The Honeymoon Series [xiv] - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The last post was on our Dubai Desert Safari tour (review here), so this shall be the final post in The Honeymoon Series, revisiting the rest of Dubai City, UAE - some of the famous landmarks and destinations in this exotic city.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Dubai City is mainly shopping, dining, and other city-esque leisure activities besides the deserts. it is also known for some impressive skycrapers, which we will introduce shortly.  It is no joke that the things here are expensive, especially the shopping. Expats working here disclose that despite their good salaries, a huge portion goes into rentals and there is not much left after saving,  because the rest goes into food and some entertainment. Nonetheless, this is an interesting cosmopolitan city retaining its ancient traditional values.

BURJ KHALIFA
1 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/index.aspx
Opening Hours: 0800 Hours till Late
Fees (observation deck):  From SGD$134.00 to SGD$191.00

A magnificent tower standing at 555 metres tall with 125 stories, the Burj Khalifa has the highest observatory deck in the world.

DUBAI MUSEUM
34 Al Fahidi Street, Bur Dubai, Bur Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: http://www.dubaiculture.gov.ae/en/Live-Our-Heritage/Pages/Dubai-Museum-and-Al-Fahidi-Fort.aspx
Opening Hours: 8.30am to 8.30pm (Saturdays to Thursday)
Entrance Fees: SGD$1.15

Built in the year 1787, this magnificent museum was both a defence fort and residence to the monarch. From blasts of the rural to the riches of modern urbane lfiestyles, the museum encases it all in its 4,000 square metres structure. My personal favorite was the Shipbuilding Wing, where blue lights give the feel of being underwater.

RESTAURANTS

As a pretty Cosmopolitan city, there are multiple cuisine available in Dubai itself, but the most prominent ones would be Mediterranean fare and at times, Indian cuisine. Prices vary depend on whether one dines at the roadside diners, restaurants or shopping malls. Some local snacks include Dried Figs, Chocolate covered Figs and Camel Milk Gelato, if you are game for them.

GLORIA JEANS COFFEE
Al Mussallah Road  (Financial Centre Road), Level 1 Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: https://thedubaimall.com/en/shop/gloria-jeans-coffee-first-floor

Nice comfortable seats in the spacious mall with an array of coffee and cakes selection to choose from. I satisfied myself with a Hot Chocolate (SGD$9.00) which was pretty rich.

DUBAI MALL'S FOOD COURT
Al Mussallah Road  (Financial Centre Road), Level 2 Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A rather huge variety of food items available, from Mediterranean food to Chinese food to Japanese food to Western food and fast food, so one could easily find something to satiate their appetite. Note however, that food at the food court wasn't cheap - averaging around SGD$16.00 a meal. Our Kebab Set was around SGD$28.00, but it was pretty tasty, with good assortment of items.

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY CAFE
Sheikh Zayed Road, 4th Interchange, Al Barsha 1, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, UAE

An award-winning cafe chain that was established since 1978, The Cheesecake Factory lots of (cheese)cakes, of course, and also pizzas, pastas, sandwiches fish & chips etc for those looking for a meal or something savoury. We loved our decadent Blackforest Cake here.

ZAGAREED CAFETERIA
Near Al Bassam Centre, Port Saeed, Al Khabaisi, Deira, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Walked around the vicinity of our hotel and stumbled upon this cafeteria - a kind of local roadside dining concept, like our coffeeshop.  It was interesting because they had like a Western Fusion food.  The Beau had some Fried Chicken Sandwich and I had a Prawn Burger. Drinks were interest in flavours, like Chicku and Grape - fruits that we don't use for juices in Singapore typically. The food was pretty decent and cost us around SGD$30.00 in total, I think.

GIRAFFE RESTAURANT
Airport Road, Terminal 3 Dubai Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: http://www.giraffe.net/locations/dubai-international-terminal-3-concourse-a

An Asian-fusion bistro-styled restaurant located at the humongous Dubai Airport, this places serves a variety of sandwiches, salads etc. What caught our eyes though, were the rice buckets with green curry or tomyum, filled with meat and vegetables, making for a sumptuous and nutritious meal.

SHOPPING

From the luxurious Dubai Mall to the Gold Souk Marketplace, we have seen it all; from the rows of branded items to local produce; there are plenty to buy in Dubai. Service staff can be rather friendly, even bringing you shopping baskets in large supermarkets if they see you carrying lots of things on your arms.

