Posted by: Aaron | July 7, 2009

So Lonely

I want to thank the very nice person who recommended that my blog be included in something called blogsherpa. This is a new initiative by Lonely Planet to have certain posts from a blog be syndicated on the relevant city or country. I had to do a little administration that involved setting up a blogsherpa account, a google adsense account and re-tagging a few posts. I was quite amazed that when last week by the power of the Web 2.0 I saw the syndication of a few of my posts!

If you head over to the Dubai web page at Lonely Planet’s website you will see how it integrates into their layout. There are a couple of nice things about doing this. They have created a blogsherpa community where travel bloggers can unite and I have found it fun looking at other blogs focused on what life is like in different cities around the world.

The other really nice upside is that I am really keen to contribute. I want to do more “Dubai things” and blog about them so I can share my experiences with a far broader audience.  I am all ready compiling a list of things that I should have done, but never quite made it. These include the Dubai Museum, Bastikya, the fabric souk, Global Village, an abra on the Dubai creek and Jumana at Dubailand. I shall be doing all of these things and more….just as soon as the weather cools down a bit.

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Posted by: Aaron | July 7, 2009

You Don’t Know What you’ve Got Till its Gone

As I have written about before. The UAE’s eGate system for speedy transit through the airport is nothing short of a work of genius. I did a quick calculation, say I have to queue for on average 20 minutes on each return flight I make, then eGate has saved me more than 25 hours of queuing!  More than a day of my life, thank you eGate!

So it was with frustration that on a recent trip I somehow managed to misplace my eGate card. No problem I thought, there is handily placed eGate office just after you go through security at the shiny new Business section of Terminal 3. I will get a replacement next time I travel. I had a lot of time to think about this, as when I landed back into Dubai from this trip the queues at immigration were taking about an hour.

I duly visit said office and the nice chap behind the counter said “Sorry, if it is not-expired then I will need a police report to issue you a replacement card” – OK,  fair enough it is an important document, I will go to the Police station at the weekend and get the necessary.

Attempt 1: With my trusty Arabic speaking mate with me and passport in my pocket, I went over to the nearest police station just near Mall of the Emirates. Sadly, not only was it closed but the chap at the gate said we would need to do this at the central police station in Bur Dubai.

Attempt 2: Again I am accompanied with my Arabic speaking friend and I have my passport we head over to the Bur Dubai police station. I see it from one side of the road but when we made the u-turn we ended up parking in the DNRD - I did wonder why I didn’t see any of Dubai’s finest walking around.

The Police station was on the next block so we drove around and parked outside. Little did we know we had parked diametrically opposite the only entrance. By the time we had walked about 500 meters it was too late to turn back. The Sun was beating down on us a blistering 46c heat and the humidity was up at 80+%. I was soaked by the time I had reached the cool air of the foyer.Then the fun really started. First thing I needed was a drink of water but sadly I had left my dirham coins in the car so I couldn’t get a drink from the vending machine.

I thought we had better get on with this. First, I got the appropriate queuing ticket from the machine and my friend asked at the reception desk what we needed to do. He gave him a form and asked him to complete it in Arabic. Now, if I had been alone it would have been game over. But he duly completed it and we waited patiently for about 45 minutes for the number to be called.

The uniformed police chap made me laugh. Particularly at my friends attempt to put my nationality as “Engleesy” and opposed “British” in Arabic. However, he informed us that I needed passport photocopies (naturally I had those) but I also needed two passport photos and my eGate card number (the one I had lost)

So empty handed we hiked back to the car through the sweltering Dubai sun, but not before each buying two liters of water to drink. Then enjoyed getting back into the car which had heated up nicely to about 65c. Beautiful. Time for a shower and an isotonic drink.

Attempt 2.5 – Early the following morning I popped down to the Dnata centre and the friendly lady there quickly gave me my eGate card number on production of my passport. Excellent.

Attempt 3 – This time I was ready. Arabic speaking friend – check. Location of where to park – check, Passport Copy – check, passport photos – check, eGate number – check, completed Arabic form – check, pocketful of dirham coins – check. All of it was nicely organised.

My friend showed the documentation to the the chap at reception who then told him to get a different ticket from the machine. He then promptly told us to go to room 26. As we headed down there we were getting alarmingly close to the cells and the door next to the cell entrance was 25. Surely an error? It wasn’t, room 26 turned out to be on the other side of the building. When we go there the chap there told us – we should be in room 17. Once we got there – the guy said we needed to be next door in room 15.

Once in room 15 there was flurry of efficient activity and a handing over of the documents and a 20aed processing fee. We were then told to wait as the final police report needed to be signed by the Chief of Police. Sure enough, 20 minutes later a young police officer who helped us in room 15 came out with the report.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and thanked him. After that it was a simple matter of getting a new eGate card.

Wow this was quite an experience that stretched out over a week. But it was worth it – eGate is the best and other countries would do well to look at this system as top of the class.

The moral of this story? Never, ever, lose important documents. Passport, driving license or eGate card. You will need to work to get them back and keeping a scan of them is a pretty good idea.

An Englishman in Dubai – sweating so you don’t have too.

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Posted by: Aaron | June 28, 2009

Three Years On

Today marks my third anniversary in Dubai. It has been a remarkable three years. Like a lot of British expats I thought I would come out for a couple of years and then head back to the the cold of the UK. Today this probably could not be further from the truth as I have realised the amazing opportunity I have with my career in this part of the world.

Dubai has changed dramatically over the last three years. We now have super fast Internet access, if you are willing to pay for it (I have a 24meg line now). There is Waitrose here. The Palm Jumeriah and the Atlantis have opened and there are even three super fast entry points into Dubai Marina.

