After years of struggling and months of delay Burj Dubai was finally opened. At 828 m it is the world’s tallest building. I saw it three times unfinished in three consecutive years, saw it growing and getting taller and taller. Interesting detail: Its final name is not Burj Dubai, as it was renamed to Burj Khalifa in honor of the top sheikh (leader) of neighboring Abu Dhabi who came to the tower’s rescue and secured completion.
私は英語とスペイン語の先生です。
Have you always wondered what Muslim women hide under their black burkas? The mystery’s been solved: Revealing lace lingerie! Because according to Islamic law, at home they can wear whatever they want. Go figure! Check out the full article here.
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Construction on the world’s tallest tower in Dubai has been halted due to the worldwide economic meltdown. Dubai developer Nakheel revealed the project as recently as last October when signs of turmoil were already abundant. The tower which doesn’t have a name yet is supposed to rival Burj Dubai Tower and work on the foundation is scheduled to resume within twelve months. Meanwhile, the not-yet-finished Burj Dubai Tower with its 800 meters is now the tallest building in the world, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the CN Tower in Toronto.
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From the time we entered the Souq Madinat Jumeirah everything we experienced was quite impressive and that’s also when we realized that a souq is not always a souq - it can be anything from an array of market stalls to a luxurious shopping mall with traditional Arabian elements eg pointed arches and domes. Soaking up the atmosphere at this bustling yet exclusive souq was quite something, but the place we called final destination on that night was the highlight of it all: a contemporary Moroccan restaurant with the exotic name of Shoo Fee Ma Fe. Everything was close to perfection, from the fountain with blue tiles and red flower petals at the entrance to ornamented alcoves, Moroccan live music and excellent service. Not to mention the food. Moroccan cuisine is based on tomatoes, eggplant, olives and olive oil, same as Greek food. It contains a lot of chilis and lamb of course. Absolutely amazing. I had grilled and marinated lamb cubes with tomatoes, red peppers and green chilis on the side. Included in the dinner were appetizers like eggplant paste, spicy chili paste, cauliflower with chili and tuna pie with a spicy sauce. There were also tons of olives, green and black in all possible sizes. The service was very professional with personal attention from one of the young yuppy-type managers. One of the waitresses was Chinese and she stayed at our table and chatted with us for a while. I was surprised to hear her say she didn’t like Dubai, she preferred China. Not the content surprised me but the fact that she said it at her workplace! She was very friendly like most Chinese but I think she got scolded for staying at our table too long because we didn’t see her again after that. Having been in Dubai twice and tried restaurants with many different cuisines, this one, Shoo Fee Ma Fe is on top of my list of favorites.
This is the last entry in my Dubai Diary. Next week I’ll start my China Journal. Stay tuned!
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As we explored the maze-like souq we came across all kinds of oddities - odd for us at least. Burkas as far as the eye reached, and these days they’re decorated with beads, sequins and other adornments. They are, however, still black. I’m just waiting for the day they start selling them in vivid colors, I might get one myself! Funny though, next to the burkas hang, sensously and seductively, tiny bellydance outfits in all colors of the rainbow. Amidst this array of garments, tapestry, sofa covers and pillow cases we saw stuff like “breast enlargement cream” ……. I did however find one thing that I wanted - and purchased: Tiger balm, manufactured in Singapore and originally from Burma. I swear on this potion for sore muscles, headaches or as an immediate relief for a cold.
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Most people think of Dubai as a glitzy, flashy up-and-coming metropolis of the 21st century, and that is true. What is mostly unknown, however, is that there is a different side to Dubai: The old markets and shopping alleys of downtown are anything but glamorous and convey the unique lifestyles of generations of immigrants from all over the Mideast and especially from India. We strolled around in the Deira Souq (souq means market) with its wooden canopy and crammed shop-after-shop architecture. We ended up in a tiny apparel store run by an Indian lady. The shop was filled from bottom to ceiling with thousands of garments in every conceivable color and pattern. Me and my friend asked to try a few of them on and the Indian lady asked what my size was. I answered “large” and she looked at me skeptically, then shook her head and said “no, you are small”. I pointed at a few garments and she fetched them for me in small size and, to my surprise, they fit!! I mentioned to her that my size in Japan is usually XL and in the United States M, to which she replied: “You know, in Dubai everybody is fat!” Hmm, I can’t really disclaim that, although when one leaves Japan everybody seems heavy, or big at least, even the Chinese, but more on that later. Anyway, here we were trying on Indian shirts in S size and they fit us! Knowing that bargaining is commonplace in Mideast countries we eventually got the price we wanted - half of what was first asked - and the Indian shopkeeper, a full-fledged businesswoman, still had a smile on her face and even offered us chai which was delivered by a staff member of another outlet in the neighborhood. Every now and then her kindergarden-aged son dropped in to check on his mom or to get some attention maybe and would then disappear again in the multitude of folks mingling on the sidewalks. I watched very similar scenes in China but like I said, more on that later!
