Waking Up
I slept until almost noon. Since we were out late and I slept very little the night before I was exhausted and wanted to catch up on rest. After showering I started to organize my thoughts about what I had left to do. It made sense to visit the Burj Kalifa (tallest building) at sunset, later in the day. The Burj Kalifa is connected to the Mall of Dubai, so I could visit both at the same time. That left visiting the Mall of Emirates the first stop.
Mall of The Emirates
I had been to the Mall of The Emirates several times at this point and knew how to navigate it quite well. The malls in Dubai are huge, but the layouts are ingenious. The malls are enormous in size because they are several stories high - so getting from one point to another is not difficult. I started the day at Starbucks. I was behind in my blogging, so I spent a couple of hours getting current. After a couple of hours at Starbucks I figured I'd check out what openings Ski Dubai had available.
Ski Dubai
The ski facility offers open skiing with a fully operational lift. They also offer and recommend lessons. The next available lesson was at 7pm and lasted an hour. A coat, snow pants, and disposable socks are provided in the lesson and entrance fee. The only thing I had to pay for was a locker rental ($5 USD) and a pair of gloves (also $5 USD). I opted to take an adult group lesson. Even though it was an adult lesson, they let a couple of kids in. One of the kids was completely obnoxious and an overall nuisance. He had clearly been skiing before, so he didn't feel the need to pay attention to the instruction. Instead, he insisted on showing off his skiing skills by skiing around everyone. Had I learned to ski at a younger age, that kid probably would have been me.
The scope of the lesson was simply learning how to brake and control yourself while skiing. The instructor was from England and fantastic. Since I got hit by a car a couple of days before I was worried about falling. I never really did fall down on my side and the lesson was fantastic.
Mall of Dubai
After finishing up skiing I left the mall and head for the Mall of Dubai. The Mall of Dubai is the largest mall in the world (based on total area). Much like the Mall of Emirates, this mall is laid out very well and easy to navigate. By luck I entered right by the Burj Khalife ticket counter and skydeck entrance. Tickets were sold out for the entire day - no luck. The only time available for the next day was early morning, at 7:30am. It would be an early morning!
The two malls in Dubai both have upscale retailers like Cartier, but this one takes the cake. This mall has a Patek Phillipe retail store. When my brother was working in China he brought me back a Patek replica. I hadn't heard of the company before, although I must have seen their advertisements in the Economist. The entry point for a used Patek Phillipe cost more than a used Rolex. The malls here are open late - until midnight. Some stores close earlier than that. To my dismay, the Patek Phillipe store was already closed when I arrived. I walked around the mall until it closed, taking in the world's largest acrylic aquarium
Burj Khalifa
After leaving the mall I walked around outside. Although it was late I had noticed the cafes outside were very busy. I think a big soccer match was on because because everyone was focused on the TVs. I wandered around outside looking for a good angle to photograph the Burj Khalifa
Tomorrow
Tomorrow would be an early morning. I'd need to have everything packed and check out by 7am if I were to be at the Burj by 7:30. My flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30 and the airport was about 20 minutes away from the mall. Although there's a 30 minute grace period for admittance to the Burj, I had no time to spare if I were to make it to the airport the necessary 2 hours prior to departure.
I slept until almost noon. Since we were out late and I slept very little the night before I was exhausted and wanted to catch up on rest. After showering I started to organize my thoughts about what I had left to do. It made sense to visit the Burj Kalifa (tallest building) at sunset, later in the day. The Burj Kalifa is connected to the Mall of Dubai, so I could visit both at the same time. That left visiting the Mall of Emirates the first stop.
Mall of The Emirates
I had been to the Mall of The Emirates several times at this point and knew how to navigate it quite well. The malls in Dubai are huge, but the layouts are ingenious. The malls are enormous in size because they are several stories high - so getting from one point to another is not difficult. I started the day at Starbucks. I was behind in my blogging, so I spent a couple of hours getting current. After a couple of hours at Starbucks I figured I'd check out what openings Ski Dubai had available.
Malls in Dubai are huge!
They even have defunct retailers like Woolworth and Borders still in operation!
Ski Dubai
The ski facility offers open skiing with a fully operational lift. They also offer and recommend lessons. The next available lesson was at 7pm and lasted an hour. A coat, snow pants, and disposable socks are provided in the lesson and entrance fee. The only thing I had to pay for was a locker rental ($5 USD) and a pair of gloves (also $5 USD). I opted to take an adult group lesson. Even though it was an adult lesson, they let a couple of kids in. One of the kids was completely obnoxious and an overall nuisance. He had clearly been skiing before, so he didn't feel the need to pay attention to the instruction. Instead, he insisted on showing off his skiing skills by skiing around everyone. Had I learned to ski at a younger age, that kid probably would have been me.
The scope of the lesson was simply learning how to brake and control yourself while skiing. The instructor was from England and fantastic. Since I got hit by a car a couple of days before I was worried about falling. I never really did fall down on my side and the lesson was fantastic.
The slopes are much more impressive once inside.
Me after the lesson
Mall of Dubai
After finishing up skiing I left the mall and head for the Mall of Dubai. The Mall of Dubai is the largest mall in the world (based on total area). Much like the Mall of Emirates, this mall is laid out very well and easy to navigate. By luck I entered right by the Burj Khalife ticket counter and skydeck entrance. Tickets were sold out for the entire day - no luck. The only time available for the next day was early morning, at 7:30am. It would be an early morning!
The two malls in Dubai both have upscale retailers like Cartier, but this one takes the cake. This mall has a Patek Phillipe retail store. When my brother was working in China he brought me back a Patek replica. I hadn't heard of the company before, although I must have seen their advertisements in the Economist. The entry point for a used Patek Phillipe cost more than a used Rolex. The malls here are open late - until midnight. Some stores close earlier than that. To my dismay, the Patek Phillipe store was already closed when I arrived. I walked around the mall until it closed, taking in the world's largest acrylic aquarium
One section of the mall's multiple levels
Touch screen maps
Cool fountains of running water
The figures are stationary
Patek Phillipe was closed!
Enormous Fish Tank
Burj Khalifa
After leaving the mall I walked around outside. Although it was late I had noticed the cafes outside were very busy. I think a big soccer match was on because because everyone was focused on the TVs. I wandered around outside looking for a good angle to photograph the Burj Khalifa
It might be midnight, but the cafe is packed
Burj Khalifa
Tomorrow would be an early morning. I'd need to have everything packed and check out by 7am if I were to be at the Burj by 7:30. My flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30 and the airport was about 20 minutes away from the mall. Although there's a 30 minute grace period for admittance to the Burj, I had no time to spare if I were to make it to the airport the necessary 2 hours prior to departure.
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