Yeap, I went to Dubai last month. Before I start to talk about the trip... I would like to bitch about MAS airlines. A 7 hour flight without
ANY PERSONAL ENTERTAINMENT SCREEN?!?!?!? I can die of boredom seriously if not for my MP3 player and PSP...
DAMN YOU MAS AIRLINES!!! Bitching aside... I landed at the Dubai International Airport around 3am local time. The first thing I feel when I stepped out from the Airport... Freaking
HOT! The night time temperature is about the same as the daytime temperature in Malaysia... Imagine how hot it can be during the daytime...
I wonder how the camels can withstand the heat there
Went back to rest at sister's apartment before going out for my first ever sight seeing in Dubai. The first place we covered is Madinat Jumeirah. Its widely known as the souk, which means traditional Arabic market.
Madinat Jumeirah, modernly traditional market. ^_^
The architecture and design looks like an open-air souk right? Well, don't be fooled. The whole building is equipped with air-cons. its a great example of fusion between traditional and modern design. Items like souvenir, traditional clothings, painting, house decorations and shisha are widely available here. Just watch out for the price tag before you get anything as not everything is cheap.
Yea, a stall selling shishas only! Bet somebodeh's eyes will go @_@
Me and my sis in front of the stall
Just outside from the souk, there's classy dining place all around the waterfront. Just opposite the water front are two resort hotels. There's even boat services for hotel guest to go around the waterfront. Of course, not to forget is the magnificant view of the Burj Al-Arab, the proclaimed first ever "7 star" hotel in the world.
One of the dining place by the waterfront
Guest from the hotel taking a ride on the sampan-like boat
I am touching the tip of the 7 star hotel XP
Next stop, Dubai Mall. Totally different from Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai Mall is arguably the biggest mall in the world. The mall itself have an indoor theme park, aquarium, ice skating rinks, cinemas and of course gazillion shops! I bet even shopaholics can't even cover every single shop in the mall in a week time. ^_^
(clocwise from top left) Part of the Dubai Mall, Ice-Rink,
Dubai Aquarium and the Fountain.
The Fountain: You dive, I... fly?
A chance to be a spoilt ruler for 10 seconds. XP
A short walk out from the mall, there's plenty of wonderful scenery and buildings to look at. The Souk Al Bahar is just opposite Dubai Mall, the tallest building in the world Burj Dubai is within sight and of course the Burj Dubai Lake with Musical Fountain performance from 7pm onwards. By the time we were there, its just about sunset time and we spent a lot of time there snapping the sunset pics. ^_^
I must say, I am impressed with the overall building designs there
Me, Burj Dubai and the sunset. ^_^
Wonder if the structure taste as good as it looks?
Nice sunset view
Dinner was at the Souk Al Bahar in a Thai cuisine shop call the Mango Tree. By far this is the grandest thai food I ever had. We took the A-La Carte Buffet special and the food are definitely worth the money. We started off with the welcome snacks and appetizer.
Welcome to Mango Tree, where there will be
no mango tree around XP
Comfy sofa with pillows, makes me wanna sleep
there after dinner
The welcome snacks, crackers with sauce and dates.
Appetizer consist of beef satay, meatballs, pohpia and
Thai-style Veges. I just
LOOOOOOOOVE the meatballs!
Next up, is the choice between a few Thai specialty soups. Both me and my sis chose the Tom Yum Goong, always the choice when it comes to Thai soup and we didn't regret it. The prawn is so fresh and the Tom Yum is very rich in flavor! Will kill for another bowl right now... >_<
Among of the best Tom Yum Goong I tried
There's 8 dishes to choose from for the main course. Me and my sis decided to try all of them. First up, introducing the least favorite among the 8 dishes.
Tow Hoo Nam Daeng (toufu and bok choi with brown sauce),
Nua Phad Grapow (minced beef with holy basil and red chilies), Planungmanow (steamed fillet of hammour with spicy lemon sauce) and
Gai Phad Med Ma-Maung (stir fried chicken with cashew nuts). Tried something similar like these a lot of times, thus none of these leave a deep impression.
(clocwise from top left) The toufu, beef, fish and chicken.
Next up, the other 4 dishes which I think are excellent. Pho Phad Phong Ka Ree (stir fried mud crab in yellow curry), Nua Yong Nam Tok (marinated rib eye steak), Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai (chicken fillet in gree curry sauce) and Phad Thai Jay (rice noodles with tofu and vegetables in phad thai sauce). Although the picture does not look that presentable, the mud crab is the best dish for the night in my opinion. The not so thick yellow curry covering the crab meat are simply delicious. The best thing I love about the other 3 dishes are the sauce that comes with it.
(clocwise from top left) The mud crab, rib eye steak, green curry
and rice noodle.
Throughout our dinner, we saw the Musical Fountain performance for about four times. Each time with a different Middle East music. The lights and water move in rhythm with the musics being played.
Musical fountain to entertain the crowds
All good things have to come to an end
BUT not before we have our desserts! A choice between fruit platter and the dessert of the day, Mango Ice Cream and Cheese Cake. The dessert of the day won our heart that night not only for it appearance but also for its great taste.
The dessert of the day: Mango Ice Cream and Cheese Cake
Fruit Platter
After that, we continue on walking around Dubai Mall before we call it a day. What a great way to kick start my first day in Dubai. By the way, one last thing to share with you peeps. Doesn't the picture below looks like "level gila?" For those who don't understand malay language, "gila" means crazy.
So now you are on level Gila Monster. XP
