3 continents in 3 week - F adventure

[mmchow]

Emirates Palace was closed for the day. Some sort of event so didn't get the chance to check it out.


Etihad towers

Not sure what building is this

And one of the entrance to the palace on the west side

 

[mmchow]

Went to a mall to cool down as it was hot - the sun is strong.


And off we went to Sheikh Zayed Mosque

 

[mmchow]

The interior of the Mosque





The interior of the building blew me away. It was so pretty.

 

[mmchow]

Came 3:30pm, off we went to Desert Safari for dune bashing. First stop camel farm.


The sunset in the desert is pretty amazing

Camel ride.

The camp site - have a photo taken with a falcon, try on an Emirati costume, henna tattoo, belly dancing, BBQ dinner and shisha

 

[Dr Bob]

Fantastic, another F trip report.

 

[boomy]

Very similar trip so far to the one I did earlier this year. We even visited almost the same places in AUH.

Looking at your photos I'm getting excited again about my EY F flight next month, this time stoping in DOH.

 

[mmchow]

Very similar trip so far to the one I did earlier this year. We even visited almost the same places in AUH.

Looking at your photos I'm getting excited again about my EY F flight next month, this time stoping in DOH.

I don't know where else to go in Abu Dhabi given the time I have here. If I have another day, I would visit Yas island.

Another Apartment for you boomy and how long in DOH? Love to go there next to compare the three UAE big cities.

 

[boomy]

I don't know where else to go in Abu Dhabi given the time I have here. If I have another day, I would visit Yas island.

You should go to Sir Bani Yas island, very interesting.

Another Apartment for you boomy and how long in DOH? Love to go there next to compare the three UAE big cities.

Last cheap AA redemption Apartment before the devaluation. Will spend two days in DOH on the way to Europe, good excuse to squeeze in QR F into the trip

 

[mmchow]

Time to kill while waiting for afternoon tea, let's get back into the report.

Woke up the next morning to this view.

The breakfast was located on level 18. There's an outdoor seating but it was too bright and limited shades around so opted for the indoor with the city view.


A decent selection of food on offer - hot and cold selection and omelette station.

 

[mmchow]

Outdoor shot from the restaurant

The lobby area

And the interior of the hotel as you walk out from the lift heading to your room

 

[mmchow]

After breakfast, it was time to head over to Dubai. I couldn't find any Uber around Abu Dhabi and I was told that there is another competitor of Uber called Careem. Kind of surprised by the limited number of Uber and later found out that both Uber and Careem have been suspended since August this year.
Taxi ride to Dubai is fairly uneventful and you'll know when you are approaching Dubai with the sight of high risers.

The journey took ~1hr 20 min and cost AED240 to The Westin Al Habtoor City.

 

[mmchow]

We arrived around noon and our room is not ready. The hotel is huge with 1004 rooms (some of the room are not ready). W is just next door with 300++ room and St Regis on the back with 100++ room.
Took a few shots of the lobby area while waiting to sort our luggage out.



The check in agent advised that they will call us when the room is ready. We headed to the concierge desk and asked for a map and directions to the souks and abra. As it was Friday, the souks will only open after 2pm.

 

[craven morehead]

Wow !!!! :mrgreen:

 

[mmchow]

The metro station (Business Bay) is located 800m away from the hotel. We bought a day pass for AED22, and additional day for AED20. The metro took us to Al Guhbaiba and the Heritage Village is just outside of the metro.

The abra dock is 5 minutes away and on the side of the dock, there is a market that sell all sort of souvenirs, clothes, accessories and designers fake goods.

The only shop that was of interest is the lamp shop. If only it would go well with the decor of the house. Alternatively, change the decor to suit the lamp

The abra

 

[mmchow]

The abra cost $AED 1 and it took us across the creek to the Spice and Gold souks.

Love the smell in the spice market, wish we have something like this in Melbourne.

A multi coloured spice.

The Gold souk is next to the spice souk and it is out of this world - so much bling for the eyes.

We walked pass the mattress and textile souk as well.

Bought 2 pashmina scarf - they initially wanted AED150 each but we bargained down to AED115 for two (win )

 

[mmchow]

Armor piercing vest that I wanna share;

We received a call from Westin that our room is ready. We took the abra back to the metro station and stop by at a local restaurant called Ravi in Al Satwa for a late lunch. I was so hungry that I've forgotten to take photos. Had chicken briyani, aloo palak (potato spinach dish), chicken tikka and nan bread for $AED34. The food was delicious.
When we arrived at the hotel, we were informed that we've been upgraded to an Executive Suite (sweet). The room is huge and has a good view of Burj Khalifa from the lounge and the bedroom.


Bonus points and breakfast was offered (not sure why). Given they do not have an Executive lounge, platinum members are entitled to afternoon tea from 3-5pm and happy hour from 6-8pm. Coffee and tea are complementary all day. We retreated to BlingQ for the happy hour and the food and drinks on offer was good - selection of spirits, wines, coughtails and finger food made to order. Ordered the classic martini, cosmopolitan, daiquiri and mojito. For snack, we had the chick pea fritter.

The chandelior is out of this world.

 

[mmchow]

Apologies - some of the photos are sideways. Not sure how to fix this as I uploaded via IPhone.

 

[mmchow]

Breakfast is served on level 1. The selection on offer will cater the pickiest eater .

 

[jazza1971]

The Ravi in Al Satwa, how good is the food there.....I ate there a few times while I was in Dubai, cheap and delicious! Where did you hear about it? I think i got it from a local foodie site

 

[mmchow]

Loved it. As you said cheap and delicious. I've read about Ravi through a blog. Good review on the internet too.