DXB Brinkworth

There have been many murmerings and insinuations previously, but in the last week it was confirmed at the highest level Dubai has an interest in staging the Olympic Games. Both HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and his wife Princess Haya discussed the point at this year’s SportAccord.

I assume the bid if for the Summer games. While Ski Dubai is the world’s largest indoor snow park and field, it probably still isn’t enough to consider the Winter games.

At this point in time consultants are just going to evaluate the readiness of DXB to host the event, then determine how much work would be required to proceed.

One obvious issue is that during the Olympic month of September the temperature doesn’t get much below 30 degrees celsius.

I saw first hand at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the amount of infrastructure, development and planning that was required to get the nod. My initial thought around the UAE is that we’re not yet ready. However Sheikh Mohammed is always confident on the city’s ability to rise to the occasion:

“if we decide to make a bid for the Olympics, we will be in it to win”

. There are many examples where UAE has proven itself to be able to carry out the near impossible. Most recently the 808m Burj Khalifa should make people wonder.

One thing’s for sure. If Dubai takes the bid on, I’ll be behind it. And another thing is for certain, if Dubai gets the nod, I’ll need to stay here longer than the 5 years I initially proposed. For anyone that’s been to Dubai it will no doubt be a very interesting story to follow.

Who knows, we could be in with a real chance. It seems Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s tiny island state of Tasmania are considering their chances after a radio prank was a little too successful.

http://www.business24-7.ae/sports/other/dubai-evaluates-olympics-bid-2010-04-26-1.236829

Ryan Newsworthy, Ponderings HH Sheikh Mohammed, Olympics, Tasmania

The other day, in the face of a total lack of logic I found myself not willing to argue, disagree, or even comment. Instead I just accepted it as a standard Dubai thing I have grown accustomed to. It got me thinking of all the things in Dubai that we’ve found to be very different to what we grew to expect in Australia, but have grown used to. This isn’t meant to be a rant and rave about how things back home are better. It’s not the issue.

I just think it’s interesting how some things we get used to quite quickly and easily. Others I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.

The following is no where near exhaustive, but it’s a list of some of the key differences I can recall that we’ve encountered, and just how long it’s taken us to accept or get used to them.

Ryan Ponderings differences, expats, extravagance

Last night a banner ad on Facebook caught my attention. It was for a group called, “I am sick of people bashing Dubai” (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=79706383856&ref=mf).  Perhaps the title is a bit strong, but I did sign up.

The last couple of weeks I’ve received at least four different articles about Dubai and how terrible the place is.

One of the more scathing and regular is from the Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html entitled The Dark Side of Dubai.

But all the stories follow a basic theme.  As a permanent resident of Dubai it’s made interesting reading, mainly to identify all the inaccuracies. While some of the concerns are correct, some of the conclusions are questionable at best.

My eyes have certainly opened to the level of bias in various forms of media.  I’ve never been ignorant of it, but just how much the mainstream press sells its news is quite a shock.

I’m glad people have sent the stories on though.  Ever since friends and family have learned that we were planning to  here, we’ve been getting a steady stream of emails of all things Dubai.  Some promote the wonder of Dubai and all the extreme developments, but more and more it’s been the stories of Dubai sinking amidst the financial crisis and suffering from being too ambitious.

All I really know is things aren’t as bad as they seem. I can’t remember if it was Frank Sinatra or Carrie Bradshaw who once said that New York is so big that no matter what you’ve heard about it, it’s probably true. Well, I would suggest no matter how many articles get written about Dubai it’ll never be like New York.

Ryan Ponderings media

Well, our first month in Dubai has certain gone quickly, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was freezing my bum off in Tassie with Cath. Not any more however, it’s getting hotter and hotter here. Each day Myles, Lewis and I go for a walk in the mornings around Deira. We were going around 11am then coming back home for lunch, but we have had to start going at about 9am as by 11 it’s way too hot for poor Lewis in the pram, and for Myles and I as well! We have discovered some interesting things on our walks so far, namely some very beautiful Mosques which Myles finds fascinating. I have also discovered a chocolate shop which makes handmade chocolates which very nearly compare with Anvers. I don’t think they will replace Anvers as my favourites, but it’s certainly been a good find regardless.