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At Buddha Bar Dubai aircondition was at max and I felt chilly at first. It got hotter later on the dancefloor with Asian, Arabian and Latin tunes.
While in Dubai we just had to visit Buddha Bar at the Grosvenor House. The concept of this worldwide restaurant-club is a pretentious restaurant of fusion food (Asian with California cuisine), a hot night club playing the latest dance tunes, and at the centerpiece of it all a monumental bronze Buddha. An overflow crowd of locals and tourists alike was dining and dancing the night away, and we were served a drink while waiting for a table. The waiting turned out to be worthwile because we were seated in front of the great Buddha (see pic). Food portions were tiny, however, the taste was out of this world. I particularly remember the grilled calamar & lemongrass salad - VERY THAI - and the Manchurian shrimps. After dinner we headed to the dancefloor. Progressive house mixed with Asian, Arabian and Latin tunes came out of giant speakers. Even more gigantic bouncers were placed in every corner to make sure there were no infringements against morals and decency. The UAE is a Muslim country after all!
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That’s what I call a fun night out: sipping cocktails at the Skyview Bar on the 27th floor of the Burj-al-Arab Tower, 200 meters above sea level. We had a nice, comfortable table, but without a view! What’s worth mentioning is their unusual variety of exotic drinks. My first choice was a “Mega Mexican” and I was really excited to see it was made with Don Julio Reposado tequila which I hadn’t had in many years!! Fresh strawberries, strawberry cream liquor and black pepper gave the cocktail a unique touch. My second selection was a “Mumbaitini”. As the name suggests, it was mixed with Bombay Sapphire gin, liquorice, coriander, cloves and lemon. Finally I had a “Guava City” with Don Julio Reposado (addictive!), coriander, fresh guavas and FRESH CHILIS elaborated into an exquisite mousse. Mouthwatering! The cocktail was decorated with a big red chili and I ate that one too of course!! What’s worth mentioning is that in the sumptous restroom a lady perfumed me with Al Hamra, a heavy Oriental fragrance.
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Dubai cab drivers are chronically late. On the other hand, if you as a passenger/customer show up late be prepared for irritated looks and cabbies snapping at you! We soon realized that in Dubai if we needed a taxi at let’s say 7, we had to request it for 6:30 in order to get to our appointment on time. Trying to adjust to the culture and blend in, so to speak, we didn’t really worry too much about being on time. Were we wrong! The first time we were late for a requested cab we got a fierce look and the driver said without batting an eye “I have been waiting for you and I don’t get paid for waiting.” On a different occasion halfway to our destination the cab driver suddenly went “It’s three and my shift is over. I think I can’t drive you all the way there.” We convinced him to at least drop us off near our target location.
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The air-conditioned shopping and food fun was over as soon as we stepped out into the ardent mid-summer heat. To our dismay we realized that to get a cab we had to stand in a lengthy line … There were, however, clerks helping with organizing the cab craze, shoving couples into smaller cars and groups into vans. Other than taxis there was also an impressive array of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Alfa Romeos. Seems like affluent Dubaiites are fond of Italian stuff, not only with cars but also when it comes to garments. So here we were in this long long line and everybody was either completely covered in tunicas or dressed from head to toe in Gucci or Versace, bejeweled in lots of gold and women wearing lots and lots of makeup. What a contrast to Sapporo! When it was our turn we realized to our delight that we were going to ride in one of the famous lady cabs! The cars’ tops are painted candy pink and likewise, the drivers’ uniforms are pink and they cover their faces with white veils (see pics). The mall was only a few miles away from our lodging and hence we didn’t have much time to talk to the driver even though we had a thousand questions to ask her. We enjoyed the ride so much that we asked her to pick us up the next day at 11 AM. She said she’d be off from work at that time but promised to send a coworker of hers and even gave us her phone number, just in case. Only, neither she nor her coworker showed up the next day and when we called her (the colleague) she said she hadn’t heard a word about our promised pick-up. Luckily, she came anyway and drove us to Wild Wadi water park. Again, we asked her to come for us at 6 PM and again we waited in vain. We called but no answer. When we called the other lady driver she said she was in a different part of town and wouldn’t be able to come anytime soon. So, why didn’t we just hop into a street cab? We would have, if there had been enough! Seems like the population in Dubai is exploding and taxi supply can’t keep up with the increased demand. Basically, there were people at every street corner trying to catch a cab, and even though there are plenty, they’re mostly full.
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