10 Must see/do things in Dubai

This is my list to help you plan your visit to Dubai.

1) Burj Khalifa and Dubai fountain

Burj Khalifa and Dubai mall  is the main attraction of Dubai. Red line metro station has direct stop to Dubai mall. Travelers are allowed to go 124th floor of Burj Khalifa. It is advised to book for the Burj Khalifa before a week of actuall date you are planning, as advance booking is much cheaper. The best time to visit Burj Khalifa is 5:30PM to 6:30PM in Nov-Mar and 6:30PM-7:30PM from Apr-Oct. So that you can enjoy the day view of Dubai and when sun disappears beyond horizon you can have stunning view of Dubai in night. The roads, cars and building look simply adorable from above. Also you can enjoy astonishing view of Dubai foutain from above. It is one of the best experiences to see fountains from the top.
At the ground floor of Dubai mall you can have look at the fountain show. DO NOT LEAVE DUBAI WITHOUT FOUNTAIN SHOW. It is one of its kind. The Dubai mall also has very good but expensive shops. But restaurants are very good  and offer authentic test, particularly the lebanese restaurants.

2) Desert Safari

Desert safari is a surprisingly good experience particularly if its your first visit to any desert. The Dune bashing or driving in desert is enjoyable. Here you get the true sense of UAE's nature. It is advisable to book with very good tours to get the real fun out of it. Dubai has golden sand desert, sunset is awesome and beyond your imagination of what fun desert can offer to you. You can also have camel ride, henna tatoo,etc. This is included in most of the tours. You can wear arabian cloths and get yourself clicked. The food served is Arabic food generally  Hommus, Kaboos(Arabic bread), Taboulah, Fatous, Kababs(delicious) are on the menu. Belly dancing is also enjoyable. 

3) Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah beach

Burj Al Arab. Yes, the only 7 star hotel in world. There is a photo point on the Jumeirah beach from where you can take photo with the Hotel building as a side view. And there is another photo point at the wild wadi water park to get the photos with the front view of the hotel building. Both the photo points are at walkable distance from each other. Jumeirah beacch is one of the famous beach in Dubai. You can relax and spend some time here.

4) Dubai Museum

Dubai Museum is very artistically desinged and is very informative of UAE's history. They have a shourt documentary film about Dubai's growth n past 80 Years. It also provides information about Dubai's heritage and ancient culture.

5) Dubai Creek

Dubai creek is salt water lake which divides Dubai in two main areas, Bur Dubai and Deira. Crossing the creek via Abra(small wooden boats carrying 10-15 passengers at a time) is a fun ride. Dubai creek is at its best in early morning. At night most of the tours offers Dhow cruise dinner but my experience is not good and will suggest not to waste time and money on dhow cruise dinner.

6) Dubai Gold Souq

Gold is famous in Dubai...naaahhh...Dubai is famous for Gold. And you will be convinced after visitig this market. Souq is arabic word meaning market. You will see tones of Gold in the market but no police(Here law and order is maintained strictly for the residents and travelers ). Desings are too good to resist the temptations to buy ornaments. Also Dubai's gold quality is also authentic and pure. If your country's custom department allows, its worth carrying some beatuful jwellary:)

7) Atlantis hotel by monorail

Hotel Atlantis is situated on Dubai Palms Island which is a man maid island. You can have a Helicopter ride to have an airial view of palms. But if you prefer to go to Atlantis by monorail even then you can see most of the palm fringes from the train. It is recomendade to go to Atlantis before sunset and enjoy Sunset on the front side of Atlantis and return after sunset via monorail. The view of the sun immersing in the sea is simply beatiful and the scattered colours add to the divine beauty. Also Atlantis has some awesome food serving restaurants but you needto book in advance for it to reserve your seat.

8) Dubai Dolphinarium

If you have never seen the Dolphine show visit to dolphinarium is must for you irrespective of your age. Dolphines and seals show is very entertauning and knowledgable. I promise you will fall in love with Dolphines after watching this show. I love that Dolphines are treated respectfully.

9) Dubai Marina

Dubai Marina is the perfect place to see the Dubai night life. Visit this beautiful place for a Dinner. The lighting and boats will steal your heart but don't forget to notice the twisted building. Dubai Marina is directly connected to Red line metro. You can get down at the Marina mall station to visit this beatifully streched road along Marina.

10) Dubai metro red line ride

It is a must do, as you get to see many stunning views of Dubai like Golf course, Emirates towers, DIFC, Dubai airport via red line metro ride. But on weekend evenings Metro is crowded and you can hardly find seat. So its good to go in the afternoon. On Friday mornings metro is closed till 1PM.

This is my list. These are very selective places to be covered if you are planning for 4 Days 5 nights kind of trip to Dubai, But Dubai offers much more than this also for sure.  Share your experience of Dubai with me.

Because you are a woman - Dubai Stories 3

Today, I asked my colleague to get me the iPad which he has borrowed from me for his project some days back. He handed over the iPad to me, I noticed iPad was dusty so I requested him to clean it. While he was cleaning one of my colleague(a lady) who belongs to ME was listening to our conversation, she interrupted saying "How can you ask him to clean that? You have to clean it!". Surprisingly I asked her "Why?". She replied "Because you are a woman. Men should not do cleaning and all. That is women's job". I was shocked to hear this. I have never came across such situation in my life earlier. In my family all males including my father, brother, husband and brother in law get actively involved in household chores. Why only my family? I know in India guys are helping their wife, mother or sister in daily chores. And even if people here are used to have women doing all the cleaning at home. Do we need to drag this attitude to office? I tried my best to convince her that what she thinks is not the way to look at ourselves. But all efforts were in vein. This strange but sadly true.

Ramdan Kareem (Dubai Stories -2)

Ramdan. The holy month of charity and reflection will begin tomorrow. In office (Yeh, office is the only place I socialize with locals), everybody is excited. Today all the local girls ordered their favourite food as they will be fasting from tomorrow. Iftar(The evening meal served to break the fast is called Iftar) deals are bouncing around. The office timings are reduced by 3 hours for Muslims and by 2 hours for non-muslims. Yes! In the month of Ramdan I’ll be home by 4PM. This is one of the reasons I keep waiting for Ramdan every year. As Muslims are fasting during day, we are refrained to have food in office at public places. People are advised to have water and food only in pantry. This is in respect of the people who are fasting.  Also most of the restaurants are closed during the day time. And whichever are opened have to put curtain to cover the food and people eating  food  from the sight of those fasting. The Ramdan guideline are issues by office for both Muslims and non Muslims like how to keep energy up in the office during fasting time. If you are non muslim then you should be considerate your fasting Muslim colleagues. People have got their kitchen cleaned up for the Ramdan preparations. Everyone is very excited tohave delicious Iftar for whole month. Some prisoners are pardoned by UAE government on account of Ramdan. It’s a month of charity. People usually donate to those who are poor and needy , worship and thank Allah for his kindness. Dubai will now transform into night city. Restaurants and shops will be open for longer in the night. The supermarkets and malls are decorated in Ramdan theme. “Ramdan Kareem” is the phrase to wish Muslims happy Ramdan. This is similar to wishing somebody “Mary Christmas” or “Happy Diwali". This is my third Ramdan in Dubai, I love Ramdan for the sense of spirituality and calmness it brings along. The whole environment gets magically peaceful and soothing.  Though I am a non Muslim I can feel that. So its rightly said Almighty is one but in different forms. Wish you all Ramdan Kareem.

Dubai Stories -1

From past couple of months my office location is changed because of the project requirements. In my new office I got opportunity to work with some local girls. No matter what country you come from or what language you speak, girls mostly get connected to each other easily. No wonder in past one month I have become their good friend. All of them are unmarried and are of the same age as me (hhmmm...This does not mean I will let you know my age). We bond over many things like Indian food (particularly Chicken Biryani, Pani puri, Chhole bhature, etc.), shopping, make up etc. They watch Indian movies and ask me so many questions about India. They all love India.  After some days the bond grew stronger and we started to share so many thoughts with each other. They appreciate my cloths and fashion as they have to wear Abaya all the time. Also I could realize they feel bad that they are not married yet. they keep me asking about How do I feel being married. How marriage has changed my life and me.
One of my local friend told me her mother got married at the age of 11 and her father was then 38 years old. I thought she must be kidding but no she was serious and I was shocked to hear the life of her mother. She had six children by the time she was 25. At 25 her husband died and she got married to other man. From the second marriage she got three kids. All her 9 children are living with second husband.  My jaws dropped after listening her story as this was very new to me. I have read such story in one of my favorite book "Thousand splendid Suns" by Khalid Hussaini. I thought such things happen in books and novels only. At least this cannot happen in a place like Dubai. I am glad the things are changing slowly and girls are trying to be independent and trying to live there life.

