Chinese New Year Celebration in Dubai

January 26, 2020

This is our second year residing in Dubai and Chinese New Year is not a public holiday in the UAE. This year we decided to stay in Dubai as there is no school holiday that coincides with the Chinese New Year period.

There is a few celebrations going on as there is quite a number of Chinese in UAE. There is lion dance competition at Dubai Park and Resort, lion/dragon dance parade at City Walk and some celebrations at Jumeirah Lake Towers. Many Chinese restaurants offer reunion dinner package (at a premium price of course) and some renowned hotels offer buffets with Chinese new year theme.

One week before the celebration, I started making some Chinese new year cookies/snacks to get into the mood.

My favourite is the pineapple tarts to symbolise wealth. I even attempted to make the fillings from scratch but I have to admit it is a lot of work for 36 tarts that I make.

I also make a couple of others easier snacks such as seaweed crisp, cornflakes cookies and peanut cookies. Jaclyn and Justin had fun helping out in the kitchen as well- they helped with the cornflakes cookies which is really easy.

Fujiya Restaurant at Millennium Airport Hotel for our Chinese New Year eve's lunch

On Chinese New Year eve, we decided to go for shabu shabu Japanese hotpot buffet. Chinese restaurant all charge ridiculous price and no way I am going to pay so much for a meal. We got a good deal on Groupon and only pay AED 160 for four of us.

I find it very good value for money. The price includes unlimited wagyu beef, chicken, meat ball, vegetables, rice and mushroom that goes into the hotpot. On top of that, we get two huge salads, one chicken kakiage, one edamame and four non-alcoholic drinks from the menu.

Selection of vegetables and mushrooms

Choose one drink each from this menu

Salad for starter

Meat Balls and chicken-refillable

Wagyu beef-refillable

Two choices of soup base

One edamame

Overall, I am pretty satisfied. Everything tasted good and the beef is of good quality. Valet parking is available at the hotel and no minimum charges necessary. There is even no need to stamp the valet ticket.

Fujiya Japanese Restaurant

Millennium Airport Hotel

Airport Road,

Casablanca Street, Al Garhoud,

PO Box 13018

Dubai, UAE.

Opening Hours: 12pm to 2am daily

Price: AED 199 for 4 person (Groupon)

*Keep a lookout for additional promo code by Groupon, can save up to additional 20% off*
https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/dubai/millennium-airport-hotel-dubai/fujiya/

After a fulfilling lunch, we head out to this newly opened Buhais Geology Park situated in Sharjah. Kids were excited as they had just went through archeology unit in school last term. The park just opened on 20th January 2020 and it is all over the news so we had to go check it out.

Entrance fees are reasonable at AED 10.50 for adults, kids below 12 years old goes in complimentary

There is a small museum that gives an insight and information of the geology site that was discovered in Sharjah with some interactive hands on activities to shows how the mountains are formed, and the different texture of the rocks found in the area. There is also a movie shown not via a flat screen but rather a globe which is pretty cool in my opinion.

Once you go through the museum, feel free to head out to the park. There is a dedicated trail for visitor to explore and see for themselves the fossils and rocks found in the area.

We discovered a fossils among the rocks! How exciting!

The weather is amazing at the moment for outdoor activities and if your kids like a glimpse of the past or really interested in fossils, do head over and have a look. A good place to spend a couple of hours.

Buhais Geology Park

Coordinates: 25.0210° N, 55.7982° E

Opening Hours: