Travelling with the Bump – UAE Part 1

This is my 3rd trip out of Singapore after finding out that I am pregnant. I was in Penang, Malaysia during the first trimester, Japan for my Honeymoon during the second trimester and Dubai + Abu Dhabi at the tail end and start of my third trimester. So This trip to the UAE also sort of marks my final flight out until I pop.

Our flight to Dubai was with Emirates and if you have an impending flight with them and you have an obvious bump, please remember to bring your doctor’s letter to certify that you are fit for the flight as I was asked several times for my doctor’s letter. I was 27 weeks pregnant and the cabin crew told me they only allow pregnant ladies up to 29 weeks pregnant to be on their flight.

The positive thing about travelling with the bump is that the bump does help you out of the queue. We manage to skip the queue and board at the same time as the First and Business Class passengers! As we are on the Economy Class, the flight was totally empty when we board. Sweet!

Besides the skipping queue part, travelling with a rather big belly is really not the most comfortable thing if you are travelling Economy. Unfortunately due to the bad weather, we were delayed over an hour on the tarmac, the lack of lumbar support on Emirates Economy seats took a toll on my back. If I were to do it all over, I would book business class bring an extra (neck) pillow to support the back. For this flight, I wore a comfy cotton loose dress and a pair of yoga leggings in case I expose myself with my possibly unglamorous sleeping positions on flight haha!

We were served supper on the flight and it was rather tasty! I know this sounds weird but I kind of like airplane food. Maybe because airplane food kind of suggest an adventure ahead. Just like I like the smell of Changi Airport. I swear there’s this Changi Airport smell and they always smell the same!

I manage to sleep a bit on the flight and we arrived in DBX at around 1am and was spun home to my husband’s relative’s residence.

Dubai Day 1

I woke up bright and way too early thanks to jet lag and a possibly jet lagged baby in the bump who was tossing and turning inside all too early in the morning.

We went to the Jumeirah beach for a bit, I chilled out with hub’s aunt while hub, BIL and MIL went for a swim.

Chilling at Jumeirah Beach with the view of Burj Al Arab

We stopped for coffee and snacks in Surf Café. Surf Café (http://www.thesurfcafedubai.com ) is one of the up and coming brunchy-lunch place that serves Western and Japanese Cuisine. They push espressos with a nice set of Strada and offer many brew coffee options.

In the evening, we went to Bur Dubai which is the old part of Dubai. In Bur Dubai, you can visit the museum and walk around the old buildings. The Old Souk / Bur Dubai Souk is interesting to walk through.

Many many years ago, people in Dubai resides in tents.

Pretty little alleyways in old Dubai. #OOTD is ASOS Maternity Jumpsuit, Uniqlo Merino Wool Cardigan and Onisuka Tiger Mexico 66 sneakers.

Coffee museum in the Middle East where coffee originated! Unfortunately it was closed when we were there :(

River taxi that locals and tourist take to cross the Dubai Creek.

We took the river taxi to the other side of the Dubai Creek where the Spice Souk and Gold Soukis located. If you love spices and you cook with spices, this would be a great place for shopping! We probably bought what we would possibly use for 5 years worth of saffron from the spice souk for a fraction of the price we would have paid for in Singapore. We are talking 80% cheaper and good quality Saffron here! There are also really nice vanilla pods, dried rose buds, dried lavender and a good variety of nuts worth purchasing. Just don’t forget to haggle like what you would do in Chatuchak Market!

As a Singaporean, the Gold Souk was an utter eye opener! I never ever seen so much gold and gold jewelry these humungous size displayed in a shop front ever before. We are not talking about a thick gold chain necklace or thick gold ring, I’m talking about like an entire dress made with pieces of gold, solid gold!

Look at the size of this solid gold dress!!!

After a bit of window shopping, we head back to the other side of the Dubai Creek and left Bur Dubai. To be honest, at that point of time, I was absolutely shattered. The lack of sleep and it was way too much walking for a 27 week pregnant. I was experiencing some contractions and pelvic pain from the excessive walking. I suggest if you are travelling with a bump during the 2nd half of the second trimester please take a break or sit down every half hour. I didn’t know I was experiencing contractions at that time until I asked my gynaecologist what was it during my routine check up when I came back to Singapore. If at any point of time, after some “more than usual amount” of walking and you feel that your bump is seriously tightening and feel pain at the lower bump, please look for a chair/café/restaurant and sit down until it goes away. As I was travelling in a group with my husband’s family, I was a shy to ask for rest stop. Now that I know that those are actually contractions and I could trigger preterm labor, I would have un-bashfully ask for 10 minutes sit down stops every 30 min.

We had dinner at a pretty cool beach side diner – Salt at Kite beach http://www.find-salt.com

I had milkshake, fries and their Chicken Cheetos Sliders for dinner. I come to realize I love sliders way more than burgers just because they are smaller and less messy! I love the food in Salt ad I would highly recommend that you check it out when you visit Dubai! If you only have space for just one item in their menu, don’t leave without ordering their Lotus (Speculaas) Soft Serve.

Day 2 in Dubai

It’s Christmas Day! I realize after dating my husband, I have been spending Christmas in different countries. We spent Christmas with his family in Singapore, Ireland, Hong Kong and now Dubai! I think it’s really nice that the Ferris family always makes an effort to be together during Christmas no matter where each of us is based.

As usual, thanks to jet lag, I got up bright and early and I put on my Christmas t-shirt I purchased specially for this Christmas just because…

"Baby's 1st Christmas...on the inside" SO CUTE, RIGHT???? #OOTD was Christmas T-shirt from Taobao (only $5!) and Uniqlo leggings

Since hubs have some admin matters to attend to, I headed to the Mall of the Emirates nearby on my own to recce for tomorrow – because Dubai Shopping festival starts tomorrow!

Mall of the Emirates is second biggest mall in Dubai, behind the Dubai Mall that is the biggest mall in the world by land area.

The Mall of the Emirates pretty much has all the big brands you can think of from Chanel to Apple to Abercrombie and Fitch etc. If you want to do baby stuff shopping, they do have Mothercare, Petit Bateau, Carters, and the fancy big brands kid’s outfit shop like Ralph Lauren Kids, Burberry Kids, etc. Prices are pretty similar to Singapore really, some stuff are more expensive. I suppose it is because the USD is pretty strong against SGD at the moment. AED is pegged to USD.

I suppose because Dubai is a Muslim country, I haven’t really seen anything Christmassy until I got to the mall that was fully decorated with large Christmas Tree and festive decoration like what we have here.

2.5 story Christmas Tree in Mall of the Emirates!

I met up with hubs, FIL and BIL in the mall and headed home for one of the most elaborate Christmas dinner set up.

Here's us with the dessert spread (my favourite part!)

We were super grateful towards hub’s aunt, Aunt Margaret for putting this dinner together. It was so dreamy it reminded me of our wedding dinner in Ireland that was decorated by her and the food was absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Aunt Margaret!

Christmas dinner very much reminds me of the Chinese New Year reunion dinner for us Singaporean Chinese, family time, good food, warmth and love.

Day 3 in Dubai

Dubai Shopping Festival has officially started! I went to the Mall of the Emirates (again, yes) and manage to get some nice clothes for bubs in Carters and Centerpoint. And I also purchased my current favorite shoe in Dune London at a discount! OYAY!

In the evening, we went to the desert! What’s a trip to Dubai if we don’t visit the desert, right?

We all got to the Desert in time to watch the last 15 min of sunset. It was beautiful!