DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AS WE DO!
This trip, we had alot to learn as its our first time to the Middle East. In addition, its a pretty “sway”(unlucky) trip given that most of the stuff we did doesnt really go our way. Either that or we ended up making a big round in doing things. So, I will advise you to read through this entire post as… our mistakes are your gain! You might even save sgd200+ for reading this!
Watch full video of our trip here:
As this is a fresh out of the mind kinda post, I’ve also stated down the estimated cost for the entire trip so you can have an idea if you are thinking of planning a trip there too. Note these are based on SGD conversion.
Currency exchange rate: 1 SGD = 2.75 AED
Flights: (Emirates to and fro including bus to Abu Dhabi 1 way)- $571. Addition: We took a bus back to Dubai from Abu Dhabi bus station which cost aed20(about sgd7.50) per pax.
Accommodations: Abu Dhabi Hotel (link here)- SGD$246.93 for 3 nights + Dubai Hotel (link here)- SGD$490.29 for 5 nights = SGD$737.22
*Kindly also note that on top of all these, due to the new TOURISM TAX implemented in Jan 2018, we have to pay additional 5% tax in aed during check-in.
Expenses: We changed SGD$1500 for 2 pax (FOOD AND TRANSPORT- metros were around aed6-8 per trip =sgd 3 and cabs were about aed15-30 for short trip = sgd10-15 and aed80-100 for longer trips)
Other expenses (Ferrari World, tours, activities we pre-booked for 2 pax online): $184.50(Ferrari World) +$168.91 (Hatta Tour) + $108.96 (Al Ain Zoo) + $103.84 (Burj Khalifa top + breakfast) + $287.41 (Altanis Waterpark) + $445.01 (Couple X-line) + $160.16 (Red Dunes Desert Safari tour) = $1458.79
Total: $4291.01 for 2 pax
Their cab fares start at aed5 and jump aed0.25 every few secs. DO NOT expect all the cab drivers to know the places you wish to head to, even touristy spots. We encountered a cab driver who brought us to the wrong location TWICE on different days. WARNING: DO NOT TAKE CAB CAR-PLATE NO. 10333!
Day 01
It was to Abu Dhabi the moment we landed in Dubai as our plan is SG > Abu Dhabi > Dubai > SG. Anyway, the bus to Abu Dhabi is included in the emirates flight so, why not?
Sadly, Abu Dhabi is a complete waste of time I will recommend a day trip(if you want to head to Ferrari World– DAMN FUN!) or the Grand Mosque but, stay in Dubai instead.
Its nothing like the scenes showed in “Sex and the City” and they do not have metros there so most of our expenses were spent on cabs(no uber too) as we do not know how to take the local buses. But, if you have already booked AUH, fret not, you can just follow what we did(minus the mistakes).
I honestly regretted not booking day tours from Dubai as the tours covered both transport and admissions = MAY EVEN COST LESSER THAN OUR CAB FARES.
Day One was just spent exploring around Abu Dhabi. Places were Carpet Souk(known as market), Emirates Palace, Heritage Village and Marina Mall.
*DO NOT HEAD TO THE CARPET SOUK IF YOU HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF BUYING A CARPET. Its not those local markets you have imagined it to be. Its just a row of carpet shop houses so its damn awkward walking into the respective shops if you are just intending to “take a look”. Plus, the locals there will just crowd around you like bees to “pull” you into their shops.
Emirate Palace- Pls note to check properly before you head there, they will close for visitors on certain days and timing. So unless you are fine with taking photos outside the palace like us, CHECK.
Went to a lebanese restaurant nearby our hotel for dinner then its back to crash to fight off the jetlag.
Day 02
A full day trip to the Grand Mosque + Ferrari World (main highlights of Abu Dhabi)!
Our hotel actually have a shuttle bus that will bring you to certain tourist places and Ferrari World is one of them. But, we didnt take the free shuttle as we went to the Grand Mosque in the morning. You can spend 2-3 hrs at the Mosque and the rest of the day in the Ferrari World(opening hours: 11AM-8PM). There should be more than enough time to play everything.
