Dubai 2009

[ProHouston]

Those are awesome pictures. I like seeing what types of people are in the city. Is it as diverse as that cafe shot? Do you have any more?

[DJ V Lawrence]

Would U say Dubai's about to become one of the top ten rich-boy playground cities in the world? The pix are awesome, especially the first one when you see how Dubai designed the waterway. Looks like a city I'd want to travel to

[emirate25]

Yes, Dubai is very diverse: You have arabic, american, brits, chinese, filipino's, indian etc.... The cafe shot I took it at the Dubai Marina close to a hotel of the name Grosvenor House. I would heavily recommend the Buddha Bar located inside that hotel...very nice and chill atmosphere to socialize. Here are some more pics of my trips to Dubai. Enjoy...

[Mark F. Barnes]

Medinat Jumeirah Beach Residency & Souk Dubai, UAE 4th march 2005

[57Tbird]

Speaking of Dubai. How about this indoor ski run that was completed last year.

emirate25... Is that where your snow pix were taken?

[emirate25]

Speaking of Dubai. How about this indoor ski run that was completed last year.

emirate25... Is that where your snow pix were taken?

Exactly. The pictures that I posted are from Ski Dubai.

[Howard]

Metropolitantexan: Where are you working? I am Kabul with a company from Hong Kong. I have an Internet cafe outside the overseas processing center in Houston.

Yes the hype is real, I was there for 3 days last month, but I am not so sure of the survival of Dubai. They are building so much so fast that I wonder honestly where are all of these people going to come from and what would be the attraction. OK the shopping was good, I'll give it that. But for me the only other interest was Ski Dubai but I would really go to the mountains to snowboard and not fly from the U.S. to Dubai for that! The scenery is amazing. The heat is crazy but I hear it gets much nicer in the winter. I didnt go see the nightlife so I cant comment. I'll have more money next time in December. The food was really good. Nice hotels. Traffic and crazy drivers. I saw a Mclaren F1!!! Crazy malls. Crazy diversity as most of the people you meet arent even from Dubia. But... what else? We will have to look at it 20 or 30 years from now. I personally think they might have went too big on this. Maybe the whole idea is to be a business center? Who wrote the business plan? lol

[ricco67]

Metropolitantexan: Where are you working? I am Kabul with a company from Hong Kong. I have an Internet cafe outside the overseas processing center in Houston.

Yes the hype is real, I was there for 3 days last month, but I am not so sure of the survival of Dubai. They are building so much so fast that I wonder honestly where are all of these people going to come from and what would be the attraction. OK the shopping was good, I'll give it that. But for me the only other interest was Ski Dubai but I would really go to the mountains to snowboard and not fly from the U.S. to Dubai for that! The scenery is amazing. The heat is crazy but I hear it gets much nicer in the winter. I didnt go see the nightlife so I cant comment. I'll have more money next time in December. The food was really good. Nice hotels. Traffic and crazy drivers. I saw a Mclaren F1!!! Crazy malls. Crazy diversity as most of the people you meet arent even from Dubia. But... what else? We will have to look at it 20 or 30 years from now. I personally think they might have went too big on this. Maybe the whole idea is to be a business center? Who wrote the business plan? lol

I totally agree that they're building quite fast, but if they're gearing up for tourism, it just might work out quite well.

While I don't exactly know what the king's motive(s) are for creating such a tourism/business ndustry, I'd say that in the end, it could be quite successfull. Dubai is fairly secular and the weather is fairly moderate for the region.

My only thing is that if something goes wrong, the rich might have to abandon their boats as the only entrance in and out of the area is through the Straight of Hormuz (sp) and Iran can easily shut that down.

[Trae]

They have some bad traffic in the real Oasis in the Desert:

[emirate25]

I totally agree that they're building quite fast, but if they're gearing up for tourism, it just might work out quite well.

While I don't exactly know what the king's motive(s) are for creating such a tourism/business ndustry, I'd say that in the end, it could be quite successfull. Dubai is fairly secular and the weather is fairly moderate for the region.

My only thing is that if something goes wrong, the rich might have to abandon their boats as the only entrance in and out of the area is through the Straight of Hormuz (sp) and Iran can easily shut that down.

Like I told you guys, I've traveled so much to Dubai ( will be here again this weekend!!!) that I know the in's and out's of that place.

