Forget Dubai. Forget it unless you are swimming in money. Or you have some uncontrollable urge to throw cash around. Everything one would come to Dubai for is horribly expensive. All that remains for the commoner is a common average desert town and the bitter taste of 'failure'.

But let's start from the beginning. Because getting into the United Arab Emirates is not as easy as it seems. Even though I won't spend more than a single day here passport control insists that I should've booked a hotel and sends me to the immigration office. They in turn kick me over to the service desk. The helpful girl behind the counter picks a random hotel and writes down its name and telephone number on a piece of paper. That should be enough. And if I were unlucky enough to be asked for a reservation, just reply with "it is an online booking". Thank you. It's not you who is going to end up in some damp, dark, rotten Arab jail surrounded by hundreds of sweaty, smelly men. But nothing of this sort happens. I go to another counter, act surprised when asked about the hotel and 'search' in my bag for the paper slip.

I do get these brain-dead questions though, even I just handed him my boarding card saying exactly the same.

"Where do you come from?" - "Beijing", I reply.
"Where do you go?" - "Amsterdam. Home.", I get this strange look from him.
"My home Abu Dhabi"... ok, that's good to know?!
Is my intelligence being tested? My passport gets turned up&down, asked if it is from 'Olanda'.
What the? How dim-witted are you? It says right there! Finally I get the stamp.
Here we go!

"Here we would go" more precisely. It's Friday. A Muslim day off. So I have to wait for an hour for the subway to start going. Getting on the bus is near impossible as you need a transit card (ala EZ LINK or Octopus) which nobody knows where to get but at the subway... which is closed. Fine, okay then; I'll wait. Sheesh.

Looking out from the subway you can see a completely normal Arab city whizzing by. Low rise buildings all in white arranged in a fashion that cannot be more chaotic even if planned. Minaret towers regularly jab out to the sky. The sun is out, scorching hot, 38°C. But it's fine. After all the cold I have had to endure in China this feels really nice. Almost every male is dressed in white drabs, but the veiled women from the plane have almost entirely disappeared. The burka dress code is not enforced in the emirate of Dubai. Just the odd few. Apart from this everything seems normal. Except for the silent train. And the huge high buildings on the horizon. And the luxury cars on the road. Or the motorbikes. I've never seen such huge Hondas so as the guy sitting on it looked like a toddler on a Harvey. Thinking of it, this isn't a normal Arab city at all. Can somebody explain why grown-up men are walking hand in hand?

Trying to get a feeling of the place, and famished to hell I get off at Union station and jump into the city life. Which is virtually non-existent as on Freeday nothing is open, only later in the afternoon. So I stroll around a bit, seeing the odd foreigner - Russians?! - rich, spoiled women, their shopping bags a testimony of the amount of wealth they have at their disposal. The women usually obediently following their male counterpart in the back, as if on a leash; the male purse.

At least Dubai Museum is open. Not that spectacular but by the time I come out the city has sprung to life. The two main markets - souks - in Dubai are those of spices and gold and I delve right into the middle. I would enjoy it if not for the constant battering of wanted to buy Rolexes, Puma, Nike, Lacoste and whatever not. Most likely fakes as the individuals sneak up to me and almost whisper. "Hello Sir. Want Rolex?" Gaah. f*** off! I wonder when they start selling their women to me.

From Dubai creek I hop back onto the train to go to Burj Al Arab, the only 7-star hotel in the world. Remembering a piece done by a BBC journalist, seeing the wealth, the amazing jets of water shot tens of metres into the air I can hardly wait to see it. The ride is about 30 minutes. Dubai is much bigger than I thought and I am happy I dismissed the idea of going on foot. It is dark by the time I arrive. That doesn't help though cause nobody is allowed to enter. Only reservations, either restaurant or hotel can go in. Minimum package price: 30 Euros. Great. Ok. So we'll skip that. That is the same reason I do not go up to Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world. Admission: 80 euros for the observation deck without reservation! They kindly lower this to 20 if I had booked in advance. Well, without a camera... no way I am paying that kind of money. Stupid oil-brained Arabs! Meh!

I spend an hour or so in the neighbouring Mall of the Emirates, marvel at the indoor skiing facilities, the designer shops and the masses of people inside. My contribution to the Dubai economy: 1 ice cream. I head back to the city, get off at the markets again and just explore one small alleyway after the other. That's at least fun :)

How much I liked the heat during the day, that much do I hate it now. It's great to have the sun out and be really warm, but when the sun goes down, it should at least be a bit cooler. But no. The same heat, now turned into a suffocating mass is not pleasant at all. After some more food and drinks I head back to the airport and try to find a place to get some sleep.

Seven more hours and I am done.