January | 2009 | Living the Travel Channel

Archive for January, 2009

Inauguration, Turkey, Tourists

January 20, 2009

Just watched the inauguration of our new president via CNN live feed. We expected trouble keeping the Internet connection and getting to see the whole thing, but it went smooth as glass and we saw and heard every word.

Earlier today we were shopping. One of the employees in the store talked to Paul. He was asking if Paul spoke Hindi. Paul told him he only speaks English. The man couldn’t believe it and asked it he spoke Turkish or was from Turkey. Paul finally got across that he is from “The States” and only speaks English. That was a new one, being taken for a Turk. People seem to be very confused by the beard. Who knew it had such super power — the power of confusion.

Later in an elevator, a man assumed we were tourists and asked us how we were enjoying Dubai during our visit. The pendulum swings both ways.

Posted in culture shock | Leave a Comment »

This week in Dubai

January 18, 2009

This is the view from a restaurant where we ate sitting outside in the pleasant cool evening (cool is 60-70F). The water is Dubai Creek (more like a bay or inlet) and the bridge is lit with blue lights underneath. Very beautiful. While sitting there enjoying the view and the good food, we talked about how we no longer feel like newbies here, but this is our home. Not that we aren’t still seeing new things and being amazed by the unexpected, but we are very comfortable here and so very glad we came. Instead of asking ourselves “What have we done?” we are asking “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
Here is our current rental car. We started out with a Caprice, which was rather large and a real challenge to get into our parking space. Then we had a Honda City, which was smaller, but not what we really wanted. So, now we have a Honda Jazz and really like it. It is small and peppy, both things that are advantageous when driving in Dubai. We’ll probably keep this one until June. Then, when we come back in the fall, we’ll lease or buy a new one.
For two days this week I attended a conference on teaching. It was very enjoyable and I learned some good things. The next four pictures are the view from the pool deck of the hotel where the conference was held. The large silver thing in the center of the first picture is the indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai, in the Mall of the Emirates.

The Christmas decorations have finally disappeared at Festival City mall and been replaced by brightly colored ribbons for the Shopping Festival. They also have a carnival set up on the walkway by the Creek.
Below is a fountain that consists of beaded strings that hang down several floors and water is running down the strings and then dropping into a pool at the bottom.

Below are several pictures of another of Paul’s favorite fountains. The stairs switch-back through the fountain which consists of water running over the “boulders.” He always has to stick his fingers in the water. It is imperative.

Below is a garden and fountain in the lower basement parking area. It is open to the sky directly above the garden. Leave it to Dubai to have a basement parking lot garden. Again, Paul had to stick his fingers into the water.
Now we move to Lamcy Plaza. A truly unique mall. Below is the waterfall fountain that you see immediately as you walk in.
Behind us at the entrance is a replica of the Tower Bridge (London tower???) Anyway, it is definitely European, not Middle Eastern. None of the decor here matched. Very eclectic. There were no walls and doors between the different stores either, so was hard to keep track of where you were and who you should pay for what you had picked up.
There you have it. Our week in Dubai. Home, sweet home.

Posted in Dubai, fountains, malls | 1 Comment »

Finally!

January 18, 2009

Well, video of goofy toys seems to be the trick to get you all to comment. Perhaps we will make it a regular feature. I don’t want to go broke buying ten dirham toys, so you may actually find them in your Christmas stockings. That will serve you right!

Posted in toys | Leave a Comment »

Amusing toys

January 16, 2009

So, I’ve resorted to video to share some things that I thought would be better that way than through still photos, (although my video techniques leave a great deal to be desired). These are odd things we found in the store that is in the first two floors of our apartment building. We are often amused by what we see there, but we are easily amused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzHHy4_8wmU

We nearly hurt ourselves laughing at the toys. They are all knock off of brand toys or very strange things that make little sense. We paid a whopping Dhs 10 for the Desert Warrior Camel (approx. $2.70) and you know what they say, you get what you pay for! I know that once you see it you will all want one for your very own. Don’t worry, you will all find a Desert Warrior Camel in your stocking next Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctU-BpINPxQ

We also dropped a wad of $$ at Daiso, one of our favorite stores. It is all things Japanese (and cheap). I didn’t really need it, but I had to buy a blank book that had a cover showing a hedgehog, two spools of thread, three buttons and some stitches. It also said “Is preparing the sewing set. What shall I make today? I am unexpectedly good at the needlework thing.” How could I pass that up. I suppose I will need to find something to write in it about sewing, or something. I am, however, unexpectedly good at the needlework thing. Ha!

