After I came back from our vacation in Dubai, all the questions from my friends seemed to surround on the shopping there. How was the shopping? What did you buy? Which malls did you visit? How were the prices? and so on.
I didn’t actually plan to do much shopping during this trip (I hate malls, and I especially hate visiting malls with kids, it’s just too chaotic), but Dubai is a place where malls just cannot be avoided. For example, if I want to visit the Underwater Zoo, I have to fight through the crowds at Dubai Mall for miles to get there. Similarly, when we wanted to try some winter sports at Ski Dubai, we had to walk all through the Mall of Emirates.
So, yeah, although we didn’t plan to shop, we couldn’t help peeking through all the stores on our way, and my first reaction? Hmm, a bit of disappointment really. Malls all over the world look the same I think, the pricing of products is also not that different, and I just couldn’t really summon up too much enthusiasm about the shopping. With the advent of online shopping, I just can’t be bothered with all the efforts of trying on stuff, and comparison shopping, and all that jazz. I’ve become too physically lazy.
The one thing that I noticed about Dubai that really stands out in terms of shopping is the use of social media. Almost every store (and attraction) advertises its hash-tag very prominently encouraging people to take selfies of themselves in the clothes and instagramming or tweeting them. In fact, Dubai itself has its own hash-tag advertised prominently everywhere. I don’t know if this is a worldwide thing or not (it’s definitely not the case in India), but everywhere I saw people were taking selfies using one of those smart phone extenders, and posting on social media.
These extenders are such a smart idea. I would be really self-conscious to use these though
I couldn’t help thinking what a fabulous idea this is, and wonder why stores in India aren’t getting in on this trend. These shops are missing such awesome free advertising, all they need to do is create a hash-tag and advertise it everywhere in the shop for people to use.
Anyway, all that hanging around in malls kind of rubbed off on us, and we did end up doing a bit of shopping. I tried on a few sunglasses and posted the pics on Instagram to get opinions on which one looked good.
Everyone seemed to like the white one, but I eventually went for the bottom-right Ray-Bans, they are a bit more subtle for my lifestyle, and the price was also good
I also ended up buying this bag. I need new bags like I need a hole in my head, but this one seemed so fun that I couldn’t help picking it up.
My cute little teeny tiny new bag
Another thing I did was take a close look at the iPhone 6. I have made do with an almost dead iPhone 4 this whole year, and after playing around with the iPhone 6 in the mall, I think it’s time for an upgrade. I just love the look and feel of the new phone, and bend or no bend, I will probably end up getting one. I think the real selling point of the phone is the fabulous camera, with its fast shutter speed. Piglet doesn’t ever stop to pose for pics, and most of my pics are too blurry, but with the iPhone 6, I was able to get some fantastic running images of Piglet. Definitely a big boost up from my old phone. The price was a bit too high for me to go in for it impulsively, but definitely it has got me thinking about a phone upgrade soon.
Seriously drool-worthy
Snubnose and Piglet picked up a toy each. Piglet chose a scooter to scoot along on the road, and Snubnose chose a knitting kit as it’s something she’s been wanting to try for a while. K picked up shoes and a jacket and we called it a day ending it with some much-needed ice-cream to fuel us through the jam-packed metro train ride back home.
Ice cream break at Coldstone Creamery in Mall of the Emirates – seriously yummy!
But, seriously? I think the shopping in Dubai is a bit over-rated, I enjoyed the shopping in Bangkok much better, the street style was also much better in Bangkok, and inspired me to shop more, whereas Dubai was full of generic brand-name stuff.
Or maybe I am just jaded. What do you think? Have you been to Dubai? Did you enjoy the shopping there?
