Gone are the times when I used to keep watching Haifa Wehbe inspired Arabian makeup tutorials on YouTube, am gonna see some beautiful Arabic Women in reality...!!!! This was my state of mind when it was suddenly decided that we would be going to Dubai for a small 4 day trip in March 2013.
Dubai, a hub that connects the West & the East has a mix of different ethnic groups.The idea for a trip came up suddenly in the month of Feb & we had only a month to book our flights, hotels & the attractions.
We traveled as a family of 6 members & wanted to try the low-fare airlines Indigo which had introduced International flights only then. We had booked JW Marriott for our stay which had just been inaugurated & we got great deals.
The journey was a comfortable four and a half hour flight from Chennai. The views that greeted us when the flight was entering into the middle eastern airspace was enthralling- Arid deserts with the deep blue sea alongside.
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| Views from the flight as you enter Middle east Airspace |
We landed at the airport & took a taxi to the hotel & finished all the check in formalities before the Check In time. But the hotel management was gracious enough to get the rooms ready much faster than the stipulated time. We had our lunch at a French cafe inside the Hotel and checked into the rooms for a nap since we had interesting an agenda ahead.
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| View of Burj Khalifa on the Way to Hotel- An Architectural Marvel |
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| JW Marriott Hotel Reception Area |
With 2 sky soaring towers with 72 floors, stands JW Marriot on Sheikh Zayed road,one of the busiest roads in Dubai. We got our room on the 42 floor(am not too sure), & had a tremendous view of the city and buildings like Burj Al Arab & Burj Khalifa.
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| View from the Elevator in JW Marriott Marquis |
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| Views from our room on 42nd floor |
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| JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Swimming Pool view from 42 nd floor |
Zooming off to Dubai Autodrome :
Dubai - The first thing that struck my mind was shopping :). The boys in the family are no way behind us- They had planned the Autodrome as the first outing. We took a taxi from our hotel to the Dubai Autodrome & booked the slots for both the karting as well as the Laser Tag game.
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| Dubai Autodrome - Hubby ready to drive |
Karting : The Dubai Kartdrome has 2 lanes, one in a closed arena and the other is in the open. I didn't want to take any chance in embarrassing myself, so stood quietly to watch the boys zooming in the kart. They chose the inner track & got into their outfits and did the karting.
Laser Tag : A paintball kind of game where 2 teams fight against each other in an enclosed area with laser guns a lot of hideout spots... uhmmmhum..Cough Cough.. I came third in the game :)
At the Top of the World - Burj Khalifa
At the Top of the World - Burj Khalifa
We had booked our tickets online since we didn't want to wait in an hour long queue to enter the Burj Khalifa.
The reception area has a multi-media presentation depicting the history of Burj Khalifa & what into making such an amazing architectural marvel.
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| Dubai Burj Khalifa- Model |
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| Interesting facts about the Burj Khalifa |
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| The Elevators that take you to the top- An amazing experience |
The observation deck situated on the 142 nd floor of Burj Khalifa gives a 360 degree panaromic , breathtaking view of the colorful buildings and roads of Dubai and makes you feel proud that you are at the top of the world. We took pictures of the views & spent some time in the observation deck and came down & had dinner at one of our relative's house.
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| Views from Burj Khalifa Observatory Deck |
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| Dubai in all its splendor |
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| View of Burj Khalifa from 142 nd floor- Observatory Des |
Tips :
1 : It is best to visit the Burj Khalifa in the evenings / night to have a great view of the sparkling city beneath.
2 : Purchase the tickets online through their website before hand.
3 : Kindly hire cabs for the whole day in case you not going through any travel agent since getting taxis in Dubai was a tough task for us. We had a tough time in Dubai Autodrome to find taxis to go to Burj khalifa. We waited for nearly an hour or so and all taxis were full.
So day 1 ended in lively Dubai for us. Could not wait for day 2 - Dubai Mall and some shopping !!!! Yaaay
So day 1 ended in lively Dubai for us. Could not wait for day 2 - Dubai Mall and some shopping !!!! Yaaay