I have been to mega malls in the USA, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi, South Africa and UAE previously.

The Mall of the Emirates is one of the two new malls built in Dubai since my last visit in 2004. I am not someone in awe with these structures as I have now visited so many.

The gimmick of a ski slope is fine but to me its just froth. A fancy mall is no good to me if the shops in it does not have deals that can entice me to spend money. I'm looking for bargains.

Dubai has bargains for jewellery, watches and used to be good for electronic products. Designer labels is not its forte but if you search hard you can strike a good deal.

This mall is vast and is set on two floors. There is a big car park, plenty of entertainment. Apart from the ski slope, they have a cinema, a children's play area, arcade and a good selection of food places.

Our kids had a great time in the play area and did not want to leave the arcade.

There are a wide range of designer shops, electronic stores and a hypermarket. Walking around the mall you would not think that you are in Dubai but any other international cosmopolitan city given the diverse array of shoppers.

At the time of my visit in February the French Connection store had good bargains. The Hypermarket was a good place to get cheap cigarettes for smokers in the family as gifts.

But to me its just another mall. They did not have enough bargains for me to part too much of my cash.