2013-12-08

【Aiden in English】

       I was really excited for today because this afternoon Mom and I were to board the Nautica Oceania cruise ship to the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. But first, we were going to the world's largest mall and the tallest tower in Dubai known as the city of merchants. I just couldn't wait to get started.

       When we arrived at Dubai Mall, it looked like the crowed of a parade inside. Hundreds of shops were lined up one by one, selling everything from T-shirts to jewelry. I couldn't believe how many stores were in the mall. The Dubai Mall even had an "indoor" aquarium, an ice rink, and a movie cinema. If you were a shopper, you probably would've taken the whole day jumping from shop to shop.

      We were having lunch here and so we made our way to the food court. I wasn't surprised to see that there were at least 30 different fast-food restaurants and basically most of them were American. I tried to eat something non-American. In the end, however, I had no other choice but to settle with Burger King. If the restaurant wasn't American, then it was Chinese. And having local Arabians cook Chinese dishes, it would taste like an alien grilling your steak.

      After a meal made with pure fat and high calorie, Mom and I received tickets from our tour guide to ride the fastest elevator in the world to the tallest building on earth, Burj Khalifa or Khalifa Tower. It had the world record height of 2,722 ft/829.8 meters.

       When it was my turn to enter the elevator, I noticed that it was pitch black. As the elevator started moving, I gasped at the ghastly sight until lights and pictures suddenly appeared. The pictures showed where we were in the tower. When I looked to see what floor we were on, I was amazed to know that the elevator was already past the 50th floor and still continued to go up. A moment later, it stopped at the 124th floor. After I exited the door, I was so stunned that I almost walked straight into the glass that blocked visitors from falling off the edge. Looking down, I saw all the other buildings including 7-star Burj al-Arab surrounding us and they didn't even seem half as tall as the Burj Khalifa. The cars looked like ants crawling and you couldn't even see people walking on the ground. At the top, there was also some telescopes that allowed you to spot what changes had taken place in the past, present, night, and day.

      It was a miracle for this city to grow from a fishing village into one of the most fascinating cities ever in 7 years. Apparently, money talked and it made the world go around.

【红霞译文】

       今天我特别激动，下午要和妈妈将乘“航海‧大洋”号游轮出行中东、南亚和非洲。不过在此之前，我们先要到蜚声海外的“贸易之都”——迪拜去鉴赏世界最大的购物中心和世界最高的摩天大楼，真巴不得快点上路。

       乍一来到迪拜购物中心，川流不息的人群好像组成了一支支浩浩荡荡的游行队伍，成百上千家百货零售鱼贯而出，从短袖圆领汗衫到珠宝饰物应有尽有，商贾逐利争相趋至，实在令我难以置信。迪拜购物中心大得出奇，竟然拥有“室内”水族馆、溜冰场以及复合电影院。如果你是一位购物者，那么你肯定要花上一整天时间，一个店出一个店进，不亦乐乎。

       午餐时间到了，我们顺路来到商场美食区。不出所料，这里至少有30家不同形式的快餐摊位，而多数都是美式速食，在这里想不吃快餐都难。我们挑来选去，最后还是决定吃“汉堡王”，因为倘若饭馆不做美式快餐，那一定美其名曰打着中式美味的旗号，由当地阿拉伯人烹煮中国菜肴，其味道堪比外星人烧烤的牛排。

       饱吃一餐纯脂肪高热卡之后，我和妈妈接过导游送来的门票，一起乘坐世界上最快的电梯，神速爬上高达2,722英尺／829.8米世界之巅——哈利法塔。

       电梯里伸手不见五指，阴森森的黑暗悄悄伴随着上升移动，令我不由得倒吸了一口冷气。突然，楼层指示灯和图片显像屏交替闪现，我们神不知鬼不觉地已跃居50层琼楼玉宇。电梯继续向上，顷刻之间募然停在124层观望台。我走出电梯，眼前立刻展现出一幕幕惊魂场景，要不是透明玻璃挡板屏障保护，肯定迷失在奇幻仙境之中。“会当凌绝顶，一览众山小”。放眼望去，周围所有的高楼大厦包括七星级阿拉伯塔酒店相形见绌，甚至连一半的高度都没有，汽车看起来像蚂蚁在爬，路面行人小得辨认不清，几架远程望远镜恰好为到访者提供今昔对比和昼夜变化。

       七年来，迪拜由一个鲜为人知的小渔村被打造成至今震撼全球的奢华巨头，不愧为人间奇迹，极大地应验了“有钱能使鬼推磨”这个放之四海而皆准的真理！