Posted in camel, toys, video | 10 Comments »

Beard question

January 13, 2009

Question:
“Is Paul’s beard an eye catcher here?” Yes, but not in the way you might have thought.

Before we came and we were pondering what it might be like here, Paul wondered what might happen if he dressed in native apparel. I told him they would think he was an albino with his fair skin and blue eyes. Little did we know that he wouldn’t even have to change his dress to be noticed.

He began to notice that construction workers would look surprised/confused and then say “Salaam aleykum” to him. He also noticed that taxi drivers often asked if he was muslim or where he was from. At one point, he began to get more “ogles” than I. He asked our friend, Amed, about this and Amed was nodding his head “yes” before Paul even finished describing the situation. It seems that there is a wealthy Pakistani family that are known for their red beards. They dress in western clothes and are of fair complexion. So, these construction workers see Paul walking down the street looking like a wealthy Pakistani and they are confused to see him “out of context.”

As for beards, some Arabs have beards, although they are usually neatly trimmed. The Sikhs have bushy beards, so Paul’s is not that unusual here.

Posted in beard, culture shock | 2 Comments »

Follow up on cats – K’s question

January 10, 2009

The cats hang out on campus because they are welcome. I suspect they help keep the rodent population down. The college sees to it that they are neutered/spayed and the security guards feed them. There are stray cats everywhere in the city, so a few wandering onto campus is not surprising. In fact, they are the lucky ones.

I haven’t seen any evidence of the cats chasing or catching birds. Birds are also welcome on campus. Much of the landscaping is done to attract the birds. (Although, I do wonder if the myna bird population might reach critical mass some day soon.) Some of the birds are too big for the cats to easily take down – mynas, doves, pigeons, and hoopoes, but there are also smaller birds that would make an easy target. I suspect that the cats are content with mice and kitty kibble.

As for my library wandering kitty, I saw her as I was leaving campus Thursday and I sat down on a bench and beaconed to her. She came running to be petted, jumped up on the bench and cuddled up beside me. She kept rubbing her chin on me, so I think our relationship was not harmed by my refusing to let her wander the library freely. She even purred for me.

Posted in cats | 1 Comment »

Aquarium and mall redux

January 10, 2009

We went back to Dubai Mall last night and ate at Taco Bell again. As you can see by the line, it is popular and not particularly fast fast food.
Below are our “cheesy fries” which are just fries with nacho cheese sauce poured over them. The fries were good and crunchy and would be much much better without the cheese.
Below is Paul’s expression when I take pictures of our food. He thinks I am crazy and is probably embarrassed to be seen in public with me. I know you are all dying to see what we are eating, so I suffer his scorn to satisfy my audience.
A toddler at a neighboring table climbed out of his high chair and proceeded to run away. An extremely observant busboy caught him and put him back. Only then did we realize that there was no one else at the table, just a purse and some shopping bags. No parents of this boy to be seen anywhere. The busboy hovered around keeping his eye on the boy and looking for the parents. People at a neighboring table signaled him to move the boy over to their table and they began to take care of him. We left before the parent(s) of this child returned. I hope someone tore them a new one for having left him unattended, but I suppose that is unlikely. We tipped the busboy. He definitely deserved it.

