6:30PM local Dubai time, Flight 242 successfullyl naded at the Dubai International Airport, ground temperature: 35 degrees...Celsius. I was in my usual grey sweater, being cooked by the invisible sun called 'humidity'. The good thing about the Dubai airport is that it's located close to downtown. From the airport, I cleared immigration, followed some arrows, got lost a few times, asked for directions, followed some more arrows and found the 'Metro' station (yes, they call it the 'metro' station, how Montreal-like?). From there, I took a train to the Dubai Mall, a place I read about some time ago. Supposedly, it's a really fancy place to shop. Dubai trains are nice, very smooth and clean. It took half an hour to get to my destination. When I got out of the station, I saw people taking pictures of me, or something behind me, so I turned around. And there it was, Burj Khalifa, the tallest free-standing structure in the world - 828m, which overlooks CN tower by over 170m! So, out with my camera.
I spent the next three hours wondering the Dubai Mall. Me, being a college student, first went tothe grocery store. Once I have the go-ahead from my tummy, the adventure begins! If you don't know about the Dubai Mall, you're probably thinking, what kinda of adventure could take place in a mall? True, I hate shopping, especially with girls. But this is the Dubai Mall, magnificent; not only is it the home of the top fashion designers brands, it contains a cinema, an aquarium, an underwater zoo, a skating rink, and an indoor water fall. I don't think I need to remind everyone the symbolic of water in a city built on Arabian dessert.
After some times of eye-opening in the Gold souk and the Fashion Avenue featuring LV, Gucci, Chanel, you name it, I've had enough of seeing things I don't need and can't afford, mostly don't need. As a lil aside: guys, do not take girls shopping here. Okay, so after some "asking around", I found out a bout a free bus tour that takes me from the mall to the luxury hotels in Dubai. For those who are unfamiliar, almost all hotels are rated out of 5 star, a few Dubai "luxury hotels" are rated 7 stars. I sat outside the mall in the waiting area and heard some people speaking "French" (the correct term is actually Quebecois). Moments later, a bus came, I hopped on. Not able to understand the driver, I put my name on the list, filled in a few boxes, and off I went. What happened next, I cannot tell. To make the long story short, I was on the wrong bus that took me to a place that doesn't exist. After a military interrogation, I was escorted back to Dubai... Oh wow...
Anyways, it was past midnight when I got back to the airport, where I was dropped off according to order. I still had 9 hours to kill, and clearly my biological clock won't let me sleep. So, this takes us to the third "oh wow" after I regained my confidence and sense of adventure after the latest incident ;)
Dubai mall and metro services terminate at midnight. To get around, there's some public buses and taxis. I took a shuttle from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 to catch the last bus going downtown at 12:44AM. There, I saw the "miracle workers", they are the people working arounding the clock at low wages to turn Dubai from a dessert to a modern wonder. Many of whom don't understand English that I had to help them pressing the right buttons to buy bus tickets or refill their transport card (the equivalent of Montreal OPUS card)
Because of the large number of people taking the bus, I didn't get on. If I did, someone'd have to walk home in this heat. It is then an idea came; I could hire a taxi driver as my tour guide since they, too, are working to earn some extra dollars. I bargained from $100 American for 1 hour of tour to a $50 CDN for 2 hours; don't ask how I did it. For the next 2 hours, I saw the best and the worst of Dubai. From my guide, Mustafa, I learned a great deal about this place from the local perspective.
Mustafa has an interesting background. He came to Dubai 28 years ago from India and witnessed the miracle of the making of Dubai. Seeing these world-class skyscrapers just as they were in magazines, I convinced myself I was truly in Dubai, the magical magical Dubai. It's really hard to believe at first. One of the coolest places I went to tonight was the Atlantis Hotel, the world renowned underwater hotel. Although very poorly dressed, I charmed my way into the hotel and went around. There are rooms underwater with a glass wall to view the sea world and a night club pumping loud American music. According to Mustafa, people don't sleep in Dubai from Friday to Sunday. Having lived in Montreal the past 8 months, I know exactly what he means.
At 3AM, I'm back at the airport, writing this while watching the sun rise. Soon I'll be in Cape Town ;)
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