My First Impressions of Dubai

Wow! Wow! Wow! Dubai is aammmmaaaazzzzziinnnnggg!

I had very high expectations for Dubai after seeing so many photos of its dazzling skyscrapers over the years and after some pretty extensive research about things to see & do, public transportation, costs and other details.

Yet Dubai has managed to far exceed my lofty expectations, and on all fronts!

In fact, after just two days here, I was thinking, “Wow, Europe and UK suck!”

I just spent most of 2024 pet sitting all over UK and EU, greatly enjoying most of the places, people and experiences very well. But in retrospect, now that I’ve landed in fabulous Dubai, those countries all seem well, well below par!

No offense to any of the wonderful hosts I met and befriended there, nor all the great experiences I enjoyed in their countries. But Dubai is just waaayyy, wwaaay beyond all of them! Hopefully the following details will shed some light on my new-found sentiments…

Start: Arrival at Dubai international airport

My very first impressions of Dubai came when I stepped off the plane and into Dubai International Airport. The airport doors slid open and I was greeted by spectacularly clean interiors. Everything looked immaculate, including floors, walls, railings, bathrooms and even the plentiful airport staff’s crisp uniforms.

In fact, I think those bathrooms are the cleanest I’ve ever seen in any airport in the world, including in Europe, UK and USA. Round-the-clock bathroom attendants are based inside each bathroom, equipped with brooms, dustbins and cleaning products. They’re perpetually sweeping floors, tidying up bathroom stalls, wiping the sinks and counters. I swear they clean up after each guest.

Other staff stroll the airport hallways doing much the same.

I can tell you that gave me a mighty fine first impression of Dubai before I even set foot in the city. And my good impressions continued…

Before arriving in Dubai…

Quite unfortunately, I’d had a brutal trip over from Ireland on Egyptian Air, due mainly to my first flight departing two hours late, thereby making me and dozens of other passengers miss our connecting flights and have to wait many hours for the next available flights.

By the time I reached Dubai I’d been awake nearly 24 hours and was so exhausted that I felt sick and unable to go any further without sleep. I was even walking off the plane as slow as a snail, something very rare for me.

Unfortunately, Dubai airport doesn’t have any actual places to sleep such as carpeted waiting areas or rows of seats without armrests. So I attempted to sleep on a single seat in a hallway by sitting on the floor in front of the seat and draping my upper torso over the seat.

I was resting there when I was awakened by a uniformed staff lady telling me that I could go sleep in the ladies’ prayer room, just down the hall.

(For those of you who haven’t visited any Muslim countries, in all said countries there are men’s and women’s prayer rooms situated throughout public places – parks, airports, bus and train and metro stations, shopping malls, and so on. That way, anyone can catch their five-times-daily prayers no matter where they are at the designated times. The rooms are not really intended for sleeping, but the airport staff told me it would be fine.)

So I roused myself up and stumbled a short distance down the hall with all my luggage into the female prayer room. There I found a completely private, enclosed and utterly silent little room with plush carpeting and thick walls. Wow, what a sanctuary for an exhausted traveler! I promptly laid down on the cushy carpet and fell asleep.

And so my second impression of Dubai was of great hospitality and kindness toward visitors.

After resting a couple hours, I finally got up and proceeded on through the utterly immaculate airport to immigration. There I encountered the longest lines I’d ever seen. But, amazingly, it all went very quickly since there were so many immigration officers and excellent organization from more attending staff.

To top it off, immigration officers hand over a free sim card to each visitor when they’re stamped in.

Oh, and did I mention that everyone speaks English, including bathroom and hall attendants? That’s actually not so common in foreign countries.

The smooth and easy arrival continued…

Getting from Dubai airport to many parts of the city is crazy easy. The metro has stops at two airport terminals. Their entrances are right at the airport. Just walk down a hallway, buy a ticket from the counter or ticket machine, get to the correct platform and step onto an immaculately clean metro to your destination.

That’s all I had to do. I think it’s the easiest, quickest and least expensive trip from an airport into a city that I’ve ever encountered in 27 years of world travel. My trip cost 3AED / about $0.75 US !

