We woke up and had a quick breakfast before heading off to the Metro. Our first stop was the Jumeirah Mosque where we had about an hour education session on the Muslim faith by volunteers Latifa and Amel. It was a good educational opportunity to learn about the 5 pillars of Islam and how they want to lead a peaceful life (not everyone is a terrorist). We also learned about the clothes that they wear and how religion makes an impact in their law. They also demonstrated their prayers and the procedures for their 5 daily prayers as well. For only 10 AED ($2.70) this session as well worth it and about 40 people showed up for it. They offer it 4 times a week at 10AM each time.
Next, we went to the Palm Jumeirah as it is the only one of the three completed thus far (Jebel Ali and Deira are still being constructed). Each frond had 2 rows of residential houses each with their own access to the beach. At the end, there was a crescent built for hotels and Atlantis was at the center. We got off to enjoy the resort and some Coldstone ice cream as well. We bought some souvenirs in the gift shop and took pictures before heading back to the Marina apartment to change our clothes for our afternoon tea.
The Burj al Arab has a strict dress code so we had to wear Sunday best clothing. We took a taxi and they made sure that we had reservations before letting us in past security. We arrived about an hour early so we took the time to walk around to take pictures. The 7 course tea service costs 325 AED ($90) took about 2 hours. The courses were: fresh fruit/berries, finger sandwiches, raspberry sorbet, chef’s carver of salmon, scones/jelly, petit fours, pastries, and assorted sweets. We enjoyed date juice, coffee, fresh water melon juice, fresh pineapple juice, and hot chocolate. The dining experience was definitely world class and fun. We stayed until 5 PM when all the other restaurants were in-between service so that we could go and take pictures. We went to the 27th floor skybar to enjoy the view, the ground floor to the seafood restaurant, and finally the outdoor dining area. We took a walk around the area to the front to enjoy the sight.
When that was all done and finished, we took a Lexus cab to the Burj Kalifa (the tallest building in the world). The only access to the observation deck was through the Dubai Mall. The cost of 100 AED ($30) granted us access to the 124th floor where we had a breath taking view of the city at night. I felt cheated as we did not get to go all the way to the top (167th floor) and the lines were quite long as well. We strolled around the mall for an hour or so afterwards checking out the shops and the aquarium located inside of it was well. After that, we headed back to the apartment and then getting some more groceries at the store. I attempted to go to the Hard Rock café to get a T-shirt, but they were closed for remodeling. I was very disappointed that I would not be able to add that shirt to my collection.
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