The one who was looking for Dubai's "heritage" (2)

After a first attempt to discover Dubai's local culture or heritage, I tried to have a look at the local art galleries. They are located in a quite remote area, far from urban surroundings, in the backyard of big car dealers. The picture above is a view of the street where are concentrated three among the hippest galleries in town. The place did remind my a certain movie... Even the noises in that place are quite similar ;-)))








Those galleries are displaying artworks of different kinds (paintings, sculptures, installations, videos) created by local artists. One could wish a greater variety, or simply a larger size, but, at least, it's an attempt in creating in Dubai something less... finance-driven (?!).

You can pay those galleries a visit :
The Courtyard : http://www.courtyard-uae.com/
B21 Gallery : www.b21gallery.com/
The Third Line : www.thethirdline.com/

To be continued...

The one who experienced contrasts

A striking point about Dubai is that it's a land of contrasts.






The grass of polo fields or golf courses against the sand of the desert.
The heat of the ambient air against the extreme cold continuously produced by air conditioners.
The wealth of expats against the poverty of other workers.
The rapid growth of urbanism against the normal path of time...

Let's bring a bit of poetry in that blog... (sigh)

"Fourmillante cité, cité pleine de rêves,
Où le spectre en plein jour raccroche le passant!
Les mystères partout coulent comme des sèves
Dans les canaux étroits du colosse puissant.

Un matin, cependant que dans la triste rue
Les maisons, dont la brume allongeait la hauteur,
Simulaient les deux quais d'une rivière accrue,
Et que, décor semblable à l'âme de l'acteur,

Un brouillard sale et jaune inondait tout l'espace,
Je suivais [...]
Le faubourg secoué par les lourds tombereaux."

Charles Baudelaire, les Sept Vieillards

The one who couldn't remember where he was

Pictures from Ibn Battuta Shopping mall. Strange...

The one who was looking for Dubai's "heritage"

Since the new Sofitel "The Palace" (= my company) is supposed to represent the whole "heritage" side of Dubai, I decided to have a look at that so-called "heritage" a few days after my arrival. As soon as I got a day free, I jumped into a taxi, heading to a famous place in Dubai called "Madinat Jumeirah", featuring a "traditional souk".

For those who have an experince of souks in Morocco or in Tunisia, that place is extremely funny. Of course, you'll find a lot of different shops, from different types and sizes, selling various types of products... which is pretty close to the basic concept of a souk. But this is much more an air-conditionned, covered, safe souk, cleaned 6 times a day, and having a help desk for the customers who couldn't find their way. A kind of "Four Seasons" souk, if you wish...

Is that it, in term of "heritage" ? To be continued...

The one who's been upgrated

After one week at the hotel Ibis from Dubai (which is not that bad, compared to the european standards), I've been asked to move to one of those "corporate residences" you can find everywhere in Dubai.

Actually, you can find all kind of such residences in Dubai ; they are so numerous that they almost represent a kind a threat for hotels. For the lucky guys, those residences are facing the sea or are located in exclusive towers. For others, they are closer to the desert area... Mine is called "The Greens", because of the wild forest planted in the area, as you can see on the picture...

However, behind that bauhaus-style architecture is hidden a quite high level of comfort... which is pretty nice for a simple intern. I don't want to imagine where my GM lives.

You can see further pictures of that place by clicking here. I highly recommend that the people who take internships in difficult conditions DO NOT click on the link.

The one whose hotel wasn't quite finished

As most of you know, I'm taking an internship in a hotel (the Sofitel "The Palace - The Old Town in Dubai) which is going under its pre-opening phase. But the funny point is that the hotel itself is just... not finished.

The opening is planned for mid-august... and now hundredths of workers are working on it day and night...
But the architect still believes it will be mostly finished in two months from now, and many people say that, in Dubai, you never know... things can change quite rapidly. On the picture above, you can see the entrance gate of the hotel... which still requires further finishing.

By the way, you can see in the back of the picture the Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world (which will face the hotel, on the other side of the lake). That tower is also under construction (surprise !), but they finished yesterday the 120th floor (so the tower is now a bit less than 3/4 of its final size).

The one who discovered the "big" city

Let me warn you quickly : in Dubai, everything is big (if not huge).

You'll find big buildings, enormous skyscrapers, gigantic shopping malls, titanesque and numerous property projects... And as soon as you arrive in the city, you understand why people say that 80% of the cranes in the world are in Dubai. Even doughnuts at Starbucks are larger (though cheaper) than in the US !
[You can see on the picture above a view of the construction of Dubai mall - the biggest shopping mall in the world (to be open in 2008).]

But in Dubai, you also have to face big problems : traffic is a major issue for instance, since you can be stuck in traffic jams at any place, any time, any day of the week. Heat is also a big issue, and pollution as well (because everybody is using cars, super-powerful air-conditioners, and, sometimes, both together).

Communication is a kind of big concern as well, since eveything is controlled by a single (state-owned) company. So, if you want to get the internet, you need to have a (local) cell phone, with a (local) phone number, to be able to access the (local) proxy server through (local) wi-fi connection. And to encourage people to use (local) phones, the access to Skype is sometimes... simply cut. Therefore, for those who are complaining about the internet access in Cergy-Pontoise's Essec residence, keep in mind it could be worse ;-) !