DAY 3: DUBAI MALL+ AQUARIUM AND UNDERWATER ZOO+ HILLSONG UNITED CONCERT
The past two days have been leisurely spent outdoors and we had thought of spending the entire day solely for indoor activities such as a stroll around the mall and experiencing some of what it has to offer. We thought, maybe we need to at least have a break from the scorching heat of the sun. A typical hot, sunny day is good, but the Arabian weather can sometimes get unbearably hot. The occasional discomfort of hot weathers which deters some people from being out in the open would be completely ruled out with indoor fun and adventures. And that is what I love about Dubai, they offer variety of ways and amenities wherein you can have fun for indoor activities. For this particular day, we picked Dubai Mall and Aquarium as our first destination.
It was a very long, exhausting escapade the other day, so we got up a little late (almost noon time 😂). We took the metro to get to the prominent mall of the city and we arrived in about 30 minutes. The covered bridge which connects the Metro station and the Dubai Mall was so long, and honestly, though there were several moving walkways along the bridge to assist us, it took us about 20 minutes to reach the mall at a normal walking pace. I swear, you might as well would consider taking a taxi instead. But anyhow, we’re not in a rush and it was our first time, so we couldn’t care less if our feet get knackered up as long as it would take us to our destination. It was already past noon when we arrived at the mall and my friend was planning to meet a relative, so we took the spare time to wander around while waiting.
The iconic human waterfalls and umbrella ceiling in Dubai Mall.
Dubai Mall is hailed as the world’s largest mall by area, having over 2 million square feet and as large as the size of 50 football fields. With over 1,200 shops and restaurants, you wouldn’t possibly get to see everything in a day or two. The mall culture here seems so familiar, with huge number of people crowding around the mall even on weekdays. Back in our home country, I know how people are used to going to malls on a daily basis. I wasn’t really surprised to see some Filipino shoppers. However, it wasn’t just a typical mall experience for me. The mall is more than just stores and cafes and they offer enjoyment beyond simply the pleasure of shopping. Aside from various shopping centers and restaurants, they include entertainment facilities such as Sega Republic, Ice Rink and KidZania. We didn’t have enough time to visit all of these places, and we literally just had a quick sweep around. What we were actually looking forward was to experience the well-known and iconic attraction within the mall itself, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo.
DUBAI AQUARIUM AND UNDERWATER ZOO
The 10-million litre Aquarium Tank at the ground floor level of Dubai Mall.
The aquarium is one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world, with about 10 million liter tank, in a middle of a shopping mall. When I saw the shark tunnel for the first time while I was researching about the grand aquarium, I knew that it would be one of the top tourist attractions in Dubai and of course, I had to include it on my Dubai trip bucket list. After meeting Aireen’s friend and indulging ourselves with ice cream delights, we headed straight to the huge aquarium display where numerous people were congregating around. The moment I saw the huge sharks and sting rays swimming around the broad transparent glass, I was in sheer admiration and awe. I just couldn’t help myself! Interestingly, this aquarium is known for having the largest collection of Sand Tiger sharks in the world (approximately 300 in number) and having more than 140 different species of fishes and marine animals. It would definitely allow you to experience the best exotic wonders of aquatic life. The Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo occupy a certain area of the mall which extends to the 3rd floor. The tickets they offer are categorized into different kinds of aquatic experiences and of course with varying prices. Basically, the more experience you get from the aquarium and underwater zoo, the higher the cost of the ticket. As for us, we choose the Explorer Experience which costs 120 AED. The package includes experiencing Aquarium Tunnel, Underwater Zoo, Submersible Simulator, Big Screen Theatre and Aquarium glass bottom boat. The first part of this was when we were ushered to a 48 meter walk-through tunnel, which is situated at the bottom of the aquarium tank. This gave us a complete 270 degree view of the aquarium. It was quite exhilarating to see fishes and sharks swimming above you, and I swear, kids (like me 😂) would definitely love it. I was a fun and worthwhile experience.
