₦airaland Forum

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Before heading to the food court for a Hardee (can’t remember the name) burger meal (yeah, I love burgers; it’s very expensive in Nigeria), I went to Ski Dubai in the Mall. Yes, Dubai has all the good stuffs to make you part ways with your money. Ski Dubai is an artificial snow park in Dubai (we all know Dubai is hot as hell) so FOR A PRICE, you can pretend you are in Chicago at Christmas. Ski Dubai wasn’t on my budget, so I couldn’t go inside for more pictures, but I was contented to take pictures from the outside and I wasn’t the only one!


Mall of Emirates (MOE) has two 5-star hotels linked to it – Sheraton & Kempinski and for a WONDERFUL price, you will be treated like the royalty you are because they are giving you an experience. These hotels are very big structures, so I guess business must be booming for them. Now, it’s time for the metro back to Al Rigga (I’m fast becoming a metro girl).

.....


I woke up this morning excited – did my prayers and went for my breakfast 10 minutes to the end of breakfast time to avoid any rush. I think the manager has a crush on me; he keeps looking at me, like he wants to say something but fear is holding him back (well, except he wants to refund my hotel bill, I’m not interested in listening to any grammar). I dash back to my room to get changed and ready to go. Today, I am walking majestically to the metro, buying my ticket like a resident and heading to UAE Exchange train for my journey to commence. Who would have known that yesterday I was like a jelly fish out of water clouded with uncertainty as to the direction for my journey? Let me tell you a bit about the metro; it’s underground, it’s got restaurants and a bureau de change office. The AC there is on point – in fact you can never see anybody fan themselves inside any building in Dubai (it’s an abomination); their AC is standard (you will catch cold there). The train is divided into 2 sections – the gold class and the standard (regular) so you proceed as per the price you paid for the ticket. The standard class has 2 sections – men and women (& babies). It is a crime for men to be in the women’s section and it attracts a fine of 100 AED so be warned but women could be in men’s section (I have seen some women stay in the men’s section due to availability of space), no fine there.


My journey to Mall of Emirates was an easy one; by now, I was familiar with the train stops but I still enjoyed the view of the buildings (don’t think I can ever get enough). I saw the Burj Al Arab hotel, the Atlantis and Jumeriah hotels all from the view of the journey (that would be a journey for another day or trip). Those hotels reek of MONEY – you can’t go there stay there if you are broke or struggling. Burj Arab is the only 7-star hotel in the world, Atlantis and Jumeriah are top notch 5-star hotels. One day, I will write about my experience there (amen somebody?) As we passed through train stops and I saw the grandeur of the city of Dubai, I couldn’t help but say God bless their government. Kindly google Dubai in the 90’s and Dubai now, you too will pray for the Dubai government. In fact, Dubai should be renamed ‘the Tower City’ because they don’t like buildings in duplexes but in towers – you can hear ‘50th floor, 70th floor’ etc.


I got off the train at the MOE train stop and as usual, the metro was connected to the MOE building so it was easy breezy, but I wasn’t expecting the beauty I was greeted with. Ah, ‘wo na wo si be’ (they spent money there) – it was elegant, classy and there were LOTS of shops there. It is safe to say you CANNOT exhaust all the shops there in one day. It is so big that security and mall directory maps were there to help you with directions. The security was well trained and polite; they knew about all stores in the mall, no excuse such as ‘ask the security on the next floor’ was given. There were shops waiting to take your money from high end stores such as Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Chopard to affordable brands like Zara, H&M, Bath & Body but be careful, their prices were reflecting their location so don’t complain. I got lost and tired because I had no particular store in mind for shopping, I was merely sightseeing and shopping by chance of a good deal. There were food courts on every floor, decent and well arranged. Carrefour supermarket was there to cater the needs of supermarket shoppers. Carrefour is the Shoprite of UAE; it was EVERYWHERE I went, and they knew how to do SALES. Warning: don’t every enter a shopping mall thinking you won’t spend money.

nowpresence:
thanks dear for your captivating write-up. you got me hooked to my phone.
well done


how is the IT sector over there most especially cyber security and cloud computing?

