Tag 8 (2025) Abu Dhabi: teamLab Phenomena

9.10.2025

Highlights of the day:

• teamLab Phenomena / Saadiyat Island
• KISHI RESTAURANT / Al Forsan
• Yas Bay Nightlife

Today, the teamLab Phenomena is on the agenda. We already know from our Easter vacation in Japan the teamLabs “Borderless” and “Planets” in Tokyo, so we’re excited to see how the teamLab in Abu Dhabi will look.

Just like back in Tokyo, the teamLab Phenomena here in the Saadiyat Cultural District is an absolute highlight. We had already wondered last autumn what would emerge in this futuristic, cloud-like building – and now we finally got to go inside! Spanning 17,000 m², there’s a large, immersive world where art, technology, and nature merge.

Just like in Tokyo, we are totally amazed! It’s incredible: on 17,000 m², art and technology merge into a world that constantly changes, as everything reacts in real time to us visitors. My favorite part was where you wade barefoot through knee-deep water, while digital light objects dance around you (we already experienced this in Tokyo) – it felt really cool. But I was also fascinated by this gigantic, pitch-black sphere, which almost seems like a foreign body in the space, and the imaginative beings projected onto the walls.

You completely lose your orientation in these rooms full of floating spheres and lights, but in a good way. We find it super fascinating here in Abu Dhabi, and even though some rooms are quite similar to the teamLabs in Tokyo, it never gets boring, and you discover something new every time.

We definitely recommend it!

In the evening, we go with the family to the Japanese KISHI restaurant in Al Forsan (right next to the go-kart track). On the way to the Japanese place, you also pass by the entrance of the shooting range… kind of strange… shooting “for fun” or “as a sport” isn’t really my world, but we’re still curious and check out the display cases.

Tonight is “Ladies Night”. Since the rest of the family has to work in the morning, I’m heading out alone with my husband 😉

My cousin drops us off after dinner at Yas Bay. We’ve been here the last few years and it’s always been a lot of fun. We stroll along the promenade – unfortunately, the diver is currently not visible (renovation work) and we head to the bar “Lock, Stock & Barrel”. Hard to believe but true: ladies pay NOTHING here from 7 PM to 11 PM!!! At least not for alcoholic beverages – no matter what!!! In the first years we were here, we couldn't believe it and tried out all sorts of things and drank everything mixed together. By now I’m smarter and stick to “whisky-coke”. That works well. Until 9 PM, the bar is pretty dead. Although many women are there, there’s no real party vibe. Around 10 PM, the mood shifts – in a positive way. People start dancing, singing, the DJ gives it his all, and the bar is bursting at the seams! After my husband has drank two ridiculously expensive beers and had to watch me drink, we head home around midnight. It was definitely another mega cool evening!

For the statistics:

Distance traveled: 70 km

Weather: Sunny, 36 degrees, evening 30 degrees (lowest 30 degrees)

teamLab Phenomena – 165 AED for a single day pass (approximately 38€ / person)