You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Not FRC...anyone been to or know about Dubai??? ideas about a visit there please.
- Thread starter joanietoo
- Start date
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Joanie, I read Gourmet's article on Dubai but I can't find it in print
If you have Gourmet's June 2008 issue, it's on page 100.
I dated a Lebanese engineer who worked in Abu Dhabi and he said it's the only place in the arab world (United Arab Emirates) where a girl can get a drink - lol.
Travel
100 Kingdom of Dreams
To get to your table at the Al Mahara restaurant, you travel across an imaginary seabed in a simulated submarine. In another part of town, laborers live in square concrete blocks, ten to a room. Welcome to the schizophrenic city of Dubai.
By Jay Rayner
http://www.gourmet.com/services/presscenter/pressreleases/june_2008_release
http://www.dubai-online.com/restaurants/al-mahara.htm
If you have Gourmet's June 2008 issue, it's on page 100.
I dated a Lebanese engineer who worked in Abu Dhabi and he said it's the only place in the arab world (United Arab Emirates) where a girl can get a drink - lol.
Travel
100 Kingdom of Dreams
To get to your table at the Al Mahara restaurant, you travel across an imaginary seabed in a simulated submarine. In another part of town, laborers live in square concrete blocks, ten to a room. Welcome to the schizophrenic city of Dubai.
By Jay Rayner
http://www.gourmet.com/services/presscenter/pressreleases/june_2008_release
http://www.dubai-online.com/restaurants/al-mahara.htm
Thanks Sandy, I am looking at going there in a month or so....
not really looking to dine out, I dont think.
I feel a trip to the Zouks (foodie ones) would be far more interesting. However I am still in 2 minds about it all.
There are safaris and boat trips offered and I would like to experience these but I am sure the food will be very much an "excursion" sort of meal.
I dont need to shop for gold or clothing or anything but wonder about snowskiing there...what would it be like encased in a tunnel...I get the feeling of being shut in in a lift....not truly claustrophobic, just love the outdoors.....
Anway any thing any of you can pass my way in the next few days before I need to book.
not really looking to dine out, I dont think.
I feel a trip to the Zouks (foodie ones) would be far more interesting. However I am still in 2 minds about it all.
There are safaris and boat trips offered and I would like to experience these but I am sure the food will be very much an "excursion" sort of meal.
I dont need to shop for gold or clothing or anything but wonder about snowskiing there...what would it be like encased in a tunnel...I get the feeling of being shut in in a lift....not truly claustrophobic, just love the outdoors.....
Anway any thing any of you can pass my way in the next few days before I need to book.
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Joanie, if you look
at Image (Dubai Online), click on Activities, Ski Dubai, and on the right is a video of a ski jaunt. Enjoy the ride - hee-hee.
at Image (Dubai Online), click on Activities, Ski Dubai, and on the right is a video of a ski jaunt. Enjoy the ride - hee-hee.
I read that they have a place in Dubai where you can ski INSIDE...
Personally, if they offer one of those flight seeing trips, I'd totally do that--especially if you can do it early in the trip to help get your bearings. Somethings are better appreciated with a view in the air. Seattle is a great example of that, for example. The terrain is so important to the way the city is built and it affects everything. Dubai would be the same, I think. You can see the island they're building out in the ocean, the oil, construction, etc. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has any environmental concerns. And the incoming flow of people at such a rapid pace from architects representing firms from all over the world, to the people who have to staff all the hotels. Are they experiencing any ethnic tensions due to migrant workers, etc? And is that changing the landscape of the local food scene? Dubai, it seems, is the new cross roads (like the former Silk Road.) I wonder how the economy is impacting Dubai since their own economy is largely based on wealth. While some of the financing for those big projects was nailed down years ago, the loans come up for renewal and now the banks aren't lending money. That's got to have an impact. We had a project here where the builder lost their financing and it sat dormant for over 2 years while they lined up more money to complete it. Hmmm.... I'd love to go to Dubai!
