Dubai Day Three and Four

Lazy to update last night and too busy to update this morning, thus a joint entry. Haha...

Day Three

Day Three was Saturday, but I stayed indoors! Well, Fri and Sat are weekends for peeps in Dubai, I've mentioned that, Eugene and friends have worked for a week so they deserve their rest. As for me, I guess I didn't feel like going out and so hang around, watch tv, read magazines, the only mall we went to was for lunch. (aye, skipped breakfast again.)

The mall 5 min (or less) away from Eugene's place is Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall, it's this themed mall named after this guy who's a great traveller, think: Marco Polo... Well, so there are various 'courts' with beautiful backdrops and displays, representing the places he had been to... Think there are 5-6 themes and it's really huge. Can't rem if I mentioned, the cinema in 'China Court' has got 20 screens larh... So imagine the number of shows that can be screened at any moment...

Again, it's a mall with brands from all over the world, there's Charles and Keith, Hang Ten, Giordano, Forever 21... Heh, that's not exciting. What excites me most is... THERE IS H&M!! WOO HOOO~~~ (I heard Singapore's gonna have H&M, not sure when... Anyone knows??) Yay, I won't return home with nothing liao, any extra money can go to H&M, gladly. Haha... :D

Eugene's constantly worried I'm bored, Irwan says I look bored. ERM, sorry la, I have limited expressions k? Next time I will have to wear a board that reads, "I'm NOT bored."

Dinner was good. Eugene's the best. His wife would be really fortunate larh. He cooks well enough to beat many ladies out there. Tsk tsk, shame on Us. Lebanese food - hommus with zaatar bread, a baked chicken + potato dish. *squeals* wah lau, I go back Singapore want to eat Lebanese food must blame Eugene... Rawr.

Day Four

Sunday, that is, today. It's my FIRST day of Dubai adventure! I'm on my own, it's the true challenge. I would be lying if I said I am not SCARED at all. After all, it's not a place where I can communicate with everybody I see, so I do have the jitters but good practice to make me more gungho.

6+am - The sun's up! This is summer... Sun rises really early. Back to sleep.

7am - Eugene's up, preparing for work. I'm up, too.

7.30am - Eugene and friends off for work, not forgetting to remind me to be careful and call him if I were in trouble. Haha... I think seeking help from the locals would be faster though. And I started getting prepared for the adventure ahead.

8.20am - Left house. Armed with my backpack (I realise I brought three bags to Dubai larh... Scary... One for carrying up plane, which can house my laptop; one for shopping malls (brother dearest bought it for me during his HK trip, yay); one backpack that has been with me since JC times, 9 years old liao...

9.30am - The bus came after 1 hour of agonizing waiting. :( I should have taken the cab. More ex but it's hell faster. Bus trip from Jebel Ali (where I was) to Gold Souk would be AED3 only, slightly less than S$1.20, cheap. What intrigues me is that there are seats reserved for ladies. The first 3 rows... And there is this sticker on the window that marks that. Wow... But seriously, there are really no ladies out there taking buses... At any one time, the 6 double seaters are hardly full, sometimes I was the only one... I don't dare turn back my head larh, the entire 3/4 of the bus is full of burly men... -.-" And at one time, a man was sitting at the third row, the bus driver actually stopped at the next stop, walked to the man and asked him to go to the back. Fwah... By the way, there are air conditioned bus stops (some places)!! Looking like quarter-dome shaped container... Not bad for sweltering summers...

11am - 1.5-hour ride of bus to Gold Souk station. I was dozing off now and then. Jialat, damn seh... I headed off to seek the world reknowned Gold Souk upon leaving the station. Wah lau eh, no traffic lights one, how to cross road? Monkey see monkey do, crossed the road at this apparently not-so-obvious passenger crossing?! And the rest of the time I was hopping across roads, Bangkok style (Bangkok gives good training for the jay-walker wannabes).

11.30am - Explored the Gold Souk, walked around the textile shops beside the souk and got myself two pashmina shawls, at a ridiculously cheap price of AED16, that's around S$6 bucks for Two shawls. Yay... Could have gotten more, hor? Wanted to look for the Spice Souk / Deira Covered Souk but I CAN'T FIND THEM!! Sian. Went in circles and ventured alleys... Asked for directions but they don't seem to help much.

12pm - Since I couldn't find the above souks, I decided shopping wasn't it. History lessons, baby... So I searched for Heritage House and Al-Ahmadiya School, both heritage sites. Found Heritage House after much wrong turns. (Al-Ahmadiya School is just behind it.) The person-in-charge was so friendly, greeted me in great enthusiasm, asked me take a seat, showed me the brochures (ALL THE historical sites in Dubai. Wow...) and an assistant handed me a Dubai map and guidebook. Damn Touched. They further wow me by giving me tea (rose flavoured), chickpeas and dates... Felt like a queen. They are really nice people and both these sites are wonderful. Footage and displays of the traditional lifestyle of Middle Eastern people and the first school in Dubai. Nice...

2pm - Searched for the Spice Souk again, but failed. Managed to see more alleys and the Perfume Souk. Basically this entire area is like Little India la...

2.30pm - Left the place, found the bus terminal to take the bus back.

4pm - Reached our apartment, hopped over to Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall for H&M shopping. Haha... This mall is so huge larh... And so I tried many tops from H&M and decided I should just get one top + one clutch bag and leave. I... Can... Always... Return... EVERYDAY!! Wahaha...

5.15pm - Headed for Geants (French, same as Giants in Singapore), kena stopped by security (think he's African eh), told that bags need to be deposited at the counter. GASP. Ok lor... Even tho I just wanted to get lozenges or medication for soon-to-be flu... Haha... Oops. Daniel Hap, if you are reading, don't you tell mama (but i know when I tell you not to tell, you will tell de lor)!! Throat hasn't been good, phglem acting up, slight running nose... Gah.

5.30pm - Back home. Told Eugene about my Dubai adventures and evil him had a good laugh...

Tomorrow shall be shopping and chilling out day. :)

Btw, just for records, today, I've been mistaken for a Filipino, Malay, Japanese (Twice leh, SO HAPPY. hahaha...), Hong Konger... Erm... Ok lor. Accepted. And when I tell them proudly, "I'm from Singapore", they say, "Singapore, good place." Whee... I feel good to be Singaporean suddenly.

Very lengthy entry I know, but all's good. Dubai's good, trip's enriching, I've great company here and I think I will dread to go home in days to come... :(