When I arrived I clearly remember that rents were escalating on a daily basis. The competition between renters was intense and was one of the reasons I ended up buying. Despite the Government’s best efforts less than scrupulous landlords were taking advantage of the situation and hiking up rents at the end of the first year. Things are very different now.

With the slowdown in economy and real estate sector the choice for the new renter in Dubai is nearly limitless. You want a studio for less than $10k a year, no problem.  A good friend of mine rented a 2100 sqft apartment last week for less than the one bedroom apartment which is half the size he was previously in. I like hearing these type of stories because the rate of inflation was getting out of control and clearly unsustainable.

Smart people are now taking advantage of this and using the cheaper rent prices as an excuse to upgrade, moving from an apartment to a villa or something more luxurious. Overall the rental prices are below the level of three years ago. Some of my friends are claiming they are at the point of five years. So anyone out thinking of moving to Dubai – it is an excellent time to do so. The rent was always the thing I cautioned people on and it is now at a very affordable level

The building I live in is just over a year old. As people’s tenancy contracts coming up for renewal there is the natural ebb and flow of people moving into and out of the complex. I met a gent in the elevator the other day who was shifting his gear – he told me that he was downgrading from a huge villa to an apartment to reduce his outgoings. Another friend of mine moved within the complex to get a bigger apartment and those I know who brought here and staying put to try and wide out the wave of negative equity they find themselves in.

From a personal perspective I am happy. I live in what is essentially my dream apartment filled with all manner of gadgets and upgrades, I probably don’t need them but they seemed so important at the time. Most of the building teething problems have been ironed out and the place has a nice community feel to it. With the nearly completed JBR walk and Dubai Marina Mall nearby there is little for me let to wish for and it is always a pleasure to have guests over with such ammenties close by.

I look now to the future and see a lot of things to be excited about. The team I work in continues to grow and expand, bucking the current industry trends as we take the product into new markets. While it is sad to attend all the leaving parties the influx of new expats is starting to happen. Slowly but it is there.

Now with my third anniversary I have to go through a bout of renewing things like my residence visa, alcohol license and finally getting the land registry sorted out on my apartment. The good news is that the beaucracy is sped up a little as there are fewer people wanting these things right now. I however will be sure to take my iPod with me while I sit in line.

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Posted by: Aaron | June 16, 2009

Flu By

This week I am in Cairo. It seems that a whole host of IT multi-nationals are also visiting  this week judging by the hotels drivers signs at the airport.

I always like seeing these guys, as I know I will be in a car with two important things

1. Seatbelts

2. AC

and if I am lucky even a bottle of water. But this time before setting eyes on such luxury I had to contend with the one the toughest airport situations I have seen.

After disembarking a very full Emirates flight (the landing was a little exciting as one of the luggage bins above my head sprung out and we all watched neversouly with hands up afraid one of the bags would shoot out and probably cop yours truly on the head) – I was greeted with a huge melee.

I could see people grasping at small blue forms. Odd I thought. I had all ready filled in my landing card. Then I saw the drama. There was a whole flight plus mine fighting to fill in forms and then get their body temperature scanned. The problem was that two body temperature scanners, no queing system and five hundred people in a very confined space led to a thirty minute nightmare.

People pushed, shoved and shouted in many languages. None of them happy. And it was hot. Really hot. Did I mention it didn’t smell too great either? And by the end of it neither did I. Still with great patience I edged my way through for my turn and was glad to meet the hotel rep who at least eased the immigration pain. A top tip for anyone visiting Cairo on business, get the hotel to do a meet and assist service. They quickly get the Visa and then go to a special counter to get your passport stamped and then usher you through immigration – so nice when it works.

After the drama of the flu queue – I needed to relax and I got a special treat. A room on the 19th floor of the Marriott with a grea view down the Nile:

Tonight I will be enjoying some Cairo nightlife and hope to get some good things done over the next couple of days here.

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Posted by: Aaron | June 16, 2009

Get So High

A few weeks ago I was on the ninth floor of the Hilton Jumeriah which is just across the road from where I live. I usually get visitors to stay here as it is convenient for shopping and has a nice pool and beach. It was good to finally get in and see the rooms which were fine but even better to see the view. Dubai Marina beach has had quite a lot of work on it recently. It has been flattened and a whole heap of new sand has been put down. These leads to throngs of people at the people (hopefully not in thongs) as can be seen here:

It was also good to see the JBR walk from a different perspective. If you notice the crane and the patch of green below – this is the “Dine in the Sky” experience.

A little zoomed in you can see the chairs that you are strapped into as the crane lifts you a couple of hundred feet in the air to enjoy an evening of fine dining:

It sounds like wonderful experience but does raise a few questions:

1. What happens if I get “caught short”?

2. What do I do if my meal is cold/wrong ?

3. Who tops up my glass?

Aside from that I have zero head for heights and with my feet dangling straight down I doubt I would be able to enjoy it. For the adventurous or those looking for something different then I would give it a look.

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Posted by: Aaron | June 16, 2009

Legend of Dubai

A huge product launch and then three long trips in as many weeks as left this blog looking a little neglected.  However, a lot has been happening in Dubai  - the annual Dubai Summer Surprises shopping bonanza is now on. Everywhere you look there appears to be some new shop or restaurant opening with swathes of special offers and now with the sterling strengthening goods are starting to look like reasonable value.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that people I know are leaving Dubai on an alarming basis. I think it was captured really nicely by a friend’s status update on Facebook the other day “a tad depressed by the fact that the last 6 events listed on her Facebook profile are ALL leaving drinks. :-( ”

One of the first chaps I met when I came to Dubai was Paddy. He had become a bit of the Dubai furniture. A hugely entertaining guy who wrote for “What’s On@ for a while before becoming the Editor of the Middle East’s leading gadget magazine “Stuff”. Paddy is the type of guy that Horne and Corden would want in their gang.

