Dubai is an annual must-visit place for our family since we started living in the Middle East. Last weekend, we flew to Dubai for the weekend, thanks to the 50% frequent flyers redemption offer. So yeah, the tickets were FOC but the tax for a Dubai flight is damn pricey. We left early Friday morning and landed in Dubai in a grey skied hazy weather not unlike Doha. Hubby had booked for a car the night before but we ended up getting the car from one of those walk-in counters. The economic downturn in Dubai is apparent with car rentals going down and the same goes for hotel. We stayed at the same hotel apartment which we stayed in last year but the price this time around is at least 25% less than last year’s. Good for us.
After taking a short nap – everyone was sleepy having woke up before 5am that morning – we went for lunch at Singapore Deli. The kueteow goreng and nasi goreng kampung were so-so but the ayam bakar and soyabean drink were yummy. Camna nak buat soyabean eh? Something I’ve been meaning to try but just too lazy. After lunch we stopped for petrol and the car battery went flat. Arggh, an unnecessary hour was then spent to get a replacement car from the car rental. We went straight to a new mall which we had not been to before – Dubai Mall which opened late last year. The place is huge, and the stores are better than the ones in Mall of Emirates in a sense that there are more of my favorite stores here. The so-called Fashion or designer wing has all the designer stores you can think of. LV, Gucci, Dior, Ferragamo, Ralph Lauren, even the ones you normally see in magazines like Roberto Cavalli and Alberta Ferreti – I was definitely impressed! Other mid-range brands were also plenty, I would have needed a full day to check everything out. Finally, we ended the day with dinner at Chilli’s with the ex-FCNers who have also moved to Dubai. It was great fun to catch up.
The second day we started our morning with breakfast at Ravi’s – aloo paratha and mutton curry. Then, off to yet another new mall – The Outlet Mall which supposedly had discounted factory prices. Hubby enjoyed this mall the most as almost all the sports brands can be found here. Ikhwan was somehow not in a good mood today even after getting a new pair of shoes so we headed for nasi padang at Betawi Cafe and took a quick rest at the hotel. We spent the evening browsing Burjuman – one of the older malls situated just behind Hubby’s old studio apartment back in 2006. During my first trip to Middle East in August 2006, I walked from the apartment to this mall with sweats trickling down my whole body – my first experience of temperature above 40C.
On the last day in Dubai, everyone woke up late as the last two days’ non-stop shopping walking began to take a toll on us. Our bags were overflowing with the hasil2 shopping (we came with empty bags..). This day was spent at our favorite kain shop – Pulwani’s in Naif area. Shopping baju raya lah, apa lagi. Wanted to get some abayas too but was just too tired and too damn hot to walk in non-AC streets. So off to Deira City Centre where I had to literally drag my feet, penat giler. Before going off to the airport, we managed to stop by another must-makan place – Najd Mandi. We spent almost half an hour looking for parking and finally gave up and tapau the food. As yummy as I remember it. Simply the best!
Back in Doha, one more day to rest at home before going back to work tomorrow. Rasa cam nak ponteng lagi satu hari je, takde mood langsung nak keje. I worked late a lot last week rushing for the Q2 performance review deadline on Thursday. With the boss gone for the summer holidays, it was moi that had to face the COO for the gruelling review session. So I do deserve a break this week don’t I?!
