Well Readers, here I am in Dubai. Dishevilled and somewhat spaced out. My middle Eastern experience has been handicapped already. Its Ramadan, so things are pretty slow. Probably needed to do a bit more research. My first impression of Dubai is that it is a lot bigger than I was expecting. What was I expecting? Again, no idea really. Some sleepy backwater with a few big buildings. I imagine that not too long ago, it was not much more than a sandhill. Well, all that has changed. The whole place is expanding exponentially. The airport must rank as the biggest one I've ever seen. After a routine (ie with all the usual discomforts) 13 hour flight, hundreds of Adelaidians were disgorged onto the tarmac at 0500, when it was still dark, but a balmy 32 degrees C. Where is the aero bridge? Even Adelaide has those now (after a shaky start, as I recall, when our new airport was being built. In about the same time as it took to build the Pyramids). It was just like the old days, I was half expecting to see somebody in Ansett or TAA overalls stacking bags onto a trolley pulled by a tractor. We were relegated to a far flung corner of the tarmac and herded into buses for the trip to the terminal. It took over half an hour, and we passed I don't know how many huge buildings (with aero bridges) and shiny new aircraft, all belonging to Emirates, I noticed. I counted a bank of 8 A380's at one terminal. It was slightly weird walking around these humungous but sparsely populated structures.
Anyway, after dismissing the $50 cabfare to my hotel, I decided to take the Metro train. I scored a day pass with unlimited use for $7. This gave me the added bonus of observing the local populace going about their business. The vast majority of my fellow commuters looked like foreign workers - Indian, Pakistani, Filipino mostly - often the case in this part of the world. I noticed a couple of exotic car dealerships from the train. Lambourghini and Ferrari if you don't mind. You'd starve in Adelaide if you sold these for a living. Not for the likes of me, or my fellow commuters I suspect. The trip took a while. By the time I got to my stop, I could say "Doors Closing" in Arabic. Well, its a start. But admittedly not very conversational. The Hotel is the JA Ocean View, in what looks like the newest part of the new concrete jungle. The ocean is barely visible through the haze, but the hotel has hot and cold running everything. And I mean everything. Check this out!
Well, did I lie??
I can't believe the frenzy of construction work going on. I mean, who is this for?? Just so tourists can visit mega shopping malls?? Did petro dollars do all this? And it must be bloody inconvenient trying to construct foundations for buildings when you strike oil every time you dig a hole. As for the thing they're building outside the hotel window, it looks like a giant Ferris Wheel. Either that or there are bloody big hamsters around here. Again, why? I'ts so smoggy you can hardly see your watch, so why pay for a view? Well these are my thoughts at the moment. The answers to these intriguing questions and more will be provided in the next installment, after I've done some more scouting. Or maybe they won't. Time will tell.
Anyway, after dismissing the $50 cabfare to my hotel, I decided to take the Metro train. I scored a day pass with unlimited use for $7. This gave me the added bonus of observing the local populace going about their business. The vast majority of my fellow commuters looked like foreign workers - Indian, Pakistani, Filipino mostly - often the case in this part of the world. I noticed a couple of exotic car dealerships from the train. Lambourghini and Ferrari if you don't mind. You'd starve in Adelaide if you sold these for a living. Not for the likes of me, or my fellow commuters I suspect. The trip took a while. By the time I got to my stop, I could say "Doors Closing" in Arabic. Well, its a start. But admittedly not very conversational. The Hotel is the JA Ocean View, in what looks like the newest part of the new concrete jungle. The ocean is barely visible through the haze, but the hotel has hot and cold running everything. And I mean everything. Check this out!
Well, did I lie??
I can't believe the frenzy of construction work going on. I mean, who is this for?? Just so tourists can visit mega shopping malls?? Did petro dollars do all this? And it must be bloody inconvenient trying to construct foundations for buildings when you strike oil every time you dig a hole. As for the thing they're building outside the hotel window, it looks like a giant Ferris Wheel. Either that or there are bloody big hamsters around here. Again, why? I'ts so smoggy you can hardly see your watch, so why pay for a view? Well these are my thoughts at the moment. The answers to these intriguing questions and more will be provided in the next installment, after I've done some more scouting. Or maybe they won't. Time will tell.
1 comment:
Mega malls. Maybe have mega watches that u can see despite the muck. Set the duck free of the oppression of living in all that opulence and send it here!
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