My family has gotten into the habit of waking up late since we got to Dubai. This would normally be fine but, as my experience has shown. with bus tours the earlier you hop on, the more often you can hop off. We didn’t hop on until nearly noon and for a bus that stops at 17:00 that is extremely late. Still we got on and made our way back north through the city to see the sights.
Since the bus tour is really three routes there are two places where you have to get off and wait for another bus to arrive. The first is the Dubai Mall and the other is the Emirates mall. We got off the bus at the Emirates mall and Mom announced that she would like to see the Ski Dubai facility. It’s an indoor ski center with five routes and cold weather clothing for loan. EJ and I were skeptical that she could make it there and back within 20 minutes. The ski facility was on the exact opposite end of the mall and must have been a nearly mile long walk but Mom was determined to get there and back in the 20 minutes we had until the next bus. We made it to Ski Dubai in about 10 minutes. There were large floor to ceiling windows that showed a bit of the park in all its oddly rundown and mediocre glory. We didn’t really know what to make of the novelty of indoor skiing in the desert and so we simply took some photos and then high tailed it back to the waiting area for the bus. Thankfully the bus was running late so we weren’t at risk to miss it.
Back on the bus we wound our way through the city again, this time getting off at the Dubai Museum. The bus staff said that in order for us to make it back to the green line bus that we would need to be back in 30min for the next bus and there was no way we could make it through the museum that quickly. Now I’m not sure what museum they were talking about or what version of the Dubai Museum they went to but the one I experienced was easily seen in 30min, including a quick stop at the gift shop where Mom picked up a furry camel for her collection. The museum itself was interesting. It depicted the history of the area and the people who lived there with tons of life size exhibits of original dwellings and souks. The odd part was how half the museum was darkly lit and filled with lifesize mannequins in action poses going through their everyday life. It was pretty creepy at times and reminded me of the taxidermy museum we went to in Texas. It also filled quite quickly with a tour group from China who proceeded to bump, prod, and push us at every turn. It was so bad that we purposely pushed ahead of them, passing some of the life size exhibits, just to escape that group. Before we left the building Dad and I noticed another exhibit. This one was brightly lit, well manicured, and named after the Sheikh. Dad wondered why the whole museum didn’t look like this and I surmised that it must be the royal families personal collection and that was why we didn’t see it mixed with everything else.
After a brief wait in the sweating hot sun we hopped back on the bus for a final time today. We hopped off at the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, a fancy indoor replica of a traditional souk. I’m glad that we went to the old school ones yesterday because it definitely made it clearer what they were trying to achieve with what was basically an indoor shopping mall with an old school aesthetic. We wandered our way through the shops until we started getting snippy with each other and realized that now that the sun was setting it was time to eat. It is still a little surprising to see how quickly we adjusted to the Ramadan season and Islamic laws surrounding it on our visit. Still, hanger is a real thing and sometimes you have to just disappear beyond a curtain of shame to get some food. After some debate on where to eat we ended up at Noodle House, an Asian restaurant that served something from nearly every major Asian cuisine. We ordered probably more food then we needed but it was all delicious. EJ and I even got boba tea with passion fruit bubbles, something I hadn’t tried before but found to be amazing. I always forget how much I enjoy the taste of passion fruit.
Well fed it was now time to go shopping. EJ and Dad opted to go somewhere else and hang out (turns out they ended up at a cafe) and I thought I’d go with Mom so she wouldn’t have to shop alone and that way it would be easier for all of us to meet up again once she was done. Mom and I wandered around the souk for a while until she settled on shopping in the largest souvenir store in the mall. She wanted to get something for her coworkers and some of our family and this shop had literally everything under one roof. That said, it also didn’t offer anything unique from what we had been seeing at the other stores as well as other malls and souks. Every store has camel soap or chocolate, Aladdin style lamps, random gold colored dishes, tea sets of varying size from microscopic to full-size, hookahs, and then a plethora of apparel, pens, and magnets most likely made in China. At least this store had all of that in a single place. Mom got a whole bag of gifts and then we kept walking. She stopped suddenly outside an art shop, similar to the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop with local prints on all kinds of items. We had already visited the store but mom found something she didn’t see the first time - a pillow - that she wanted to buy as a gift. After she bought it she saw another pillow with a different design and decided to get that one too for herself. After buying both pillows my hands were now filled with bags and mom had finished shopping so I texted EJ to let him know we were ready to go. Half a minute later EJ and Dad reappeared behind us. EJ said that they went to a cafe for tea and shisha and I was pretty jealous since that was how I wanted to pass my evening tonight. Then we walked outside to call a cab via Careem and I immediately changed my mind as soon as the hot, humid air blasted my face. It was 40 degrees (C) all day and seemed to only get hotter since the sun went down.
After picking up our car sent via Careem (the local version of Uber) we made it back to the hotel, all our bags in tow, and EJ and mom headed out to the grocery store to get some snacks and stuff for breakfast tomorrow. I caught up on some email and am starting now to think of what activities we can fill tomorrow with.
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