Tag / tourism

Mall of the world
by findingbackroads

Mall of the World diorama

Mall of the world

We were at the Emirates Towers a few days ago to dine at The Noodle House (see the review here and enter the contest to win a 3-course dinner for two) and saw an interesting diorama of the proposed, Mall of the World – the massive Dubai project that will house the world’s biggest mall at 8 million square feet in area and in tune with Dubai’s sensation of building “world firsts”, this will be the world’s first “temperature-controlled (pedestrian) city”.

I remember the first time I’ve seen a diorama of the Dubai Mall/Downtown area at the old office of Emaar back in 2007 when the area was still filled with piles of sand and stones. But this one – this one is pretty.

Mall of the world

This temperature-controlled concept will be through a glass dome enclosure that will be open up during the winter months, a high season for the city’s retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. On completion, it will be a year-round destination that is projected to pull in 180 million visitors annually.

Mall of the World

It’s really detailed.

Mall of the world

Up close, it’s really cute.

Mall of the world

If you can swing by Emirates Towers soon, do check out this beautiful diorama. The Mall of the World is set to be completed in 10 years time. It’s a long, long time from now but hey, we’ve been here for 8 years (did not intend to stay this long!) so who knows, we might be able to see it when it finishes.

Life in Dubai is anything but boring.

Related read: Mega projects coming to the UAE.

Here’s a video presentation of the proposed project:

Remarkable and breathtaking (regardless of all the negative comments hurled at Dubai again at the announcement of this mega project.)

by findingbackroads

It’s the tourist season again in Dubai

Dubai weather is perfect at this time of the year. It even rains – there is no tinge of irony in this. It’s actually a good thing because you’ll get to see something very rare. When it rains while you’re visiting Dubai, consider yourself lucky – you’ll see people actually celebrating rain outside. I believe it only happens here!

So, with the perfect weather comes the best season to spend time outside and enjoy unbroken blue skies and the weather that’s neither too hot nor too cold. And no snow! And this: beach time in December!

While taking the train last weekend and passed by Airport Terminal 1 and 3 stations, I saw a deluge of tourists coming out of the arrival building. Yes, it’s that time of the year when Dubai welcomes visitors from all over the world. Some are tourists on a group tour package, some are relatives and friends visiting expats living here. We’ve had friends who came in December for the past years and they all went back to their winter wonderlands wishing they packed Dubai’s sunshine and took it home!

We will be welcoming visitors again this month. That means time to get busy looking for Dubai hotels at the best price, I’ve been instructed! I have two groups of friends coming from Europe for a short visit in the next few days. With different hotel budgets and number of stays, I’ve been going through a lot of hotel reviews online which will suit them best.

So I have a question for all of you: If you are a traveler, would you rather choose a budget hotel to stay in (it’s only for sleep and your body is exhausted from all the touring anyway to distinguish a superior bed and a so-so) and spend money on something else or are you the type to never compromise hotel stays no matter how short, the sort of always choosing higher star hotels for comfort/luxury?