Beams of Light on the Burj

Oh man, I have so much to blog about but have not been able to get it up here. So, to whet you're appetite for some interesting posts I thought I'd throw up an interesting picture to hold you over. I went to the Dubai Mall the other day for the first time. It's the largest mall in the world and has an amazing aquarium which I"ll be posting about soon. On the way home I stopped at signal and looked out of my window up at the Burj. Great shot with the sun beaming out from behind the cloud (clouds are rare here). Look for more good posts coming soon.

From 2008-11-16 Phone Pics

Synchronized Spotlights Show Up on the Burj Dubai

The Burj Dubai, currently under construction near my home, has added quite a few lights and moving synchronized spotlights on several different floors. My 'point and shoot' digital camera couldn't get the video adequately but I did manage a few lowlight shots from my rooftop. Enjoy.

From 2008-11-7 Volleyball & Musical & Etc

From 2008-11-7 Volleyball & Musical & Etc

NYTimes Article and Slideshow on Young Muslims in Dubai

From Desktop

There is a fascinating article and accompanying slideshow on the New York Times website that came out a few weeks ago. The article really rings true to me as I have contact with young Muslims in Dubai. At least check out the slideshow here.

Early Morning Surprise: A Beautiful Falcon

Late last week I was driving the kids to school and, in the neighborhood nearby, I passed a man holding a beautiful falcon on his arm. After dropping the kids off I raced back to find the man in a 4x4 with the falcon hooded and perched on the backseat. I inquired about the bird and found the man was a driver employed by his owner who had gone back into the house. He was not going come back out as he had gone to bed and the driver was taking the falcon to the vet for a checkup. I'm guessing that the man was a local Emirati who had his bird with him at a Ramadan tent overnight and he was going to sleep since he might have been up most of the night. This is a common practice for some Emiratis during Ramadan since they are fasting during the day but can eat during the night.

Falconry is, historically, a very popular sport on the Arabian Peninsula. Here is a video of falcon hunting from Sheikh Mohammad's website.

This bird was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Very impressive.

From 2008-9-11 Phone Pics - Falcon

From 2008-9-11 Phone Pics - Falcon

And this picture is from about 5 years ago when I went to Sheikh Mohammad's (different than the current ruler) majlis.

From Sheikh Mohammad & Falcon

Wanna Buy a Luxury Yacht?

Back in Dubai... where luxury yachts are advertised like shampoo, phones, or chewing gum. These Ferretti yacht ads are being advertised all up and down Beach Road.

I guess that says something about the percentage of the population with lots of disposable income.

Only in Dubai :)

From 2008-9-4 Phone Pics

From 2008-9-4 Phone Pics

Dubai Metro Test Run

Bear with me... we're in the final two weeks before traveling for 2 months. Things a little hectic. Here's something interesting to click on in the meantime - a test run video of the new Dubai Metro. The Metro will hopefully relieve some of the traffic problems in Dubai. And boy do we need that! Let's hope the Metro is up and running sooner than they say it will be.

Whose Decency and Whose Good Manners?

Saw this (see signs below) at the local grocery store here in Dubai. I wonder what happened to prompt this... wish I had been there just so I could know whether I'm being "decent" or "well mannered" on any given day.

But seriously, one of the challenges of living in a multi-cultural place like Dubai is that instructions like this are not clear enough. What is decent to one person is not decent to another. Good manners in one culture is not necessarily good manners in another. In some cultures it's great manners to belch loudly after the meal to show how much you've enjoyed it. But not in my culture of origin.

Just recently I was laughing with some Indian colleagues of mine. Seems that in Indian culture it shows concern for a person if they look tired or sick to say something like, "you look sick"... or "you look really worn out". A feisty response to a comment like that in my culture might be, "you don't look so good yourself"!

Duning at Camel Rock

A friend from out of town came through a month ago and despite the heat we drove out early one Saturday for some time in the dunes at Camel Rock. I've never hiked to the top but we did it that morning! Great view! And of course we crossed paths with the camels :)

"Everybody and their Mother-in-Law" at the Dubai Airport

I went to pick up my mother-in-law at the Dubai airport a month ago. Every time I go it feels like there are more people there than I've ever seen before. And I might be right.

In 2002 when I moved to Dubai the airport handled over 15 million passengers. Last year it handled over 34 million people. It's expected to have over 40 million passengers pass through this year.

Amazing.

If you can arrive in the morning I would suggest it. That's when the numbers are way down.

Krispy Kreme Arabic style

For those of you who wondered how to spell Krispy Kreme in Arabic :) Arabic is so much more fluid and artistic than English script. But the donuts taste the same: very good.

Miscellaneous Flying Things

Between a week of vacation, a week to catch up at work, a week and half of a bad stomach virus, and a half week to catch up from that... I've lost a month of blogging. I'm 'bummed' but there's nothing to do but start back into it. So here's a light first post.

The picture below is of three of my daughters at sunrise out in the desert back in March. We had spent the night in a tent with some other dads and their daughters from our church. It's called the Father-Daughter Campout and it's been going on for quite a few years now. Notice the hot air balloons in the background. I believe it is this company, Amigos Balloons, or Balloon Adventures Dubai, running the flights.

