March 2017

We took the 2-hour bus($5.50) to Abu Dhabi(population: 1.5 million) from Dubai’s Al Ghubaiba Bus Station and stayed overnight. We explored the city quite a bit while we were there, and we liked it better than Dubai because this city seemed more organic in a sense that the old and the new were better integrated and the contrast between the rich and the poor was not as pronounced. But the first and the last image we have about the place is the Grand Mosque. Yes, it was GRAND but more than that.

All the grandeur and the biggest carpet in the world aside, I felt serenity. The words Islam or Muslim may not signify peace and harmony in current world affairs, but I sensed genuine welcome and inclusion at this mosque. It cost tons of money to build it, of course. However, it was oddly comforting to know that people were all paid to participate unlike most other big religious projects around the globe that relied on forced labor. it was a $10 cab ride from the city center.

We walked around to visit markets and took a cab to see the super luxury Emirates Palace Hotel and the reconstructed traditional desert village, Heritage Village. Cabs were relatively cheap and the drivers understood English. We ended up eating at a Lebanese restaurant in the nearby Marina Mall.

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[Update: 2020] by Pat

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a 2 hour bus and, soon supposedly, a 12 minute hyperloop ride from Dubai.  

The first thing we did on entering the cruise terminal was use the terminal wifi to book an alternative flight to LA.  It was clear we could not fly to India as originally planned and we were having second thoughts about a plane change in China.  Rather than continue flying east, we decided to fly west and booked a flight to LA on Turkish Air.

We had been in Abu Dhabi once before and visited the Grand Mosque, truly stunning and highly recommended.  Free English language tours are available.

This time, however, YK decided we would visit the Louvre AbuDhabi.

I did not even know there was a Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.  Unlike its affiliate in Paris,, it can easily be seen in half a day and is well worth the visit.

Outside the museum was a grove of palm trees equipped with camouflaged speakers.

These “singing trees” were part of a temporary installation.

The museum was laid out chronologically, showing works from different geographical areas.  The narrative traced the development of art, government, and trade routes throughout history.  I was very impressed.  Now there are two destinations in Abu Dhabi I would highly recommend.

A few of the pieces that caught my eye:

After the museum, we took a cab to the fish market where we had a wonderful seafood lunch.  This was the first of only two meals we had off the ship. The cruise terminal was a stone’s throw from this market.

Trip route: LAX -> Vilnius -> Dubai -> Abu Dhabi -> Khor Fakkan, U.A.E. -> Muscat, Oman -> “Almost India” -> Khasab, Oman -> Dubai -> LAX

March 2017

The first time we were in Dubai to get on our Suez Canal cruise in 2013, we stayed at a hotel near the airport. We used cabs(not too expensive) to get around, visited old souks, went across Dubai Creek on an Abra(a wooden water taxi that costs 1 AED), walked around the creek side textile market, visited the old historic neighborhood, and ate at a reasonably priced restaurant right on the Creek.

But all Pat remembers is the breakfast the next morning which happened to be on a Friday. That is a prayer time in Dubai. All the public transportation was shut down till 1 P.M., and most shops were closed. We took a cab to one of the biggest malls in the world, Dubai Mall, and went straight to the food court area. There was a huge collection of interesting looking food counters all around, but nothing was open. A security guard told us there was a place open for breakfast. We rushed to get there, and what else! A McDonald’s!

We got to see some really sleek, tall buildings, and I got my treat: a box of dates at Bateel’s — The best dates ever in my book.

We were on the same cruise in 2017, and we decided to play a bit more local this time and stayed at an Airbnb apartment near Downtown Dubai. We ate at a Pakistani restaurant Ravi’s, a humble place serving great food. We tried to use the buses and the Metro more this time. Only 15% of the population(3 million) are UAE nationals, and the rest are from all over the world with India(51%) and Pakistan(16%) leading the way.

I loved various sweet shops that displayed the multi-ethnic composition of the population.

We visited a historic Al Shidagha neighborhood on the shores of Dubai Creek by the modern Shidagha Bridge linking the historic districts of Al Shindagha and Al Ras. This area was getting a major makeover when we were there.

