On project in Dubai...Part 5...

Finishing in the office around 17h30, I head back to the hotel for a weekend that's a day earlier than I am used to. Like I care?

The train is packed with other weekend hopefuls also heading home. The ride is uneventful.

Back in the hotel, I decide I am going to walk to the Dubai Mall. It is only 2km or so from the hotel and in the cool evening air it should be pleasant.

Which means it could only get shitty.

And shitty, it was. The first part of the walk was fine, the pavements are wide and uncrowded and you don't have to continually watch your back like you do in SA and other countries. Nobody fucks with anybody else here...it's great.

The place probably has its crime, but I haven't seen any...yet...and I don't care to either.

I walk past the station I usually use to get to the office, heading for the next one as a landmark. The Sheikh Fayed freeway is as busy as the N1 through the Woodmead interchange, except that this goes on 24hrs a day here. There is no respite from traffic in Dubai.

About 500m past the second station, they are building a new offramp to take cars off towards the new Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world. For this, they have blocked all routes around the freeway and are even digging a tunnel in the road parallel to it, so that is blocked off too. As a result, I have to walk back the 500m to the second station, then cross over there using the bridge as a thoroughfare, but that side of the freeway is dark and dodgy-looking so I opt for the train instead. It takes me the last 600m to the Burj Khalifa station and there is still another kilometer to walk from there to the Dubai Mall itself.

All this is happening in +100% humidity, even though the air is cool. I can feel my bollocks sweating in my jeans and my thighs chafing against the denim. Not good - I know I am going to regret wearing these jeans by morning.

The mall is fuckin' massive - quite possibly the biggest in the world (though I haven't checked) - and certainly 10x the size of Sandton Mall in Shit Towne. There are five wings to the mall, each with four floors of wide shopping avenues, almost like highways in themselves.

There is an aquarium with an underwater zoo, with a mall-facing window which must be 50m long and 10m high so that the public can see all the creatures and fish in the marine tank. There are at least three ragged tooth sharks, countless eagle rays, kingfish, elephant fish, variegated batfish, and the biggest fuckoff brindle bass I have ever seen. A monster.

I take some photos but there is a lot of backlight reflection from the shop windows behind me and I cannot find a section of glass that does not have a reflection of some kind.

After watching some young arabs get chased away from touching the glass, I see a sign saying "Waterfall Court" and I think "Uh huh, that should be interesting".

FFS, there is a four storey face of water running down a granite backdrop, dotted with stainless steel figures, all in a downward-diving pose mounted on the wall. Magnificent is all that comes to mind. More photos at all angles and distances.

After that I find the food court and have what's known as a "Bento Box". Indonesian noodles the thickness of caterpillars, half a dozen skewered prawns, three chicken drumsticks and a small pile of beef pieces, all in a savoury sauce. Accompanied by a diet Pepsi, it;s not too heavy a meal and relatively cheap at about ZAR70.

I buy nothing in the mall except for an ice cream cone with two scoops of Italian ice cream on it, caramel and chocolate flavours. Even that cost ZAR42, which would explain why I bought nothing else.

I had wanted to buy a couple of casual shirts but I refuse to pay ZAR700 for a piece of cloth that says "Levi" or "Tommy Fuckin' Hilfiger" on it. No way!!

I walk out into the area between the mall wings to find there is a musical dancing fountain display and it too is quite spectacular as you will see by the photos when I get them posted.

The walk back to the train is nice and cool except for the sweating in my jeans caused by the humidity.

It's just as well I left the mall when I did as it is the last train for the night. It is 23h30. I couldn't have faced a walk back to the hotel in sweaty jeans.

Back in the hotel, I set the alarm for 8am so that I can go sightseeing while I have the opportunity.


Part 6, coming soon to a blog near you...