Fly
by Dubai …. For shop till you drop Mommies and Play till you sleep
for kids.
Traveling
to Dubai with six other moms and a total of ten kids a smart or
stupid idea. But we intended to have fun. I must be one of those
strange women who cannot be bothered to shop, and most of my clothes,
perfumes, accessories and make-up is gifted to me from people who are
really close to me and don’t mind shopping or those who think I
need to look better dressed. But the other moms are great shoppers
and find great deals and bargains for some great and interesting
products that only comes through experience.
We
chose Dubai because its close ( 2.5 hours flight) , safe (for women
and children traveling alone, low crime rates due to drastic
consequences), heard its kid friendly and a shoppers paradise.
Make
sure you take a stroller. Dubai has a Mall culture and things to do
are inside malls as most of the year its extremely hot to be out
doors.
Flights
and visas
One of
the moms took it upon herself to make flight bookings and arrange for
her travel agent to apply for UAE visas. All moms, but one travelled
by Jet Airways at an Average price of Rs. 15,000 per ticket, and one
mommy flew Emirates at Rs.18, 000 per ticket. The difference being
when you arrive in Dubai, Emirates has an exclusive Terminal 3
dedicated to them which is newer and better maintained than Terminal
1 which is for all other airlines. Emirates also sponsors a visa
should you need a Sponsor.
Here
comes the bugging part women traveling alone need a NOC letter from
their father or husband!!!!
Stay
in Dubai
Four
moms stayed at an Apartment Hotel in Bur Dubai, Two of us stayed in
an Apartment Hotel in the Tecom area and one stayed at a relative's
house in Marina. (average price of 450 Dirhams per room per night
with breakfast)
NEVER STAY AT THE ATLANTIS it is a farce, not worth your money or your dissatisfaction for the selective behaviour towards various nationalities.
Travel
within Dubai
Dubai
has recently added a great metro service to their expansive transport
system. 4 dirhams for a return trip to zone 1, 6.5 dirhams for a
return trip to zone 2, 15 dirhams for a return trip to all zones. A
day pass for 16 dirhams can also be used endlessly on the metro and
bus system on the day its purchased. Metros have special compartments
for ladies and children and senior citizens.
Rent a
pre-booked taxi Innova for 450 dirhams for 8hours, or a mini bus for
12 passsengers for 600 dirhams for 9 hours. Over time is charged at
50 dirhams per hour.
Regular
taxis are easily available and run on a meter just incase you are too
tired to go by metro or forgot to book a taxi in advance. There are
some exclusive lady driven taxis and I had the opportunity to travel
in them. The lady drivers wore their head scarf, yet a very forward
profession for a lady!!! Quite impressed.
Communication
within Dubai
All of
us managed to get sim cards within the day of our arrival, some had
sim cards from mumbai itself. The common mobile providers are Du and
Etisalat, they also provide internet which is always useful in a new
country, for maps and information. This allows you to change plans or
switch plans as per your requirements.
Travelogue
Day
1 :
We all reached the airport in Mumbai, India and used the new
terminal, our flights were leaving half hour apart so we checked in,
went through to immigration and security check together, had a few
bites at the cafes there and strolled to the gates in time for
boarding.
Arrived
in Dubai 6pm UAE time, met up and packed in our respective pre-booked
taxis and cars and headed to our hotels. A local taxi will probably
cost you much less than a pre-booked one.
We
unpacked in the hotels and rushed to Carrefour (a supermarket chain,
also available are Spinny's and other hypermarkets like Speedway and
Gaent which deliver to your hotel and are just a phone call away) for
dinner, fruits, breakfast supplies and kiddy snacks. Some moms
brought uncooked dal, dalia, rice, pressure cooker, it was all
unnecessary and they never got the time to cook either. Dinner was
sausages and eggs, and finally sleep at midnight.
Day
2 :
Some mommies decided to go to the Outlet Mall Dubai which is on
Al-Ain road route 66 its about 58 dirhams by taxi one way, but
totally not worth it and turns out to be more expensive than the so
called EXPENSIVE Dubai City Malls. They give you offers like half off
Mondays, buy 2 get 3 free, but its a total scam. The quality of
products is extremely poor, they tear and damage easily, and some
products are actually customer returns. At this mall there is a
Chuckee Cheese play zone for kids, but an adult has to be present
with the kids. They also have a play area for kids where you can
leave your kids for 45dirhams for 2 hours and thats the only well
worth thing there, since children rejoiced in the fact that they
could play with each other.
My
advice:
STAY AWAY from the Dubai Outlet Mall
Some
of us other mommies went to Ibn Battuta Mall, where the children
discovered, China, Egypt, Morocco, and India and entertained each
other along the way. Mommies went to Shops like ShoeMart, RedTag,
Homes Rus, Home store, Max, Toy Store, Borders bookstore. We ate at
the food court with each mommy eating and feeding her child her
choice of cuisine, I ran to the Pars Express which served a huge
portion of mutton and beef kebab, a bowl of cucumber raita and a
drink for 40 dirhams so we ate some and packed the rest for dinner,
it was just yum.
