A world in itself

Sharjah's Sahara Centre is designed to be a family destination

Stepping into Sahara Centre, the biggest shopping mall to open in Sharjah, before its official opening, was like entering Santa's workshop the day before Christmas. With only hours to go before the official inauguration, the place was a bustle of activity.

Once inside, despite the fact that only rows upon rows of 120 empty shops greeted my eyes, it was not hard to imagine them as top-of-the-range boutiques filled with the hippest and hottest in fashion.

Since there was no window-shopping to do this time, the long walk from one end of the mall to the other was quite tiresome and made me wish I had worn my sneakers instead of the three-inch heels.

"We are working round the clock at the moment and 70 per cent of the stores will be open by Wednesday (today)," said Samantha Woods, public relations officer, Sahara Centre.

This Dhs 400-million project has a two storeyed, tent-like structure. Although not very different in its interior from other malls, our final destination, Adventureland, the 70,000 square-foot indoor family entertainment centre, was a different world by itself. If the rest of the mall was busy, this place was in a state of total frenzy.