Barts Boekje goes Dubai – meet our newest Bartje
Yes, Dubai… In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Middle East. Barts Boekje goes Dubai because we have a new team member in the form of Sabrina. See @SabrinaVisual but for the very best tips and just a little more information, keep an eye on Barts Boekje from now on: this is only the beginning...
So Dubai! We have been living and working here since the end of summer 2020 (due to my mister in the gas business). Now I had been here a number of times before, so fortunately it felt like a kind of semi-familiar territory…
Although it is of course still a very crazy city. All the tourist highlights that come to mind when you think of Dubai – such as the Burj Khalifa, the Burj al Arab, and The Palm – are there and are just… well… hysterical. That one we had already visited during our previous visits to Dubai. Great, because we could skip that straight away.
Oh and yes, all the prejudices you have about Dubai are indeed correct.
The glitz and glamor is absolutely in abundance here: the over-the-top gigantic shopping malls (where I get lost again and again), the ridiculously expensive cars that are (sort of) used as 'normal' shopping carts, the coldly lit air-conditioned palaces , the hip rooftop bars, the airbrushed types (the Instababes) with their te expensive designer handbags (paid by Hans).
So, well, what if you are going to live here, work and build a daily life here and you want to 'just'? 'Just' a normal life, 'just' a nice house with a garden, 'just' the supermarket around the corner? That's a challenge.
With this approach, I started asking around and searching around, right through Dubai, to find nice places that give me a bit of a Western feeling. In other words to too credentials for find places you wouldn't expect in Dubai.
Now around 80% of residents in the UAE are expats and that influence is noticeable. DaThis is reflected in the nice eateries and shops here. Exactly, exactly those tips and places off the beaten track that I love so much!
And if travel will soon be possible again in the 'new normal', I can really recommend that you opt for a few days in Dubai in combination with, for example, Abu Dhabi (into the desert indeed), or one of the other 6 Emirates . Not as a stopover, but as a real holiday location. Real. trust me (& stay tuned because the best tips are still coming).
As a first tip I would like to give you now to book from approximately October to approximately March so called winter when the temperature is very, very pleasant. Summers, on the other hand, are really bloody hot here!
You can fly here in less than six hours and the time difference is minimal – how nice is that!
I will list the beaches and nice tents that I have already spotted here for you, of which the first two tips are 'tried and tested'! Believe me, this is what you want when you visit the emirate of Dubai. Bet!?
So as a teaser, for when the weather is allowed, two Dubai 'you want to eat something here' tips!
Single Fin Café is located near the beach in a side street of Jumeirah Beach Rd. and if you stop, then as far as I'm concerned it can be this one. Single Fin Café opened its doors in 2017 with a simple goal: a healthy bite for a fair price for all local surf dudes and babes. The atmosphere is laidback and international and the eatery would not be out of place on Venice Beach or Byron Bay. Yes really, and that in Dubai.
You can get a super healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner, kids meal or a coffee to go. Everything made with the belief that what you eat should be tasty and healthy, the Single Fin way. The menu of Single Fin Cafe consists of different types of bowls from acai to tuna bowls, a delicious kimchi or poke bowl. Tacos and burritos, burgers and vegan burgers, super delicious smoothies and cold-pressed juices. All this of course with organic, fresh products from the local Ripe Market Dubai.
Single Fin has now grown into a community hub where surfers, expats, locals and tourists walk in and out, get their healthy shakes for a walk along the beach, or while chilling on the terrace.
Surfhouse Dubai is also located there and is a surf shop where you can, for example, rent a SUP board, book surfing lessons and shop for cool surfing and swim gear.
Go and taste for yourself!
@singlefindubai
You may know Wild and the Moon from a city trip to Paris, wherever they are. However, they are also located here in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with a total of 4 branches.
The founder of Wild and the Moon is the French Emma Sawko. She calls herself a nomad and has lived everywhere: New York, Paris, Switzerland and Dubai. You name it, and she's lived there.
She now commutes back and forth between her home in Paris and Dubai. Having grown up in a family where cooking was mainly plant-based, she knows how to put the tastiest menus on the menu (literally and figuratively). The Wild and the Moon restaurants and juice bars have an urban feel and relaxed atmosphere with lots of green plants and open kitchens.
Not only expats appreciate her wild recipes, plant-based, 100% organic, and gluten-free vegan meals, but locals also come in and out.
Absolute must go when in the UAE!
@wildandthemoonuae
www.wildandthemoon.com (she recently also published a Wild Recipes cookbook)
Thanks & you're welcome!
Suppose you are also going to emigrate, just like Sabrina to Dubai for example, then you naturally want everything to be well organised, right? You must have OOM Insurance! Here you can read why.
