JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3 - (Page 59)

But dancing jets are not the only unusual entertainment. just around the corner at the Dubai mall (the world’s largest, naturally) is the Dubai aquarium, a 10-million-liter tank that’s home to a kaleidoscopic array of sea life. as shoppers mill past, schools of brightly colored tropical fish form beautiful, freewheeling displays, while tiger sharks cruise by menacingly. You can get up close in the dedicated “shark tunnel,” where i find myself eye to eye (through thick glass) with a particularly angry-looking specimen. “they’re very well fed,” the cheery guide—probably sensing my unease—tells me, before launching into a biologically detailed explanation of how to tell a female from a male. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our close scrutiny of its nether regions does little to lift the shark’s mood. Sharks are not the only unlikely residents of this mega-mall in the desert. Upstairs there are Gentoo penguins, who waddle and splash their way around a specially designed reserve, apparently unfazed by their move from the antarctic to the Gulf. once i’ve seen them, the nearby olympic-sized ice rink doesn’t seem half so strange. and then there are the shops, hundreds of them, including outposts of Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdale’s. as i wander around the vast space, one in particular stands out: Level Shoe District, a 96,000-square-foot exercise in footwear chutzpah, which contains no fewer than 40 separate shoeselling boutiques and which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest shoe store in the world. The ArT of The CiTy i leave the penguin-boasting surreality of Dubai mall for a saunter. one of the big differences between Downtown and the rest of Dubai is that it’s designed to be walkable, which really adds to the sense of community. along the beautiful boulevards, i pass dozens of families out for a stroll: it reminds me of a roman passeggiata, albeit with more palm trees. after a brief pit stop for an ice-cold orange juice at Loui’s waterfront café, i arrive at the Pavilion, J WM MAGAZINE 59 j w m a r r i o t t. c o m Desert Oasis A view of the new JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, at left, the tallest hotel in the world. Above, just down the street from The Pavilion, diners enjoy authentic Lebanese food at Leila Restaurant. http://www.JWMARRIOTT.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3

JWM - Summer 2013
Table of Contents
JW Experts
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
Distinctive Products, People, Ideas & Style
A Quiet Place
Powering Down
Sonoma
Industrial Arts
The Portal
Downtown Dreaming
Sky High
Greens Revolution
Rethinking the Bored Room
JW Experience
My Passion

JWM - Volume 3, Issue 3