The Burj Khalifa

I went up the Burj Dubai Khalifa last Friday morning. I have pictures of the outside of the building in earlier posts. For Dh100, it was worthwhile. I can't imagine paying Dh400 for it though. You enter through Dubai Mall (near the More restaurant). The elevator was amazing. I've been in speedy elevators before that make you dip your knees because of the acceleration. However, we got on two floors underground and zoomed to the 124th floor in about 30 seconds with absolutely no sensation of moving. Some engineer did an amazing job figuring that out.


When you get near the building, you can look up through a "sight" at the observation deck. I didn't quite get centered when I took my picture. I'll have to try again some time.

I have, on occasion, had a touch of vertigo. However, I felt no nervousness on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. You get high enough in the building that you can walk 360 degrees about the building looking out over the entire expanse of Dubai. The day that I went up, the sky was quite clear.







The Burj Khalifa has a lot of information about the construction and the whole project at the ground level. It was nicely done and well worth a casual stroll through looking at the various exhibits.














This picture was taken to the south - toward the Burj Al Arab (the sail hotel).















This picture shows Dubai Mall on the left and The Address at the top of the picture.










The next picture shows The World project. There was no construction going on and I hope that it because they have decided to give it time to settle (something that I heard was a problem on The Palm).














I got a good shot of the Burj shadow beside the Dubai Metro station.















This shot is Sheikh Zayed Road looking northeast towards downtown Dubai.














And, of course, a gratuitous picture of me.

Amazon

Okay, I'm getting really upset. A friend lent me her Kindle and now I want one for myself. I'm hooked. UNFORTUNATELY, you can't get one in the UAE. GRRR!!!!! So I'm thinking I'll get one in Canada when I go back for the summer. Right! I can do that. But I can't buy books with a UAE credit card. If I get a Canadian credit card, I can use that (even though it will screw up my non-residency). Then I'll have to transfer money to the account to cover that card. This stinks. When I'm in the UAE, I could buy a gift certificate and give it to myself and then I can use that gift certificate to buy books. Really? Maybe!

I can't tell you how much I want a Kindle DX. I have the money. I have emailed Amazon and explained the situation and begged them to suggest something. No response. I tried Amazon Canada. No response. I would love to be able to travel with lots of books on my Kindle. Rumors that the UAE will be getting Kindle have been around for years. I want a Kindle, but I'm almost at the point of buying a Sony Reader Daily Edition or an iPad.

I'm perfectly willing to patronize Amazon. Amazon - please sell me a Kindle DX; however, my feeling is that the iPad is going to kill Amazon if they don't come out with a color screen and expandable memory. I don't need most of the stuff that the iPad does. I have a MacBook Air. I'd use that but I can't download the Kindle for Mac software in the UAE. Most of the books I read are fine in black and white, but the color screen on the iPad is cool. I don't need all the internet features that the iPad has. I just want to read books. If Amazon doesn't get their sh** in order by August, when I get back to Canada, I am going to go with the iPad. I've patronized Amazon for years. I've ordered thousands of dollars of books and DVDs from Amazon. I'd like to stay with them, but I'm really getting pissed. What happened to globalization? Whatever happened to trying to be competitive and offering what the customers want?

Dubai Mall

It has taken me awhile to figure out the video feature on my camera (and as you can tell, I still need to learn a little more). It didn't help that the software that came with the camera can't find the video on my camera, but iMovie on my Mac did.

The hockey video was taken a couple of weeks ago and I posted some still shots below. They were taken on the same day that I watched the hockey tournament. I stop by the aquarium at Dubai Mall almost every week for a little while just to watch the fish. It's close to my favorite coffee shop - Caribou Coffee.

Foggy morning

Thursday morning was a beautiful, cool foggy morning. I like the fog a lot. However, in the UAE, many people just turn on their hazard lights and drive as fast as they normally do. I prefer not to be on the road when it is foggy.

Hockey Night in Dubai

I went down to my favorite mall this morning for a good western-style breakfast at the Dome. When I walked into the mall at 8:30am, there was a hockey championship game going on complete with an announcer. I watched the game while I had breakfast, and I was surprised at how well the skaters played. I'm not sure about the age of the kids but I think they were middle school aged. The teams had well-dressed coaches and well-behaved parents.

Of the hundreds of malls in Dubai, the Dubai Mall is my favorite. There's always something going on. It's bright and airy. It has a bookstore that I could quite happily live in. The Caribou Coffee Shop is my favorite in Dubai, and the Noodle Factory makes the best noodles in town. It also has a beautiful aquarium.

Testosterone spill in Aisle 5

I was over at the Rotten Tomatoes website looking for a movie review when I felt a major shift in cosmic energy. Way down at the bottom was a reference to a movie in production that brings pretty much all of Hollywood's manly men together in what promises to be a major smack down.