A year to remember - 2011

Unlike other years that passed by, 2011 has been a year worth looking back at. If 2007 was one of the years of my life which saw changes coming drastically in me from being a student to a professional, then 2011 was one which brought me back from a completely professional life to a balanced life which had certain things to keep for lifetime.

1. From childhood to adulthood, never felt like I have grown up until I was engaged. I realized. We have all grown up and now its time to take responsibility of our own life. I got married to the man who means world to me on 7th Feb 2011.I feel blessed to have him for lifetime. A BIG Thank to him, you give reason to live life for a lifetime. So this date and this year will always be special for me. The new chapter of life began, I came Dubai. I resigned my job in Pune.

2. Not sooner than expected, I was recruited to a good position in a world's one of the leading bank mid year. It boosted my confidence indeed.It was due to Swapnil's belief in me which made me stretch my limits.

3. 2011 took me one step ahead in my career. However my association with TechM over the last three and half years have been eventful and happening. I would for sure miss my first organization which gave me the platform for what I am today. Thanks to all the people whom I met, I worked with. Time spent at Tech Mahindra would always be fresh in my mind and would be there as a happy memory

4. Realization of the fact that no matter how I felt about Dubai initially, now I feel like home when in Dubai. Not a bad place to live in. I found it next to impossible to move away from Pune, a place where I have lived my precious four years. Its not the place but the experience out here that has pulled me back. Having struggled hard with Swapnil to get settled and get a life here was the most difficult thing over the years and I truly believe I need to preserve what I have achieved being at Dubai. Looking forward to continue it the way it has been so far.

5. I have got some good friends in Dubai with whom I can connect and who have added value to my life. Also, I am in touch with most of friends in back home .

These were few of the best things that 2011 had to offer. There have been many such things which are beyond my capability to express. There have been bad moments as well but I would prefer forgetting them and collect them as part of my tryst with Life

Dibba/Musandum - An Oasis in Desert

A trip to Dibba/Musandum was a treat.

It’s been eight months we are living in Dubai. At times I feel like going back to india and visit my parents. but this is not the right time to take break out of the job(As it’s just four months I have joined my new job). I was really bored of humid and hot climate of Dubai. It was then we boarded a van for dibba. Dibba is a coastal region at the northeastern tip of the United Arab Emirates(UAE)/Oman peninsula on the Gulf of Oman. To get there one has to cross the border of UAE and step in the Sultanate of Oman(yes this is how it was written on Dibba information board). No visa is required to go for a full day tour at Musandam Dibba(this applies if one has UAE Visa). The beautiful Dibba in Musandam peninsula unfolds a full day of sheer fun and relaxation. Winters had just started in the middle east when we visited Dibba.  It was 6AM in the morning,  the climate was foggy when we started our journey from Dubai to Dibba. All the sky kissing buildings were glittering in silver shades(the tallest Burj Khalifa was the most beautiful ). From window of our van it looked like a beautiful portrait. The windy road led us from range of white mountains to another range of completely black mountain, followed by a range of yellow, red hills. As if nature has painted these mountains in its own colors. It was simply awesome. All the hills with no trees, yet they looked amazingly beautiful. Here, cement factories were also located. Huge mechanical factories indeed. 

Then we entered the Dibba- Al- Fujerah province. Anyone could figure out that this is very well designed and managed city. The day being the 40th national day of UAE, all the buildings were decorated with national flag of UAE. The flowers were beautifully arranged on both the sides of the road. The roundabouts were very stunning, making mark of Emirati heritage We reached dibba by 10 AM. Then a wooden cruise(such type of cruises are called as Dhow cruise in UAE) took us in the blue and beautiful Arabic ocean. The breeze was very cold. When the morning sunlight touched the surface of ocean. It looked like thousands of diamonds are shining. The sky was blue and so was water. Water was too clear to see the reflection of the sky.

After being on the cruise for 1 hr we reached a place where cruise was stopped in the water in the middle of the ocean. Then started the real fun of water games.

