Only in Dubai

World’s richest marathon to take place in Dubai

January 6, 2008

The 2008 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will be the richest long distance running ever in history with prize money of US$1,000,000. Breakdown of the first three, for both men and women category, are: 1st place – US$250,000 2nd place – US$100,000 3rd place – US$50,000 The marathon along with 10km road race and a 4km charity [...]

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Deck the malls: Christmas in Dubai

December 18, 2007

You wouldn’t think much would be happening, don’t you? Considering this is Dubai, situated in the Persian Gulf in the Middle East with Islam being the official religion, I could not blame anyone who’d think expats in Dubai would have the most sober Christmas. But think again, this is Dubai, a city that break almost [...]

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A visit to Dubailand

November 19, 2007

In a few years, a huge entertainment complex will spring out of the desert and become Middle East’s answer to Disneyland. Dubailand is one of the biggest construction projects in the world, with two billion square feet of land consisting of 45 separate projects from a space exploration exhibition to full-size dinosaur enclosure. Dubailand includes [...]

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so how do they call you?

October 22, 2007

I was at the bank this morning, sitting comfortably on the couch in that over air conditioned part of the building. My turn is not yet up so I have to wait, maybe a couple of customers after, I will be called. A voice over echoed the customer service department. No one stood up. I [...]

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Would you?

September 2, 2007

Another non-surprising turn of events happened in Dubai yesterday. The heat outside was nothing compared to what was going on inside Jumeirah Beach Hotel where a number plate auction was held. The car registration plate number F33333 finally sold for AED1,130,000 (US$308,000) at a Roads and Transport Authority Distinguished Number Plates Auction after a tough [...]

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relentless construction boom

July 16, 2007

It will be beautiful when it’s all finished. For now, the world’s tallest building (when completed) under construction looks like this:        M told me that we can actually go near, so we did. At the foot of Burj Dubai:    Around Burj Dubai are developments that consist of another man-made island called Old [...]

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building bridges

July 11, 2007

Dubai’s floating bridge is due to open in a few days with signboards all over the city to direct commuters to the location.   Originally it says it will open on March 2007 but the calendars here have a ++2 months difference. If they say it will be finished in March, they actually mean at [...]

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promoting diversity

July 7, 2007

We all know those religious wars and bloodshed caused by clashes of religion and belief in that One God. Living in the Middle East is an eye-opener, especially because this is not your ordinary strip of Mid-East land. While there are countless mosques around the city, the presence of Catholic Churches and other churches from all [...]

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