The reason the Sheik Mohammed Ak Toum is building Dubai in a fast pace is because of TOURISM. You have to understand, Abu Dhabi is the sister city of Dubai. Abu Dhabi has lots of OIL and its whole economy surrounds that natural resource. Now Dubai, does not have that much Oil so the SHEIK wanted to jump start Dubai's economy through TOURISM. Yes, they are building in a fast pace ( imagine them building 5 downtown Houston at ONCE) in order to get some good return.

As you all know, they have built the Palm Jumeraih which by the way is ALL SOLD...I've been on the Palm Island and its OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I have to give props to the person that came up with this kind of building structure.

Nightlife is AWESOME!!! I recommend club Trilogy at the Madinat Jumeraih and Peppermint inside the Fairmont Hotel. You will NOT be dissappointed.

There is so many things available to do in Dubai...even some that you would of NEVER expect to happen in a Muslim country.

Like I told you guys, I've traveled so much to Dubai ( will be here again this weekend!!!) that I know the in's and out's of that place.

The reason the Sheik Mohammed Ak Toum is building Dubai in a fast pace is because of TOURISM. You have to understand, Abu Dhabi is the sister city of Dubai. Abu Dhabi has lots of OIL and its whole economy surrounds that natural resource. Now Dubai, does not have that much Oil so the SHEIK wanted to jump start Dubai's economy through TOURISM. Yes, they are building in a fast pace ( imagine them building 5 downtown Houston at ONCE) in order to get some good return.

As you all know, they have built the Palm Jumeraih which by the way is ALL SOLD...I've been on the Palm Island and its OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I have to give props to the person that came up with this kind of building structure.

Nightlife is AWESOME!!! I recommend club Trilogy at the Madinat Jumeraih and Peppermint inside the Fairmont Hotel. You will NOT be dissappointed.

There is so many things available to do in Dubai...even some that you would of NEVER expect to happen in a Muslim country.

[Metropolitantexan]

Metropolitantexan: Where are you working? I am Kabul with a company from Hong Kong. I have an Internet cafe outside the overseas processing center in Houston.

Yes the hype is real, I was there for 3 days last month, but I am not so sure of the survival of Dubai. They are building so much so fast that I wonder honestly where are all of these people going to come from and what would be the attraction. OK the shopping was good, I'll give it that. But for me the only other interest was Ski Dubai but I would really go to the mountains to snowboard and not fly from the U.S. to Dubai for that! The scenery is amazing. The heat is crazy but I hear it gets much nicer in the winter. I didnt go see the nightlife so I cant comment. I'll have more money next time in December. The food was really good. Nice hotels. Traffic and crazy drivers. I saw a Mclaren F1!!! Crazy malls. Crazy diversity as most of the people you meet arent even from Dubia. But... what else? We will have to look at it 20 or 30 years from now. I personally think they might have went too big on this. Maybe the whole idea is to be a business center? Who wrote the business plan? lol

Greetings Howard,

You are in Kabul? Totally cool........well, I tell you what......I for one am going to allow you to really use your imagination for a moment.........

........where could I possibly be working........here that is within the rugged confines of Afghanistan........but yet I am not really allowed to reveal much about my employment situation or actual location that is.........actually, you and I are really quite close in proximity that is.........just know Howard that the actual company is indeed headquatered out of Houston respectively..........somehow, I think that you may soon have it......big big company........

Yes, I shall be going on my first R&R in a few months......and I am most certain that I shall be venturing back into the comfortable as well as magnificent confines of Dubai and really have good look around........you know, the works.....for those pictures from our buddy whom just visited really look good......since I was acutally in route to my job site......we only stayed for a brief visit.........but even however brief it was.........it was still exotic.....as well as extremely exciting.....for I just cannot wait to return to stay for abouit ten or so days.........Metro

[emirate25]

Greetings Howard,

You are in Kabul? Totally cool........well, I tell you what......I for one am going to allow you to really use your imagination for a moment.........

........where could I possibly be working........here that is within the rugged confines of Afghanistan........but yet I am not really allowed to reveal much about my employment situation or actual location that is.........actually, you and I are really quite close in proximity that is.........just know Howard that the actual company is indeed headquatered out of Houston respectively..........somehow, I think that you may soon have it......big big company........

Yes, I shall be going on my first R&R in a few months......and I am most certain that I shall be venturing back into the comfortable as well as magnificent confines of Dubai and really have good look around........you know, the works.....for those pictures from our buddy whom just visited really look good......since I was acutally in route to my job site......we only stayed for a brief visit.........but even however brief it was.........it was still exotic.....as well as extremely exciting.....for I just cannot wait to return to stay for abouit ten or so days.........Metro

Hmmm...I know what company you guys talking about when you say R&R. I love those acronyms...how about DFAC, LWOP. The PX? Does that sound familiar to you guys? Be careful out in Afghanistan...especially in Afghanistan...you guys still sleep in tents over there from what I heard.

