Having lived in Dubai for a great deal of my childhood, revisiting as an adult was surreal, especially seeing Dubai Mall for the first time!

An incredibly huge shopping complex and the world’s largest shopping mall by total leasable area, Dubai Mall spans a massive 12 million square feet! With over 12,000 shops across four massive floors, it’s a place where people from all over the world gather to enjoy the countless delights at this vast architectural masterpiece.

Beautiful & Practical Interior Design

It may sound like a daunting concept to have over 1,200 stores in one shopping mall, but the layout of Dubai Mall makes it an easy place to navigate! The center of the mall features a massive area where all four floors meet in a ceilingless circle, often regarded as the shopping mall’s central meeting point.

The World’s Biggest Kinokuniya Store!

It’s not surprising that the world’s biggest Kinokuniya store is found at the world’s biggest shopping mall, after all, Dubai has a track record of “world’s biggest *fill in the blank*.” Honestly, this store was like a shopping mall in itself, divided into countless sections from fiction to non-fiction to novels, magazines, newspapers, and children’s books.

The Kinokuniya in Dubai Mall is so massive that they even have an entire section dedicated to Japanese manga comics. All of your favorite series from One Piece to Naruto and Tokyo Ghoul can be found here, with every volume to date. Not only that, but you can also grab some cool anime figurines, board games, and other accessories and merch from shows like Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, and Haikyuu!

The Dubai Aquarium!

You read that right, the Dubai Mall literally houses an entire aquarium in its complex! Called the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, you can walk through an underwater tunnel and see countless schools of fish, sharks, stingrays, and other sea creatures swimming freely in a colossal tank of over 10 million litres of water capacity. Tickets start at 178 AED (48 USD) with special discounts for families, children, and UAE residents.

Amazing Cafes and Restaurants!

Dubai Mall is a place you’ll find all your favorite restaurants and cafes. From global favorites like Cinnabon, Chili’s, and Nando’s to more niche restaurants like India Palace and Awani Middle Eastern restaurant. I enjoyed a delicious pecan Cinnabon with extra cream cheese frosting during my visit to Dubai Mall, and boy, did it remind me of my childhood in Dubai!