UAE Part 9: Visiting...Starbucks in RAK!

There is no better indication of globalization than finding a Starbucks location or McDonald's, regardless of where you are in the world. Well, in this case it was the Starbucks located inside Manar Mall (you'll read about this soon) in Ras al-Khaimah. I am a fan of Starbucks, even though their prices absolutely gouge your wallet. One of the weirdest locations I've ever been to was the one located inside The Forbidden City, in Beijing in 2004.

Here is the menu at Starbucks in both Arabic and English:


Every Starbucks is not complete without their bakery items (I'm not a big fan of their bakery items...I call their taste...how do I say this...STALE!):


Here's my drink of choice...a tall caramel coffee frappuccino, blended twice, and no whip (this location was smoke free here, but about 10 meters away in the mall itself...people are just smoking freely):


The total damage for our drinks...28 dirham (AED), or about $7.60US. This is much cheaper compared to Starbucks in Seoul...it's ridiculous here!


Here's the amazing view from this location...palm trees and the water...it was awesome:


...and finally, here are the sugar packets in Arabic (raw sugar on the left, white sugar on the right):


The bonus picture: Gdog posing with strangers outside the Starbucks located inside The Forbidden City (note to the guy on the far left: you can run, but you can't hide):