27.11.14

Travel Stories: DUBAI (A First Impression pt. 1)



You don't know affluence until you've seen Dubai. From the beginning to the end of our visit, we were greeted by all things bright and beautiful—high-end villas, modern skyscrapers, and a white convertible Rolls Royce waiting beside our taxi. Dubai seems to go mainly by the principles of luxury and grandiose, reaffirming its title as The City of Gold.

DUBAI 101

There is no such thing as “free lunch,” and in Dubai, it comes at a very high price. Almost everything you see in Dubai will require you to reach for your wallet, so the average traveller will have to reconsider his budget here. Dubai sells the experience of luxury, and it expects that this is what you came for. 

Although, it could just be because our itinerary was arranged by a travel agency as a packaged deal with our visa application (since we didn’t know anyone who can process our visas for us in Dubai. See Dubai visa processing for PH passports here). We all know package tours are as touristy as they come, so the core of the whole itinerary is to spend...AND be chauffeured in a Lexus [insert obnoxious smirk here]. 

The Basics. 

We took a city tour (on a SIC basis, pre-booked through our agent) on the 1st day, and were brought to the GOLD SOUK, among others. It was basically every woman’s heaven on earth, with a long alley all dedicated to golden jewelry. The place was gleaming—from simple stud earrings to elaborate necklaces that could cover your entire torso (no kidding). There’s already a display of the standard per-gram costs of an 18-, 21-, 22-, and 24-karat gold, so what you will be haggling for is the cost of labor for designing your jewelry. There were more than a hundred stores, so it’s expected to see vendors compete for your attention and invite you to their respective shops. Occasionally you would hear someone shout, “Kabayan! Kamusta,” which says a lot about the saturation of Filipinos in Dubai, both as tourists and as OFWs. But more on that later. 

Some of the shops lack the aesthetics of a credible jewelry seller, but we were constantly reassured by several locals that there were no fakes being sold at the Gold Souk, and that the trade was in fact being regulated by the government. I wasn’t able to buy, but I would recommend going to this place if only to bask in the shiny icon of wealth, because where else can you walk along an actual street of gold?
Ready for our 1st tour



Our tour guide for the day


Passing by the museum first





Gold Souk!





The city tour also brought us to JUMEIRAH BEACH, one of Dubai’s open beaches. None of us were there to swim, but it’s the closest you can get to the ever famed BURJ AL ARAB (unless, of course, you have the means to check in one of their rooms, which we didn’t). What was more interesting is the row of houses we passed on the way to the beach. They all had similar features, retaining the traditional Arabian design which are kind of block-type and the color of sand, yet each had its own individual, modern aspect to it. What you won’t miss though, is that one tiny detail that lets you know these people have the resources—a luxury car in the garage, a speedboat parked at the front, or the vague image of the fancy chandelier from the glass window. Abundance is so ordinary in this city.
Visited Jumeirah Mosque on the way to the beach




Anyway, speaking of Burj-es, another of Dubai’s icons is BURJ KHALIFA. Whatever Wikipedia says about Burj Khalifa is pretty much it.  We were good just appreciating the world’s tallest building from outside, but if you really must see what’s inside, you can purchase a ticket to AT THE TOP, the viewing deck at the 124th floor where you get a bird’s eye view of Dubai for a minimum of AED125. The current exchange rate is PHP12.23 to AED1 so, your call.  I do suggest to pre-book or to go to the ticket office at The Dubai Mall early. The line could become long starting noontime and I believe there would also be some waiting time before you could enter the attractions.


The stingy tourists—like moi—can just stay outside and wait for the fountain show at THE DUBAI FOUNTAIN. It holds yet another record for the city as the world’s largest choreographed fountain, set at the lake just beside Burj Khalifa and between The Dubai Mall and Souk Al Bahar. IT’S FOR FREE (woot, woot!), so before the 1st show starts at 6pm, you can see people starting to save their comfy spots within the area surrounding the lake. You can sit anywhere, but the best viewing spot is at the foot bridge connecting The Dubai Mall and Souk Al Bahar. You can also opt to view and dine at the nearby cafes and restaurants but be sure to secure your tables early as the veranda areas can become full at this time, with everyone else having the same intention as you. The 1st show starts at 6pm and goes until 11pm at 30-minute intervals. Dubai has set very high standards for its facilities, even for those that are non-income generating (at least, not directly) like this fountain show. So expect to be awed by spurts of water dancing in sync to Arabian music and shooting up about 50 meters high during the finale.


