- Dubai Shopping Festival is the best time for deals and discount offers.
- Outlet Mall is a factory outlet mall with many international and local brands having their factory outlet stores, with discounts going upto 70 %. The best day to go is a Monday, as they is additional offers on Monday.
- Factory outlets for brands such as Giordano, Adidas & other brands are available in the city (Search for Factory outlets in the shopping section of Travex
- Best deals on branded luggage bags are available at Carrefour Supermarkets
- GITEX is the best time for electronic shopping
- A lot of beauty, bath and fashion products are sold at discount prices at the Ramadan Night Market every year during Ramadan
- Avoid buying souvenirs from malls. The best place to buy souvenirs would be at market places such as Al Karama, Diera, and also a few warehouses in Al Quoz.
- Top souvenir must buys would be gold, Arabic perfume, Dates, Spices and Dry fruits, Camel Milk Chocolate, Shisha, Arabic antiques and probably a local designer dress.
Today, the lure of inhaling the tobacco smoke is known by many names across the world some of which are fumeur, rauchen, fumo, kitsuen, rook, fumador, tadkhin, yari kkada, de fumar. Annals of the History tell us that the habit originated thousands of years ago, as far back as 500 BC. While modern smoking is widespread through cigarettes, connoisseurs yearning for a taste of the old, prefer the traditional forms of smoking.
Medwakhs, the Arabic cigar pipes, find a pride of place along with the native hookahs and shishas in the Middle Eastern world. From the common acrylic to robust metal to traditional wood to exotic camel bone, Medwakhs are made from different materials. Even the designs are named quite interestingly, with terms such as beetle’s juice, frog in a blender, tiger’s paw, Turkish falcon, desert storm and more.
A Medwakh piece usually comes in a cloth carrying case and includes a filter to be put at the end of the pipe; some newer models come with an in-line filter to be inserted inside. The tobacco that is used in the cigar pipe is called “Dokha” of “Dook”; it is a blend of finely shredded tobacco, herbs, spices, barks, flowers and leaves. Unlike the tobacco used in the modern day cigarettes, Dokha is not artificially steam-cured. Naturally cured in the arid and hot desert climate, it retains a high degree of flavour and freshness.
When you become the proud owner of a Medwakh pipe, there are quite a few accessories that you would do well to buy alongside. The first would be a “Chanta”, a Dokha container that allows you to carry around a day’s requirement of the tobacco, between 3 to 7 grams. Chantas are usually made of a metal like brass or aluminium, while the exotic ones are made of wood and camel bone. Next would be a Chanta funnel to easily fill up your Medwakh with Dhoka from the Chanta. The funnel also helps when you are blending different Dhokas from different Chantas. Other paraphernalia includes a reaming rod, bowl spade, and a tamping tool; you could find all three in a single multi-tool.
Al Jazira at Mall of the Emirates, Bin Khumairy at Al-Minah besides Capital Hotel, Rabsha in Satwa, near the bus station and Yousef Ridha, behind Abu Hail Centre are some of the best places in Dubai to get yourself a Medwakh and all its additional equipment.