I know their IT sector is great however I don't know about cloud computing/cyber security and thank you for the accolade

peacengine:
Bro, you're not the only one

Just enjoy the story peacefully.

mokikeoj:
Thanks for the wonderful updates. Please tell us about Abu Dhabi. I have not been there, been to Dubai twice and I looooove it. I plan on going there this year but would like to know if I should also go to Abu dhabi.

The post on Abu Dhabi is coming; still finishing the write up. Stay tuned or should i say committed to the thread

NewBea:
I think i will be among the few here wondering how many millions you took to dubai and what you do for a living...

All power belong to God

Dubai dining...

This is the 3 flavored icecream with all manner of fruits in it

......


Not only is Dubai beautiful, but it is well thought out. A big shout-out to the ruler of Dubai HRH (His Royal Highness) Sheikh Al Maktoum and the crown prince of Dubai HRH Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum for their insight and leadership. It is clear that their own executive meetings yield results (I don’t know what they do in the Federal Executive Meeting here in Nigeria but God will help us sha). I can’t really explain the beauty of Dubai other than to describe it as ‘Real Estate Money’ at its best. Dubai is Real Estate money but Abu Dhabi is Oil money. The president of UAE is also the crown price and ruler of Abu Dhabi while the vice president of UAE is the ruler of Dubai. From my research so far, they are exceptional leaders – of course, no one is perfect, but they are really doing great things for their nation. Let me digress a bit further and talk to you about Emaar Properties; yes, there are many construction companies in Dubai, but Emaar Properties is the ‘Olori’ or first of them all. Top construction companies in Dubai include Emaar, Damac, Nakheel, Meydan etc. and they are all making their money but clearly one’s balance sheet will be bigger than the other.


It is not uncommon to see many towers in Dubai with the Emaar logo on them; they are heavily involved in properties, malls, entertainment and hospitality. Their valuation as of 2017 was $14.6 billion and they aren’t slowing down. Emaar properties was instrumental in building Burj Khalifa and the Chairman is (as at when I watched the documentary) the 5th most powerful person in Dubai. How did the Burj Khalifa come about? HRH Sheikh Al Maktoum (the ruler of Dubai) called the CEO and said he wanted the tallest building in the world in Dubai. He gave him examples of all the tallest buildings as at then and HRH said ‘add them up and build one taller than them all’ and that was how the Burj Khalifa became a money making center for Dubai because there is an observation deck on the 124th, 125th and 148th floors (I haven’t been there yet but will get there eventually) where tourists can go and ‘observe’ (of course for a price) and there is also the a club on the 144th floor – highest level club in the world. There is an assess point from Burj Khalifa to the Dubai Mall. Dubai is really a product of vision and good leadership. What they don’t know, they source for it worldwide and bring such man power to their country, make them comfortable and the end result is magic!! The downside of living in Dubai is the smoking habit; because in every building, smoking is prohibited, so smokers just chill on the streets and smoke their lives away and the air becomes polluted.


My journey to and fro via the metro was an educational moment for me; I was able to connect with all the places I had read about but soon the train was back to Al Rigga meaning I was back ‘home’. I got down and went to Al Ghurair (but this time I didn’t enter the mall) where I proceeded to go to Burger King for lunch. I got a whopper burger for 23 AED – fries, burger and a drink before going to Juice world to try something new and believe me, there was something new. It was 3 different types of ice-cream filled with assorted fruits and almond (na wa o, these people here are living the life) all for a whooping 30 AED (hey, you only live once abi?’ I quickly made my way back to my hotel so I could devour the meal ‘Tobi Bakre style’. But immediately I ate, my head started pounding; I guess my body was dehydrated from the fast so I took a nap thinking I would be relieved but upon waking at 8.45pm I wasn’t relieved so I knew it was time for me to dress and go buy Panadol.
Stepping out of the hotel, I saw one white guy (he may not be European but he is sha white), our eyes met and I continued my journey. 5 minutes into my journey, I looked at my side and saw the dude! He asks me for my number and says he followed me from the hotel to where he intercepted me (na wa o). I didn’t have a UAE sim which I told him, and he asked if I was staying at the hotel to which I answered affirmative (imagine, we were both staying at the same hotel) and he asked nicely for me to call his intercom. I was just laughing. My people, night waka is wonderful ooooo. See people dining, smoking, shopping and chilling at past 10pm. Shops were showing no signs of closing even Banks were still open! People were changing money at that hour – that’s security and stability @ its peak! There was no fear or uncertainty over there. I was not left out as I did some light shopping too. There are stores along the road from Pierre Cardin outlet store to Philippine store to Mimiso and some restaurants – clearly Dubai doesn’t sleep. I must have some more evening/night trips. I returned to my room and had a peaceful night rest, tomorrow was Mall of Emirates adventure.