Imagine Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture (of MMA fame), Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Steve Austin (of WWF fame) all in one film (OK, so this movie's been done before - who cares.). Woo hoo!!! I'm thinking a lot of punching, kicking, shooting, and blowin stuff up. (Okay, my nonviolent Taoist side is troubled, but I'm sure that there won't be any gratuitous violence. I'm sure that everyone who get smacked will deserve it.)

How do they even get all those manly men to work together in one place at one time? I'm going to be waiting with baited breath for this movie to hit the big screen at the end of August.

About the only notables missing are Jean-Claude Van Damme (who reportedly turned down the role because there was no substance to the character - and we all know that substance is a must for all his roles) and Steven Seagal (who reportedly doesn't get along with the producer. How could he let petty personal differences rob us of his acting?).

The Urbanization of Dubai

This page from NASA's Earth Observatory is very cool. If you go to the "The Ubanization of Dubai" you can click through the dates at the bottom of the picture and see how Dubai has changed. It's worth clicking on the 'play', 'show all', and 'view large' buttons at the lower right corner of the picture.

Purple Sunbird

In the last week and a half, I've noticed hundreds of butterflies and beetles. The temperatures have risen to about 30C and, if I remember correctly, as the seasons change, a lot of migratory birds and insects pass through in the spring and fall.

Although the purple sunbird is not migratory, I had not seen one although a number of colleagues have. Then, last Friday, I was looking at all the butterflies and I saw two purple sunbirds. They are a little shy and I will need to go out looking for them again this week in the morning. Their color is beautiful.

Burj Khalifa

This is a really awesome building. I try not to be too impressed by these ostentatious displays, but the Petrona Towers in Kuala Lumpur were breathtaking, and the Burj Khalifa is even more so. I can't wait until they open up the public viewing platform again. I know that it's an optical illusion, but when you stand close to it and look straight up, it seems to extend right over top of you. It really truly is big. And, when you think of all the steel and glass and other stuff that went into building it, it is amazing.

Bird life

I was driving from Sharjah to Dubai and saw a large open space that is usually an impromptu cricket pitch but it was flooded and had become a bit of a bird sanctuary. There are a couple of Grey Herons and a number of other birds that I think are Armenian Gulls, Yellow-Legged Gulls, Great Black-headed Gulls, and a few Black-winged Stilts. They are all wintering here because the weather is just so great - about 30C during the day.














I took these with my new camera, and only later realized that I had a digital zoom that would have been incredibly useful but not so much when I was sitting in Dubai Mall having a cup of coffee and reading the camera manual.

Tony Parsons

I just finished My Favorite Wife by Tony Parsons, and I highly recommend it. I've liked his previous work (Man and Boy, Man and Wife). His characters are always basically good people who screw up (usually by screwing someone that they shouldn't have) and end up hurting themselves and their loved ones. They often manage to stumble through to a somewhat uplifting ending. I generally read his books with alternating feelings of anger and sadness. I almost always get a little teary (although no tears actually fell). I think the fact that I feel strong emotions when I read his books says a lot about how realistic and well-written his books are.

I was checking out his other books at Amazon and found out that he has written a book with an English teacher as the main character. I'll have to pick that one up for my next read.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day...

Actually, I like the rain and I wish it would rain during the day so I could enjoy it rather than all night when I'm trying to sleep.
There are some interesting pictures at The National, The Gulf News, the Khaleej Times.

We've had a couple of days of heavy rain, lightning, and thunder - always a strange pleasure in the desert.

It's very strange. Rain days here are like snow days in Vancouver. Nobody knows how to drive. Some drivers, mostly in big SUVs with dark tinted window (read 'local') drive as though nothing has changed. They will drive at 100km per hour through knee-deep water, sending up a 'bow wave' that washes like a tsunami over slower cars or pedestrians, swerving in and out of traffic with total oblivion. Others drive with trepidation through a thin skiff of water that no Vancouverite would even slow down for. Overall, a somewhat unnerving experience.

Today it was beautiful and sunny and about 25C. I went for a drive to Ras Al Khaimah and there were no large puddles anywhere. The traffic was light and the drive pleasant. It was a beautiful day - and getting out of the office on a 'road trip' was excellent.

Quilting

Today a friend suggested that we check out a quilting exhibit. It was interesting, but I'm sure that I was not able to appreciate the art because I don't really understand all the hard work that undoubtedly went into each piece.

For me, quilting was always just about using pieces of scrap to make blankets. I had a quilt that my grandmother made that I used until it wore out. I loved that quilt. The quilts that were on exhibit were really impressive but they were a little too high class for my taste. I can't imagine using them on my bed.

University Club Day

Our university had a Club Day. Oddly enough, the clubs were mostly ethnic (i.e. Palestinian Club, Saudi Club, Somali Club). Still most of the students seemed to have a good time and a little cross-cultural mixing is always good.

Makkoli

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Barracuda to pick up some alcohol. By chance, I came across a little Korean alcohol. I've always liked makkoli, especially the rough homemade variety, so I thought I would give it a try. At Dh25 or about Won 7,800, it was a little expensive. It was okay but a little too refined.