I have been trying to find a school for Myles for the past few weeks, but with little success until this week. We have finally reached the stage of actually going into one school for an appointment, whereas previously I had only been able to get onto endless waiting lists, some of which they actually wanted you to pay for (that’s right, you pay to go a list, when you might not ever actually get a place!) The schools here are quite different from Australia, most are private schools and all seem to have endless waiting lists. There have been a lot of expats leaving Dubai lately though, so it looks like some places might finally start opening up. The school year starts in September here as well, but I’d love to get Myles into a school as soon as possible as he is starting to get bored staying at home with me and Lewis all day. It’s quite difficult where we are living at the moment as there are no parks within walking distance and it’s too hot to go out by mid morning, meaning we have to stay inside all day. This is certainly not what Myles is used to, but he has been finding lots of ways to keep himself busy. He has started learning how to write, and is progressing well through the alphabet.

Last week I got my Dubai drivers licence, and since we now have a car this week the boys and I have been on a few outings. We went to Creek Park again on Monday morning. We were the only people in the park when we got there at 10am! People here tend to go out later in the day and in the evening, which is quite different from what we’re used to in Australia. The one advantage though was that Myles had the whole park pretty much to himself, which of course he took full advantage of - running around yelling his head off and generally having a blast. We also made yet another trip to the local shopping mall to do the grocery shopping. That has been quite an experience so far, as every time we have been there it has been absolutely packed with people and quite difficult to find anything that we’re looking for. We usually just grab the essentials then escape as quickly as possible. We went early this time though, and again found the place to be almost deserted. It was good to actually be able to have a look on the shelves and see what’s available. We have found a few familiar brands so far (Milo, Kellogs, Nestle) but have also had some difficulties finding some products. Most of the labels on things are written in Arabic, so it’s hard to know exactly what you’re buying sometimes. I suppose it’s been good in a way though, as we have certainly tried some different foods from what we would normally eat in Australia. The shops where we go have a good selection of Australia meat though which is good. They do have Australian vegies as well, but they are nowhere near as good as what we get back home. That’s one thing that I am definitely missing!

Dubai is also very family-friendly. The locals here absolutely love children. It’s hard to walk around the shops at times because they always want to stop us and look at the kids. The children here also like to just walk up the Myles and Lewis and touch them on the face, which Myles thinks is fantastic. Lewis is probably not so sure yet, as he has copped a few fingers in the eye from over-enthusiastic kiddies! I haven’t had any issues here so far being a female yet either. At some of the shops, I have found that the Arab men will act as though you are not there and push in front of me in the queue, but I haven’t had any other dramas. I have found the streets here are very safe to walk alone for a female. I sometimes walk to the corner store after dark and feel completely safe, something which I would not normally do at home. I’m not sure why I have the feeling of being so safe here. There are a lot of police, but it’s just a feeling that you get walking around. People here, especially the locals, are generally very friendly and very helpful to foreigners.

We have a Nepalese security guard in our building named Manoj. He is a lovely guy who does the day shift for our building (12 hour shifts, from 6:30am - 6:30pm). He has become quite fond of Myles and Lewis,  I think especially because he hasn’t seen his own family in Nepal for well over a year. There are a lot of workers in Dubai who do the blue collar jobs like security and construction who have come from countries such as Nepal, India and Pakistan. These workers get paid what we consider to be very low wages (around 500 AED or $180AUS a month) It is however a huge increase on what they could earn in their home country, so lots of them come to work here, and then send all their money back home to their families. They work very long hours though, and generally don’t get any days off at all (maybe one a month).

