Posted by: Aaron | January 14, 2010

Here we Go

Over the last 15 years I have been an avid follower of the UFC. I clearly remember buying the first three UFC tournaments on VHS (!) back in 1995 while I was at University. Since then the UFC under the direction of Zuffa and Dana White (UFC President) has become a house hold name and I am still a huge fan. I even managed to attend UFC 38 – Brawl in Hall. I recall it being quite scary seeing lots of huge guys walking around in T-Shirts with logos like “I will make you Tap Out” – crikey I thought, don’t do that on me. Still it was amazing evening with the highlight being local British fighter Ian “The Machine” Freeman beating the upcoming Frank Mir by brutal ground and pound (who later went on to be the UFC Heavyweight Champion).

There had been some rumblings late last year that the UFC would hold an event in Abu Dhabi and with a couple of Dana White appearances in the UAE late last year there was definitely something afoot. This was confirmed when earlier this week it was announced that Flash Entertainment an Abu Dhabi based company had acquired 10% of the UFC which was quite a shock in itself.

Then last night I ended up getting very excited when it was announced that Vitor Belfort would challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi on 10th April. For me these two guys are the best strikers in the UFC – it will be dynamite. It is also emerging that there could be a second title fight that night involving BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar. Two title fights in one night? I suppose a spend of (at a guess) $150m is going to get you something special. I imagine the whole card will be stacked and I personally hope there is at least one of the upcoming young British fighters on the card.

This double whammy is huge. It is clear that the UFC have their eyes on the Middle East, Indian and Chinese markets and ties with Abu Dhabi allow them unique leverage into them. Selling advertising rights and pay per view into a population of 2.5 billion is a lofty prize. Dana White gave his views on the deal below:

For Abu Dhabi this is another prestigious marque to be associated with that further heralds their international ambition and cements them as a stop on the global tour of sport. Aside from this Abu Dhabi has a huge tradition in submission combat and the National has a nice article around this here.

I was so impressed with the Abu Dhabi GP last year and I am sure there will be a spectacular show put on for UFC 112. There still appears to be some debate as to where the venue will be with the video revealing that a venue “will be built” – interesting to see if they use Yas Island or Emirates Palace.

Without question I will be there and I can hardly wait. It seems that for the big events in the UAE are now heading to Abu Dhabi (F1, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Beyonce, FIFA Club Championship, Red Bull Air Race) – adding the UFC to this list is simply brilliant.

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Posted by: Aaron | January 3, 2010

You hang up, no you hang up

A little while ago I dabbled into the world of iPhone.  Sadly it was a short lived affair as I brought a grey import and one bleary eyed morning I just pressed the update firmware button rendering my iPhone a worthless piece of iBrick. Shame really as I was getting to enjoy it.

Last October in a blitz of Twitter, Facebook and press excitement both Etisalat and Du officially released the iPhone 3GS into the UAE market. I admit to getting caught up in the buzz of it all and went on the day of released and grabbed one (probably a good job for my own sanity as they have been wildly popular and running out of stock on a regular basis).

First time around I was really intrigued with the powerful web and mail capabilities of the phone. This time however it is the apps that are king. I was sat in the pub last night and of the eight people there six had iPhones and the inevitable “app off” happened. To anyone new to the iPhone the sheer quantity of apps is simply overwhelming with about 100,000 available and counting. So here is my guide to getting started all are free unless stated:

Five Apps that should have come as standard:

1. Facebook – with 250 million people on facebook this would be the 6th largest country on the planet I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t have this installed on their iPhone

2. Google Earth - brilliantly implemented on iPhone with the gesture interaction perfectly complementing the app

3. Skype – a killer app for voice with the spread of wifi – I was amazed that it “just worked”

4. Tweetdeck – there are hosts of Twitter apps, I went for Tweetdeck for its easy to use interface (I can’t say the same thing about their PC client)

5. Google – the voice activated search is a gimmick but it provides a nice front end into the whole google suite of apps

Five News Apps:

1. Guardian (£2.39) – beautifully crafted and can be read offline. It is very clear a lot of effort went into producing this.

2. Telepgraph – not as good as the Guardian but I can see this becoming a paid for app soon

3. Sky News – good for a quick run down on breaking stories – go elsewhere for decent commentary

4. New York Times – using the same fonts from the paper – really well put together for that US spin on news

5. Al Jazeera (£1.79) – live english streaming of the rather good Al Jazeera news channel – really only suitable on a wifi link

Five Games you can pick up play for two minutes:

1. Paper Toss – chucking balls of paper into a bin has to be the top office past time ever? Anyway, now faithfully recreated with the addition of wind direction to be taking into account

2. Boggle (£0.59) – the classic seventies word hunt game that has been nicely brought to life on the iPhone – the shaking of the phone to scramble the letters is a lovely touch

3. Tap Tap Revenge 3 – like Guitar Hero – a rhythm game with multipliers for putting big score together. Easy to get finger ache with this one.

4. Harbor Master (£0.59) – There are a number of these type of games where you use your finger to draw paths for things to follow ending in juggling lots of planes, cars or in this case boats. This game drives me insane but it is strangely more-ish

5. Bejeweled 2 (£1.59) – The classic popcap game that most of the planet will have played at some point. Compelling to the point of addiction if you are not careful and certainly a must have if you have ever played this game in any other format

Five Games that are time sinks:

1. GeoDefense/GD Swarm (£0.99) – If you know what a Towers Defense game is  - look no further. A beautifully crafted game with excellent graphics/sound, well balanced levels and a sense of humour.

2. Scrabble (£1.99) – I play in a desperate attempt to improve my word power. Sadly, the iPhone regularly gives me a good beating at this

3. Texas Hold Em (£2.99) – Written by Apple themselves this is easily the best poker simulator on the iPhone. There are some nice animations but they can be switched off if you are looking for a quicker game

4.  Farm Frenzy (£0.59) – Brilliant value for a game that  will have you chasing after Geese, collecting eggs, watering the animals and lots of other tasks in this delightful resource management and strategy game. Will be an iPhone classic

5.  Dragon’s Lair – (£2.99) – I loved this game when it came out in the 80’s. At the time the use of real cell shaded cartoons was ground breaking for a video game. Now a near perfect replica can be had for the iPhone. The one problem this game had it was that it was rock hard – twenty seven years later it is still the same and can be infuriating.

Five useful apps:

1. Amazon UK – really great for quickly checking the price and or customer reviews of an item when I browsing one of Dubai’s mega malls

2. RedLaser (£0.99) – an ingenious app that uses the iPhone camera to take a picture of a barcode of an item, it then translates this into the number sequence and checks the best buy price from a number of websites. Comparative shopping at your finger tips. I am still amazed every time I see this work.

3. FeX/MyPhone+ (£0.99/£1.99) – Both of these apps allow syncing of your contacts and your facebook friends. The upshot being ou have correct spelling, a photo, their birthday and upcoming events all in your iPhone. Of the two Myphone+ has more configurable options but Apple should be ashamed as this functionality is built into Android.

4. eBay – I recently signed up for eBay (about 10 years too late) – this app is great for keeping an eye on auctions you are interested in. A bit cumbersome for browsing however.

