Dubai

3AM – Arriving in Dubai

Having come off a plane both at Singapore and Dubai in the past 24 hours, I can help but feel underwhelmed at the Dubai Airport. I always imagined it to be a city of superfuturistic developments and naturally I assumed the Airport would be the most update as it welcomes the most amount of people. Yet I’m taken back to my travels to India in early 00’s with faded whites and very dark lighting.

I was excited to see the logo that I had read about online in real life and they’ve adapted it across many different sections and applications quite successfully. If only the age of the Airport matched. Maybe I’m here at a bad window of time.

Update: Ok I now have spent time in the departure area and the arrival/taxi area is definitely not the best representation of Dubai Airport.

Day 1

After waiting in the Airport arrival area until a decent time, I headed to Fusion Hotel – a boutique B’n'B located in the Jumeirah 3 region. Peter and Stacey were wonderful during my stay and treated me like family.

After breakfast and a quick nap, I headed for the Old Souks, a tourist spot with areas that sell Gold, Spices and of course, the usual fake crap. The sights and smells (both good and bad) are amazing. However, it’s bloody hot and walking around with a backpack on proved to be a moist experience.

I was aiming to head to Al Arj Arab at sunset to get great photos, yet the weather for my entire stay was overcast with what seemed to be a giant omnipresent dust storm. A fog make of earth. Driving up and down the main highway, Sheikh Zayed Rd, the towering skyscrapers creepily loom out of the dust like forgotten statues. The most impressive of which is the Burj Dubai, which is the tallest tower in the world with 160 floors.

The Al Arj Arab is surreal to view, even more so during such mediocre weather. The water on the beach is still and the heat is suppressing. That said, people are still relaxing and enjoying the water. My other aim was to visit Madinat Jumeirah, which I had heard (and seen online) was a very beautiful place to visit. My taxi driver, however, didn’t seem to know where it was and I ended up not going.

Day 2

My second day in Dubai heralded a peaceful morning with a nice breakfast and an episode of Conan. Despite drinking my share the night before (and partaking in the midnight swim when it had finally cooled down), no hangover prevailed. My flight was at 4pm so I figured I could fit a visit to the Mall of Emirates in before I headed to the airport.

The Mall of Emirates is a gigantic building that hosts, in my opinion, one of the other most impressive attractions Dubai has to offer – indoor snow field. I would have loved to spend the whole day at the slope.

My next stop is Cairo, Egypt and I have a few more days than Dubai to spend sightseeing and touring. My homesickness hasn’t yet kicked in as I’m still getting a buzz from travelling around on my own in a foreign place.