Bawadi Mall - Al Ain

Quite some time ago I posted about some of the ongoing developments in Al Ain. This is one that didn’t make the list then as I didn't know about it at that stage; and, until Sunday I still didn’t know existed. Admittedly this is down one of the roads in Al Ain they you don’t go down unless there is a specific reason, but at the same time is only a couple of minutes from home.

So with little to no fanfare, Bawadi Mall opened to the public last week. Only Carrefour is opened thus far, but this place is going to be rather large in comparison with what we have currently here. Could have sworn last time we were down this road there was nothing there at all; but maybe we didn't go down this far or something (or, maybe it did really go up overnight). Seems with the list of stores there will be less need for trips to Dubai for those things that you can’t get here soon.

Toy Cars and Swimming Aliens

Well it is a new year, so best place to start is with...

(I must be bored....)

2008 Al Ain Aerobatics Show

We went off to the Al Ain Aerobatics Show today (formally know as the Al Ain Air Show). We actually didn’t really know what to expect, but all in all it was well worth the trip (although we know for next year to take another layer of clothes as it was pretty cold in the grandstand towards the end of the day).

Obviously I have not kept up with the aerobatics fraternity since my youth, as one of the most surprising things was to see a helicopter doing loops and stalls (well as close as a helicopter can get to doing that sort of thing)! Scary! For the most part it was teams and individuals trying to outdo each other with lots of planes just doing things us normal folk believe planes really shouldn’t do.

The afternoon was ended with a thing called TinStix which we thought was “Ten Sticks of Dynamite”… as in they we going to blow up 10 sticks of the stuff because it would probably be impressive. The thought also crossed my mind that it may be put on by a Kiwi and they just translated 10 Stick how he said it… but it consisted of 2 planes flying past just before or after a number of HUGE explosions (shockwaves and all). Possibly it was to demonstrate what might have happened if any of the planes had hit the dunes during the day. Whatever the reason it was impressive.


K got some photos on the phone (for some reason we didn't take our camera)... next year - warmer clothes and camera!


Amer’s got some great photos on his blog someone in Al Ain and they give a much better idea of how close we actually were to the action.

The College

I just wanted to post this photo which I am guessing was taken by our regular shutter bug at my college (hope he does mind me copying it from the server). This was sports day on Wednesday and is an interesting view not many of us ever see. Well I know I haven't been for a walk in this direction inside the grounds and looked back at the side view of the college. It is a big area inside the fences. If this was AJA we would be living in an apartment building located about where this photo was taken I would guess, but this is HCT and instead we have our lovely villa in town.

When signs just aren't very good

Well it has all gone quiet once again but we are still alive and well. Have a little bit of catch up to do once again, but have just been busy with work and a lovely little flu that seemed to sweep through Al Ain a few weeks ago.

Thought I would post this little A4 sized sign from the "restaurant" on the top of Jebel Hafeet. I wonder why no one has made a new sign and taken up to them... but then again there is a charm about signs like this. I think this sign says more to people than what a real one would anyway!

Al Ain, UAE

“Let’s Google a city I have lived in to see if it looks worth visiting”

So what about Al Ain online?

Al Ain Wikipedia – Top of the Google results and has some links. I know I haven’t used Wikipedia pages in the other cities but thought I would include this one as it came in at number one.
Al Ain - UAE Interact – Not an Al Ain website, but I have included this because it is a good source of information on the UAE as a whole country, rather than just the Dubai or Abu Dhabi thing you usually see. As well as this being a Federal site rather than being associated with one particular Emirate, this is also home to the UAE Yearbook which is a nice free eBook on all aspects of the country.
Al Ain Portal – The Arabic version of this site comes in somewhere at the bottom of the 2nd page of search results, but the English version had the potential to be good little resource on Al Ain. Unfortunately the content is not being continually updated, but it does have a nice little interactive map that shows you where the “attractions” are. It should also be noted that this site has the “Al Ain” brand that was developed a few years ago... the funny thing is most people in Al Ain don’t know they have a brand!