We visited the Dubai Museum(almost free) and found it quite interesting and informative. We enjoyed an excellent Indian lunch at a restaurant called Mumtaz Mahal in a hotel near the Dubai Museum. The musician who played the sitar said he was a student of Ravi Shankar, the teacher of a Beatle George Harrison.

Madinat Jumeirah Resort Hotel & Market was a bit out of the way to get there by public transport, and the price tags were not meant for the customers who would get there not by a Mercedes or a Bentley. We enjoyed having a cocktail at the hotel bar, though. Not cheap, but we saved money on transportation, right?

 

[Update: March 2020]

We were back in Dubai once again for a cruise trip. We called this trip, “a Cruise to Nowhere.” Due to Covid-19, it didn’t quite work out as we planned.

Trip route: LAX -> Vilnius -> Dubai -> Abu Dhabi -> Khor Fakkan, U.A.E. -> Muscat, Oman -> “Almost India” -> Khasab, Oman -> Dubai -> LAX

Continuation after Khasab:

Early the next morning, the captain came on the PA again and announced that the port of Abu Dhabi was now closed to cruise ships and we would return to Dubai a day early, giving us two full days in Dubai.  For those who wanted to visit Abu Dhabi again, the ship offered bus transportation, but we didn’t see the point.

The first thing I noticed upon exiting the ship was the number of cruise ships.  I counted nine.  Dubai, I guess, was the only port in the vicinity that was accepting cruise ships.

The first thing we did was take a cab to the offices of Emirates Airline.  Our original flight to India was in two days on Emirates.  Since India had cancelled all visas to Koreans, there was no way we could take that flight and we hoped Emirates would be accommodating.  They weren’t.

We next went to the Dubai Frame, the largest building in the world in the shape of a picture frame.

If you look carefully at the underside of the top of the frame, you will see vertigo inducing glass panels that you can walk upon.  Not exactly my cup of tea.

It’s relatively easy to get around Dubai by taxi.  Cabs are plentiful, all are metered, and all the drivers speak English.  It’s a rare trip that costs more than $10.

We took a cab to the Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world.  With all the news about coronavirus, the mall was eerily empty.

We had lunch outside at a dumpling restaurant.  This restaurant is part of a chain headquartered in Taiwan.  We’ve eaten at their restaurants in Taipei, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, and, now, Dubai. This was the first time there was no waiting line to get into the restaurant. 

After lunch we went to Alserkal Avenue where the warehouses and office space had been converted to art galleries, studios, and coffee shops.

One of the galleries featured restored classic automobiles.

We tried to stay on the ship on the second day in Dubai, but we got bored, and took a port shuttle to another shopping center, this one with an Italian theme. In Dubai standard, this was a tiny mall. 

The markets in the UAE have separate rooms for pork products.

April 2017

Lisbon is a favorite stop for the trans-Atlantic cruises, and we’ve stopped here several times for this reason. We always welcomed an opportunity to visit this city that offers enough things to see and do. This meant, though, we never got to experience the nighttime scene in Lisbon. I wanted to hear Fado music, which tends to be played late in the evening. So we picked Lisbon as a flight transfer point on our way back from Madrid to Los Angeles.

We rented an Airbnb room in Alfama district where many of the Fado joints were. This eclectic hilltop area has lots of murals, cafes, restaurants in narrow alleyways. It is very easy to get lost, but, somehow, you are never too far from where you were going.

We chose A Baiuca for our Fado night. Luckily, we were able to get the same day reservation by calling them around 6 PM. It was a small, tight space. When we got there around 8:30 PM, some of the instrumentalists were getting ready to play. We ordered our dinner and wine (minimum 25 Euros per person) and soaked in the atmosphere. The food was actually pretty good.

A Baiuca appealed to me because it had a constant stream of singers coming in to sing a few songs. We could hear many different voices and songs, and, even a cook came out from the kitchen and belted her heart out. At one point a young lady in her mid-30’s came in and asked our permission to join us on our table. Turned out, she was a singer waiting for her turn. She said she was from Amsterdam. She fell in love with Fado when her mother played the records when she was growing up, and she had to come to Lisbon to learn to sing Fado after finishing college and working to save up some money. After a few years, she got good enough to sing Fado professionally and support herself. She loved her life in Lisbon being a Fado singer.

Our stopover in Lisbon was a total success!