Abu Dhabi: 00:10 on Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Location Notes:

I arrived in Dubai at 02:30 this morning and the temperature was still 38C (101F). The heat was coupled, however, with humidity that was at or nearly 100%. Basically, the air is so heavy and soupy that a pedestrian walking through this moist mix leaves a clear air space behind where the mist swirls to refill the void. Not for the first time, I wondered how people were able to live in Dubai before air-conditioning. When the humidity is at 100%, any surface (e.g. glasses, luggage, shoes, hair, briefcase, etc.) that is below the ambient temperature becomes instantly wet with condensation. Windows of all buildings fog over and marble floors become skating rinks around the doors until the strong blast of air-conditioning eliminates the slickness through evaporation.

Breathing outdoors in Dubai provides the competing aromas of sand, exhaust, dampness and the sweet smell of rot. Any rubbish or discarded organic item -- including small dead animals -- rot to nothing in hours in this potent combination of heat and humidity. I would not say that Dubai stinks exactly, it just smells different than any place on earth.

Dubai has tried to reinvent itself as a world capital over the past decade.  There are hundreds of new tall office buildings and apartments including the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. 

A few words about the Burj Khalifa -- it is startlingly tall. The building's design with the gradually tapering and gently spiralling exterior gives the impression of height but the pure altitude of this building is striking and impressive. The Burj Khalifa is unlike other tall buildings around the world. The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei 101 in Taiwan are both very tall buildings. These two tall buildings, however, seem tied to the earth. They have bulk and presence but in the end, they don't look "that tall". The Burj Khalifa, on the other hand, looks tall. It looks tall when we drive beside it, which should probably be expected, but it also looks tall from a distance. The Emirates Towers used to be the tallest buildings in Dubai at 88 stories each. The Emirates Towers are fairly close to the Burj, but from a distance it is clear that they are less than half as tall.

I recently sat next to an architect on a flight from Dubai to Singapore. He was seated at the window and I was on the aisle. We talked briefly about the Burj, which had recently opened, while our aircraft was taxiing. I noted that the top of the Burj was plainly visible from the runway even though the building is more than 15 kms (10 miles) from the airport.  As our flight ascended we banked toward the south which, by coincidence, gave us a very good view of the structure and the surrounding buildings.  The architect raptly stared at the building through our aircraft window.  I asked him, "What do you think of it?".  He replied, "Pure sex ... if I didn't have professional detachment, I might have an erection!"

Back to last night ... Dubai International Airport Terminal 3, where I arrived, is a good analogy for the entire city of Dubai:

• It's shiny and new with lots and lots of marble, steel and glass
• It is much, much larger than it really needs to be -- including the 12 meter (40 foot) ceiling
• It is packed with people from every country all trying to enter at the same time
• It is a monument to extravagance and conspicuous consumption
• Ultimately, however, it has a borrowed soul

Terminal 3 at Dubai is not as cool as Terminal 3 at Beijing -- even if it is on a similar scale -- just like Dubai itself is not as cool as Singapore, after which it was clearly fashioned.  Dubai is interesting for a visit because it has presence, it is just not a unique presence.

In Monday's blog, I spoke about Abu Dhabi -- Dubai's neighbor in the United Arab Emirates.  I really like Abu Dhabi but I'm not very entranced with Dubai.  Dubai is trying to be the "New Manhattan" of the 21st century -- it even has a replica of the Chrysler building and a copy of the Toronto waterfront.  If Dubai is the New Manhattan of Sex in the City, Abu Dhabi is the New Manhattan of The Jetsons.  Abu Dhabi is a home of innovative architecture exploring new forms and techniques.  Dubai is a copy of other places -- even if slightly larger than original size.


None the less, here are my tips for visiting Dubai:

• Places to Stay:  The Grosvenor House is cool because the Buddha Bar is downstairs (see below) -- but it also has great rooms.  The Grand Hyatt is cool and reasonably priced and the Four Seasons is shaped like the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Giza.
• Places to Eat:  The Buddha Bar (great oriental food and cool music), The Manhattan Bar and Grill (great meats and fish) and Nobu (tasty Asian fusion)
• Places to Party:  The sitting room at The Buddha Bar (it really is a "must see"), The Sanctuary Nightclub at Atlantis is another "must see", the York Hotel if you want something wilder and finally, everyone has to check out the indoor ski slopes at the Mall of the Emirates, if only to see how much snow money can buy
• Places to Shop:  Mall of the Emirates has everything (actually it has at least two of everything), Madinat Jumeirah has a neat replica souk and interesting local artwork, but my favorite mall is Ibn Batuta Mall which is almost out in Jebel Ali -- it has different architectural sections like the different places visited by the greatest Arab traveller

My last assessment of Dubai: I never saw a better view of Dubai than when I was looking back at it in the rear window while driving toward Abu Dhabi.


