It’s been a while since I posted a photos of Dubai’s most popular landmark – the Burj Khalifa so here it is, basking in the lovely afternoon glow during sunset.

I almost forgot how majestic it is, having lived in Dubai for five years now and seeing this structure frequently. Somehow, I’ve lost excitement like it’s just one of the usual buildings along Sheikh Zayed Road. But seeing it through the lens, I am amazed again.

It stands beautifully at more than 800 meters and nope, this ain’t just a usual building in Dubai, it’s the world’s tallest and many people from all over the world have wished to see it in person.

I should appreciate it more.

Talk about the law of attraction! A close friend of mine have been toying on the idea of spending her Easter holidays in Dubai for a while but worried about the costs. I was like, wouldn’t it be nice if you could come for free, somehow? She has been saving up for this trip and a few work overtimes here and there, she says she’s ready! I am excited. I haven’t seen her in a very long time and she is one of my best buddies in high school.

I helped her plan her vacation around from plane tickets to tours, to hotels – no need actually since she’ll be staying with me! I guess this is one of the perks when you have a friend on  your travel destination! I would be more than happy to accommodate her although we both might not be getting enough sleep and spend the late nights talking, talking and talking! We’ve got like, 20 years of catching up to do!

Anyway – back to traveling for free. My favorite radio station here has announced a really awesome contest where you could win a free trip to Dubai for a friend (or family)! All that’s needed to do is send an SMS and if you’re picked, they would fly your friend (or family member) from anywhere in the world to Dubai, spend 3 glorious days under the sun and staying at a posh hotel, all expenses paid! The contest runs for 4 weeks and they will be picking one winner everday.

You know me, I’d get sms’ing!!

One of the things I didn’t expect to see in Dubai? Hydrangeas. Fresh, crisp and beautifully preserved hydrangeas that must have come from somewhere really far!

These are flowers in blue, purplish blue, pink or white colors usually native in southern or eastern Asia, including Japan where we previously lived. They remind me of those rainy summer afternoons in Japan. The pom pom like shape reminds me of the time Pristine and I used to pick them and pretended to be cheerleaders or pick a pink one and play a make believe wedding. I love these flowers and I didn’t think of seeing them again in a long time (since as much as possible because summer in Japan is tough – funny I know considering Dubai is hotter but we have superb airconditioning system here, ’nuff said!)

Pristine forgot about the flowers (and the things we did with it)  since she last saw them in the summer of 2006 when she was just two and a half years old.

~ Two of the things I love: hydrangeas and my daughter ~

Seeing my delight, she declared: “I love them too, mama. They’re beautiful!”

It’s already September and the season of hydrangeas in Japan has long been over. I wonder where they got these beauties?

Note: The hydrangeas were on display at The Address Hotel, Dubai Mall when we went there on Sunday, September 25, 2011. I don’t know if they are still there now.

I have received a few emails from readers of my blog asking me, when is the best time to come visit Dubai? Is it scorching, unbelievably hot the whole year through? Can people actually walk outside in the heat?  When it comes to the weather, this is probably the travel factor that would discourage many, many travelers from coming here because of the notion that is is hot and summer-y all year round but as I repeatedly mention in this blog, IT IS NOT HOT the whole year through!

And even if it is, it shouldn’t hamper your holidays because there are so many cheap holidays to Dubai during summer! This period offers the best value for money. You might not be able to walk outside that much but lounging by the pool in the morning or dipping in the afternoon can be quite enjoyable.

Weather wise, the best time to come to Dubai and really enjoy the outdoors as much as you enjoy what’s inside the malls are in the cooler months of November to March (or even until April). There are lots to see and do here, not just the sun, shopping and modern buildings – you can go see the traditional (old) Arabic architecture down at the Bastakiya Quarters near the Dubai Creek or join a desert safari to experience the vast desert, do dune bashing, ride a camel and have dinner at a traditional Arabic Camp in the middle of the desert watching a belly dancer perform under the starry desert sky.