I am going to be a little biased here and say that what you can see of Al Ain on the Internet is actually quite positive and does make it look like a place worth visiting; but, what is out there apart from blogs is very limited as it is for Doha.

So that wraps up the online content from former (and current) homes; I would like to visit them all again, but I think the Websites could do with a little improvement.

Around Al Ain

Over the past few days we have been touristing around Al Ain and have been to Hili Archaeological Park, Heritage Village Café, Jebel Hafeet, Green Mazzabarah, Buraimi, Palace Museum, Al Ain National Museum… some places we had been before, some we hadn’t. So rather than say anything about anything, here’s some photos!

From top down:
Hili Archelogical Park
Hili Bronze Age burial tomb
Old Fort at Qatarra Oasis
Burami Ruins
Al Khandaq Castle in Burami
Looking back at Al Ain halfway up Jebel Hafeet
Al Ain Palace Museum

Airbus A380 in Al Ain

Well this is something you don't see everyday in Al Ain. Actually seeing planes of any type at Al Ain Airport is a little rare, but coming over the dunes and seeing a brand new A380 was a bit of a surprise! Looked empty so I am thinking it is a test plane, and I guess Al Ain is a nice quiet airport to land at. Rather impressive seeing the two rows of windows running along the side though.

Al AIn Guest Arrives

So went to collect K’s mum from Abu Dhabi last night, and what was a well timed late night drive to the airport, collection and get back home to Al Ain, turned into a very long wait in the airport in the wee hours of the morning. The flight was delayed by an hour or so we didn’t get back home until about 4am. Not much fun being in airports here if you aren’t going anywhere. All the good stuff is left for the departures lounge which you can’t get to with out a boarding pass. This means that if you are in arrivals you will sit around with no shops minus a couple of small cafes...

Due to the very long night for us, and long flight for our guest we had a quiet first day spent mostly catching up and relaxing. We did head out for a bit of a road trip around the streets of Al Ain though and headed up to the airport (see next post) as I have always liked the rolling red dunes in that part of town.

Al Ain of the future?

Just thought I would have a look around to see if I could find anything else about the developments proposed for Al Ain apart from Noor Al Ain.

There is Al Nagfa Hotel and Mall which I have mentioned previously (construction should be interesting for those in Al Oyoun Village next door). From the pictures it looks like they may be getting rid of part of the hill that extends to the road on either side. It is being done by Sorouh but there is nothing on their site as yet that I can find, the link to the Gulf News article gives you a good idea.

Second is the Al Ain Masterplan which looks like it may get the go ahead. It is meant to position Al Ain as a viable alternative to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and would house an extra 115,000 people. Also would be a nice commute to Dubai if the traffic there doesn’t get any better (and with an extra 2.5 million potential residents in Dubailand alone, why would it).

Lastly is the Al Ain Wildlife Park & Resort development. I can’t remember if it is supposed to be located in the existing “old” zoo complex or not though. I must say this is my favorite one by far.

I was a bit skeptical of the proposed developments when I first heard them mentioned. After reading about them though, I think I can appreciate the fact that there is a need to move Al Ain into the 21st century while trying to maintain its character. While culturally and historically Al Ain is of great significance to Emiratis, it would be sad to see it change into a place to only spend the weekends and if the new developments breathe further life into the city, that is a good thing.

Abu Dhabi (really big) Projects

Just to be fair I thought I would search around to find a similar link for some of the projects going on in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a single resource, apart from the Abu Dhabi Projects List which brings most of them together. I know there are a number of others and with far better coverage on sites such as TDIC Projects, Aldar Development, and Sorouh Real Estate.

I guess one of the more interesting ones for us here is Noor Al Ain. Not sure what happened with the 4-storey height restriction on this one.

Al Ain Rain

When we arrived we really didn’t expect to see much rain at all; at least not until winter as in Doha. Since June we have a number of light summer showers (but only ever lasting 10-15 minutes) and then earlier this week we actually had a few storms that provided a distraction from the normal hot sunny afternoons. Strange that it rains here during summer but not being science minded I guess it all makes sense due to the mountains or something. I wonder if it will be as wet and cold here in winter as it was in Doha.