1st Pic is the ruler of Dubai
2nd Pic is the crown prince of Dubai (he's handsome ba? but he is a no nonsense person ooo)
3rd Pic is Emaar taking over
P.S. if you know anyone in Emaar properties, i am interested in a job there oooo

My people, sorry for the break in transmission; i was out all day in Abu Dhabi but story continues now

ysteph:
It's not only back home. (Let me not mention my country too. LOL).
I left my bag in an Old Navy store in Los Angeles say for about 15 mins before i remembered and by the time i remembered and located my bags, my DOLLARS(hard earned for that matter) was gone. I still cry when i remember the incident.
So just so you know, you were lucky to have your bags intact. It has nothing to do with your country alone.

pele

It happened this evening; i was at a changing room in Max Al Ghurair Centre and a lady was looking for something she misplaced; she couldn't find it ooo Na God do my own.

Tonight's dinner is pizza - pastarito

Other pics are pictures of in Al Ghurair mall


#VisitDubai

obonujoker:
The food looks like iyama...

Other than the taste of the sauce which was sugary, it actually wasn't bad oooo

More pictures

More pictures from jumeriah beach


Last picture is someone selling bootleg YSL

....


I stayed up late into the night so I could wake up late this morning. Every week, I take out a day to ‘wait upon the Lord’ (lol) and Monday was it. I knew there wasn’t gonna be breakfast for me, so I didn’t have to rush to go to the Cinnamon Room. After my morning prayers, I just checked mails and sent mails before heading to the shower. Now, let the day begin – metro, here I come!

I got dressed and left the hotel, quickly made my way to Al Rigga Metro station (by now I was becoming familiar with). I purchased my round-trip fare ticket for 19 AED (oh metro, how I love thee) and made my way to the train. The train as usual was on time and quickly grabbed a seat because I knew that along the journey it was going to get filled. The train was cold as in the AC was too much and I was wishing I had brought a scarf. The ride was about 30 minutes or more and I thought to myself ‘imagine if you took a cab, you for hear am’; I couldn’t even be bored with the ride because it gave me an opportunity to really see Dubai. I realize that people come to Dubai and their activities include – shopping, desert safari, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall tours. You really don’t see Dubai by just that; agreed it is a part of Dubai but it is not all Dubai. I have been researching Dubai for a while now because I really want to relocate there but timing and opportunity are key ingredients into such move. You don’t just pack your bags and move to another country because the visa is fairly easy to obtain or else you will SUFFER. You won’t be working, you will be hustling. Anyway, don’t let me digress.


The train made stops along the way – union station, Bur Juman, Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates Tower, Financial Centre, Mall of Emirates, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, Noor Bank etc before finally getting to my stop (which apparently was the final stop) Jumeriah Lake Towers. I was really able to connect the places because of my little research beforehand. It was as if the Jumeriah Lake Towers was the hub of Towers. There were many buildings and almost all were Towers; my fear of heights was almost creeping in and I said to myself ‘how do you expect to live in Burj Khalifa someday (by God’s grace) if you are afraid of heights?’. Anyway, when I left the train station, the real confusion started – how do I get to Jumeriah Beach? I started asking questions like a confused tourist (that I really was) and I almost turned back because I was out of my comfort zone but I remember that my brother will actually send me out of the house if I failed to get there and I had to do it for my fans (just kidding) and so the journey began.


Getting out of the train station was Dubai Marina; I had read about it – rich but a bit formal and quiet (I guess everyone had gone to work). It was the place for expatriates and it smelt of money! Many high-rise buildings or let me say towers. I immediately decided Dubai Marina wasn’t really me; it was quiet and not a lot of commercial activities going on – very residential. I needed no prophet to tell me that stores there will be pricey but then everyone there is expected to be a bit comfortable. I started asking for directions for the beach and shortly I was on my way; it was like a 10 – 15-minute walk from the train station but shortly after I arrived the famous Jumeriah Beach.


