The last weekend of February, I received a perk email from the Local Guides Team. As the surprising content was to invite us to Dubai, I couldn’t believe it soon but eventually, I completed applying. And I attended this amazing journey together with 20 local guides who gathered from all over the world from 16th Apr to 18th Apr.
This time, I introduce our amazing Dubai experience to you guys.
Related links
- Shared Album of Visit Dubai 2019
- Arabic Coffee experience
- International Local Guides in Dubai - Highlights by @BrittaUschkamp
- Local Guides X Visit Dubai by @JiyoungKIM
- The amazing perk from Local Guides Team
The First Day: Meetup and Welcome dinner reception
The first day started from an optional tour. The destination was Dubai Frame. We’re available to climb this frame. And from the observatory deck, we can see the two sides of Dubai, in the past and now. Truly, that is the photo frame for seeing two faces of Dubai.
The Welcome dinner reception was held at the restaurant of Aloft City Centre Deira. We listened to speeches by Googler and Dubai Tourism who arranged this perk journey. And we enjoyed dining with talking together. By the way, the dishes were local foods of all attended countries.
The Second Day: The history and the future of Dubai
First, we learned about the history of Dubai.
At the Al Shindagha Museum, we learned the history via a video, a game, and tools that have been used in reality. And I also learned about the old relationship between Dubai and Japan.
After that, we had lunch at SMCCU (Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding). At the SMCCU, we can experience the meal in a traditional Dubai residential place. Arranging big dishes and share them is the basic style in Dubai. And we heard stories about the way to drink Arabic coffee before eating, the traditional clothing, and some more themes. I love Arabic cuisine but especially here, the desserts were very delicious.
After studying history, we watched the figure of Dubai at now and the future. The landscape from one of the famous spots, At The Top Burj Khalifa was amazing. It looks like watching the imagine city made of a video game. The building and facilities are also sophisticated. It tells us the charm of Dubai and the Burj Khalifa via various technologies and impressive designs.
The biggest and most famous shopping mall in Dubai, The Dubai Mall has an Aquarium with an underwater tunnel, Skating rink, Fountain, Cinema, and more. It’s the giant facility for sightseeing rather than a shopping mall. Someone told me “One day is not enough for enjoying all the mall.” was really true. At the aquarium, Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, I have forgotten I was in a mall. There are not any shows but we were able to enjoy watching many animals.
Dinner was at the Atlantis, The Palm in Palm Jumeirah. We enjoyed dining and playing games here. I would like to stay here someday.
The Third Day: Play in Dubai
The third day was the day of play in Dubai. At first, we visited Hatta Wadi Hub by Meraas an athletic leisure park in the middle of the desert and mountains. We enjoyed some outdoor leisure here.
After having lunch at Hatta, we moved to IMG World of Adventures. This is a big indoor amusement park that is able to escape from the heat. This amusement park was very nice to me. I hope to go there again with my family.
The last dinner was taken at a Japanese restaurant, Motomachi Japanese Restaurant & Patisserie. It was a bit curious restaurant for Japanese people but the dishes were not bad. I guessed the customers who love the dishes will go to Japan sometime.
Hotel
The hotel that we stayed in Dubai was Aloft City Centre Deira. The hotel was very comfortable and close to the airport. Not only were the equipment, restaurant, room, and the view from the room awesome but the hospitality was also great. The next time, I’ll definitely consider staying here again.
Conclusion
This journey’s concept was clear. We could easy to understand what they wanted to show us. We had some troubles that delayed booking and the schedule etc, but most of them will improve via our feedback until the next time. Please read our reviews and look at a lot of photos on Google Map. You are able to understand soon where we visited and what we experienced.
And this trial perk was very unique and interesting as a perk of Local guides. I realized such a perk will be one of the biggest reason for motivating Local Guides. Because all the Local Guides love writing reviews and taking photos in new places. The journey perk is not just a perk, it is a big chance for new contributions!
The propose and implement of this tour were planned by Dubai Tourism. The person in charge, Moh was a very cheerful and interesting man. He motivated us very well together with Googler, Peter. Thank you very much, Moh and Peter!!
In the end, big thank you for all new friends via this journey, Moh, Peter, and Googlers. This is absolutely the awesome memorial for all of us. See you again somewhere in the world!
Thank you!
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