Breakfast at a 4-star hotel cafe beside our hotel which Thye found and food were quite good.
The Mosque provide FOC abayas which you HAVE to change into it before entering the place.
If you prefer to have your own abayas(like full black etc) then you will have to purchase/rent beforehand. They only have blue or brown avail for the FOC ones.
Happy to say, we planned Ferrari World on weekdays = no queues at all! So the normal bronze pass is sufficient!
Oh yes, cab fares in Dubai/Abu Dhabi are automatically rounded up. So if your fare is aed23.50, they will just round it up to aed24 or aed25 so do not be shocked if you receive the wrong change, its a norm and its their culture.
We also found out about this when we were leaving Abu Dhabi but there is actually a local bus from the Abu Dhabi Bus station (next to Al Wahda Mall) which take you to Yas Island(Yas Marina Mall). From Yas Marina Mall, you can take their Yas Express(bus) to Ferrari World. Yup, my loss your gain!
There are tons of cafes and restaurants in the theme park so dont need to worry about starving. However, dont expect cheap prices for the food of course.
Day 03
I was pretty glad that I planned a day out to Al Ain as there is nothing much left to do in Abu Dhabi.
However, I did regret a little not booking the day tour for this and chose free & easy instead. Reason being, all the tours from Abu Dhabi do not consist of the Al Ain Zoo which is the main highlight of heading there. Therefore I decided to just go free and easy ourselves.
However, if you’re heading from Dubai, there is actually 1 tour which covers ALL the places I wanted to go- https://www.funtoursdubai.com/tour/al-ain-city-tours/
Which is why, just stay in Dubai and book tours instead.
You may take the bus from the Abu Dhabi bus station (cost aed25 per pax one way).
The Palm Oasis consisted of different kinds of fruit and dates trees which they will harvest and sell.
If you are thinking of visiting the camel market on your own, IGNORE the locals if they approach you. They will automatically offer to take you tour around the place and have your pictures taken. After that, they will request AED200 from you. I just shut them off and gave them aed40 instead like its a take it or leave it kinda thing (yeah I know, balls extremely big at that point of time). So, learn from my mistake!!
We went to all the places stated in the link and the cab fares were quite a chor (especially up the mountains and hot spring- cost sgd50+ in total just for this). Although in total we still managed to save abit compared to the tour(sgd160 per pax) but for convenience sake, I will say just go ahead to book the tour.
The Safari tour in the Al Ain Zoo is a must!!! Its like a mini South Africa whereby you get to “drive” near the animals. Since we cant afford that place yet, this will do fine for now!
Oh, not sure if this will still be valid in the future but we actually got 20% discount when we paid via visa over the counter!
Off to the Jebel Hafeet Mountain after the zoo and I was expecting a beautiful shot on the rocks by the sunset, only to realise that there were fences around the mountain when we reached the top.. which also means, we can only take photos behind the fence.
Its still ok if the tour cover this location as the view is really pretty. But, totally not worth the cab ride up all the way just to catch the sunset behind fences.
Down to the foot of the mountain to a place called Green Mubazzarah after that for a soak in the spring water. Its just a stream of water supposedly streaming down from the Mountain.
There were other things to do there as well but they were mainly for kids. E.g carriage ride, those train rides etc.
But as we were rushing back to the Al Ain Bus Station to catch the last bus back to Abu Dhabi, we left after soaking for like, 10 mins? Which is why for convenience sake, I will honestly recommend everyone to just go ahead to book the tour!
Day 04
Its to Dubai today!
Took the bus from the Abu Dhabi bus station and oh god, finally there were civilisation! Metros were almost everywhere so everything was pretty accessible. Although their metros aint very cheap either (abt sgd 3 per trip) but, its still much cheaper than cabs.
