China Mall and my Shocking G

China Mall Ajman

If Dubai has Dragon Mart, Ajman boast their own version of China Mall.

As the name suggests most of the products being sold are maid in China and is exactly the same concept with Dragon mart. China Mall is made up of several warehouses connected to each other and it is quite easy to navigate.

For those who are coming from northern emirates, instead of going to Dragon Mart in Dubai, China Mall is the best option. The mall is located in Al Jerf Industrial Area and can be accessed from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Rd. (former Emirates Rd) by exiting Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Rd. As a reference China Mall is located 30 minutes away from Ajman Lulu Hypermarket.

If you are using the old highway coming from Sharjah toward Umm Al Qwainn, make a free right at Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Rd big roundabout before reaching the Hamriya Free zone.  Go straight and make left at the first round about.

On weekends the mall is crowded with a lot of people buying clothes, garments, toys, electronic gadgets etc. Parking will be a challenge during this time.

There are cafeterias and restaurants inside China Mall.

What separates China Mall in Ajman from Dragon Mart in Dubai is that, there are shops that are selling fake goods. Fake signature clothes, fake signature bags, fake signature watches, shoes, belts, wallets, sunglasses, perfumes, men's cap etc. You name it. If you can buy the original Louis Vuitton bags in Dubai mall for a price of 3,500 aed, you can splurge that amount for around 10 Louis Vuitton fake bags in China mall.

I used to see a shop in Dragon Mart in Dubai selling fake Hello Kitty items. But for several times that I was passing that store they already stop selling fake Hello Kitty items.

But in China Mall they still continue selling fake items. I even bought a G Shock watch for a price of, guess how much? 45 Dirhams! And mind you folks I could not even tell the difference from the original piece.

FAKE G SHOCK watch!

One time I met one lady buying wholesale G Shock watches. I asked her some questions and she told me that she is selling the watches online and in FB online groups. The rest of the watches are shipped to her home country to sell. 

Well, I had a short love affair with my G Shock or my "Shocking G" for that matter. After using it for some time the clock hand started to shake and after 2 days the watch stop working. Maybe a battery problem? But I don't think so.

So my wife and I invented with the following words to call the fake products just for fun:

Casio G Shock  =  Shocking G

Louis Vuitton    =  Louis V-"toink"

Hermes              =  Herpes

Rayban              =  Ray "Bang"

Oakley               =  Oh kray

I was never interested to know but I also came across the following terms from the shops. Maybe to classify the fake products they are selling at the store. The were: First Copy, Duplicate, Class A and Class B.

Fake bags on display

If I remember it right,  the First copy is like the original. almost the same material, quality wise and are sold the highest among the fake ones. The Duplicate is still the same copy but they used the lower quality of material. Class A and B are of the lowest quality and the ones that are being sold the cheapest.

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How to get there:

It is convenient to take your own car or you may take taxi.

Your Complete Guide to do Visita Iglesia in UAE

For Christians, Holy week is one of the most important occasion in Christianity because it commemorates the passion of Christ. There are many events that are happening in the church during this time and one of them is the Visita Iglesia. Visita Iglesia is a religious tradition that most of the catholics perform during the Holy week. By visiting at least 7 churches, the pilgrims commemorate the 14 Stations of the Cross.

Candles for Prayer Intentions

Ninth Station of the Cross

Here in UAE, although Islam is the official religion of the country, the rulers allow freedom of religion and the non muslim religion can even build churches and other house of worship.

For me and my family we have been doing the Visita Iglesia yearly for many years with some friends in private cars. While it is also good to join a big group in a rented buses, I prefer to be in a small group because it is quicker to move, waiting time is reduced in every churches and can at least try to cover as many churches as we can in one day. 

In UAE there are 9 catholic churches and one chapel. 

St Joseph's Cathedral

Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi
-----St Paul Church
Musaffah Industrial Area, Abu Dhabi Behind KM Supermarket
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St Mary's Church Catholic Church
Al Ain, Near Lulu Hypermarket
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St Francis Assisi Church
Jebel Ali Village, Dubai. Landmark: Ibn Battuta Mall
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St Mary's Catholic Church
Oud Metha, Dubai. Near Rashid Hospital
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St Michael's Church
Yarmook, Sharjah. Near Ministry of Labor
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Our Lady of Arabia Catholic Church
Industrial Area, Umm Al Quwain. Landmark: Few streets behind Al Manama Supermarket
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St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church
Ras Al Khaimah. Near Acacia Hotel
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Villa Chapel
Al Dhaid. Opposite ADNOC Petrol Station
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Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
Fujairah. Few blocks away from HCT and Our Own English High School
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The St Paul Church catholic church in Musaffah is the second church in Abu Dhabi after St. Paul Cathedral that was opened to the parishioners in June 2015.

