Dubai Detour - June 2010

In the spirit of SATC2 holidaying in UAE, we managed to sneak in a short trip to UAE as well during my assignment in Qatar. Terlupa nak blog about this. Better late than never I suppose.

So we went to Dubai. For a mother of all shopping trip. The summer sale was in full bloom by the time we touched down in Dubai. It's only an hour away from Doha via flight. Got ourselves a cheap flight on FlyDubai (UAE answer to AirAsia). As for the hotel, after studying the map of old and new Dubai, cross referencing it with the Metro station location, matching them up with the satelite images of all the major shopping malls and interviewing Dubai natives at the office, we choose to stay at Rose Rayhaan Hotel by Rotana. It's not just some hotel, it's the tallest hotel in the world! The room was top notch (not just because we were on the 68 floor) and we got a pretty sweet deal. After the financial crisis, luxury became murah dan meriah in Dubai :)

Like I said, this was a mother of all shopping trip. Dubai has just got every label, store, brand you could think of in this world. You name it, they got it. And they got it at discount sebab tengah summer sale. It's pure hard core sale pulak tu. For example, if TamaGucci is on sale, you could find the latest item at 50%. Bukan macam Malaysia, dah la item from previous 10 season, pastu discount 10%. Itu pun barang dah kena pijak-pijak. And, (kami sungguh bersyukur ke hadrat ilahi) while we were there, the Malaysian RM was pretty strong. So with the great exchange rate and loads of discount, the god of shopping is smiling upon us and sending us loads of credit our way. Ladies, warm up your credit card and ....(need I say more?)

Before I continue, may I say again this is a mother of all shopping trip. Did we visit the Ski Dubai? The Underwater World? The Aquarium? The Fountain? The dessert? I will simply say a polite No. Tidak. Nada. Nehi.

We did however went to Harvey Nichols, Bloomingdales, Galeries Lafayette, Saks Fifth Avenue, Agent Provocateur, Alexander Mcqueen, Hermes, LV, Gucci, Burberry, Armani, H&M, Dubai Mall, Burjunam Mall, Wafi City Mall, Dubai Outlet Mall, Mall of Emirates, City Center, Virgin Store (borong t-shirt, best gila), Souq Naif (twice, sampai dah bersila dalam kedai jual Abaya (gedik name for Jubah) and baring kat sofa dalam kedai jual segala mak nenek kain chiffon, silk and tah apa lagi). Walaupun ni mother of all shopping trip, kami masih lagi waras dan tak hilang akal. Most of the shop tu masuk nak cuci mata, sambil posing-posing poser aje. Then we had fun, having all of our small purchase gift wrapped! Hahahah memang dasar 'villager'!Tapi dekat Souq Naif tu memang hilang akal jugak la. Maybe sebab tak makan lagi. Tu la never shop when hungry, nanti semua nak beli.

For some strange reason, tah kenapa kitaorang gila terjal dalam Hersey's Chocolate World. We even took pictures to be printed on a bar of chocolate! (Ok ni lagi worst..) and tah kenapa aku gila happy nampak Reese ni, siap posing scandalous lagi. After second the picture was taken, it just dawn to me.. shit.. I must made the Bangla/Nepal/Pinoy in the suit a very happy person today. Kakak aku lagi best, "Eh haram la ambik gambar peluk-peluk, kang kena tangkap pulak". Tak terpikir pulak aku. Hahahahaha

And like I said, you name it, they got it. Siap ada kedai nama Klynn. (Klynn, sudahkah kau merasmikan present aku? On second thought, no need to answer that).

Ada jugak Miss June. Bila pulak akak design baju ni?

Well, somewhere during the 3 hectic days of window shopping, we managed to squeeze in, going up the tallest building in the world. Granted it was in the mall. Heheheh. Burj Khalifa - stands over 800 meters tall (Petronas Twin Tower is at 452meters) with over 160 levels, was techincally the tallest building in the world somewhere in 2008. The building was officially launched in January 2010 . We get to go up the observation deck which was on the 124 floor. You have to get tickets to go up. I shall not bore you with the facts and figures, have a look here for them. Unfortunately, the weather was not that clear. The sand storm was kicking in that weekend. So there was not much view, just hazy everywhere. Bila dah bosan, apa lagi... kitaorang la orang yang paling eager sekali kat gift shop kat situ. Heheheh.



A few tips on Dubai:

1. Check the weather. Try to come during cooler weather so that it's nice to walk around.
2. There's Metro (train) but it's not that extensive. You need to get around in taxi which could be pricey.
3. The shopping malls are HUGE! Get fit and wear comfortable shoes if you are going to rough it, so to speak.
4. The low cost terminal is super crazy and queeing could be hours. I just can't figure why. Do come in early.

Before we know it, it's time to go back. We promise ourselves that we should come back here and do all the tourist thingy properly. Siap simpan tu Metro card, konon nak guna lagi. Hahaha. Insya-allah, kalau ada rezeki lagi :)