[Montrose1100]

They have some bad traffic in the real Oasis in the Desert:

The traffic makes Houston look like ... [insert remotely populated city].

[The Voice of University Oaks]

Today I finally got to ride down Sheikh Zayed Road to Jebel Ali and back. They've made a lot of progress since my last trip here in January. The Burj Dubai is coming along nicely, as is the rest of Business Bay, and new office towers are well underway. The Dubai Internet City/ Media City / Knowledge City areas are really looking nice. The cluster of high-rises around the Dubai Marina is impressive; a few of them are completed but it's otherwise still a mass of cranes and construction. Before long the canyon of skyscapers around the Dubai World Trade Centre area will extend all the way up and down Sheikh Zayed. It's really quite amazing.

The impetus for the construction frenzy here is related not only to tourism (although that is a large part of it) but also to business, finance and trade. Dubai is in an ideal geographic location: to the east, there's the growing economies of India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, etc. as well as the established economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. To the west is Europe and North America. Then there's the Middle East itself, which is currently swimming in oil profits. Dubai sees its central location as an ideal place for an international business hub and they are aggressively promoting its business-friendly, tax-free laws to multinational corporations.

The traffic here puts Houston's congestion to shame. Forget the West Loop during rush hour; try crossing one of the bridges over the Dubai Creek during rush hour and it gives a whole new meaning to the term "gridlock." It's after 10:30 pm right now and traffic is still crawling along Al Garhoud Road (the E 11 highway linking all the Emirates) outside my window.

[Trae]

Show us some pics please .

[DanMr]

Hello, sorry if my first post is not Houston related, I live in Dubai and I came across this thread. I'm really interested in this sort of stuff so I feel I should contribute.

I definitely agree with "the voice of university oaks", the boom here is not related to tourism only, but also to business, trade, etc. Tourism is obviously a main part but they're trying to diversify into a service based economy I think.

I've actually got mixed feelings about the projects here.

I might aswell start with the bad, I wish they'd stop with the man-made islands. I mean, the original palm was a great idea and played a main part in advertising this place to the world but when you get palm 2, 3, the world and some more the idea is ruined. They're destroying our coastline with this stuff, of course the developers say that the palm islands are actually encouraging more marine life, I really doubt this is true. Of course once the construction stops the marine life will come back and there would probably be more than before because of the islands but here's the thing, the islands will have to be constantly be replenished because of erosion so the sand will never settle.

Another thing that bugs me is that there's so much sprawl and they just keep on building those houses in the middle of nowhere. I know a lot of cities in the States, including Houston have suffered because of sprawl but we don't seem to be learning from the mistakes of others, instead we're just so obsessed with copying the american dream that we completely overlook the bad consequences. In a few years Dubai's sprawl will extend beyond jebel ali, that's over 60 kilometers, and the authorities are surprised at the gridlock traffic.

Not all is bad though, there are some great developments in Dubai, one of those is the marina. The marina's a massive residential project with loads of towers. I've actually bought myself an apartment in the jumeirahbeach residence, about 40 similar-looking towers (what most people call the ugliest development in the city). I do think this is true, however the developer has promised that the common podium of the towers will contain more than 300 stores so it'll mean I won't have to travel by car to do my shopping. Also my apartment is really near the bridge to the other side. I'm hoping to move in next year. Also in an area at the top of the picture they hope to build several supertall towers over 1000ft, some of which will scrape 1300ft or even 1400ft

One development that people from outside never guess is the metro system, yes dubai is planning a mass transit system and a major one at that. 2 lines from a new lightrail system are being built right now, the trains will be driverless and I think it'll be the longest driverless track in the world (not sure exactly). I consider this the most important development in the city, another advantage of my jbr apartment is that across the bridge the metro station will be right there. Here are the 2 lines under construction. Apparently, a blue line will run from the old airport to the new one being built now, also a 4th line has been mentioned in the news but it's still under design. A figure of 300km of lightrail track is being targeted by 2020, that's a huge number and I'm glad they're now taking public transport as being equally important as building roads (that's the way it should be anyway)

As you've guessed I'm a fan of high density and tall buildings. I lurk on skyscraperpage and skyscrapercity and have found some great pictures of the major developments here. One thing that's been holding my attention for a while is that a new sort of CBD is taking shape over around the current tall towers along the main highway. I've noticed that the developments have been linked well around there, the burj dubai complex and business bay for example. That whole district will have over 500 towers eventually. I actually think those projects will be a huge success because they look well planned from the masterplans, definitely looks like a new area of dubai I'll enjoy walking around in. Also that area will contain some of the tallest towers in the world, I've heard rumours of over 20 towers over 1000ft. What I'm sure about though is that the burj dubai will not stand alone. Here are some pictures of a model the guys over on skyscrapercity and skyscraperpage made. It's of this district I've been talking about.