First time I had banana boat ride. It was amazing. As I don’t know swimming I was allowed to go for banana boat ride on Swapnil’s risk(Swapnil is a real good swimmer). Sometimes while turning th in the sea the banana boat gets twisted and all boarded passengers fall straight in the water. Thankfully our boat ridded safely but other boat twisted in the ocean in front of me. My heart came in my  mouth.

After that followed a speed boat ride. It was fun.  The driver of the boat was very enthusiastic. He took us deep in the sea with hooping speed and took a drastic turn as boat made a 70 degree angle with the surface of the water. It  was terrible yet exciting. After this romance with water, boat took us back to the cruise. I was surprised when some young boys were jumping from the top of the cruise in the ocean.

Swapnil also wanted to jump. He just expressed his desire and guessed the depth from the roof of cruise then looked at me. I was sure, though he is a good swimmer he won’t be courageous enough to jump in the ocean from 12 meters, at least not when there are no safety measures around.

But he made his mind (I think he wanted to impress me). And jumped from the top of the cruise. He was so happy as if he had discovered his childhood. After some swimming in the salty Arabic ocean we boarded our cruise. I must mention here that water was very clean and clear. After all this fun we had a very good lunch on the cruise and headed back to the port. Now I was feeling as if  I am in heaven after hard work in water, had a nice lunch then I was laying on the roof of the cruise and cold breeze touching like a soft feather. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

इब्न बटुटा mall - Dubai

इतिहास मल नेहमिच रोमान्चित करतो. इतिहसात डोकावुन पहिले कि आपल्यात असणारया कुतुहलाला नकलत उत्तरे मिलत जातात. आज दुबईला येउन तिन महिने झालेत. पण ह्या शहरात इतके भारतिय आहेत कि नविन ठिकणि(त्यातहि नविन देशात) आलो आहोत ह्याची जाणिव देखिल होत नाही. दुबईच मुख्य आकर्षण म्हणजे इथले अतिभव्य malls. ऐतिहसिक वास्तुन्चे commercialisation करुन तेथे होटेल्स वैगरे निर्माण करणे आपल्याकडे आता नविन नाहि. पण नविन वस्तुमधे जुने सन्दर्भ वपरुन आपल्या इतिहासचि ओलख सगल्या जगला करुन देणे आणि सोबतच आपला business पण वाढवने हे कसब दुबई वसियान्ना चान्गलच अवगत आहे. म्हणुनच तर त्यान्नी "इब्न बटुटा" या प्रवश्याच्या जिवनावर आणि प्रवसाच्या पार्श्वभूमिचा वापर करुन "इब्न बटुटा " हा अतिभव्य mall बान्धला.बाजुच्या photo मधुन आपल्याला "इब्न बटुटा" mall च अतिभव्य गेट पाहावयास मिलेल. इब्न बटुटा हा चौदव्या शतकातिल अरेबिक प्रवसि होउन गेला.

या mall मधे एकुन साहा दालने आहेत. हि साहा दालने इब्न बटुटा मुख्यतः ज्या सहा देशान्मधे फिरला त्या देशान्च्या नवाने ठेवलि गेलि आहेत. India, china, persia, egypt,tunisia,Andulasia हि ति साहा दालने आहेत म्हनजेच courts आहेत. प्रत्येक court हा इब्न बटुटा त्या देशात गेला त्यावेलि जि परिस्थिति आणि वैशिश्ठे होति त्यानुसर सजवला गेला आहे.बाजुच्या photo मधुन आपल्याला पेर्शिअन दालनचि झलक पहावयास मिलेल.
जेव्हा इब्न बटुटा भरतात आला तेव्हा मुघल सम्राज्य होत म्हनुन India court मधे सगला मुघल कालचा देखावा बघायला मिलतो. आणि एक एक दालन एवढ भव्य आणि अप्रतिम आहे कि आपण पहुन थक्क होउन जातो. आम्हि सलग पाच तास बघत होतो तरिहि फक्त चारच दालन बघितलित आणि बाकि बघायचि रहिलित. mall चि एकुन लाम्बि १.३ किमि. आहे. प्रतेक दलनाच छत हे खुपच सुन्दर आहे. शिवाय प्रतेक दलनच गेट आणि ईब्न बटुटा mall च गेट देखिल अतिभव्य आहे. ह्या mall मधे 21 Cinema Screens आणि ह्या परिसरातिल एकमेव IMAX theatre ( IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems) आहे. शिवाय शेकडो दुकने आणि restaurants आपल्या दिमतिला आहेतच.