Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan started nearly a week ago and I was keen to post my impressions of the holy month and its effect on life in Dubai. However the majority of the UAE Blogging community have done this very eloquently. I personally keen to abide by the local practices - fortunately there were numerous articles in What's On, Time Out Dubai and the local press clarifying the background and behavior during the Ramadan period.

A few observations:

1. The traffic at certain periods during the day - is really, really heavy - even more so than usual
2. I need to be sensitive to my colleagues who are fasting - as they can get a little distracted as they head towards Iftar
3. The more relaxed pace of things (when not stuck in traffic) makes a nice change

It certainly has given me time to reflect and think which is a precious commodity in an often hectic lifestyle that Dubai can offer. However I will only be able to enjoy about a week of Ramadan in Dubai as I will be traveling constantly through October.

Turkish Delight

Another week draws to a close and I have visited another country for the first time - Turkey. I have to admit to having absolutely no preconceived ideas about what it might be like.

Upon arrival at the airport there was the usual 300 meter race from the place to immigration only this time if you were a non-national you had to pitstop at the Visa on arrival desk get a 15/10 euro/pound stamp in your passport before presenting your passport. I thought it would be like the long wait I had at Qatar airport but both queues moved quickly and my and my colleagues were soon through.

Our next challenge was the local currency - I had no idea what the exchange rate was - so with some judicial choosing of "the amount in the bottom left option" of the ATM soon armed us with sufficient amounts of Turkish Lira to get a taxi.

Having had some quite "entertaining" Taxi journeys in Dubai I thought I would be experienced for mostly anything - this was soon put straight. The majority of cabs in Turkey are bright yellow Tofaz's which are locally made. They are rather basic and lacking in space to say the least - but this did not stop our Taxi driver do his best Aryton Senna impression to the hotel some 30km away. It would have been OK if I had the option to use a seatbelt in the rear - however the receiving end for the belt was conveniently hidden from sight in the boot of the car. Cue - 40 mins of hanging on for dear life.

I stayed in the business center of Istanbul so sadly did not really get to see the much more beautiful and historic old center of Istanbul. However we did go out for an excellent sea food meal (salt roasted Sea Bass - was simply amazing) at a restaurant with a great view across the Bosphorus.

I could not agree with people more who coined the phrase that Turkey is the gateway to the East. However I was really surprised just how the "European" and the "Asian" side differed greatly in atmosphere and architecture. One of the local Turkish guys (who did an excellent job looking after us) described the industrial area we were in as "sorry about this - it looks like Bosnia here".

I had a nice time in Turkey - the customers and local guys were warm, friendly and very keen to help. The only reservation I had was the Princess Hotel I stayed in is in urgent need of a refurbishment. I will be staying in the luxurious Movenpick next time.

HRV

I took my car off road for the first time the other day. However it was up a kerb on to to some and to park at the office. Fortunately it gave me the opportunity to park next to Chris's Wrangler. It as quite fun seeing them parked together for the first time. I am sure that this will be a regular event when I go on my first desert drive next month. The Wrangler will almost certainly be called into action to drag me out of "stuck" situations.

In preparation for this I have dubbed his Wrangler the "HRV" or Hummer Recovery Vehicle.

Saudi Syndrome

I made my first visit to Saudi Arabia - my third visit to a new country for me in as many weeks. I flew to Riyadh on Saudi Arabian Airlines - which was more "east end" than "west end". It did give me a chance to read the Saudi Arabian English newspaper the "Arab News" - I was quite taken by the green colored paper on the front and back pages. Also Saudi Air provide a prayer area at the rear of the large 777 plane - a nice touch for the majority of their customers.

I stayed in the very nice Al Faisaliah hotel - the room was really impressive with a simply huge walk in shower and bath tub in the elegant bathroom. The service was also excellent with each floor having a dedicated "Butler" - it was late and I was in urgent need of an ironed shirt. The Butler arrived quickly and took my shirt and asked me when I wanted a wake up call - I replied 7.30am. Sure enough at said time, the room phone rang and not 60 seconds later a chap was knocking on my door with a crisply ironed shirt. Service to make me smile.