There are 3 ways to do the visita Iglesia in UAE. First: is to  visit the churches from Dubai, Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. Second: to visit the Sharjah, RAK and Fujairah Churches. and Third: if you are able to do  10 Churches in one day, the so much better.

We tried the second route starting from Sharjah, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi before.(that time there was no church yet in Musaffah) but it was a very long drive. The Jebel-Ali-Al Ain route was a 2 hour drive,   Al-Ain- Abu Dhabi route was another 2 hour drive and Abu Dhabi Dubai/Sharjah was another 2 hour drive. So if you take this route it is a back breaking  long drive not including the time for prayers at each churches, toilet stops and meal breaks. 

For us, it was convenient to cover the following churches in this order because the route is shorter and quicker:

 - Sharjah-Umm Al Quwain-RAK-Villa Chapel in Dhaid-Fujairah (5 churches). If you can add Dubai and Jebel Ali, you can cover a total of 7 Churches. Meaning you can pray two Station of the Cross Prayer at each stop.   

Try to reach St Michael's church before 6am to avoid the big crowd. By this time you should be able to park in front of the church. After the prayer in the church drive toward E11 or the old national road leading to Umm Al Quwain. At the big round about in Umm Al Quwain turn left. The church is few streets behind Al Manama Supermarket. The building is a warehouse that was converted to a church. 

There is enough parking area in front.  

Our Lady of Arabia Catholic Church MAP

From Umm Al Quwain we return to E11 and drive toward RAK until you reach the round about before Al Hamra mall. Drive right until Acacia Hotel. Turn left. After about 100 meters the Church is to your right.   

St. Anthony de Padua Catholic Church

From Acacia hotel turn left toward Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed road. Cross this highway toward the truck road. Drive until you reach E18. Go straight. This time you are driving along E87 toward Dhaid. Be careful on this road because this area is sloping and some wild goats are crossing the road. When you see the big cement factory on your left, turn left. You will pass Lulu Hypermarket and when you reach ADNOC petrol station make a U turn at the next round about. 

You should reach Dhiba before 12 NN because sometimes they are closing the villa but if people come they remain open. It is not difficult to find this place because it's exactly opposite the petrol station. 

You may eat lunch at Khor Fakkan beach in Fujairah while enjoying the seaview. On weekends Khor Fakkan is popular tourist destination.

Next stop is Our Lady of Perpetual Church in Fujairah. The church is located near HCT or Civil Defence.

Our Lady of Perpetual Church

Our Lady of Perpetual Church MAP

From Fujairah drive back to Sharjah via E84 road or Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed road that will join Kalba road and Maliha road. This is a new road bypassing Dhaid. It will take one hour to reach Sharjah. You should be able to reach Sharjah around 1pm and still have enough time to visit St Mary's Catholic Church Dubai and St Francis Catholic Church in Jebel Ali.

St Francis Church, Jebel Ali

St Mary's Church, Dubai

We never tried yet to visit all churches in UAE in one day. But if you plan to do so, I think you need to start early and have lunch while the car is running. Few stops can cost you precious time. If someone can replace you on the wheel much better because it will be a long drive.

What to bring? Expect a warm weather. Bring sunglasses, pack lunch, snacks, enough water or juices and the car must be in good condition.

So there you go folks! I pray that you enjoy and be blessed spiritually this coming Holy Week.

If you need additional info you may contact me at: akosimangjuan@yahoo.com. Other infos can be looked up at google. com.

Dragon Mart 2: Another Chinese Shopping Destination

One of the few things I hate in the world is shopping.

But my wife have been bugging me to visit  Dragon Mart 2 for sometime. She likes to buy cheap-pieces-only-wife-knows-best-stuff. So finally one weekend, with kids in tow, we went to visit Dragon Mart 2. 

Dragon Mart 2 is a newly opened L-shaped, two-storey Chinese shopping mall in Dubai. It is actually an extension of Dragon Mart 1 which is adjacent to Dragon Mart 2 separated only by a small one way road. Dragon mart 2 is part of International City residential buildings developed by Nakheel. It is located along Dubai-Hata road.