**Please check with the metro counter before you purchase any tix cuz there are 3 categories: 1 zone (aed 6 per trip), 2 zones (aed 8 per trip) and all zones (aed 10.50 per trip). If you buy the wrong one you will be FINED AED10.50 PER PAX! YES, WE BOUGHT THE WRONG ONES ONCE AND WE GOT FINED. Wooo! They dont give chance one. So, just double check with the counter and dont gei kiang(act smart) like us haha.
Oh, I will strongly recommend our hotel(Royal Ascott Apartment Hotel) in Dubai cause firstly, their staff were all very friendly and helpful although some of their facilities may be pretty run down. Secondly, which is also the most important thing, its located near 2 metro stations (red line-2 mins walk and green line-10 mins walk)! Yesss, their metro system were not as complicated as SG its mainly just 2 lines.
Also for their metro, you can always re-use the metro card by just selecting the zones and topping up the fare. It will be aed2 cheaper if you re-use the card- but, rem to check with the counter what zones!! You can top up via the counter.
Dinner at a local restaurant(Silver Eagle) recommended by some of my friends(mainly SQ people haha) and its really not bad! Cheap + good! However, its quite far from our hotel we had to train + walk quite a distance so its up to you guys if you want to try this place out!
Likewise, day 01 in Dubai was mainly just exploring and scouting the place out.
Day 05
A day in the Alantis Waterpark! THIS IS A MUST!
The rides were fun! And most of them were go-pro friendly except a few extreme rides of course. Im SO glad that I mustered my courage to try the “Leap of Faith”.
*PLEASE BUY YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE ONLINE FOR THIS! There is 20% discount if you were to purchase online in advance.
Online: AED275 per pax, over counter: AED340! We paid about sgd150 per pax over the counter(includ towel, locker rental etc).
To the Dubai Marina Mall for dinner after that as its located near the Palm.
Anyway, as for the metro, you can also opt for single trip or one day pass(aed22 for unlimited rides) so calculate yourself which is more worth it based on your itinerary. E.g if you are planning to spend a full day at the Alantis Waterpark then just get the single pass. If you are moving around places in a day then get the one day pass. Simple as that.
Day 06
Wanted to head up to Burj Khalifa (the level 125 building which Tom Cruise climbed in Mission Impossible) during the first day in Dubai but tixs were fully sold out so we decided to head there this morning instead. In addition, there is a complimentary breakfast set at the cafe for the morning slot with the same price so, why not!
Then, its to their local souks (the souks here are so much better) before heading back to our hotel for the main highlight of this trip… DESERT SAFARI TOUR!
We travelled around the Gold Souk, Spice Souk and Old Souk in their traditional local ferry that cost only aed1 per way. Cheap thrills!
For the Desert safari tour, I’ve actually compared ALOT of websites before this trip which I found out its actually all the same location(desert) just different operators charging at different prices.
I ended up with the Red Dunes Desert tour(link below) and NO REGRETS! Cause after they brought you to the red dunes desert for the sand bashing and sand boarding, they will drive you to the normal desert for the campsite(camel rides, BBQ dinner etc) cause that’s where all the other operators will gather! So in a way, you get to experience both deserts!
Everything you see in the pictures were included in the tour. Sand-boarding, camel riding, BBQ dinner, Belly dance show, photos with Eagle and Arabian dressing etc.
Click here for our operator link and our guide was really good! This tour cost only about sgd80+ per pax and its the most worthwhile tour I felt we had ever booked for this trip.
Day 07
Booked a day tour out to Hatta and, DONT EVER BOOK FROM THIS OPERATOR!
You can see there were a lot of locations stated in the site but, we only went to these places!!
- 8.10am pick up
- 9.50am-10.15am Hatta Hill Park
- 10.15am-10.40am Hatta Heritage Village
- 11am-11.30am Hatta dam
- 11.45am-12.30pm lunch at Hatta fort hotel
- 1.40pm Drop one of their tour guide at Al Sharjah???
- 2.20pm Back to our hotel drop off.
