The tallest building in the world.

Today I took a break from my routine and decided to play tourist for the day. The last time I was here I tried to take the elevator ride to the observation platform of the world’s tallest building the Burj Dubai. It turns out that the elevator was closed for repairs (6 weeks after opening) due to electrical problems and no one was allowed up to the observation deck. Today, however, it was open.

 The Burj Dubai had a name change, curiously, on the very day of it’s opening on January 4, 2010. It is now known as Burj Khalifa in honour of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi. This mammoth structure was originally heralded as Dubai’s crowning achievement but the cash-strapped emirate was forced to swallow its pride on January 4th and rename the world’s tallest building after its financial rescuer – the ruler of its oil-rich neighbor. Why you may ask? My friend Mohammed, who has lived here in Dubai for the past 30 years is trying to get me up to speed on the real Dubai and tells me all the real stories behind the government approved and sanctioned press releases.

If you are impulsive and just show up at the ticket counter to ride to the 124^th floor where the observation deck is, you are going to pay about $125 for the pleasure. However, tickets for a later date will cost you only $27. I must have looked like I was strapped with C4 under my clothing because the hostess came right up to me and asked if she could help me. It must be the large bag I carry these days to hold all my essentials: camera, reading glasses, mini laptop computer, phone, wallet and a few books. OK, it’s not much different than a large ladies handbag, but with a masculine flare, just large enough to hold a few kilos of explosives. I stated that I was looking at the schedule to see when I could make a reservation for a $27 ticket. She ushered me around the corner to a “special” area manned by two really thick and unhappy looking security guards ticket salespersons. Asking what time slot was available to reserve a $27 ticket, he said, “How about right now?” He’s probably thinking he’s thwarting my plans to sabotage the building at a pre-planned time by offering to let me go now. These guys are always suspicious.

Abandoned construction project in Dubai

It turns out that when the cash rich, financially stable Emirate of Abu Dhabi financially rescued the over extended and debt ridden Dubai with an infusion of money, the ownership of the Burj Khalifa switched hands. That’s right, Dubai gave the Burj Khalifa to Abu Dhabi, and they also got half of the unfinished Metro system in Dubai as well. I guess if you are going to “give” money to your financially irresponsible cousin, it’s going to come with some strings attached. Cousin Khalifa got to choose what projects he wanted to rescue, which ones to ignore, and the pick of the litter to take home.

When I asked how much the ticket would be to go right now I was told $27. Great! I’ll go now. Walking from the ticket counter to the elevator doors reminded me of the first time I went on the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ride in Disneyland. Walt and his gang wrote the book on disguising the true length of the queue and keeping you entertained and happy while you wait one hour to take a 5 minute ride. This place must have taken lessons from them as the walk to the base of the elevator was through long corridor after long corridor, with an occasional circular ramp, and zig zaggy pole and elastic strap combinations – like you see at security at the airports. I was educated on the history of the building and the various architectural challenges encountered while building it. Media presentations complete with soothing music played on almost all the walls as I moved along. Had I not stopped to take in the media presentations, I could have made it to the elevator in 5 minutes. There were hardly any tourists here at all.

I should be fair to Dubai and not call them financially irresponsible. No one here thought the economic crisis would affect them. Yesterday, Mohammed told me that 75% of all construction projects in Dubai have stopped cold. The workers have all been laid off and the cranes have been dismantled from many of the unfinished buildings around here. Many projects won’t be finished for years. Apparently, the more overextended you were when the economic crisis hit, the worse it was for you. As much money as this place has, they still got caught up in borrowing more then they could handle.

Free telescopes to look in the windows for naked people

A British couple and I shared an elevator ride that could have held thirty people. I assumed that the elevator was glass enclosed and would be able to see outside as we shot up 124 floors in 60 seconds. Not so. The car was completely enclosed but the popping in my ear told me we were traveling upward at quite a fast clip. The observation deck was spectacular. The views were breathtaking even taking into consideration that we are approaching summer where the air is thick with moisture, giving the illusion that there is smog here. This adventure is definitely worth the price of admission.

Mohammed tells me that the Burj Khalifa is completely vacant. The Armani hotel occupies the first 9 floors but is not yet open. Several floors above the hotel are going to be (expensive) apartments and villas to purchase and above that, commercial space. The building currently enjoys a 0% occupancy.

Spectacular view from the top.

As I left the Burj Khalifa it occurred to me that perhaps life isn’t as dramatic as it seems in the movies and that ticket salesman wasn’t as suspicious of me as I had imagined. Perhaps they were desperate to take my money now, even at the reduced price. That’s a ton of elevator rides to sell in order to pay for a 1.5 billion dollar building.

I chatted with a good friend of mine from the USA today on Facebook. I’ve known “Frank” for over 40 years. We spent many summers together at Lake Tahoe and attending a summer camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains outside Fresno. He is a great guy with a heart of gold. He’s been following my recent adventures and had our first chat about my relocation a few months ago. It went something like this:

Frank's view of the World

Frank – “So where are you moving to?”

