AE: SHJ / DXB (1)

Woke up a bit late due to late night jalan-jalan last night. The breakfast for today was Nasi Lemak cooked by Zal. It was Friday and an off-day in the Emirat3s. So, the street was not busy and we should get around fairly easy without traffic jam. Theplan was to mall-hopping among these four malls, Ibn Batutta, Emir4tes, Mercat0 and Mad3inat Jum3irah.

First, we have to face our first hurdle. How to get out from the parking space. There was a H0nda Civ1c blocked the entrance to the parking space. How inconsiderate! Zal, AP and myself have to move trash bins around just to get out of the parking space. Luckily AP rented a cute small Toy0ta Y4ris. Not really a problem when it comes to limited parking area.

The culprit! Can you see the bricks on the car?

Sh4rjah is the third city in the U-A-E that I visited. The first being Dub4i and second was Abu Dh4bi. I see similarities in both Sharj4h and Abu Dh4bi, but not Dub4i.

We set off around 11am from Sharj4h and within minutes we were at the Dub4i airport area. Our first destination was Madin4t Jumeir4h. It was not crowded and no Ar4bs at all. That was surprising. I guess Dub4i is losing its identity as an Ar4b city, which is very sad. If not because of the dessert and some arabic characters on the shops and along the road, one can mistaken this as somewhere else, not in the Middl3 E4st. I hope the government of Dub4i know their limit and try to preserve the true arabian culture and most importantly the Islamic way of life.

After snapping some photos, we drove all the way to Mercat0 .. another beautiful landmark in Dub4i. Nothing much here so we proceed to an Asian fusion restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is tucked in the residential area and not visible directly from the Jumeir4h beach road. The food that we had was not authentic as we expected. Well, its fusion anyway :-) But at least, thats the closest to home food that our host can suggest. Thank you AP.... btw, we didnt mean to leave you with the check, but we need to empty our bladder at that time.. hehehehee what a perfect timing :-p

Next destination after lunch is Ibn Batutt4 Mall. I have seen the photos of its beautiful interior, so this destination is a must. En route, stopped by Hard Rock cafe to get some souvenirs.

The mall consists of six different civilisations, supposed to be the routes taken by Ibn Batutta during his days. We started from the Chinese Court moving to India Court and continue on to Persian Court before entering Egypt Court. Next is the Tunisian Court and end at Andalusia Court. A wonderful experience and I like the Persian Court interior the most.

Next, we hopped to the Mall of the Emirates on the way back to down town Dub4i. Here, we were joined by Zal's friend who just arrived in Dub4i a couple of weeks ago. Had dinner at TGiF and proceed to Burjum4n Centre to drop Zal's friend. Hanged out at Zal's friend exclusive one bedroom suite for a while and drove back home to Sharj4h around midnight.

It was a very tiring day and Saturday will be Sharj4h day. To my host, I know you were very tired that night... can see the signs when we had dinner :-) or was it because u r mad at me? hehehehee :-p

And no Middl3 E4st Idol for the night... :-p everybody was damned tired...

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Post script: Special for Famil...hehehhehehe

~ M T @ U A E
~~ Sharj4h

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~