 

DUBAI MALL
Al Mussallah Road  (Financial Centre Road), Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: https://thedubaimall.com/
Opening Hours: 10..am to 11.00pm daily

A huge mall with a massive internal floor area of 51 million square feet, this multi-storied luxurious mall is divided into sections of modernity and Arabian cultural decor.. Besides high fashion and good restaurants, this mall also features a huge outdoor musical fountain, a large aquarium and underwater zoo, KidZania theme park as well as Olympic-sized ice-skating rink.

EMIRATES MALL
Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: http://www.malloftheemirates.com
Opening Hours: 10.00am to 12.00 midnight

A smaller mall in comparison to Dubai Mall, of course, but there is also a good-sized ski park as well as good shops selling local made accessories at reasonable prices. International brands, 90 lovely cafes / restaurants and Dubai's largest Carrefour are all located here.

GOLD SOUK MARKET
54 Al Khor Street, Deira, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Opening Hours: 10.00am to 10.00pm

A labyrinth of covered walkways is home to hundreds of retailers with a dazzling offering of gold, silver and other precious stones. Each piece seems more beautiful than the other; each chain seems thicker than the last. Besides gold and jewellery items, the marketplace also houses a wide variety of hand-woven fabrics, traditional costumes, fragrances, spices for cooking or aromatherapy purposes, as well as other knick knacks.

ACCOMMODATION

From the 7-star Burj to our Best Western Premier Hotel, accommodation in Dubai is quite readily available, with essential amenities and professional service crew.

BURJ AL ARAB JUMEIRAH
Jumeira Beach Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: https://www.jumeirah.com/en/hotels-resorts/dubai/burj-al-arab

A beautiful and opulent 7-star hotel rising like a sail in the middle of the Jumeirah Beach with an exuberant interior and personalized service (concierge on every floor, for instance, and tablet control so you can get everything without moving your butt), this hotel seeks to spoil its guests rotten. Priced at SGD$2,228 a night per room at least, be expected to be pampered, no less.

BEST WESTERN PREMIER HOTEL
Corner of Abu Baker Al Siddique Road and Salah Al Din Road, 81877, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: https://www.bestwestern.nl/hotels/best-western-premier-deira-dubai-76706
Alternative website: http://bestwesternpremierdubai.com/

A mid-range hotel located in a pretty centralized location and close to both Emirates Mall and Dubai Mall, the Best Western Premier Hotel is worth a shot, in terms of dining and rooms. Whether one needs gym facilities, meeting rooms or a hotel nearby Dubai Metro Station, the Best Western Premier has it all. The rooms are around SGD$148.00 per night.

RESORTS
Indulgent resorts such as Waldorf Astoria Resort and Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort are perfect getaways for families or couples as well, with their soft-sand private beaches, turquoise lagoons, gorgeous sea views and an array of fine-dining eateries within the resorts, one can very well look forward to a decadent experience.

End of Dubai's tour..


Here I conclude the entire Honeymoon Series, and thank you sincerely for following us on our journeys, as we traversed from pre-nuptials to The Day, to our European-UAE honeymoon. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me at cloverleafwish@gmail.com.  Thank you my dears once again, and hope we cross paths someday xoxoxo


For backtracks:
(i) Honeymoon Series part 1 - selecting the destinations (click here)
(ii) Honeymoon Series part 2 - researching and booking (click here)
(iii) Honeymoon Series part 3 - preparing for the trip (click here)
(iv) Honeymoon Series part 4 - Rome, Italy (click here)
(v) Honeymoon Series part 5 - Siena, Florence & Pisa, Italy (click here)

(vi) Honeymoon Series part 6 - Venice and Milan, Italy (click here)
(vii) Honeymoon Series part 7 - Lorraine and Fontainebleau, France (click here)
(viii) Honeymoon Series part 8 - Paris, France (click here)
(ix) Honeymoon Series part 9 - Swiss Alps and Bern, Switzerland (click here)

(x) Honeymoon Series part 10 - Interlaken and Jungfrau, Switzerland (click here)
(xi) Honeymoon Series part 11 - Lucerne and Zurich, Switzerland (click here)
(xii) Honeymoon Series part 12 - Lake Titisee, Black Forest, Germany (click here)

(xiii) Honeymoon Series part 13 - Dubai Desert Safari Tour, UAE (click here)

The Honeymoon Series [xiii] - Desert of Dubai, UAE

After beautiful  Black Forest, Germany (review here), we finally left enchanting Europe, and headed for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a city and emirate in the UAE, known for its luxury lifestyle, vibrant nightlife and tall, modern architectural landmarks.

