Where do I even begin?
Dubai is amazing!
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| Always find a flag so we know its real! lol |
Honestly this was my favourite holiday to date! There is a million and one things to do here, everyday is not the same. Depending on how deep your pockets are you can also experience the extreme luxury side in its entirety.
There's an unspoken of wealth of history and culture That is sometimes neglected and hidden behind the neck-breaking skyscrapers and skylines. However when you dig deeper and find these little gems that tell of stories by expanding your knowledge of this beautiful city!
Accommodation
I stayed at the 4* Marina Byblos Hotel.Now, Dubai has been absolutely bombarded with 5* hotels and I'm sure they are building more. However the service and reception that you'll receive from them, you'll feel as though you are in a 5* hotel! Honestly it is literally the first hotel that I have been to that travel expert pictures on trip advisor are actually true to its nature! The way it looks in its pictures it's exactly how it looks in real life. It's impeccable. They concierge in particular are just amaze-balls! *disclaimer* The concierge Shenroz was actually the best give him a promotion!
This gentleman from our entrance to our departure made my stay absolutely comfortable. If i needed help in sorting out our tours or excursions I just told him what I wanted and he just arranged for it!
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| Buffet For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, everyday they cook something new! |
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| Rooftop pool and there's a bar next to it. |
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| i tried small small posing! |
The hotel is located by the man-made marina and it is perfect for local transport links. There are countless taxis around and the hotel is between two train stops. One for the metro which will take you to Downtown Dubai and the tram to get to Jumeriah Beach.
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| views of the hotel area |
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| Marina area |
The Marina Byblos Hotel is also close to the Dubai Marina Mall. Walking distance. The Mall is convenient and has practically most of the high street shops and food court; New look, Miss Selfridge and the likes of Subway, just to name a few.
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| Dubai Marina Mall |
Not too far off there is also 'The Walk' which is basically an outdoor shopping area. Think of a shopping centre/mall without the ceiling & walls! It's not your typical high street either. You can enjoy an evening or casual day promenade or dine at the many restaurants. There's a Cheesecake Factory, Nandos and many other exquisite cuisines as well. You can shop until you drop and there are loads of hotels local as well if you would want to stay close to it.
Transport
There are decent transport links, from metros, trams to buses. However you'll always just need to be aware that the trains are not 24hrs. Whilst I was there the last train was about 11:50pm or midnight but that may have changed.
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| At the metro Station |
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| Downtown Dubai, by the fountain display outside of Dubai Mall |
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| outside Dubail mall |
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| Aquarium in DUBAI Mall! Fishes in the shopping Centre |
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| about to board the free cruise, it operates every 30mins |
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| This was the city's fortress and now its been converted to a Museum. |
Activities and Excursion
As for this, it's pretty much up to you what you want to do. If you can think it they've pretty much have it.
The Dubai Mall has an Aquarium and underwater Zoo which you can pay to enter and try find Nemo! There's an Olympic size ice rink! Yes you can go Ice skating in a shopping centre! There's so much to see, shop and eat! There are loads of activities for kiddies as well. It pretty much has if not a collection of all major retailer shops of Europe & America in one central place! Oh by the way did I mention that it is huge! Oh yes they even have a vapianos & TGi Fridays, for familiarity sake! Also it is right besides the Burj Khalifa. You can get tickets to enter the Burj Khalifa and get an amazing view of downtown!
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| Inside Dubai Mall Aquarium |
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| Inside the mall |
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| Burj Khalifa by Day |
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| Burj Khalifa by Night |
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| Armani Hotel fountain |
The Mall of Emirates is where you'll find indoor ski-ing and sky diving. This is just as huge as well filled with loads of shops and restaurants!
If you want to understand the city a little bit more you can take the bus tour and get a vague idea of where everything is. I would suggest if you want to do bus tours do it as when of your first activities. There are the 24hr tickets or the 48hr tickets (2 days). The 48hr also gives you free entrance to the Aquarium at the Palm Atlantis, which is a must, plus other goodies. They also do night tours so you'll see the city at night with all of the lights on!
