The Dubai shopping festival was setting in and was the second day after inauguration. I had extended my stay to accommodate the luxurious experience of shopping fiesta of Dubai. It was my last outing from Sharjah as I was returning back the same weekend. The shopping festival is also a good time to find deals on almost every product on display.

It was a Friday and the weekly holiday for my father as well. He planned to stay home and take rest from the past hectic week and we started a little late in morning. We headed directly to the Dubai Festival city which is supposed to be the heart of all shopping bonanza.

During the shopping festival time, all the city outlets participate in some way or the other but this is the central place for rippling out any effect to the city. It is a permanent shopping arena with multiple brands present under one roof. The only difference at festival time is that the deals kick in and the number of people visiting increases manifold.

As any other shopping area, it was huge with multi-level floor facility and lavishly decorated. The economic slowdown seemed to have had an impact on the buying power of people. There were lot of window shopping being done but the number of serious buyers was less. The food court on the top floor was busting with families on a picnic event. A good time and place for the entire family to enjoy the experience.

The festival city has a small artificially created stream with Abra ride. Abra is a small boat used for transportation and was mostly used in Dubai creek to travel passenger from either sides. Here it was more of a tourist attraction and children to enjoy. I felt it was an extremely novel idea to have a boat ride in a mall and relate it to the history of that region.

It was my first experience at an IKEA outlet which is quite famous in west and was impressive with the things on offer. After just looking at the different sections in ikea we headed for Columbia outdoor gear shop as I am keen to see such items. I tried a temperature resistant rough shoes and were on a good deal. I purchased it to try it out on my future snow expeditions. The shoe is marked with an astonishing -32 degree Celsius resistance.

The festival city is next to Dubai creek and outside the shopping area there was a setup for live band and performances. We could see private luxurious yachts parked in the creek area. It was a beautiful view with sun setting down behind the yachts.

After taking some photos we came out of the festival city area to find an ACE outlet across the road. I had no second thoughts in going straight inside and ventured for a long time in there.

This was the end of my experience of Dubai Shopping Festival 2009 and the trip to Dubai. The weekend was right close to catch my flight back home. I am still waiting for an opportunity to inaugurate my Columbia gear.

This is my last post from the series of visiting Dubai. It were a memorable 4 weeks wherein I tried many things for the first time in my life, like snorkeling, desert safari, camel ride and many others. A must visit place and I strongly recommend that if you get an opportunity, please do visit it, If you need any extended information which I might have missed in my travelogues, fee free to contact me.

The only photo in the post is the one I am referring to outside the Dubai Festival city overlooking the parking bay for private yachts. In the city skyline you can see the world’s tallest tower, Burj Dubai, emirates tower and many others located on the Sheikh Zayad road.

The Christmas of 2008 and the new year of 2009 was a memorable one as it was celebrated in the magnificent city of Dubai.

UAE is a federation of 7 emirate states and Dubai is one such and famed emirate. The complete list of 7 emirates is namely, Ras al-Khaimah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah,Ajman,Umm al-Quwain.

The capital of UAE is Abu Dhabi. The governance is defined with the king of Abu Dhabi as the President of UAE. The ruler and king of Dubai is the Vice President and Prime Minister. Beyond that I have little knowledge about the governance except the fact that it is quite strict and enforcement is very well done.

Dare not cross the law or you are done for life!

My trip materialized as my father was on a project in Dubai for about 9 months. The trip timing was also perfect from the weather perspective as the temperature was in the range of around 25-30 degree centigrade. I have heard that the temperature in months of June, July crosses 50 C making the outside weather a furnace.

The land is a dream place for many as people from all over the world come and work here. The city has grown phenomenally over the past decade. It has produced some engineering marvels like Palm Jumeirah and many more in the pipeline which has changed the map of world.

I was on a vacation to this dreamland for 3 weeks and trust me I had a great time. It is an excellent place for tourists and just have fun. My stay of 3 weeks also included witnessing 1 week of the lavish Dubai Shopping Festival.

All the places which I went while my stay in Sharjah were a day’s trip. From the visits, I did not find any necessity to stay overnight at any place. My recommendation would be to plan all the places as a day trip only. You can plan to leave early mornings and get back by night.

In the next few series of posts I will walk you through the different places I went which should help you in planning your journey.

Before I close, the currency of UAE is AED, Arab Emirate Dirham. Also popularly known as Dirham with a high side rough conversion figure of 3 AED = 1 USD.