Jumeriah Beach was like a town on its own. It has 5-star hotels surrounding it, shops close by (but be ready to pay beach price for items). I made my way to the beach under the scotching heat; yes, Dubai weather was doing its thing today. Words cannot describe the beach enough but hands down it was beautiful; free to enter but enjoying the facilities like sun bed to chill by the beach was not free. I saw my hotels – Hilton Palm Jumeriah, Sofitel, Movenpick etc. all very lovely 5-star hotels but be ready to pay 5-star price + easy beach access price as well (because it would be charged in your room rate). I was in awe; I won’t lie, I felt at home there (not just at the beach but the whole of Dubai). My goodness, Dubai is beautiful; my goodness, Dubai is beautiful; my goodness, Dubai is beautiful (yes, I had to say it 3 times).

Rupect:
Please I want to know the cost of lady wears in Dubai. I learnt is expensive like boluses, skirt, gowns and tops.

Please could you clarify my perception on this since your shopping spree is sounding cheap.

Thanks

Things are quite expensive here but when they do sales, they REALLY DO sales. I was lucky that when i arrived, they did a 3 day city wide sales so everything was quite reasonable.

Just a lil sumthing from the Cinnamon room

NONNYG:
@OP, if you need someone to hang out with or you wanna meet a nairalander, holla @ me

Where are you situated?

....

I was just observing shops not within the mall first and I realize how organized and obedient people were. For example, I wanted to cross to the other side to have a look at the shops but because I didn’t see anybody cross the street, I had to respect myself. I just kept following the people in front of me till I saw a zebra crossing at the end of the street. We waited when the zebra light was red and when it was green, we all crossed (God bless the car that doesn’t wait). It was like a rule here Dubai; motorists gave priority to people crossing the road – zebra crossing or not. It wasn’t like Nigeria where you would be begging sef at zebra crossing; you thank motorists who stop for you to cross because they have done you a HUGE favor.

After sightseeing at the other side, I crossed back and took entrance 5 into Al Ghurair mall. My reason for coming back here was to see if stores were still doing crazy sales and the answer was YES however, it was just a few of them. Every evidence of 3 days sale flyers in most stores were GONE. Stores were reverting to status quo. But surprisingly I found stores I hadn’t been before and some were still doing sales. My new favorite store is ‘R & B’ (yea, that’s the name); makes me remember The Bachelorette Rachel and her fiancée Bryan (R&B). Anyway, prices were wonderful, and I did a little spending nothing elaborate because I was cautioning myself. I kept seeing stores I hadn’t seen before and it got to a stage I was lost but in wandering about, I finally located exit 1 and I was out of there. I knew I would be back because I had seen an affordable hand luggage for 79 AED & another for 99 AED so I was alert because my luggage was spilling out of control (supermarket shopping really put me overboard).


Outside the mall, I was thinking of where I would order dinner from. I remember saying I would try something in every restaurant, so I had to keep to my word. The name of the store I went to was called ‘Jollibee’; they serve fries, burger, rice and spaghetti so I said I would try it (move out of my comfort zone) even though I just wanted to turn and leave the restaurant. As I said before, food is very affordable here or maybe because they don’t have to call thousands of Naira as your bill. My simple meal was 15 AED without a drink (which I didn’t want because I had had a drink with my Mc Donald’s this afternoon; too much sugar ain’t good) which I paid for and left. I noticed that many of the food stores that had chairs outside had those chairs empty – people were at work! People are hustling ooo; by Thursday, they will be out to dining out again. These food stores either operated 24 hours like Burger King or till late in the morning (2 or 3am) – now that’s security at its peak! People felt safe to still come and eat at 1 am – interesting.

Having exited the restaurant with my food, I was given a flyer by some Asian women and when I looked at the contents, it was all these mani, pedi waxing and massaging flyers. They were 3 of them from 3 different salons and their approach was like those Yaba boys harassing your peace with ‘sister, check here for your jeans and tops’ when you are just minding your business looking for bus. It was aggressive marketing for them; I guess if they don’t kill, they don’t eat (at least it was better than laying on their backs for money) and I made a mental note to take them up on their offer before my stay is over.

