be quite crazy. Another important thing to remember is to line up at least 15 minutes before the time indicated on the ticket, or else the staff won't let you in (and you'd need to buy a new ticket.) Though we were driven there via our tour coach, going to Dubai Mall is very convenient: just take the Dubai metro to Dubai Mall metro station, and that's it!!

Shadow of the Burj Khalifa seen from the observatory.

Look at all the other skyscrapers.

Silhouette of the Burj al-Arab. Dubai can be quite dusty, so while it wasn't foggy that afternoon, it was hard to take photos of faraway buildings.

The Burj al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah (the palm-shaped island; it's hard to see the palm shape from this angle though.

One of the souvenir photos from the observatory. (In case it is necessary to say, of course this was photoshopped.)

- We were fortunate enough to have some time to roam around the mall, a good two hours if I remember correctly. Of course, we had to use our free time wisely. First, we went to the bridge near Souq al Bahar at the outdoor area of the mall with the big lake/pond where the fountain show is held. This is the best place to take a photo of the whole Burj Khalifa - not too near, not too far.

Such perfection.

Of course the mandatory tourist selfie.

Ladies and gentlemen, again, my dad the master candid photo photographer.

- After taking photos of the tower while the sun was still up, we went inside the mall and passed by one of the world's largest indoor aquariums (imagine that, an oceanarium inside a mall!!) We also went through the "The Souk,"which is an indoor souq/souk-style area of the mall (with really expensive souvenirs and Arab goods.) My favorite surprise of "The Souk" was the large Jurassic-era diplodocus skeleton.

A giant aquarium!!

This is just a fraction of the aquarium.

Inside "The Souk."

A diplodocus inside the mall????

- We spent the remaining time shopping (well mostly my sister shopping) before meeting our tour guide. Our Indian tour guide asked us to go to the lake/pond area to watch the first fountain show of the night. The musical fountain show (which by the way is the world's largest) happens every 30 minutes, using a different song with a different language per performance. The 6pm show, the one I saw, was the first fountain show of the night using the song "Sama Dubai." The song was a tribute to Sheikh Mohammed. The fountain show reminded me a lot of the fountain show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (click here.)

"The Waterfall."

Oh look it's my friend Michelle!! Actually half of the people I know were in UAE when I was there, but I didn't see most of them around.

Burj Khalifa at sunset.

Fountain show.

- In the early evening we had dinner inside the sailboat-shaped Burj al-Arab. We were not yet given a chance to take a photo of it from the outside since it was too dark, but at least we got to see it from the inside. The Burj al-Arab is a sailboat-shaped hotel finished in 1999, and is dubbed as one of the world's 7-star hotels (though this, according to some sources, is false.) Reaching the Burj al-Arab by public transportation can be quite hard since there are no metro lines that can directly take people to this hotel, and so I suggest taking a taxi to this hotel.

Burj al-Arab.

Reminds me of a kaleidoscope.

- The following morning we went to the old quarters of Dubai, passing by the textile souq on the way to the abra terminal. Again, the abra is a local boat used as a water taxi; each ride costs 1 dirham per person. We crossed the river to the Spice Souq and spent some time at the Gold Souq. All the souqs are open from morning until night (with a little siesta in the early afternoon, though this depends on the store,) but on Fridays they are open from around 4pm until 10pm. In Muslim countries, particularly in West Asia, Friday is considered as a weekend as is it a prayer day (like how Sunday is in Catholic/Christian countries,) and is usually paired up with Saturday; Sunday acts as a weekday.

- By the way, souvenir shopping can be done in all souqs, and haggling is of course expected. However, an alternative to souvenir shopping can be done in any branch of the store called "Day to Day." The "I ♥ Dubai" brand which can sometimes be found in malls is also a good shop as the souvenirs are all reasonably priced. Haggling is not allowed in the two stores mentioned.

Old Dubai; the boat there is an abra.

This is the kind of Dubai that I had wanted to see.

The largest golden ring in the world (yes, it holds a Guinness Record for that.)

It's larger than my head!!

Gold, gold, and more gold!!

Street art.

- After having a brief visit to the two souqs, we had a short drive to the Za'abeel Palace, which was used by the late Sheikh Rashid. This palace was finished in the mid 1960s, back then, it used to be the only palace in the middle of the vast nothingness of the desert. Now, that desert has been turned into the modern Dubai we see today. Today, the palace is off-limits, and people can only see it from outside the gate before the police car. It reminded me of the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia (click here.)

Police car for display, but there was an actual one with a policeman inside at the side, guarding the palace.

It also kind of reminds me of the Brandendurg Gate in Germany.

