Dubai Global Village : Our 4th Year Here!

for non-dubaians – dubai global village is the long-awaited annual cultural event in dubai. it opens only during winter, this year from 1st november till 3rd march.

 

 

it’s basically this HUGE area with a lot of items sold from all over the world (especially from asian, africa and middle east countries) cuisine from all around and also cultural shows. there’s also a fun-fair with kiddy merry-go-round to death-defying rides!

turkish delight from turkey, colorful silk from india, glorious honey from yemen and leather goods from pakistan – these are just the tip of the iceberg. you want magnets from egypt, tribal mask from uganda or silk pashmina from nepal – you can get it here.

everytime we come here, it just feels like visiting a huge museum of the world, rather than a shopping spot! our favorite country pavillion had to be ‘africa’ for its unique display of items sold, their exotic furnitures and utensils, as well as home decor. really love it.

 

 

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this is our fourth year to the dubai global village (can’t say fourth TIME because sometimes within a season, we went like 2-3 times by ourselves, or bringing guests from malaysia – like last year we went twice with abah, and then with mr. khairul’s sister teh).

so since we’ve been here many, many times before, we know what to look for, what we want to buy, where to get it and which country pavillion is a must-go must-see. dubai global village covers a HUGE land area, and if you’re JUST walking and looking around, it may take a while. focus on things you’re really looking for, and the trip will be smooth-sailing, and you’ll go back satisfied that you got what you came for – rather than getting tired tak tentu pasal.

we went to dubai global village to do 5 things :

1. to look for abaya at egypt pavillion, at the same time get the honey-coated cashew nuts
2. to buy yemeni honey at yemen pavillion
3. to buy turkish delight at turkey pavillion
4. to eat leqaimat (arab dessert) at the beduoin stall at the entrance
5. to let the boys play/get a kiddy ride at the fun-fair

 

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kazim LOVES the ‘leqaimat’!

 

our first stop is at the many beduoin stalls across the dubai global village. here the beduoin ladies sit cross-legged in the comfort of their ‘tent’, armed with hot wok full of oil, ready to fry up some delicious arab dessert called ‘leqaimat’. another stall has a hot pan to make some sort of savoury bread that looks like capati cooked with egg and fish sauce.

 

 

i’ve already written about ‘leqaimat’ when we went for lunch at the beautiful emirati restaurant al-fanar.

this yummylicious dessert is called 'leqaimat' – crispy fried dough ball coated in sweet date syrup – sedap sangat! my boys loved it! served hot and fresh with a generous pour of the sweet date syrup, and a sprinkle of sesame seed.

click here to read the rest of my review.

 

behind me is the beduoin stall selling all these delicious arab snacks, including our favorite – the ‘leqaimat’. the beduoin ladies were fully covered, wearing the ‘batoola’ – the arab mask. i wrote a little about batoola here.

 

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after we bought most of the things we needed – we made a stop at the fun-fair area. khaleef really rambang mata, and we let him choose which ride he wants to try.

we need to buy tokens at the booth, and with the token we pay for the rides. one token is aed5 which is very expensive – because most rides cost 5 tokens – that’s aed25 already! but for just two cheaper rides (kiddy rides are the cheapest – just 2 or 3 tokens) and the joy in khaleef and kahfi, we close one eye lah! haha. sekali sekala!

we went on the merry-go-round, and khaleef and kahfi went on the little centipede rollercoaster.

 

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before leaving, a pit stop at turkey pavillion to get the turkish delight. pistachio, chocolate, coconut covered strawberry flavored ones – the works!

 

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some people might get bored with dubai global village – like, what’s new? it’s the same thing year in year out – but to us, it’s an annual visit to cultured of the middle east especially, and for a few hours, we felt like tourists to their countries.

i think that’s pretty cool. *wink*

(check out my other postings on ‘dubai global village’ from 2008 till now)