One thing I fear about this new CBD is that businesses may move out from the old centre to this place in order to maybe avoid traffic, or to be closer to certain areas. Of course it'll be great if these buildings will be filled since it'll make the area much more lively with people all around but the old centre could suffer. I'd hate to see that happen since the old centre is where all the soul is.

[emirate25]

Hey Guys,

I am currently in Dubai. I am open to any suggestions on what you guys think I should take pictures of.... Once I get the list, I would go ahead take the pics and post them up later this week.

[TJones]

Hey Guys,

I am currently in Dubai. I am open to any suggestions on what you guys think I should take pictures of.... Once I get the list, I would go ahead take the pics and post them up later this week.

If you would, try to take some updated photos of the outside of the skiing facility, and some newer pics of the islands being built of the coast please.

[The Voice of University Oaks]

I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures yet; I'll try to do so this weekend when I have some free time.

The Dubai Metro is the reason why I'm here! The Red line will be up and running in 2009; the green line in 2011 or 2012. They've already begun work on the underground stations at Union Square and the Burjuman, and some trackway supports are already going up near the airport and Jebel Ali.

I'm going to be making several trips between Houston and Dubai this fall. Emirates Airlines has plans for non-stop flights from Dubai to Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston. I really wish they'd hurry up with that service!

[Howard]

Greetings Howard,

You are in Kabul? Totally cool........well, I tell you what......I for one am going to allow you to really use your imagination for a moment.........

........where could I possibly be working........here that is within the rugged confines of Afghanistan........but yet I am not really allowed to reveal much about my employment situation or actual location that is.........actually, you and I are really quite close in proximity that is.........just know Howard that the actual company is indeed headquatered out of Houston respectively..........somehow, I think that you may soon have it......big big company........

Yes, I shall be going on my first R&R in a few months......and I am most certain that I shall be venturing back into the comfortable as well as magnificent confines of Dubai and really have good look around........you know, the works.....for those pictures from our buddy whom just visited really look good......since I was acutally in route to my job site......we only stayed for a brief visit.........but even however brief it was.........it was still exotic.....as well as extremely exciting.....for I just cannot wait to return to stay for abouit ten or so days.........Metro

I forgot I posted here... Gotta keep up on it.

I'll throw another one out there COMSEC. Yes, I know the company and was in pris... uhhh worked for them for a year and a half. lol I now am an independent and live off .... in a house. Lots of danger but much better pay and living conditions. I will be headed to Dubai in December and plan to see A LOT more. You may have noticed my business in Houston outside the processing center? The I cafe??? Two doors on your left as you go out of the center into the stores. I have been to Dubai 3 times so far but I just went to the malls and sight see tours. Night life in December for sure. If there is such a big push for tourism I'd like to know what these tourists are doing. I like Dubai but I wouldn't be flying from the U.S. to have fun there. Maybe once but that would be it??? I just didnt see that there was so much to do. It is a great place for business though.

I forgot I posted here... Gotta keep up on it.

I'll throw another one out there COMSEC. Yes, I know the company and was in pris... uhhh worked for them for a year and a half. lol I now am an independent and live off .... in a house. Lots of danger but much better pay and living conditions. I will be headed to Dubai in December and plan to see A LOT more. You may have noticed my business in Houston outside the processing center? The I cafe??? Two doors on your right as you go out of the center into the stores. I have been to Dubai 3 times so far but I just went to the malls and sight see tours. Night life in December for sure. If there is such a big push for tourism I'd like to know what these tourists are doing. I like Dubai but I wouldn't be flying from the U.S. to have fun there. Maybe once but that would be it??? I just didnt see that there was so much to do. It is a great place for business though.

[houstonfella]

A rotating skyscraper???? Jeez, we are getting behind in the U.S.

USA Link

[HarryMoto]

You Say Dubai, I Say Hello

http://www.slate.com/id/2156989/entry/2157043/