Day 235 - La Mer Beach - Festival City Mall - Emirati dinner
Tuesday, February 26th, 2019.
Today we got up late and stopped at the Indian restaurant to grab food to go to the beach. We took an Uber to La Mer, a free private beach.
The "boardwalk"/entry really reminded us of California. It had a lot of restaurants and looked like something you would see in Los Angeles. It also had very cool murals. When we walked towards the beach, a woman told us that we couldn’t bring outside food to the beach. We walked to a small fountain, sat on the bench, and ate. Afterward, we walked to the beach and the water was so beautiful, with different tones of blue.
There were a bunch of hammocks hanging above the water. Sunshine ran to an empty one. She asked me to take pictures of her. Gregory and I got to settle in the sand with our books while Daniel ran to the water with Sunshine. It was a nice warm day but the water was cold. I had the excuse of my burn so I couldn’t go in. We stayed in the sun for a while. I took a nap.
When the kids got out of the water, they were cold so they sat for a while to dry. Daniel and I took a short walk and then around 5:00pm, we were ready to go. I wanted to stay longer because all the Arabs with their wives and children were starting to arrive. Many of them were wearing high heels and expensive purses and all covered in black. [Gregory's note: I think she means the wives since the men were all in white.] It's still a contrast to see them next to the tourists wearing shorts and flip flops, like Sunshine.
We took an Uber back home, admiring the skyscrapers for the last time. When we got home, the kids went to the pool and Gregory and I went to find a mailbox for our postcards. We walked into the Movenpick apartments and asked if they could mail our postcards which already had stamps. The man at the desk said no, because we were not paying guests, but they suggested we ask the hotel concierge.
We walked in the back door to the hotel, so it didn't look like we were "just visiting". When I asked a staff member where the concierge desk was, he directed us but first offered us chocolate -- it was chocolate hour and we couldn’t say no. When we got to the concierge, we just told them that we needed the postcards mailed and they took them.
I told Gregory that we needed to do that more often, since we look like tourists after all! Then found a nice sitting area where with a fancy silver pitcher with coffee and dates! We checked our email with the hotel's fast internet. Too bad my phone died but we had a lovely time.
Later that night, Gregory and I went out to the Festival City Mall to see the multimedia show. It was very impressive, even more so than the one we saw at the Dubai Mall. The lights, the fire, the music, and the movie projected on the neighboring hotel and on water spray was fantastic.
We also had a delicious dinner in a traditional restaurant called Al Fanar. Al Fanar was a large restaurant that was built to look like an old Arab village. There were even models of people working. We had a lovely time and afterward, we walked through the fancy mall. Like the Dubai Mall, most of the shops were US and European. We waited for the 10:00pm media show to watch again. When it was over, we walked outside and requested our last fancy Uber. I don't know if is obligatory or what, but all the uber in Dubai are Lexus cars, with leather seats and the driver wears a suit. Very classy! [Gregory's note: yes, they only have Uber Select, Uber Black, and Uber XL.]
We arrived home around 11:00pm. I rushed the kids to bed because we are waking up earlier tomorrow. We leave fir India tomorrow! I can’t believe how fast time flew in Dubai. I was not super impressed with it. I guess the architecture is amazing but I'm not a fan of the big and flashy city, I prefer nature!
Today we got up late and stopped at the Indian restaurant to grab food to go to the beach. We took an Uber to La Mer, a free private beach.
The "boardwalk"/entry really reminded us of California. It had a lot of restaurants and looked like something you would see in Los Angeles. It also had very cool murals. When we walked towards the beach, a woman told us that we couldn’t bring outside food to the beach. We walked to a small fountain, sat on the bench, and ate. Afterward, we walked to the beach and the water was so beautiful, with different tones of blue.
There were a bunch of hammocks hanging above the water. Sunshine ran to an empty one. She asked me to take pictures of her. Gregory and I got to settle in the sand with our books while Daniel ran to the water with Sunshine. It was a nice warm day but the water was cold. I had the excuse of my burn so I couldn’t go in. We stayed in the sun for a while. I took a nap.
When the kids got out of the water, they were cold so they sat for a while to dry. Daniel and I took a short walk and then around 5:00pm, we were ready to go. I wanted to stay longer because all the Arabs with their wives and children were starting to arrive. Many of them were wearing high heels and expensive purses and all covered in black. [Gregory's note: I think she means the wives since the men were all in white.] It's still a contrast to see them next to the tourists wearing shorts and flip flops, like Sunshine.
We took an Uber back home, admiring the skyscrapers for the last time. When we got home, the kids went to the pool and Gregory and I went to find a mailbox for our postcards. We walked into the Movenpick apartments and asked if they could mail our postcards which already had stamps. The man at the desk said no, because we were not paying guests, but they suggested we ask the hotel concierge.
We walked in the back door to the hotel, so it didn't look like we were "just visiting". When I asked a staff member where the concierge desk was, he directed us but first offered us chocolate -- it was chocolate hour and we couldn’t say no. When we got to the concierge, we just told them that we needed the postcards mailed and they took them.
I told Gregory that we needed to do that more often, since we look like tourists after all! Then found a nice sitting area where with a fancy silver pitcher with coffee and dates! We checked our email with the hotel's fast internet. Too bad my phone died but we had a lovely time.
Later that night, Gregory and I went out to the Festival City Mall to see the multimedia show. It was very impressive, even more so than the one we saw at the Dubai Mall. The lights, the fire, the music, and the movie projected on the neighboring hotel and on water spray was fantastic.
We also had a delicious dinner in a traditional restaurant called Al Fanar. Al Fanar was a large restaurant that was built to look like an old Arab village. There were even models of people working. We had a lovely time and afterward, we walked through the fancy mall. Like the Dubai Mall, most of the shops were US and European. We waited for the 10:00pm media show to watch again. When it was over, we walked outside and requested our last fancy Uber. I don't know if is obligatory or what, but all the uber in Dubai are Lexus cars, with leather seats and the driver wears a suit. Very classy! [Gregory's note: yes, they only have Uber Select, Uber Black, and Uber XL.]
We arrived home around 11:00pm. I rushed the kids to bed because we are waking up earlier tomorrow. We leave fir India tomorrow! I can’t believe how fast time flew in Dubai. I was not super impressed with it. I guess the architecture is amazing but I'm not a fan of the big and flashy city, I prefer nature!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kpNeVhJAjxvxkLom8
Comments
Post a Comment