Upcoming Travel:

My travel has hasn't changed since yesterday ... So, I have just added an extra day on to the end:

• Tuesday, 31 August 2010: Abu Dhabi, staying at the Shangri-La
• Wednesday, 1 September 2010: Abu Dhabi - Manila
• Thursday, 2 September 2010: Arrive in Manila and check into The Peninsula Hotel
• Friday, 3 September: Manila, staying at The Peninsula. Leave in the evening for Singapore
• Saturday, 4 September 2010: Singapore, staying at the Conrad
• Sunday, 5 September 2010: Singapore - Tokyo, staying at the Strings Intercontinental
• Monday, 6 September 2010: Tokyo
• Tuesday, 7 September 2010: Tokyo
• Wednesday, 8 September 2010: Tokyo - Sydney
• Thursday, 9 September 2010: Arrive in Sydney and check into the Holiday Inn at the Airport
• Friday, 10 September 2010: Sydney ... returning home via Dubai
• Saturday, 11 September 2010: Dubai - Larnaca then home to Tseri
• Sunday, 12 September 2010: Home in Tseri
• Monday, 13 September 2010: Working from Home in Tseri and meeting the arriving teams in the evening for the EMEA Sales meeting

As usual ... these plans are subject to near constant change at a moment's notice.

  

Rant:

What are people thinking when they board a flight these days?  On last night's flight from Larnaca to Dubai I saw three different stereotypical fliers that really irritated me -- and they were all in business class:

• Irritating Stereotype Number 1:  This was a Western European citizen speaking in a very loud voice to his friend across the aisle and waving his arms when he hadn't used anti-perspirant this century.  The waving action of his arms would have been considered chemical warfare under Geneva conventions.  It is hot outside this time of year in Cyprus and in Dubai ... A message to this type of person:  Anti-perspirant will not eliminate your manliness unless that manhood was pretty precarious from the beginning, so I'd advise every person on mass-transit of any sort to: a) bath often, b) use anti-perspirant and c) avoid lots of energetic arm waving when you have recently been hot and sweaty.
• Irritating Stereotype Number 2:  This was the man sitting next to me that was watching the new "Prince of Persia" film before sleeping.  His earphones were on loud -- which is no problem when they are on his head, but are loud when he takes them off.  He insisted on "yelling" at the flight attendant to give his meal order because he couldn't miss a second of the movie action by removing his headphones -- nor did he know that the screen has a pause function.  Then, when the film was over he took off the headphones and fell asleep without realizing that the film was beginning again.  I heard the entire soundtrack of the film even though I was trying to read and was using earplugs.  Then, he began to snore loudly ... No court in the world would have convicted me if I had simply smothered him with a pillow -- and I thought about it!
• Irritating Stereotype Number 3:  This was a woman in her early 30s that was traveling with her boyfriend.  She was a destination passenger to Dubai from Larnaca headed on vacation to a Muslim country during Ramadan... She was dressed in the new fashion leggings that look like jeans -- incredibly tight, tight jeans -- clearly without much else between her leggings and her skin.  She was wearing 15 cm (7 inch) high heels and was topping off this ensemble with a black satin and lace bodice showing bare shoulders and lots of cleavage.  She had a very dark tan, collagen lips, hair extensions and clearly other augmentations.  Basically, she had more silicon parts than a Barbie doll.  What is she thinking entering Dubai during Ramadan dressed like that?  I like fashion and attractive women as much as the next guy but can there be a modicum of respect for the local culture during a holy month of abstinence?

I'm just thankful that the flight was 14 hours!


Humor Section:

In honor of the inappropriately dressed female passenger, I offer the following old story:

Two young women visited a mall to find new fashion stretch leggings -- the leggings with stirrups at the bottom for under the arch of their feet in order to pull them skin tight against their bare skin.  They young women bought the stretch leggings and decided to wear them around the mall in order to impress all of the males in attendance.  They strutted back and forth in front of the shops wearing their new leggings as if they were on a catwalk.  The young women did, indeed, attract a lot of attention.

The next morning, the first young woman called the second one and said, "Don't you just love your new stretch leggings?".  The second woman replied, "Well, they're alright, I guess."  The first woman pressed on, "'Alright', girl, these leggings are the bomb!  Why don't you like yours?" To which the second woman replied, "Yes, they're pretty cool, but its just that every time I fart, I blow my shoes off!"


Last Blast (so to speak):

I admire people with a true social conscience.  I had dinner with a close friend a few days ago.  During a chat he indicated that he had hired a young man from Sri Lanka as a cashier for his business even though the young man lacked adequate qualifications.  I asked him why he had hired the young man.  He told me, "His mother is our cleaner and she was worried that he could not find a wife because of his status as a manual laborer.  I met the chap and he seemed bright enough but he lacked sufficient formal education.  His mother augments his income with her own but in Sri Lankan culture there is an issue of stature.  So, by giving him a cashier position -- which is really entry level -- he has a higher stature in the community as a 'white collar worker' and can attract a wife ... You know what?  He required extra training in the beginning but he is really doing well!"  I was impressed by several aspects of this story:

1. That my friend would take such a chance on a relative stranger
2. That my friend had the sensitivity to understand the cultural implications of his action
3. That my friend offered a solution that would not be considered as "charity" by the young man and thus prompting low self-esteem
4. That he had seen the results of his efforts as net positive.

It is easy to give money to charity if you have money.  In order to invest time, thought and sensitivity into this type of situation shows a mark of true integrity.

My friends, I am sorry for the lack of pictures in this post and also if the production quality is not up to my usual standards -- my current laptop does not have the proper browser version.  My earlier postings were from our desktop Mac but I don't have a Mac on the road.

Stay well and be happy until we meet again ...