Credit crunch aside he had decided to move back home nearly a year ago. When this was announced we merely laughed it off but when he had the leaving party we realised it was finally happening.

In typical Paddy style he threw an awesome party bringing along the band he plays Bass guitar for “Funkin Gonuts” to play and they were tremendous. In full 70s and funk outfits they covered some of my all time favourite Disco treats like “Street Life” and “Superstition” – Paddy is in the orange/pink suit:

The party goers enjoyed their own private gig (as I am sure did the neighbours)

We will miss Paddy in Dubai – however it means I have another place to crash the next time I am in the big smoke.

If anyone wants to go and see the Funkin Gonuts – then they have a regular slot at “Peanut Butter Jam” which on the Wafi rooftop. However it is closed for the summer now. Catch them and you will not be disappointed and being crashed out on the bean bags in a sultry Dubai evening is a nice way to spend some time. Here they are in regular mufti:


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Posted by: Aaron | May 25, 2009

Through a Child’s Eyes

Last week I was on vacation entertaining my two very tiny nephews whose Mum (my sister) made the long  journey from Australia to Dubai to spend some time with the rest of the family in Dubai.

While I am well versed in showing my mates a good time when they come and visit, entertaining a four year old and a five month old takes a little more planning and thought. Here are the little lads enjoying “Happy Feet” which I think I have now seen about twenty times.

The first point of business was that of transport. While the Hummer is OK for five adults at a push, having to take four adults and two small children needed something slightly larger. So a quick phone call secured Rupert’s seven seat Pajero. The next thing was how to secure the tiny nephews. There are few things that make me really mad in Dubai, one of them however is the number of times I see kids running freely around inside a large 4×4, especially when you can see the child seats in the car. It is really sad. There was a nice article about this in 7Days recently.

A quick scout around the Web and we located Rent-A-Crib,  quick phone call to these chaps and we soon had delivery of two correctly sized car seats as well as a travel cot and bedding for it. We got good service from these people and I would highly recommend them.

Now that the transport was fixed I had to come up with some entertainment. For a start we made daily trips to the pool complex at the apartment block I live in. All of I sudden I realised what tremendous value that a shaded kids pool has or even the playroom with the padded floor and toys that my maintenance pays for. It seemed worth it for a change.

We got a “trainer seat” for Alex and he was really happy to bob around in the water while Julian wouldn’t let go of his “noodle” for dear life:

Going to the pool everyday for three weeks quickly made Julian much more comfortable in the water. So we took advantage of two for one entry voucher on the front of  Time Out to visit Aquaventure and Julian was in his element.

In previ0us visits to water parks it’s  usually this pattern – high octane rides -> lunch -> high octane rides -> wave pool -> home. This time for me it was Water Adventure playground -> lunch -> Water Adventure playground -> home. I still had a great time, though no where near a good time as Julian had who had endless rides down the yellow slide:

In the adventure playground there is a large bucket that slowly fills with water then comes crashing down with rather dramatic effect:

Sadly, this did not agree too well with Julian who was frightened of the big water and would run from the “big water”  with his hands clamped firmly over his ears. Poor little fella, it interrupted his fun for about five seconds.

We did get to go on the lazy river in “boats” as Julian called them and he enjoyed the rapids and surges though we were sure to take him on the gentlest of routes:

We did a lot of things with the kids and in particular Julian. A few of my favourite moments  are below.

Here is Julian at the Aquarium in Dubai Mall. He likes seeing fish and particularly star fish a lot. Though when he had his face up to the glass looking for small crabs he got the fright of his life when a monster crab crawled up. This was as close as we could get him to these giant crabs and if I make a pincer movement with my hands and edge along sideways he freaks out a bit…

Julian also shares the same great taste as his Uncle in dressing up gear as when we took him to Favourite Things in Dubai Marina Mall he made a bee line for the Buzz Light Year outfit (good chap):

Early one morning we took Julian down to the Beach at Dubai Marina. It is so nice at this time of day. There were only joggers for company and Julian had the beach to himself:

And my favourite moment of the whole trip. I took him to the Snow Park at Ski Dubai. I have not written about this landmark in Dubai before, mainly as I don’t ski or snowboard. When we told Julian he was able to play in Snow he got very excited as they don’t get much of that in Perth. So we got the snow boots, hat, crash helmet, jump suit and mittens from the well organised reception area at Ski Dubai and spent the next 90 minutes charging around the snow.

He is pictured here on the smallest slope. What it does not capture is the amazing “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” noise that he made as he span down the slope. Then watching him bounce out of the tube and drag it up for another go, simply made my heart melt.

It was a fantastic few weeks with them that flew by all too quickly. It is clear that with some organisation that Dubai really is a family friendly place and the service we got at the places we visited was of a high standard.

Now if only they could make it a little easier to navigate from my flat to The Walk (about 200 meters) with a stroller then I would be even happier. Having to go up and down eight kerbs with no dip can be challenging.

I look forward to doing this all again soon when Alex is able to enjoy himself as much as his older brother did this time, Uncle Aaron will be waiting for them.