The people I met in Riyadh were all very warm and friendly - I had to agree with them that Riyadha was quite, more relaxed and a little cooler than Dubai. However it was not until I was on the flight back to Dubai that I noticed a distinct lack of a few things in Saudi Arabia:

1. Booze - I noticed a large number of my fellow passengers joined me in Dubai Duty free
2. Women - I saw none other than on the plane
3. Music - there was none playing in public anywhere I visited
4. Radio - there was none in any of the cabs we took
5. Billboards - none that I could see outside - I did see one in a shopping mall and the woman's face had been digitized out
6. Mannequin heads - they had all lost theirs

A friend of mine lived in Jeddah for almost 4 years - I can see now why he claims it was the ultimate health farm. With no booze and plenty of time to work out he lost a considerable amount of weight. I however found myself suffering from "Saudi syndrome" and all I wanted to do when I got back to Dubai was have a beer and 3G - "Girls, Gambling and Games" - nothing new there then...

A Bluffer's Guide to Arabic

In the office in Dubai unsurprisingly there are a large number of Arabic speakers - they were all keen that I picked up a few "essential" words and phrases that I should know. This was great as I like to know at least the hello, goodbye, thank you and please in any country I am in. I did spend a year learning Arabic when I was small but that was long forgotten. So in essence here is the little cheat sheet that my colleagues agreed would get me going:

Shoukran - thank you

As-Salāmu `Alaykum - peace be upon you - quite a formal greeting but very common in Dubai

wa `Alaykum As-Salām - and on you be peace - the response

Shou? - What?

Yalla - hurry up/come on

Khalas - finished!

Habibi - my darling - but used when you might want something from someone

ya'nni - a filler word - "that means" - I originally wondered if this was the name of someone! I was hearing things like "ya'nni...my cousin"

You can also combine these to:

Yalla Habibi - hurry my love!

Shoo Habibi - what's up darling? (which I saw used to a crying baby - very cute)

This is never going to get me an A-Level in Arabic but people certainly appreciate the effort - even though it is small- and has me helped immeasurably in my day to to day life in Dubai.

I think I need to compile a similar list for Tagalog...

Jingle Bells

At rather short notice I made an impromptu business back to the UK this week - hence a rather shortage on blog postings. It was a rather interesting experience viewing the UK from an, albeit recent, Dubai expat point of view.

For a start the weather was really rather lovely - bright, sunny and warm - a nice change from the searing heat and humidity of Dubai. The office and hotel were clean, green and well organized. Also it was very nice to catch up with friends and colleagues whom I had not really had a chance to say farewell to on leaving the UK.

After a busy time in the office I stayed an extra day and went back to my home town of Cheltenham. Again I was struck by the regency architecture and the high aesthetic appeal the town has. It is something that despite living there for 20 years I had very much taken for granted.

I found myself in tourist mode and did something I never thought I would....take a photo of the clock in the Regent Arcade:


In the spirit of tourism I was surprised to see Morris dancing taking place in Cheltenham town center. For those of you who have not come across this quint-essential English activity - it basically consists of grown man dancing around with bells attached to their legs and waving with free abandon handkerchiefs in the air.

Wikipedia has a nice description of said Morris dancing. Though I think this video probably sums up Morris dancing as well as any:



Having see this - I was pleased to donate money to charity to any grown man cavorting around with bells and handkerchiefs in front of hundreds of people.

It put into perspective that things I might think of as odd in Dubai or other new countries for me are merely run of the mill for others.

Life is a beach

I took a few days off last week as I welcomed my second guest to Dubai. It was very pleasant to be able to joy the sights and sounds of Dubai without having to worry about work matters and allowed me to engage full holiday mode.

In between the eating out and shopping - we took one day to visit the beach. While there are a number of public beaches in Dubai for me and my guests' visit to a Dubai beach we thougt it would a good idea to go to a beach club and have use of their facilities.

In the vincity of Dubai Marina there are about half a dozen hotels each offering the option to use their pool and beach facilities for a charge. A few colleagues at work suggested that the best value option was the Oasis Beach Hotel - and good value it was.

The normal rate for a day visit is 85AED but on production of a DIC/DMC card this is cut in half to a very reasonable 42.50AED.

While the Oasis Beach Hotel may not be as salubrious as say the Hilton or Le Merdien the pool and beach facilities were great.

Upon entry they offer a wide range of water sports and climate information:


There was a large jacuzzi pool, a covered kids pool and a main chilled pool with a shaded swim up bar area - great for lazy, boozy days:


The walk to beach is all of two minutes from the pool area and through a nice grassed area:


The beach itself has a football and volleyball courts alongside the usual Sun lounges and water sports areas:


My friend and I had a very relaxing day - I was slightly surprised by the number of Liverpool FC shirts I saw indicating a high proportion of holidaying brits staying at this value hotel. I was also a little worries that the noise from the construction of the JBR appartments would cause a disturbance - but in reality it did not bother me at all and was lost in the the regular background noise.

