Something's Fishy. Huge and Fishy!

Day 27 - We got up at a pretty normal time because we are now only 1.5 hours earlier than Sri Lanka time. We bought enough things last night, so the apartment kitchen was sufficiently stocked for breakfast.

   

It did take a bit of time to get going. In fact, by the time we went out the front door, it was 10:30 am. We updated our NOI (transit cards) by putting some fresh cash on them. We then got on the Green Line Metro and went to a stop called Salah Al Din.  That's what it is called today.  It seems that stations are renamed here more often than some people change their bed sheets.

The Waterfront Market website said it was easy to catch a feeder bus from that station. Well, it wasn't. Even staff in the station had no idea of which bus to take to the Corniche. We tried to wait for a bus, but were later told we were on the wrong side of the road by a bus driver.  We weren't.  We took a taxi. We have to remember that it is a cost-effective way of getting around as they're strictly controlled.

 

Jay and I remember the 'original' fish market of thirty years ago.  It was out in the same general direction but nothing much around Dubai ever stays the same for long.  And as it is with most things from here, the concept that bigger is better was applied to the new market too.

One side of the huge building was for fruit and vegetables and the other for fish and seafood.  There's also a large branch of a general supermarket called Lulu Hypermarket.  That is one familiar name as we remember the original in Karama from the 90s too.

Above was the fruit and vegetable section and below, the fish and seafood section.

Jay's sisters are Buddhists and do not eat meat. However, they do fish.  One bought enough for the remainder of our stay, two huge chunks of tuna and stone fish.  They want to do a majority of meals in our apartment, so shopping for groceries is fun for them with the vast variety of foodstuffs on offer.

 

Cutting the fish was always an option at the Dubai fish market.  In the 'old days' a few guys, usually older Pakistanis, would be sitting near the stalls and would cut and clean for a small fee.  However, today, that simple idea has turned into a rather large industrial service.

The cutting area is enormous with dozens and dozens of workers operating in a hospital-like area with electronic sorting and tracking.  Remember that I told you that everything is oversized in Dubai.

I'm not sure what we're doing this evening.  I think it's likely we'll be visiting one of the main branches of a popular department store here.  This Day-to-Day Store is within walking distance of the apartment and not far from the place where Jay and I lived more than thirty years ago.  Even if this city eventually grows to touch the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, Karama will always seem like the heart of the geographic location of Dubai.