I've seen Dubai on transit before, but have never had the chance to explore it. Wifey, on the other hand, goes there annually on business, so she knows the place quite a bit. But she also made plans last year so that Tia and I could finally get a taste of the place. So yeah, our 2018 got off with a bang when we finally made the trip there!
So it was a first long distance father-daughter trip as we made the trip via Silk Air/Singapore Airlines. The journey there was a pleasant one, even with a three-hour transit at Changi. In fact, Tia quite enjoyed hanging out at Changi with so much to see and do.
In Dubai, we stayed at the Novotel World Trade Center, only minutes from the airport. It's a pretty busy place during exhibition seasons, but it's also close to everything you need; restaurants, stores and MRT station.
Anyway, we spent six incredible days there, doing loads of awesome stuff and enjoying every second of it. The weather too was kind to us, as it was in the teens most of the time. We were told that it was cooler than it normally is this time of the year, so yay us! Hehe.
And here are some of the highlights, as well as our 3-part vlog: Our Dubai Adventure!
We didn't get to go to that many malls, BUT we made it to the top 2 destinations; Mall of Emirates & Dubai Mall. But here's the thing; the malls were so huge that we probably got to visit, at most, 20% of the shops (although we made at least THREE trips to Dubai Mall alone).
Needless to say, the malls had everything under the sun. All the brands, all the restaurants, and they were all bigger and better! Good thing too that our hotel provided free shuttle buses to get there, so we did save quite a bit there.
We also took the MRT to get to the old part of Dubai to visit the Dubai Museum and the Dubai Creek. These are must-visits if you're ever there!
A friend also brought us on a yacht cruise! Damn, that really made us feel like some sort of hedge fund power brokers. Hehe.
Another highlight was of course the Desert Safari experience! It's incredible how they've managed to monetise empty land! There were tons of people on the same trip, relishing getting thrashed around in a 4x4, riding camels and having a barbecue dinner while enjoying bellydancers strut their stuff : )
And yes, we actually went up the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, for a bird's eye view of the city.
Enjoy a bit more of our pics, and please watch the vlogs!
Let's make a film. Let's make history!
The much-loved award-winning family series, "Keluarga Iskandar", will be making it to the silver screen in 2018! After being granted the permission and license from astro, series producers, KL Motion Pictures are embarking on a unique campaign to produce the film.
The #savekeluargaiskandar campaign was launched last month where fans and the general public can now pre-purchase tickets to watch the film via streaming once released, and even downloading it! There are also options to purchase merchandise with the funds going into the production budget.
All the details are here: www.keluargaiskandar.com
In addition: As the strategic marketing director for this program, I am seeking interested parties to collaborate on a sponsorship basis. The best part? The return will go beyond credit mention and conventional product placements. You can be part of the story, and more!
For more details, PM me or call 019-2754923 . Let's make it happen, people!
#keluargaiskandarthemovie#selamatkankeluargaiskandar
Somehow, it's been one of the places we've talked about many times of going as a family, but never did. But this time around, as I was planning our UK trip back in March, wifey insisted that we spend a couple of days in the North West. And so we did!
Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I've been a Liverpool Football Club fan since I was a dot on an ultrasound screen. So this was always going to be more than just normal sightseeing trip.
The cheapest way to get there from London was by bus. And so I booked the tickets in advance and got a good deal for it.
The journey which started at the Victoria Bus Station, was comfortable and uneventful but was a tad long at a little more than six hours. And we had to stop at -- the horror -- Manchester. Grr...
We arrived at the Lime Street bus station and were all raring to paint the town, er, red. I had booked a room at a hotel central to everything and after leaving our bags, we headed to the Albert Dock area.
There's just so much to see and enjoy around this area. We headed to the Museum of Liverpool and quickly absorbed everything we needed to know about the city. Then we walked around the dock area, which was closed for a good number of years before being re-opened in the late 80s. It now has some really interesting stores and cafes, perfect to just chill out on a cool day.
At this point, my wife was already marvelling at how lovely the city was, and we quickly hatched a plan for Tia to study here in the future, so we could also "tumpang sekaki". Haha.
From Albert Dock, we walked over to Liverpool ONE, an open-air shopping and leisure complex with over 170 shops for every budget, cinemas, cafes and bars. The vibe was simply cool and very relaxing. And oh, did I mention that all around the city, you'll see a lot of The Beatles' influence (but of course). Even our hotel had beautiful portraits of the Fab four.
We had our dinner here at Liverpool ONE, but our favourite store here was definitely the Waterstone's. We simply didn't want to leave!
We went back to the hotel happy that evening, but of course we simply couldn't wait for the main event the next day...
Yes, it was the much-anticipated trip to Anfield!
The plan was to take the Hop On Hop Off bus to get to the stadium, but we were told by the hotel reception that it'd be easier to take the cab. We had already bought the Stadium Tour passes online for GBP17 each (adults).
The next morning, we bought some bread for breakfast at the nearby Tesco Extra and got onto a cab to get to the stadium. The cabbie asked where we were from and I said "Malaysia". He replied: "You came all the way to see Liverpool? My goodness!"
The cab ride took less than 10 minutes, and then it was time to experience the magic of Anfield! I mean, for life long fans, this was a spiritual experience, and then some...
As we were still early for our tour, we went round the stadium ourselves, taking as many snaps as possible in the cold. The new main stand looked absolutely brilliant from the outside, but really, it every step of the way was a blast for us.
Then it was time for us to take the tour, and let me just say that it was the best GBP17 we have each spent in our lives! Our tour guide was a Scouser through and through, and he took us on a wonderful journey to all sections of the stadium that mattered; the dressing room, the lounge, and of course, right on to the ground itself. Seriously, I didn't expect to have that sort of access. Check it out!
I also got to sit on Jurgen Klopp's seat, which was really surreal.
And spending time at The Kop was something else too!
And oh, although we weren't allowed to walk on the Anfield grass, we WERE allowed take home some of the grass they had just freshly cut!
Like I said, this was indeed every fan's golden dream!
As we still had time to kill afterwards before returning to London, we took another stroll around Albert Dock, and also got on the Wheel of Liverpool for a bird's eye view of the city!
Oh Liverpool; what a city, what a football club. And yes, we WILL be back!