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Posted by: Aaron | May 18, 2009

Six Great Web 2.0 Applications I can’t live without

As a self confessed geek and web addict, the advent of Web 2.0 and the almost seamless integration between desktop and on-line applications and services is so powerful. Here are a few that I find absolutely essential and use on a daily basis:

1. Chrome

The browser from google. While I am a huge advocate of Firefox I find that on my netbook Chrome’s turbo mode is fantastic for editing blogs at high speed. Chrome is also my browser of choice on systems with limited capabilities i.e. my Netbook

2. Picasa and Picasa Web Albulms

The photos on this blog are hosted on Picasa Web albums which integrates beautifully with Picasa allowing me to quickly share photos with people. Picasa is a gem of a photo organizing and lightweight image correction tool. I currently have over 30,000 photos in my collection and I can surf through them at blazing speed. I also really like the plug in for facebook which makes uploading a whole album of photos a breeze.

3. Spotify

A mate of mine was telling of some amazing web based replacement for iTunes. It kind of interested me so I want to check it out, this was further reinforced with a vast selection of tunes available. The sad thing was that being based in the UAE the free ad-sponsored version was not available but the premium paid for version was. I thought I would try it out and have enjoyed having a perfectly tagged selection of music at my finger tips.

4. Digsby

I admit it. I am hoplessly addicted to social networking. Similar to the way that reality TV grabbed me when I first saw Big Brother some years ago. The issue with this whole Web 2.0, user generated content trend is that to keep up to date with it all means a sprawl of web browsers open all over ones computer.

I read about Digsby on Lifehacker and thought I would try it out. It consolidates instant messaging (MSN, facebook, Yahoo messenger, AIM and ICQ), social networking (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) and email (Google, Hotmail and Yahoo). As I regularly use nearly all of these services I find Digsby a boon. I now only have to log into one application to see everything I need. If I want more detail on any one thing it is all hotlinked to the appropriate website. It is neat if you can get used to its interface. I would describe it as a “stock ticker” of social networking. It is a real shame it is not available on Mac OSX.

5. Xobni

I get an overwhelming amount of email. Not just circulars but things that I need to action on a regular basis. As a longterm user of Thunderbird the switch to Outlook was painful to say the least. Xobni is a plugin to outlook that I find invaluable. It scans all email that I have sent and recieved and discovers links to those emails.

Who do I email the most? Who emails me the most? What files have I shared with that person? It answers in blazing fast speed these and many more questions. Xobni is built on an ethos that we organize are thoughts not around topics but around people and their networks. As a result, threaded conversations are highighted. Also if you are connected on LinkedIn or Facebook  to that person their profile is provided in the Xobni window. It really is a super useful plug in but I found I needed a powerful computer to run this on, so I don’t run it on my netbook for instance. Again, a real shame it is not available on Mac OSX.

6. Mozy

My photos and a number of documents I have on my computer are irreplaceable. While I have some folder syncing going on giving me multiple copies which is great for convenience. But having an offsite back up then I can access anytime is really what I want. I am happy to pay for such a service to protect my valuable digital assets I have spent sometime researching online back up tools. The good news there are plenty of them. A little status update on Twitter/Facebook led to a flood of recommendations. These were:

Dropbox, Mozy, Carbonite, SafeCopyBackup, BackupMax, Cloudberrydrive and Zenfolio

I really liked Dropbox as a service that is beautifully integrated into the OS shell, and I use it for quick filesharing. However, it was just too expensive for the 60gb of online storage I wanted. This was a similar story for the others too.

I settled on Mozy which for a very reasonable $4 a month (with voucher) I get unlimited online storage. There is a nice tool which is set and forget – but the downside with all online back up programs is that getting it all online for 60gb is going to take about two weeks of constant uploading. However, once done the incremental updates are a breeze. So far I am about halfway through uploading my photo library and I will be glad when it is done.

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Posted by: Aaron | May 14, 2009

Drive By in the Low Ride

Seeing high end exotica motor vehicles is an everyday thing. It really does take something special to really draw some attention to yourself. So when my dear friend Ursula pulled up next to this gold foil covered Porsche Cayenne it was a real sight to behold.

Mobile phone cameras were quickly engaged as all the occupants of cars near the Porsche were eager to record a real piece of Dubai bling:

A little search of the internet found a few more photos of this car special car.  I always thought that Dubai colours were black tints and an ice white finish. Perhaps now Gold is the new white?

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Posted in 4x4, Dubai | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Aaron | May 12, 2009

Sounds the call to come together

Anyone reading this blog over the last couple of years knows I am huge fan of South Africa – its people, the land, the wine and of course the food. So when I was invited to go and try the newest South African restaurant in Dubai. How could I say no?

There are a couple of places in Dubai who do a reasonable hand at South African food – you have the great fun Sports Bar Nezesaussi in the Al Manzil hotel, the and the posher Hunters in the Westin or the Grand Grill at the Habtoor Grand as well as the old favourites such as the Butcher Shop and Grill and the Meat Company, however they all are a tried and tested formula providing good quality tourist style food.

To my mind there is always room for a restaurant bringing something authentic to the table. So without hesitation me and some friends heads to the Downtown Grill & Bar in the Metropolitan Palace Hotel in Deira. This is under the same management as the Grand Grill so expectations were high.

The staff were very welcoming with a well stocked bar but as soon as I saw the menu I made a beeline for the “Bunny Chow” starter. This is the first time I have actually seen it appear on a menu outside of South Africa and there was no way I was missing out on this. Hailing from Durban, a Bunny Chow is a hollowed out piece of bread filled with delicious curry. I was not disappointed:

Then for main possible the largest Chicken Bobotie I have ever seen was served. We had to include the iPhone for scale:

The food really was excellent. I also got to try some friends Boerwors and the “Greg Norman” fillet steak. All items were well cooked and importantly they tasted like I was back in Joburg.

