Life in Dubai is like living in a hot air gas balloon. It has all the levity, uncertainty, buoyancy mixed with a good dose of optimism and complete faith in your guide. Inshallah!
Now for those who don't know Dubai is one of the 7 emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Its a country of contradictions, you have the in your face retail culture of Dubai and just down at the emirate of Abu Dhabi (also the national capital) there is an elegant calm. Further north there's Fujairah sharing its coast with the Gulf of Oman, here you can see more of the old world charm.
A little departure from food today, and for the rest of you and those coming over from BATW here's a little about the tiny emirate of Dubai I call home (away from home), in conversation with I, me, myself.
Q. Its so hot here in the summers I am getting a headache, what should I do?
A. It could be migraine, go to a doctor, there are a few here who do more than nose jobs, liposuction, collagen injections, and laser therapy.
Q. I am bored what are my options?
A. Plenty - there are approximately 24 malls and counting in Dubai.
Q. There's no park near my place, where can I play with my kids?
A. There's always the parking.
Q. I feel like the king of the world!
A. As in The World?
Q. So are you the same Khadi wearing idealistic Indian?
A. I am afraid I have switched to lycra, ditched the Bata chappals and straightened my hair.
Q. Eeeeew!
A. I still go to Fabindia to buy my soaps. Does that count?
Q. So what do you do to stay out of trouble?
A. Dress decently generally and while at the beach, and don't snog in public unless you want to become (in)famous like the sex on the beach couple.
Q. I heard obesity is a big problem in the UAE?
A. Heck no! its hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease that's the no. one killer here.
Q. I miss my friends!
A. Don't look for Orkut, its a no no!
Q. What about Flickr?
A. That too.
Q. I am so bored and I miss my friends!
A. Say hello to your Pakistani, Lebanese, Srilankan, Eqyptian, African, Bangladeshi, Russian, Phillippino neighbours, my friend.
Q. What? no British?
A. Not where I live, check Jumeirah or the Meadows... or the beach.
Q. Why do I feel there are too many of us?
A. Because there are! the expat local ratio is 80:20.
Q. Why do I not see any camels?
A. They are all racing at Nad Al Sheba. But habibi if you want to really see wild camels head to the desert.
Q. You know I have this image about Arabia...
A. Its not Arabia, there are countries here like Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Throw out that Lawrence of Arabia VHS from your closet.
Q. I heard Arab men are really romantic.
A. I wouldn't know I am married to an Indian.
Q. I am really bored now... is there any wild life here?
A. There are some seedy nightclubs in the 'grey' underbelly of Dubai that specialise in the sort of bellydancing you seem to be hinting at.
Q. No seriously I mean wildlife - as in lions, tigers!
A. Ah ok... there's the Dubai Zoo, the aquarium at the Dubai Mall, the Atlantis Palm has 'rescued' a whale shark - the poor guy's posing for photographs for his food over there. Why do you ask? you interested in buying some? that can be arranged too.
Q. Stop kidding... and please continue...
A. Ok then let me give you the larger picture... there's the natural desert wildlife in UAE and some populations of arabian oryx, leopard out in the desert. UAE's coastal mangroves are the most extensive in the region. Though falconry is a part of the culture here, a lot is being done to ensure enough numbers of its prey the houbara bustard survives in the wild. In Dubai and the Northern Emirates - there's the Gulf Coast and the mangroves. You can do a bit of birdwatching here at Ras Al Khor and then for more desert ecology head out to the dunes and the mountains of Hajar.
Q. I've heard of the shopping there, is it fun?
A. Are you kidding it is a serious part of culture!
Q. I am bored.
A. Then get out! It was fun having your around though. And come again, Dubai does that to people - I know!
67 comments:
I am so not bored! :D
Quite an eye opener.
Enjoyed immensely! Rajani, I seriously need to plan a trip after that conversation:) Just joined BATW:)! I hope I keep up the conditions:)
Seriously enjoyed reading your post today!! :-)
Love,
Smita
THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN and a brilliant way to play hostess! Thank you so much...I can't wait to send the BATW readers here tomorrow...You rock Rajani!
Enjoyed reading this post... Had a virtual tour of Dubai!
Dubai does sound like fun...may be I should plan a trip in future....
hahaha.. loved the last pic! you are so funny, and creative :)
What a nice discovery!! I've been to Dubai for holidays but never met YOU before! I'll be back :)
Kim
www.acrossthelana.blogspot.com
what a creative way to write! loved it. and i am NOT bored.
Thank you tour guide and so humorous! Dubai has been the #1 place to see on my list for a very long time!!!
Thank you for sharing! I'm enlightened!
So interesting! Thanks for "hosting" today! =)
Very interesting tour in a very captivating format!
Thanks for the great tour of Dubai! My father-in-law used to work in Yemen, so he'd always fly in and out of Dubai when heading to/from the states. (visiting from Los Angeles)
Brilliant tour! Thank you so much for taking us along with you. Personally, I've only explored Dubai airport..and, wow, that is one big glittering fun fair!
I loved this post! Thanks for sharing... Also, I see you have some lovely veggie recipes too!
I'm a vegetarian ex-pat in Sweden visiting via BATW.
Thanks for the tour. I've never been but have always wondered about Dubai. Hopped over from BATW and glad that I did. Hope your day is great.
