Dubai Shopping

the first time you visit Ibn Battuta, you have to psyche yourself up for a walking expedition. chances are, it would more likely be an interior architectural tour rather than a shopping experience -- as this humongous mall showcases 6 countries which the 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta visited in his 29 years of traveling throughout the Middle East and Asia! (hmmm.. for all you know, Ibn could very well be one of the founders of virtual tourist! wonder what his ranking would be =)).

each of the six zones has a unique architectural representation of the six countries. if you're bent on shopping rather than "exploring", so-to-speak, the zones are generally-grouped into ff:

- China Court is basically for entertainment with UAE's first IMAX screen.
- India Court is basically for fashion shops such as Fitz & Simons, H & M, Top Shop and the like.
- Persia Court is mainly dedicated for lifestyle shops anchored by Debenhams.
- Egypt Court is for sports stuff.
- Tunisia Court is where you'll find Geant for your weekly shopping needs.
- And finally, Andalusia Court which offers basic necessities such as dry cleaning, video rental, etc.

at the end of each zone, you will either be flabbergasted or appalled by the most intricate but equally-humongous-scaled ceiling and wall details.

whichever end of the mall you reach, you deserve a good binge at the foodcourts.

parking is not at all a problem. but if you're carrying loads of shopping bags.. and since this is a huge one-level mall, you always have the option of taking a cab back to your parking slot.

Deira City Center has plenty of shops for everyone, with over 300 stores to choose from. Debenhams & Carrefour are a number of big name outlets you can visit. New Look from UK has trendy clothes for girls/women at reasonable prices and Studio R is where you can find lots of sports attire.

There are a number of restaurants & food courts to choose from. A cineplex is located on the top floor. You won't be short of stores to shop from for all budgets.

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Mall of the Emirates is a huge shopping center that not only holds major department stores, luxury boutiques, restaurants, food courts, cineplex but also a ski slope. Yes, working ski slope in the middle of the desert!

You won't have enough time to explore all the stores in the mall and I would think that this is the ultimate mall to go to when in Dubai. The only disadvantage is that the mall's location which is quite a distance and taxi fare will cost you $15-$20 one way from Dubai city center

Check the website below for store listings

Opening Hours:
Sunday - Wednesday: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Thursday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 12:00 midnight

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If you have a lot of money to spend or taste for the posh life, then Burjuman is the mall to come to. Burjuman specializes in most of the luxury brands you are familiar with e.g Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior & Fendi. Saks Fifth Avenue also opened a department store in the building.

There are other medium priced store available as well as restaurants & cafes to relax in. Check the website for more store listings

What to buy: Luxury brands

What to pay: A lot!

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Dragon Mart is a collection of shops with Chinese goods- toys, bags, building materials, clothes, soft furnishings etc
The complex is housed under like roofs with typical red Chinese lanterns hanging down. There are so many shops with similar goods in the same area.
There are kioskd in the centre of each area selling popcorn or coffee or waffles. There are not enough seats though and on a Friday the mart is packed with people and workers pushing trolleys. It is atmospheric.

What to buy: In the mart, we were looking for bed sheets, There were beautiful soft cotton sheets in self colours [yellow, beige, rose blue, white.Also beautiful duvets, but we were not interested in them. Some of the sheets were delicately embroidered.

What to pay: Reasonable prices, but bargaining was not successful, They kept saying 'final price' without reducing at all.
We paid 50 dhs for a Queen sized flat sheet and 30 for a fitted sheet.

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This new mall is huge with all the usual range of shops. There is a hotel, a ski slope and cinema complex. It also has a branch of Carrefour.
It is so large that is like walking down Oxford Street in London, with the same shops and cafes. However there is no need to worry about the weather as it is airconditioned and attractive, so a pleasure to walk around.

What to buy: anything

What to pay: as much as you can afford

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Lamcy is a small mall , very popular with Indians. It has fewer known shops than the larger malls, but is also good for unusual shops.
There is a food court, again with less well known names, though you can never escape McDonalds and Hardees.We had an excellent Vanilla Caramel Latte at Barista
and shared a blueberry muffin, but at 60dhs it seemed a lot.

There is a shop selling gifts, paintings, crystals , fairy trivia, and new age stuff which is interesting to look at.

What to buy: Sand pictures make an interesting gift or souvenir.

Unfortunately now you have to pay to park your car @1 dirham per hour

What to pay: Reasonable prices.

What to buy: Favorite Thing: Dubai has no culture and character. Arabs make up only 20% of the population and you will hardly see or interact with them. They hide behind tall compound walls in their mansions. The taxi drivers are all Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, the hotels and businesses are run by Indians. These are people who are not allowed to bring their families to stay with them even if they have been working there for 20-30 years. The permits to bring families are dictated by how much you earn. Low wage earners are denied the right to be with families. They have an option of bringing them to visit at their expense for 3 months in a year but not more than that.

There is nowhere to see the local culture except in a make believe area at the museum. The Arabs otherwise like to ape the west and everything else is geared to that. However they do things backwards! They built big big buildings but not enough roads to accommodate the traffic. Traffic jams are a nightmare in this man made make believe city. There is construction everywhere. They are building more tall buildings, roads and elevated rail lines, there is chaos everywhere. Hyped for tax free shopping, the prices are the same as in Australia and US and more than what you pay in Thailand or Singapore etc. Even that will stop as they introduce VAT from next year. The climate is VERY VERY HOT & HUMID. One wonders what is there to see or do in Dubai. NOT WORTH VISITING!!!!

Fondest Memory: The sunglasses and camera lenses fogging up due to the heat and humidity! The pictures come out all hazy.