When I first arrived here, I discovered that Ryan had been employing our building’s cleaner Sathi to clean our aparment (floors and bathrooms). When I found out how little these workers were paid each month, I was quite hapy to let him keep cleaning our apartment once a week. We pay him extra (around 50AED) which is a huge help to him. It has been quite hard for me to not feel guilty about going out and spending money, or going to nice places and then coming back to the building where Sathi and Manoj have been working all day. Despite this, they always greet us with huge smiles, and offer to help me upstairs with the kids and shopping. It has certainly made me appreciate how very lucky we are and also what a wonderful country Australia is.

All in all I am thoroughly enjoying Dubai and all the new experiences we have had so far. I’m looking forward to lots mre exciting adventures over the next month or so.  Will keep you posted.

Elle Ponderings

Last night I went to the electrical shop just down the road to see if I could get a certain connection.  I failed, but the trip was certainly worth it.  The centre I went to was the more expensive one which has  a lot of fancy clothes shops especially, but I had heard previously there was a Spinney’s there also - a supermarket which is popular, although overpriced compared its competitors.  I had never seen the supermarket in my travels, but on this particular trip I saw one of their shopping trolley so I figure I’d walk a bit further to see if I could find it.  As soon as I got to the end of the street, and looked around the corner there it was in huge green fluoro lights.  I can’t believe I was so close, yet not ever seeing it before.  I had very nearly walked there quite a few times previously.

The good thing about Spinney’s and a few other supermarkets is that they have a noticeboard, which is handy as I’m currently looking to buy a car.

There were also plenty of other shops that would have been useful a while ago if I had known it was all there.  There was a kids entertainment place which we may utilise one of these days.

When I returned home I was a bit chuffed at my discovery, but that was nothing.  Our night time doorman had a bit of a grin on his face, and as I approached I noticed he was fidgeting through a stack of envelopes. With a big beaming smile he said this is for you Ryan.  It was an invitation to his wedding in India.  I think it was a bit tongue in cheek, but he proceeded to tell me about all the details, and how good India is to go to for quite a period of time I think he would like us to attend.  Unfortunately it’s too short notice, and probably not the ideal time to visit.  He also told me that he doesn’t give them to anyone, just his friends which was a nice touch. The pile of envelopes was quite high, so I figure he’s friends with just about everyone in our apartment.

This hasn’t been our first invitation to India, or Sri Lanka. Quite a few of the guys I work with have been very welcoming, and have offered to show me around their respective countries, and that they would love to show me around.  I’ll definitely take them up on the offer one day. One guy also made a deal with me to show me around if I take him to a cricket test match in Australia one day - which I obviously agreed to.

Thought I’d also mention, tonight it has been raining quite a lot. It’s rained so much that the road has flooded (probably 10 cm of “flooding”).  It’s been interesting to see the drivers reacting to water on the road, like it’s a deadly creek crossing. Actually the flooded road doesn’t necessarily indicate lots of rain as generally there hasn’t been much thinking or design for the effects of rain, as it’s not traditionally an issue.  With the effects of climate change, perhaps they should begin thinking. I mean, a couple of days before I arrived here it actually snowed in Ras Al Khaimer - a neighbouring Emirate.

Ryan Adventures, Ponderings generosity, India, rain, shops, Sri Lanka, weather

For most of today I walked around work with red paint on my face. This was to mark the 12th day of Spring - a Hindi tradition called Holi (or Festival of Colours). As Spring brings out the most beautiful colours, Holi is about launching these colours in the form of natural paints, and some times coloured dyes. I felt a little odd, but my little dab of red was nothing compared to others. I saw a couple of guys in the office with white business shirts covered in so much red they looked like they’ve escaped some form of massacre. A nearby colleague arrived after the vandalism had occurred, but the ladies were able to get enough paint from my cheek to do him also. I was disappointed they didn’t go with my suggestion to apply it to his shirt’s collar in the shape of a women’s lips. Shortly after I was done I asked if I could wash it off, but I was warned not to as it would just mean I’d get done even more a second time.

It’s been good to experience a week with my family. It’s been really interesting to hear the things that they find amusing which I have become a bit blase about. An example is the constant use of car horns in traffic. My wife has found this a constant source of humour. In fact she has mentioned I don’t use ours nearly enough. It was kind of exciting when I drove and experienced getting horned for the first time. I believe it was because I was more than 30 centimetres from the car in front.