Overall 8/10 - great value, big pool and quiet beach. I will be a regular.

Two months in and I feel fine

At the end of my second month in Dubai I thought it would a good idea to list the things I enjoy/like/love about being here. For some reason it is easier to write about things that are bad or troublesome here i.e. the traffic, restricted internet, rent costs and inflation.

10 things I enjoy in Dubai:

1. The people and friends I have met here
2. Not having to iron anything myself
3. The view from my apartment - especially at night
4. Delivery everything
5. Gas Station attendants
6. Living two minutes from the beach
7. Having a distinct lack of pikeys/chavs anywhere
8. Zero income tax
9. Having a gym and swimming pool available
10. No more hayfever

I am sure there are many more - but these are a few things that make me smile.

Bab Al Shams

A friend of mine was keen to explore a place called "Bab Al Sham" - he saw the sign posted on the large roundabout where Dubailand will be built. At the weekend we jumped into his huge 4x4 (Nissan Armada) and took the short drive of 37km through the desert.

The drive was actually quite interesting as at certain intervals there were large billboards of landscapes of various "world projects" that are being planned...for instance there was "Europa" and "Americas" - it all looked rather impressive.

Soon enough we arrived at Bab Al Shams - it is basically a luxury resort out in the desert. They offer lots of outdoor activities such as horse riding and falconery, also they put on traditional Arabic evening entertainment with Sheesha and belly dancing - sadly I did not get to see any of that on my short visit.

We had a little nose around and saw the very nice pool area but were not able to get into any of the rooms as they were fully booked at the time.

What did get our attention was the smell of grilled chicken kebabs - so my friend stopped in and tried their buffet lunch. It was excellent with a really good variety of food - my favourites being the grilled chicken kebab and the handmade ice cream. At 165AED not including beverages it was a little expensive but in the middle of the desert not many other options presented themselves.

The rack rate for a room starts at 1600AED a night (that is a lot!) but they have special offers at around half that price. I would go there for a weekend break providing the weather cooled down a little. The infamous "hair-dryer" wind was in effect and gave an amazing burning sensation on the toes of my flip-flopped feet. How people were enjoying the pool was a little beyond me in what felt like 50C temperatures.

Twisted Melons

So far in my night spot adventure's in Dubai I have yet to visit a "real" nightclub (other than the Marine's Club - which does not really count)

I jumped at the chance to go to a night called "Twisted Melons" which is at the iBo club at the back of the millenium hotel. I was told it was an indie night and even better it would be free to get in. On arrival at 10.30pm the place was fairly quiet, however after enjoying a couple of Vodka Tonics I turned around to be greeted by a throng of arrivals.

As a former student of the University of Liverpool I was well attuned with the majority of Brit Pop music from its hay day in the mid to late 90s. I was a little worried that in the first couple of hours I only recognized the odd song here and there - by 1am it was a different story. Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur, Killerz and many others streamed out across the packed dance floors. My friends and I danced till the early hours in some vain effort to re-live those glory indie days at University.

At about 3am I called it a night and headed off to find a taxi and a kebab - it was amazing for those few hours I forgot I was in Dubai and was well and truly back in "Madchester"

Overall 9/10 - everything you could want from a brit pop night - lots of classics and a crowd who were really loving it. Once a month to shine on is probably all I could handle though.

Teatro

I met some very nice people this Thursday through a long time friend of mine. Like myself they were fairly recent arrivals into Dubai. This led to lots of common ground for some quite amusing conversation as we exchanged "settling in" stories. I did feel a little sorry for one of the chaps who works for HSBC - so he ended up getting some teasing for their "special" customer service in the UAE.

After a few drinks we headed for dinner at Teatro which is situated on the third floor of the Rotana Towers. The restaurant has a very nice atmosphere and tasteful decor. The service was attentive but the most interesting thing was the menu. It was an interesting fusion of western food and eastern cooking styles - with a wide ranging menu.

I ordered a roasted lamb loin - cooked to perfection. I also sampled one of my friend's Ahi Tuna - again really well prepared. We did not opt for any wine but the list looked comprehensive.

Overall - 8.5/10 - great food if a little too "noveau" for me but I will certainly be back.

