Toy sales in the UAE increased 17 per cent last year, defying a trend that saw the market worldwide shrink
At least my family’s arrival in the UAE has had one positive influence.
Toy sales soar in UAE – The National Newspaper (14 June 2009)
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090613/BUSINESS/706139988/-1/NEWS
All dressed up. Elle's a lady of the night, Myles as a ninja, and Lewis as Batman's off-sider, Robin
This weekend we attended a fancy dress pool tournament party at a friend’s place. They had a wonderful villa with their own private backyard which is a bit of a luxury in Dubai. They made the most of it and had two large dogs running around. It would be so much better environment than the majority of dogs in Dubai – including the ones we hear in our apartment complex.
It was tough to come up with something for me and my pool partner go to this party as. We wanted to either bring something Australian, or locally. The final idea, after many options, was to do a delightful corny play on words and dress as “Sheikh, Rattle & Roll”. We bought some local Kanduras (robe/dishdasha) for the sheikh part, we had baby’s rattles, and – running out of inspiration – we hung some bread rolls from the outfit. The final piece was perhaps not the greatest idea, as we had the dog closely following us around for most of the time. My head piece was probably normal sized, so it failed to fit my watermelon-like cranium. So unfortunately it fell quite a few times which gave the dog the split second opportunity on two occasions to quickly snaffle up the bread rolls I had.
We thought the dog was just following Paul & I for the bread rolls, but it turned out the dog was actually owned previously by a local guy who wore the same clothing. The story goes that the dog may have been mistreated as he is apparently not a big fan of the local dress. So it was perhaps our fault when the usually friendly hound nipped the chin of one of our fellow revelers, in an unprovoked attack. Or perhaps it was just the excitement of the evening.
The night was organised for a number of reasons. It all came clear when the cakes took over the pool table, where we were allegedly playing a keenly organised and Microsoft Excel powered tournament. Not a lot of competition there, one of the games was lost off the initial break — by none other than my wife, Elanor! Perhaps she could have been more useful out on the street, she and my boss dressed as ladies of the night. The party was for the one of the ex-PNG pilots who made Captain, as well as a host of birthdays which would prove difficult to celebrate together as most people avoid the Dubai summer.
A good night was had by all – even the “Man in skirt” who briefly masceraded as dog food. Unfortunately we had to be one of the first to leave, as we probably had close to the youngest kids there. Lewis was asleep for a great deal, but the noise became too much. And when he finds that second wind, it’s difficult to put him back to sleep. And also difficult to make him enjoy himself. Mind you, this was 12:00 midnight when we left, early. The party consisted mostly of the local PNG community, who know how to party! Just ask my Aunty in Cairns who has PNG folks next door.
The other good thing about PNG parties, is they know how to put on a feed! We were tasked with bringing Elle’s famous potato salad, but left it on the bench at home. I intended to return home alone to fetch it after we arrived, but the hosts insisted there was more than enough food, which there was.
There’s only so many times I can read Myles the two or three kids books we have here before I go crazy. And I think that point has passed. All our books are still in storage in Brisbane. And knowing we’ll just have to move again means we don’t want to buy too many more right now.
Besides, Myles and I used to love visiting the Brisbane City Council library on the weekend and regularly getting a new bagful of books. It was also a pretty cool place to just sit and chill-out. We have been wanting to try the same here, but other things have always taken priority. Tonight however, I thought we’d finally visit a Dubai library. “Gertie” – the name we’ve given our female-voiced GPS – gave us some pretty terrible directions. We were pretty much led onto the Metro’s tracks, so we had to do some rapid reversing, then a large detour to get to the library. The original directions suggested we’d make it there from our house in five minutes, including the traffic it was almost 45.
When we got out of our car Myles asked if he’d be allowed in, which I thought was a pretty odd question. It turned out to be well-founded. As we entered the gate a security guard walked straight up to us and said Myles wouldn’t be allowed in. Then he asked how old Myles was. I said four, which made him shake his head. Only six year olds are allowed to enter the library.
Next to the main library building there was a “Children’s Library”. Surely we could get in there, nope – he said it was the same deal. Only six years and above. I said we were just having a look, can we at least do that. He said we’d need to test it with the staff on duty.