5. Remote – I am not sure why apple did not pre-install this. Great little app to act as a remote control for iTunes libraries.

Five Great Reference Apps:

1. Wikipedia – the safari browser is amazing but this just speeds up the process a bit

2. Dictionary – same as above

3. Empire – (£2.69) – Every single Empire Movie review (9000 of them) that is searchable offline makes this a gem.

4. Shazam – Perfect for that moment in the pub “What is that song?”

5. Rightmove -Like most British people I am obsessed with UK house prices. Now if I ever need to know what the going rate for a three bed semi in Margate is, then the Rightmove app has the answer.

That is a long list but it goes to show just how much of a flexible platform the iPhone and indeed other smart phones are becoming. My prediction for 2010 is that we will see the advent of true mobile banking (not the horrendous things previously attempted) – but super slick banking apps with two factor authentication for security. This will allow me to shift my dirhams off shore while I enjoy a Mojito next to the pool. Perfect.

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Posted by: Aaron | January 3, 2010

I’m Mr Brightside

At the start of last year if you mentioned to me that I would see The Kings of Leon, Aerosmith and The Killers in the UAE I would have thought you would be having me on.

But sure they all came and all were brilliant. The last to visit Abu Dhabi was The Killers. I vividly remember the first time I heard one of their songs. I was in the less than salubrious “Cherry Bar” in Laganas circa the summer of  2005 (nasty brit infested greek holiday town) when the DJ put on “Mr Brightside” the place erupted and I went slightly nuts.

Since then while not a massive follower of every one of their tracks, I am certainly keen on their big anthems and they all feature regularly on the sing star nights I go to.

Thinking ahead, we rented a minibus to enjoy a cold beverage or two on the way down to the Emirates Palace. Sadly while this made for a fun trip we did have to make an unscheduled pitstop that caused us to turn up a little late to the gig.

Walking through the main entrance they had the typical food and beverage setup going on. The one where you stand in a giant queue to buy tokens for drinks and such. Then even bigger queues for actual goodies themselves. As we were a little late The Killers kicked off with “Human” – seeing as it was one of my favourite tunes I abandoned hope of an immediate drink and ran to see the performance. They delivered with real gusto – no complaining about how hot it was. Real pro’s giving it all they were worth.

After a few songs I was really thirsty for a drink so I found a beer buddy and set off to the beverage outlets. What a mistake. For a good 30-40 minutes we stood there watching total chaos. Chaps behind the bar not knowing how to pour simple mixed drinks. Insisting every can of drink was poured in a plastic cup and having no idea how to get the food out of the warmers. It was a nightmare summed up when one more girl trying to carry six beers turned around and immediately dropped half of them. It would have been comedy had we not all felt her pain.

A little frustrated I headed back to the rest of the gang with warm over priced drinks and enjoyed the rest of the show – particularly the encore where they closed out with a stellar performance of “When you were young” that put me in a good mood for the rest of the evening.

However the highlight was Mr Brightside which they conveniently waited to play until I returned with my beer. Here is a little bit of footage I took:

Just great – I loved it. Mr Brightside someone who is an incurable optimistic. Perhaps that sums me up, without question it has been a tough year for Dubai’s economy. Tomorrow the huge edifice that is Burj Dubai will officially open, when I arrived in Dubai three and half years it was a giant construction site only 26 floors high and now it  looks like a futuristic rocket ready to shoot off to another dimension. I can only hope that the opening marks a bright side for Dubai as we bravely stride into the new decade.

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Posted by: Aaron | December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas

For the second year I get to spend Christmas in Dubai with my family. It is a quite time on the roads and shops with lots of expat headed to colder climbs for the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Sadly, no let up for me as this the busiest time of year at work. This has impacted a little on my blogging and I have lots of things to cover as December has been a fun month with the rugby sevens and the killers being particular highlights as well numerous other Dubai treats. So watch out for these posts in the new year.

Earlier in the week while villa hunting for one of my colleagues we drove around the lakes (a villa community in Dubai) I was pleased to see some people really getting into the Christmas spirit:

In the meanwhile I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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Posted by: Aaron | December 16, 2009

The Thin Green Line

Despite the chaos that often ensues at various airports around the middle east the one that I feel most apprehensive about is any of the ones in Saudi. I have had the pleasure of standing for hours in queues in Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman over the last couple of years.

With the end of the year fast approaching it was important that I made a visit to Saudi to ensure that everything would be smooth as we closed out the year.  I knew from the moment I left home that this trip would have a certain amount of excitement attached to it.

Three hours before the flight left Dubai I headed for the airport – usually that is a huge amount of time. I don’t like to be rushed and prefer to get to the airport early where I can catch on email and phone calls. No such chance on Sunday. It was raining in Dubai. From my previous posts and experience the meerest splatter of rain in Dubai causes traffic chaos and widespread flooding. This Sunday was no different.

As we queued down the Sheikk Zayed Road I watched impassively as the minutes then hours passed. As we headed up the ramp to departures still in huge traffic the taxi driver made a desperate plunge for a gap to drop us off. I glanced at the clock, the flight was leaving in 30 minutes and the gate closed 15 minutes ago. I sighed and thought I would end up getting on the late flight at 10pm.

I walked up to the desk I asked hopefully “Riyadh?”

“The flight has closed”

“Oh” and I sighed again

“You have luggage?”

“Not today”

Within 20 seconds a boarding pass was thrust in my hands and I was told to run.

I promptly did and 10 minutes later I was sat on the flight. I thought my luck must be in. Then we landed in Riyadh.

The queue at immigration was huge. I mean anybody who has been there will understand when I say that the hall was full and the queue was back up the stairs.

The number one tip for arriving in Riyadh airport is stay to the right. Sure enough they opened up some other immigration desks. Great I thought as I was caught up in the rush for a new one. Soon enough I was at the desk.

“Where is your visa?”

“Umm…it is the one right there” I said pointing at my very valid Saudi visa

The guy tapped the number in three or four times. Then calls over the big officer – a quick exchange of Arabic and the guy looks at me again.

“Where is your visa?”

I point again. The huge queue behind me is providing the “Please hurry up body language”

The supervisor comes over – grabs my passport and stamps it. I am waved through. Lucky I thought.

I walked outside only to find the driver from the hotel is nowhere in sight. After a look around I negotiate a price into the city from one of the many guys looking to make a buck. I find a nice dude from Yemen who drove safely and only charged my $10 over the odds for a ride to the hotel.

The next couple of days pass without incident but in the back of my mind I am worried, worried that there will be an issue at immigration.

I got dropped off early for the flight and am amazed that there is nearly no queue for check in at the Saudi Air desks. Typically I budget 30-45minutes to check in. I grab my boarding pass and head for immigration. A nice young chap looks at my passport. Checks the visa carefully and enters the number.

“You speak Arabic”

“Mafie Arabie” I reply

“Your visa has expired by 11 days”

My eyes widen in disbelief.

He looks at me sadly and heads over to his supervisor. This chap is not interested and I am told to go to the immigration office.

“Where is it?”

“Walk to the end. Four terminals, then go downstairs”

I start the hike and after about 15 minutes I find the place.

