I am so exhausted after the long day I’ve had – a common theme of this holiday – but we’re finally in Dubai for the final stop on this trip and we had a great evening.
A very early start
The day started with an 04:00 alarm for me so that I could be showered, awake, and checked out of the hotel ready for our 05:30 departure to the airport.
I’m not a morning person so I’ve tried to avoid departures like this throughout the trip but the flight we had today was the only direct flight which arrived in Dubai at a convenient time and which wasn’t too expensive. To make things easier we booked a transfer to the airport on Booking.com which took a bit of stress out of things.
The journey to the airport was very quick at that time of the morning and we arrived shortly before the check-in desk opened for our flight.
Departing from Singapore Airport
Being Singapore, the whole process was smooth and we were checked in and through security in no time once the check-in desk opened. This left plenty of time to stretch our legs before the long flight ahead, to spend our remaining Singapore dollars, and to grab something to eat.
We didn’t fancy something too big at that time of the morning so we just grabbed a sandwich from Subway. Nothing fancy, but it was just what we needed, and we got to give our rubbish to a trash-clearing robot which was really cool.
Our flight with Emirates wasn’t as good as normal
Our flight from Singapore to Dubai was with Emirates on one of their B777s. Our flight today took us up the Malaysian coast as far as Kuala Lumpur, where we turned North West in a straight line towards Dubai crossing Indonesia and India before skirting the coast of Oman as we approached Dubai.
I’ve flown with Emirates a few times and have always found them to be a good airline. Today was a bit of an exception as, while the food was good and the seat was really good (we had a twin seat with nobody next to us), I found service to be a bit lacking. We couldn’t seem to get the attention of the cabin crew when we needed anything, like a drink of water, and we were left with our trays for a long time after we finished our meal which is the one thing I hate the most when flying. Well, in terms of service – long delays and unruly passengers are probably worse than that.
The flight was nice and smooth, though, and we arrived into Dubai a few minutes early.
Arriving in Dubai
Immigration and baggage claim were really quick today, and we were through and into the country in no time. Online I had read that most people are directed to the automatic immigration barriers when they arrive in Dubai, but we were specifically directed to the manned desks which was perfect as it meant getting a passport stamp which we wouldn’t have got from the automated barriers. The immigration officer also gave us a free SIM card with 24 hours of data, which was really useful, as it saved us having to find a desk after clearing security.
As our hotel in Dubai is fairly close to the airport, only a few miles, we decided to just take a local taxi rather than the metro or a pre-booked transfer. The cost was exactly 50 AED, which is around 11 GBP, which I thought was very reasonable for such an expensive city.
We arrived at our hotel, the Hampton by Hilton at Al Seef, around an hour before official check-in but luckily one of our rooms was already available so we were able to leave our bags and freshen up a bit before heading out into the city.
This was wise as it’s so hot in Dubai at the moment – averaging around 40 degrees Celsius – so I can’t even imagine what it must feel like during the height of the summer.
After leaving the hotel we spent around 45 minutes exploring the local area checking out the marina, the restaurants and shops at Al Seef, and some of the local areas before popping into the shopping centre next to our closest metro station to grab a quick iced coffee.
Visiting Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalfa
Our next stop was the Dubai Mall, next to the Burj Khalifa, where I had reservations at a restaurant overlooking the Dubai Fountain. It didn’t take very long to get there by metro, although the metro station isn’t actually next to the Dubai Mall and it probably took 15 minutes to walk there. Luckily, the walk was in an enclosed and air-conditioned walkway with several moving walkways along the way.
We spent a couple of hours exploring the Dubai Mall, including checking out the fountain and the views of the tallest building in the world, before heading back into the mall for our dinner reservations.
Dinner with a view
I had reserved a table on the terrace of Third Avenue, a contemporary Mediterranean restaurant that overlooks the Dubai Fountain and has great views of both the water show and of the Burj Khalifa. I chose this restaurant based on videos and reviews that I had seen online and I was definitely not disappointed.
The food was amazing, and the views were incredible. I had Korean Chicken skewers for my starter, followed by a margherita pizza, and we shared something called the Dubai Mushroom for dessert which was a chocolate based cake in the shape of a mushroom.
The meal wasn’t cheap but it was worth it for the great views, and this felt like a perfect place to spend our first evening in Dubai.
Our time in Dubai
We’re only in Dubai for 2 nights in total – so we just have the one full day tomorrow – but this should be enough time to see the highlights.
After leaving the Dubai Mall we took the metro back to the area that our hotel is in, before taking a bus the final half mile since it was still very hot, even at 9.45pm. The metro may be quick, but it’s not very convenient as it doesn’t really go close to anything, so I think we’ll just use the local buses to get into town tomorrow as they stop closer to our hotel, and to where we need to go.
As we got back late my room was available when we arrived so, after grabbing my key, I took my bags and made my way across the corridor to my room.
The rooms at this hotel are great – the beds are huge and comfortable, and the bathrooms are really nice. We weren’t initially booked into this hotel but I saw that it has a special offer on Booking.com about a month ago and so I cancelled my reservations at our original hotel in Deira (the old part of town) so that we could stay here instead and I think that was definitely the right decision.