Left the house at 4am for our flight which was due to leave at 08:40, when I first saw the Airbus A380 we were about to board,I couldn't believe the size of it.
Economy seats were spacious and fairly comfortable, food was nice. After a slightly delayed take off, we arrived in Dubai just 15 mins late, had a great view of the Burj Khalifa poking through the top of the clouds as we flew in.
Security at both Heathrow and Dubai were really quiet with only 2 or 3 people in front of us.
My friends uncle Frank who we will be staying with,picked us up and drove us to his apartment at the marina,
you never get tired of seeing the skyscrapers lit up along the way. We got to the apartment about 19:30 and after settling in we ventured out for some food.
The humidity was pretty high but bearable.
We went in Chinese village, the food was great and the duck starter was amazing, portion sizes were huge so we left quiet a bit, Frank kindly offered to pay as a welcome gift.
Back to the apartment for a well earned beer before bed.
Day 2
Woke up about 6:30 to the amazing view out the window of the skyscrapers lighting up with the early morning sun.
Cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast, then went for a swim in the apartment pool.
Went to the metro station and topped up some cards then travelled to Mall of the Emirates where we planned on booking the exclusive penguin encounter but we were informed it wasn't running during Ramadan so we booked the basic one for 150 aed (£25) each, I only had shorts on but they provide all clothing needed. Well worth the money, we go to meet and stroke 3 penguins and give one of them a cuddle and kiss, they're soo soft and friendly.
We then purchased a pack which included 1x 8x10, 2x 6x8 photos plus the whole 38 photos they took on a cool penguin shaped usb stick for 450aed.
We had a look round the mall and brought a slice of the most amazing cheesecake at the cheesecake factory.being Ramadan we had to travel back to the apartment to eat it.
We then had a wander around marina walk along to the Marina Mall, we had a quick look round before getting on an RTA boat which took us up to the Burj Al Arab and back for some great photos and only 75 aed gold class which got you comfy leather seats and the opportunity to stand outside on the front of the boat for the best view.
When we got back we went back into the mall and waited until 19:15 when the restaurants opened and had some food in yo sushi which was lovely.
We then got on the water bus back to marina walk which only cost 5aed each.
Had a quick shower before walking to Barasti bar for a couple of drinks
and then on to the Observatory on the 52nd floor of the Marriott for another.
We then wandered back towards the apartment but Stefano's underneath was open until 4am so we had some ice cream and shared a sheesha.
After that it was home to bed.
Day 3
Got up around 9:30 and made scrambled eggs for breakfast, got a taxi from Al Habtoor Tower (marina walk) to Atlantis which cost 22 aed about £3.60
Spent all day at Aquaventure which was great fun,
chicken burger with fries and large diet coke was 57 aed which wasn't too bad.
After this we took a few pictures outside of the Atlantis hotel before getting a taxi back.
We stopped at spinnys for some essentials and brought some smurf flavour ice cream
which just tasted like bubblegum.
After a quick shower, we went to meet frank at Thyme restaurant in JBR Al Fattan building for some happy hour Peroni then next door to Wagamamma for some delicious chicken noodle soup which came in the biggest bowl ever,
washed down with beer and saki.
After this Frank and his mates left and we went on to Pure rooftop bar in the Hilton residence which gave amazing views of the Palm island,
bottle of Bulmers was 50aed Kopperberg was 35aed, we got there and an old friend was there with her sister so we sat with them and caught up,
before getting chucked out at 2am and getting a taxi back.
Day 4
After a late one we didn't get up till about 11pm, had some bacon and eggs for breakfast then jumped on the Metro for 8 stops to Dubai mall, from there we got a taxi to Dragon mart mall for a cost of 36.50 aed (£6 ish)
We spent a good few hours looking around the indoor market, Kat was looking at all the bags and ended up getting a nice Juicy couture bag which we were told was 65aed but I got him down to 55 (£9 ish).
I then started looking for a nice watch, a guy walked up asking if we wanted and Rolex or omega watches so I followed him to a small stall where the guy opened a cupboard behind the counter and pulled out a rolled up velvet cloth, he unrolled it to reveal all the good fakes which he told me he had to be careful with as he'd just had some confiscated. I settled on a gorgeous blue faced Rolex, the quality is so good you wouldn't tell it was fake, he said 450aed but I got him down to 350 :)
We got a taxi back to Dubai mall which for some reason cost us 10aed more than on the way.
We were dropped off at the valet parking entrance where there were some very nice cars :).
Had a walk around and checked out the aquarium.
Brought a few bits in the massive sweet show opposite,
then went outside to get a good photo of the Burj.
We had a look at the waterfall which runs from floor to ceiling of the mall,
We waited until Iftar and were planning on eating in The Cheesecake Factory but the wait was too long so we jumped on the metro back to Mall of the Emirates and went to that one which was fairly quiet.
I had a spicy Chipotle chicken pasta dish (84aed £14 ish) which was gorgeous but the serving was massive,
unlimited soft drink (14aed), you can tell it's an American company.
We could only finish half our meals so they put the rest in boxes for us to take home, we did however get some Red Velvet cheesecake to take home and eat later.
Back to the apartment for a chill out before heading over to Barasti bar to watch the cup final in the makeshift dome.
