After the overnight flight we spent the morning and early afternoon by the hotel pool enjoying the warm sunshine. 5am lying by the swimming pool is quite a shock for the body (Dubai is four hours ahead of the UK) and we spent the morning in that strange jet lag lethargic state.
In the afternoon we went to the Dubai Mall which rivals any mall elsewhere in the world for size and is full of mega expensive shops as well as more mundane ones such as the Early learning centre and Marks and Spencer! Sue was so overwhelmed she forgot to go into the shops, or perhaps it was the jet lag. It is a truly cosmopolitan place where people of all nationalities and religions wander around all united by the love of shopping? The mall is at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, which towers above the other skyscrapers in Dubai and makes the Shard look tiny. We took the lift to the 123rd floor for the awesome views. There are still another 17 levels to the top. I could not help reflect that the world's tallest building seem to reflect the power in the world at the time. The Egyptians, the Europeans, the Americans and now the Arabs and Chinese.
At the bottom of the Burj Khalifa is a musical lake with synchronised fountains and lights which starts at dusk.

Finally we went round the aquarium which is situated right in the middle of the mall and does not look out of place, why not have exotic fish in the middle of exotic people.