French Spiderman in Dubai

We knew it before but this is the ultimate prove: The French are crazy!

Last week a french guy climbed the World's highest buildung the Burj Khalifa (828 meters).

Luckily he was secured - newspaper articles say he slipped twice.....

Global Village

Temperatures are rising - trying to make use of the few good weeks that are left. 

A while back we've been at the Global Village. Yes, the name says it all: It is basically a big market place (according to Wikipedia with over 1,600,000 m² ) divided into various pavillions representing different countries.

Vietnam

Afghanistan

Africa I

 

Africa II

Thailand

Cambodia

Iran

Pretty interessting concept but to be honest - most pavillions sold/offered the same stuff. Little dissappointing but we were still happy to have seen it.


Before we left I had an international specialty -- chocolate strawberries ;)

hungry expat ^^

happy expats ^^

Dubai to Abu Dhabi -- traffic madness

Some impressions of my daily commute Dubai-Abu Dhabi and back.. For those wo don't know: It's an 120km drive (one-way) of which 95% you drive on a six-lane highway....accidents common :)


1) Would rellay like to know how fast you must go to 'jump" over a barrier AND take down a construction-wall?!?!

Jan 2011

Jan 2011

2) Maybe he assumed the sea is close by :)

Mar 2011

Mar 2011

To be continued (unfortunately).....

OMG

Usher in Dubai - we are going TONIGHT ^^

 - review soon ;)
 

Update 17 Mar 11: To make a long story short: We missed it! We were re sure it was Friday but no, it was on Thursday....Welcome to the wonderful world of Arab timekeeping ;) - we've been here too long....

Toys in danger

Hello everybody -- first of all: HAPPY 2011.

It's been a bit quite here after our trip to Germany and Belgium.

However, back to work :( -- but what's best about work? Yes, LUNCHTIME! Especially in the UAE since there's always a tiny entertainment or even excitement that comes with it. Biggest challenge: food orders for delivery - with an estimated 200 different nationalities living in this country ALL trying to communicate in one language pretty funny things happen....


To avoid the stress I decided to go for a walk (well, it's 2 min away from our office) to the world famous place named Popey's - never heard of it? No worries....really no need to know it (for the gourmets here: it's a cheap copy of KFC). Amazingly located IN a gas station. I love the view....

The pre-ordered meals are not ready - what a surprise - no worries: TOYSLAND will shorten your waiting time:

It's one of these world famous machines with a joysticks and an arm that desperately tries to grab something (in this case soft-toys) in a box. If someone ever met anybody who actually got something out of these things please let me know....seems impossible to me).

Ok ok, by now everybody wonders "why the hell is he telling me this?" -- a little close-up shot of a sticker that "Restaurant management" placed on it to stop angry customers from frightening the soft-toys --->

Amazing English-performance by "restaurant management" :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Maybe now you know why ordering food for delivery can be one amazing challenge....

The 11 million dollar present.....

Wohoooo - most of you must have realized: Another year almost over - Christmas time!!!

Even tough we are living in a Muslim country the spirit of Christmas can be felt here. Promotions decorations, special offers, skiing in the snow - well that's all year round :) - and so on....

The UAE would not be the UAE if they would not come up with another superlative. What would fit better than.....The world's most expensive Christmas tree.Unbelievable but true: Decoration on this massive tree is valued at about 11 million USD. Located at the infamous Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Since the hotel is very close to my office I passe by there during lunch break (5* hotels during lunch break - this is how we do it :P ). Picture see here:

Does not look to spectacular I must admit but wait until you see the price tag of one of the may pieces on that tree:

The diamond necklace is worth 4,083,125.00 Dhs which translates to about 850,000 EUR. Think you can call yourself "lucky" if you find one of these under your Christmas tree this weekend -"die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt" :) 

Some news coverage with some close-up shots to be found here:

Inspired by Emirates Palace tree we decided to have our own at home - I think it's as amazing and suits the actual temperatures here much better

~~~ Merry Christmas -  Frohe Weihnachten - Gelukkig Kerstfeest  ~~~

Looking forward to seeing most of you soon!

Mabrook

Every year on the 2nd of Dec the UAE goes craaazzzyyyyyy: UAE National Day!

Dubai and especially Abu Dhabi are covered in the national colors of the UAE Green/Red/White/Black. Love the national pride over here....



Below a few pics of the festive decoration at my office - the rumour says the decoration company had to come back a second time since upper management felt that it was "10 times too much decoration" :) - judge yourself:

entrance to elevator

reception area

But not only companies "like" the UAE National Day - decorating cars is kind of a sport during that day - see a few shots below:

Atlantis Hotel - Palm Jumeirah

On this website you'll find some more funny impressions: here, Scroll down on the page and enjoy!

=== HAPPY NATIONAL DAY ===