My leave started today and I spent my morning in a very relaxing way. No worries about packing (because I have already finished that task a long time ago – blame OCD). I went to Dubai Mall at 9 am to have breakfast by myself at the foot of Burj Khalifa.

Cafes line up the waterfront near the world’s tallest building and so grabbed a table and did al fresco dining. Free WiFi, healthy-ish breakfast and the perfect harmony of the warm sun and cool air in February.

I need to remind myself that there are perfect mornings like this in Dubai too. I have to remind myself when summer comes.

I was in Dubai Creekside Park last Saturday and fell in love with it. Again.

The very spacious and green park, just off the floating bridge in Oud Metha is one of my favorite parks in Dubai. We frequented this place when we were new here and I don’t know the reason why we never visited it lately.

The grass is really green, the trees are vibrant and there are playgrounds for children. It’s a great, inexpensive place for a weekend day out.

When you walk all the way to the end from any of the gates, you’ll find out why it’s called Creekside Park.

The park is situated along Dubai Creek, a natural water inlet or shallow lagoon. I was there early Saturday morning when most people were still at home enjoying their weekend. I loved my stroll here. It was a short, refreshing break from the usual hustle and bustle of life outside the park’s perimeter.

There were small wooden boats on the water. They weren’t there when we visited before. I’d like to get on in one of them someday soon.

It’s easy to think that there’s nothing in Dubai but cemented roads and endless sand pit. No green patches of grass or trees other than date palms. It’s desert land, remember? But Dubai knows how to create something out of nothing and the government exert efforts so people living here may be able to see and experience what’s it’s like to lie down on the green grass, run around and just enjoy a bit of un-desert like atmosphere.

For that, I am thankful.

Resources:

• Entrance fee to the park: 5 dhs/person (US$1.35)
• Creekside Park on Google Maps can be found here

Today I wanna take you on a ride to Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai’s main highway. There are 6-7 lanes, maximum speed limit of 100 km/h. Lots of idiotic drivers.

This video was taken one morning when the hubs and I were on our way to Jebel Ali. Here you get to see the buildings along SZR, with the world’s tallest building among them. You can also see how our mornings look like here. Basically it’s like this everyday – blue, cloudless skies. Great weather we love except the hideous heat in the summer.

If you’ve visited Dubai, you’ll be amazed how flat the place is. As long and far as your eyes can see, there are no mountains in the horizon. The above photo was taken by M atop some random high building, showing how there are zero mountains in the city of Dubai.

I love me some mountains and have missed to see them since we lived in a place like this in Japan:

~ Japan Alps as seen from Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan ~

We drove far out off the city to go to Hatta, is an oasis town located 130 kilometers from Dubai. It promises mountains, wadis (desert streams) and rock pools. A great respite to the monotonous Dubai cosmopolitan scene, I must say. On the way to Hatta, you will pass a bit of Omani territory and there will be a passport check. Don’t forget to bring your passport or any identification card if your passport is being held by your company, like me.

It was almost lunch time so we dropped by Hatta Fort Hotel to rest and have our lunch. We saw this pretty camel, well, sitting pretty in the sun.

You know what happens next.

Notice the oh so beautiful blue sky? That’s what we love about “winter” here in Dubai! My two pals here are even wearing short-sleeved clothing. After the camel ride and a burger lunch (as usual, Pristine had her own packed lunch since this kid do NOT eat burgers, at all), we got into the car again in search of the mountain range mentioned by our guide – my husband.

After about 20 minutes, there it was!

M says we need to go down the valley to see the desert rivers and water formations. He never said we’d be trekking so I was kind of upset that Pristine did not have the proper shoes to which he solved by carrying her piggy back style. She was amused. I found this tree on the way down.

It reminds me of the bush that burned somewhere in the Moses story in the Bible.

The rock pools and wadis:

I suppose there’d be more water if it’s the rainy season.

