Dubai, second-largest city in the United Arab Emirates and home of countless exquisite waterfalls, 6.00pm of a Thursday. I arrive very well-rested. So well-rested that I am feeling a vague mental peace as my group exits the capacious airport, which makes departure-hub Toronto’s own Terminal 1 seem a comparative Greyhound depot.

The relaxed feeling is no doubt to do with the fact that the flight, on the Emirates airline, was beyond pleasant: business class to one of the world’s most opulent destinations, as one might imagine, leaves little to be desired that cannot be fulfilled at the press of a button. Whether the service solution involves a beverage-bearing attendant or a self-activated massage or full-bed function for the multi-position recliner, every contingent need is considered.

Still, it’s only as I am exiting the airport that I realize why I feel particularly comfortable: it’s the breathing room. My earlier comparison to Toronto Terminal 1 is apt, because both of these buildings are engineered to emphasize space, ambience. Dubai’s is bigger, of course, but surely this is the city’s raison d’être. I will soon see if bigger means better.

Checking in at the hotel and visiting the neighboring mall inadvertently fill the rest of the evening. Dubai strives to be superlative, but tonight, the emphasis seems to be on definitive. For example, the hotel is called The Address (seen above), while the mall is called The Dubai Mall. They have been open since October and November 2008, respectively, making them the “very latest” in a city where “very latest” is indeed king. (My tourism liaison informs me, only half-joking, that I needn’t leave the hotel, as it’s such a hot spot that the city is coming to it. This might have something to do with the fact that we are about as close as one gets to the still-under-construction world’s tallest tower, the Burj Dubai, seen below.)

Circa 11pm, in the elevator at The Dubai Mall (yes, the store hours are quite competitive), an electronic poster bearing poorly phrased propaganda — clarification: propaganda not for politics, but for mall culture — reads, “Welcome to Everything,” capital E and all.

“Everything,” I think to myself, should have been the name of the mall.

In fact, “Welcome to Everything” will prove to be an accurate, if accidental, slogan for Dubai, I shouldn’t wonder.

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Opening image, Waterfall (Dubai Mall), taken on the day following this post