WHERE IS MY GOD-DAMN MOUNTAIN SAFARI?! The price is still reasonable if there is the mountain safari but nope, totally not worth sgd100 PER PAX going to some hill park, heritage village, water dam and lunch.
I was SO pissed off that I wrote in to the DTCM(tourism police in Dubai) and managed to get a partial refund for this trip. According to the operator, the govt had now set up a military border in Osman(where the mountains and wadis were at) so they cant bring us there. THEN JOLLY WELL STATE IT IN THE WEBSITE AND REDUCE THE PRICE!! Dont promise rainbows and roses if you cant afford it.
Anyway, I think this is going to be an across the board issue hence, dont bother booking the hatta mountain tour anymore.
Back to the hotel after Hatta and we decided to stay in to rest cause… we were going to have a Marina Dhow Dinner Cruise in the night!
We had issues with the operator initially- booked for Thurs night but the driver didnt turn up and we had to call him 1/2hr later only to find out that his car had broken down(excuses I believe). He didnt even bother to drop us a call to inform us about it.
Tonight, we suspected the driver had bailed on us AGAIN cause likewise, he didnt turn up 10mins after the pickup time and when we called him, he said the operator didnt confirm our re-booking. WHAT???!
However, after we left the hotel, the hotel staff suddenly called to inform us that their driver was waiting for us outside our hotel. Wtf?? We really wanted to just forget it but cause I really want to experience the dinner cruise, we rushed back to the hotel to meet the driver. Best thing? He claimed he was waiting for us since 7.45pm. I told him “oh we left the hotel at 7.55pm??” lol.
The one good thing is that… Food was actually not bad and the views were good. So it kind of made up for the bad services. However, PLS DO NOT BOOK FROM THIS OPERATOR (link here)
Day 08
This was by far, one of our fav day in the entire trip- just having brunch and relaxing at the beach. Plus, the beaches there were gorgeous!!
Note, there are 2 different kind of beaches in Dubai. One is located at JBR where its near shops and mainly overcrowded, the other is located along Jumeriah Beach Road(note the short form is also JBR BUT ITS NOT THE SAME PLACE) which is inside the Palm area and you can see the 7 star hotel from the beach.
There was lesser people in the Jumeriah Beach as compared to JBR (I think due to accessibility) but there is nothing there but the beach. There wasnt any locker provided there either unlike the beach at JBR.
Before that, we went for the X-line at Dubai Marina Mall and YOU ALL MUST TRY THIS!!
It was real scary initially but halfway through, it aint that scary anymore. I only couldnt take the hanging part while waiting to be “launched”. Yes the package came with photos and video so watch our videos below! Haha
Was so glad that I got Thye to do it with me too(as my birthday present) but I was feeling real guilty initially as he was SO SO scared and nervous that we nearly called it off. But guys, just hang on and DO IT! NO REGRETS FOR THE BOTH OF US!
My video:
Thye’s video:
We went to both beaches and decided to just spend the entire day at JBR since there were food and shops around too.
JBR Beach!
Thye managed to find Chinese food(yes we were quite sick of Nans and Kebabs) for dinner and oh my, its not bad! Its something like Ha Di Lao and their tomato soup were quite good too! We were so satisfied with our dinner!
Day 09
Our flight back to SG was early in the morning so its straight to the airport the first thing we woke up.
Dont worry, you can have your breakfast in the airport and they have shake-shack there too! In fact, we were SO early we had 2 hours to kill after check in. lol
Overall, its actually a pretty good one-time experience trip and if you’re a female thinking of taking those solo trips, dont worry! Just go ahead as they have female-only train cabins and cabs(take those with the pink rooftop) there!
For those of you who are planning to head to the UAE soon and have some doubts or queries in regards to Dubai/Abu Dhabi, PLEASE feel free to drop me an email or fill up the contact form under Contact! I will be glad to help!! If not, just download my itinerary below:
[…] thing I guess made our trip slightly more worth it is the Safari train ride. It way cheaper than Dubai’s. Else than that, the animals were pretty […]