Dubai Travelogue #2 | Burj Al Arab, Lebanese Food Recommendation & Desert Safari!

With the super short break I'm having now, here is the continuation post of our Dubai trip! If you missed part 1, click here to read. 

We started our second day with a quick stop at the beach to get our mandatory Dubai pictures taken with the iconic building Burj Al Arab! If I'm not mistaken the beach we went was Jumeirah beach. We took the free shuttle bus provided by the hotel (it was called "the beach" on the shuttle bus schedule but I looked online it should be Jumeirah beach).

I think we stayed for only 5-10 minutes, the heat was insane even it was only 10 in the morning! We could feel our skin burning by posing for picture merely a few minutes! 

Okay, done with picture, we then ran back to the shuttle bus (the entire process took less than 30 mins). We wanted to chill at the beach for a while but we just couldn't bare with the heat. Following the next location by the shuttle bus, we then stopped by at Emirates Mall.

What better way to escape the heat other than shopping?

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Shopping is a great escape from the insane hot weather in #Dubai. 🛍 Heading out for desert soon, praying that I won't get heat stroke later. It's 40 degree all day long!! 🔥

A post shared by Emma Soh (@emma.soh) on Sep 8, 2018 at 3:46am PDT

We then had our Lebanese lunch at Karam Beirut inside Emirates Mall!


Complimentary starter - Almond on ice!


Complimentary warm breads!


Complimentary fresh vegetables!

Lentil soup!

Warm and not creamy without the diary taste (I'm the type of person who dislike the taste of diary).

Chicken kebab!


What the kebab looks like, like some kind of fish cakes but tasty!!


Beirut hummus!

This is a must order! I dip with the fresh vegetables they served and it was yum! Best hummus I've ever tried!

Fattouch

A huge portion of salad, that was 4 portions of my normal 1 meal salad! Dressing is very refreshing, lots of greens and compliments well with the crispy biscuit on top.

Love the ski view from our seats! 

This experience totally makes me feel like having a Lebanese fine dining lunch, very unexpected for our Dubai trip! 

We were too full and ended up had to bring half of the salad home. We were beyond full by eating all those food!


(tips: do not order too much at first as their portion is huge and there are few complimentary food & make reservation on the ski view seating!) 


After a short rest in hotel, next on our itinerary was the mandatory activity in Dubai - Desert Safari!

We booked our half day Safari tour from Klook, with the tour Oceanair.

What was included in the package:
1. Pick up and drop off from the hotel
2. Dune bashing
3. Sand boarding
4. Camel riding
5. Henna painting
6. Dance & fire show
7. Buffet dinner
8. Shisha

So hard to pose in such strong wind! This is the only nice picture taken of us both.

First camel riding, he was so TALL!!

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Camel ride 🐪

A post shared by Emma Soh (@emma.soh) on Sep 9, 2018 at 12:02am PDT

After camel riding, some sunset picture in the desert!


Messy face messy hair in the desert.

Appetizer and coffee served upon camp arrival

Then a pic session with the owl!

(can u tell that I was intimidated by it?!?)

Then show time!

Lebanese food buffet, food was surprisingly quite okay!

Overall the half day safari tour was great, plenty of activities included for approximate 6-hour tour. The only downside for me was the picture taking time was too short for us as it was quite crowded and difficult to take good picture in strong wind, and xiang only had 1 chance on the super short sand boarding which wasn't enough for him. Nonetheless it was a great eye opener to truly be there in a desert safari and riding the camel like some character on an adventure book!

Travel tips:

1. Majority of the hotels in Dubai provide shuttle service.

2. Avoid heavy meal before safari tour, the dune bashing is like roller coaster ride! 

3. Prepare for strong wind and sand for the safari tour (e.g. sunglasses to protect the eyes)

4. You may add in the ski activity if you have extra time, heard it was fun!

love, Emma