We were also treated to face painter for some traditional African patterns. I liked the flower Leila got:

Then a further treat with some great Bongo drummers called “Dubai Drums” made a special appearance. got up handed out some extra bongo drums to the diners then a mad amount of dancing kicked off:

I have to admit that I don’t have the South African dance thing down. My mate Lawrence does is rather well. It seems to involve crouching like a crab, sticking ones backside out and stomping the floor with ones foot. I think I will need to work on this for future use. I enjoyed a few Windhoeks while the post dinner mayhem ensued.

Overall – 9/10 A great restaurant with super friendly service which finally serves the great food you get when you visit South Africa. I wish it was closer to where I live in the Marina.

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Posted by: Aaron | May 12, 2009

I’m always here

I went down to the Waitrose yesterday to check on this pork ban. The good news Pork products were still available however the bad news was that there was no fresh bacon in sight. It is always a treat to have it in Dubai but no great shakes if it is not there – Turkey bacon is a pretty good substitute.

To console my bacon sadness, my team of crazy friends made something that really made me smile (actually cry with laughter). I thought it might be nice to share it. From the same team who brought you Vader in Dubai in comes Jumeriah Baywatch. It is really amazing what you can do with a video camera, a surfboard and a few bottles of Masafi.

While this Blog is usually rated U for Universal. This video gets a PG-13 rating – caution poor haircuts and shorts alert.

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Posted by: Aaron | May 6, 2009

Making Your Mind Up

It was with real pleasure I got to share a few days in the UK last week with a good Lebanese friend of mine. Having had a rather bonkers weekend with him Beirut last week it was nice to show him around Englands green and pleasant land.

I always like to notice the small differences that people pick up when in a new place. Here are few of the best ones.

- In the very nice Bluebeckers eatery after sampling the world class ribs and cheese and bacon burger – “Does everything come with Pork?” -  a little topical with the “Swine Flu” pandemic right now

- Driving over joint mini-roundabouts (the ones near Hatton Cross) – “Wow – how come we are still alive? I was sure that bus was going to take us out. How do you know who has priortiy?” – I smiled and said “Give way to the right”

- We went into the local Wetherspoons and my friend was tempted by one of the festival ales with a traditional name, something like “Tastes Like old Socks” – the poured pint was very tempting with its dark gold colour and creamy texture. We we waited for it to settle. A raise of the glasses and a cheers – followed by a long drink. My friend looked perplexed and without a hesitation, uttered the immortal words:

“Where is the fizz?”

There could simply be no response to this and I made sure I got him a nice pint of becks to follow.

I do feel rather guilty however. He put me up at his parents place and I left him in the Holiday Inn Farnborough. He took me to the awesome Music Hall, I took him to Wetherspoons. Still that is the difference between party town Beirut and the backwater of Camberley.

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Posted by: Aaron | May 4, 2009

It’s a fair Cop

Over the last year or so the RTA and Dubai Police have really gone on the offensive at penalising people breaking traffic laws particularly speeding and tailgating.

The almost obligatory post one has to make writing a new Dubai blog is the state of the driving compared to one’s home country. I made such a post here. On review over the last three years the overall standard of driving has improved. While it is not perfect – a lot of the more outrageous stuff I first witnessed, is a rare sighting nowadays.

One of the key things put in place is the vast number of speed cameras put on the key highways through Dubai. For instance on the Sheikh Zayed Road there is a speed camera every 2km. Which pretty much means that continous high speed driving is going to end up with either your car impounded, points on your license, a big fine or all three.

Another improvement is that within 48 hours of making an offence your are sent a very nice email telling you that you have been naughty and that there is a fine waiting for you. Also just in case you can’t get to your email a nice SMS is sent at the same time. I like this – you know where you are and you get no surprises in the post.

For the last two weeks I have been on the road and I was in the UK last week. So I was a little perturbed when I got not one but two of these emails/sms. I checked them out and sure enough my father has been let loose in the Audi (while the Hummer was being serviced) and had been doing his best speedy gonzales impression up and down the Sheikh Zayed Road. He has now been left with having to make a rather generous donation of 1200AED ($329) to the RTA coffers.

It made me  laugh, as I let my Dad use to the Audi so he had transport while the other car was serviced. But for that amount of money he could have had a limo everyday to the office and back. Next time if he feels the need for speed I will take him to the Dubai Autodrome.

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Posted by: Aaron | April 26, 2009

Black and White

After spending a couple of weeks in Dubai it was nice to get back on the road and into the region. Me and a colleague started off with a couple of days in Riyadh. It is always best to travel with other people and Basil who grew up in Riyadh was great to hang out with.

Usually my trips to Saudi result in a busy day full of meetings, a trip to the gym, room service and some TV. Not very exciting. This time I got to experience an authentic evening out.

With Basil’s local knowledge we headed to a Turkish restaurant called Assaraya. Having enjoyed the kofta kebabs in Istanbul the Assaraya did not disappoint. I enjoyed the food immensely and when presented with a bill for 170 Riyals ($46) for five of us it also represented tremendous value.

After eating, we then took the chance to enjoy the lovely cool evening by partaking in some outside coffee drinking on Tahlia Steet. It was kind of fun watching the local guys cruise around, though I am not sure what making their cars bounce backwards and forwards in a weird motion was all about. I am told it is the equivalent of Al Diyafa street in Dubai.

