work - work - work

today started work 6am, then only reach home 9pm ... haven't had a proper meal yet ~

Trip to Dubai 1

The most economical way to get to Dubai from Ras Al Khaimah is through bus.  There are a few location you could wait for the bus but almost none of them has a proper bus stop.  So you will most probably wait under hot sun and if the bus is full when it passes by your location, it will NOT stop!  Which the bus's philosophy at the main station is wait until the bus is full then only it will depart ...

so unless you are already very familiar with the behavior, its best for you to take a taxi to the main bus terminal (ask any taxi driver about RAK main bus terminal), once get there just ask which bus is going to Dubai.  That's the best way to get on a bus to Dubai.

(during weekend, many people will go to Dubai, so the above may most probably happen, its best to go fetch a bus at the main terminal, on weekdays and none going to work hours, then its safe to just wait at a common location for the bus to Dubai)

The fee from RAK to Dubai is AED 25, but I am going on a Eid holiday, so it costed me 30.  Again, this kind of stuff doesn't come pre-alert nor any notice, you know it when you pay.

Usually the earliest and the latest few buses go direct so you reach Dubai within 1 hour, else it will stop by all the other places which could take up to 2 hours.  Its up to you if you want to look around or goes direct.

Above is one of the stops near Dubai Creek or river.  Its quite a view, imagine during winter I could spend a whole day here.

There is a creek restaurant by the river side but there isn't any view there really and the food menu seems like very typical western, so I tried the Shabu-Shabu near by instead.  Whether you miss chinese food or steamboat, this is one of the best choices.  I thought the lamb meat wasn't that fresh but according to the locals, its considered one of the freshest in the region.  Overall, I spent AED 80 for a very very full filling lunch, I took the 1 person package.

At night, people starts to come out and walk on the streets, this is the street where a lot of gold accessories are sold, right opposite the fish market.

Al Hamra Bus time table

this is taken from the bus terminal itself

al hamra mall food court

starting 19 dirhams
subway
burger king

papajohn

texas chicken

others more authentic food would range about 25 to 50 dirhams.

dinner kebab
Italian
Iranian
Indian
noodle, Chinese style?

sit at the end you could actually have a nice golf greens view

free shuttle bus in Ras Al Khaimah, Al Hamra

if you ask around, many may tell you there is no longer any free shuttle bus in Al Hamra.  They are wrong, at least until now.

basically al hamra to manar mall route is still relatively active but the other routes due to lack of passengers the bus driver may not religiously drive around for nothing. So once you determine the time, you should call al hamra mall to inform them that you are waiting at where about half hour before you expect the shuttle to arrive. 

below is the published bus schedule, hers is a summary for some location highlight

From Wednesday to Monday ( Except Tuesday, which has NO shuttle bus )

Acacia Hotel	Al Hamra Mall	Manar Mall
10:40am
	11:20am
11:30am
1:00pm
	1:45pm
1:55pm
	4:00pm
		4:30pm
	5:00pm
	8:00pm
		8:30pm
	9:00pm

driving attitude

one thing here is that people drive rather fast.  but speed isn't the issue. here they drive with no conservation. so when one thing goes wrong, it's the end.

and the worse is...  whenever a near death experience occurred, they will just curse the other party without realizing if they just drive a little more gentle, preserve nothing like that would have happened.

first meal in Dubai

25 dirhams burger.
the meat is actually fresh and nice
but size is still small