The journey back to my room was quick for me; I was already familiar with the route, all I wanted to do was devour my meal and relax. The spaghetti was well cooked – not too soft but the sauce tasted like they added sugar to it. It was sweet. The verdict was in – I was never going back to Jollibee, once was enough for me. The rest of the night for me was playing music via my ipad controlled tv, and dancing away. Tomorrow was going to be exciting (at least I hope) so let me gather momentum.

chicoMX:
Pictures o.. Is that the beautiful places in Dubai are just her shopping malls, hotels and food stores?
Abeg add pictures to this tori, make e sweet well well

Calm down.... pictures will be according to the story. Wait for it. I 'll become ambassador to Dubai after this

.....

As if the food stores in the food courts were not enough, there were more food stores outside the street – all you can eat and those you would raise eyebrows at were there. There and then I made up my mind to try all of them before returning, no sticking to one particular restaurant. I wasn’t really hungry so rather than waste money on dinner, I decided to buy cake so I headed to Mc Donald’s for their triple chocolate muffin (that cake was heavenly). Then as I was walking back to my hotel, I decided to enter the fruit juice store I saw yesterday as part of my trying everything new and ordered a fruit salad ice-cream to go. It was heavenly – banana, kiwi, strawberry, red grape, green grape, pineapple, mango and even pomegranates in the ice-cream (need I explain more?)


I’m back in my room, going at the cake and ice-cream with passion while watching Fast & Furious 7 on my ipad controlled TV and relaxing after today’s work. Though, I’m on a vacation (sort of), I’m observing Dubai which I shall explain to y’all about it. It might be fun when you say ‘a trip to Dubai’ but the hustle that goes on here is real and I’m talking about legit hustle (but that’s another chapter so wait for it). I will be very detailed because I know some people are really trying to escape Nigeria by any means necessary so except you have everything figured out from Nigeria and I mean a job and accommodation waiting for you in Dubai, wake up from your pipe dream and slumber. The hustle is REAL out here, you just don’t see it; forget the pictures of Burj Khalifa and Safari Desert you see and hear all the time. It’s time for me to sleep out to Fast & Furious, tomorrow holds another adventure (hopefully).


The noise of my alarm woke me and there and then I made a conscious decision to go for breakfast 5 minutes before it ends rather than very early. I was so tired and sleepy; trying to balance between Dubai time and Lagos time was exhausting. Folks from home sometimes forget about the 3-hour difference and when my friend asked me to go back to the mall so buy gifts for her at 7pm Nigerian time, I asked her to do the math in Dubai time which was 10pm. But then let me be clear, I wouldn’t have gone back even if the time was 6pm Dubai time. I can’t hit the same mall twice in one evening for anybody. I went back to sleep and woke up much later at 9am Dubai time (I can’t kill myself). I knew today was going to be more of an indoor day for me; I intend to connect with the livestream of Sunday’s service of my local church. Usually, when I am outside Nigeria, I’m also on vacation from my local church but ever since I started attending this new parish, I couldn’t afford to miss any service. Whether I’m there or not, Lagos or Abuja, Nigeria or Dubai, I must connect and be part of the service. Today was going to be a special service because there was a guest minister; I have listened to his ministration before and I knew I couldn’t afford to miss it. I connect via YouTube and first service is already in session; it was beautiful but now I must wait for second service. After church service, the plan would be either take a metro to Jumeriah or take a walk to Al Ghurair Centre for lunch and sightseeing. I’m still deliberating.


Yes, service is over in Nigeria and I decide to continue observing my environment, so I chose to go to Al Ghurair instead of Jumeirah. The reason I postponed the Jumeriah trip was because time had gone; I didn’t want to walk all by myself in a place I wasn’t familiar with and I was also trying to avoid rush hour at the train station but tomorrow, I have a date with Jumeirah by God’s grace. Immediately I stepped out my hotel, hot air was just blowing. I remembered what people said about Dubai in the summer – it was hot. Now, there was no sun but it was like the air was coming from the desert (UAE is anyway a desert) – hot! If it was in Las Vegas, those skinny girls would have been wearing bikini up and down saying they cannot kill themselves because of the heat. I was a bit uncomfortable but what could I do? Nothing! Foreigner like myself?

cutieme:
madam sapphire try and get the price of a Samsung galaxy S4 for me pls.