After a couple of busy days in Riyadh I took my first ever flight on MEA airways to Beirut. A special mention must go to MEA, as the plane was brand new with a huge open area when you walk in, nice in flight entertainment and I couldn’t help but order a very large Gin and Tonic on the flight.

It is almost a year to the day since my last (and first) visit to Beirut. Then, there was a large military and police presence throughout the city. This time it was far more relaxed. Sure there was security in place and around various politicians residences but other than that I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

Once again we spent two days running around Beirut in and out of meetings and battling the traffic which at times approached Cairo style craziness.  I was lucky to be accompanied by a Basil whose local knowledge of his home town gave me a real insight.

We spent a fantastic afternoon walking around the narrow streets of Lebanon. I enjoyed the style of Verdun Street, the many shops in Hamra and the yummy eatries along Bliss Street next to the American University of Beirut. I had to cave in and tucked into delicious toasted chicken sandwich with pickle and garlic mayo from a place called Marouche (It appears to be a favourite late night stop according to a number of my Lebanese friends) – this was despite munching on Ganeric (unripe plums) on our walk.

Following the food theme I got a chance to sample some traditional Armenian food in a family run restaurant called Al Mayass in Achrafieh. If you want something good, with local and well cooked dishes I can’t recommend it highly enough – especially the resident musician whose rendition of Dalilah was something I will remember for a long time.

The highlight of my trip was a Thursday night visit to Music Hall. It was a real treat and is a one of a kind experience in the middle east. Upon walking you are greeted by a sumptuous red velvet theatre like auditorium:

Booking a table apparently is essential and should you choose you can get something to eat. Every twenty minutes or so there is a live cabaret music act followed by music from a DJ in between. The acts cater to a wide variety of tastes. A couple of crowd pleaser’s were the steel drums and “Don’t Worry ’bout a ting”

And a little later in the evening the whole place went berserk when a couple of chaps came out and performed some very traditional Lebanese songs.

All I could do was join in with my best effort at the local style of dance which involved me simultaneously doing the actions for changing a light bulb with one hand and pretending  to stub out a cigarette with my opposite foot. It appeared to have the desired effect.

We partied late into the night and around midnight the place was packed and really started to rock. It was made all the better with some good friends coming along to party with us

Everyone tells me Beirut is a party town and after this trip I can confirm it 100% From the Habibis in Riyadh to the Habitis in Beirut it was a trip to remember.

When asked by my Lebanese friends how did I find my visit to Beirut the answer was simple – Wal3aneh (it’s on fire)

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Posted by: Aaron | April 25, 2009

Design For Life

When I was a young lad living in Abu Dhabi I have some clear recollections about visiting the Gold Souk in Abu Dhabi. One particularly thing that caught my attention was the art of crafting one’s name in gold on a necklace.I always thought it looked rather cool and a number of girls I know in Dubai have such jewellrey.

I am not a jewellery person and don’t even wear a watch, but I do recall having to learn how to write my name in Arabic as part of the school curriculum. Sadly, I can still barely write legibly in English so suffice to say my attempts at Arabic were very poor.

A good friend of mine has recently opened up a graphics design agency based out of Beirut and upon hearing my sad story turned her considerable talent in producing “Aaron” in Arabic calligraphy. Here it is:

I was bowled over! A really fantastic piece of art. I will be getting it blown up and put in a suitable location in my apartment.
I was able to give my thanks in person this weekend as whilst in Beirut I got a chance to visit her in her studio – the design company is called Pixels Maker and I liked the collage they had decorated their office with:

If you want to get a nice piece of Arabic Calligraphy done or any other piece of graphic or web design then I would look them up here – http://www.pixelsmaker.com/

8 Comments

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Posted by: Aaron | April 16, 2009

Hanging on the Telephone

I like telemarketing, both putting a campaign in place but also being on the end of a telemarketing campaign. Whilst in the UK I would be called on a regular basis on my land line for some product or other, in Dubai this is not the case. I get called on my mobile. A lot.

Let me explain. It seems the moment you do one of two things in Dubai you are going to start getting a lot of calls. This would be:

1. Opening a Bank Account

2. Buying a Property

The first one invites you into the world of credit card and loan offers as well as the harder sell from Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs). The second opens you up into the phone spam of the real estate agents. How these people end up with my number is anybody’s guess but it intrigues me the dedication some of these telemarketers have. There are four basic types in my experience:

1. The Speculative

“Do you want a credit card from xyz bank?”

“Ermmm, no thanks”

Dial tone…………Is that it? I always feel a little short changed by these ones, make an effort at least.

2. The Desperate

“Do you have an apartment in Building xyz?”

“Yes, I do”

“Would you like to sell it?”

“Ermmm, not really”

“How about renting it?”

“I am living there. Thanks”

“How about making another investment in property?”

“I am ok, thanks”

“But, now is just the right time to buy!”

“Thanks, but no thanks”

Firms doing this will typically phone me every week, but by a different person from that company with no clue that I have already spoken to them before. I like to humour them by asking about the market conditions, the pricing, the number of buyers, how many properties have they recently sold? It is kind of fun.

3. The Friendly

This was new to me and I can only admire the approach. A UK accented female would usually call me:

“Hi is that Aaron?”

“Yes it is”

“Hi Aaron, we haven’t spoken before but I got your name from <insert name of a colleague of mine> and he said that you would be interested in what we have to say”

“Oh, sure…”

“So <insert name of a colleague of mine> is a great guy isn’t he?”

“Uh, I guess”

“<insert name of a colleague of mine> has made some investments with xyz Finance House – Have you heard of xyz Finance House?”

