Things To Know Before Visiting Expo 2020

October 8, 2021

I won tickets to Expo 2020 😅 This is the 2nd time I've won free tickets this week and I couldn't be more grateful. The Expo tickets are only valid today or tomorrow. I was feeling a little under the weather during the first half of today thanks to Aunt Flo, so I'm going tomorrow instead.

At around 6pm, our neighbor's son was celebrating his 5th birthday and we were invited to join them. It's been a while since I've been to a Filipino gathering and I quite missed it 😂 It was more of an adult's party with all the drinking and the singing, rather than a child's 5th birthday. Di ba, ung matanda pa yung mas nag enjoy hahaha. Super thankful for the lovely food earlier this evening though 😋 It saved us from thinking of what food to cook and eat 😅

Well, it's 11:44 now and it's time for me to get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be along day for sure.

October 9, 2021

So glad that there's an Expo bus from Sharjah, Al Jubail Bus Station going all the way to the venue. The bus is free as long as you have the ticket. The second bus was at 9am so I left the house at around 8am to have breakfast at the small cafeteria at the bus stop. They serve really good samosas and chai by the way.

Okay. So we arrive at the Expo. Here's a few things I think you should know if you plan to visit any time soon.

What to wear:

1. Wear extremely comfortable clothing. Wear your shorts, a skirt, or anything breezy. It's hot. 
2. Wear shoes that'll allow you to walk properly for a whole day.

What to bring:

1. Bring an umbrella. I kid you not when I say that my s.o and I were the only ones carrying an umbrella around (or maybe we weren't the only ones but I didn't see anybody else while I was there lol.) Every now and then people would come up to us telling us how it was such a great idea to bring an umbrella because it was freaking hot. Switzerland was probably the only one I saw that lent umbrellas to visitors while waiting to get in to their pavilion.
2. Bring an empty water bottle. Outside food and drinks aren't allowed but you can bring your own water bottle. There are a lot of water refilling stations around the Expo.
4. Bring handkerchiefs. It's hot. You'll sweat a lot.

Getting around:

1. If you plan to walk a whole day, just know that the place is huge and it won't get you very far haha.
2. There's careem bike available if you wanna make your life easier 😅 If you have toddlers with you, there's also bikes with baby seats. They're not free by the way. You'll have to rent them the same way you rent careem bikes outside of Expo.
3. Take advantage of the People Movers buses. It's a FREE RTA bus within the Expo that'll take you to and from the main pavilions & sites. We discovered this only as we were going home and we were like 😑 We could have saved extra time from all the long walks and the heat lol. But it's okay. I'd like to think that we found out about it at the right time, just when our legs were about to give up 😂

What to expect:

1. Basically, each pavilion prepared a show for visitors where they showcase the best their country has to offer. There's a line up as only a certain number of people are allowed to get in.
2. Be prepared to spend a lot of money if you plan to eat at restaurants. Food is EXPENSIVE. But thankfully there's Zoom where you can buy meals and there's Al Baik too. Talabat is also available but options are limited.
3. If you see the Aquafina water refilling station, know that you'll have to buy their 40dhs tumblr in order to refill water from them. The only difference betwee their water stations and the free ones around 4. Expo is that, their water is temperature controlled and you can have it carbonated too.
4. If you are planning to visit for only a day, arrive at the opening time. Plan ahead and visit the countries you wanna see first. I went there without knowing what to expect and just went in any pavilion I felt like checking out. When I finally wanted to check out South Korea, I was in line for about an hour before getting in.
5. Exercise your asking powers. The place is filled with Expo volunteers & staff and they were all so friendly whenever we asked them about anything. Plus, it'll make your life easier especially if you want to know all the shortcuts around the place.

So that's everything on my list. I hope that I've shared enough information to get you geared up when you visit 😊

Watch the vlog below to see my Expo 2020 experience!