- Just before lunch, we went to the Jumeirah Beach to take photos of the Burj al-Arab from the outside and in broad daylight. The Jumeirah Beach is an actual beach where people can swim and do some water activities.

Again my dad the candid photo king was able to get my grumpy side - exactly how my face looks like when there are photobombers at the back and I can't take a nice photo of myself.

Good enough!!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the Burj al-Arab is also one of Dubai's earliest efforts to build iconic buildings that were made to lure tourists apart from the main purpose of the buildings (in this case, the main purpose of the Burj al-Arab is to be a hotel.)

- Next, we had a short photostop at the jewel of the Palm Jumeirah - the "Atlantis ,The Palm" hotel. This pink hotel is one of the most widely-photographed buildings in Dubai, next to the two Burjes (i.e. Burj Khalifa, Burj al-Arab.) The hotel is located at the tip of the circle that goes around the palm-shaped island. For those who want to go via public transportation, people can ride the tram or a taxi to the Palm Jumeirah Monorai, and ride the monorail up to the palm. The tram and the monorail are not connected to the metro system as of now. (Knowing Dubai, I'm sure they'll do something about it in the near future.)

It was quite difficult to take a photo of the whole hotel as we were too close to the hotel (and going beyond where we were standing was not possible because it was already the sea.)

- We had a quick lunch after our morning trip, and went to the hotel after lunch to rest for an hour or so. At around 4pm, our tour group was fetched by three Hummer cars that took us to the desert around 30-45 minutes from the downtown. The Desert Safari is normally included in package tours of Dubai, and for those traveling alone, I think there is no other way to do this than by booking the afternoon-to-night safari tour for a number of reasons. First, the desert safari tour happens in the vast nothingness of the desert, with little to no signs; only the tour's Land Cruiser or Hummer drivers are able to know which route to take. Second, not all cars are built for the desert, and the desert has some mild slopes that may not be suitable terrains for a normal car. Third, there are many Bedouin-style camps across the desert for the dinner and evening cultural show, and again, only the Hummer/Land Cruiser drivers know the way.

- The desert safari was an interesting experience for me because it was my first time to be in the middle of the desert. Since I was wearing my sandals, it was my first time to feel cold dry sand; I've only experienced hot sand from the beach. Since the sand in the desert was dry, it was easy to clean my feet, unlike the wet mushy sand beside the sea. The drivers also drive around the slopes of the desert like a mini-roller coaster ride. It's fun sometimes, though it can get a teeny weeny bit scary at the steeper (but not very high) slopes. We were also assured that the cars they use are desert-suitable cars.

Son of the desert (or "son of the dessert??" Hopefully it's the latter. Heehee.)

One of the other Hummer cars. See that?? It's sloped.

I never thought that I'd have a thing for deserts. I don't want to stay in one forever though.

My dad took a Vogue-like photo of my mom.

Walking into the sun.

Cars, a plane, and the vast nothingness in between.

Beouin style keffiyeh.

- The final stop is at the Bedouin camp were people can engage in a bunch of Arab cultural activities before the dinner. There are (really expensive) souvenir stalls, henna stalls. traditional costume stalls (didn't need this since I had my own costume,) camel rides (line was too long huhu,) snack stalls, and an experience to hold a real falcon. The falcon is an important animal in the Arab culture, as it was treated as a "hunting buddy" of the early Arabs. Also, I should mention that as the sun was setting, the temperature at the desert was drastically becoming colder (in my favor of course.) The desert is a few degrees lower than in the city.

Falcon!!

Bedouin camp.

- I should mention that my dinner in the middle of the desert was probably the first authentic dinner that I've had in UAE. It was perhaps the nicest meal I've had during the whole trip. During dinner, there was a simple cultural show with three parts. The first part is belly dancing. The next segment is the tannoura dance, which is a secular form of the whirling dervish dance. This iconic dance is done by men wearing skirts. For the religious sufi dance, men would usually wear long white robes, while the secular and folk tannoura dance uses colorful skirts (and in more modern forms, the skirts are even lit with neon lights.) Finally, the night was heated up by a fire dancer, with, of course, a fire-spitting finale.

Belly dancing.

Tannoura.

See them neon lights????

Fire dance.

The fire-spitting finale.

- We were driven back to the hotel after the colorful cultural encounter. I actually wanted to eat more Arabian food, and watch more cultural performances, but at least I had this opportunity to experience something like this. I also think this cultural encounter was a good preview to my next agenda in Dubai - exploring more of Dubai's culture and heritage!! (Please don't forget to read Part 1 here, and Part 3 here!!)