Dubai

Last week, I went to a musical in Dubai at the Madinat Jumeirah. I'm not sure what I expected, perhaps a lot of laughter, some singing, and dancing. Well...Blood Brothers was interesting and I'm glad that I saw it, but it was very sad. At the end, both I and my friend thought, "Oh." The actors (I'm not sure if that's the correct term) had incredibly beautiful voices. They were awesome. It's always nice to dress up a little and sit with somewhat cultured people, but perhaps something a little more uplifting next time.

The Madinat Jumeirah was a place that I had never been, but it was very pleasant to sit outside in cool but pleasant temperatures and eat a nice Italian dinner, drink a glass of Italian wine, and watch abras (well, touristy abras) putt by. The wind towers and the traditional setting was worth the visit. The whole complex is nicely done.






The next day, I was at the Dubai Mall, and I always regret not taking a proper camera. One weekend, they had a young man trying to break the Guinness Book of Records for keeping a football in the air (I don't know how that ended.). Another time they had foosball tables set up for some kind of tournament. Last weekend, they had a judo tournament in one area, and, in another area, they had the most opulent car display (Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW) I've ever seen - including a car I've dreamed about for years. I had mixed feelings. The cars were awesome. I would have loved to sit in one, or, better yet, take one for a spin. Yet...to spend so much money on what is essentially just a car seems unconscionable when the world is full of people who are suffering. By strange coincidence, after drooling over the cars for a bit, I went up to the 3rd floor and sat in Caribou Coffee, had a soy latte, and read a book called Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom by Joseph Goldstein. One of the first lines I came across was "If a practice does not cool the fires of greed, aversion, and ignorance, it is worthless." I could have cried. This is such a strange place.

Evening walks

My Garmin 405 Forerunner has been a cool addition to my walks. It is inspirational to keep track. I go for my walks and then I just sit down by my computer and the data uploads automatically.

Tonight I hit 100.9 kilometers in my evening walks (about 6 kms X 18 - I added an extra turn around the roundabout when I realized the I was only doing 5.8kms door to door). I had a plan at the end of November to walk 100 kilometers every month. Well, this first hundred took me a little over two months. I'm not very good at math, but I should have been able to figure out that I would have to go out 17 times a month to do that. That's just about every second day!!! I may try to do that through February, but I might also just add another 15 minutes to my walks from time to time. However, if I don't go out that often, I may just change my goal.

Still...it has been quite enjoyable most of the time. Tonight I was listening to Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I think that will keep me company for a couple of weeks. I'll have to listen to it several times I think.

New camera

I picked up a new camera to replace my old Canon Powershot S2 IS with its 12X zoom lens (after four or five years, the zoom was a little wonky and the focus occasionally acted up). My new camera is a Panasonic Fz35. It has an 18X zoom lens. I agonized for months over whether to go with another Canon Powershot or the Panasonic. The deciding factor was probably the fact that the Panasonic is about 5 oz lighter. For traveling (or even walking around all day with a bunch of stuff in my backpack), that is an important factor. Of course, the new cameras have so many features that I really need to study the manual.

Yesterday, I got home and noticed a cool little praying mantis near my front door, so I grabbed the new camera and tried to get a shot. The fact that no picture is posted is a testament to the fact that I haven't gotten to the part in the manual where I can turn off the "smart" focus. The camera focused on various parts of the floor and the wall and just about everything else except the little insect about a meter away that was dead center in my shot. I will figure this out, but the manual is 300 pages long and probably doesn't explain everything.

I will learn how to use this camera. That is my pledge to myself.

A night on the town

I had a night out on the town on Friday night. I went to the Mall of the Emirates and had a really great dinner at Salmontini. The restaurant has a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere and a view of the ski slope. My friend and I both had salmon on mixed shredded vegetables and wild rice. The salmon steak was huge, juicy, and very tender. The meal was perfectly cooked. Topped off with a nice glass of Italian Pinor Gris it was a great way to start the evening.

After dinner we went to a Sharq Orchestra concert (Essence of Arabia) at the Dubai Community Theatre. It was really wonderful - Mohamad Hamami leading a full western style orchestra playing Middle Eastern themed music. A friend was playing the saxophone and flute so that was an added bonus.

I haven't been getting out much for cultural events but now I see what I have been missing, so I'm going to keep an eye out for other interesting events. There's a lot going on in Dubai.

I think I might start blogging again. Work has become a strange place to be.

So...I'm starting my Mandarin lessons. I'm going to use Fluenz Mandarin for the oral/aural part and Arch Chinese for the writing part. I had a New Years resolution to do one hour a night. That didn't happen, but I'm starting again. Tonight, I start again.

To distract me from work, I'll do the Mandarin for an hour or two each night and I'll continue my walks (4-5 times per week / 5.8 kilometers each time) around the outside of the university.

I've been listening to Jon Kabat-Zinn CDs as I walk. It takes me about one hour to walk and each CD is about one hour.