The chap there looks at my passport. He throws it back at me

“Go to the immigration office in Riyadh. Cancel your ticket”

He tells me as he points at my boarding pass.

My heart sank. Could this really be happening? Then a 1000 scenarios run through my mind. The top one involved me being thrown into Saudi Gulag – a vivid imagination is a powerful motivator.

I get on the phone and start calling the local office, the rest of my team. In fact anyone I know who speaks Arabic. As luck would have the rest of the sales team were enjoying a leisurely pizza in the airport. I found them and they told me not to worry. I was in super panic mode and a little jittery.

Their theory was that when I last left Saudi early November despite my passport being stamped I was not entered into their immigration system correctly as having left Saudi. So in the immigration officers eyes I had overstayed my 14 day allowance and I needed to go explain myself to the Immigration office in Riyadh.

Together we headed over to immigration and the local sales guy starts to explain the issue to one of the immigration officers. This goes on for about 30 minutes and it gets quite animated but from what I could tell all very polite. They ask to see my exit stamp out of Dubai – sadly I am using egate so I don’t have that. They can’t find my entry stamp on arrival either. Thinks are looking grim. We are sent back to the other end of the airport to the immigration office.

We find the same chap at that office. He is really not interested. He threatens my colleague as to why he is getting involved in this and why is our local sponsor not here representing me? He tells us the only man who can help is Colonel Azziz.

“Where is he?”

“Airport”

We leave empty handed and Ahmed my colleague goes into super hardcore Saudi red tape beater mode. We see another immigration official and we ask for Colonel Azziz. We are directed to the immigration desks at arrival. To get there we have to explain the situation to the security team. We are scanned and let through.

At immigration there is huge queues and we find the supervisor. There is a pretty sharp exchange in Arabic between Ahmed and the senior official. He says one word I couldn’t catch and we head back up stairs.

At the departures immigration desk the guy who listened to our story to begin with was there. I handed him my passport and boarding card. Ahmed mentioned an Arabic word to him. They took my documents back to the supervisors office there and a lot of frantic keyboard tapping started to take place followed by photocopying of my entire passport.

I looked at my watch. The flight was leaving in 20 minutes.

“Ahmed, am I stuck here for the weekend?”

“Inshallah it will be fixed”

Five minutes later – my passport was stamped. I kissed Ahmed said shukran to the immigration officials and ran for the flight. When I reached my seat I mumbled a payer and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I admit. I was scared. Not for having to stay in Saudi for a few more days. But the fact that I could be stuck there indefinitely as this type of thing can often take days and perhaps weeks to clear up.

When I look back at it. My visa and everything was valid just there was a glitch in the matrix. The word on street is that they will say no 5 times and then it gets fixed, but you need to be speaking in Arabic and be super persistent.

I will remember this when I next have to come to Saudi. When that will be, only time will tell.

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Posted by: Aaron | December 1, 2009

A Worthwhile Cause

I am back on the road and last week was hectic with an in out to Cairo followed by a trip back to the UK for a last minute meeting. The good thing was that I managed to be in Dubai for the Night of 1000 Drawings – Dubai.

The build up had been great with the organisers “Legion-DXB” throwing themselves headlong into publicity for the fund raiser with  a number of “Doodle events”, features in Timout, radio interviews and even an appearance on CNN Arabia.

The output of this huge amount of work was a really cool evening showing 1000 drawings (they actually got 1200 pictures in the end) from all around the world. The team had recruited volunteers and pegged out the art around the gallery to good effect:

The format was quite simple. There was a couple of hours to have a good look around and decide what you might be interested in. Each picture was sale at 50 Dhs ($13). If there was something you really wanted there was a VIP option for 200 Dhs ($52) which gave you 15 minutes head start on the public.

The choice was bewildering. Though I really regret not grabbing the “Renata Giovanni” originals:

However, I did invest in a VIP ticket and was delighted to win a piece called “Phunky Phresh” by Foo Dog a local urban art compnay and here it is in pride of place in my home office:

and the reverse side:

As well as the art there was a doodle battle, a number of bands performing and the obligatory shwarma guys. Together it made for a really fun night. The important thing however was they raised an excellent 65,000 Dhs ($17,700) which is being donated to Gulf for Good who will then distribute the money to hand picked charities.

I know the organisers put their hearts and souls into this for the last four months and should be proud of what they achieved. I hope this becomes an annual event as this unusual combination of cool, urban art, hip and altruistic attitude is something  we could all use a little of in this day and age.

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Posted by: Aaron | November 17, 2009

Pulling Teeth

After a pleasant trip to Vienna where the autumnal cold got me feeling that Christmas is just around the corner I got the dreaded sensation of toothache. So on arrival back to Dubai I searched for a suitable dentist to get a check up and see what was a matter.

A quick cry for help on twitter and a couple of SMS’s later I settled on the Modern Dental Clinic who have a branch in Dubai Marina. On entering the dentist it was not hard to spot their target market – the Russian receptionist and literature for teeth jewellery were decent clues.

I was greeted by my friendly German dentist who set about doing a quick exam which involved not only an x-ray but a really nifty camera that took photos of my teeth in exceptional clarity. Aside from the obligatory hygienist session it was clear from the x-ray that my Wisdom teeth were impacted causing me pain. The advice was to get them extracted as soon as possible.

I had a single wisdom teeth removed sometime ago in the UK and the vision of quite a burly dentist pulling with all his might on a pair of pliers was not something that I wanted to go through again. But needs must. My dentist said her husband Mr Torsten would do the procedure and he had been pulling them for 20 years. This was good enough for me. The nice thing that they did was prepare for the procedure. I was given some enzymes to take for three days before and five days after to help reduce the swelling. As well as a homoeopathic remedy Arnica again to help with the inflammation.

So a couple of days later armed only with a whole heap of anxiety I made the walk over to the dentist feeling rather like a condemned man. What follows next is a little bit graphic and you might want to skip to the last paragraph.

After browsing a Cyrillic brochure that seemed to tell me a blue gem in my tooth would be a good look Dr Torsten quickly ushered me into the treatment room. Using the x-ray he outlined what he was going to do.

“This upper one is no problem”

“Ok’”

“This lower one – is inside the jaw bone. So I will shave the bone here and cut the tooth in half and then extract. I will be sure not to go near the nerves here” – he outlined a thin white line close to the back of my tooth.

“Ok” – I was thinking – Dude – that sounds like a serious piece of work. I had a fractured cheekbone in the past and I knew what nerve damage to the face was like and if it does heal, itl takes a long time. The thought of a numb or altered sensation on my jaw would not be a good thing.

A quick rub inside my mouth with a little Novocain set him up to give me the local anaesthesia – this consisted of seven injections. As I hate needles – I thought the worst was over- oh how wrong I was. I would feel some “pressure” but no pain. So this was ok.

Dr Torsten after checking if I could feel anything set about removing my upper wisdom tooth. Quite unlike my experience in the UK this was without drama. I felt that familiar pressure, then a weird cracking sound and it was out. It probably took him about three minutes. That was quickly earned $400.