We went through the aquarium. It has two parts — small tank areas with different fish, reptiles, otters, seals, penguins, etc., and the big tank area with the walk through tunnel. There is a serious design flaw, however. You can enter either section, pay once and your receipt will get you into both. The parts are completely separate though. We entered the upper floor with the small tank displays and walked all through it. It exits through the gift shop and back out into the mall. You then have to walk back around past the entrance to the escalators that take you down to the lower floor where the big tank is and you have to walk back around to the far side in order to enter the tunnel. The tunnel entrance is directly below the exit of the upper section, so why they didn’t just design it so that you didn’t have to exit the top floor walk all the way around and back again, I don’t know. A simple elevator or escalator where the gift shop is would have done the trick very nicely.
These are pictures of the giant groupers they have in the big tank. They are quite impressive and these pictures don’t do them justice. They can grow to 9 ft in length and these guys looked to be at the 7 ft range. They are related to hamour (brown spotted reef cod), the very tasty fish that is common on menus here. If you get fish and chips, it is most likely to be hamour.

Posted in aquarium, fast food, malls | 1 Comment »

Fountains

January 10, 2009

Despite the scarcity of water and the fact that most of it comes from desalinization, there are innumerable fountains in Dubai. Every new construction involves some sort of water features – fountains, canals, pools, etc. Some of them are quite massive and some are quite creative and interesting.
Here is one of the massive ones. This is in Dubai Mall.

The diver sculptures are life sized, so that gives you some idea how tall and wide this is. Not only that, but this is one of a pair of fountains.
Below is one of Paul’s favorite fountains. He is a waterbaby and could watch fountains like this for hours given the chance. This is in Festival City mall and is an example of the interesting design type of fountain.
It is a sloped wall and at short intervals water comes down in waves.
The slope is covered with sea shells which is what causes the frothiness of the water and the sound of waves on the beach.

Posted in fountains, malls | 1 Comment »

Campus wildlife

January 9, 2009

These flowers look like gardenias, but I am always disappointed when I smell them, because they are not gardenias. I can’t detect much fragrance from them at all.
The red arrow is pointing to where my office is.
This fountain is a very popular spot with the minas in the afternoon. They love to have their bath in it.
The minas also congregate in the trees near the front gate. The noise of their chatter is astonishing.
This garden area near the front gate is usually full of birds in the afternoon also.

This is a white cheeked bulbul.
Can you find all the birds in the picture above? I see 5 white cheeked bulbuls. What do you see?
This is one of our campus cats. I usually see her near the front gate. She seems friendly and runs up to me, rubs against my legs and meows LOUDLY, but she does not like to be petted. Talk about mixed messages. Having her cheeks rubbed seems to be okay, but she’s not crazy about a simple pet down the back.

Posted in birds, cats | 1 Comment »

Dubai Mall miscellanea

January 9, 2009

The Dubai Mall is the biggest and most recent mall. It is at the base of the Burj Dubai (tallest building). Many of the store spaces are still vacant with “store opening soon” signs. I kinda figure if it doesn’t say the name of a specific store, that nothing is opening there “soon.”

When we go into these massive and confusing shopping malls, I am very lucky to have my spacial genius husband to do the navigating. I would have to spend all my time looking at the maps to figure out where to go. Sometimes the maps don’t have the “you are here” indicator, so that increases my fruitless staring at the map time.
There are giant led boards displaying ads or national symbols on the sides of the walkways.
We were especially amused by the Ribs and Rumps restaurant. Doesn’t that sound appetizing?
Here is the one and only Taco Bell in Dubai. Yes, we ate here. The rule is that if we didn’t eat at an American fast food restaurant back home, we won’t eat at it here either. We did our fair share of Taco Bell back home. However, this TB does not have the burrito supreme, but it does have cheesy fries?!?!?!?!? We did not try the fries. There seems to be a rule that you can’t open a restaurant unless it has fries on the menu.
The mall has a giant ice skating ring.
And a large aquarium. We were too tired of foot to go through the aquarium, but it is on our list of things to do. I love the aquariums where you can walk through the tube and see the fish all around. After they had stocked the tanks they were having trouble with the fish eating each other, especially the big sharks eating the smaller sharks. Go figure! I’m not sure how they resolved this. They have regular feeding times (one of the things advertised on the reader boards), so maybe that keeps the predating down.