umm sequim II

This week Liz and I went with our American roommate Nick to a rugby game. He's on the 'b' team - the Dubai Hurricanes, and out for a few weeks due to an injury. We supported the 'canes for their match against a Sharjah team I believe. They won with by one goal I think. Here's a view of the city from the field. For those of you confused by the tall building on the right, it is practically as far away as the others. It's just that tall. It's the burj dubai (Dubai Tower), and it's still being built, but is currently the tallest building on the planet.


A woman's rugby match was going on after the Hurricane's game, so we watched for a bit, and saw a total dready chick playing for the Dubai team. Who woulda thought?!


We were going to stay for a pint, and head back for a dinner liz had laid out, but ended up out till about 1:30 with some rugby dooods. Here's nick and I cooling down in the rugby pub.


This weekend, Liz's colleague had a birthday, and we went to the Al Manzil hotel near the Burj Dubai. We ate at a rugby bar called Nezesaussie, and got a free ride all night. I guess the birthday girl's boyfriend was the designer of the joint. yay for us starting to know the right people in this city. Here's a pic of Liz with her non-birthday friend Claire-bear, and me with the same bear.




Yesterday morning we went out the Palm island to go to the beach. It's not a public beach, but our roommate Nick has a few friends that live out there. They are still heavily inside of a construction zone, but the beach is still nice enough to be busy. This picture has a view of the area next to Media City... I actually have no idea what it's called. Anyway, the villa closest to us is one of Sheikh Maktoum's villas.


Today I spent some time in my own hood for a full Umm Sequim II villa hunt session. Here's what turned up:

l) This first Villa is on Wasl road near our home. It looks inconspicuous during the day, but at night it is truly attention seeking. The gold eagle is a bit much for a home.



m) This one reminded me of the little orange circus candy you get in the states. Or a nice sherbet.


n) This one might have a few years on it. I'd call it a 70's orange, but they just didn't live in villas 30 years ago. They were in tents then.


o) Rumor has it, that this one was developed by the skateboarder Tony Hawk. The inside has a few ramps in it even.... please don't believe a word I say.


p) This must have been made for a rich daughter. Maybe the emirate version of that 16th birthday show they have on MTV in the states. Anyone seen that shite?


q) I wonder what the view is from like inside this guy! It seems like it should be an office building.


r) And this weeks best for last. Holy Purple Passion batman! This willa is in an incredible spot next to a popular grocery store. Countless people get to laugh at it weekly.

umm al-quwain

Liz, Emanuelle(roomate), and I went on a villa hunt this weekend in Umm al-Quwain. We were out there to see if a popular liquor store was open on Friday. Unfortunately, it wasn't as they apparently close shop during Ramadan. We got lucky in some of little villages, as they had some hideous villas. Of course we had our trusty camera:

f)This first villa gave us an immediate baby-poop feeling. I haven't changed a 'nappy' in years, but surely my mate Umar would verify that its the same same. A couple notables are the revolting windows up top, the pathetic fake white windows painted on the walls, and the unharmonious benches.



g) For this weeks favorite of mine, meet R2-D2. After 'Having a Laugh' at the windows and shape of the building, take a closer look at the renaissance gate and decor on the walls. This is actually ugly enough to be proud of. The stripes and the protruding windows are another sight to behold.




h) Salmon? Pueblo? No idea.


i)Not quite sure what a star of david is doing in arabville, but that's definitely the impression you get when glancing at this abhorrent piece of villa. The white designs leave a lingering confusion after looking at them. I hope someone can explain this to me.


j)The German word for blue is used for "drunk" eg. "Ich bin blau" - "I'm drunk". In honor of Oktoberfest starting just hours ago, I'm including this villa.


k) This villa is not quite eligible yet, as it is still under construction, but being around 95% done, we still snapped some fotos. Are the windows actually green too?


And in non-villa news, all of the local marketing companies are banking on Ramadan again this year. Hopefully more examples will follow, but here's an example of what we have to endure daily.

For those of you not hip to the date scene, here's an explanation.

ramadan kareem

So it's Ramadan now, and things have changed slightly, but we're still able to have fun... here's a few fotos we've snapped recently.

Huge on his 32nd b-day... pretty old feller!


Contrary to what you may believe, he doesn't have his tongue pierced, although it appears that one would suit him well.


Turns out that at some point in the evening I lost the ability to frame peoples faces appropriately into the camera scope.


I held this pose long enough to make my face freeze in this position... only yesterday was I able to close my mouth completely.


The following fotos are from a recent hunt I went on. I've decided that a potential new hobby is to search high and low for the ugliest villa's that our beautiful city has to offer. I hope to gather some votes and have a top-eight list eventually.

a) Villa 'a' here is a personal favorite as this is the villa directly across the street from my willa. I find that the windows are not symmetrical, the colors are horrendous and that the dual-substance-diamond sends this villa to the top of the list. Also included with this villa (but not included in foto ) is a big hole in the ground where they haven't gotten around to putting a pool in yet. Roomates refer to this place as the birthday cake villa. I have to stare at this unoccupied P-O-S daily.


b) This craptastic pile of villa is also across the street from us, and thankfully just out of view from my room's window. Although I do get the pleasure of looking at it everytime i jump in my Honda Civic rental. Neither the colors or the designs make any sense, and the boxes on the fence have been there the whole 45 days I've lived here. Like villa 'a' above, 'b' here is apparently ugly enough to deem the facility un-rentable.


c) Although not in our 'hood, I could spot 'c' from about 2 miles away. Not worth additional words, I just wish a better angle was available for this shot.


d) Our first candidate that is actually kick-ass other than the color. Not a potential top-ten willa, but still worth the initial list due to the color-alone.


e)Only in the list as the 'H' is ridiculous.

an npr situation

I've been able to listen to American NPR on a regular basis overseas as the organization regularly updates iTunes with podcasts of some of their programs... I know... lucky me right?!

Well, the Sept. 4th addition to the Fresh Air program features concurrent interviews regarding the book 'The Israel Lobby & US Foreign Policy'. The first interview is with Stephen Walt, a Harvard Internal Affairs professor and author of said book, and then a follow up interview with Abraham Foxman the leader of the Anti-Defamation League.

In a perfect world we would have a good debate between the two of these men on air, but the interviews are a breath a fresh air to me. This conversation alongside many others are often overheard and debated in pubs and around water-coolers all over in Dubai. It's good to see some attention to this matter state-side, and I encourage everyone reading this to download this from iTunes or from the NPR site if you get a chance.