Broda gat jokes!!

ferhyntorlah:
Hi again, I apologise if my question was way out of line. I like to read people's travel stories, starting from the very beginning of visa application. You don't know who you might be saving the stress with your own visa procurement procedures.

Anyways, like I said earlier my apologies.

I'm not in anyway offended; but honestly there isn't isn't story there. I applied and got it within 2 - 3 days.

ferhyntorlah:
Hello Sapphire86,

Thanks for documenting your Dubai trip. Please do mind talking about your visa procurement procedures as well for prospective Dubai travellers? Thank you!

Hi,
Honestly, there is no story there. Sometimes, it can be easy for some; sometimes it can be stressful for some. I just applied and paid, and that was it.

..... (cont'd)

Anyway, today’s shopping was wonderful, I stayed on budget and checked out at a good time (or when I was exhausted). I really don’t know how people can spend 6 – 8 hours shopping at a mall; I give them props because it is already a job. I had no specific shop in mind as I said I’m led by discounts and so when I entered a shoe store doing ‘buy 1 get one free’ and the prices were sweet already, I was dancing in my mind. No questions asked or ambiguous grammar needed – you just buy a pair of shoes, sandals or slippers and pick another one free (of the same quality and type) and I did just that! Then it was New Look store time and as usual 30% off the items in the store and further reductions on already reduced items. I thought to myself ‘how will their profit look like?’ but why should I take Panadol where clearly there was no headache? And so it was in all stores some with ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ or ‘30% off’, ’30% - 90% off’, ‘buy 2 get 2 free’ and even ‘50% off’ everything. I got carried with the deals that I forgot my bag at the shoe section (yes, careless me ). It took a while for me to even remember (don’t abuse me please ) and when I located the bag, EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING – my dollars, dirhams, passport and even phone were still intact! Now, I don’t want to think of what would have happened had it been it had happened back home (I don’t feel like mentioning my country; let me still be loyal) but these residents in Dubai are real legit mehn! I really couldn’t believe my carelessness or even foolishness but in all I thank God that HE got me! It really was time to leave the mall after that incidence.


Strolling to the food court to pick up lunch before cabbing back was really exciting. There were American franchises, Chinese restaurant, Indian restaurant, you just name it, it was there and well organized. I decided to stick with my usual Dubai ritual which was Chinese takeout because in Nigeria, Chinese was a luxury, here in Dubai, it’s nothing special and very affordable. You really do not have to break the bank to eat well. I ordered my food to go and minutes later was talking towards the taxi area of the mall – there you have taxis lined up waiting to take you to your destination. All those cars that ‘awon’ boys in Nigeria will be forming like they have arrived, are used for cabs in Dubai and they are new, not ‘Tokunbo’ (pre-owned) first grade. My luxurious trip back to my hotel set me back 15.50 AED while metro was just 6 AED! I would have used the metro but for my bags but going forward since sales across malls in Dubai end today, I won’t be buying much. I just will be sightseeing.


Chilling in my hotel room which eating Chinese and watching Marriage Boot Camp online, I knew I had to take advantage of the evening at the Al Ghurair Centre which was a walking distance from my hotel because today marked the last day of the 3 days sales across malls and prices may/will revert to normal come morning tomorrow. I got dressed and headed for the mall, changed money along the way and proceeded to enjoy the last moments of the sale. I was just walking from store to store looking at what I could buy for myself as well as family and friends. The mall was still popping as at 6pm with people trying to lock down their last-minute shopping. I saw denims for 29 AED (29 AED imagine!) but they were all big sizes; I was so burned. I got lost at a certain period because there were so many shops with so many exits and entrances – one thing about their malls is that one road does not always lead to the market. There were so many brands all competing for the Arab piece of cake. There was a particular beauty store selling perfumes and makeup not offering even 1% discount and it was like a grave yard – nobody was in it! Having spent all that I had changed and bought gifts for everybody on my list, I was satisfied because I knew whatever I had left was for me and me alone! It was time for me to pickup dinner and head back.