There are two water parks you can experience both. The Palm Atlantis and Wild
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| outside of Atlantis :) |
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| Burj Al Arab Lobby ceiling |
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| The view from Skyview Bar |
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| the 7th meal is a buffet of desserts |
Mate I lived! *wigglesbum* I lived!
Lord knows who I thought I was on that day but I transformed, hahahaaa! I really enjoyed it. After that we were taken deep into the desert to experience Dune Bashing. Now that was a new experience!
After about 20mins of that we stopped and took some pictures of the Oasis! I stood and looked over and one thing I can say is, travelling and seeing such things with my own two eyes only increases my faith in God because only something supernatural can create something as beautiful as that. This is why I encourage everyone to travel see the wonders the world has to offer.
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| can you see me? |
One thing I would recommend is not to leave UAE without a trip to Abu Dhabi! Visit the grand mosque, it is stunning! One thing I would like to state is embracing someone else's culture or religion does not take anything away from yours. Whilst there I learnt so much about Islam and extensively extended my knowledge but for me the way I've always seen it, take these things away we are all still one. We are all still flesh and blood. We breath, cut and heal the same. This was one trip that I was super excited about.
You need to be dressed modestly if you're planning on visiting the mosque. So for ladies your hair, arms and legs need to be covered. You don't need to necessary wear the black abaya you could wear a long cardigan and trousers/leggings. I had on a black cardigan and black jeans and I had my head covered which was perfectly fine. The good thing is you are able rent (for free) an abaya at the mosque as well.
I will not attempt to even describe the architecture of this building, see it for yourself!
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| can you see me? |
I also visited the museum whilst in Abu Dhabi *Future's voice* but I wasn't allowed to take any pics. I went to Emirates Palace, it's just stunning! If you've seen Fast and Furious 7 there is a scene when they are walking down the steps about to go to the parrrryyy! Yep that's where I was!
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| inside Emirates Palace |
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| outside of Emirates palace |
It's a must for you to visit their heritage village and see how life was decades ago! If you want you can also chill by the Beach! Just behind!
Culture, Rules and Race
One thing I must admit is that Dubai is very diverse, you will find all cultures and ethnicities. Yes it is an Islamic state but that is perfect because it is a very embracing, helpful and friendly city! It is a tourist city, you're more likely to see South Asians, Africans and Europeans working and walking around! Yes the local nationals are there but it is heavily tourist populated!
The dress code was not strict or anything like that. It was just common sense really. If you're on the beach you can wear your costumes and whilst on the streets you just dress appropriately. It is very hot and you can wear and walk around in vests, shorts, dresses, sleeveless but just use your discretion to still keep yourself modest. You would want to wear light and loose clothing anyways to ensure that you're getting breeze and avoid your clothes sticking to you if you sweat.
As mentioned prior that it is a heavily tourist populated city, I honestly did not experience any direct or indirect type of racism. Everyone I spoke with or met were friendly and I did not receive any awkward looks or comments. So just incase you were wondering!
Last but not least I felt so safe there, I could speak to a stranger, walk around late and have no worries. However I would say you need to respect their rules otherwise they'll fine you but there are signs in English for you to read.
Yes, it is hot and thank God for the palm trees because you still get a breeze! However it was so hot that whenever I walked out of my hotel my phone screen will steam up! Let's not even speak of my camera. However the good thing there is aircon (air conditioning) every where, literally everywhere. So you'll only really experience the heat when you're walking the streets which you probably would not want to, unless you're trying to get to the shop or train station.
I'm not really a fan of revisiting places especially if there are other places to see but I think I may take at least one trip a year to Dubai! I mean, mum sorry but I'm moving out there! I did a lot more but some pics are reserved for me ....muhahahahha!!
Hope you enjoyed this long post! *disclaimer, these photos are all mine*
In all you do be a perfect Jem!
Born a legend to leave a legacy.
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