Then onto the lower tooth extraction. I now have to admit that I closed my eyes throughout the whole thing. I really didn’t want to see the “torture weapons” he was putting in my mouth. The first thing he did was to cut a gum flap to expose my jaw bone. That done he then used a drill of some sort to shave back the bone. The smell of burning was a little worrying and he quickly stopped.

“I will use the ultra-sonic drill – it will help with your healing – just a moment to prepare it.”

Good I thought – that last one was nasty.

So the ultra-sonic drill was in use and the high pitched squeal that came from it – was to my mind far worse than any drilling noise that I had experienced. After about 20 minutes:

“Good – I can see the tooth now”

“Mmmmphhhh” – Crikey, I thought – that was only the appetizer!

Then for the next hour – I went through a very difficult tooth extraction. It consisted of a lot of drilling, squeezing, waggling, cracking, pulling, blood and when he cut the tooth close to the nerve in it. Pain.

At the point where I was just about done with it and was going to ask him to stop – he did.

“Time for an x-ray”

It showed that about 85% of my lower wisdom tooth was gone. He explained that there was just no movement in it – try as he might. And that we could spend another hour trying but it would be risky as he would need to go closer to the nerve than he or I would want. It would be fine for the tooth to be left there – it was far from my rear molar and should not cause any further issues.

With that he closed and I got six sutures in the gum flap but none on the upper extraction as well as a little packing which they took out the next day.

When I got out of the chair – I felt battered and bruised. He tapped me on the shoulder

“You are a tough guy”

I looked at him – he was exhausted and covered in my blood. He had given it his all and I am thankful for his twenty years of experience to make the right choices for both me and him.

“Mmmpphhh thank mmmppphhh you”

I was then given details on the recovery – the first 24 hours was crucial. No talking, no exercise, no “excitement”, no disturbing the clot and if there was bleeding to stuff it with gauze for an hour. As well as this I have been icing my jaw 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off for 72 hours after. It also helped with the pain management as well as helped with the swelling.

The walk back home was hard. I was in a daze – my jaw was numb and feeling very strange. It is at a time like this you don’t want to be by yourself and my Dad was soon close to hand to help me out.

As I write this it is the sixth day following the extraction. I am still swollen and in pain. The upper tooth extraction site is healed but the traumatic procedure on my lower tooth is going to need more time. I had the sutures out two days and the prognosis was good – swollen but healing well.

In the meantime – the pain has been intense and I have been taking 600mg Ibuprofen like smarties, as well as the enzymes and Arnica to help with the swelling. Despite not being able to go to the gym – this has been offset by being forced into a diet consisting of soup, scrambled eggs and fish. Anything else is just too much for me to deal with right now.

I will be going back to see Dr Torsten in two weeks – I still have one more Wisdom tooth left also in my lower jaw. I don’t think I will be having this pulled in a hurry.

If you are looking for good dentist in Dubai I have no qualms about recommending these Dr Torsten and his wife. Professional, experienced and they have all the latest dentistry tech which makes a gadget lover like myself a happy man.

After all of that I am now off to buy the top of the line Oral-B electric toothbrush – a little bit of retail therapy is sure to help, right?

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Posted by: Aaron | November 4, 2009

Don’t Slow Down

When one of my colleagues asked me a simple question a few weeks ago I didn’t realise the implications.

“Do you want to go to the F1 in Abu Dhabi?”

“Sure, why not?”

So tickets secured I didn’t really give it a second thought till last Friday. Then I started to get caught up in the hype. Facebook and Twitter were awash with people excitedly proclaiming that they too were going to spend a day or two at the race. Cool – I thought at least there would be a good crowd. Before I was really more excited about seeing the concerts – Kings of Leon and Aerosmith. I was a little sad that I didn’t get a three day ticket so I could have seen Jamiroquai and Beyonce too but as it turned out the two rock groups were plenty.

I am fortunate to have been to Silverstone a couple of times in the UK for the F1 and even luckier to have been given VIP paddock passes to both McLaren and Ferrari on separate occasions. This time as regular Joe Public in the grandstand would be a new experience and as it turned out to be just as fun.

On qualifying day we left Dubai in a minibus so we might enjoy a few drinks without consequence. In less than an hour we were parked and on the bus to Yas Island Marina Circuit. I was impressed, excellent road links, ample parking and plenty of air-conditioned buses. There was none of the traffic issues that I had experienced getting to Silverstone or any hiking through marsh-ridden bogs…

On the bus ride to the circuit friends who had been landscape architects on the Yas Island project accompanied us. They gave us the inside scope. The amount of details that hadn’t been completed were gleefully pointed out but that best efforts had been put in to give it a very presentable look. To the untrained eye it simply looked brand new. The sheer scale of the development is hard to comprehend. Here is a shot from the big screen of the development

Entry into the circuit through security was again painless – none of the multi-hour queues that had plagued the Dubai World Cup a couple of years ago. Once in the roar of thousand horsepower engines greeted us. Stuffing foam pieces into our ears (handed out by friends Emarati volunteers) we raced to our seats in the West Grandstand eager to get a view of practice session.

The new “Protec Barriers” used on the circuit meant that we literally on top of the action. We were placed at the end of the longest straight on the F1 tour just before a hard left hander. The West stand also provided views of the cars coming into the home straight and entry into the pit lane. With the big screen providing shots of the rest of the track it was easy to keep up with the action.  Now with the modern miracle of 3G, iPhone and the BBC website we knew exactly what was happening.

The circuit simply looks sensational. The space craft looking Yas Hotel setting the scene with its wacky curves and twinkling lights as the night pulled in. The cyan blue painted run off areas also add to the futuristic look. After the qualifying session that evening I watched a replay in HD – the helicopter that had been buzzing around all night provided some amazing shots. My dad commented “It looked like something from a sci-fi movie” personally I thought it would not have looked out of place in the classic playstation game Wipeout. Here we are just in front of the track following the race:

Watching the qualifying was good but the following day race day was superb. It was nice to hear the crowd react to highlights and I would estimate at 90% capacity it was not a race in front of empty stands that we had seen this year in Beijing, KL and Istanbul.
Key moments of racing that had me on the edge of my seat were the start of the race, Hamilton getting pole in the dying seconds of qualifying, when Vettel exited the pit lane to take the lead or in the last lap when Button twice made a move to over take Webber but was repelled. Here is a clip I took of the race start – the engine noise is unbelievable:

It was exciting stuff and I have to admit to really enjoy seeing it live. Watching it on TV just isn’t the same and I admit to find it boring sometimes. Trackside it is different gravy.
As were spending all day at the circuit a few comments on the facilities:
1.    Toilets – plentiful though the ones inside the stadium have a crazy design which creates a choke point on entry/exit
2.    Food – generally awful. Overpriced restaurants selling poor quality dishes. The fast food stands were no better with the ones in the F1 village actually closing during the afternoon having run out of food. I brought six chicken shwarmas for the guys in the concert arena to essentially have paid $8 each for onions wrapped in bread. Very disappointing.
3.    Drinks – no problems here. Innocuous tents simply labelled as no admission to under 21s provided everything a thirsty expat might need. Also water was free around the circuit – good job as it was hot before sunset.
4.    The F1 village – sat just behind the VIP area it was a great place to hang out. Sponsor tents were setup with the Etihad one was particularly good with F1 simulators the major draw. The Marlboro tent had a big draw but I think this had more to do with all the promo models who just seemed to be hanging around looking cool
5.    Entertainment – the organizers had a stage setup at one end of the F1 village and brought some really top class performers. It was a shame you had no idea where or when they would perform.

