Day 02: Weekend in Dubai - the Burj Khalifa (Sep 2018)

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Friday, 14th September 2018

The highlight of the day was our visit to Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at a height of 828m above ground level. Construction commenced in early 2004 and it took a mere 6 years from start to finish before it was officially inaugarated in January 2010.

On Fridays, services on the Dubai Metro starts after 10am so we had to hail a taxi in order to reach our venue before 9am. Admission is via Dubai Mall, a massive shopping complex housing some 1,200 stores and a huge aquarium.

Granted that the off-peak ticket costs a hefty S$50 for access to the 124th and 125th floors, this was money well-spent in my opinion. Besides the tower visit, there is a well-curated video exhibition at ground level depicting the major milestones as Burj Khalifa broke new heights throughout the construction period. In addition, there is another section which paid tributes to the many people who made it happened including the craft labourers who toiled under the sun and worked at great heights.

We probably spent more than 2 hours at Burj Khalifa, documenting the sights slowly and stopping by the gift shops along the way. We were thankful that we had taken a light breakfast prior to the visit as there were no eateries in sight once we gotten to the 124th floor.

Since we started our day rather early and we were still coping with some jet-lag, we decided to take the rest of our afternoon off. After a good rest at the hotel, we had a nice dinner at Shakespeare and Company Cafe. Shakespeare and Co had its humble beginnings at the French Capital where it operated an independent bookstore. The cafe business soon followed and it was nice that we could find them in Dubai as well.

We ordered a healthy omelette, salmon crepes and a vegetarian pasta which was highly recommended by the servers. This is a mid-priced institution and the Victorian-inspired decor helped to elevate the whole dining experience. For sure, this was a cosy dinner to remember.

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