My recent trip to the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi allows a comparison. These are the building projects that can be seen from the front of the Emirates Palace Hotel.
This is approximately one year ago:
This is the current view:
This is last year:
This is the current view:
I have a much better camera these days. Can you tell?
Archive for October, 2009
Construction
October 17, 2009Bowling
October 16, 2009The library staff, families and a few others went out for a bowling night, just for fun. Few had the faintest idea how to bowl. Made for a bit of chaos. I had to turn off the part of my brain that cares about abiding by the rules and common lane courtesy – like not stepping onto the wood floor area, if you are not the one bowling. Daddybird was afraid he was going to bean some of the kids with his back swing.
It was strange to be in a bowling alley that wasn’t smokefilled and you couldn’t get a beer (or buy illegal drugs). I don’t think there were any pinball machines either. Not quite the American experience. Also, the TV screen between the scoreboards was showing a soccer game. Do American bowling alleys have football or baseball playing on TV screens?
Above is most of us. Not all the family members joined into the pose.
And, to answer the inevitable question, yes, Emiratis wear abayas and kanduras when they bowl.
Safestway
October 15, 2009We went to the Safestway grocery store in order to buy cat litter that we think will actually clump (only time will tell). Here are a few things we saw.
Virtually lint free toilet paper
What exactly is virtually lint free toilet paper? Who among you has ever wondered about the amount of lint your toilet paper might give off?
Canadian style sour cream
If it is Canadian style sour cream, why is there a large Slavic man on the carton?
This is the subtle and cleverly disguised DIET FOOD section. The Air Freighted sign actually applies to the lunch meat and hot dogs on the other side of the aisle. It’s not a fat joke, or anything.
Make-up for Film
October 13, 2009At the last minute, I got the chance to go along on a student field trip to the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi. We went to a workshop on make-up for film done by artists who worked on Lord of the Rings and 30 Days of Night. Here’s a sample of how they turned an ordinary guy into a vampire in 1.5 hours.
Above, they have prepped his face and hair and are about to glue on the forehead appliance.
They added nose, lip and chin pieces.
They painted him and also put nails and paint on his hands. One has stunt nails that are flexible (won’t put an eye out), the other has harder nails meant to look good in close ups.
Here’s a close up. Notice he has blue eyes above. Below, his right eye has a contact lens that makes it look black. Left eye is still blue.
In goes the second contact lens. They also put in dentures, but my pictures of that did not come out well. You will have to imagine.
During the whole process they talked about the work they do, the products they use, and working with actors and directors. It was good to hear them tell the students that they are constantly reading and doing research and draw a lot from the medical field. What? Life long learning?
Still alive
October 12, 2009We are still alive. Our home Internet connection has been out of commission. I’m currently at the Middle East International Film Festival, so will post about it soon. Hang in there.
Lizard
October 7, 2009This is a tiny, well camouflaged lizard we came across on our way to the mussels dinner. He’s only a couple of inches long.
Mussels
October 7, 2009
Last night’s social activity was a Tweet-up at the Belgian Beer Cafe for all-the-mussels-you-can-eat in 2 hours dinner.
And, even though we are out with people, Daddybird is on the internet. He is, however, tweeting about the dinner and since we are at a table of fellow tweeters, no one thinks this is rude or odd.
Here is the main attraction – scrumptious mussels. They were tender and tasty.
The walls are decorated with a variety of things including old portraits. I like looking at them, but I usually get a little sad when I think that this is someone’s great uncle Joe or grandpa Henry. How do these things get disconnected from the family?
3D
October 6, 2009
Hey, look! My car travels in three dimensions.
Actually, I really hate this gear shift. In the dark even though the letters/numbers light up, I have no idea what gear I’m in until I press on the gas.
Mali
October 4, 2009This is our friend Mali. I had no idea that he was mugging for the camera behind our backs. This was taken at a games exposition (cleverly named Games09!) at Festival City Mall.
Click on the image for a bigger version.
Special Ostadi
October 2, 2009We had dinner at Special Ostadi again last night. If you want a glimpse at the inside of the restaurant, view the video from last June. https://livingthetravelchannel.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/special-ostadi/
We met up with some of our favorite friends – Uzma and Rami. Rami brought his friend Khaled, who was a “Special Ostadi virgin” according to Rami. Rami wanted to share the delight that is wonderful food and friendly service with his friend.
It is kinda like the television show Cheers in that we walk in, they recognize us, welcome us warmly, they know approximately how long it has been since our last visit, and you just can’t beat that.
It is a family owned and run business. The father runs the cash register and the sons serve as waiters, but not just your run of the mill waiters. They are comical and always make us happy to be there. Khaled (the waiter, not our dinner companion Khaled) was wearing his Michael Jackson tribute t-shirt and graced us with a little “Who’s Bad” choreography.
We had a blast. We tipped about 40% and Paul had trouble convincing the father to keep the extra amount. We look forward to many, many meals at Special Ostadi.
The Green line of the Metro goes within a few blocks of the restaurant and it runs right by our apartment. I think this is an omen. I can’t wait for the line to open.
Living the Travel Channel 