So, to sum up my impressions of Dubai solely from arriving at the airport… It’s immaculately clean, exceedingly well organized and very user friendly. People are polite, welcoming, helpful and very well-organized.

When I got into the city, I found it just as immaculate. The streets, sidewalks, restaurants, shops, parks, everything is super clean.

But first, a few more words about Dubai’s incredible metro system...

I had already researched Dubai’s public transportation system. So I knew it was inexpensive, reliable and extensive. Yet I was still surprised at how amazing it is. In fact, I’m going to write an entire post about it!

To sum it up quickly here, though, Dubai’s metro system is extremely user-friendly with English signs and announcements, clear signage, escalators, elevators, public toilets at every station, women-only carriages, manned ticket offices at every station, frequent and punctual trains, great architecture, immaculately clean and provides very inexpensive fares…and there’s even more to tell!

In short, Dubai metro system is a real pleasure to use.

Dubai’s amazing skyscrapers

Photos of Dubai’s incredible skyscrapers and other modern architecture over the past 10-20 years are what had me so eager to visit the city for so very long. I’ve been crazy about architecture as long as I can remember, so any city with stunning buildings, whether ancient, colonial or contemporary, I look forward to visiting.

But even though I knew many of Dubai’s most iconic buildings from their photos, seeing them up close and in person is an entirely different -and more amazing – thing. I am in heaven here staring googley-eyed at all the ultra-tall, cutting edge modern towers!

Diversity of Places to see / things to do

I researched Dubai pretty extensively before I headed over here. So I already knew about the city’s completely different historic districts, intriguing museums, traditional souks (market mazes), Dubai River, guided mosque visits, beautiful powdery beaches and other interesting places.

During my first week in Dubai, I visited most of the places I’ve been wanting to see. All of them have met my expectations or exceeded them.

Dubai’s Ideal Weather

Dubai and the Middle East are notorious for their scorching hot, intolerable climate. In summers, temperatures generally range between 40-50+C / 110-125 F ! Add to that, perpetual sunshine with hot a cloud in sight.

However, Dubai’s winter weather is a completely different thing! I’d done my research in advance, which is exactly why I’m visiting Dubai and this area December through February. At this time, day time temperatures usually range from 24-28 C / 75-82 F. Also with perpetually blue skies and sunshine.

On my way to Dubai, I was greatly looking forward to bright blue skies, wonderful sunshine and warmth. Especially after spending most of two months in cold, completely overcast, gloomy damp days in Ireland and Northern Ireland. But I was slightly concerned that Dubai might be a bit too hot at times, considering the ongoing sunshine.

So I’m over the moon to discover that Dubai is generally a bit cooler than I’d expected. I didn’t know about the cool breezes and the huge shade cover from all the tall buildings. The shade and wind actually make me feel slightly chilly at times and I have to pull on a long-sleeved shirt.

In fact, the weather here is pretty much perfect and ideal. And it’s certainly a huge improvement over the cold damp gloom of UK in November!

Many nostalgic references to other Asian travels

I’ve spent about half my adult life roaming around various countries in far east Asia. First I lived in Kyoto, Japan for six years. Then I set out on my world travels in SE Asia, where I ended up spending most of the next 15 years. It’s only been since 2015 that I departed SE Asia and started exploring Latin America, Europe, UK and northern Africa. So it’s been about seven years since I’ve roamed around my favorite places in Asia.

Exploring Dubai is a real treat for me because I’m repeatedly reminded of all my old Asian stomping grounds and favorite cities. Dubai’s riverside strongly reminds me of Bangkok’s Chao Praya River, where I used to love catching the cheap public boat ferries.

The Burj Khalifa area is uncannily like Kuala Lumpur’s Twin Tower area, both with huge modern shopping malls and a small lake surrounded by landscaped gardens and soaring skyscrapers.

Dubai Marina reminds me of Singapore. Dubai’s main street that’s lined by blocks of super-tall skyscrapers, Sheik Zayed Road, reminds me of walking in parts of Bangkok and Singapore.

Dubai’s historic district, with its plain sand-colored buildings and narrow alleys, reminds me of Marrakesh, Morocco.

All the nostalgic references just make my experience of Dubai even better than expected.

