every winter, i will always look forward to this ‘festive’ event – the dubai global village, opens only in november to february yearly, 4pm to 12 midnight daily.
some malaysians living in dubai once told me that it’s a boring place; same old stuff year in year out – but i thoroughly enjoyed it. been here for 3 years, and countless times, and still found excitement every time i go.
what is it?
imagine all the countries you could visit in the world, and seeing the unique things that those countries may offer – their culture, the souvenirs that you might buy from those countries, the food that you might taste – that’s ‘dubai global village’.
click here to read about my first visit to the dubai global village.
abah & umi at the entrance
there are a few entrance gates into dubai gobal village, so if you decided to break from your group, make sure you know which gate you’re meeting up after. remember, dubai global village is a HUGE place!
there are so many pavilions – this is what they call the huge square buildings with country’s name on them. and in each pavilion there are more than 20 stalls selling items from their respective countries.
not only that, there is a funfair section with a roller-coaster, a ferris wheel and other fun rides. there are a few rows of ‘restaurants’ and ‘cafes’ – including kfc, pizza hut and many small stalls selling traditional dishes or tidbits from different countries. there are more than one big stage for the cultural shows. there’s a man-made river that flows along the pavilions.
click the map below for a bigger version.
GET A WRIST BAND!
tickets are 10dhs per person. make sure you get a wrist band for your kids where you can write his/your name, with a contact number in case the unimaginable happen.
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OUR FAVORITE PAVILION
since there are SO MANY pavilions, and we’re walking with abah and umi yang tak larat nak jalan jauh-jauh lama-lama, so we pick and choose – and brought them to our favorite and must-go pavilions.
YEMEN : for their honey
TURKEY : for the kacang-kacang
AFRICA : i love looking at the stuff they’re selling!
and of course, MALAYSIA : just to see what *we* are selling, and whether it’s MALAYSIAN enough!
yes, we went to MALAYSIA pavillion, unfortunately my friend fida didn’t open a stall that day; she usually opens a stall every weekend selling her delicious home-cooked dishes like nasi tomato, noodle dishes and her kuih-kuih melayu. keciwa~
the closest thing to ‘malaysia’ was this stall selling kicap tamin, kuah rojak and kaya in a tin. oh, and another stall selling fresh sugarcane drink for 10dhs a glass!
YEMEN PAVILION : HONEY!
yemen pavillion, a must-go for the honey! we went to the same stall, because there are SO MANY stalls in there that sells honey. better go to the ones we know will give good price and the same friendly service!
we bought 2 small containers, and umi bought one. click here to read about our love-at-first-taste with honey yemen at the dubai global village.
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TURKEY PAVILION : ICE-CREAM!
the first thing you see when you enter TURKEY pavilion, is this little ice-cream stall with the tag, ‘real turkish ice-cream’. there were only three flavors – vanilla, hazelnut, and pistachio. i took pistachio and khaleef wanted vanilla.
my pistachio ice-cream was absolutely yummy. chunks of pistachio enveloped in that cool creamy indulgence – heavenly!
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LOCAL DESSERT BY BEDUOIN LADIES
we came early (when it’s still bright) and wanted to return home in time for dinner. so we didn’t get to catch any cultural shows which usually start at night.
what we did get was a local dessert sold by (i think) beduoin ladies. they sat on the floor cross-legged in a tent, equipped with hot boiling oil in huge wok to fry their dishes. this one that we went to was just beside the INDIA pavilion.
this one that we bought actually tasted like our cakoi, only they’re round in shape while our malaysian cakoi is shaped long. also, we eat cakoi with durian gravy or kaya, but this dessert was served with a sweet, sticky liquid that looks like honey, but tasted quite different. i don’t know what it is, but it’s sweet!
memang totally delicious eaten warm and fresh from the wok, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside – tambah-tambah cuaca tengah sejuk!
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at the time of writing, abah and umi had already gone back to malaysia, and we’re currently harbouring a *fugitive* from cairo! haha. mr. khairul’s younger sister is here in dubai spending her winter holiday. will definitely bring her to dubai global village as well.
28th february is the last day to visit dubai global village so hurry on!
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