Since we arrived ridiculously early in the morning, we crashed at a cousin’s place for a few hours before checking into the hotel.

Located next to Mall of the Emirates and is a 10 minute walk.

Check in was efficient and got an upgrade to a Superior Room. The hotel is modern, clean and well appointed.

Good for a one night stay. Also had the best sleep ever.

We could also walk out onto a big balcony (no view though).

After freshening up, we went out for lunch at Eric’s on Sheikh Zayed Road. The original location is located in Karama at the Sheikh Hamdan colony. The restaurant specializes in Mangalorean and Goan cuisine (think South India).

Pretty nice decor and ambience.

Mango Lassi and Strawberry milkshake to start.

Potato Chop (ground beef stuffed inside mashed potato and deep fried), Kingfish Rava Fry and Chicken Lollipops. We had other dishes too but went to town on them and forgot to take pictures.

The wife decided to stay in for the night while I went out to meet a friend. Ended up at the Sheraton MOTE 5th floor bar and had sheesha.

Grape flavour.

A pint of Tiger.

View from the terrace bar.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Common Grounds at the MOTE.

Kept it ‘light’.

A quick stop at Carrefour for some snacks.

A spot of chai before getting on the road to Al Maha.