Posted by Kanga
I don’t know how widely this film will be distributed, but if you get the chance to see it, DO! It was made here in Dubai, about life in Dubai. It is a really well made film. It shows (quite honestly) some of the typical stories of people in Dubai.
Posted by DaddyBird
A few more pictures from Monaco:
Here’s the Monte Carlo Casino again…
…and the Café de Paris, etc…
…The Hotel de Paris, next to the Monte Carlo Casino, across the square from the Café de Paris…
…and at the other end of the Hotel de Paris, looking back up the street towards my hotel, the Hotel Hermitage.
Here’s one of the lovely fountains in the park on the other side of the square from the casino.
Here are a few more random pictures from Monaco, mostly chosen for the glimpses of the high rocky terrain in the background. The area is rugged and mountainous, and yet surprisingly green. Quite naturally beautiful.
Looking towards the East end of Monaco, from the Fairmont Hotel…
…and much of the same view from the street below. (But with more of the terrain in the background.)
Near the square in Monte Carlo, looking the other way down the street from my hotel. (Hey, look! A construction crane!)
As you can see, there are quite a lot of high-rise apartment buildings in Monaco. Still, they are dwarfed by the towering surroundings.
We are currently in the midst of the annual Dubai Shopping Festival. Last Saturday night, we were at a “tweet up” dinner at Al Mallah on Al Diyafah Street and this is the carnival (parade) that came by.
Yes, those are walking shopping bags and a drill team with shopping bags instead of pom-poms.
This is the Ikea parking lot late at night after a hard days commerce. People are really lazy litterbugs. Can’t even get it in the garbage can that is just a few feet away.
So, the Burj Khalifa opened this last week. Did we witness it? No. I was down with the flu and Daddybird was at Bu Qtair eating fish with friends and neither of us knew exactly what time the fireworks would be set off, so we missed it.
Those of you in America may have gotten sick of hearing about it due to the extravagance of the whole thing, however, it was a very important event for residents of Dubai and hopefully, all of the U.A.E. It is an unifying icon, not unlike the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower, a symbol for a citizenry that is a minority in their own country and for the non-citizens who love this country and call it home.
You have to remember this is a very young country by world standards. We just celebrated 38 years in December. It is also a very small country. The U.A.E. is 1/3 the size of our home state of Oregon. Oregon is just under 3% of the U.S.A. geographically, (if my math is correct.) And, one could complain about all the wealth and the flaunting of it, but I think there is some justice in the fact that the people who lived in one of the most inhospitable places on the earth (pre-air conditioning) should be sitting on top of a “gold mine” of oil. Secondly, stop complaining about oil rich Arabs while you drive around burning up fossil fuels, but I digress.
Anyway, it was not just a spectacular spectacle, but a nationally important event and very moving to the people who live here.
CNN has a good video of the event – Click here
Pictures – click here and here
And for pictures showing how they will keep all those (23,000) windows clean – click here
For more on the importance of the Burj to people, read our friend Lara Dunston’s blog – Cool Travel Guide.
The crowds are lining up for hours to go up to the observation deck on the 124th floor (out of 160 floors). It will probably be some time before we go up there ourselves, but I am sure we will take a photo or two to share when we do.
The construction of the Metro stop in front of our apartment building is progressing. They are now putting up the frame for the entrance. Originally, this line (the Green line) was scheduled to open in March of 2010. That was pushed forward to June of 2010 and now has been pushed forward again until October 2010 or even later. 
North entrance right below our balcony.
Construction to the left. I am curious about what the oval structures are. 
The south entrance directly across the street from us.
The view to the right – again more oval structures.
To see all of the metro pictures we’ve posted over the last year and a half, click here.
Here is a fun example of driving through Naif. Naif is a crowded neighborhood not far from where we live. There are lots of little shops, lots of little winding, narrow streets, lots of jaywalking pedestrians, lots of men pushing carts, and one amazing example of parallel parking. Enjoy!
(This was not our destination, but getting there was half the fun.)
The rule of thumb that the three most important things are “location, location, and location” doesn’t play out here. In America, businesses are rarely placed near their competitors. The thought is to be the only supplier of your goods or services in the area (unless you are Starbucks and the aim is to be on every corner).
Here, businesses are clustered together with their competitors. I think it comes from the tradition of souks, such as the gold souk, spice souk, or fish market, where all the suppliers of a particular product are together in one area. The picture below is just a few blocks from where we live. There are 10 rental car offices in the picture. There were more, but I couldn’t get them all in a single picture. 
Living the Travel Channel 