My personal favourite was Nathan Flutebox – I have been following this human beat box flute playing genius for sometime and it was a pleasure to see him live:

And the double dutch skipping antics of these young guys were really enjoyable to watch:

It is also amazing who you can meet at these events. I saw Richard Branson but was far happier seeing my friend from Gitex:

The organizers had really put together an awesome set of concerts. The venue was under one of the arches of the forthcoming Ferrari Experience theme park. It was an excellent venue and I imagine will give Emirates Palace a run for its money as the premiere concert venue in the UAE. I never really though that Kings of Leon would ever play in the UAE and there was no way I was missing them. We made the hike from the stand over to the concert, which turned out to be a mistake. As there were plenty of buses available.
On entry to the concert area all bags were searched and any “professional” cameras were forced to check them in at a porta-cabin. Later this turned out to be a nightmare; despite leaving the gig early there was a huge melee of people trying to collect their cameras. It took us more than an hour.
There was a little bit of British humour in the crowd waiting for their cameras with a little singing and one guy raising his camera bag like it was the world cup and giving it a kiss accompanied to a tremendous cheer from the crowd. There really needs to be a better system for this. It ended up leaving a sour note with many after an otherwise great day. After all – with the mass up take of digital SLRs which owner is going to leave their’s at home? The second day – I did.

Kings of Leon
I managed to gather up most of my friends who were at the gig and we enjoyed the show together. I admit to being a three trick pony as far as Kings of Leon going.
The crowd reacted well to there rock style despite clearly not knowing most of the songs. This all changed for their Anthem “Sex on Fire” and the crowd sang their hearts out. This seemed to get approval from their front man who performed enthusiastically and was determined to enjoy himself so far from his homeland. The crowd seemed happy and I was delighted having missed out on Coldplay last year.

Here is Abu Dhabi going crazy for them:

Aerosmith

After the excitement of the race I was feeling a little fatigued. It had been a long day at qualifying in the heat and Kings of Leon the previous evening. So we turned to Strongbow to provide the necessary restorative powers and get us in the mood. This day we had been smart. We had lunch before getting to the circuit, we limited our hiking around the grounds in the afternoon heat, left the SLR at home and made sure to get on and off the shuttle at the right time.
It was clear that a lot more people were in attendance for Aerosmith than the previous night and without DJ bliss warming up the crowd there was an air of anticipation. I was pretty neutral to begin with and was secretly wishing I could have snuck home with one of my friends as my feet gently throbbed in my crocs. But when Steve Tyler burst out on stage delivering “Livin’ on the Edge” all thoughts of discomfort were immediately discounted.

Me and the guys stood around and rocked out to their great live set. Here is a clip of an Aerosmith classic:

Despite looking like he has nearly as much plastic surgery as the late Michael Jackson, I take my hat off to him and the rest of the band. They performed like they meant it and had energy that belied their years.
When we left I felt privileged to have witnessed one of the truly great Rock bands of my era. In fact when I got home I dusted off “Guitar Hero – Aerosmith Edition” it is clear that I don’t have the same pipes as Steve Tyler, but I enjoyed trying.

There has been a lot written about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It is an amazing feat of construction from sand to a space age race circuit with five star hotels and a marina in just 32 short months. Sure, there are some things that can be improved but that is par for the course here and lessons will soon be learnt and rectified. And when the F1 Ferrari experience theme park opens up it will without doubt be an amazing tourist destination.

Abu Dhabi really came of age onto the world scene last weekend and came out of the shadow of Dubai. There are a number of “must do” events on the expat calendar – The Rugby 7s, The Dubai World Cup and now the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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Posted by: Aaron | October 30, 2009

Ten Dubai Phrases

Struck me the other day while directing a taxi driver that there were certain phrases that I use in common day to day life in Dubai. However, if I was to use them in London I would certainly get an odd look or two.

Here are my favourites that when uttered can provide the grease to getting by in Dubai.

1. “Come on let’s go. Yallah Habibi”  - getting the gang to move

2. “What to do yanni?  - often said to no one in particular

3.  I’ll do that today itself “- as today really means sometime this week

4. “I will revert soonest”

5. “I will send you my coordinates” -often combined with 3 and 4

6. While calling a removal company – “Are you available for shifting and fixing next weekend?”

7.  ”Full tank special please” – I have never had the luxury of full service petrol stations before coming to Dubai

8. (While answering the phone) – “Tell me, mmmm, tell me…”

9. “too much” inserted in all sentences where I should be saying “a lot”

and the classic to the taxi driver:

10. “You come my backside now ?”

I have to admit to having used all of the above, but one I get a lot when speaking in an area with poor mobile reception:

11. “Aaron your voice is breaking” – Crikey I hoped that had happened 20 years ago

 

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Posted by: Aaron | October 26, 2009

New Top 10 Things to Do in Dubai

I have just seen a tweet from a site called Visiting Dubai with their Top 10 things to do in Dubai. Here it is:

10. Visit the Dubai spice souk
9. Buy art at a gallery in the Bastakia quarter
8. Ride a camel in the desert
7. Visit the Dubai Museum
6. Ride a dhow across Dubai Creek
5. Shop at the Dubai gold souk
4. Eat dinner at The Noble House
3. Ski at the Mall of the Emirates
2. Dune buggy in the desert
1. Have a drink at Skyview Bar in the Burj al Arab

I think that this is good list and covers all the the things that Dubai is well known for. I thought I might write the Top 10 things to do that have been built/added since I have been here:

10. Ride the Dubai Metro
9. Buy art at the Covent Garden Market on JBR Walk
8. Ride Halfpipe Canyon at Sega Republic
7. Visit the Lost Chambers at the Atlantis
6. See Jumana Secret of the Desert
5. Shop at the eclectic Souk Al Baha
4. Eat dinner at Zuma
3. Visit the Dubai Fountain
2. Ride the Leap of Faith at Aquaventure
1. Visit the viewing platform on the 134th Floor of the Burj Dubai (well from Dec 2nd 2009)

Which list wins? Neither – they are all great things to do and a combination between the two would give an amazing time in Dubai. I want to write a similar list in a year or so but encompassing Abu Dhabi – things like the Guggenheim museum, Yas Island Race Track, the Ferrari Theme park and even a tour of the QE2 will be possibilities. Who said anything about a slowdown?

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Posted by: Aaron | October 26, 2009

Turning Japanese

It had been a long but fulfilling week at GITEX and my feet were telling me that it was time to find some more comfortable shoes next time around. The timing of the Japan theme party at “Casa Jumeriah” in hindsight was perfect. I really did think that I wouldn’t have the energy for it and a quiet night in with a visit from a reflexologist is all I really wanted. However, once you I got there and you see everyone else’s outfits and have a couple of refreshing beverages it is an amazing stimulant.