Personally, if they offer one of those flight seeing trips, I'd totally do that--especially if you can do it early in the trip to help get your bearings. Somethings are better appreciated with a view in the air. Seattle is a great example of that, for example. The terrain is so important to the way the city is built and it affects everything. Dubai would be the same, I think. You can see the island they're building out in the ocean, the oil, construction, etc. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has any environmental concerns. And the incoming flow of people at such a rapid pace from architects representing firms from all over the world, to the people who have to staff all the hotels. Are they experiencing any ethnic tensions due to migrant workers, etc? And is that changing the landscape of the local food scene? Dubai, it seems, is the new cross roads (like the former Silk Road.) I wonder how the economy is impacting Dubai since their own economy is largely based on wealth. While some of the financing for those big projects was nailed down years ago, the loans come up for renewal and now the banks aren't lending money. That's got to have an impact. We had a project here where the builder lost their financing and it sat dormant for over 2 years while they lined up more money to complete it. Hmmm.... I'd love to go to Dubai!
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Aw c'mon Joanie....
You must stop in for a drink and tell us alllll about it!
http://www.burj-al-arab.com/
You must stop in for a drink and tell us alllll about it!
http://www.burj-al-arab.com/
Here it is, due to be completed soon. (End of 2008)
http://www.skidubai.com/dubai/mountain-ski-dome/
http://www.skidubai.com/dubai/mountain-ski-dome/
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Joanie and I were just chatting about the one that's already open. See above.
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Looking at the towering Burj Al Arab Hotel and contemplating
your notion of the possible negative environmental impacts of a like hotel... I think that it is not nearly as threatening to our environment as any major cluster of urban sprawl in pristine places such as old forests and/or major watersheds, among other things, here in the US or anywhere. Just my honest opinion.
P.S. I was very involved in the Sierra Club in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
your notion of the possible negative environmental impacts of a like hotel... I think that it is not nearly as threatening to our environment as any major cluster of urban sprawl in pristine places such as old forests and/or major watersheds, among other things, here in the US or anywhere. Just my honest opinion.
P.S. I was very involved in the Sierra Club in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
What I was referring to was Palm Island....a completely manmade development in
the ocean. That plus the amount of development in the desert. I've been doing a lot of reading about the diversion of water systems and the impact of major projects like this in the desert. Las Vegas was built over an underground lake and the water has been so depleted, parts of the city are skinking, etc.
I took a class in college on Environmental Politics and it was a real eye-opener. I've got friends who work for the EPA and national climate change initiatives. Between that and reading Cadillac Desert, I'm thinking a lot more about these issues.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=dubai+palm+island&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title
the ocean. That plus the amount of development in the desert. I've been doing a lot of reading about the diversion of water systems and the impact of major projects like this in the desert. Las Vegas was built over an underground lake and the water has been so depleted, parts of the city are skinking, etc.
I took a class in college on Environmental Politics and it was a real eye-opener. I've got friends who work for the EPA and national climate change initiatives. Between that and reading Cadillac Desert, I'm thinking a lot more about these issues.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=dubai+palm+island&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Okay, gotcha ' Traca!! Sorry but I didn't know it was Palm Island you were referring to.
I never heard of Palm Island until you just said so and I just looked it up.
I now see your interest and hope that you can use your PR (and talent!) to try and make our world a better place.
You go girl!!
I never heard of Palm Island until you just said so and I just looked it up.
I now see your interest and hope that you can use your PR (and talent!) to try and make our world a better place.
You go girl!!
Yeah, can you believe they trucked in all that sand and rock--not to mention the houses?
Those things are HUGE. It's not until you see the size of the houses that you get an idea about the scale. Yowza!
Yeah, who knows what I'll end up doing. I looked into working for the State Department and then I realized they move you every 2 years to keep you from developing sympathies for the host country. Then I looked at working for the UN, and did internships for a congressman, the WTO, and a NGO. Never really found what I was looking for (big organizations move really slowly and are mired in the mental restraints of political consequence.) So....who knows?
I love the food biz and there are some serious people making things happen. A whole new generation of Alice Waters-types are coming up and it's exciting to be a part of what's happening with them. All that knowledge of politics, business, and food converge and has me researching cacao production, niche coffees, GMO seed, etc. And thanks to my work with Ethan, I've got access to the people I need to talk with. Over the past year, I've met with everyone from Muhammad Yunus to Madeline Albright, Alice Walker, Alice Medrich, Crescent Dragonwagon, interviewed Shirley Corhier, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, and this weekend, I'm meeting with Michaele Weissman, author of a fabulous book called, "God in a Cup." (about coffee...absolutely fascinating read.) Not sure where this is all going. In a way, the overarching question is still shaping itself. But I'm definitely connecting with some great mentors and each step brings me closer to something that's really compelling. I'm just not sure what it is yet.