We did. And failed. The lady immediately asked how old Myles was, and four was the incorrect answer. I suggested he was very smart and is very good with books, but she was not wanting to budge. When I asked why they had such a rule, she said kids at four cannot read, and they make a mess of books. I didn’t agree, but that made no difference.
The only ground I did make, was I’m allowed to get a card for myself, then I can take a family loan of kids books. As she was saying this though, she seemed to be reducing herself to the fact Myles would most certainly ruin her books anyway.
This situation was quite upsetting for poor Myles. He was looking forward to going to the library this evening, so much so he almost ate all his spinach. His hopes certainly ended though with the ridiculous circular rule that kids should only read books when they’re able to read books. So I decided to get the library card another time – Myles would have to wait in the separate kids library while I did that anyway.
When we got outside I consoled him by saying we’d buy him a book instead. I spotted a bookshop sign from across the busy road. We made our way to it, and when we got close enough I saw it was an Islamic religion book shop. Hmm. We entered anyway, and they did happen to have a small kids non-denominational section. I picked up the classic educational resource pictured. Not only does the cover have a misspelt title, it also has some odd graphics which bear no resemblance to any of the content. It does have a train though. And it was a great relief to the slap in the face the Dubai library provided.
Opposites and Defferences (sic)
Next time we visit, Myles is primed. He’s magically become six!
the average UAE resident creates one of the largest carbon footprints in the world
Despite this tidbit from the latest issue of the World Bank’s Little Green Data Book, Abu Dhabi has put in a strong bid to host the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Guess it may have to be a case of do as I say, not as I do.
Abu Dhabi has good case for Irena, says UN chief – The National Newspaper (26 May 2009)
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090525/NATIONAL/705249859/1010
Addendum:
Abu Dhabi was since selected to host the agency: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010085.html
The results are in. Mercer’s 2009 Quality of Living survey highlights that Dubai sits on top spot in the Middle East & Africa for Quality of life and Infrastructure. The many infrastructure improvements has helped it to climb six places in the rankings. Take that Abu Dhabi!! (They’re down to 3rd position for Quality of living, and 4th in Infrastructure.)
The survey is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.
However, after reading their guidelines to define quality of life, I worry about all the other cities surveyed. To be honest, I would probably give Dubai less than glowing scores for the majority of factors.
Incidentally, top spot worldwide is Vienna, Austria.
Also of note, Auckland, New Zealand tops the Asia Pacific stakes, just ahead of Sydney – Australia’s top most city. Oh dear, does anyone take this rubbish seriously? 😉
Mercer’s 2009 Quality of Living survey highlights (25 May 2009)
http://www.mercer.com/referencecontent.htm?idContent=1340700
With such a large Indian presence in Dubai, a lot of the online news for the area have links to Indian ads. One that got my attention this morning was the Bengali Matrimony web site, http://www.bengalimatrimony.com/
It’s mostly the same as what (I assume) you’d expect on an online dating site back home. It has a few differences though. It seems to have a pretty comprehensive search on religion, region and language – I guess as India’s such a large, populous and diverse place.
But I thought the face search was most interesting
(http://profile.bengalimatrimony.com/search/smartphotoform.php).
What it does is allow you to return all the prospective brides that have a facial similarity to your chosen Bollywood actress. Woohoo!
It seemed a bit hit and miss from my trial of this (for purely research purposes obviously), but obviously worth a try.
Here’s a report from the Global City conference – held in Abu Dhabi – which highlights how the emirate is taking definite steps to promote a an effective brand that can better support its growth plans.
Abu Dhabi .. which never pursued the property-based strategy of Dubai, has been far less affected by the downturn. Its municipal leaders’ strategy is threefold – not to repeat the mistakes of Dubai, to diversify from dependence on oil, and to turn Abu Dhabi into a sustainable global city with a strong cultural element.
http://www.localgov.co.uk/index.cfm?method=news.detail&id=78575&layout=2
Last weekend a friend’s niece wanted to go to Wild Wadi Water Park for her birthday, which sounded like more than a good enough reason to go. In fact, the reason was overkill. I wanted to go anyway. In the day or two leading up to it, I felt as excited as a 12 year old.
