Said my goodbyes to Fetty and Fadzli as I checked in for my flight (within a minute - the airport was just empty), and headed through to wait for my flight back to Dubai. Slight delay but not like I had anything urgent to attend to in Dubai. An hour flight later and I was back in Dubai. Clearing immigration was simple once again, although the guy was pretty interested in my ethnic background. He seemed genuinely confused that I called myself an Australian when I was clearly Asian. Landing back in Terminal 2, I was told there would be shuttle buses to the larger terminals where I could get the metro. They never came. Ended up taking a taxi to the metro instead.
Back at the apartment on the Palm, I just chilled. Sat on the balcony enjoying the view and the sunset, before vegging out in front of the TV and watching The Avengers while I ate dinner. Despite what they say about not swimming right after you eat, I went down and took a little dip in the resort pool with a nice view of the Dubai cityscape all lit up. Was weird to be the only one in the water (there were lots of pools connected with little channels) but oh well, I was too relaxed to even care. Even took a little stroll along the little private beach and walked into the surprisingly warm waves before laying on a beach chair and just watching the clouds and stars. Even saw a shooting star, the first one I've ever seen. Definitely a good night.
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Day 77
Main thing for today was the Burj Khalifa. If you book online more than 24 hours in advance, it costs 130 dirhams (approximately $40AUD), but if you just show up and want a ticket up, it'll cost you 400 dirhams. Getting there was pretty simple. There's a metro station dedicated to it ("Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall") but even then, it's quite a fair walk from the station albeit undercover in an air con tunnel. The wait for the elevator to the top was also a bit long, but what can you do. The elevator ascended at a rate of 10 metres every second and my ears were popping as we rose. As the doors opened and the bright light beckoned, it was a truly amazing feeling to know that I was on top of the tallest building in the world. I was literally on top of the world. The views were amazing. It was very interesting to see such fancy buildings and built-up areas right next to just large expanses of desert. And off in the distance, all those man-made islands. Plus it was also odd to see all the high-rise buildings looking quite small from this height.
As I descended back to earth, I then explored Dubai Mall which was connected to the Burj Khalifa. That in itself took most of my day. It's the largest mall in the world. It also houses the Dubai Aquarium, which holds the world record for largest single piece of glass and holds 10 million litres of water. While you can see most of it for free, I decided to pay and actually enter the aquarium and take a glass bottom boat ride. While there, I also managed to catch the divers feeding the sharks. There's an upstairs exhibition of smaller tanks with different kinds of fish, and even an otter and a penguin enclosure.
After lunch, I headed over to Mall of the Emirates, now the world's second largest mall after the Dubai Mall was built. Went in to check out Ski Dubai, an artificial ski field created in the middle of a desert. Didn't end up going in since it was pretty expensive and not worth the money since I couldn't really ski. However, you can watch from outside, and I managed to catch the penguin show that happens every few hours or so. Apart from Ski Dubai, there wasn't really anything else of interest in Mall of Emirates so I headed back to Dubai Mall.
Within Dubai Mall, there's an indoor souk which is quite nice to walk through. It's made to look and feel like one of the traditional outdoor souks but this one's a lot cleaner and less crowded, and the shopkeepers don't hassle you and try to entice you into their stores. The main reason I came back to the Dubai Mall was because from 6pm, they have shows in the fountains out front every half hour. I managed to catch two fountain shows, one set to a traditional Arabic song and one to the Indiana Jones theme. It's such a rip-off of the Bellagio fountains though. Headed home afterwards for an early night (still after midnight), had a pretty busy day planned for the next day.
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First item on the agenda was the Jumeirah Mosque, which hosted tours and information sessions every day. I learnt all about Islam and the prayers and the history of the mosque. This was actually really interesting. The media and popular culture has really stigmatised Islam, and I think that these sessions are excellent at removing those stigmas. Granted, one needs to have an open mind enough to attend one of these sessions, but I really felt that I learnt a lot and really understood the religion a lot more. It really broke down the cultural barriers.
Next stop was the Bastakiya Quarter, which was a mini village dedicated to showcasing and preserving the Emirati culture. After exploring the attractions on offer, I made my way to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, where I had booked in for a traditonal Emirati lunch hosted by a local Emirati. Once again, it was an information session about the local culture and traditions, as well as a Q&A session, exploring issues including marriage/divorce, polygamy, religious freedom, homosexuality, and women covering up. It truly was a very informative lunch (not to mention delicious). We were served with so much makbous as well as curries. We were also given Emirati coffee and dates, which are a specialty of the Emirates. This is something I would definitely recommend doing if you're in Dubai. They only run on certain days but if you can go, I think this is a great chance to break down cultural barriers and have some local cuisine at the same time. It cost 70 dirhams. They also do brunch and dinner as well, alternating on different days.
