Take the Snake

Take the 'Snake'? Thats a term made famous by Dubai Eye's Malcolm Taylor in yesterday's episode of Business Breakfast. He was refering to the excitement around the imminent roll out of the new Dubai Metro and the many probably ways Dubai residents may refer to the new mode of transport.

There was certainly a lot of excitement in the air when I made my way to the metro station outside Mall of the Emirates. Contrary to reports on the radio this morning, the station was crowded and there were lots of people waiting to get aboard the metro. I had purchased my NOL card well in advance so I didn't waste a minute and headed straight out to the platforms. Hats off to the RTA for such a commendable job. There were no first day glitches that one may have expected. Everything worked like clock work. There were several attendant waiting to help out passengers needing help.

I took the metro down to Nakheel Harbour and took the next one back to Mall of Emirates. It was a fantastic experience. Now if only the parking is taken care of at all the stations, I don't see any reason why many residents will not adopt the new mode of transportation for their everyday travel.

Read about Dubai's mini Manila here

Lulu goes green? May be not!!

Lulu hypermarket located at Al Barsha has now won my loyalty. After having been a regular customer at one of the other chains for many years, I have finally made the shift. Lulu hypermarket is where I shop for my groceries now.

That itself is not the main story. Even though I have been to the outlet several times in the past 2 months, I had not noticed a small message on all the plastic bags that they hand out at the exit. Apparently, the plastic bags are 'biodegradable' and will disintegrate over time!!!. Many of the other supermarket chains have either stopped handing out plastic bags or are strongly promoting jute bags at the counter. And here is a supermarket that is subtly 'promoting' the use of plastics bags. Now when I pick up that plastic bag, I will probably not feel as guilty given that the fact that the bag is biodegradable. The word 'biodegradable' may be interpreted by many as 'eco friendly' but is it?

The two faces of Dubai Police?

More often than not we are used to coming across positive news about Dubai Police. Hence today's headline in Gulf News was a bit disturbing given the nature of the news. Two corporals from Dubai Police have been charged with abusing their authority as law enforcement officers. For more details on the case itself, click here.

However, that is not the important part for me. What is more important that the force itself has taken steps to correct the problem. The fact that the operation was uncovered and that the officers have been charged is the more important news. I am sure we will all agree that despite all steps to filter in the best talent, we will always have the exceptions.

Later in the day, I got to see another face of Dubai Police. It was a very nice sight to see a Dubai Police car coming in to help a stranded motorist. As I was waiting at the signal, I saw a Dubai Police car coming in with petrol for a car that had stalled. The officer not only drove in with the petrol but filled the empty tank himself. I am not sure if this is something we would have expected from the force in our own countries.