Me -  “Initially to Dubai in the UAE, but eventually to Abu Dhabi.”

Frank – “Wow, that’s far away. Will your wife have to wear one of those scarves that only shows her eyes?”

Me – “No, The UAE is much more liberal in that respect. She can wear regular clothes.”

Frank – “How hot does it get over there in Saudi Arabia?”

Me – “No, I’m going to the UAE, it’s a different place.”

Frank – “Oh, I see. Aren’t we still having a war over there?”

Me – “No. That’s Iraq and Afghanistan. The UAE is totally cool.”

Today, two months after that chat we talked again.

Frank – “So, when are you moving from Spain to Iraq?”

Me -  “I live in Portugal and I’m moving to the UAE.”

Frank – “I thought Portugal was part of Spain.”

Me – “No. It’s a separate country, has been for several hundred years, and with a separate language. It’s only bordering country is Spain.”

Frank – “Oh, I see. So that’s better than living in Iraq?”

Me – “Much better.”

Sigh. Good old Frank.

I couldn’t help notice the friendly ladies as I walked to the supermarket today, the only sign of commercial life within a half mile radius of the apartment/hotel complex where I am staying.  This is a huge long term residence project and there are 10 apartment blocks in total, each having a unique and colorful name to highlight the ambiance and attention to detail I’m sure the architects had in mind when designing this place. I am in the appropriately named “Block #5”. The doorman of the building I am staying in told me the supermarket is just down the road to the right of the parking lot. “Go out the door and take a left turn at Block #3, take the next right turn at Block #7 and it’s a the end of the road. Not far.”, the doorman said. Although I will elaborate on the UAE definition of “Not far” in a later post, I found myself at the entrance of the Spinneys supermarket some 45 minutes later, after a very interesting walk.

The friendly ladies in Dubai

There weren’t many people out and about in the streets as I strolled down the road. As I mentioned before, Dubai is a very automobile friendly place and most people would rather drive 50 feet to their mailbox than drive. And, being in a concentrated densely populated Mecca of residential housing units, the taxi drivers were circling me like Africanized bees, sounding their horns trying to get my attention for a cab lift. “No thanks, I’ll walk” must translate from English to Arabic into something along the lines of “The zebra bit my cat” based on the looks they gave me.

There was also a scattering of people, mainly women, standing on the sidewalks trying to flag down these taxis while also talking on their cell phones. They smiled at me as I walked by and some even greeted me. What a friendly place.

One hour later, ladened down with four reinforced shopping bags of food weighing enough to cut the tendons in my fingers with their ergonomically designed twine handles, I decided that a taxi ride back to my temporary home would be a good idea. However, seeing how everyone else in the store arrived by car, I found that  the parking lot of the supermarket is not high on taxi drivers’ lead generating locations. There were no taxis on site as they were all busy buzzing around the residential complex, about a half mile away. By the time I walked back to the perimeter of the complex, having stopped several times to put down my bags and let the blood flow back into my fingers, I noticed that the same friendly ladies were still waiting on the sidewalk. This time they were extremely friendly, asking what was in my bags and apparently wanting more of my time than I had to give. Why they couldn’t get a taxi during the preceding hour was beyond me as I desperately rushed back to the room, playing “Beat the Clock” with the widening, ever weakening wet spots at the bottom of my grocery bags caused by the now thawed frozen pizzas and frozen orange juice containers. If I ever see them again when walking to the grocery store, I might stop and try to make some new friends, and show then how to hail a taxi.

My living quarters for the next 4 weeks.

Well here I am again in Dubai, this time to lay low and study, finally removed from the threat of the ever unpredictable volcano in Iceland. My studio apartment/hotel is quite adequate for my needs this month. It’s basically a hotel room with a kitchenette and refrigerator. There is a small washing machine, a two burner stove top and a microwave. A basic kitchen pack includes the bare minimum in utensils and plates for two people which means I only have to wash dishes every other meal and by hand on top of that.

The quality of the facility is good, not great; I’d say between a room at the Ibis and a room at the Holiday Inn. The shower tile is chipped and stained, the shower head is too low (what’s new?) and I can’t get the thermostat to turn off and it’s stuck at 65 degrees, which means there is a 24 hour a day stream of cold air blowing on me at all times. It’s actually too cold in the room. I turned the adjustable vents toward the ceiling but may have to resort to adjusting the temperature like they do in the apartment blocks in Moscow, Russia. There the apartment blocks have one central heating unit for the entire building and your heat is either on or off. Friends of mine lived there several years ago and I witnessed this personally when B and I visited them. They adjust the temperature by opening the window to let the cool air in. Here, I might have to open the window to let the heat in to compensate for the cold room. We’ll see what the front desk says when I call them.

View out my window.

As is true for most things in the UAE, and for MacDonalds cheeseburgers, what is portrayed in the advertisement is much nicer than the actual item. What you see is not what you get here. The workout gymnasium that is part of the complex has two treadmills and a combo weight machine with 4 stations. OK if there are only two or three people using the facility but this complex is about 500 rooms large.

