You name it, Dubai has it. Or if it doesn't have it, it's building it. Or if it's not building it, it's dredging up an island to put it on. The busiest of the seven United Arab Emirates is growing so fast that its newest developments can only be measured in hummingbird flaps. Blink and you'll miss the latest superlative. This way to the world's tallest building. That way to the world's largest aluminum plant. Coming soon, the world's longest bridge. Over here to the world's biggest mall - which, incidentally, is about to be usurped any day now by a bigger one.

Getting your wings

The only way to wrap your head around the sheer scale of Dubai is from the sky. Take a cab out to Jebel Ali (about 45 minutes from downtown), the departure point for the Seawings seaplane company (971-4-883-3532, www.seawings.ae). For 795 dirhams (S$294), you get a 30-minute tour of the city from 457m overhead: the iconic sail profile of the Burj Al Arab, the impossibly high Burj Dubai building and the artificial archipelagoes fashioned in the shapes of palm trees and continents. Whatever you think of them - fascinating, silly, ecologically catastrophic - you won't forget your first tropical "Antarctica" island.

Check out Raffles Hotel's restaurant, Fire & Ice, which serves dishes injected with liquid nitrogen.

Running hot and cold

Why diners need to be escorted by white-gloved attendants from the lobby of the new pyramid-shaped Raffles Hotel to the elevator bank remains unclear. But when you arrive at the Fire & Ice Restaurant (right) (Sheikh Rashid Road, Wafi, 971-4-324-8888, www.dubai.raffles. com), the place can be described only as warm and inviting: exposed brick walls, leather chairs and flattering lighting.

But it's not without its gimmicks. The open-air kitchen is ringed by fire, and the "ice tartar" dishes are injected with liquid nitrogen so they emit a milky white vapour. The menu is vast (it calls itself "trans-ethnic"), so go easy on yourself and order the tasting menu. Mine started with crab cakes and apple salad, followed by seared sea bass and ended with chocolate tart. Dinner, including wine pairings, is about 700 dirhams.

Bar with a view

This is a city determined to raise the bar - literally. If you ever thought the Great Pyramids of Egypt were missing tequila shooters and an observation deck, China Moon Champagne Bar is the place for you.

Ensconced within the glass apex of the Raffles Hotel, it is one of the hottest - and highest - new bars in Dubai. But what makes it really memorable is not the giant pharaoh head guarding the stairway, or the 130 dirhams you'll lay down for a glass of Veuve Clicquot. It's the view: 360 degrees of twinkling sprawl stretching out to the Arabian Desert.

About face

A Dubai hotel is not a Dubai hotel without a spa and, among the grandest (and newest) is the InterContinental Dubai Festival City (Festival City, www.intercontinental. com/dubai, 971-4-701-1111). The spa evokes another world, with flowing strands of neon that resemble seaweed dangling from the ceiling. Slide into a plush white bed, watch Dubai Creek sparkling outside, and let your face be slathered with delicious creams that smell of honey and chamomile (the Just Pure Facial, an hour and 20 minutes, is 550 dirhams).

Taste of tradition

You can take only so much newness before the urge for authenticity strikes. Veer off to one of the city's most historical restaurants, the curiously named Special Ostadi Restaurant (Al Mussalla Road, Bur Dubai, 971-4-397-1469). There is only a handful of tables, all covered in a half century of memorabilia, all packed with local businessmen wearing traditional kaffiyehs or shiny Italian suits. The natives come for one thing: grilled lamb kebabs doused in a tangy yogurt sauce and served with pita, onions, cucumbers, arugula, tomatoes and a fat wedge of lime. Order a dish of sweet dates and a cup of mint tea to wash it all down. The whole meal comes to 20 dirhams.

Off label

In a city of strung-together malls, a quirky boutique is a rare and beautiful thing, even if it's technically attached to a mall. Sauce (the Village, Jumeirah Beach Road, 971-4-344-7270, www.shopatsauce.com), which recently doubled in size, carries an eclectic mix: funky gowns, wispy tops, ironic T-shirts, travel journals, candles, earrings, stilettos, pillows made of denim and lamps made of neon bowling pins. Sauce also has a weakness for little-known designers such as Tata-Naka, Mira and Third Millennium. It feels as though you're walking into a really, really big closet - if your closet were designed by Stella McCartney, Anna Sui and a dozen Project Runway contestants.

Museum or shop?

The design gallery Traffic (Al Barsha, 971-4-341-8494, www.viatraffic.org) is the Middle East's answer to Moss in New York City, which means it's splashier, pricier and more exclusive. The 7,000-sq ft gallery in central Dubai carries ultra-high-end, museum-quality, one-of-a-kind designer chairs, tables, benches and fixtures - furniture so avant-garde as to be deemed "pieces". Recently on display was a chest of drawers titled You Can't Lay Down Your Memory by the Dutch design collective Droog for 85,100 dirhams - one of the few versions not in a museum.

Trendy Thai

The city's dining scene revolves around hotels (maybe because they're about the only places that serve liquor), and the current hot spot these days is Thiptara Royal Thai at the Palace, a new Sofitel hotel (Old Town, 971-4-428-7888, www.sofitel.com). The restaurant features rich wooden fixtures, lakefront views and terrific dishes such as spicy green papaya salad (80 dirhams) and chicken stir-fry with cashews, mushrooms and pineapple (120 dirhams).

Underground club

The closest thing to indigenous culture in Dubai is nightlife. Make your way to Club Submarine at the Dhow Palace Hotel (Bur Dubai, 971-4-359-9992, www. dhowpalacedubai.com). As the name suggests, there's a nautical theme, punctuated by curved walls and portholes that look out to nothing. Get ready for a night of drinking, dancing, mingling with strangers and other debaucheries punishable by prison just a few hundred miles away in Saudi Arabia. When it's time to leave, follow the hipsters to Zataar W Zeit (Sheikh Zayed Road, 971-4-343-1259) for a greasy melted cheese wrap and chilled yogurt drink (31 dirhams).

Be a sport

The Els Club is what you get when you cross 7,500 yards of soft green sod, an opinionated champion golfer and possibly the world's largest sand trap.

Scheduled to open soon for nonmembers, the 18-hole course (www.elsclubdubai.com) was designed by Ernie Els as a compendium of his favourite links from around the world.

Non-member rates will be 695 dirhams. Even if you don't know a nine iron from an Iron Chef, you should pay a visit. The club is in the middle of Dubai Sports City (971-4-425-1111, www.dubaisportscity.ae), a 50-million-sq ft United Nations of sports.

Currently under construction are four stadiums (including ones for cricket and field hockey), a tennis academy, a race track, Manchester United Soccer School, a gymnasium, thousands of private homes and - lest you forget where you are - a sports-themed shopping mall.

Hotel stay

The Park Hyatt Dubai (Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, 971-4-602-1234, www. dubai.park.hyatt.com) is in the quieter area of Deira and affords great city views. Rooms start at 1,750 dirhams.

If you want to be closer to the action, the new Raffles in Wafi City (Sheikh Rashid Road, 971-4-324-8888, www.dubai. raffles.com) is a good bet. The common areas are vast and daunting, but the rooms are spacious and comfortable. Rooms start at 1,750 dirhams.

The eight-room XVA Gallery in the arty Bastakiya neighbourhood (971-4- 353-5383, www.xvagallery.com), which feels like a North African souk, may be Dubai's only boutique hotel. Rooms start at 500 dirhams. -ST