UAE Invasion Part 1

. . . Actually, the trip was just 8 full days, excluding the travel to and from Dubai. The direct flight between Manila and Dubai takes around 9 to 9.5 hours.

How did our UAE adventure began? If you have read my earlier post, I already shared how I booked the flight and chose the hotels for our entire stay.

Even before I book the flight, when thinking of Dubai and things like “Burj Khalifa” – the tallest building in the world,  “Burj Al Arab” – the only 7-star hotel in the world”, “Dubai Mall” – the largest mall in the world, “Palm Jumeirah” – man-made island in the shape of a palm tree, etc., I dreamed of visiting Dubai to see these places myself. Never did I know that I will be going there sooner than I ever expected.

Now, here are my snapshots of our recent trip. Special thanks to Ate Mayet, Tita Melinda Guevarra, and the Entertainer Dubai vouchers, we were able to maximize and enjoy our UAE trip. Both of them are working in Dubai for at least 9 years already.  

This is my “do-it-yourself” trip. I spent enormous time reading and researching information and tips online about travelling to Dubai and Abu Dhabi months before the actual trip. 

Night 1 – Friday

Our flight from Manila to Dubai was delayed for 1.5 hours. We were supposed to arrive in Dubai at 8:15 pm (12:15am Manila time), but because of the delay, we arrived at 9:45pm. Ate Mayet welcomed us at the airport and we headed to TGI Fridays for dinner (‘twas my 1^st time to eat at Fridays, hahahaha!). Since it was already late at 1:30am (Manila time), we just had a quick dinner and she drove us at our hotel. No photos on our first night :(

Day 1 – Saturday

While waiting for Ate Mayet to fetch us, we took a short walk within the vicinity of our hotel, and look at what we found!

Air-conditioned Metro Station

Air-conditioned Bus Stop

Since it was still the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), my first agenda of the trip is SHOPPING. We headed to Mirdiff City Center (with Ate Mayet as our tour guide and driver) where I was able to buy pasalubong for my family and myself, haha!

That's me at Mirdif City Center

After what I felt like an hour or so of walking around Mirdif City Center (but not really. We just enjoyed too much shopping. I must say, Dubai is really a haven for shoppers. One mall alone took most of our day time), we went to meet Tita Melinda at Al Gurg Office Furniture near Al Karama Bridge. She prepared lunch for us which became our late lunch at 4pm, hehe!

For dinner, Ate Mayet drove us to Dubai Creek. We initially planned to have our dinner there in time for the DSF fireworks, as stated in their schedule.

Ate Mayet and I at Dubai Creek Restaurant

Unfortunately, for some reason, it was not held there. Instead, Ate Mayet decided to take us at Boardwalk. We walked from Dubai Creek to Boardwalk instead of taking her car, because the weather was just fine. We were there last February and Dubai was still in winter season.

While walking and enjoying the view of Dubai Gold Course, we met a Pinoy golf cart driver who gave us a free tour of the entire gold course.

That's us having dinner, with the beautiful view of Dubai Creek

Day 2 - Sunday

This was the official start of our UAE invasion. After breakfast at the hotel, we headed to Sharjah City (another Emirate next to Dubai) for the Sightseeing bus tour (85AED buy 1 take 1 c/o Entertainer) via taxi. There we got a chance to explore and see what is in Sharjah.

We rode the Sharjah Sightseeing hop on - hop off bus at Al Qasba, the 6^th stop.

 While on board, here are some of the sights we saw.

Because of time constraint, we were not able to go down at any stop. Instead, after one round trip on the bus, we alighted at Al Qasba, the 6^th stop, hahahaha! We literally rode the sightseeing bus for one roundtrip.

While in Al Qasba , we rode the Eye of the Emirates (30AED buy 1 take 1 c/o Entertainer), it is said to be the “London Eye” of Sharjah.

View from the Eye of the Emirates 

We were in a hurry then because I also booked a Dubai City tour (150AED buy 1 take 1 c/o Entertainer) that afternoon. To maximize the day, we took the day, we took the Sharjah bus tour AM halfday and the Dubai City tour PM halfday.

Sharjah is less than 20mins away from Dubai, without traffic. Got thing that day, there was no traffic. We are scheduled to be picked up from our Hotel for the Dubai City tour at 1:45pm .

The small van

The big bus

Here are the places we visited that are included in the city tour.

Atlantis Hotel, The Palm Jumeirah

Burj Al Arab

Saga Department Store

Jumeirah Mosque

Dubai Museum

Abra Ride on Dubai Creek

We also visited Gold and Spice Souks but I was not able to take pictures. "Souk" means market. 

After the whole day our touring, we ended up at Deira City Center for our dinner. The highlight of the day was, when I met with my former officemate, Lea. And the great thing about that, dinner was on her. We dined out at Chili’s.

Lea G. and Elaine L. in Dubai

We met with Ate Mayet that night and again, she drove us to our hotel. That concludes our Day 2.