Actually I should be happy with the facility as there are no luxuries to distract me from my real purpose for being here which is to finish studying for the big exam. There’s nothing on TV as its all Arabic stuff and CNN. I either watch something I don’t understand or listen to something that tries to destroy my ability to think for myself. The complex is not located near anything exciting. Let me rephrase that. The complex is not near anything. The grocery store is a half kilometer walk through a complex of parking lots and sandlots. There is an on site restaurant open 24 hours a day serving decent but expensive food – Denny’s quality if you were wondering. Arriving late last night I had dinner at 2:30 in the morning, the only customer in the place. It’s sort of the feel of being in a college dormitory but with maid service. I could hole up here like the characters at the end of the movie Paper Chase and never leave the building, forcing myself to study until my brain swells to the size of a creature from the Outer Limits.

My chattering teeth tell me it’s time to open a window. More later.

The Gold Vending Machine

More bling and glitz from my future place of residence. Here’s something you don’t see every day. A vending machine that dispenses gold bars and coins. The Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi is the first place in the world, outside of Germany, where the concept and invention comes from, to install the “Gold to Go” box.

Imagine grabbing a candy bar, a Coke and a bar of gold from an array of vending machines in your hotel lobby as you rush out the entrance.  I can’t see starting any day without my daily fix of gold. The machine was so popular with locals the first day of operation that it was emptied in a few hours and went “out of order” until the next day when it was restocked with new gold.

You can get 1, 5 or 10 gram bars or actual gold coins. If you are wondering, with the current all time high price of gold, a one gram bar will set you back about $145 and its size is about two chicklets gum pieces, but as thin as a matchbook cover. In other words, small enough to lose easily.  I plan on going there and taking a picture of myself in fromt of it. Iwonder how the UAE will top this one?

Nature burps as I decide to go.

No, I’m not talking about my body’s physiological response to my last McDonald’s meal. The “burp” I’m talking about is what that pesky volcano in Iceland is starting to do once again. You know, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which was named by the official volcano naming geologist’s cat when she walked across his keyboard.

I was starting to wonder if there was a chance that I would not be able to fly to Dubai for the critical exam I’m taking on June 5^th. Although 3 weeks away, I can not afford to let Mother Nature’s indigestion delay me of employment another 4 months. Coincidentally, my future employer called me and thought it would be a good idea if I could come early, just to make sure I’m there for the exam. I guess they really want me there as they said they would take care of my accommodations over there so the “go” I’m talking about is what I’m going to do in 2 days. There is a bit of a concern as my two leg journey takes me through London, England, where the potential kink in the hose might occur.

The paralysis of international flight witnessed a few weeks ago because of the first eruption was completely unnecessary, an overreaction, an inability for anyone in charge to take responsibility and a financial disaster. A good friend of mine, whose father is a retired international airline pilot told me that back in 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted in the northwestern corner of the USA, airline travel was hardly affected. Only when one airliner flew directly into the ash cloud did the pilot experience a temporary loss of power, and that only happened once, not that that was insignificant. The point is no flight was affected that chose not to fly directly into the ash cloud.

Regardless of the political correctness of the past and future decisions concerning air travel due to this unpronounceable climatic event, I can not afford to sit around and see what happens. I’m off to England Thursday during this little window of opportunity and, once there, then changing my ticket for the Dubai leg for the very next flight. If I get stuck in England at all, I have decided I’m going to have to take the train as far east as possible, perhaps Instanbul, and then fly to Dubai from there.

I have almost 2,500 flash cards inputed into the Anki program I mentioned a few blog posts ago, so all I need are my books and the mini laptop and I could study my way across Europe while sitting on the train. That sound like a once in a lifetime experience. I’ll keep you posted.

This postcard quality photo was taken out our car window 10 minutes north of our house on a Sunday drive.

The weather here in Portugal has been just magnificent. I’m sure that mentioning in my last post how we are ready to move away has everything to do with the sudden beautiful weather. It’s like the country is begging us to stay and knows we’re going to live in a gilded desert. I keep checking the temperature in Abu Dhabi during the day which is starting to top out at about 41 degrees (105 Fahrenheit for you in the states) and it’s just the beginning of May. Every year I forget how green and lush Portugal is in the spring. And this year is especially spectacular. We just finished the wettest winter since records were started – somewhere in the 1880′s.

I purposely did not plant my vegetable garden this year on the brash assumption that I would pass that exam in February and be out of here by now, unable to reap the fruits of my labor. However, the artichokes I planted last year came back to life and the plants are now 6 feet tall and spewing out artichokes like a clown car. The asparagus plants also came back and are finally producing spears thick enough to eat. Again, nature is reminding me what a great place this is and taunting me to stay.

This wildflower caught our eye on our nature hike last weekend.

We will be coming back eventually. We’re keeping out house here. Good friends will be staying in it and maintaining the property while we will be moving from air conditioned apartment to air conditioned car to air conditioned office. I just downloaded an article informing me how to grow 60 kinds of vegetables in indoor containers. Hmmmm.