This was as entertaining as it was informative! Love the way you wrote it!
Wonderful tour. I'm visiting from Australia, via BATW. Dubai sounds quite interesting, not boring ;)
Camel races, huh? Now that IS something different. Thanks for sharing!
SO nice to have you featured at Blog Around the World!
I really enjoyed learning more about Dubai....what an interesting place :-)
Thanks for sharing!
What a fantastic tour! Thanks for hosting all of us :)
Thanks for the window into your culture. I learned a lot today. And if I ever make it to your area, I look forward to visiting the malls!
Here from BATW.
Dubai is fascinating...all of the old exploding with all of the new. I must visit one of these days! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of such an interesting place.
What a fun look into the place where you live. Loved it! (I'm here from BATW.)
You are too funny! loved the tour
Funny. Thank you for sharing a little bit from around the world.
How interesting!
Hello from BATW!!! That was wonderful! We've watched a lot of documentaries on Dubai, and are so interested in it! Thank you for your informative tour!!
There was nothing boring about that. Dubai is such a mythical place in my mind with its man made islands and shopping galore. Thank you for opening my eyes to something more.
WOW!!! Loved my visit to Dubai...stopping by from BATW congrats on your feature today!
Greetings from Texas and BATW! What a great tour :-)
Fantastic tour - I loved the approach you took. Many years ago when I was much younger I lived in Dubai. It was sea, sand and sailing in those days and not to mention lots of barbeques at the country club. I can still taste the fresh lime juice drink now. I've often toyed with the idea of returning to Dubai but think I might be gutted to not to see the familiar places that I knew and loved in the 1970s. All that construction, traffic jams and commercialism would drive me nuts. Come to think of it, that's exactly what it was like before execept they were building the first highways, the souks were where it was at and driving was a hazard in case you hit a camel, donkey or other form of primative transport.
Love your blog - hope you enjoyed your BATW day!
What a lovely site. The dishes look yummy. :) Thanks for the insight into Dubai.
What a clever way to introduce us to Dubai! Happy BATW day, thanks for playing hostess.
Thank you for the tour. My daughters would love the shopping. I love your site and will be following as I am always hungry for good Indian food and cannot find it here. I have a hard time finding the ingredients here in Costa Rica, but can improvise pretty good. Thanks for sharing.
Hi from Massachusetts in the US!
This was a hoot!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the Dubai tour. I live in Houston, so half my neighbors have either lived there or have been there or somewhere close. :)
Your post was so clever.
I'm checking out your recipes too.
Glad we could visit you today from
BATW.
♥
Joy
Wow. What a wonderful tour. Thanks!
You write so well Habibi! enjoyed reading it:)
Stopping by from BATW. :o)
Here from BATW. Hope you enjoyed your day in the spotlight. Very interesting post!
Thanks so much for the wonderful tour! Isn't Debbie wonderful? And isn't BATW a blast?
Highly entertaining!!!
I'll be back for some veggie recipes, too!!
Oh that was a really neat tour. I love the Q&A idea. The answers were ... perfect. And highly entertaining :)
neat! Hope you enjoyed your BATW day!
Great tour! I learned a lot. My husband has friends in Dubai, so I thought I knew something, too! Ha! Greetings from California!
Sorry 'bout being a little late. Hope your day was great!
This was a wonderfully written post. Thankyou so much for sharing it with us!
Thanks so much for visiting my Blog and Laughing with me. Come back any time.
thanks to all my blogger friends and the new ones I've made thanks to debbie's BATW - for dropping by and for your comments - really appreciate it! do come by again! much love,
Rajani,
such an interesting and light hearted read. Being in the same city, I agree with most of what you've said.
And I am so glad to have found this blog, in the most interesting way, from a Google alert put up to track coverage for my client, someone whose also mentioned here.. :)
Great blog..
clap! clap! clap!
I luv' your pictures and have learned so much about where you live...intriguing and enticing!
Thank you:)
You, my dear, were a hit!
Lol, you are seriously funny! Loved reading this post, and so happy to find another Dubai blogger!
Such a quirky post great read Rajani!
Thanks for the informative tour.:D
Nicely done!
Excellently done tour and commentary! What a fun and educational read!! Thanks!
Wow...I think I would die if I lived somewhere where shopping was such a huge part of culture. I've never been the type of person to like shopping--as soon as I walk into the mall, I'm counting the minutes until I can get out of there! heehee. :) Very enlightening. Sounds like an extremely interesting place to live.
Thanks for the tour!
--Abigail
Rajani, What an entertaining read! Loved that humorous insight on the land of many malls.
You had me at "shopping". I would never get bored there, who gets bored?!?!
One of the best BATW posts ever!
The conversation with yourself was great! LOL
Thanks for the tour!
That was fun and I learned a lot! I know so little about that part of the world, its always fun to read something and see pictures from an insiders point of view.
Sounds like an interesting place to live.
Found you on BATW
Rajini, you are so clever! Great read!
thank you for the insight on living in Dubai! I have always been fascinated + appreciated your *insiders* point of view. Looks like a wonderful variety of diversity + good times....
I am not bored at all...continue please! Thoroughly enjoyed the post. Thanks for stopping by Taste of Mysore :)
Loved reading the stuff, it was hilarious, Thanx for givng us a tour...
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