It's getting hot in here...

I am glad I was not imagining things yesterday. It was really hot in Dubai yesterday - yes it is usually always hot here but yesterday was extra hot! I emailed this to a fellow blogger yesterday:

"I have experienced my first "blast furnace" heat levels today in Dubai - the car thermometer was at 47C - not so humid though - my ears were burning from the short walk from the car to the office!"

Seems that Gulf News agreed with my assesment and yesterday was "officially" the hottest day of the year at 45.9C not far behind the all time high of 47.5C. They also went on to mention the bad visibility later in the day - which I experienced on my drive back from the office:



I really would not like to be working outside or without AC in such weather conditions - sadly many people are...

Grey's Anatomy

As a long time ER and more recently an avid viewer of House I was keen to watch Grey's Anatomy. I ordered the Season 1 on DVD from Amazon and have devoured the first five episodes. Needless to say I have enjoyed this show hugely.

The character development and interaction between the main protagonists is excellent - and "Meredith Grey" is smart, funny and sexy all at once - perfect.

I am looking forward to watching the rest of season one and season 2 is due for release in the US September 12th. Sometimes I wonder why I ever subscribed to cable TV here...

Overall 10/10 - even better than House!

Two for the money

Two for the money is a movie that had all the key ingredients for me to want to watch it:

1. A good cast - I enjoy Al Pacino movies
2. An American sports theme
3. A gambling/spread betting theme
4. Rene Russo

I enjoyed the movie but I had a couple of reservations. The plot just lacked a littel cutting edge to it - it didn't want to be an all out comedy or an all out thriller and consequently kind of missed being really good at any one thing. It had some aspects of the high pressure sales seen in Boiler Room and the comeback kid feeling of Jerry Maguire but ended up being wide of the mark of those two movies.

Overall - 6/10 - Not bad and an interesting premise that does not quite deliver

IKEA - Degrees of freedom

IKEA's world dominance is quite amazing. Everywhere I have been recently the blue and yellow signature warehouse has been prominent - especially here in Dubai- their recent relocation to Dubai Festival City has allowed them to create an IKEA of epic proportions which is also nicely integrated into a modest but good looking shopping mall.



In the aftermath of the unpacking with Pickfords I discovered that they had misplaced the screws to two sets of shelves. This currently means I have about 12 boxes of books waiting to be unpacked but nowhere to store them. I decided the cheapest thing to do was to get a couple more matching "Billy" bookcases from IKEA while the insurance claim was processed - I was also in the market for a new bed and despite my best efforts in looking at stores such as Home Center, PAN, Marina and The One - I found nothing to my quite modern European tastes.

It was not without some apprehension that I approached the idea of shopping at IKEA. In both the appartments I have owned in the UK I have had to buy some furntiture from IKEA and in both instances it has been a rather painful experience. Below is re-count based on factual events.

IKEA UK Hell

1. Decide which of the three IKEAs in Southern England to drive too
2. Choose North London branch from the Hampshire/Surrey boarders as it probably has te best access
3. Spend one hour 20mins battling the M25 and North Circular
4. Spend a further 20mins trying to find a parking space
5. Another 90minutes wandering around the maze like store to write down the aisle numbers of the furniture I am after
6. 45mins loading up several trollies with heavy flat pack furtniture
7. 20mins in the check out queue
8. Checkout and take it to the home delivery point
9. 20 mins while argument ensues that Basingrad is out of the North London's Delivery area
10. 20 mins getting a refund
11. Drive to Bristol branch - 2hrs
12. Repeat steps 4 to 8.
13. Finally get the furniture delivered 3 days late and having being charged 100UKP for the pleasure
14. Spend the following weekend in pain from self assembling (poorly) flat pack- I am very adverse to DIY

IKEA Dubai Heaven
1. Drive to festival park - about 40mins from Dubai Marina
2. Park next to the entrance
3. Select furniture and note down isles
4. Get a nice chap in the store to help load the trolleys
5. Have a nice checkout lady open a lane for me
6. Have another nice chap ensure I have all the parts for the bed I was buying
7. Take it to the home delivery section
8. Wait a couple of days and the furniture is not only delivered for FREE but also assembled for FREE
9. Enjoy new bedroom suite and shelves

I was really pleased. This type of service is nigh impossible to find in the UK at any sort of reasonable cost.

I for one may even consider shopping there again - unlikely I will ever walk into an IKEA in the UK though.