While I’ve become accustomed to the constant horning, yesterday afternoon I couldn’t help but chuckle. At a a cross-roads from work, there was an impasse of mass proportions with no one going anywhere. There must have been at least seven or eight cars involved. Around half were trying to get out and half were trying to get in, and each of these were going in different directions. The situation was totally hopeless. From my position away from the mellee I couldn’t work out how it got so bad, and how they could alleviate themselves from it. It seemed to me that they’d need a team of a dozen Mensas doing calculations on butcher’s paper to sort out this mess. But it seemed each of the cars thought the best solution was to sit there and use their horns, along with a few hand gestures. It may have taken me three of four minutes to walk past the scene, and the entire time there was a full chorus of car horns.

After work today I visited the post office for the first time. It’s quite a bit different from Australian post offices which go out of their way to sell everything and anything. I’m not sure if it was just this post office, but inside there was virtually nothing except a desk and the guy that worked there. They didn’t have envelopes for sale. A bit surprised by this I just had to ask if they had stamps. But the process was OK.

Tonight we went out for dinner. I carelessly chose a restaurant within a four year old’s eyesight from a kids mini-fair with loads of rides. The dinner was a pizza place, but Elle and I couldn’t go past their pastas. The service there was exceptional! They were all in love with Lewis, and looked after us very well. Our waiter guessed we were from Australia from our accent, and said he likes Australia and is a big fan of Tania Zaetta. I’ve never heard of that association to Australia before.

At the fair they had all the rides we’re used to. Our budget for Myles allowed him to go on five. Well four - I joined him on the roller coaster. While they were all the same as you’d expect at home, there were a few distinctive Dubai touches. For example, there were babies on the roller coaster with no protection. And I’m not used to being getting thrown around on a roller coaster while one of Muslim workers was on the ground below praying on his blanket. I hope he was praying for religious purposes, and it wasn’t due to his concerns about the ride.

A big hit with Myles was the four wheeler motobike. I wasn’t sure how long it’d take him to get used to it. He’s good at driving cars, but this thing had a thumb throttle. I shouldn’t have worried, he was a natural. Within a couple of laps he was tearing it up with sand flying everywhere. There were a couple of close shaves - particularly when he got so confident he started waving to us - but he managed to turn just in time to avoid the tyre walls.

After some initial naughty behaviour when he was obviously feeling the effects of the flight, Myles has been amazingly good. As a reward, tomorrow we’re going to Children’s City. We’ll report back later.

Ryan Adventures, Ponderings fairs, Hindu, Holi, safety

Last night I was conned on the street by Indian beggers.  The guy was holding a baby and with his wife, so his story of the family not having money for food or milk appealed to the senses of an absent father.  To be honest it felt a bit like a con (I mean I saw Slum Dog Millionaire), but when I asked if he was serious and how it could happen I couldn’t really take in his answer. I was just comparing the size of the little baby with my own son who has more than enough food (in fact this morning I heard for a 6 month old he’s off the growth chart!).

I gave them 30 AED before telling  him he needs to look after that baby. Then went on my way.  I was actually heading off to the Irish bar I found on my way home from work.  When I was there I asked the manager if he thought I was ripped off or not.  He shook his head at me, and said I definitely was.

It’s actually not the first time. Last week I met a guy nearly in tears cause apparently the taxi took off with his luggage, passport and all his money, and that he was so hungry.  After a long chat I gave him 50 AED to (allegely) get him through two days until his embassy will give him a ticket to go home. It sounded plausible at the time, and my doorman about said it was probably true. But the guy at the Dublin Arms said that’s a popular racket also.

The other one to watch out for, he said, is a single lady will come up to you asking for money, then right behind her another woman will appear and then they together accuse you of touching them. Then before you know it a whole herd of women come out to say they each witnessed it. The sting is that they say they’ll go to the police if you don’t give them all your money.

