Dubai Marina Photos

I went for a business lunch in the Dubai Marina area last week and I snapped these pictures as I waited for my colleague. The Marina is still growing at an astounding pace.

We've Got Visitors...

President Putin visited last week and met with Sheikh Kalifa, President of the UAE.

I sure hope they had more fun than it looks like they're having here. :) And notice how the late Sheikh Zayed is looking on from over Putin's shoulder... approval? disapproval? We'll never know will we.

A Caption's Worth A Thousand Words

Sometimes the captions tell you the most. It's been increasingly apparent over the last year or so which son of Sheikh Mohammed, Ruler of Dubai, has been anointed the successor to his father. Shaikh Hamdan is the one it appears. Billboards with his face on them, well attended poetry readings, his own flashy website (you really should click on this just to hear the 'heroic' music!), and now subtle but significant things like the caption on this photo tell the story.

If you read the caption you'll see that the naming starts with Hamdan on the right then shifts to the second from left (also a son of the ruler), then to the left-most (also a son of the ruler), and lastly to the second from right... the one guy who isn't a son of the Sheikh. I'm not a journalism expert but it sure seems like an odd way of labeling a picture except if you wanted to make sure the most important one gets named first and then carefully name the rest in descending order of importance.

By the way... the guy who won the gold medal isn't even pictured. :)

Quote: What to Pray For

I'm struck by how my prayer life inevitably wilts and shrinks over time. When I should be praying with faith for magnificent and amazing things to take place in me and others instead I end up praying for "tame" and ordinary things. The quote below is a bracing tonic for a prayer life in the doldrums...

Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do
not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal
to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no
miracle, but you yourself shall be a miracle. Every day you
shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has
come to you by the grace of God.
... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

Passing the Ice Bar in Dubai

I had to go by an electronics/computer store today and get a new printer for our office and that took me to the new Times Square Mall on Sheikh Zayed Road. As I drove over I remembered that the new "Chillout Lounge", a 21 degree Fahrenheit, all-ice bar had opened to much fanfare in early August. (See this article in the Washington Post).

I happened by it and snapped a couple pictures in the window. In one you can see the ice sculpture in the shape of the Dubai skyline and in the other you can barely make out two figures huddled together in parkas. Supposedly it costs about 60AED (or $17) for the cover charge, use of parkas and gloves, and a hot chocolate drink.

What a crazy idea... I don't know if I'll ever go in. I'd rather go eat a good Lebanese or Thai meal for that kind of money.

It's Camelicious!

I took this photo last spring and forgot to post it. My kids and I drove along beside this truck on the way to school in the morning. How many of you have tried camel milk? Me neither :) I hear it's pretty salty. I think it's safe to say that this is a sight pretty unique to the Arabian Gulf.

I dare you to visit the website listed on the side of the truck!