Dubai, United Arab Emirates (day 23)

 Day 23 - January 30, 2023

This morning I made my way through an area called City Walk. There are lots of residential homes and beautiful streets to explore. I was told by one of the security officers that I couldn't take pictures with my 'professional' camera, only with a phone. Not sure how he got professional by looking at me :D I wanted to tell him that I do not fall under that category yet. Listened to a sermon which I heard the first time I made it back to church after my car accident in 2018. It really hit me back then with what I had been dealing with. Momentary light affliction and the eternal weight of glory that is to come (2 Corinthians 4). Always a very good reminder of what is in store for us!

Eventually wandered my way to the Green Planet, a rainforest exhibit with lots of birds, reptiles, fish, and a few other animals. You can get right up close to the colorful birds which fly around you singing away. There is a bat cave where some smaller bats fly around in the same room as you, flying just over your head or through your legs. 

Walked to the mall again to find some lunch. I cannot recommend the restaurant Tribes (an African themed restaurant) enough! Really great food, excellent service, and a sweet view of the Burj Kahlifa Lake below. Had some Moroccan spiced lamb with some garlic sauce. The staff was really friendly, and I decided to reserve a table for the evening after they told me about the light show that would happen at 8pm.

Went through the mall some more and then out through the Souk Al Bahar. There are a bunch of restaurants and some spice stalls in this souk. The building smelled of burning incense from a few of the stalls that were filled with the smokey burners. 

After the souk, I went for a bit of a joyride for a couple hours on an electric scooter :D Tried to make my way to the beach with it, but there was all sorts of construction going on, so I went around the circular area around the Burj Kahlifa and the Dubai Mall. Really nice weather today, in the low 70s made for a great time :)

Little time lapse here:

An Afternoon Scoot

After creating a little scooter gang :D, my work was finished for the afternoon and I went back to the hotel for a quick nap. Spent some time researching how to better take photos at night, it's a whole different ballgame. Made my way back to Tribes for some Jamaican lemon chicken and the light show. By now the mall was more packed than I have seen so far. So many people packed around the lake to watch the show. I could watch from the balcony as I ate dinner, away from the ruthless selfie taking mobs below :D

Link to one of the light shows I filmed:

Burj Kahlifa Lake - light show

There are so many cool places to take photos throughout the mall!

The city is full of all sorts of expensive cars, all that oil money they have here helps.

  Tomorrow will be the last day here. I fly out in the evening for Singapore. Got some housekeeping items to catch up on in the morning first, such a rough life :D Have a good night!