The guys living at Casa Jumeriah again put a huge effort in for the theming and decoration of the villa – with a certain Mr Chesman freaking out that the Japanese characters were properly represented:

The gang down at the villa were suitably attired (Mr Chris’s Hello Kitty attracted a unique attraction from a lot of people that evening)

Sensei Quintin found a new opponent in Matt “Karate-Kid” Sulli-san

And after a liberal amount of Dutch courage I felt it was time to join the fun so I donned the inflatable Sumo outfit complete with crazy hair piece:

I was really impressed by the lengths some people go to for these parties. My favourite outfits were the Karama tailor made Monkey and Tripitaka outfits from one my fondest TV shows (Monkey) I use to enjoy as a kid. I am not sure how the Toyota factory worker fits in:

A little later in the evening we were treated to a special appearance from the most glamorous Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles I have ever seen

A good friend of mine Michelle writes a brilliantly observed “tumblr” called Hands Up Thumbs Down mainly about Dubai that makes me smile a lot. Following the Japan party she posted a little skit here – I have replicated it for posterity:

“I’ll roshambo you for it.. Well. First I kick you in the nuts as hard as I can, then you kick me in the nuts as hard as you can, and we keep going back and forth until somebody falls. The last one standing gets the arrowhead.. Ok ready? I’ll go first..”

I wondered what a roshambo was – made famous in Southpark and defined by the Urban Dictionary – it all looks rather uncomfortable. Now, I can probably understand why I woke up in so much pain the morning after.

I do love these parties but they are rather like Christmas. One eagerly looks forward to them for so ages and there is a huge amount of preparation, then it is all over before you know it.

Edit: Thanks to Tabu and Michelle for the photos – driving a camera while wearing a sumo outfit and drinking a beer is nearly impossible.

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Posted by: Aaron | October 26, 2009

Work It

Two things close to Mr Chris’s heart are the cost of the maintenance and the lack of inclusive gym facilities. I sympathize about the eye watering maintenance costs however I am fortunate enough to have excellent leisure facilities aside from the swimming pools there are squash courts, badminton courts, two well equipped gyms and even a pool table. All free to use once the wallet crushing maintenance fees have been paid. Over the last few months I have making the most of it and getting down the gym on a regular basis to battle any further “Dubai expansion”.

Recently the complex I live in has had a facilities management change and I have been impressed by the positive steps they have taken. Firstly they significantly reduced the fees, then they did something about the hideous landscaping of the swimming pools, got the concierge in the building to take post and courier deliveries and recently introduced parking bay stickers. All welcome additions.

Coming back from the office this evening I found a note under my door asking me a whole bunch of questions about the gym facilities in the building. I am actually shocked.

Should the gyms be upgraded (insert lots of equipment) at the cost of $x ?
Should their be provision for basketball and indoor soccer to be played at the cost of $x ?
Should their be outdoor benches beside the swimming pool at the cost of $x?

It was also made quite clear that any extras spent would be paid for with an additional levy next year.

This really is great to see and probably the first time I have ever heard of a property management company in Dubai proactively soliciting feedback from the owners/tenants to improve the community facilities. While no one wants to pay more it is great to be asked and personally I have responded that more facilities is only a good thing.

You never know, I might get really hardcore in the gym one day and I will absolutely need to have access to dumbbells in the 28 to 38kg range, an Olympic Barbell rod and a Scott bench. In the interim, it will be good enough for me to look at such equipment as I stagger off the x-trainer as a sweaty wreck.

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Posted by: Aaron | October 18, 2009

Exterminate

Heavy traffic and burgeoning crowds can only mean one of two things. Either it is the Dubai Shopping Festival or it is GITEX.

Regular readers will know that GITEX is a personal challenge for me as the majority of attendees are really consumers as opposed to the business data center end users that VMware fits. Nevertheless despite the early morning traffic and parking dramas I always get to meet lots of interesting people and generally have good fun whilst I am there.

Today the show opened. Opening day starts at 1pm – just prior to this Sheikh Mohammed and his entourage get a personal tour of the show and it was nice to see him this morning opening procedures.

I was soon into the swing of things and into full exhibition mode giving the opening presentation and trying my best to raise a few smiles and give away some corporate gifts to those people willing to ask me a question. I even managed to get a decent sized crowd at the end of it. Just after I finished I wondered back to the pod to hear some loud music playing.

Looking down the hall I could see a golf cart with a rather robot sat on the back of it – flanked by bazooka looking speaker tubes. I was more impressed when it stopped near the stand and the robot got up and started a little song and dance act.

This was great I thought until it walked directly at me a little too quickly with sound effects taken directly from Robocop. I hadn’t moved so fast since I had to get off a horse and cart in Egypt.

Not sure why I was freaked out – but it is large and intimidating. Searching through twitter this evening and @mahmoodb had all ready posted the robot up on youtube for our viewing pleasure:

It certainly drew crowds of cellphone filming gadget lovers to record it. I thought it was good of the organizers to put something a little different on this year. I wonder if there will be any more surprises this week, it not I will settle for some more dancing robot. Only this time I will be viewing from a further distance.

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Posted by: Aaron | October 17, 2009

Big in Japan Tonight

The summer is over. The weather is cooling down and bored expats with way too much time on there hands once again decide it is villa party time. As is traditional with any of the crazy fancy dress parties the lads of “Casa Jumeriah” throw it has become a requirement to put a rather ridiculous trailer.

These trailers have become a bit of an urban legend within our circle of friends and I think the “Vimto” scene is worthy of particular mention.

Now I just have to work out what to wear. Though my creative inventions are going to be a little hampered by GITEX this week (is it that time all ready?)

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Posted by: Aaron | October 11, 2009

The Candyman Can

Dubai Mall is starting to become a Mall and destination I want to visit. Recent openings of the new cinema, Sega Republic, the Dubai Fountain and a host of new restaurants (Entrecote, California Pizza Kitchen) mark it as place you can easily spend a whole day in.

Though I was beaten to the punch by Umar the new confectionery store “Candylicious” really is worth blogging about. Like a lot of other things in Downtown Dubai it is the world’s biggest. Ten thousand square feet of Willy Wonka shaming sugary goodness.

A marketing genius has secured them the spot right in front of the Aquarium. I think on Friday afternoon once the kids have seen the sharks being fed I am almost certain there will be a feeding frenzy of another kind in Candylicious.

The first thing to greet you on entry is a Gourmet Popcorn stand from a company called Garrett Popcorn Shops. It is sensational and Caramel Crisp is really a treat for those with a sweet tooth. I don’t what it is with Cheese flavoured popcorn – it is so wrong but yet so right. The nice staff let me try the varying flavours. A top tip is to avoid the tins as this seems to triple the price and just go for popcorn in a bag which worked out to be a far more reasonable affair.

Once the popcorn excitement was out-of-the-way, I ambled around the store. It is literally eye popping. The decoration and merchandising that has gone into the shop design is awesome. It is almost mesmerizing and despite the fact I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth I found myself wanting to dive into one of the many pic”n”mix and totally over indulge. Seven deadly sins eh? Sign yourself up for Gluttony right here.

