Dubai—Touching Down and Immigration

After 21 hours of flight time, ten hours of layover in three different cities, we finally arrived in Dubai.

Getting through immigration was a breeze, officer didn’t even ask to show the COVID vaccination card as part of the required travel document. My advice is to follow the instructions from the traffic control officer to the appointed line even if the instruction sign at that line may not seem applicable … otherwise you will be starting over from square one like we did.

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We stayed at the Ritz Carlton Dubai Financial Center at the club level, meals including breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, snacks … are offered daily at the club lounge. Service was exceptional.

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Breakfast at the club lounge …

The Miracle Garden

The Miracle Garden in Dubai is definitely worth visiting. I went in the morning in early November, pretty warm but early enough so it was not roasting … 🥵 150 million flowers were planted to build this garden spanning 72,000 square meters.

I had a nice walk, enjoying refreshing scents and fragrances and colors from all the beautiful flowers. ❤️

The Spice Souk

The Dubai Spice Souk (market) in old town Dubai. If you are ready to bargain, this is the place to go. The storekeeper even gave me a little lesson on the 2 different kinds of cinnamon. Next to the Spice Souk is the Gold Souk which I opted out of due to time constraints and rising temperature in the day. But if you are into gold, you can walk to the Gold Souk from the Spice Souk easily.

I bought a variety of spices and flower tea from the same shop.  The owner was very convincing and knowledgeable in the products. All the spices are priced by weight with varying prices.

The store owner explained the difference between cinnamon and cassia, the latter being a stronger spice but not pleasant to ingest. Cinnamon is milder and does not have a strong taste.

I was told that these products are imported from Pakistan where crops were planted, picked, and prepared manually, compared with the mass manufactured production at the store. And of course the storekeeper gave me a great deal because, “you are the first customer and I’ll give you a good deal!”

A Quick Tour of Other Places

And when you don’t have enough time nor energy for a short trip (a three-day visit) and after an exhausting flight, you go around in a cab (that I rented for a service of four hours) snapping pictures of places you wish you could explore further to document the fact that you have stepped foot in this place.

The Dubai Mall

This is the biggest mall in Dubai, you can find all the big name brands and restaurant chains normally available in the US. Within the mall, there’s an indoor aquarium and ice skating rink to explore.

The Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). It sits directly adjacent to The Dubai Mall in Downtown Dubai, connected via Dubai Mall Boulevard and part of the same complex that includes the Dubai Fountain. Visitors can easily walk between them, often heading straight from shopping to the Burj Khalifa’s observation deck.

The Aquarium and Underwater Zoo

The indoor aquarium inside the mall, a popular place for young students to visit on a field trip …

The Souk

The Souk at Dubai Mall offers some souvenirs such as colorful handmade pots and pans, bowls, textile products such as scarfs, and smaller items such as decorative jewelry etc., at a higher price than the Souk Market.  It’s a good option if you don’t have time to go to the Souk Market to find some local souvenirs to take home.

Products are imported primarily from Iran per the shop owner. The common thing I heard at the store is, “I’ll give you a good price because you are the first customer today …”

More Shops at the Mall

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is one of our favorite restaurants to eat. It started out as a hole in the wall restaurant in Taipei (one of our favorite places when we lived in Taipei) and has now expanded globally. The line to get into the restaurant is usually very long, and a reservation is highly recommended ahead of time. Surprisingly, there were ample seats available when we went. We ordered many of our regular go to dishes and they tasted amazing. However, since UAE is a muslim country, none of the dumplings and meat dishes were made with pork.  

In just three days, we managed to pack in so much of Dubai’s magic — from the endless luxury shops of The Dubai Mall to the jaw-dropping heights of the Burj Khalifa right next door, the Spice Souk, the Miracle Garden, and visiting some famous infrastructures. Yet there’s clearly far more to explore in this dynamic city. We’re already looking forward to our next visit to discover everything we missed.