We arrived close to the opening time, which is definitely a good idea. It is far quieter before lunch than after. In fact, Saturdays I hear they open from 8am for families which would be even better, to avoid the hottest part of the day.
Myles, Lewis & I with the stunning Burj Al Arab backdrop
The place is very easy to find, just find the Burj Al Arab and more or less drive to the bottom of it. Or, follow the signs.
Parking was simple as well. Things were going too well. We were brought back to Dubai reality at the ticket counter. We received the tickets to get in only after more than 30 minutes of painful dialogue and tinkering with the register, and a receipt which was almost a metre in length.
If we were a bit cheesed off then, we would even more cheesed off a few seconds later as we hit a security check-point. They were going through all bags to remove any food or drinks. And to our surprise, this included water. We managed to accidentally smuggle in a large bottle of water under the pram, which always helps.
All was forgotten once we could smell the water and hear the screams of people enjoying themselves. I’d say the park’s arrangement is probably a little obscure if not eccentric. We managed to find a row of banana lounges right next to the kids park which we made our base. Then everyone went in their own direction. I spent the majority of my time in the kids park with Myles. But I didn’t mind this at all. It was loads of fun. I did get questioned a couple of times though to make sure I did have a kid with me. They either didn’t spot Myles going down the rides like a bullet in front. Or perhaps I looked like I was having a little too much fun.
After a little while, the grown-up guys suggested we act like grown-up guys and made a move toward the obligatory huge steep slide that water parks the world over have. But finding the actual line for it turned out to be harder than you’d expect. In fact it was too hard for me, I gave up. When we were still looking for it we even found a ride which seemed to take us in the right direction until we were on it, and we found ourselves back to where we started. The ride was interesting to say the least. We were given huge inflated donuts to sit on, and the slide was actually sloped upwards at a 30 degree angle. We travelled up the hill powered by huge squirts of water. The power from the jets of water was so strong the sensation was (what I’d imagine to be) like that of a bidet jet. I did the ride once on a shared donut with our friend’s 9 year old. The second time on an individual donut where it wasn’t as embarassing to be the loudest screamer.
The place had racks of life jackets everywhere for people to freely use. I guess it’s a sign that a lot of the visitors can’t swim. Although I wasn’t used to seeing it, it was nice they were giving it a go. I never thought about it, but I guess if you can’t swim in Australia you simply wouldn’t go to these kinds of places.
The time at the park flew so quickly. We originally had planned to leave just after lunch which meant staying at the park for 3 hours or so. In the end it was a struggle to leave after 5. If we didn’t have dinner plans that night, we certainly would have stayed much longer. But we know where it is, and what tickets to now ask for, and what not to take in, and where all the rides start and end, so we can always go back. Although, we’ve received advice that there are even greater water parks in other emirates of the UAE which we maybe should experience before returning to Wild Wadi.
I’d certainly recommend going to Wild Wadi at least once though. It may be more popular (busy) than the others, but the variety of rides and the views of the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel are spectacular and I believe cannot be beaten.
World's largest ambulance - in Dubai, of course
Dubai has a worrying fascination with having the world’s largest anything. The latest record may not be as awe-inspiring as the tallest building, largest aquarium, etc, but it’s no less interesting. We now have the world’s largest ambulances.
Up to 20 people can be cared for in the fully equipped mobile clinic, complete with an intensive care unit and an operating theatre.
This is an extremely good idea considering how bad the Dubai traffic often is. And on top of this, from what I’ve seen, an ambulance with its lights flashing tend to get no preferential treatment at all. At least now, patients can receive more comprehensive treatment before reaching a hospital.
Mercedes-Benz Citaro Converted To Ambulance And Mobile Clinic | The Motor Report Auto News Blog (18 May 2009)
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/31414/mercedes-benz-citaro-bus-takes-worlds-largest-ambulance-title/
I thought this was an interesting story discussing the findings of a report on the private education sector. Despite some of its assumptions, a telling fact is that 85% of students in Dubai are in private schools.
Getting what you pay for from a private education – The National Newspaper (18 May 2009)
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090518/OPINION/705179918/1080