Dubai’s delicious & diverse Asian foods

One thing I did not know about Dubai before I arrived is the huge diversity of inexpensive & delicious Asian restaurants and groceries. But I sure found out as soon as I arrived, much to my great delight!

I’m staying in the Deira neighborhood. It’s full of expat Asians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines and other countries. They’re all in Dubai working or searching for jobs. Many are professionals, including accountants, engineers, business managers, medical professionals, bankers and so on.

There are especially a large number of Indians. And that means a lot of great, authentic, inexpensive Indian restaurants & tea shops are all over the place. I had no idea.

Much to my great delight, I’ve found myself immersed in all my favorite Indian breakfasts, meals and snacks that I used to eat while romping around Malaysia and Singapore for a decade. Suddenly, I get to eat dosai, idly, paratha roti, daal, palak paneer and masala chai. Yippie!

On top of that, supermarkets are chock-a-block with a huge variety of Asian foods, drinks and ingredients. There are entire isles devoted to Philippino, Bangladeshi, Indian, Chinese and Japanese foods!

On my first grocery visit, I found a favorite Japanese drink called Oronomin C! Wow! I had to buy one for old times sake. Delicious.

I also found one of my favorite little Malaysian/Thai cakes, little green pandan muffin-like cakes. I bought those too and have been happily eating one every day. Yeah!

Shopping mall food courts have separate shops selling Chinese, Indonesian, Malay, Japanese, Philippino, Vietnamese, Thai and other cuisines. They might be the most extensive/diverse food courts I’ve seen anywhere.

Prices are a bit high for me, but the portions are so big that one meal makes two meals for me. And that I can do.

So I’ve unexpectedly found myself living in food paradise, with all my favorite Asian cuisines on hand!

In fact, this has suddenly transformed my life in yet another regard. Up until now, I’ve spent all of 2024 cooking and eating all my own food. Believe it or not, I never ate at any restaurants in Alaska, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Wales, Ireland or Northern Ireland. Much too expensive for my modest budget.

I’ve spent the entire year going grocery shopping, hauling it all home, putting it all away, cooking meals every day, cleaning up, packaging left-overs, carrying my lunches around with me every day.

And now suddenly in Dubai I no longer have to do any of that! I just go out to a delicious, cheap nearby Indian restaurant or Mall food court, order a meal, wait a few minutes, eat my meal and head out. That’s it!

This is just like I used to travel all over SE Asia for about 15 years of my life. No more grocery shopping, cooking or cleaning up! Yeah!

Lots of little surprises!

Despite all my careful advanced research on Dubai, I keep running into all sorts of fun, charming and unexpected little surprises here. Like my aforementioned favorite Japanese drink, Oronomin C; my favorite Thai pandan cakes; my favorite Indian breakfasts and meals.

During my first week in Dubai, I unexpectedly got my hand henna-ed for the first time. Got to meet an Emirati falcon. Saw a camel and her baby. Learned the proper ablutions before entering a Muslim mosque.

I’ve been inundated by wafts of fragrant incenses in front of perfume shops, in luxury hotel lobbies and shopping malls. I was blessed by a Hindu holy man, who delicately wound a thin red string around my wrist and chanted good luck wishes for me.

I’ve come across many small green parks. Enjoyed unexpectedly pleasant, even cool, weather, all further enhanced by cool breezes and heaps of shade from all the tall buildings. I’ve befriended and fed three stray cats in various parts of the city.

Every day brings more new delightful little surprises.

Summary of my First Impressions of Dubai

As you can see, I am really loving Dubai!

This city is immaculately clean. It’s super user friendly and has a fantastic public transportation system.

Dubai’s famous skyscrapers and other modern architectural wonders are even more spectacular in person than in photos. Besides skyscrapers and shopping malls, though, the city has a huge diversity of interesting things to see & do.

Dubai also offers a huge variety of inexpensive and authentic Asian cuisines, cooked by chefs from each country. And, at least in winter months from December through February, the weather is absolutely ideal.

I’ll be exploring and writing much more about Dubai through December and January, so stay tuned for heaps more intriguing news from this spectacular city.

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