grapeshisha

Women in Dubai

2009-11-04T00:10:00.002+04:00

There is always the question of the unknown - what are women like in Dubai. Here are two views of women in Dubai. On the one side there is the fashionista showing off here Manolo's - and on the other is a mother of 4, balancing her career. Are these atypical views. Probably not, but if you are looking to compare lifestyles of females in Dubai versus your home town, this probably sets aside some

The Empty Quarter, Dubai

2009-11-03T13:36:00.002+04:00

On talk of the empty quarter, one immediately thinks of the vast sand dunes, next to the emptiness of further sand dunes. The empty quarter is in reference to areas of the world where it would be pretty damn hard to exist for more than a couple of days. Yes, the middle of the desert is one of those places. But, the empty quarter is also the name of the only gallery in Dubai devoted exclusively to

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Hello World!

2009-10-30T15:19:00.005+04:00

Yasalam! It’s the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. And it's been a long time coming. And I aint talking about the grand prix. I'm talking about Abu Dhabi's grand entrance to the world stage. This is the biggest event to hit Abu Dhabi and the world is watching. It's not about oil, it's not about Manchester City - it's about Abu Dhabi cementing its place on the map. Hello World, yani.Abu Dhabi is definitely

Death Star Dubai, the technosphere

2009-10-30T04:11:00.003+04:00

Funnily enough, whilst this looks like the seat of Darth Vader, this building brings eco sustainability and the works with it - as Dubai looks to the reality of what the future requires of its buildings. Whilst not completely novel, and looking a little like the previous depictions of what could fit within Dubai as a death star type futuristic building, this is the feature building of Technopark

The Frame Hotel Dubai

2009-10-30T04:01:00.002+04:00

Apparently Tarzan will be swinging from this one:An urban and vertical garden has been the response to the massive hotel building, as an inverse piece, a friendly opposite that complements and allows the dark prism of the hotel to breathe. The force of the metaphorically plant-like structure cut-out from the constructive frame it supports is what provides meaning for the vertical garden. To walk

Art and Creativity in Abu Dhabi and Arabia

2009-10-30T03:54:00.002+04:00

Abu Dhabi is keeping it real - and who is central to this - twofour54.

Middle East Banks and Brand Value

2009-10-24T15:41:00.004+04:00

It's always useful to look in context rather than remain in your own bubble. These global banks paint the picture, in this interesting infographic:The Middle East Banks figure in a small way, and you can see them in a bit more detail:The only bank to figure in a big(ish) way is National Bank of Abu Dhabi. There is more analysis of these brand value figures at Brand Finance who conducted the

Gitex in Dubai

2009-10-21T16:22:00.002+04:00

Gitex is the largest tech exhibition in the Middle East. And as far back as I can remember, it takes over Dubai, the hotels, the traffic - and I'm never quite sure that it delivers. Consumers think it's for them. Trade thinks it's for them. And it becomes a mish mash. But this year was very important. If you missed Gitex - this is what you didn't experience:GitexHat tip to englishmanindubai

Dead Camel

2009-10-21T02:46:00.003+04:00

In a new life, if I'm bad, I may come back as a Camel Beauty Assessment Valuer. How do I know that such a job exists? Because Saudi Aramco were sued for SR1M (that's £160,000) when the beautiful camel fell into a hole in the desert.Oil company sued for £160,000 over dead beauty pageant camel

The Damage to Damas

2009-10-12T23:36:00.004+04:00

Buying gold is almost a past time in Dubai. Dubai is sometimes even known as the city of gold, which, if you were to visit the gold souk, you would know why. There are many small gold companies dotted around Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but there is only one high end premium brand - Damas. And today, Damas was hit hard. Was it due to the downturn? No. It was due to one of the founders pulling money out

Toothpick City of Dubai and the World

2009-10-10T13:41:00.002+04:00

Imagine a world made out of toothpicks. A world that could collapse at any minute. Well, Stan Munro is creating a toothpick city of the world with all the famous building and is planning to finish and complete the city in December just as the REAL Burj Dubai catches up to Stan's 5 meter (16 foot) re-creation of the tower. This is the second exhibition from the artist/creator. Toothpick City 1 was

Many Muslims

2009-10-09T00:12:00.004+04:00

Pew have just released a report: Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population. It's an interesting study from a pure numbers perspective. From its numbers nearly a quarter of the world are now Muslim. And, as you can see from the diagram, Indonesia is the most Muslim country from a scale perspective at 202 million, but that only

The Road to Masdar..