The picture below is a few days later on the beach in Jumeirah, Dubai. These seaplanes flew by as we enjoyed the breeze. This service is operated by a company called Seawings. A friend from church owns the charter company that actually flies the planes.

Easter Services in Dubai!

Jesus has risen! (I know I'm a little late here :) Here is some video from our joint church services out in Jebel Ali. The Chinese church and Arab church joined together with our English speaking church for a sunrise service. Unfortunately, due to the extra security, we were not able to have this on the beach. Maybe next year.

Enjoy!

Church Compounds Get Extra Security Before Easter

The weekend before Easter we were on our way to church and when we got to the two access roads that led to church there was a big traffic jam. Traffic jams are normal in Dubai but not on the way into church on Friday morning. Both roads had been blocked by police cars and they were telling people that they couldn't drive in a park.

There was a great deal of confusion and many people turned around and went home thinking that the police were completely blocking the roads. Instead it turns out they were setting up additional security that lasted through the week and through the Easter weekend as well. Thousands attend church in our compound where there are approximately 8 church buildings used by probably 16 different churches.

That morning we parked out car and caught a city bus to the church compound. They provided the buses in the end and they also set up frisk points leading into the building. I heard that they had metal detectors at another church compound in Dubai as well.

Later in the week the news reports came out. The authorities claimed there had been no explicit threats of violence made. I have my doubts. But regardless, I'm grateful for the additional security despite the slight inconvenience. Much thanks to the Dubai Police Department!

Here are some pictures of the makeshift parking lots about 400 yards from the church compound on Easter weekend. The compound is on the other side of the pictured buildings.

January Sand Storm

Back in January we had a sand storm come through the city. It was a Friday right after church and the golf tournament had just started. Sand storms are an odd kind of storm that most people don't have the opportunity to experience. Fortunately it cleared by the next day and we had a pleasant day at the golf tournament as shown in my posts below.

Rare Sight... Little League Baseball in Dubai

I took this picture a month ago. It's particularly interesting to me because baseball is not a popular sport in Dubai... it's particularly American. And the Burj Dubai is so clearly visible in the background. My oldest daughters work the concession stand at the ballpark.

Replay of October 2007 CBS "60 Minutes" Report on Dubai

This is a very interesting report on Dubai and it's visionary... Sheikh Mohammad. I've not completed both parts but it's a great summary of what's happening here in the city.



The CBS website won't let me embed the part 2 video. So here's a link to it:

CBS 60 Minutes - Dubai Inc. Part 2

And Now for Real Golf... Dubai Desert Classic!

My parents came to town about a week ago and the last thing we did together was spend a day at the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament. It was a blast! We saw Tiger Woods (who eventually won), Ernie Els, and many other great golfers.

The best moment was watching Ernie Els birdie the hardest hole on the course and then to have his caddie throw my daughter the golf ball!

Saturday Morning Dubai Pictures

These boys let me take a picture this morning... very very cute. :)

The scene before I cropped it... you can see the Burj Dubai in the background on the left.

First really clear day in a while. The Burj Dubai and Business Bay construction site sprouting from the desert.

Dubai Schools Called Off Due to... Flooding?

Update: Ministry of Education cancels school until Sunday!
Update: January 2008 now the wettest on record in the UAE!

Weird week in Dubai. Monday was declared a state/private holiday due to President Bush's visit to town. (see motorcade pictures below) Then it started raining on Monday afternoon and it really hasn't stopped since then. The roads and some neighborhoods are flooding. Some people reported being in traffic for 4 hours from Sharjah trying to get to Dubai... a trip that normally might take an hour.

Now school tomorrow has been canceled (happy kids) due to the flooding and traffic woes related to the rain.

Bush and flooding. The "planets" will never "align" like this again in Dubai. A few pictures below.

Burj Dubai shrouded in fog and clouds.

Sheikh Zayed Road skyline with fog and clouds.

Rare rainy roadway on Beach Road, Dubai.

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have taken this picture while I was moving :(... watery roundabout in Jumeirah.

President Bush Visits Dubai - Motorcade Pics!

President Bush visited Abu Dhabi two days ago and then Dubai yesterday. I think it was his first visit here ever. All of Dubai was basically shut down yesterday. They declared a Emirate-wide private and public holiday late on Sunday afternoon. Many roads were to be closed for the better part of the day.

A friend snapped these pictures out of his apartment window. It's the President's motorcade. Very interesting!

This road is never desolate like this!

Notice the police at the bottom right.

Police helicopter hovering overhead as the motorcade passed.

This is Sheikh Mohammad's car. Notice the license plate number "1". He usually drives this himself.

Motorcade Limos.

Not sure what's in this car/truck. Looks "special" though.

Sallelite communications/tracking car?

Three identical Escalades... tight formation.

But someone's peeking out...

Could that be President Bush?... I think it is.

Update: Now I'm not so sure... here is a pic of him that day from the local newspaper. What do you think? Tie matches but the coat might be too dark in the photo.