Dubai 2015 Vacation Day 5 - Emirates Towers, Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, and Aquarium
0Welcome to my compilation of video footage I shot while having a chance to take a vacation that was over a year in planning. My trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi was happenstance based on a lucky airfare situation, however I had been amazed by the architecture of the region for years. In September 2015, I finally was able to make it happen. We visited Abu Dhabi from September 17th to September 28th, 2015.
Footage was filmed over thirteen days utilizing gear listed below, 128 GB of CF and SD memory total, dumped to a basic Dell Studio Laptop and a WD My Passport 2TB external hard drive.
Slides were created in Photoshop CS6, images retouched for exposure and balance utilizing Canon DPP and Photoshop, and video graded and edited in PPro CC 2019.
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Day 5:
00:00 - Emirates Towers Breakfast
04:11 - Dubai Metro
05:49 - Skybridge
10:23 - Dubai Mall
17:53 - Burj Khalifa Fountains
26:55 - Dubai Mall Aquarium
35:02 - Aquarium Boat Ride
47:17 - Underwater Zoo
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For the 5th day of our trip, waking up in our hotel, many of the towers that made Dubai famous were visible along SZR with Burj Khalifa poking above them all.
We headed downstairs to 5F for the first complimentary breakfast at the hotel. For Breakfast, I was very surprised to see an incredible spread before me.
From there, we packed our camera gear and headed out to our first day of adventure in Dubai. From Emirates Towers, one of the “Golden Scarabs” metro stations are close – about a 5 minute walk. In Dubai, the NOL (Fare) Card grants access to all mass transit systems city-wide. You can recharge the card at any station and most other outlets in the city and the card lasts for years. The NOL Card also works on Dubai’s buses, water taxis, RTA parking and RTA Cabs for paying taxi fares. All metro stations are well-lit, policed, have guides for visually impaired people, elevators, are wheelchair accessible, have train space for luggage, WiFi, CCTV, and more.
In Dubai, the Metro is split into different cars based on purchase price and seating. The majority of a train is for everyone with one car of the train in purple for Women and Children only. The front of the train is for Gold NOL holders. The metros themselves are impeccably spotless; the cleanest I’ve ever seen, and due to the heat and humidity, use the double-door airlock style system seen in other parts of the world outside of the US.
Once you travel about 2 KM / 1.2 Miles, you’ll arrive at the Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall station. From here, Emaar built a roughly 800 Meter long indoor, raised, and cooled pedestrian bridge which allows foot traffic to reach Dubai Mall.
This was our first full day in Dubai and as such we had a much better opportunity to explore the mall further. Again while it may just be a mall, it is far more integrated into the culture and lifestyle of Dubai due to the heat. Since we had all day at the mall, we got to travel to the Fountain side again and got to see the Burj Khalifa during the day.
It was then announced that the planned fountain mid-day show was cancelled. We saw flags at half-mast so something had to have happened. We soon learned that the Dubai ruler’s eldest Son, Rashid bin Mohammad had passed on the 18th and so the country was not having festivities for the three following days.
From there we went back to Dubai Aquarium as one of our many planned excursions. I expected a huge aquarium but was very surprised. The ticket price is not much (about 100 AED / $35). The huge aquarium may be the showpiece but it is only the start of the exhibit. Once you enter the queue, you are guided to the tunnel, letting you get to see sharks and other varieties of fish pretty close. From From there you enter back rooms which contain a CG / VR submarine dive as well as taking a literal boat around the top of the aquarium which features a glass bottom to see down into the aquarium tank, life jackets included. After that is the Underwater Zoo; an area which has many fish, sea-life, and animals that live near or in water. The main “star” of the exhibit is King Croc – an absolutely gargantuan Crocodile along with his “wife” partner in the huge sectioned off area of their tank. Overall, if you are interested at all in sea life, cool exhibits, or just want to see the world record panel, the price is exceptional value for what it offers, IMO.
Music listed in credits / elements.envato.com under CC Licensing:
Photography, Videography, and Editing by Doug Fullerton / Fullerton Photography 2015-2020
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Gear Used:
Canon 5D Mark II: https://amzn.to/2LiPang
Canon 7D Mark II: https://amzn.to/2P8yfFd
Canon EF 24-105 f4 IS USM: https://amzn.to/2rPGLAP
Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 IS USM II: https://amzn.to/33HXH9x
Canon EF 11-24 f4: https://amzn.to/2Y9KKV4