2009-10-08T02:49:00.005+04:00

..should be paved with solar panels. Who knows whether Masdar will become the greenest futurehub of the world? With the amount being pumped into this quasi real life experiment, you'd bet that Masdar will be successful. And with all the solar panels in place on every Masdar building plan, I think there may be room for a few more.According to AskMen: Solar roads is a concept developed by an

Largest Candy Store in the World in Dubai

2009-10-02T14:12:00.005+04:00

You know candylicious? Well they're making dubai the sweet capital of the world with the largest sweetshop in the world. Candy Time! Based in the Dubai Mall, and 10,000 sq ft of sugar coated sweet stuff counds like a combination of heaven and hell and hyperness all in one go. Think Charlie and the Choclate factory for real, without the weird Willy Wonka!Prices range from lollipops costing Dh1 to

Dubai Building Checklist

2009-10-02T13:41:00.004+04:00

How the world perceives Dubai's buildings:From CRACKED.com

The Most Spectacular City Skyline (N)ever Built

2009-10-02T03:09:00.001+04:00

Nice representation of the Burj Al Arab amongst some of the old timers.From Pelfusion

Welcome to Abu Dhabi

2009-09-30T21:39:00.003+04:00

....where things are rarely as they seem. Another forget Dubai - check out what's going on in Abu Dhabi article, and these are the key things to look out for: big mosque, shangri-la from where you can see the mosque, going to be a grand prix, daynight yada yada, Emirates Palace, big big... OTT, regurgitate copy from other newspapers, blah blah yada yada.Here's a taster:George Mallory climbed

The Dark Side of Dubai (the cake)

2009-09-28T17:59:00.003+04:00

The Darth Vader Cake available from House of Cakes (Dubai) - with Caramel Creme filling if required.

Michael Jackson Island Dubai

2009-09-27T20:05:00.007+04:00

The concept of a Michael Jackson Island in Dubai resides in the imagination of 3 individuals. But imagination they do have:In the first of the entries entitles "The Jackson islands", the islands are made up around the lines of Michael Jackson's face, with artificial hills, and renaming The World islands as We are the World Islands. Nice.The second entry build upon having Michael Jackson as an

Blue Crystal Floating Iceberg in Dubai

2009-09-24T15:00:00.003+04:00

It sounds proposterous, but inhabitat is reporting about a new project for Dubai - a sustainable blue crystal floating iceberg lodge. It is not clear whether this is a hotel but Blue Crystal will have luxurious restaurants, an underwater lounge and a ballroom on 5 levels. It's being billed as sustainable architecture - but with the amount of solar power needed to keep this thing alive, I'm not

Burj Dubai in New York

2009-09-24T14:36:00.003+04:00

This is what the Burj Dubai would look like if it was placed in Manhattan, New York:From Kottke.org

Fake DVDs in Dubai

2009-09-23T12:40:00.003+04:00

Everyone's done it - or at least considered it - wherever you are in the world. And Dubai has cracked down in recent years with whole operations shut down. But the life of a fake DVD seller is difficult one, and echos the hardship felt by many other migrant workers in Dubai and the UAE. But this is a mafiose type business. Why? Because the margins associated with the fake, illegal DVDS are so

Dubai Metro Commercial (Video)

2009-09-22T21:30:00.004+04:00

Everyone loves dominos. And I'm not talking about thick base with extra jalapenos. I'm talking about the game you played as a child. Dominos remind you of the good times, the life of carefree and bring you warm feelings of happiness. Trying to create the ultimate and longest domino toppling attempt in the Guiness world of records were aspirational thoughts and trying to catch the latest attempt

Cleaning the Burj Dubai (video)

2009-09-22T13:54:00.004+04:00

This could probably be one of the worst jobs in the world, and probably ranks up there with crime scene investigator, exorcist, embalmer and bomb expert. And if you are acrophobic, or if you are scared of heights, abseiling with a water hose down the Burj Dubai can't be the best job in the world. Enjoy the video!And then, when you get to the bottom, the chief window cleaner points out - "you

Why Al Ain?

2009-09-18T23:17:00.004+04:00

Why not? Al Ain is one of those places that you sometimes think of as a sleepy city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. But for Shirin Karsan, it means something a little bit different.Karsan, will conduct research on Muslim perspectives on the ethics of emerging sciences and bionanotechnologies in the United Arab Emirates. She will work with a team from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at