Category Archives: Visitors

So many shops, so little time

(This guest post was written by my friend Sarah, who is on a shopping expedition to the UAE capital)

If for some extraordinary reason you enjoy spending your hard-earned cash in a matter of minutes then Abu Dhabi is the place for you. As a budding materialist and capitalist I have become accustomed to frequenting the delights of designer shopping… yes, I am a label junkie and I love it. So far my shopping experience in AD has been financially crippling but I don’t mind. I think I have proved myself at least a middleweight shopaholic with the potential to become a heavyweight (if only I had the financial backing to do so). The rich Emirati women may have to wear abayas but they certainly know how to shop! Shopping here is a cultural phenomenon I never thought I would observe outside the States. I’ve been to many of the world’s finest shopping destinations and left my mark on them. So, what does Abu Dhabi have to offer the serial shopper?

We Irish have become desensitised to being ripped off. Abu Dhabi offers tax-free shopping but that’s only the beginning. Whatever your shopping pleasures, you will be able to indulge them here. If, like me, you love designer goods at a steal then welcome to my version of heaven. The malls offer the finest shopping experience. Everything you could possibly need and more importantly want can be found in the comfort of gigantic malls that put places like Dundrum in Ireland to shame. It is quite fitting that Abu Dhabi holds a shopping festival in the spring, no doubt my fellow shopaholics descend on the city hunting for that necessary adrenaline rush that comes from buying things you don’t need!

Shoppers can expect to find bargains in just about everything, be it sunglasses, handbags, clothes, food, make-up, toys, electronics and furniture. I shall leave Abu Dhabi the proud parent of six designer handbags. These precious commodities cost a fraction of what I would have paid for them back in Ireland. If you are familiar with designer handbag prices in Ireland you will know that a small Guess bag costs about 99 euro… not here. Expect to find fabulous medium to large Guess bags for those prices. The prices in AD are not the only thing to attract international shoppers; the sheer volume and variety of shops is enough to tempt any die hard shopper. Even the smallest of malls have a lot to offer but once you have whet your appetite head for Abu Dhabi Mall and Marina Mall.

Marina Mall is the second biggest mall in the UAE, but if you do come to this part of the world to test your strengths as a shopper then I would suggest you plunge into the deep end with a visit there. You will know your shopping capabilities after a short time; if you last the day, my hat off to you! If you break under the strain of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Armani and my personal favourite, Guess, then you are not worthy of my praise πŸ˜›

Abu Dhabi is this shopper’s delight and I will be leaving it with a heavy heart and suitcase.

Landmarks

Humans are funny creatures. We want to see patterns in everything as we strive to find order amidst chaos.

I didn’t think I would get to 100 posts so quickly. Nor did I think I’d log on this morning and find I had attracted 666 visitors.

So I fired up WordPress and settled down to write something special to mark these occasions.

Unfortunately I found myself devoid of inspiration.

But it’s strange how I saw those two figures and considered them significant. Perhaps its symptomatic of how we are conditioned as people.

The contrast struck me most.

This post is number 100, which is supposed to be a good thing. And yet it’s written in the shadow of visitor 666, which is supposedly an evil number (read Revelations for the source of this notion).

I’m not a particularly superstitious person and so I looked on 666 as nothing more than a quirky coincidence. Plus I like to think I’m a nice guy — ladies if you think otherwise let me know what I can do to remedy the situation! — so I didn’t take it as a reflection on myself and certainly not on my anonymous visitor.

And yet I found the 100 to be a landmark, a sense of achievement. I’m still very new to the blogosphere and readily admit I’m still finding my feet. But the number of posts snuck up on me; to be frank I wasn’t sure I’d hit the number at all let alone do it in just a couple of months.

The focus of the blog has meandered somewhat since April 19. I began with the intention of looking at world events and how they can be significant to people everywhere — I called my blog tinyplanet because something that happens on the other side of the planet can be immediately relevant to everyone. Communication, transport and economic links are such that the world really isn’t that big any more.

Along the way I got sidetracked by all the weird and wonderful things that happen on our beloved planet screwball and wanted to share them. Hopefully you don’t hold it against me. πŸ™‚

Expect more international analysis and commentary in the weeks to come. I’m getting back into the rhythm of writing whole articles in a short space of time and having a blast. But that doesn’t mean I’ll have lost my taste for the unusual.

We’ve barely started on a long and interesting road. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

David

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