Out and About in Dubai

Last night, while waiting on the queue to get into Club 400 at the Fairmont, a man standing next to me asked, “How much?”

“How much what?” I asked back, thinking he was inquiring about the cover charge for the club.

“How much?” he asked again and pointed at me.

It was at that point that it dawned on me what he was talking about. I think my face turned all red as I turned to my husband who was oblivious to the whole exchange so I said to him, “This guy just asked me how much.” DB looked at the guy and told him, “This is my wife.”

They guy just gave DB a dopey smile and walked away.

I couldn’t believe it. He must have been really drunk as he wasn’t being discrete at all. Each time he repeated “How much,” pretty much everyone on line in front of and behind us heard him. The nerve of some people.

Tags: wtf | 8 comments »

Last night over dinner, a friend alerted me to the story in the local paper about dead fish being found on the public beach by the Burj al Arab. Gulf News reported on this story yesterday and opened the article with “Dozens of beachgoers enjoyed a free seafood dinner on Monday.”

Lifeguards reported that people were running into the water and collecting the dead fish with their bare hands and that it took them 4 hours to clean up the mess. Photo from Gulf News below:

Now if I saw a slew of dead fish and squid on the beach, I would be very suspicious about how they got there. Note that there is a lot of construction and dredging around the beach where the dead things were found. So I’m thinking some kind of pollution or contamination from this activity.

But here’s what a representative from Dubai Municipality had to say:

“It may have been caused by an algae bloom - a rapid increase in the population of microscopic algae which produces fatal toxins in an aquatic system.

“Or perhaps the fish were rotten and discarded by fishermen unhappy with their appearance.”

Sounds like a red herring to me.

Tags: environment, wtf | no comments »

So Bush is in town today and tomorrow and is creating mass chaos. He’s staying in Abu Dhabi but is in Dubai for a “meeting” at the Burj. Wouldn’t be surprised if he just wanted to have lunch there.

Anyway, instead of utilizing the Burj’s helipad, he is DRIVING! So the following roads will be closed today (so-called test-run) and tomorrow: Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road, Beach Road (parts), Al Wasl Road (parts). Closing Sheik Zayed Road is like closing down all of the NJ Turnpike plus Garden State Parkway combined. That’s like telling New Yorkers - no trains will be running into Manhattan! Imagine if every time there is an important meeting at the UN, the city closes down midtown?? And we are talking from 6am to 5pm. Here is the announcement as of 4pm today:

UAE blocks roads for Bush

With US president Bush visiting the UAE, The government announced on the radio that Sheikh Zayed Road will be closed tomorrow from Garhoud to Al Barsha from 6am to 4.30pm. Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Beach Road will also be closed in addition to the area around Umm Sequeim.

Dubians depend on these major thoroughfares to get to and from work, drop kids off, etc.

And get a load of this nonsense that was posted on Khaleej Times (as of 4pm today):

Holiday declared in Dubai tomorrow
13 January 2008

All ministries, government departments, schools and private companies in Dubai will have a holiday tomorrow. This has been done to avoid congestion on the roads that could be caused by the closing down of some flyovers, bridges, tunnels and main roads. Official government sources have urged all nationals and residents to avoid using main roads and streets.

Ridiculous. All for BUSH???

Tags: driving, wtf | 2 comments »