After such a great lunch, I was off walking over to the Dubai Museum. This was the first time I had been able to actually walk outdoors in Dubai given that everything usually was so far away from everything else. The museum was pretty ordinary. After that, I was off to the port, where I boarded an abra (long wooden boat) which took me across the river to Bur Dubai and where all the souks were. The famous ones were the cloth, spice and gold souks which I managed to cover in my exploration. It can get quite intimidating walking through those souks especially if you're the only foreigner going through. All eye are on you and everyone's trying to get you to go into their shops. More often than not, I found myself quite put off by that, and just continued walking. I was also constantly greeted in Mandarin. I honestly don't know how to respond to that. I couldn't really tell if it was genuine or if I was being mocked. Nevertheless, I just kept walking and pretended like I couldn't understand, which was when they'd start greeting in Japanese and Korean. Joy.
Souks done (and most of Bur Dubai done), I headed to Mall of the Emirates to catch up with Atif and one of his friends over dinner at PF Changs, an American Chinese restaurant chain. Atif had relocated to Abu Dhabi for work almost two years ago so I hadn't seen him in quite some time. Was really good to see him, always nice to see a familiar face in a foreign country. After dinner, it was back to the apartment to start packing everything up for the final leg home. With a 30kg allowance, I came over with 21kg; hopefully I haven't accumulated that much while I've been away.
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Last day on the road, and it was pretty much spent mostly in the air. After a pretty quick check-in (only 2kg over and didn't get charged!), my last few hours in Dubai were spent spending my remaining money on souvenirs and Shake Shack (which I thought was only in NYC). As it came time to board, I was dismayed to discover that it was a full flight. Even moreso when I realised I was in the middle of two people. I guess it's my own fault for not checking in online beforehand. As usual, I couldn't sleep and thus proceeded to spend the next 13 hours getting my money's worth out of the entertainment system. I also discovered that at the back of the plane, snacks and drinks are available for self-service. How have I never known about this before?! On this flight, they also served hot chocolate in addition to tea and coffee. A very welcome change.
On this sector, I was flying on a Qantas plane, as opposed to when I flew over, which was Qantas codeshare on an Emirates plane. Despite both being A380s, I found I enjoyed the Emirates experience more. Their entertainment system seemed more modern, with more sensitive screens and USB ports available. This may just be because I was seated between two people, but I felt like the Qantas plane had smaller seats and didn't recline as far. Food-wise, both were decent. Qantas wins points for the hot chocolate haha. I guess I don't fly that often for these things to really matter but I think I will try to get on Emirates planes if possible while still claiming points and status for my Qantas Frequent Flyer. To think that even after so many flights this year, I'm still not up to silver status yet. I may never fly that much in a year again (unless for business, fingers crossed).
Anyways, after 13 long hours, I landed in Melbourne Airport (yes, I added an extra leg to get more status credits and points), cleared customs and immigration in a breeze, crossed over to the domestic terminal, re-checked in my luggage and waited for the final leg home. Despite being on home soil already, it just didn't feel like home yet. Not until I got back into Sydney. An hour flight later, I emerged to little fanfare in Sydney's domestic terminal. You definitely feel much more special arriving in the international terminal, with crowds of people waiting and watching you exit through the arrivals hallway. Not to mention the giant "Welcome Home/To Sydney" heralding your exit. The domestic terminal has none of that. But on the upside, at least there was no one to get in my way with all the luggage I was pulling (the carts weren't free, dodgy cheap Sydney Airport).
On this sector, I was flying on a Qantas plane, as opposed to when I flew over, which was Qantas codeshare on an Emirates plane. Despite both being A380s, I found I enjoyed the Emirates experience more. Their entertainment system seemed more modern, with more sensitive screens and USB ports available. This may just be because I was seated between two people, but I felt like the Qantas plane had smaller seats and didn't recline as far. Food-wise, both were decent. Qantas wins points for the hot chocolate haha. I guess I don't fly that often for these things to really matter but I think I will try to get on Emirates planes if possible while still claiming points and status for my Qantas Frequent Flyer. To think that even after so many flights this year, I'm still not up to silver status yet. I may never fly that much in a year again (unless for business, fingers crossed).
And that's that. My dad picked me up and an hour later, I was home. Literally. It felt familiar yet foreign. Not to mention that I had moved all my stuff back home the day before I left (three months ago!) so everything was just all over the place in my room. But it was good to be back. I love to travel but the feeling of coming home is just as wonderful. For now, my travels seem to be done. But who knows, I don't think I'll ever lose the travel bug. The next trip may just be on the horizon. But for now, it's time to catch up with family and friends.
HBL signing out from home.
Up next: Europe and Middle East done (but cost me what?!)...
Previously: 9 years too early for the World Cup...
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