Dragon Mart by the way, is a Chinese market selling almost anything made in China. There are all sorts of electronic products, heavy machineries, clothes, jewelries, beauty products, shoes, house building materials and fixtures, furnitures etc.

But why it's called Dragon Mart? The name must be taken from the shape of the old Dragon Mart. Because if you view the building from the top, the building resembles the shape of the dragon.

To go to Dragon Mart 2, take the 3rd exit from the main road. The first exit will lead you directly to International City. the second exit will lead you to Dragon Mart 1. Once we made the right turn at the 3rd exit we found a huge 3 level parking area. The parking area was almost empty manned by a lone security guard. We parked at the ground level.

Once we entered the mall I was surprised to see that it was completely different from the old mall. We actually liked the present set up because it was more convenient to walk around. It was not crowded and there were few kiosks in the middle and that made the halls more spacious. The shops were bigger and looks like a high end shops like in Dubai malls.

My wife noted that some of the items were a little bit higher compared to the old Dragon mart.

The developer also added Ibis hotel, Geant supermarket, Novo Cinemas and entertainment zone beside the food court (the entertainment zone is still under construction as of this posting). 

This Dragon paper mache was hanging from the ceiling 

I was amused by the famous lines from notable international movies that decorated the walls of Novo Cinemas.

  

Aside from the food court with fast food outlets, there were also a wide variety of fine dining restaurant in the ground floor.

To enjoy shopping and dining at Dragon Mart 2, I suggest to use the parking at Dragon mart 2 and if you fancy visiting the old Dragon Mart you can just cross the road to go there. 

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How to get there by RTA Bus:

55           International City                    to            Al Satwa Bus Station

365         Al Rashidiya Metro Station     to            International City

367         Etisalat Metro Station             to            International City

24           Al Nahda 2                              to            International City

53           Gold Souq Bus Station            to            International City

RTA Taxis are also available.

Sunday to Wednesday : 10 am to 10 pm
Thursday and Saturdays : 10 am to 12 mn

Nearby Attractions:
Dubai Zoo (under construction as of this posting)

How to go to Dubai Butterfly Garden from Dubai Dubai Miracle Garden

This is just a continuation of my visit to Dubai Miracle Garden.

We exited the opposite gate of DMG. We were informed by the security that we cannot enter the same gate anymore to go back to the parking area. Well that's ok. Because the parking area was near to the Dubai Butterfly Garden.

We walked like 5 minutes to the Dubai Butterfly Garden. The ticket costs 50 dirhams at the gate.

From the gate the actual entrance to the Butterfly garden was a few steps away and by the looks of it, it looked like a small vacation house from the distance.

We were met by hospitable guides at the door and said a few introduction on what to be expected at the garden. At the first room were filled with framed well-preserved butterflies. I was never interested with butterflies before until I saw the display of different colors of butterflies in artful patterns. 

Some display were designed to look like the royal families of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.   

We were led to another room were we saw the live butterflies flying around the garden. The garden actually was an air conditioned domed-shaped building with plants hanging from the ceiling. There was also artificial water fall in the end of the garden and a lot small trees and plants around.

The were a lot of butterflies flying around. The butterflies were of different sizes, colors and species. I was expecting a foul smell from the butterflies but there was none.

Butterflies were feed from a rotten fruits of banana and watermelon. 

There was also a small enclosure were visitors can have a close encounters with the butterflies.

There were two more interconnected dome but have the same display all through out.

The entrance fee of 50 dirhams maybe expensive to me to see a lot of butterflies but one of the guides explained that its because of the high maintenance of the garden. At the moment they don't have facilities yet to bred the butterflies. 

The eggs are regularly imported from Philippines and Southern America and were grown in the separate room in the garden. Once the eggs are hatched they were transferred to a basket to be released in the garden.

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Advance info from the guide: A fish pond is being planned or developed with in the area and will be the upcoming attraction.

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How to get there by RTA Bus:
RTA Bus Route 105
Fare 5 aed
Sunday to Thursday : 2pm to 8 pm
Fridays and Saturdays : 12 Midday to 10 pm
20 min interval from Sunday to Thursday and 15 min on Fridays and Saturdays

Nearby Attractions:
Global Village
Dubai Miracle Garden

Timings:
9am - 5:30 pm
50 aed fee
disabled is free
3 yrs old below is free

www.dubaibutterflygarden.com
tel: 00971 4 4228902