DSF and Global Village: 2013-2014 edition!

Hey all!

I did a post in Nov, 2012 about the 2012-2013 Dubai Shopping Festival/Global Village. It was well received by many. So this time, I am doing a post about the same but for the 2013-2014 time period.

It’s actually ironic that I am doing this today, Feb 2nd, when DSF is coming to an end. DSF ran from 2nd Jan, 2014 until 2nd Feb, 2014 while Global Village opened on Oct 5th, 2013 and will remain open until Mar 1st, 2014. So if you haven’t visited it yet, you still have time.

So in my last post, I mentioned several pavilions that you really have got to visit and some items that you have to try out. This time, I discovered some more great products. I visited Global Village in December (that’s when I bought a pair of Kholapuri sandals. I mentioned it in my November – December haul post). Then I visited there on the day DSF started (Jan 2nd). Here are everything I bought:

1) Turkey Pavilion : I hadn’t given much attention to this pavilion over the past years. But this time, someone suggested I try the Turkish Delight and man, I am addicted to it!. There are many shops selling it, but there is this one shop which is located in the very center of this pavilion and is the largest shop there. I believe it’s name is AHU (Didn’t note the full form). You can ask for samples. I tasted many and just fell in love with Pistachio/Pomegranate one and a candy/rose flavored one, covered in real rose petals.  You have to buy a minimum of 500 grams. It’s AED 50 for 500 grams / AED100 for 1 kg. I mixed both the above mentioned flavors and bought 500 grams.

This is so worth it. You must try this!!

2) Saudi Arabia (KSA) pavilion : My parents bought a deal of perfumes/oud from here in Dec ’13. They bought it again in Jan and I thought “Well, if it’s that good, why not give it a try?”. It’s from the shop called Al Mas Al Athar (The board is written in Arabic and has the number 46 on it)

This big carry bag contains the following:

• A room freshner (in a 410ml plastic spray bottle), which smells of oud (I just love this one!!)
• A women’s perfume (in a 50 ml glass bottle), which smells strong and mostly of oud.
• A men’s perfume (in a 50 ml glass bottle)
• A box containing 10 incense tablets, shaped like hearts!
• Two sample perfumes which you can easily pop into your hand bag. Smells amazing too.
• An oud burner, which is so pretty

This entire bag is just AED100!. I loved this deal.

3) India Pavilion : My mom bought me a king size bed sheet set from one of the shops here. We bought 3 sets (each containing a bedsheet and 2 pillow covers) and were able to get a discount. It’s always good to bargain!. I believe they originally quoted us AED65 per set. We got each for roughly AED46 (Total AED140 for three sets). Here is one of them on my bed:

I washed it already and the color/design stays put, so I like it. The only problem is that the pillow cover isn’t exactly big. I somehow stuffed my pillows into it and the hemming work on the sides is done just once which means it can come off easily. In fact, it did come off. But love the bed sheet. It’s made of cotton.

4) Thailand pavilion : You will find many Thai fruit shops throughout the Global Village and also in the Thailand pavilion. I love the green mangoes. I bought two of these. It comes in a tray like this:

A tray costs AED15. There are many other fruits too, like dragon fruits, pomelo, ripe mangoes, guava etc.

5) Traditional Cooking Corner : Throughout Global village, you will find traditional cooking corners where the local women make Arabic sweets.

There are always so many people around these stalls. Here is a woman making something called Legimath. The yellow batter behind the lady is what they make into balls of and drop into the boiling oil.

It’s just so freaking yum. It looks so much like Indian Gulab Jamun but it tastes very different. This one is crunchy on the outside and coated in a thick date syrup.

I bought one tray in the beginning to try it. But throughout the evening, I ended up buying a total of three trays. Can’t get over how amazing it tastes!. You gotta try it!. Another lady was making a crepe in which you can have either nutella or a thick cream spread (along with egg). We got one plate of that.

Both of these items cost AED10 per tray/plate. Something amusing is that you don’t hand over money to these women directly. There is always a man stationed right next to these stalls. You pay him AED10 and he gives you paper money which looks so freaking real. It is this ‘money’ that you hand over to the women.

So that’s it you guys!. I hope you try out these items that I have recommended here. If you do, let me know your thoughts on it. I just love DSF/Global Village. Probably, before it ends, I will head over there again, once more. If I end up purchasing something, will let you know about it in another post!

Before I wind up, here are other details you might wanna keep in mind :

• Entry fee to the Global village is AED 15 per person. That’s AED 5 more than the price last year..

• Timings : Sat – Wed ~ 4 PM – 12 AM
  Thu – Fri and on public holidays ~ 4 PM – 1 AM

• Children under 3 enters for free

• Monday is Family Day, unless it falls on a public holiday. 

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Love,

Naz 🙂