My
advice:
Dont miss this mall
One of
the kids was celebrating her birthday that evening so we rushed back
by 4 pm and started preparing for the party. We ordered McDonalds,
Pizza Hut, drinks and a cake. It was by the poolside and a bit windy
for the decorations and candles. Kids got into their swimsuits and
swam in the small kiddy pool for a good two hours while mommies
chatted, then they ate and cut the cake and took return gifts and
left.
The
more energetic moms, like myself, then decided to go to the Marina
Walk and let the children play in the water fountains till 11pm. Got
phone refills and some more groceries at a Spinnys and got back to
the hotel to sleep.
My
advice:
if you are travelling with kids live around this area it has the best
free entertainment for kids who love to play.
Day
3:
Mall of the Emirates, for Snow world, some friends think its over
hyped but I think one must visit once. Its super cold, and has
blowers to circulate the cold air to keep the snow in its solid
state. Little kids under the age of seven dont have much to do,
except pet some penguins and ride the snow sleds and snow bikes.
Teenagers have a better time and then it feels more like money well
spent. Most of us bought the Super pass which included fleece gloves,
unlimited chairlift rides, tubing, mountain thriller, giant ball, but
our kids were tooo small for most of these but we all needed the
gloves therefore bought this pass. We stayed in an hour and a half,
but it took us longer to dress and undress. I also had to buy a cap
which cost me an additional 75 dirhams and yet I was COLD, and I have
lived 4 years in the mid-west USA with 5months of winter winds and
-40 temperatures and 5 feet of snow. Brrrrrrr!!!!!
My
Advice:
if you do go to SNOW WORLD don’t forget to take your cameras,
mobiles, and some money as the dressing up process makes you tend to
forget everything.
We all
ate lunch again at the MOE food court with toys from happy meals,
gup-shup and laughs. MOE has the largest Carrefour, the Babyshop,
traditional custom made Abaya stores, exclusive lingerie stores. Then
back to the room for dinner and sleep.
Day
4 :
Out early to the Dolphinarium / Creek Park / Children's city for the
11:00am discounted dolphin show at 70 dirhams for adults and 35
dirhams for kids on a friday. The show was definitely worth it and I
would have seen it again had we not been short on time. There was
camel rides and pony rides for 10 dirhams. There was a play area with
just moon walkers for 30 dirhams for ½ hours, this was the worst
thing we did for the kids on the trip it was not worth it. It was out
doors tooo hot, very little time for a lot of money. They also have
a bird show that I missed but am sure would have been worth it. At
lunch time we saw loads of locals carry their food and barbeque sets
to the picnic area of the park and I think that would have been
wonderful for us tooo had we known earlier.
My
advice:
must see Dolphin show!!!
We
went home rested and met up again in the evening at the Marina Walk
where we took the kids for some good Persian food and let the kids
play in a free play area while we sat and watched the kids in cool
dry perfect night air. Kids played till
Day
5 :
We went to the City Center Mall Diera by Metro by the time we
reached it was time for lunch so we got Happy meals for the kids
from, McDonald's, Burger King or Hardee's and then settled with our
own lunches. Like I said before since I am not much of a shopper I
went to get a hair cut and colour for myself and a cut for Sarrah at
a salon in the mall. Had a coffee at the Cold Stone Creamery and
headed to Meena Bazar (one of the jewellery markets of Dubai).
It was
dark already and all of Meena Bazar was light up and shimmered like
gold. Window shopped and saw the new jewelery designs from India,
Singapore, Egypt, Turkey and local middle eastern designs from
18karats to 24karats. I just loved getting into all the shops asking
prices looking around and just collecting information. I am an
information hoarder...love, love hoarding information.
After
that we joined the other group of girls at their hotel in Bur Dubai,
for a dinner and drinks party, kids played ate together and so did
the moms. We got back home after a long tiring day of wandering.
Day
6 :
We reached Festival City, which has an IKEA at 2pm since the
exhaustion of the trip had finally caught up with us and we needed to
rest. So we decided to leave at leisure. We left the kids at the
IKEA play area which looks after your kids for one hour for free
while mommies shopped. After an hour we picked up the kids and took
them upstairs to the IKEA kids section where they have designed
children's bedrooms and have left toys out for kids to play with
touch and feel and no security or staff telling you DON'T PLAY HERE
PLEASE it was so much FUN!
We
gave kids a little snack at the food court at dinner time and Sarrah
and I left to pick my husband at Terminal 3 which is 2 metro stops
away from festival city, while my friends were kind enough to take my
shopping home with them, in a taxi. Waiting at an airport or railway
station has a thrill of its own.
The
next three days after the arrival of hubby has another story to tell
with a different point of view....if you are interested to know leave
me a comment...WE did Kidzania, Dubai Mall and aquarium, Dancing
fountains, Dubai Outlet Mall, Global Village, Wafi Gourmet, Gold
Souk, Spice Souk, Boat ride at the Dubai Marina...and some back to
school shopping.