samee72:
If I can add to your write up, I don't think Al ghurair Center is the smallest mall in Dubai, it is the oldest in Dubai.... true but we still have Reef mall which is smaller than the Alghurair center and there is Ibn Battuta mall, Mercato mall, the Village Mall, Burjuman mall, the outlet mall, Century Mall, festival city mall, wafi mall, Dubai Marina mall, the dragon mart and a host of others

Thanxs.... yes, i remember Reef Mall and a couple but are they major malls? I know there will be malls across all locations but i don't know if they are major.

Akorkor:
Enjoy your stay in Dubai and make sure you enter Deira market and gold market too ... I am sure you have bought as many cloth at Dubai mall. The mall is massive I must say. Enjoy my dear. And make sure you don't give them 1kobo at MMA when you come back.

If you no get money, hide your face...

I be wan waka jumeriah 2moro

Akorkor:
I wish all Nigerians can be like you. We are the main cause of this bribe issue. I love the way you didn't give in to bribe them. The first and the last time I bribed was 2013 and since then I have lost count of how many times I traveled but didn't give in to bribe. Na only God bless you I dey do.

God bless you

I hate their way of life at the airport. It's really sickening. Other country immigration officers will harass you because you are a Nigerian, then your own country sef will still be harassing you. what nonsense.

chicoMX:
Okay.. The pictures though, I pray they get better with time

Chisosssss..... the shade is REAL Amen

Reason i dont like whipping out my camera to take pictures is that it makes me look like a tourist and sometimes i just like to blend in

chicoMX:
It seems all the malls in Dubai are always on sales, a gentleman's way to steal money from people. How did you come about your conversion rates (it's less than $50)?

105 is just the cost of sim.... data and airtime not included... by the time you add this and that.. I'm may be looking at $50

loomer:
heard from a colleague of mine that it's quite expensive.

Paris is.... it is cash cow for the country. Highly profitable

..... (cont'd)

Woke up very early because I’d like to get to the dining room early. Breakfast is served from 7 – 10:30am; I noticed that I am the ONLY black and a female at that in the hotel and when I arrived the Cinnamon Room (the name for their dining room) some days back at around 9am or so, people were just staring at me. I felt very uncomfortable, so I decided to head to the Cinnamon room early and leave early. Of course, I wouldn’t have done so if I had company but what can I do? I said I was going to leave the hotel by 10am to go to Deira City Centre (DCC) for shopping but ended up leaving by 11am because the spirit of sleep was operating heavily in my life. Today was metro day; I decided to take the metro to DCC and return by cab due to shopping bags. Metro experience was really, really nice; it was my 3rd time on a train and 2nd in Dubai; I mostly travel by cabs (London never jam me yet). I really don’t know how to explain the metro system in Dubai other than it was timely, effective and costs less. 6 Dirhams got me to DCC within 2 minutes of getting my ticket; now I know I’m gonna ‘metro’ a lot these next few days.


Finally, I’m entering DCC and in my mind I was like ‘viola, my old friend’ and as expected, the whole mall was on sales! I don’t know how they were going to make profits, but I know that revenue would skyrocket. People were on ground ready to take advantage of the discounts, but the mall wasn’t crowded like Balogun market during Christmas period. Malls are everywhere so it wasn’t like there was any particular reason for everyone to camped at the same place that’s why Ikeja City Mall is always a no-no for me during weekends, festive periods and public holidays. I can’t endure traffic to enter mall, pray to locate parking spot and wander aimlessly at the mall because there is nothing exciting going on. Upon my ascent with the escalator, I found my Etisalat store and in my mind, I was like ‘today na today, I’m getting my sim’ but I was in for a surprise. I asked the man who was in charge of ticketing about the sim and he asked if I had my passport, to which I responded ‘yes’. Just when he was about printing my ticket number, I asked him the cost of a sim and he said ‘105 Dirhams’ and as a prudent person I sharply calculated the cost of a sim, airtime and data and estimated to be at least $50, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Anybody that urgently needs to reach me can contact me on my WhatsApp. I would rather use that $50 to shop for clothes (lol).