“Errr, no”

“Oh I am surprised. xyz Finance House are the biggest in the Middle East and we have 38 offices around the world. We tailor special expat packages that are exclusive to us. Would you like to speak to one of our Senior Financial advisors? – he is a great British guy making a lot of money for expats like yourself and your friend <insert name of a colleague of mine>”

So with a sell like that I take the appointment. A week later a guy in a cheap suit tells me I should be investing at least 30-50% of disposable income into a “special” investment vehicle that if you want to access before an x year period means you lose most of your capital. But before dispensing with this amazing advice he basically forces me to give him ten contacts from my mobile so that he can continue their “referral” only business.

I have to admit to thinking that this sales tactics verges on the unethical. To the ten people I gave up. I am truly sorry.

4. The Boiler Room

A no-caller ID comes up – unusual for this part of the world

“Hi, is that Aaron?” says a heavily accented Asian female voice.

“Yes, it is”

“I am representing Carter-Sinclair – we are an exclusive investment house for expats. Would you like us to send you a brochure?”

“Sure. Why not”

A few weeks pass and the high quality glossy arrives in the mail. I look it at. It says nothing and I bin it.

The same girl calls me:

“Did you receive the brochure?”

“Yes, I did”

“Very good. One of our Senior Brokers will call you in the next few days”

“ok”

True enough a couple of days pass and I get a call from Andy. He calls me at the same time about 9.30am most mornings for more than two weeks. I brush him off the first six or seven times, I admire his persistence and I eventually take the call.

“Hi Aaron. Andy here from Sinclair-Carter. You sure have been busy. You must be making a lot of money?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you receive the brochure we sent?”

“Yes, I did”

‘Great, So what line of business are you in?”

“IT”

“Must be a busy time for you?”

“It is”

“Have you been receiving financial advise in Duabi?”

Now based upon “The Friendly” scenario above I answer

“Yes”

“How has it performed in the last six months?”

“It hasn’t”

“I guess you have taking a beating like a lot of my clients. Aaron – have you been following the price of Gold? It is up at nearly 900 dollars an ounce, doubling over the year”

“Yes. I have seen that”

“We have an amazing opportunity. Sierra Exploration a Canadian gold mining company are about to start major excavation on some old prospecting sites and we expect the stock to double in the next three to six months”

“I see”

“The stock is currently at $2.20 and for first time buyers like your self I am willing to give you a 10% discount on up to 10,000 shares. There you will make 9.8% over night and double your money in just a few months. Now I know we are not talking Rolls Royce money but it is a start right?”

“errr…”

“Look. Have you got a pen? Good. Take down this website www.sierraexp.com and check it out. There stockticker is SRAE go to bloomberg and track  it”

“ok”

“Where you from?”

“England”

“Which football team do you support?”

“I prefer Rugby”

“Oh, you must be able to control your temper because last time I played Rugby I got into a fight”

“I see”

“I will give you a call in a few days. Anyway you can give me a call if you have any questions at +8222083262″

Amazing. One of my favourite movies is “Boiler Room” I love the hard sell tactics to sell stock in shell companies leaving the customers broke and the brokers rich. I loved the way the guy even used some of the lines from the movie.

A ten minute google revealed that this practice is common place and Dubai expats are prime targets. People can easily lose tens of thousands of dollars. There is a thread here and some words of caution from the City of London Police and the FSA. The clues are all there even without the internet search. A weird +822 number, no caller id, no trading stock volume, cursory company websites. It is a scam, a very elaborate one played out over weeks and months.

I share this with you because if something is too good to be true. Inevitably it isn’t.

16 Comments

Posted in Dubai | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Aaron | April 11, 2009

A Wide Open Space

I have had a really hectic last couple of weeks which has left the blog a little neglected. I thought I would be able to relax having spent the previous nine weeks on the road but two weeks in Dubai has had me busier than ever.

In a bid to get some down time, I joined the lads for an afternoon desert driving. The weather in Dubai has been a little odd over the last few weeks with huge electrical storms, then sandstorms and the occasional stunning day with clear skies. Last weekend it looked ominous with rain forecast. As we drove out the weather appeared it would hold:

Area 53 is a an area of desert situated a few kilometres past Big Red. It is famous for a number of huge sand bowls which make immense playgrounds for desert vehicles. As there had been a bit of a shower earlier in the day it has the effect of compacting the sand. The boys deflated down to 18PSI as opposed to the usual 14PSI we would deflate to in the usual soft sand when dry.

The threat of rain kept most of the casual drivers away and as a consequence the dunes were empty. We were soon enjoying the huge sand bowls with the convoy of five cars whizzing up and down the slip faces leaving once virgin sand rutted with tracks. It all looked rather dramatic.

There is a monster size sand bowl in particular that attracted us along with the usual quad bikers, dirt bikers and a dune buggy which could wheelie going down hill. It was a sight to behold and sounded like it had 1000 horses under the hood. Sadly, I was hanging on for dear life as Dunk hammered the Pathfinder around the bowl so there was little opportunity for photos.

The trip was winding down when two of the vehicles had some small incidents. Simon had a flat and Pete had his wheel come off the rim. This happened to me sometime ago so I advised as best I could:

Using the matt in the car to act as a base for jacking the Cherokee up, then using a compressor to re-inflate the tire while a couple of the lads held the wheel in place it soon snapped back on:

We were all soon back on the road  a little giddy from riding around in what seemed like a giant skate park. The hard sand and huge bowls gives simply the most sensational roller coaster like feeling. It is easy to become complacent about desert driving as we can do it whenever we want but it really is a lot of fun if you have not been out for a while.