Well, you must know that after Europe's wonderfully-cold Wintry weather, the heat and culture in Dubai was like a little jolt to the senses, like waking up from a beautiful dream. Then we realized that Dubai was a lovely city in itself, and we had the time of our lives in my first ever Desert Tour for our sultry Arabian adventures.

DESERT SAFARI DUBAI

Dubai 232268, United Arab Emirates

Website: http://www.desertsafaridubai.com/

We had to get into these ... Jeeps? Driven by local drivers, and 6 to a vehicle. No food allowed onboard - at first we thought they were just being concerned about us dropping food or dirtying their cars with greasy smears, but then later we realized that the rides were excitingly bumpy. Consuming food might mean barfing in the cars, which would be awful.

We stopped at a shop where they sold us scarves / head wraps to protect ourselves from the sand when it got windy.

Then we entered the safari desert - made up of fine sand in beautiful mountainous formations / humps. Our drivers deliberately rode on the sand dunes, especially the steeper and higher ones, so we felt like we were on a roller coaster ride with every ascent and descent.

We stopped at the dunes for a long while, taking photos and catching the stunning sunset from unblocked views. Thereafter, we reached an area where we would hang out for the rest of the night.

There were plenty of tents here, surrounding a huge platform. In the tents were treats for us, like the Henna tent - a form of body art practiced in India, like an intricate temporary tattoo. Another tent was for the purpose of smoking Sisha / Shisha (water pipe smoke, often flavoured) - more men congregated in there.  Camel rides were available just outside the area.

Foodwise, there was a huge dining area with colourful futon-like seats, comfortable and low. The seats were arrange the huge platform, and we collected our food from tents, buffet-style. Cuisine was traditional Arabian, with lots of salads and grilled meat, basmati rice dish, and cloying jasmine-flavoured desserts. It was an enjoyable meal, especially in the coolness of the evening.

Then there were performances to watch while we were having our dinner., starting with an impressive spinning dance where the male dancer donned a brightly-lit (literally) costume so that when he spun around and around like a top, the vibrant colors flashed.

This was followed by Belly Dancing performed by a graceful and beautiful lady in sari costume.  Finally, the Fire Show, which was exciting but at the same time, worrying (would he lose control of his fire sticks while tossing them and the flames land on the audience?)

Pity I didn't get to ride the camels, take photos with them or try out the Sisha / Shisha here. Nonetheless, the desert tour and dining experience was an intriguing experience, a novel experience for us and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Moving on, look out for The Honeymoon Series part 14, where we toured the rest of Dubai, UAE, visiting their famous architecture etc. Thanks for gracing my site - have a lovely week my dears.



For backtracks:
(i) Honeymoon Series part 1 - selecting the destinations (click here)
(ii) Honeymoon Series part 2 - researching and booking (click here)
(iii) Honeymoon Series part 3 - preparing for the trip (click here)
(iv) Honeymoon Series part 4 - Rome, Italy (click here)
(v) Honeymoon Series part 5 - Siena, Florence & Pisa, Italy (click here)

(vi) Honeymoon Series part 6 - Venice and Milan, Italy (click here)
(vii) Honeymoon Series part 7 - Lorraine and Fontainebleau, France (click here)
(viii) Honeymoon Series part 8 - Paris, France (click here)
(ix) Honeymoon Series part 9 - Swiss Alps and Bern, Switzerland (click here)

(x) Honeymoon Series part 10 - Interlaken and Jungfrau, Switzerland (click here)
(xi) Honeymoon Series part 11 - Lucerne and Zurich, Switzerland (click here)
(xii) Honeymoon Series part 12 - Lake Titisee, Black Forest, Germany (click here)

The Honeymoon Series [xii] - Lake Titisee in Black Forest, Germany

After visiting stunning Switzerland (review here), we cross over to Lake Titisee, Blackforest region in Germany. Now, Germany is an interesting Western European country with diversity - its capital Berlin which is rich for cultural, art and nightlife scenes, its city Munich known for Oktoberfest and famous German beers, and Frankfurt being the modern arm with skycrapers and central brank.

