I'm roasting in the Middle East summer. The average temperature here is 39 degrees and there's hardly any wind, so I can't bear to stay outdoors for more than 15 minutes. The ground feels like a stove that radiates heat, and I don't dare to wear my pumps for fear that the soles will melt. The cutest thing is that the newspapers actually publish a daily scale that records the predicted degree of tanning for that day along with the meteorological report.

Apart from the weather, Dubai's fantastic. There're so many tourist attractions, and everything's nearly world-class.
To name a few, the most fascinating is the series of reclaimed islands. The Palm Jumeirah is a set of islands in the shape of a palm tree, and it hosts many residential estates as well as a holiday resort. Then there's the other set of islands in the shape of a world map. Apparently you can buy an island for about USD 10 million.
There's also the Burj Al Arab, claimed to be the world's only 7-star hotel. It's on a reclaimed island on its own, and offers an air limo service which ferries hotel guests from the airport via helicopter when the airport is a 15-minute drive away. It's no wonder why one night in the hotel costs USD8000.
Dubai also has the world's tallest man-made structure, the Burj Dubai, the world's largest indoor skiiing facility, the world's largest indoor aquarium, and one of the world's largest shopping centres with over 1200 shops. There's also the healthcare city, the education city, and a Festival City that encompasses residences, a shopping centre, entertainment facilities and hotels. That's why everything's world class.

To be honest, the extravangance scares me. How much money must have been invested to reclaim so much land, to build so many world class facilities, as well as maintain everything in such a climate. The Burj Al Arab alone cost USD 650 million to build, and they even have plans to build an equivalent of Disney Land, DubaiLand. Dubai relies heavily on tourist revenue, and oil money only contributes about 7% to GDP. With the flailing global economy and the H1N1 fiascos, I can't help but wonder how much the export of services can contribute.
But well, Dubai is really worth a visit. The tourist attractions are really amazing.

And, they have alot alot of shopping centers which are HUGE. Our hotel's a 5-minute walk from the Deira City Centre shopping mall, and it's probably the size of Vivo City. It's one of the smaller ones.