I was initially unaware of the very blatant “No Photography” signs posted around but they stood little chance to all the eye candy surrounding me and I subconsciously found myself reaching for my camera phone. Here is the first one I took:

I got politely told not to do it. I couldn’t help myself and took a photo of the lollipop tree:

I could see a member of staff heading over to me. So I made a prompt exit clinging onto my Cheezy gourmet popcorn muttering something about this place being the death of me.

You have been warned.

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Posted by: Aaron | October 5, 2009

A Fork in the Road

I often muse about what to write and have found myself wanting to write about things that I just can’t get enough of. If you have been reading this blog for a while it is fairly obvious I love gadgets and these type of posts I feel don’t really belong on this site.

So I spent a little time this weekend and created a new blog just for those tech posts. This blog will remain and I will continue to write Dubai/Middle East posts but all the tech and gadget stuff will move over to the new blog. To give it a little kick start I added some of the tech posts from here and if there is something that fits into both Dubai and Tech it will appear on both sites.

So if you want to know why I really love Spotify follow this link over to Addicted to Tech

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Posted by: Aaron | October 3, 2009

My Pipe has Expanded

I was looking at some old posts as I tidied up this site earlier today and nearly a year ago I was very pleased about getting 12 Mbps internet. Du has continued to work on its network and as the result of the their investment into their backbone they are now offering improved services.

The first thing I got excited about was an upgrade (at no extra cost) from 12 Mbps to 24 Mbps. Despite it being expensive ($204 a month) at least I have the option to choose this service. Below is a chart of the different offerings:

Having had this speed for a couple of months I am overall really pleased with the service. Typical web browsing is a good experience and HD streaming sites like Revision 3 are now a joy to visit. I have benchmarked the speed and I can easily achieve full line speed late in the evenings. I think there is some traffic shaping but I rarely see anything less that 16Mbps at peak times. The best bit – there are no bandwidth caps. I didn’t realise just how good this was till I was in the UK recently and realised that you pay dearly for having a true unlimited download package from an ISP. Now if only I could get a service with really low latency – I would be ecstatic.

The more recent service that I am happy to see is the introduction of a High Definition (HD) TV service. When I left the UK mid 2006 HD was something that had yet to be launched to the general public and in the interim three years has become defacto with most of my friends (even my Mum has HD TV now!)

The DU HD TV service involves getting new decoders and an engineer to come and install them. After a four week wait I got them installed last weekend. The set top box appears to be a Tatung model with the added bonus of acting as a PVR allowing the recording of TV shows for viewing later (I didn’t realise how much I had missed simple VCR functionality). It looks quite slick:

The good thing is that the new HD box has HDMI output for easy hook up into the rest of my home cinema gear. The options for HD display are 720p and 1080i and with the right HD content the output is really quite decent. Below is a photo (excuse the light reflection) of “Chuck and Larry” from the Showtime HD channel and it is on a par with DVD quality.

If I look at the three key areas for HD TV I rate the picture to be a really good improvement, the sound to be an excellent improvement and the EPG (Electronic Program Guide) to be a huge step forward. Now with picture in picture channel surfing and easy to set-up recording of shows it is very friendly in use. The downside of all the promise of HD TV is that there is still a lot of content in regular standard definition which now looks even worse in direct comparison.

It is great to see the service provides Du and Etisalat now bringing these offerings to consumers in Dubai and pulling home entertainment onto a par with other parts of the world. I am interested to see what else is in the pipeline maybe 50Mbps home internet or a wider variety of HD content – either way it is all upside for the regular Joe.

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Posted in Dubai, TV, Technology | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Aaron | September 27, 2009

A Guide to a Lad’s Weekend in Beirut

It had been a long hot dusty Ramadan this summer and there was palpable excitement in Dubai as the Eid holiday approached. Nearly everyone I spoke to had some plans for going away or spending it with their families and the mood was really upbeat.

Me and some of the lads took advantage of the new low cost airline www.flydubai.com to get over to Beirut for the Eid for only $245. Coupled with a reasonably priced hotel – Casa D’or (about $60 each a night) located in the always alive Hamra area and we had the makings of an enjoyable break.

We crammed a lot into the four days we were there. However there is so much to see and do and it didn’t help that by the time we had got out of bed and had brekkie/lunch it was typically well gone 1pm which did hamper choices a little. So in order to give you a little taste here are the highlights of the trip.

The Corniche and Mostafa’s

The first day after the obligatory trip to Lina’s Cafe we went for an exploratory walk. We set off from Hamra down the Corniche and walked along the coast. The weather made it for warm work and we soon in need of some refreshment.

The local beer is called Almaza and its light, refreshing and very drinkable. We searched along the Corniche for somewhere to quench our thirst but the first couple of places did not meet our requirements. Until nearly at the end of the corniche was a small place called “Nina’s”

One of the braver lads volunteered to go in and check it out:

“Hamza? You have Hamza? Five” uttered Duncan with forthright confidence whilst waving his arms about

“Shoo?” said the proprietor

“You know – Hamza, Hamza!” Duncan spluttered

A look of confusion crossed the jovial owner of the cafe.

“Ummm. Duncan. I think you mean Almaza” chirped up one of the more on the ball lads

“Yes. Yes. Hamza errrr…Almaza – five?” Duncan stammered

“ALMAZA! Yes we have it”

Turns out that Hamza is Arabic for the word apostrophe. Suffice to say Duncan was made not to forget the fact that Hamza is not arabic for the amber nectar.

Mostafa the proprietor of Nina’s took a bit of a shine to us and took the time to tell us a couple of jokes. Here he is in full flow:

We liked him back and returned to his place on a daily basis for a cold “Hamza” and the chance to sit on his terrace that provided an awesome view of the sea. We affectionately renamed his cafe to “Mostafa’s”. If you want to find it – just walk past the Movenpick and it is the first Cafe you come to.

Gemayzé

From Long Street in Cape Town to Kings Cross in Sydney I love cities that have streets full of pubs, clubs and restaurants and Gemayzé street can easily hold its head up high in such company.

As a group of guys we had no issue in entering any of the many bars that inhabit that street. A couple that we went into:

1. Cactus – a tex-mex bar with loud eighties pop music and strong cocktails

2. Cloud 9 – too cool for school bar that is a good place to be seen in

3. Caviar – even cooler than school. With sophisticated crowd listening to “uplifting techno” or so said the flyer

4. Lakay – A Caribbean restaurant with a funky Latin theme. Was popular with birthday parties

5. The Melting Pot – An American style dinner with a soundtrack of 80s Power Ballads all heartily sung along to by the boys

However the charm of Gemayzé Street is the numerous small bars that at anyone time can just be rockin’. Our strategy was to find a place that looked lively and to get involved. The prices were reasonable in comparison to Dubai with a beer about $5 and a mixed drink about $10. However that mixed drink is like rocket fuel usually with just enough mixer to change the colour of the drink.

I admit. We stood out like a sore thumb however there were a few other small groups of western tourists which can only be a good sign.