PLACES OF INTEREST

We had a short stay in Germany itself - basically merely crossing through the beautiful Black Forest region, renowned for its beautiful forests, black forest cakes and cuckoo clocks.

BLACK FOREST
A beautiful mountainous landscape with a dark cape of evergreens (pine trees) so dense, the shine could not shine through - that was how it's name was derived. Stretching west to the Rhine River and south into the Alpine foothills, the Black Forest is a must-visit for tourists in the Baden-Wutterberg (Swabia) region -it is also the biggest national park in the country with 130 years of tourism.

Besides a beautiful natural scenery, the Black Forest also houses some of the best restaurants, more than 30 spas, as well as the Cathedral of Freiburg, which is said to be one of the most beautiful gothic churches in Germany.

LAKE TITISEE
Strandbadstr 4. 79822 Titisee-Neustadt, Titisee, Germany
Website: http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/Media/Attraktionen/Titisee-lake

A beautiful lake surrounded by low mountains and forests, this natural setting is perfect for photography, relaxation and tourist's visitation. The Lake Titisee covers an area of km2 and is approximately 20 metres deep.

One may also be keen to visit the largest waterfall in Triberg here, the largest in the country.

SHOPPING

Besides Cuckoo Clocks, one may be very keen to do shopping for other merchandise as well. Housed in the same building are lots of other brands as well, from Mont Blanc to Pandora to Coach to Longchamp. You cannot walk away without a gorgeous, secure Rimowa luggage! And it was surprising to note that the prices of certain branded watches were about SGD$1,000 less than what we bought in Switzerland (gasps).

DRUBBA CUCKOO CLOCK / SHOPPING
Seestraße 37-41, 79822 Titisee-Neustadt, Germany
Website: https://www.drubba.com

How could one miss visiting the house of the Cuckoo Clocks? We were treated to a demonstration of the mechanisms and history of the famous exquisite clocks, with a better understanding of how they work. I never knew there were so many types of cuckoo clocks - some tell stories, others chime melodies instead of the usual birdie's coo-ing.  This is a lovely place to be at.

RESTAURANTS

There are many small hotels and restaurants, bars etc here so one could easily find food and drinks to fill their tummies or satiate cravings. When in Black Forest, one must eat their Pork Knuckle with Saukernaut and Black Forest Cake, as well as try German Beer and / or Wine!

CAFE & BRAUHAUS ZUR MUHLE
Seestraße 37-41, 79822 Titisee-Neustadt, Germany
Website: https://www.drubba.com/en/drubba/drubba-services/restaurants/restaurant-zur-muehle

Also under the Drubba Group, in the same building, is a beautiful café restaurant offering one a clear view of the surrounding forest through its full glass windows. Be it Summer or Winter, one dines in a gorgeous natural surrounding, served by cheerful service crew and warm hospitality over delicious, authentic German cuisine.

Here concludes our tour in Germany, and also the last city we visited in Europe (sadly). We bode the wonderful coldness goodbye and moved on to our last Honeymoon destination next - the exotic Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Keep a lookout for it next week. Thank you for reading, and smooches my dears.


For backtracks:
(i) Honeymoon Series part 1 - selecting the destinations (click here)
(ii) Honeymoon Series part 2 - researching and booking (click here)
(iii) Honeymoon Series part 3 - preparing for the trip (click here)
(iv) Honeymoon Series part 4 - Rome, Italy (click here)
(v) Honeymoon Series part 5 - Siena, Florence & Pisa, Italy (click here)

(vi) Honeymoon Series part 6 - Venice and Milan, Italy (click here)
(vii) Honeymoon Series part 7 - Lorraine and Fontainebleau, France (click here)
(viii) Honeymoon Series part 8 - Paris, France (click here)
(ix) Honeymoon Series part 9 - Swiss Alps and Bern, Switzerland (click here)

(x) Honeymoon Series part 10 - Interlaken and Jungfrau, Switzerland (click here)
(xi) Honeymoon Series part 11 - Lake Titisee, Blackforest, Germany (click here)