6 Comments

Posted in 4x4, Dubai | Tags: ,

Posted by: Aaron | April 1, 2009

Rain Streams Down My Face

My good friend Duncan kindly agreed to write his thoughts on Coldplay in Abu Dhabi last weekend. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

“Quint, Edina, Reg, Simon and I joined a bunch of Reg’s mates in taking a 30-seater bus down to the Coldplay gig in Abu Dhabi at the weekend. Hopping on the bus at 3:30 seemed a little early at first, but following various detours we made it into the gig just about on time.

One particularly inventive and spontaneous detour by the driver took us onto The Walk at JBR, where we were able to savour the standstill traffic for half an hour before getting back on track to Abu Dhabi. A BK flame grilled burger and several refreshments heavier courtesy of Reg, the bus arrived at the impressive Emirates Palace in the throws of a huge electrical storm. As we passed the huge entrance arches the heavens opened and we received our first soaking of the evening. Luckily the rain was warm, and morale remained high in anticipation of a great gig and nothing dampened our spirits.

The band arrived upon stage at about 9:25 to a throbbing crowd of about 15,000 and immediately launched in to some of their new tunes from the Viva album. Twenty minutes into the gig the real storm hit in every sense. As Coldplay’s career-launching anthem Yellow blasted out around the stadium a rolling thunderstorm enveloped Abu Dhabi.

The band played on while the soaking crowd stood firm, launching giant yellow balloons around the stadium like a beach volleyball competition gone way out of hand. With warm rain trickling down my back and a massive grin on my face, I watched the show harbouring that familiar regret that I had not pursued my music career and opted instead to become a landscape architect.

As Fix You built up from its quiet, church organ-led beginnings to a stomping crowd sing-a-long, there could not have been a person in the stadium who didn’t experience that wonderful spine-tingling feeling. This song has been playing on my office stereo ever since and still generates the same response. Looking around me as the band played on, every crowd member sang along while the rain tumbled off their smiling faces. Looking behind me from the peasants pen, I knew that Edina and Quint would be blasting out their parts in the posh seats above me, their performances honed on many a Singstar session at Casa Jumeirah.

Half an hour later the weather and the anthemic melodies seemed to subside to reveal some of the bands more delicate songs like The Hardest Part and Postcards From Far Away before once again building into new sing-a-long favourite, Viva La Vida. Coming towards the end of the gig proper, the band made an excursion to a smaller stage surrounded by the crowd and bashed out a few acoustic tunes upon which the other band members took turns to sing with varying degrees of success. A successful encore later, the crowd was elated and we flooded out of the stadium in a long, steaming, stream of fans, grinning and chatting as we walked along the cornice towards our transport. Arriving back to my soft, dry bed at 2:30am, I was very aware of how lucky we are to live such a great life in the desert!“

6 Comments

Posted in Music | Tags: ,

Posted by: Aaron | March 29, 2009

Drink with a View

Dubai Marina really is a great place to live. I am a five minute walk to the beach, a whole host of restaurants and shops. And if I am inclined, about a ten minute walk to the recently opened Dubai Marina Mall which can satisfy my cravings for Waitrose or electronics.

The place that is making Dubai Marina all that more homely it what I would describe as the recent opening of what I am deeming “my local”. In the banner of this blog the low building with strong horizontal green light is the recently opened Dubai Marina Yacht Club. It is home to a restaurant and perhaps more importantly a really nice bar called Aquara.

Aquara in the last four weeks, as word has spread, has become incredibly popular with the after work crowd. I always used to love after work drinks with colleagues in London and I get the same type of feeling on my visits to this bar. But be warned it gets busy, really busy.

The reason it gets so popular is perhaps only really clear once you have sat on the huge veranda, overlooking the luxury yachts with the skyscrapers of the Marina it forms a truly impressive setting for a G&T. Here it is just before dusk:

And when I say it gets busy I am not joking. I thought the place was opened from 5ish. So I went down only to find out the doors don’t open till 6. By 5.45 there was a lengthy queue waiting to get in and bag a table and by 6.30 it was one in and one out. Here is the veranda at 6.30:

But the good news is between 6-8 and the beer is half price and 15AED for a drink really is good value in Dubai nowadays. Here Jo enjoys the view whilst enjoying the cut price drinks:

I do like going to Aquara as a wind down from a hectic week at work and it probably has the most “British” feel to it outside of Barasti. I understand that they also offer one of those famous “All you can eat and drink” Friday brunches which usually ends in a sore head and empty wallet the following morning. Or front page news if you are less than careful.

There are a number of hotels that are due to open along the beach front of Dubai Marina in the next few months. If there are even a couple of good watering holes amongst them I will be a really happy man.

6 Comments

Posted in Dubai | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Aaron | March 29, 2009

AC Wars

Now Dubai is a typically a hot place making the need for AC not a luxury but an absolute necessity. However what temperature the AC needs to be set to appears to have been a bit of a bone of contention in the office.

I walked in this morning to see this little surprise:

The installation of an AC jail!

It seems that the nearby cubicles have to all agree on what temperature they would like the zone to be set at. Then the office manager will come with the key and set the temperature.

I can only smile. The ladies seem to like it set to 28c which I have to admit to being somewhat warm. I personally like it in the 22-24c range especially if I am in a suit jacket.

It seems that the consensus has led the AC to being set at 23.1c, however not without some grumblings. I will stay out of it for now now. When the summer arrives and it gets to 45c outside I do hope it is set to something sensible.

3 Comments

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