The DXB/EU Chronocles Part 2 – The cosmopolitan Arabia
Lebanese food at Wafi Gourmet, Dubai Mall.
L2R,T2B: Spicy fish, mashed eggplant, eggplant salad, HUMMOUS, crispy flat bread, MINCED RAW LAMB, raddish and onions, mixed kebabs.
The spicy fish bears a stark similarity to Ayam brand chili tuna. The eggplant salad was refreshingly good. My favourite is the hummous (by far the best I’ve had). Bread is crispy and served warm. The minced raw lamb was too adventurous for me. The mixed grill is heaven. Meat on skewers = best invention on earth.
After a few days of exotic food, we decided that we shall indulge in something Asian and found ourselves at a Korean restaurant.
Seafood pancake was not crispy enough. Sam gae tang (ginseng chicken soup) was not ginseng-ish enough. The seafood mapo tofu was HEAVEN. Chap chae (fried glass noodles with assorted vegetables and beef) was CLOUD NINE. BBQ beef rip was HEAVEN. The side dishes were all really good as well. Too bad I can’t remember the name or the location of the restaurant. One of the best Korean restaurants I’ve been to. YUM!
Evidence that I was a very happy boy!
The bus stops in Dubai are air-conditioned. Yes, you heard it right! BUS STOP, not bus interchange.
There are so many mosques in Dubai. I managed to take one in the setting sun. On Friday, when Muslims are praying, prayers and sermons are blasted all over the country. Yes, in every corner you can find and hear a speaker. The sermons aired are in English and it was about love that day.
This is the city area and the water you see is actually a fountain. Nope, not river, not lake; a fountain. I managed to take a video of the water show that goes on every 30minutes. The best time to go is of course at night when the skyline is lit with lights. Here’s a video of the show.
Singaporeans, I know right now you’re very embarrassed about the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec. I feel you.
An indoor aquarium. I was so excited to see sharks! For a fee, you can actually take a dive in the aquarium.
The Deira spice souk (market) where I bought lavender to help with my insomnia and exotic teas for Phillip, my host in Cardiff.
The biggest gold bangle in the world. You’d think that if anyone made a bangle this big, they’d make it pretty right? I thought it was hideous but hey, it’s still worth hell lots of money.
River taxis that cost less than 1SGD.
I WENT TO THE DESERT (and it’s nothing like sex and the city). It was the highlight of the trip though. It took about an hour to drive from where I was staying into the desert. Riding the sand dunes in a 4X4 = DAMN FUN.
If you look closely, the front legs of the camels are bound together but a short rope. This is to prevent them from running too far away in the span of a day. When the sun sets, the camels know how to head home by themselves and they remember which camel farm they are from, which playpen to get their food. Must say they sound smarter than quite a lot of people I know.
Here’s a camel dressed up for tourist to ride on. The camels have to sit down for the tourist to mount and then stand up, walk a few rounds and sit down again. They looked really tired from all the sitting and standing and MY GOD some of the tourists are so oversized. This one here was moaning and groaning a lot each time she is instructed to stand and she was so tired she just fall to her knees when she sits down. I refused to ride them even after much encouragement that camels behave this way.
The sand is so fine I feel like I’m walking on powder, except that it doesn’t smell as nice as powder and there’s the occasional camel poo.
Over dinner at the desert safari, we were entertained with traditional performances like belly dancing and this VERY VERY SICK PERFORMANCE. This man spins like a top (no sexual innuendos please) for a good 10 minutes without getting dizzy and does tricks. I would have puked my guts out after 2 minutes of spinning.
So that’s pretty much Dubai. Up next – CARDIFF.