48 meter walk-through tunnel.
After capturing some moments with the sharks inside the tunnel, we headed straight to the Underwater Zoo at the second floor just above the Aquarium tank. The Zoo is divided into three zones: Rainforest, Rocky Shore and Living Ocean, and unlike any other typical zoo we see outdoors, the animals you’ll see are only limited to fishes, sea mammals and amphibians that live predominantly in water. We saw lots of smaller fish tanks which houses fishes of different species such as piranha, electric eels, jelly fishes and sea horses. But for me, the best part of this Zoo was seeing and having a photo taken as close as possible to the King and Queen Crocs. They are inside a glass enclosure with both land and water. I’m not sure though but one was actually sleeping near the glass wall, so lots of people (including us of course!)lined up to have their photos taken with the huge crocodile. They were astoundingly as big as, like, 15 men combined! If terrestrial animals have their Lion king and queen, I bet these king and queen crocs are also the pride and glory of the Aquatic and Underwater Zoo.
The Aqua-life in Underwater Zoo.
Eye-to-eye moment with King Croc. 😂
We we’re so excited to see the zoo that we haven’t realized we had actually skipped the simulator and the theatre. But it wasn’t too late to try. The theatre was more like a kids’ mini movie show for duration of approximately 15 minutes, so if you’re not with a kid and you don’t wanna waste your time, better just give up the line and proceed with the next one.
The last thing we tried was the Glass Bottom Boat. Could you imagine how large the aquarium is, that small boats could actually glide across it? The boat was uniquely designed to have a glassed bottom, so people could look down and view the sharks and fishes though it. We were asked to put on life guards prior to riding, and we were accompanied by a guide. While we were gently gliding across the big tank for about 15 minutes, she was also telling us facts about the aquarium and its inhabitants, how they are feeding the fishes and sharks, and how they are carefully controlling the temperature and salinity of the water and the lighting in order to keep the animals comfortable. The water from the aquarium goes through different filters for approximately 18 times per day to make it clean all the time. Seeing the huge sharks swimming below us was just astonishing yet quite scary because what if, all of a sudden, sharks would slam the glass beneath the boat? Apparently, life guards couldn’t save us. LOL.😂 Some people opted for an “Adventure Experience” and they were allowed to experience cage snorkeling and try a Shark dive, a once in a lifetime opportunity wherein they are allowed to swim with and be brought within inches of large variety of sharks and rays. But of course, it comes with a higher price. It took us approximately 4-5 hours exploring the entire Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, and we’re also a bit in a hurry to go out because today is the day of our most awaited HIllsong United Concert. Though we knew that tickets were already sold-out since few months ago, we still wanted to try our luck if we could get two passes outside the stadium. We parted ways with Aireen’s friend, and we had to search for the way within Dubai mall which would lead us to the metro station. It was another 30-minute-long walk-run marathon but nevertheless, we were very excited and enthusiastic because our next destination was in fact ranked first on our Dubai trip bucket list. You’ll know the reason why.
Going back to where it all started, my friend, Aireen, opened up to me that she is planning to travel to Dubai soon because she heard about the upcoming Hillsong United concert that would take place at a big stadium within the city itself, on the last week of April. She couldn’t seem to find some of her friends who would want to travel with her, so she invited me in for the trip. Without having a second thought, I immediately told her to count me in. Apparently, I was very eager to attend the concert since it will be my first ever experience, and at the same time, I wanted to travel and explore the well-renowned city of gold. In a nutshell, I can say that this Hillsong concert topped our bucket list and was actually the main highlight of our trip. Come to think of it, we couldn’t have thought of traveling to Dubai without having heard about the concert.
