Welcome to the high life and a little trip Downtown.
06:35
I'm already in total awe of Dubai and I only arrived 36 hours ago. From design to architecture to dining, nothing in this city is done by halves. I'm still finding myself constantly amazed by this ever growing urban jungle in the middle of the desert.
I was met by my PRO who is essentially in charge of all visa/HR applications in the company I'm working for, and taken to my new flat. I'm in a shared apartment in Silicon Oasis, an area of Dubai set back in the desert where a lot of expat staff live. Our block is a gated community, and there are thousands of people from hundreds of different countries all living here together. People are not wrong when they describe this Emirate as a cultural melting pot.
Living here has made me realise how big Dubai actually is. My ideas of wandering down to the marina, or running along Jumeirah beach were swiftly crushed when I realised it would take in excess of two hours to get there on foot. And in 35 degree heat? I think I'll pass. But my block has a gym, communal internet lounge and a ladies only rooftop pool, the perfect destination for my first afternoon of desert living.
But let's fast forward a few hours. And I really do mean only a few, Dubai sunsets are prompt and unforgiving and you'll quickly find yourself in total darkness little after 6pm. I decided to hot-foot it over to Aimee's, one of my good friends from London. She and I bonded over our mutual love of vodka and mutual distain for the same boy a couple of years ago and aside from our location (she too is a resident of Dubai), nothing has changed. A nightmare taxi journey, frantic phone call from the middle of the desert and an almost broken heel later, we were reunited and ready to descend on the financial district.
Another great thing about Dubai is the district names. Although most roads are unnamed, which makes finding your new flat in a jungle of identical blocks at 3am quite challenging, all the districts are named with the typical Dubai sincerity. Media city, is where all the creative industries are based, Academic city boasts the majority of Dubai's and the self explained financial district was where Aimee and I headed to begin our evening. Cruising through this metropolis of excruciatingly tall buildings and bright lights has the same feel of crossing the millennium bridge. There's an undisclosed excitement about it that nothing can prepare you for when you cross it for the first time.
This two tiered restaurant and bar is one of the more established haunts in Downtown Dubai, and mirrors a Novikov vibe with its clientele as well as decor. It's all dark panelled walls, high ceilings and amber lighting, the perfect setting for our long overdue catch up. It's more intimate during the week, or so I'm told, but the bar was abuzz with people the night we went, and the 360 degree bar was three or four people deep most of the evening. We sipped our way through several vodkas, reminiscing about our lives in London, cultural red tape and Aimee's most recent adventures before heading on to the penthouse club at Dubai's Shangri-La hotel, The Act.
Famed as Dubai's answer to sordid London club, The Box, set us up for a slight disappointment. Although we missed the dinner show, the later performances mainly revolved around a collective of girls performing a stage routine. Not quite the racy-but-borders-on-vulgar shows put on by the box. But this is the Middle East. Undeterred, and feeling slightly underdressed for the Halloween theme, we spent our night drinking, dancing, and trying on everyone else's Halloween costumes instead.
The next morning was a little hazy. But polishing off last night's leftovers, hello McDonalds spring rolls where have you been all my life? left me with just enough energy to take in some sightseeing… from the comfort of Aimee's balcony.
She lives in Abraj al Mamzar, on the border of Dubai and its conservative neighbour Sharjah. It's Dubai's stricter, slightly cheaper counterpart but equally striking with it's architecture and I left for home satisfied with my new cultural musings.
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