Dubai 🏙️

TL;DR

Honestly, Dubai isn’t really my city. It’s a concrete jungle – possibly the least walkable city I’ve ever seen – with some cool skyscrapers and little else. A lot of people make the Las Vegas experience, and if you enjoy spending a ton of money and lounging by the pool, you’ll probably like Dubai, but if you want some cool local experiences, you’re probably out of luck. Plus the dubious-at-best human rights and citizenship stuff might dampen the mood if you start talking to the Pakistani Uber drivers.

Attractions

• Burj Khalifa + Dubai Mall
  • I mean, it’s a mall and a tall building. It is what you think it’ll be, to be honest, and IMO not worth going out of your way for.
• Dubai Marina
  • Mostly just good restaurants. You can get onto the beach, but it’s mostly private beachfronts, and the public bit had so much random stuff in the water that it’s not exactly a great beach spot.
• Al Shindagha Museum (Old Dubai)
  • Cool museum focused on the history of Dubai, especially its early settlement, and Old Dubai is a nice break from the rest of Dubai. Maybe a little over-produced and can be a bit on-rails, but better than most of the other things in Dubai (if that’s any consolation).
• Alserkal Avenue
  • A cool arts area, but note that it’s basically impossible to get to without an Uber. Some of the galleries are cool, and there’s some nice bakeries and snack places around there. There’s an independent movie theatre here that I wanted to check out, otherwise it’s mostly art galleries, craft sellers, and small bakery type of things.

Events

Food

Bars

Visited

• Honeycomb Hi-Fi
  • Mega expensive, but a nice bar nonetheless! Was slightly confused how the whole listening room thing is supposed to work, but so it goes.

Want to Visit

• Galaxy Bar
• Mimi Kakushi

Restaurants

Want to Visit

• 3 Fils (Japanese)
• Reif Kushiyaki (Japanese)
• Hoe Lee Kow (Korean)

Accomodation

• Pullman JLT
  • A nice hotel in the JLT area – more affordable than some of the other “luxury” hotels like the Taj, and in general it’s quite nice for the price range.