Just to give you a brief background, Hillsong United is one of the most influential and popular Christian worship groups which originated as a part of Hillsong Church in Australia. They are performing in church services as well as holding concerts in worldwide tours. They are highly recognized among Christians internationally. I remember how every time I would hear of their upcoming concerts in my home country, I couldn’t help but feel sad, because as a student during that time, I honestly couldn’t afford to buy their pricey tickets. But now, who would’ve thought I could actually fly to another country and attend the prestigious Christian band’s concert. God is so good for blessing me abundantly with work and giving me this rarest opportunity of praising Him to the next level.
Hillsong United initially announced a single day (April 28th) concert in Dubai. But due to popular demand, and the fact that tickets surprisingly got sold-out in a very short span of time, they extended their concert for another day (April 29th). Tickets are priced from 100-300 AED. Unfortunately, the cheaper ones were all sold out on both days and only few Platinum tickets (same like VIP tickets) were remaining on 29th. We tried to reach some contact persons posted on the page of Hillsong United Live in Dubai if we could still avail of the Silver or Gold tickets since they are relatively cheaper compared to Platinum, but unfortunately, no one responded. We finally decided to just go on the first day of the concert and see if we could buy tickets from outside the stadium. If not possible, then we don’t have any other choice but to buy Platinum for the second day. Nevertheless, we made it sure that we will be able to attend the concert no matter how, because in the first place, it was the foremost reason why we traveled to Dubai.😂
It was past 1800H, April 28th, when we decided to exit the mall and head on to Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, where the concert is scheduled to start at 1900H; I cannot say that we’re in a rush, we were just running like we’re not really sure that we’d be able to get in. If we had our tickets on hand prior to the event, we could’ve gone earlier as we presume there would be lots of people coming to the event. But since it’s a 50/50 case of getting a pass, we thought we didn’t have to put a lot of effort just to get to the place earlier. It took us approximately 30-45 minutes to get to the nearest Metro station from the stadium. As we went down the post, we saw a number of Filipinos talking indistinctively about how to get to the concert, and as soon as we learned that they are heading the same way we’re going, we merged with their group. We were actually planning to take a taxi but good thing we found out that there were free shuttle buses to the stadium.
Upon seeing the large crowd of people amassing around the gates of the concert arena, my slightest hope of getting in died a little. We wandered around, back and forth, and passed by several long lines in our desperate attempt to find at least one person who would offer us tickets for sale. We saw a ticket booth near the Irish Village (first gate) but only few platinum tickets were left. However, there’s this one guy selling a single silver ticket and left his number on the booth. We couldn’t decide to buy it yet since we need to secure another one. After a while, a woman came up to us with another silver ticket. We called the number from the booth right away and voila! We had two silver tickets on hand, and we’d finally get to praise God with Hillsong United band! Thank You Lord! With Silver ticket (200 AED), we are privileged to stand right in front of the stage rocking the stadium with praise, plus we’ll get to see Joel Houston, Taya Smith and other musicians up close.
Sooner, the concert started and I can feel lots of emotion bursting out of me: excitement, joy, and definitely in awe of how great Jesus is! I found myself swept away with every single song speaking directly to the heart. I could see the people praising God and filling the entire Stadium in tears, cheers and glory. Some of the songs they have lined-up were Touch the Sky, Oceans, I Surrender, Even When It Hurts, Let There Be Light, Beautiful Name, One Day, Relentless and the Stand. My favorite part was when “Wake” was sung at the end of the concert. The whole atmosphere was electric and people were dancing and rocking the stadium while singing “You will never fade away, Your love is here to stay, by my side in my life, shining through me every day!” and “Wake within me!”. It appears like a joyous celebration and I knew that there was exactly something about the song that stirred people up to praise God and have fun in His presence. Here’s a short clip of the song during the concert:
The feeling was so overwhelming and ecstatic and it was such a spirit-filled ambiance. The two and a half hour-long concert seemed like a very short time when you are praising and soaking in the presence of the Lord. We went home completely overwhelmed with joy and with God’s blessings! All glory to the One most worthy!
