One humid Sunday afternoon, my colleagues and I finally used our tickets (company treat, thanks!) for a visit to the newest attraction in town and regarded as the 'Most Beautiful Building on Earth'. The building in talk for today is none other than the Museum of the Future in Dubai. So is it worth it or is it just another museum? Find it out below!
How to go to the Museum of the Future?
No matter how I wish I have a car, there are days (and places) which is better be taken with the public transportation. Similar to Expo 2020, Museum of the Future in Dubai is well connected to the Dubai Metro. I can even recommend to leave your car at home and take the metro to avoid the hassle of parking your car.
So how to go?
- Simply take the Red Line of the Dubai Metro and get off at Emirates Towers
- At Emirates Towers Metro Station, turn left when you tap your card going out. You will eventually see the Metro Link Bridge.
- Follow the sign and walk comfortably until you reach the lobby of the Museum of the Future
If you insist on bringing your car with you, park at the basement of Jumeirah Emirates Towers. From there, you will have to walk back towards the Museum.
Buying or Collecting Tickets
At the Lobby, spend a couple of minutes to fully absorb the aesthetically pleasing white interior of the museum. Then if you are ready to head inside, proceed to the self service kiosks where you can either Buy Tickets or Collect Tickets.
Since I already have my ticket, I selected Collect Tickets and after filling out my ticket information, I received my wristband from the vending chute under the payment machine.
A recycling box can be found near the self service kiosks for you to drop the packaging (box) of the wristband. For sure you don't want that as a souvenir right? I mean, isn't the wristband beautiful enough? You can let go of the box please and leave it at the recycling box instead. ๐
Exhibitions inside the Museum of the Future
I don't want to spoil the surprises inside but let me show you an overview (again, photo dump) of what to expect. Not including (in this post) the playground a.k.a. the Future Heroes, the Museum have four (4) sections of exhibitions that you can navigate at your own pace.
A fascinating start, immerse yourself on a simulated space travel taking off from Dubai as you go to the highest floor accessible within the museum.
OSS Hope
Upon reaching the highest floor, explore the museum with all the curiosity you've got until there's nothing left. Go through the interactive screens and every nook that you can find.
At the space station, join the community of 'Pioneers' and learn from them about their journey. There's even a 'Recruitment Center' where you can pretend you're applying to join them.
The Heal Institute
A digital 'Amazon' rainforest awaits you next followed by a 'Library of Life' with a collection of DNAs spread out across the room. Search for your favorite one, a silly one, or even an uninteresting one. Look until your eyes hurt, but not to the point where you'll have a seizure (if you're prone to one).
Ever since my Kyrgyzstan trip, I fell in love with Conifer trees. A month later after my trip, I became so interested in any pine-looking tree. And after rummaging through all the DNAs in the room, I finally found the most similar to what I'm looking for! Worth the headache trust me!
After drowning myself (and my eyes) inside the Library of Life, we moved on to another section. Oh and I'll let you find out yourself where these photos are taken. So that's your mission ๐
Al Waha
Not exactly what I was expecting, especially the pink-colored walls, but this section is all about Wellness. Therapies drawing in your senses awaits you and it's up to you to try any or all of them.
Tomorrow Today
Then comes the part where everyone asks, what does tomorrow look like? A question we all want to throw yet none can give a confident answer. Here comes the section with tangible items that awaits us in the future.
Not much, but definitely exciting. Roam around and let your imagination run wild!
Viewing Deck
As a bonus, of course the deck to take pictures. You will notice them inside the building but you can access them from 2nd floor through a set of stairs.
Take as many photos as you can and then you can finish your visit with a cup of coffee at Cafe or with some collectibles and merchandise from the Shop.
Overall Museum Experience
An afternoon spent catching up on information about space travel sounds a better idea to me instead of being a couch potato watching my Korean dramas. But if you force me to answer the question, "is it just another Expo thing?", my answer is probably yes but in a good way.
There are similarities between the two (Dubai Expo and Museum of the Future) but in the end, it turned out to be a 'not your typical museum'. Futuristic, interactive, Instagram-able (not that I care about that), and serves a good coffee! What more should I ask for?
I still like coffees being made by Baristas ๐
Whether the idea is copied from the Expo or vice versa, a glimpse of the future through the use of technology is a present for all of us whose unsure whether we'll make it to the future or not. Who are we to shy away from an opportunity as such?
And when you ran out of ideas on what to do and where to go in Dubai (of course that happens from time to time), consider this experience, even once. Kids will love it, the science-buff in you that you are not aware of will love it. You'll thank yourself later.
Still not convinced to visit the Museum of the Future in Dubai? That's okay, but once you are, visit their website to purchase your tickets!