Views over Al Ain

Al Nagfa is a very run down and for the most part abandoned restaurant perched on a small hill on the edge of Sanaiya. It is a shame that they don't renovate the place because it really is the best spot to get a view over Al Ain. The combination of low buildings, sand, trees, dry wadi beds, and mosques blend with the date palm farms spread throughout the place.


Well, we finally made it back up the hill with the camera the other day (I think the pace of life here is getting the better of me) and the view really does give you a little idea of the scope of Al Ain... spread out and not a high rise in sight!

By the way... the housing complex in the foreground is the other one many from HCT live in. It is one of the few big ones around town. Our villas are bigger and in a far nicer location, but this one is nicer looking (although there are problems with maintenance apparently).

Cambridge Diploma

Spotted this sign the other day and being from a marketing background know the benefit of branding things. Not sure about the ties with Cambridge University here, but I am sure they would at least appreciate the fact they have a presence in Al Ain.

SAEL anyone?

There are normally at least a couple of ways to spell Arabic words in English seeing how most of it has to be done phonetically. While I know how to spell "sale" I can appreciate this spelling of "sael". At the end of the day we know what they mean!

Al Ain Zoo

Yesterday we headed off for our first visit to Al Ain Zoo, and being that it is the middle of summer and 40+ degrees, it is only open from 4pm. It isn’t too far from home (the same for most things in Al Ain) and right beside my work and was a nice afternoon to go as it was overcast (while driving there we got one of our first Al Ain rain showers). So was it only silly westerners that head out to the zoo in mid-summer? Not at all. There was a nice mix of Emirati’s, Omani’s, with the odd western tourist/local thrown in.

The zoo has been undergoing major redevelopment so at the moment it is about half the size it used to be. Added to this to entrance fee has increased for 2 to 10 Dirham, which still makes it a very cheap way to pass the time. It really is a nice zoo as zoos go with big new enclosures and all the animals looked well taken care of. Unlike Doha Zoo, in Al Ain many of the enclosures have glass viewing windows rather than bars which keeps the animals removed from the viewing public. Another of the aspects we really liked were the intermittent fine sprays of cold water along the walkways which not allows the viewing public to cool off, but quite a few of the animals as well.

There is something to be said for wandering around a zoo at dusk. This one has the added advantage of having Jebel Hafeet in the background, which just adds to the overall atmosphere of the place as night slowly falls. About 8pm there was a hunting bird and snake show (with a rather cute little mouse that was not food). It was nice to see the Falcons and Owls just doing what they do without it being a circus sideshow. We even patted a rather huge and scary looking snake (I have left K and A’s hands in the shot for proof). Strange how it takes moving half way around the world to actually touch a snake!

Jebel Hafeet

Finally made it up to Jebel Hafeet today. At about 1240 meters, it dominates the skyline of Al Ain and while not the highest mountain in the UAE it is the most well known. At the base is the Green Mubazzarrah, which is a very green area with parks, hot springs and spas, plus a small lake that the springs drain into (there are also small cabins there). The road up the mountain is as impressive as you may read about and on the way to the summit where there is a large car park and cafe you pass the Grand Mercure Hotel and one of the ruling families palaces (which must be spectacular to be inside with the views).

First months transport around Al Ain

The white and gold taxis in Al Ain are great! Not only cheap and plentiful (unlike Doha), but it is always an adventure into the unknown. Most drivers are from Pakistan or Afghanistan, and the existence of English is quite often very minimal if there at all. Directions can easily be lost in translation as it is all pretty much landmark based (as in Doha), which means until you get a general idea about the place you can end up going for a little drive prior to reaching your destination.

Two major problems I have had are to do with the lack of taxis near the college which has resulted in having to wait around for a lift or going for a wander up the road until one appears (either taxi or lift). The other problem is to do with my pronunciation of things as simple as “zoo”. Regardless of my own deficiencies in language and directions I have managed to make my way around town without any major dramas and have enjoyed many interesting (and very hard to follow) conversations with various drivers.

A couple of the more interesting drivers I have had:

The ex Afghani policeman who the first time I was with him explained how he came to Al Ain because his home was too dangerous. His village had been bombed which he showed me through actions and sound effects. Following that were questions regarding how dangerous Australian animals were, which was followed by him acting out what would happen if he saw a “deadly snake” in Australia (or anything else dangerous for that matter) – this entailed him hiding behind the steering wheel, taking out his sub machine gun (make believe of course), and shooting the snake, crocodile, or bear(???) (with full sound effects). The second time I was in his taxi he conveyed to me he had been driving his taxi in Dubai all night and had come back to Al Ain about 5am... this was about 7:30am so my guess is he hadn’t been asleep for at least a day.

There was a Pakistani driver who had been driving in Al Ain for 10 years and was very proud of the fact that he had been able to learn a number of languages (I think these included Arabic, English, German, French and “American”) just through talking to his passengers. He was very happy with his best “Good hevening sur. How R yoor tunite” with which he greeted me - it was about lunchtime, and these words came out as freely as Manuel’s best line from Faulty Towers BUT his English was far better than I can speak or understand any of the other languages he has picked up so he gets my complete respect!

Another was a very smiley elderly driver who made me save his mobile number for when I needed a taxi. The downfall of this strategy was that my Arabic is as non-existent as his English so I couldn't tell him where I was so he could come and pick me up!

My hat goes off to the many other drivers who got me where I needed to go regardless of our complete lack of understanding of each other. Hand signals work well and a tip (no matter how small) is always greeted by thanks and a smile.

As well as taxis I have also been lucky enough to be offered lifts home by a number of my students which I have been very appreciative of. Not only for the lack of needing to wait around for a taxi, but also the insights they have given me into life in Al Ain.

...not so humble home...

I have already eluded to this, but our villa is huge. Not huge in a mansion kind of way, but huge in far bigger than we had before or what we expected. Really though I guess it is no bigger than a family home, but at the moment with hardly any furniture and here by myself is very big and empty. I am actually living in the kitchen and a kind of walk through hallway area that comes straight of it.

Upstairs there are 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms plus a big lounge room which opens onto a big split level patio over the double carport. Downstairs is the kitchen, laundry, “powder room” and bathroom, entrance foyer, a huge lounge and dining room, plus the hallway that runs down the back of the kitchen (a bit like two small office areas). Plus off the carport is a small maids quarters which is basically a small bedroom and bathroom that doesn’t have internal access to the villa. There are 12 internal doors, 2 entrance doorways plus 3 glass sliding doors and another two glass doors which open up from two of the bedrooms onto the small back balcony. All the windows and glass doors are double glazed and really only the main entrance door lets in sound and heat. The whole place is centrally air conditioned and there are more lights, light switches and power points that you could poke a whole bundle of sticks at! There is even a small blue domed ceiling in the entrance foyer... Thinking about it, the place probably isn’t much bigger than our home in Brisbane, but compared to Doha it seems about 4 times the size! Will be able to swing many cats with ease!

Of course the main problem is filling it up...

Maybe that is why it is behind Al Ain Mall...

It is a good location and very central... it does seem very quiet until you go outside. But the only "real" noise I hear inside is the call to prayer (which is fine with me) as we a located in between two mosques. The "housing complex" (rather than "compound") is nice and clean with a couple of pools and gym plus for some reason several non-working fountains, as well as 4 entrance gates and numerous security guys, cleaning and gardening guys and maintenance guys but in contrast to Doha not one of them wear blue overalls!

Intercontinental Hotel

For the best part of the first week in Al Ain we called the Intercontinental Hotel home, and not a bad “home” at all. Ashur loved the concept of room service and got very use to the sound of K picking up the phone and food turning up at our front door (after all when you aren’t really paying for it you may as well use it). The hotel is nice (although a little worn around the edges) and no problems with the service (and once again when you aren’t paying for it there really is nothing to whinge about at all).

Our room looked out over the pool and small date farms towards Al Ain Mall in one direction and over the border into Oman with Buraimi backed by the mountains in the other. Not a bad view to wake up to each morning and too bad it was only for a week! Also a nice way for K and A to spend the week before heading back to Doha for their final month in Qatar.