A game of Khatar

Somewhere along Al Khail Road, these Pakistani expatriate workers were enjoying a game of Khatar. Played somewhat like a board game, all this takes is a few pebbles and lines drawn in the sand. The objectives is to get one's stones on the other side of the square. (I hope I got that right!!)

I spent some time trying to follow the game but had to give up in a few minutes!.

A lamp post at the creek side

A solitary lamp post keeping watch over Dubai creek.

Dubai Dolphinarium

Went down to the Dubai Dolphinarium over the weekend. I just cannot believe how these beautiful dolphins can be trained to perform at the tricks!! and they seemed to be even enjoying themselves.

I know that in the past there has been some criticism about the project on the basis of the way the dolphins are treated. Do you have an opinion?

Abras

I know I have discussed abras in one of the early posts on this blog. But I could not resist sharing some of my recent ones!! I enjoy every bit of the ride on the abras and usually end up taking a few once I get to the pier. I guess an abra ride is the real experience of Dubai. On both sides of the creek one sees and experiences the hustle and bustle of traditional traders peddling their wares.

Cable cars in Dubai

When I first moved to Dubai, the sight of the cable cars always gave me a funny feeling. A cable car always brought back images of ski slopes and holiday resorts. So it was strange to find one in Dubai. Located on one side of Dubai Creek Park, the cable car set-up is a unique sight to most visitors to Dubai.

I didn't see any of the cable cars moving though. Does anyone know if this thing still works?

Seagulls at Dubai creek

Watching the seagulls at Dubai creek is such a soothing experience. The sheer grace of its flight is almost like a slow dance. At times it felt like the seagull was only floating in air for several seconds.

Lamp Post

I was quite interested in this unique lamp post in one of the parks in  Dubai. Interested because of its vibrant colors and design. It looked beautiful against the green background of the lawn from one side and a soft blue of the sky from the other.

As vain as it may sound, I think this is one of my best pics!! :-)

Al Qasba

Had the opportunity to go down to Sharjah and visit the popular Al Qasba (formerly Qanat Al Qasba) area. Being the weekend, the place was buzzing with activity.

Al Qasba is a specially developed facility for families and tourists and brings together culture, art, restaurants and general entertainment for the family. It has a general feeling of fun with loads of games (including a giant ferris wheel), several restaurants, abra rides and entertainment shows.

more here

Traffic Fines - Highest in the world?? (Dubai Style)

The recent report in Khaleej Times was very interesting. An Arab woman has run up traffic fines of about AED 73,000/- ($19,800). Motorists in Dubai owe the Dubai Police traffic department a total of AED 27 million!!

The deaprtment now has drawn up a list of the top 100 motorists who owe the department the most in traffic fines. The roll of honor includes a Lebanese man who owes AED 70,000/- and an Egyptian man who owes AED 42,000/-. A Syrian woman owes 38,000/- while a Jordanian man owes 23,000/-.

According to Dubai Police Traffic Violations Department Director Major Jamal Al Banay, the motorists can request to pay the fines in instalments if their vehicles are registered in Dubai.

more here

Dubai's Dhows

In afterthought, the reference to the tiny dhow seems somehow mocking. The only dhows on Dubai Creek these days take tourists on one-hour pleasure cruises.

Ever since Germaine Greer's article in guardian.co.uk, I have been itching to go down to the Dhow Wharf at Dubai creek and have a first hand view of what exactly the situation is.

So I took some time off and went down to the creek side to have a look at the dhows and their business. The place looked like it was business as usual. Lots of cartons of stock waiting on the banks to be loaded onto the dhows. The loaders were hurrying around at a brisk pace while a few were shouting out orders.

I asked a few of the businessmen around the place about their business but they couldn't follow me. I later understood that they spoke Farsi only.

Barclay's Dubai Tennis Championships

Spent most of friday at the Dubai Tennis Championships and watched the men's semi finals. The first match between Djokovic and Simon was a huge thriller going down to the wire. The match was probably even closer than what the score of 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 suggests. But I am still putting my money on Djokovic winning the finals today.

The second semi final match between David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet was too one sided to fit a semi final standard. David was in control from the word go.

Unfortunately I have not been able to get tickets to the finals so will be watching it on the television.

Dubai Pet Show

Just got back from a fun day at the Pedigree and Whiskas Dubai Pet Show at Dubai Festival City. It was a riot of color with a wide variety of dogs out in their best outfits. Some of them wore bandanas while others were comfortable in light T shirts. The kids has loads of fun and for many of them this may have been a first time experience of some many types of dogs.

Besides the general parades, the police department put up a super show demonstrating the skills of the canine department including detection of narcotics and explosives and crowd control. Also around were Dubai's first two women police dog handlers, Fatima Abdulla and Badria Saleh who impressed the audience with their skills.

A Venetian Experience at Mercato Mall

Today's weekend trip to Mercato Mall was a truly Venetian experience. The mall has been specially dressed up in venetian style with a variety of programs including a DSF carnevale, a masquerade museum and a mask making workshop.




The renaissance style shopping mall is located along Beach Road in Jumeirah 1. The architecture brings out true Italian and Spanish flavours.

Designed by a famous Italian architect Daniele Moreli, the interiors of the mall are designed along the concept of several squares from a typical Mediterranean town.




Head out to Mercato mall for a Venetian costume parade and other Italian performers specially flown in for the occasion.

Al Qusais (al Ghusais)

Al Qusais (also spelt Al Ghusais) is a suburb located towards the North Eastern edge of Dubai city bordering the emirate of Sharjah.

Al Qusais is today a popular residential suburb of Dubai but it was in fact the site of an important settlement and cemetery. Based on excavations in the early 70s, it is believed that settlements existed in Al Qusais as early as the first millinium.

Historical research shows the existance of large number of copper and bronze vessels in the areas from ancient times.

Al Qusais is now a bustling area with a largely asian population.

Dubai Media City

Dubai Media City (DMC), a specially developed hub of media related business activities lies along the Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR) towards the southern end of Dubai. Some of the organisations location in DMC include Bang and Olufsen, BBC, Axiom Telecom, MBC, Saatchi and Saatchi, and Star TV,