"Dubai World Trade Centre & Dubai City Centre Visit" Venoths photos around Dubai

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Dubai, United Arab Emirates by TravelPod blogger Venoth titled "Dubai World Trade Centre & Dubai City Centre Visit". TravelPod is a company of TripAdvisor™.

Venoths travel blog entry:

"The flight was indeed a long one, almost eight hours and I could not catch any sleep comfortably because I was flying economy class and I had another extremely huge guy sitting next to me. His elbows were all the time poking into my ribs. Hmmm.... I had to change positions so many times.

We touched down at Dubai International Airport at 0300 local time. The immigration procedures were not so smooth despite we were officially coming in from Malaysia. Some of my team mates had to be sent to the questioning room for further questioning but luckily I was allowed free and without any questions asked. However, Malaysians are usually granted 60 days visa on arrival but this time I only got 30 days visa on arrival which was more than enough for me and I had nothing to complain. Even my luggage was allowed freely without having been stopped by the customs unlike some of my other team mates.

Once we were out of the airport, the shuttle which we had booked from Malaysia was waiting for us. We got onto the shuttle and it drove us directly to the hotel. The hotel was not too far, just 30 minutes away from the airport. Upon arrival at the hotel, we had more issues. Actually, we had fully paid for the entire stay from Malaysia but the hotel mentioned that they did not receive any money from us and we were forced to pay there. The entire room allocation process took 2 hours. Finally, we had to call the office in Malaysia and get them speak to the hotel manager and finally they let us in without having to pay then.

I was so glad when I got my room. Not only was I tired and exhausted, I was very sleepy as well. The room was small but it was comfortable as I was staying alone. The first thing I did was to search for an electric kettle to make myself a coffee. Gosh...there was no kettle. I called house keeping and they mentioned that they do not provide kettles. Hmmmm....at that moment, I just could not be bothered. Next, I wanted to check my emails and this hotel had wifi in the room. I callled the front desk asking them for the password, they said its chargeable at RM 300 per night. Well, thats like 3 months subscription here in Malaysia. Hearing the rates, I was least bothered about checking my emails and getting internet connectivity. I did not even want to have a shower but just got myself onto the bed to get a good nights sleep, or whatever that remains of it.

The next day, we were supposed to meet directly at the World Trade Centre. Unlike my previous trips to Dubai where I had to pay a hefty sum for local travels because taxis were the only means, the train service was now ready. I walked to the nearby train station which was just 100 metres away and bought myself a prepaid card with a value of AED 40. That should be more than enough to last the entire trip.

Got to the World Trade Centre and alighted at the station. It was just 5 minutes walking distance from the Centre. Walked around the World Trade Centre and took some photographs. I could not enter the halls to check on the set up as I did not have the passes. Called on one of them and they mentioned about going to lunch first. Well, yeah that sound like a pretty good idea as I was starving from last night.

We went to lunch at this restaurant in the World Trade Centre. It was an Indian Restaurant called Options by a Celebrity Chef Sanjay Kapoor. There was 9 of us that went for lunch together. The setting of the restaurant was posh. We ordered 9 briyanis and some Naans and of course drinks. After our meal, we were supprised to check the bill out. Hmmm a hefty RM 1750 for that lunch. Well, nothing much to argue with them. I guess thats the local pricing. The food was good, no doubt about it but for that price, we kinda black listed that restaurant from then. Hehehe.

Then we took some group photographs outside the restaurant and headed back to the booth where I finally got my pass. I had to check both booths, both the Malaysian booth as well as the Sri Lankan booth as my fellow colleuges would be there as well. We planned to display the products from both countries and ..."
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/venoth/69/1287022583/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. "Room 644 at Ibis Deira, my room."
2. "Dubai Skylines from my window"
3. "Dubai World Trade Centre"
4. "The exhibition that we were here for"
5. "At Options Restaurant where we had lunch"
6. "This must be the celebrity chef"
7. "Starters, fried spiced papadam"

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00cc-149e-d197?ytv4=1