Burj Khalifa | Living the Travel Channel

Posts Tagged ‘Burj Khalifa’

Bugging Out

April 22, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

It is about as official as it can get, so it is time to announce our future move from Dubai to Fujairah. (see map) My contract with my current employer is drawing to a close and my last day of work will be June 16th. We will then scramble to move by June 30th. I will start my new job on July 10th.

Why the move? Well, the current job isn’t the right place for me. I’ve made a point of not discussing it here, but it has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and frustrations. I don’t want to be a marketing rep, a facilities manager, an IT technician, a photocopy machine attendant, or even a teacher. I want to be a librarian. Therefore, this is not the job for me.

My new job will be at the secondary school level with about 1/5 as many students and this time they will be all male. I will be the ONLY librarian, the queen of my little domain. My first royal decree may be to move the photocopier (the bane of my existence) out of sight. I advocate for the long overdue paperless society!

We have not found a new residence, yet. We will begin our housing search this weekend.

We will be taking Bert & Oliver with us. It is approximately a 2 hour drive from Dubai to Fujairah, so they should survive fairly unscathed.

We will still come back to Dubai every once in a while to combine visiting friends, visiting favorite restaurants, and shopping for those hard to find items.

I suspect that the next two months will be packed with errands, box packing, wrapping up details, and moving related stress, but there are some things we would like to do before retreating from Dubai.

Our Dubai bucket list:

Go to Ibn Battuta Mall to actually learn about Ibn Battuta
Visit the Sheikh Saeed House
Go to the Burj Khalifa observation deck on a clear day

Suggestions to add to the bucket list are welcome.

Posted in Dubai, Fujairah, work | Tagged bucket list, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, Fujairah, moving | 7 Comments »

On a Sandy Day You Can’t See Forever

July 8, 2010

Posted by Kanga.

Wednesday we took our first trip to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest building. I say first trip, because we will probably go back at least twice more – once on a clear day and again at night. It costs 100 AED per person ($27.00) and is worth the price.

My ears popped during the elevator ride, but it was a very fast (1 minute) and smooth ride. It was almost like riding in Charlie’s glass elevator, not because it was glass, but the walls were very shiny and there were multiple video screens built into the elevator walls showing views as we moved up.

Along the way from the entrance to the elevator and again from the elevator to the exit, there were excellent informational displays about the building of the Burj.

It is summer and that means that sand is blowing around. The haze in the photos is not smog, but sand. It is just that season.

Above is the northwest view showing the Metro train station in the foreground and the Arabian Gulf in the distance.

Above is the view to the north showing the skyscrapers clustered around Sheikh Zayed Road.

Above is the view to the east of the roof of the Dubai Mall, one of the largest malls in the world.

Above is the Address Hotel and in the background is the Business Bay – artificial extension of the Dubai Creek. The waterway will eventually extend to the Arabian Gulf making a complete circuit.

Above is the view of the Dubai Fountain. As you can see it has a complex system of spouts. It “performs” to music. It is very impressive to see. Also, as you can see it has an impressive crop of algae. Below is a man cleaning the fountain. You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it to see him.

The observation deck it not at the top of the burj, but only the 124th floor. There is an outdoor deck where you can get unobstructed pictures (no reflection off the windows) and an air conditioned indoor deck.