Big and Tall: Dubai

Catch Up #4: Dubai

Finally, a place where being Asian isn’t a novelty! Dubai is the first city I didn’t get stared at or asked if I was Japanese. :) Since I don’t look like I’m from any one place, I was still somewhat an object of curiosity, but I felt like it was a polite interest – as if people wanted to know if we perhaps shared the same Filipino or Chinese blood. Dubai was filled with Chinese, Indian, Filipino, and other immigrants in fact, giving me much of what I had been missing in terms of cultural diversity.

Burj Al-Khalifa: World's Tallest Building

I don’t have too high an opinion of Dubai (or too low of one either). It seemed like such a contrived place falling short – in my opinion – of offering the best and brightest. There were grand shopping malls and tall skyscrapers, but I felt that Dubai had no personality. I am probably very biased however because I think a big part of visiting Dubai is soaking up the luxuriousness of it all.


As a budget traveler, I couldn’t afford to buy designer goods, stay in the five-to-seven-star hotels, or experience fine dining, Dubai style. The cost of accommodation alone blew my daily budget and as a result, I was very conscious of how much everything cost.

Dubai on a Budget: I stayed at the Golden Sands Hotel Apartments and basically had a one-bedroom apartment to myself; the room was pretty nice and the one almost-luxury I afforded myself. Although I resented the basically mandatory use of their porter (and thus tip), staying there meant I could cook meals in my kitchen, use the Internet for free, and get to public transportation and a supermarket within a 15 minute walk. I ate most of my meals in: Easy Mac, IndoMie (Ramen), Dinty Moore, and occasionally curry/rice or chicken/rice meals from the grocery store. Eating out wasn’t terribly expensive, but I wanted to finish a lot of the Easy Mac/IndoMie I’d been carrying with me; I also really like trying food from grocery stores :) I had one night of “indulgence” when I met a friend from my Africa trip; we went out for Indian food, caught most of a football game, and had two $8 Stella Artois’. This may be disappointing, but the best thing I ate in Dubai was Taco Bell! It’s almost shameful how happy it made me to find one as I was perusing the malls. It had been so long and I absolutely loved it! :)

Atlantis, The Palm

I spent hours walking in the malls actually.

Dubai Mall: World's Largest Shopping Mall

Dubai Aquarium at the Dubai Mall: World's Largest Viewing Panel

For one thing, it was free. Furthermore, my “budget” travel gave me more than enough time in certain places. I figured out that I could sight-see for free while taking advantage of the hotel/resort shuttles. One day for instance, I took the metro to the Dubai Mall, walked around until I was able to catch a free afternoon shuttle to the Atlantis resort, walked around there until there was a free shuttle to the Mall of the Emirates, then took a metro home after staring at people enjoying themselves in the indoor ski resort.

Ski Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates

The way many people get around the city is via taxi but it was just too expensive. I refused the drivers every time I left the hotel and they laughed as I set out on foot. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but It was extremely hot in Dubai; I think this is the hottest place I’ve been so far and in the afternoon, I was the only idiot walking around in the sweltering heat.


Jumeirah Mosque: The first and only mosque I’ve been into is the Jumeirah mosque in Dubai. To boost cultural learning and acceptance, the mosque is open to non-Muslims at certain hours. To enter, I paid the 10 Emiratis mandatory donation, removed my shoes, and fully covered my arms and legs. The inside of the mosque wasn’t particularly exciting, but there was a tour guide of sorts who delivered a pretty interesting lecture about Islam and the teachings of the Koran.


She even had an assistant demonstrate how Muslims typically perform their daily prayers. After she said the prophet Mohammed’s name (and once after saying Jesus Christ) she always said “may he rest in peace.” Interesting.

Originally, I had big plans for my time in the United Arab Emirates. I was going to spend two days hardcore sightseeing in Dubai, one day in Abu Dhabi, and one day in Oman. Things started off well as I was able to book a discount trip to the fjords of the Middle East (in Oman). But after I showed up early in the morning for a bus that never came, I resigned myself to sleeping a lot and hitting the main sights of Dubai only. My canceled trip to Oman really upset me actually because I called the tour office demanding an explanation and the lady told me she had personally called and canceled with everyone booked on the trip. Oh no you didn’t, lady!!! The manager later offered to book me on another tour for free, but they were all full. In the end, I managed to make them messenger my refund to me; it was the least they could do.


So Dubai for me consists of walking by every store in both the Dubai Mall and the Mall of Emirates, visiting the Jumeirah mosque, relaxing on Jumeirah beach and by the pool, seeing the famous seven-star Burj Al-Arab hotel and Burj Al-Khalifa skyscraper (from afar), and getting really excited to go home.

The Dubai Marina

I left Dubai around midnight, cleared customs and immigration in Washington D.C., and at long last, came home. Mom looked like she had tears in her eyes when she picked me up at LAX. I was so happy to see her and to be home that I did too :)