Look closely, there’s a running stream:

The rock formations tell me this place used to have plenty of water some tens or hundreds of years ago? I wonder where it all went.

The mountains of Hatta do not resemble the snow capped mountains of Japan during winter but it was awesome in its own way. I’m glad we went despite all the dust and fine sand in our feet.

The mountains of Hatta look like mountains but with no trees in them, they look really bare, like huge lumps of rocks instead of mountains. No sound of music will make these hills alive. Ok, bad joke.

The view overlooking the sea at Palm Jumeirah is beautiful, especially during sunset.

This photo was taken during the cooler month of December. How else would you explain the people roaming outside if it’s the peak of summer, like now. It’s “winter” in Dubai in December so it being outside waiting and watching sunsets is not a problem at all. I am sure many of you think that it’s eternally hot here but no, it’s not.

We get to see the night fall at Atlantis Hotel.

This is an unedited photo of the shot I took with a nice bokeh shot of Pristine with the Atlantis Hotel at the background. I have an SLR with cheap prime lens so this is nothing but one of those “accidental shots”.

The crescent part of the man-made island Palm Jumeirah acts as a breakwater and has over seven million tons of rock. On the side of the road, there’s a cement wall barrier and the rocks used to reclaim the sea can be seen.

~ Pristine and my mom ~

Staying at the Atlantis Hotel maybe expensive but going to Palm Jumeirah and strolling around is free. It’s great for those early morning, late afternoon strolls – we just have to wait for the weather to cool down before going there again.

If you liked this post, check out my other posts, Visiting Atlantis Hotel by monorail & Dubai’s first monoral at Palm Jumeirah.

From our recent trip to Palm Jumeirah by monorail, I feel that this transport system is no way catering to the commuting public. It is built for tourism. First, the fare is too expensive. Next, they are even planning to charge parking fees for people coming from Dubai by car and going to Atlantis Hotel in the palm island by the monorail.

If that’s the case, then it will be more convenient to go directly by car and not bother about the parking fees at the Gateway station and the train fares, of course. However, for sightseeing purposes, the monorail is sure to entertain.

Since the monorail is elevated high above the ground,

riding on it will give a great view of the Atlantis Hotel and the whole of Palm Jumeirah.

Speaking of this famous Dubai landmark – The Atlantis Hotel in Dubai is inspired by the original Atlantis that Kerzner built in the Bahamas. It is huge and very, very pink. Built at an estimated cost of $US1.5 billion ($2.4 billion), the 1539-room Atlantis comprises two accommodation towers of more than 20 storeys each, a conference centre, spa, private beach and the water park. All told, it covers 46 hectares, or about 22 times the size of the arena in the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The last station of the monorail is Aquaventure station. Aquaventure is a 17-hectare water park filled with slides and pools inside Atlantis Hotel’s premises and can be seen from the train, too.

Hmmm, so enticing!

Don’t you just want to change into your swimsuit and join them?

We didn’t swim but we took Pristine inside Atlantis Hotel’s mini-mall (I don’t really know what to call it but it has little stores and restaurants inside…) to see the huge aquarium instead.

and she spent a good amount of time counting the fishes…

Trying to call their attention…

and just stare. Ah, nothing beats free entertainment!

The aquarium seen outside is part of one of Atlantis’ attractions called The Lost Chambers – made to look like the ruins of Atlantis. Not much to say since I’ve not been inside it.

~ entrance to The Lost Chambers ~

The ceiling has colorful artwork of sea creatures:

When going to the Palm island by car, you will not feel that this is a reclaimed, man-made island…

but when aboard the monorail, you can see that it really looks like the shape of a palm, with trunk and fronds and the huge hotel sprawled on the man-made land.

Photo not mine.

The entire site – the hotel and the land – was more than 10 metres under the surface of the Persian Gulf eight years ago.

Dubai has created a wonder.

* Just so you know, I was NOT paid by Atlantis Hotel to write this stuff. *