In the meantime, I like making ice cream. smileys/smile.gif
Those things are HUGE. It's not until you see the size of the houses that you get an idea about the scale. Yowza!
Yeah, who knows what I'll end up doing. I looked into working for the State Department and then I realized they move you every 2 years to keep you from developing sympathies for the host country. Then I looked at working for the UN, and did internships for a congressman, the WTO, and a NGO. Never really found what I was looking for (big organizations move really slowly and are mired in the mental restraints of political consequence.) So....who knows?
I love the food biz and there are some serious people making things happen. A whole new generation of Alice Waters-types are coming up and it's exciting to be a part of what's happening with them. All that knowledge of politics, business, and food converge and has me researching cacao production, niche coffees, GMO seed, etc. And thanks to my work with Ethan, I've got access to the people I need to talk with. Over the past year, I've met with everyone from Muhammad Yunus to Madeline Albright, Alice Walker, Alice Medrich, Crescent Dragonwagon, interviewed Shirley Corhier, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, and this weekend, I'm meeting with Michaele Weissman, author of a fabulous book called, "God in a Cup." (about coffee...absolutely fascinating read.) Not sure where this is all going. In a way, the overarching question is still shaping itself. But I'm definitely connecting with some great mentors and each step brings me closer to something that's really compelling. I'm just not sure what it is yet.
In the meantime, I like making ice cream. smileys/smile.gif
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
You'll find your path Traca. Good luck.
I think you should go with your gut instincts to experience a different country.
Dubai has made a new name for itself and seems to want to distance itself from the rest of the middle east countries. From what I've noticed they are trying to attract very wealthy visitors that will want all the extravagance. I'm sure the food is the very best you could get anywhere in the world with the best chefs brought in to make it. But that's not what I want when I travel. All that being said, if I was going I would do just the things you mentioned. A safari into the desert can be fascinating. And I don't know what the condition of the reefs are after the building they have done but the Red Sea is some of the best scuba diving in the world. Definitely go to some of the Souks. It's really much fun but try to go to the souks that the locals go to. You will probably be surprise that you will find something that you will just have to buy. Just remember that they expect you to barter about price! They love it. Start your price VERY low and you will get their respect. Smile, be friendly but firm but don't get "flirty" and dress conservatively. All Arab men KNOW that western women are prostitutes so they will want to talk with you. With that in mind, use the experience to teach them that you are not and you expect respect. They'll get it and you can walk away with a good feeling that maybe you let one know. The weather will be pretty much the same as where you live so no drastic change for you to have to deal with. You'll be surprised to see how humid it is but it really starts to get nice this time of year. Hope something I've said helps.
Dubai has made a new name for itself and seems to want to distance itself from the rest of the middle east countries. From what I've noticed they are trying to attract very wealthy visitors that will want all the extravagance. I'm sure the food is the very best you could get anywhere in the world with the best chefs brought in to make it. But that's not what I want when I travel. All that being said, if I was going I would do just the things you mentioned. A safari into the desert can be fascinating. And I don't know what the condition of the reefs are after the building they have done but the Red Sea is some of the best scuba diving in the world. Definitely go to some of the Souks. It's really much fun but try to go to the souks that the locals go to. You will probably be surprise that you will find something that you will just have to buy. Just remember that they expect you to barter about price! They love it. Start your price VERY low and you will get their respect. Smile, be friendly but firm but don't get "flirty" and dress conservatively. All Arab men KNOW that western women are prostitutes so they will want to talk with you. With that in mind, use the experience to teach them that you are not and you expect respect. They'll get it and you can walk away with a good feeling that maybe you let one know. The weather will be pretty much the same as where you live so no drastic change for you to have to deal with. You'll be surprised to see how humid it is but it really starts to get nice this time of year. Hope something I've said helps.
Aww, thanks Marilyn. There's much to admire about that area and sadly
the whole area and it's people have been painted with one brush. They are good people. And I always just kept in mind that for every "atta girl/boy" type of experience there would ALWAYS be an "ah s**t". ;0)
the whole area and it's people have been painted with one brush. They are good people. And I always just kept in mind that for every "atta girl/boy" type of experience there would ALWAYS be an "ah s**t". ;0)