Toy Cars and Swimming Aliens

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

(I must be bored....)

Worker Ants

We were watching the workers at the base of Burj Dubai yesterday and couldn't help but thinking how they looked like a stream of worker ants going about what they needed to go about doing.

There seemed to be a lot of organisation to what from a distance looked like chaos. All of them were actually working in small groups that were taking care of one specfic small task.

It may be the tallest building in the world, and this lake between Burj and Dubai Mall looks huge! I wonder if these little ant-like guys in the yellow and blue overalls will be the ones to take the credit when it has it's grand opening...

Dubai Mall

Well Dubai Mall is huge... (and far from complete)... and takes forever to walk around!

There are many shops still preparing to open and finishing touches are still being added. The aquarium is very impressive and it is nice to have an "underwater world" here... although some of the wild life (particularly the seals) in the discovery centre upstairs could do with bigger areas to swim and play (but definitely not the worse I have seen); but the otters seemed happy, cute and very ottery.

Of course out the back of the mall is Burj Dubai and a lake which still has a long way to go to be complete. One of the strange things is if you walk across a little bridge you end up in a completely different small souq-type mall which has some really nice things that realistically should be in the mega mall to provide a little more variety... but oh well... what would I know!

Dubai Shamal

We drove up to Dubai yesterday to see what we could see (as we seem to do on a regular basis)… and really we couldn’t see much at all! A Shamal had blown in over the country and it was pretty yuck! When you combine wind, dust/sand, and cold there really isn’t much else to do apart from head for Mall of the Emirates and stay inside! Being the time of the Dubai Shopping Festival there were lots of sales to look at and by mid-afternoon it was very busy (seemed most people were heading inside as well). We did go to see if Global Village (big international shopping village open over the winter months in Dubailand) was open on the way home but it had been closed due to the high winds and dust.

Burj Al Arab at Night

We were in Dubai yesterday and as we were about to head on back to Al Ain from Ibn Battuta I realised we still hadn’t seen Burj Al Arab at nighttime. Was a beautiful night with lots of people seemingly doing the same thing we were. Rather impressive I must say… the one thing I have learnt though, I need to carry a tripod in the car! Next time I will make sure I can actually focus the camera fully!

We have promised ourselves that before year end we will go and spend a night there. Costs a fortune but I think it is just one of those experiences you have to have!

Bab Al Shams

Well what can you say… it is Jumerah luxury after all.

Possibly the nicest place I have ever stayed in; and possibly the most expensive as well. The only thing that could possibly improve the place is if it was actually in a nice location; a resort like this in the red dunes on Al Ain would be a bit special. The funny thing about Bab Al Shams though is that it is designed in such a way that it either looks like you are in the middle of an oasis or the dunes. The place is just a bit special and a very nice way to spend Eid.

“A” loved the kids club, “K” loved the luxury, I loved the fact we finally got to stay in a desert resort and go camel riding!

Dubai Megaprojects

Love, hate, or show complete indifference to the place, you can’t help but be impressed by Dubai. I came across the Dubai Megaprojects coverage in the Gulf News the other day, and it really gives some scope to what is happening in the city. With 1 in 6 of the world’s working cranes there (another 1 in 6 located in Shanghai), it really makes our previous take on Doha being a construction zone pale by comparison.

Update: Just thought to be fair I should add a direct link to Nakheel, Tatweer, and Emaar If it is the tallest, biggest, or most ambitious and in Dubai, one of these companies are doing it!

Happy Birthday to me!

So what do you do for your birthday when you live in the middle of the desert? Head for the snow of course!

This was our second trip to Mall of the Emirates, but our first actually inside Ski Dubai. It is a impressive structure and the closest thing to real snow I have ever seen. While we didn't go skiing, we did spend over an hour playing in the Snow Park (for AED70 each, which included the whole snow outfit minus gloves). Sliding, climbing and slipping around was cold, but lots of fun!












I must say both K and A looked particularly cute in their snow outfits... Me? My pants kept falling down!

Once again I got lost driving out of Dubai. The little tiny temporary yellow signs pointing to Al Ain are easy to miss, especially when you place yourself three lanes from a turnoff! I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon though.