Anyhow.. As you can see from the title, I'm writing this post to document the trip I had during Golden Week end of April, that is the trip to United Arab Emirates (UAE). Took a night flight by Etihad from Narita to Abu Dhabi, sleeping all the way in the 12 hours flight.I reached Abu Dhabi very early in the morning, around 5 am, having Lily greeted me upon arrival. So let's dig in to the highlight of the trip shall we?Where did I go, and What did I do?
Visiting
1) The Emirates Palace
Despite the name, the Emirates Palace is not really a palace, it's actually a luxury 7 star hotel, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. The hotel was superbly luxurious, with massive lobby, high wall and dome, with gold interior portrayed all over the entire hotel. Chocolate covered with gold? ✓ Gold vending machine? ✓
Anything you can imagine about gold!
2) Syeikh Zayed Grand Mosque
This is the biggest mosque in UAE, and like the Emirates Palace, it screams wealth and luxury all over. Marble pillars and floors, huge ablution place, big shiny chandeliers..You name it. The carpet in the mosque was said to be weaved in one piece for the entire mosque, meaning they weren't cut and being put to fit, instead it was weaved to fit. The carpet was made in Iran, and flown in a plane just for the mosque. There are a lot of tourist visitor to this mosque, from people of all walk of lives. There's a tour guide provided so you can listen to explanation regarding the mosque history, fact etc.
3) Yas Island
Yas Island is where the Ferrari World, Yas circuit and Yas Waterworld are located. When I was there, it kinda turn off. I was expecting a lot of crowd, with a lot of people bustling around to enjoy the rides, but instead, there it stands, like white elephant with the lack of existence of people around. Something that is totally opposite to theme parks here in Japan, the scenario you'd be expecting is waiting time of at least 30 minutes;- that is for a not popular rides. I guess you could appreciate the lack of people at the park and so you can enjoy more rounds of rides. :)
4) Burj Khalifa
So.. Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world at the moment. It is located near the Dubai Mall, the biggest mall in the world. In order for you to go up to the observation deck, you will need to by the admission ticket, costing 125AED. Lily bought and reserved the tickets for both of us, a month prior to our visit. You can buy your tickets as early as 1 month before the date you'd be visiting the burj. The observation deck is at the 124th floor, providing you a magnificent view of the city of Dubai, overlooking the sea. The line to go up last around 20 minutes, before we can actually ride the elevator to go up. The elevator ride was so short that it took only one minute to go up to the 124th floor! Unfortunately for me( well, i might be considered lucky!) to a country that only would have rain once or twice a year, it rained on the day i visited Burj Khalifa, causing quite a foggy view. The only downside of the observation deck is, in my opinion, there is no coffee shop or restaurant there, making a shorter length of viewing time. Plus the lack ( was it none?) seats for someone to actually sit back and enjoy their view.
5) The Palm & Burj el Arab
Hurm,,... what should I elaborate? We just went by to these places took pictures and ciao! haha,..
Well, Burj el Arab is also a luxury hotel situated near the Marina Beach. :)
And, The Palm is made up of few man made islands forming a palm shape island, with houses owned by the rich and famous people. (David Beckham has a house there as well!)
6) Heritage Village
This is another tourist spot in Abu Dhabi where you can experience a traditional life of the Arab at the desert. There are a few small "shops" featuring the art of the of the locals such as weaving demo, sword display etc. Then you can visit the traditional house, see the camel, horse, eagle and cows too! :D I suggest if you happened to be here and wanted to get some souvenirs for the people hometown, you can buy your souvenirs sold here. I think it's relatively cheaper to buy them here instead of buying them at the malls or at the airport.
6) Desert Safari
This was definitely the highlight of my trip! :D
Basically we went for a night show in the middle of the desert, riding the mpv hovering around the sand dunes in a super bumpy ride. It might be overwhelming, but it was FUN! :D Our driver/guide was a very supporting guy, and we definitely enjoyed his hospitality. At the camp, we feast on the Arab food, there were shish kebab, falafel, etc.. There were also some Arabian dance show ( belly dance included! hehe ), henna art making, sand art, and also camel ride available at your disposal. Not to forget the shisha as well.
7) SHOPPING
So.... I went to these malls people! In 5 days!
★Dubai Mall ★Emirates Mall ★ Deira City Center ★Ibn Batuta Mall ★Marina Mall
I think this the trip where I visited most number of malls in one country! They were right, saying UAE provides a shopping heaven! The biggest mall in the world is here, any brands you can imagine are available here. And price wise, designer brands are relatively cheaper here compared to both Malaysia and Japan, although slightly expensive to their country of origin. What I can say is they provide a very great and memorable shopping experience. Believe me when I say one day is definitely not enough to explore the Dubai Mall, putting the saying "shop till you drop" at a whole another level. I visited Dubai Mall twice! hehe..
I guess that's what to tell about my trip. To round it up, I think it's a very nice country to visit. Development everywhere, transportation is great, food was impressive, stuff were reasonable, and the weather was great! :) And I'm thankful that I have Lily and her father hosted me during my stay :) Thank you Lil n Uncle! ;) twas a great trip, accompanied with awesome people and awesome experience. I would definitely come over another time for sure! :)))
After Dubai.. I went back to KL! ;) visited a friend's wedding and spending my time with my loved precious ones. :)
That's all! Ill see you next time! :)
1 comment:
lawanyaa tempat2 kat sanaaa:))
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