sandCat in Dubai

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  • only in Dubai

    Dubai is not a city for walking, not really.

    I first noticed this when I went to the bank in Bur Dubai to close an account. I had to wait for them to process something so went for a walk to find a cup of coffee whilst I waited. In the centre of the triple-lane road is a big grassy island, but it is surrounded by a railing type fence so you cannot traverse it – once you have taken your life in your hands to cross the road you then have to walk parallel to it on the pavement (if there is one) to the next intersection to be able to cross all the way over.

    I guess they figured that it’s either too hot or too dusty or too far to really walk anywhere here so they didn’t factor it into the plans.

    The picture below I took outside our office yesterday. Nice crossing – straight into a thorny bougainvillea bush. Ouch.

    Dubai crossing
    [crossing into a bush]

  • Herbie to the rescue

    There is an 11 year old British boy living in the UAE that has developed an acute fear of flying. Despite hypnotherapy he flatly refuses to step foot on a plane. No one is entirely sure why he suddenly feels this way as he has flown, without incident, several times in the past.

    herbie
    [Herbie. Photo credit: Richard Cartwright]


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  • a cool graphic for a hot Ramadan

    According to The National newspaper we are in for a hot Ramadan this year, in fact one of the warmest in 33 years.

    They created this cool graphic to illustrate the level of heat we’ll be dealing with and have compared that with Ramadans dating back to 1979, the last time it fell back into July.



    It may be difficult to see in this format, so a link to the article and to the PDF.

  • Ramadan Kareem

    The holy month of Ramadan begins today. I wish you all a happy and blessed month.

    Ramadan Kareem 
    رمضان كريم

    [thanks to PhotoWallz for the image]

  • an oily anniversary

    When you think about the Middle East you probably also think about oil, crude oil that is – black gold that gushes out of the ground. People visiting us are often surprised to find out that less than 10% of Dubai’s GDP comes from oil. This is not the case however for Abu Dhabi where oil contributes a lot more to their wealth and economy, and to the UAE overall.

    Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first tanker of crude oil to leave Abu Dhabi and the beginning of the rapid growth and development that has been seen in the Emirate and the UAE alike. Efforts have subsequently been made to diversify into other industries leading to investments in sectors like football and space tourism, all fuelling a modern economy.

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