Foot bridge between Dubai Mall and Souk Al Bahar


Papa while waiting for the fountain show. Lol





I’ve mentioned DUBAI MALL several times already, and for sure it’s one of the top entries when you search about Dubai on the internet. Well, it IS the world’s largest shopping mall so it should be worth mentioning. Then again, world record aside, it’s just like any other mall and generally houses foreign brands (by foreign I mean to both the Philippines and UAE). Unlike in other Asian shopping hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore, the shopping scene in Dubai is not as competitive. The prices here are basically the same as in other countries, so the chronic shopper might be better off holding out and flying to HK or SG for retail therapy instead. As mentioned, Dubai expects that you are there to experience luxury, so Dubai Mall (and the equally popular Mall of the Emirates) stands to evoke aspiration rather than accessibility.



The evening after we went to Dubai Mall we got ready to be picked up for the DHOW CRUISE. There were mixed reviews about this cruise, and after experiencing it myself, I would say you won't be missing anything if you didn't go. The cruise’s course follows the Dubai Creek, which, apart from a couple of lighted structures at the side, is basically empty. It would also be difficult to photograph because the boat is moving and there is hardly any ambient lighting from outside. The tour does include a dinner buffet and a performance of the traditional Tanoura dance for entertainment. My advice, is you choose your cruise company carefully. Ask what food they serve. Ours catered mostly to Indian tourists, so the food did not provide other options. But there are other Dhow Cruises that serve international dishes, so just inquire before you book. The Tanoura was the saving grace of our cruise, but then again you can also watch this performance elsewhere. Overall, it would not have made a difference if you just went to a restaurant (on land) to eat.

P.S. I guess I have to tell about the time I got picked to try the Tanoura dance. It wasn't easy turning around with enough momentum to make that LED-laden skirt/cape costume move. I'm sure the dancer worked quite the energy when he performed because, man, I smelled all the sweat in the cape when I wore it. :)


Who is Ms. Gabriela though? LOL 


Yeah that's me. I look so "cute."

THE PALM ISLAND is another of Dubai’s shock-and-awes. Built for the city’s affluent, the man-made island accommodates multiple rows of upscale apartments and hotel resorts. ATLANTIS THE PALM is also located here, where we devoted an entire day at the Aquaventure Waterpark and the LOST CHAMBERS AQUARIUM. This part of the itinerary we could have probably gone without, though we did enjoy riding the artificial rapids (the experience was amazingly similar to our river tubing in Davao, minus the risk of drowning) and thrilling slides at the waterpark. So if you have spare time, you might want to squeeze this in. 










Wish I could be...part of that wooooooorld... :)



OKAY. Now let’s talk about the highlight of this trip: the DESERT SAFARI. All I can say is, thank God for sand dunes. I have been to a number of theme parks and I’m in love with thrill rides, but they now all seem to be as thrilling as a carousel compared to dune bashing. I’m glad the Arabs swapped their camels for 4x4s. It was literally bone-crushing, but what is fun without a little bit of pain? :) My mom and I couldn’t even shoot a proper video of the ride, since every few seconds our driver, Iqbal would take a sharp turn causing our limbs to just jerk sideways. You could tell it was going to be a rough ride judging from the long handles inside the Land Cruiser, some even already hanging loosely on one side. But it was all good fun. My dad enjoyed it very much. And despite everything, it felt safe. This was our last activity on the itinerary, but if I had known better, I would have asked our agent to book for it twice. The dune bashing lasted for only about 10 minutes though, and after that all the tourists were led to a camp to watch performances of the Tanoura and belly dancing over barbecue dinner. There were also booths inside the camp where you can try out traditional Arabic clothing and get henna tattoos. Softdrinks were for free but the fruit shakes were not. :) There’s also a shisha gazebo, where you can have hazy conversations with other tourists between puffs. The food wasn’t great, just to get that out of the way. Food in Dubai is mostly influenced by Indian and Persian dishes, which I was absolutely fine with, but after 5 consecutive days of curry and biryani, you just need a little break. The barbecue was good, but apart from that there wasn’t much variety at the buffet. All in all it was a great experience. It was a good idea to gather everyone and provide a venue to socialize.



Meet Iqbal, our very entertaining safari driver!



Tanoura dance


Iqbal directed this pose LOL







No comments: