BELLION TRAVELS MONTHLY RECAP: August 2020

I’m writing this blog post with no enthusiasm but I need to keep the recap going. I personally don’t know if I want to continue with this blog or just focus my time on my current job. A job that doesn’t excite me. Anyway this is for another time to post about. 

Here is a quick recap of what happened in the month of August. 

Destinations I’ve visited:

  • Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Highlights of the month:

  • My brother got engaged hence the reason we visited Sharjah and Dubai. Even though there is border control. 
  • Tim and I had to do a medical test to be able to cross the border and enter Abu Dhabi. Thank God! Our corona results were negative. 
  • I managed to take 2 weeks off after a whole year of working and for some reason the company I work for wants to illegally take away my remaining days off. Therefore, I have no other days off until next year. 

What I watched?

I just watched series

Vis a Vis (Season 4 & 5)

What did I blog about?

Bellion Travels Monthly Recap: July 2020

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5 Malls to Visit in Abu Dhabi

Hopefully when the lock-down is over and the virus is gone and everyone is safe and healthy; we will all be able to go out and have a cup of coffee at coffee shops and do a little shopping at malls. So I wanted to share with you the top 5 Malls to visit in Abu Dhabi.

5. Marina Mall: Love the location of the mall.

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The view from the main area of Marina Mall

4. Yas Mall: It has Clymb and Ferrari World

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Yas Mall

3. Wahda Mall: Parking can be an issue but it has a good selection of stores if your main purpose is just SHOPPING.

Sorry I do not have any pictures. I only go there for shopping purposes.

2. Abu Dhabi Mall: They have variety of stores and restaurants and also the location is really good.

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Abu Dhabi Mall
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View from Wagamama – Abu Dhabi Mall

1. Galleria Mall: The architecture is beautiful, amazing location and view,  variety of stores and restaurants and also has high end stores as well as fine dining restaurants.

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View from one of the restaurants

 

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AL AIN: Cycling in Al Ain Oasis

An amazing historical place to visit in the UAE. It is approx. 3000 acre and it was built to tame the desert.

Tim and I rented a bicycle for an hour to ride around the oasis rather than walking it. Honestly, you can do both and it’s massive. Around the oasis, there are museums and art galleries to stop and see.

I highly recommend you visit Al Ain Oasis, I guarantee you will have a good time.

 

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ABU DHABI: Mangrove Walk

The Mangrove Park  opened earlier this year and it was built on Al Jubail Island. The gates open at 8AM and close at 5PM. So to avoid the crowd due to the Covid-19, we decided to visit the park at 8AM LOL. By the way, there is no entrance fee and food and drinks are not allowed and they have a couple coffee shops at the entrance of the park. Other than that just enjoy the walk and we recommend to visit when it is high tide.

It was a beautiful morning walk and very surreal. 

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ABU DHABI: Picking Vegetables from Emirates Bio Farm

It’s a 2 hours drive from Abu Dhabi and extremely long and boring drive but it was indeed worth it. I always wanted to visit the farm and learn few things here and there. Tim and I love to plant. Especially Tim but sometimes, he doesn’t let me touch the plants.

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Anyway after driving for 2 hours straight, we finally arrived at Emirates Bio Farm at 11AM. We bought our ticket which is about AED 35 per person (approx. £ 8) and booked a farm tour for 12PM. We walked around the public area and bought cold beverages to keep us cool. We then started the tour and they made us pick our vegetables.

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Right after the tour, we had brunch at their restaurant and paid AED 90 (approx. £ 21) for a breakfast platter for two.

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We really had an amazing time and bought fresh organic vegetables from their mini supermarket and it a great place for families to visit.

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DUBAI: Road Trip to Hatta

It was February the 14th 2020, Valentines Day. When we all decided to go on a road trip to Hatta, Dubai. Hatta is known for Kayaking, Hiking and Resorts.

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Our first stop was Hatta Kayak, we all decided to go kayaking. However, Diana, Danny, Ivan and Xin Wei rented a pedal boat. We then had lunch at an Omani restaurant called ‘Tanoor Lahm Restaurant’. Our last stop was a resort and entertainment hub called ‘Wadi Hub‘. It’s developed by Meraas and we just brought our camping chairs and mats and just sat there had chai karak and enjoyed the weather.

Here are the below locations:

Hatta Kayak

 

Hatta Wadi Hub by Meraas

 

Tanoor Lahm Restaurant

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Ras Al Khaimah- Road Trip to Ghost Village and Jebel El Jeis

It was the perfect Road Trip. We drove from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and picked up our friends and met my brother and his friends at a Petrol Station in Ajman and drove to Ras Al Khaimah (RAK). It was long trip but totally worth it.

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We wanted to discover the famous Ghost Village in RAK also known as Al Jazirah Al Hamra and we did a quick stop at Al Hamra Mall to have lunch and bought a few snacks and drove to Jebel (Mountain) Al Jeis to go on a picnic and enjoy the weather.

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We really had a great time and Jebel El Jeis is an amazing place to hike, to go on a picnic and to just hang out. Ghost Village on the other hand, is an abandoned town which is now slowly becoming a touristic attraction. Not much to do there but it was a nice walk since we were a group of friends discovering the town.

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Also the movie 6 underground was filmed at the Ghost Town.

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ABU DHABI – Ferrari World Theme Park

This would be my forth visit to Ferrari World Theme Park and my second time with Tim. The last time I visited was August 2014 and now here I am in 2019, experiencing new and exciting rides.

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I don’t know what it is, maybe it is the age but I really couldn’t go on the ride more than once. I felt dizzy after every ride. Tim and his friends managed to enjoy the rides but I just watched and took videos.

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Ferrari World Abu Dhabi has the Worlds Fastest Rollercoaster and it is one of my favourite rides. It is the speed of 0 to 240 km/h in approx 5 seconds.

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If ever you visit UAE, this is one of the best theme parks to check out. You will enjoy ‘THE SPEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDD………….’

*This is not a sponsored post

 

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ABU DHABI – The Greatest Show Man on Yas Island

Yas Movies usually takes place on the month of October for 3 days and the event falls on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

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Tim and I decided to attend Friday’s event. We got there at around 6PM, bought few snacks and got free stuff.  We also brought our camping chairs with us to be able to enjoy the show comfortably.

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The event included two movies one at 18:00 that was Moana and a 3D Live Show held along with a movie screening of The Greatest Showman. The event was well organised and had crazy amount of food stands and food trucks. Although the event targets families and children, we actually had a good time.

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Subscribe to Yas Movies in the Park and you will be notified on the events and guess what? It is FREE.

*Not a sponsored post 

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ABU DHABI – A Weekend at the Eastern Mangrove

We found a great deal on groupon that includes pool access, food and drinks all for AED 270 that’s approx. £60.

So on a Friday, we packed our beach bag and headed to the hotel at around 12 in the afternoon. We got lucky to find a spot right by the pool and has shade. We spent 6 hours swimming and eating. We had such a nice relaxing time. We had Lemonade and I ordered Mushroom Pasta and Tim had a Beef Burger.

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Eastern mangrove is managed by Anantara Hotel and is connected to the residential building that has restaurants, coffee shop as well as Waitrose.

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It’s a lovely hotel but it’s not the best one from all the other Anantara chains.

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