Here are lads – “Havin’ it” late night in some obscure bar:

Eddé Sands

Eddé Sands is located just outside Byblos and takes about 20km from central north of Beirut by taxi. It is a beautiful beach resort that you can enjoy for a $20 entry fee. Sadly the day we went rain had been forecast. Despite that our British stiff upper lip took over and us and 20 other brave souls enjoyed the slightly overcast day to enjoy a day by the Mediterranean. I am told that this place is party central during the summer. I will have to go back – just to be sure. In the meanwhile we were treated to a spectacular sun set:

Paintball

As the shy retiring type I chose to mooch around the renovated down town Beirut with some Lebanese friends. The rest of the lads decided to shoot the living “wotsit” out of each other at an indoor paint ball venue. Apparently there is a choice of music for added effect:

1. Pop

2. Rock

3. Arabic Pop

4. Koran

I am sure they all mean something to some one – I understand the guys shot each other only to accompaniment of their own howls of pain. Judging by the bruises I was shown I think I made the right choice. Below the victorious blue team show their steel before a series of engagements:

Riviera

After several hard nights of over-indulging and shooting each other we were happy to get some downtime at a pool. There are a couple of good pool clubs in central Beirut one being La Plage and the other the Riviera Hotel.

The pool at the Riviera is a sight to behold. Large white concrete circles surround the pool give it a 70s kitsch look that today is the height of fashion. Again, the slightly overcast weather kept the place quiet but we all enjoyed lying out in the cool – a welcome break from the searing heat and humidity of Dubai.

Despite it being quiet there were still a lot to see. Here are a few of the chaps enjoying the view:

White

No weekend in Beirut is complete without a visit to one of the “Super Clubs” be it Skybar, Music Hall or White. My friend had waved his wasta wand and managed to get a table at White for the last night of our stay.

The door policy at these places is quite draconian. Despite us being the first people into the club with the promise of lots of ladies joining us later and having a reservation the seven lads had some trouble getting in. However, once resolved we were rocking it.

We had dinner to start the night off and the food was excellent. Then with a super efficient bottle service all the guys were in a great mood (A litre of rum $120). This mood was further lifted as we were joined by some rather beautiful company.

We all enjoyed the night – the music was great. Remixed oldies, uplifting house and the classic bit when all the lights in the club came on and the DJ gave it some

“This is Beirut”

We went nuts along with the rest of the crowd. All the signature moves came out that night from the lads:

1. The napkin dance

2. The garden sprinkler

3. The crab

4. The spear dance

5. The jig of desperation

and I think I even spotted an attempt at some limbo. Still all were received with good grace and predictably we not only the first table going nuts but the last ones to leave. It has not been since Kiev and the night club Decadence had all the boys partied so hard for so long.

It was made even better as I had my two favourite Beirut Habibtis to party with:

Four days, seven lads and one hospital visit made for an epic lads trip. To my readers outside of the middle east. Take a chance  – go and visit Lebanon and Beirut. It is truly a wondrous country with warm people who want to party all night.

I have the good fortune that I occasionally visit Beirut for business but this time I got to see it with different eyes and I was not left disappointed.

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Posted by: Aaron | September 11, 2009

All the Nines

The world didn’t end. But as good things come in three the 9th of the 9th 2009 brought some real smiles.

England qualified for the world cup which was great considering the epic failure they had missing out on the last European Championships. This now gives me the perfect opportunity to go back to my favourite holiday vacation, South Africa.

Then by the power of  Twitter and live blogging I sat back and enjoyed the nearly simultaneous Dubai Metro opening and the the Apple iPod/iTunes announcements. It was also excellent to see Steve Jobs back in action following his liver transplant.

The launch of the Dubai Metro has been promised since I first arrived in Dubai mid 2006. It was amazing watching the supports for the Metro sprout up along the Sheikh Zayed Road seemingly over night. Then following this the huge Japanese bridge building machines that joined the supports with countless concrete sections.Finally the stations started to appear looking like huge gold Armadillos mirroring in the desert sun.

For it to open on time (a soft opening of 10 stations) is a remarkable achievement. I drove passed one of the stations the night of the opening and they look wonderful inside. The National has some great photos here and a nice video montage.

The opening attracted a huge press following but I liked the fact keen Dubai Tweeters used the event to shake the Twitterverse with #Dubaimetro making a top trending topic for a little while. I love the power of the community with Web 2.0 making it happen.

I for one will use it when the need arises especially as more stations open up over the coming months. The RTA have done well to make it very affordable to ride with a the maximum cost of a single ticket coming in at only 5.80 aed ($1.58) making it about a quarter of the price of a similar trip on the London Underground.

I do wonder about the opening hours i.e. not running till 2pm on a Friday and closing at 11pm outside of Ramadan. Seems a little odd as the Metro would be the ideal transit for a lot of people arriving into Dubai Airport during the peak arrivals time of midnight till 2am. Having said this, the RTA have said they will review the opening hours based on demand.

Dubai has had a tough year with the financial crisis, property market crash and stinging articles in the world’s press. But this week Dubai can stand proud and united with the first mass transit system in the Gulf built to world class standards. A huge step forward. Well done.

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Posted by: Aaron | September 6, 2009

10 Plastic Bottles Sitting on a Wall

After a couple of pleasant weeks of vacation I came back to a short working week and immediately headed out to spend a lazy Ramadan weekend over in Fujairah.

I always like to get out of the hustle and bustle of Dubai and a couple of days by the beach in the peaceful surroundings of mountains and beaches of the Indian ocean are a real treat. I went over last year and as we liked the place we saw plenty of reason to go back not least of all the two for one offer the Royal Beach was offering on their large villas.

Like last time we headed via a super bouncy road to Wadi Wurrayah to have a splosh around the rock pools and douse ourselves in the waterfall. It really is a rugged sight to behold – however it was really sad to see a huge increase in the amount of graffiti:

There were quite a few other people enjoying the cool refreshing waters of the Wadi when we got down there. A couple of chaps had decided to take the rather unusual idea of improvised flotation aids and had stuffed plastic bottles down their pants or tied plastic bottles to their waists. Turns out that they couldn’t swim very well and a two litre empty bottle of Pepsi gave them all the confidence one might need.

While I can’t see this catching on any time soon the chap and his friend below certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves:

Later on once it was passed Iftar time we settled in for some BBQ, refreshments and even a cheeky Sheesha. One of our party came particularly well prepared not only bringing special coals, a pipe, tobacco but share-friendly tips to insert into the end of the Sheesha pipe. On closer inspection these were no ordinary tips. They proclaimed proudly to have the following essential features:

1. Ergonomic Design

2. Easy to use

3. Lip Comforting

4. Wrinkle preventer

and to sum it all up “The Tips That Preserve The Lips” – amazing what a tiny piece of plastic can now do.

Sadly, as a non-smoker I passed on the sheesha but lip maintenance is on high on my priority list and I will be sure to use these if I do ever indulge.

Aside from this, it was a relaxing weekend but the weather right now is really is too hot and humid to spend any length of time outside without being immersed in cool water. It seemed we got the good dry weather as we left heavy showers came which is very out of season. This type of heavy rainfall also makes the Wadi’s a very dangerous place to be due to flash floods.

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