‘We need a table for four for tomorrow,” I told the receptionist who picked up the phone at our favourite restaurant in Ibn Battuta Mall.

I was silently praying that she could at least find a table for us somewhere in a corner as “tomorrow” was New Year’s Eve.

“Sorry, we are not taking bookings,” she said cheerfully and my heart sank. I had sent an Evernote reminder about the dinner to all my family members and it would have been a big loss of face for me if I did not manage to get a dinner table reservation in ‘my city’ Dubai. It would have meant making alternative arrangements such as ordering home delivery pizza yet again this year and watching the grand fireworks on TV.

The Dubai fireworks get more and more amazing year by year, and as tourists flock to the emirate for the show, the restaurants ringing Burj Khalifa charge unbelievable rates just to sit at a table and get a ringside view of the colourful fireworks flying out from the world’s tallest building.

They do not even offer unlimited burgers and coffee until midnight, either. Still, paying a grand for chairs and a table is better than just standing for hours and hours as the traffic police start blocking all roads leading to the Burj, while the sun slowly sets.

One year I volunteered to get to the bottom of the Burj Khalifa and tweet the excitement and amazement of New Year revellers at the grand spectacle, to my newspaper and for its thousands of tweeps who could not be present for the fireworks show.

I pulled my friend along for company. We reached way early for the show, like early evening, and the crowd was already huge. We found a spot near the bridge across the lagoon where the famous Dubai Fountains dance to music.

Excited people

As the hours passed the empty spaces around us filled up and we were now standing shoulder to shoulder with excited people. From time to time I stood on my toes and slowly rocked from side to side and wished I could lie down on the ground in a yoga posture and lift my legs high to get the blood flowing back again. I had heard of sitting being harmful to health, but nobody had said anything about standing for a long period of time being as harmful as smoking or binge drinking beverages.

Back to the present, and the receptionist giggled when I asked if she could find any space for us as the family was looking forward to gorging on lahmacun and doner kebab.

“We are not taking any bookings as you will easily get a table. Everyone will be going to Downtown Dubai to watch the fireworks,” she said.

We drove to the Mall and there was something odd. I then realised that we had found a parking spot immediately. On most days I would go around and round visiting all the parking places, even drive up to the roof and come back to the ground floor and wait around with my hazard lights flashing hoping some shopper would come out soon and then stalk them silently for his or her spot.

The Mall was practically empty and one Japanese shop was playing Christmas songs and for the first time in many years I felt no pressure or stress about trying to enjoy myself as the world rings in the New Year.

I informed my sons that they had been invited as I was looking forward to an enjoyable and lively discussion at the dinner table. Neither of them could hear me as they had earphones plugged in. By 8.30pm on December 31 we finished our supper, reached home, and sipped hot chocolate and then went to bed.

Mahmood Saberi is a freelance journalist based in Dubai. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ mahmood_saberi.