The guy at the bar said he’s had a few attempts against him, but the safest way to get around it is to say you’re willing to help, and that you’ll call the police for them.  You’ll be amazed at how fast they scurry away.  So now I’m equipped.

This evening when the guy had the baby, part of me wanted to just cut through the possible B.S. and take him to the shop and buy the food myself - like my brother does back at home - but I was already late, and didn’t want to go out of my way.

Otherwise the night was great.  I had a few pints and watched the Rugby League World Cup Challenge, where Australia’s Manly Sea Eagles beat the Leeds Rhinos. I find it hard to believe that it’s the first time an Australian team has won in six years.  I knew we were having a bit of a bad trot, like maybe two or three losses - but six?!

Anthony Watmou certainly deserved man of the match for his early efforts, although he fell a bit quiet.  Can’t wait for State of Origin, the only other time I like him.  There was an interesting exchange when Jamie Peacock was sin-binned. It was a small TV in a busy bar while I was eating, but it looked like it was Jamie that did the high tackle, threw the first punch, and appropriately got smacked around, yet Josh Perry had to join him in cooling off for 10 minutes.  Perhaps I’m just one-eyed when it comes to watching sport.  I think it’s a sure sign the football seasons have almost begun.

Go the Broncos and go the Lions.

Ryan Ponderings bar, beggers, sport

In the morning I had to get a few groceries from the local shop. The large shop I go to more often has a Carrefour - the French hypermarket, which is largest chain in the world. Walmart is only bigger in terms of revenue.

Carrefore is definitely a superior shop for variety to the ones close-by, but it takes over 20 minutes to walk, so when I do shop there, I try not to carry too much.  I made that mistake a few weeks back.  They have a fully-organised taxi waiting room, with guards making sure people take it in turns, however there is not nearly enough taxis for the amount of people needing them. Most of the time there’s a bit of a wait,  but on the day I bought my laptop, plus 3 or 4 bulky bags of things for the apartment it just had to be the night that the taxi line had a 40 - 50 metre line-up.

Rather than wait around, and the pain of having to keep moving my bags up as the line shortened I decided to go for it, and walk all the way.  By the time I reached home I think my arms were a foot or two longer.

I’ve learned my lesson, and now just get a few groceries, more often.  Or I just get what I absolutely have to from the big shops, and get other things from the gritty supermarkets nearby. Actually, it’s not that bad.

All shops here have so many different things from back home. Not a lot of pig product, obviously. But the fruit juices are a highlight.  I’ve tried quite a few different varieties which I’m not used to seeing in Australia. My favourite is kiwi fruit juice, closely followed by strawberry juice.  Honeydew mellon is OK, but I’ve learned to avoid anything with coconut or sugar cane. What was I thinking. Ewww.

Ryan Ponderings fruit juice, shopping, taxis

Today I came back to my apartment feeling like I had some success.  Mind you, this was the second time I returned home. The first time I felt absolutely frustrated.  Just like many other days when I’ve had to deal with a certain area involved in visa processing, etc.

But anyway, back to the positive. Not only did I walk a new way home from the nearby shopping centre without getting lost.  I also managed to achieve almost everything on my shopping and to-do lists that had failed me for almost a couple of weeks.

My trips to the shops have usually ended with me giving  up cause I can’t find what I’m looking for, can’t get in and out of the shops without waiting an enormous amount of time, or can’t find someone with even basic English skills or the willingness to answer a simple question. Actually quite a few of my trips have combined all three.

I talk about it like a tremendous success, but in normal everyday life getting some passport-sized photos enhanced and printed; and buying things like a dish drainer, water bottle, and cotton buds are pretty minor things.  But here, when I have searched the web for info, and gone into plenty of shops and failed to find these everyday things to the standard I want, tonight’s purchases seem like fossicking some huge gold nuggets.

Actually I referred to  not getting lost like it’s a strange thing for me. It actually hasn’t.  Elle refers to me having a bad sense of direction, but it hasn’t been an issue here at all. I guess there’s no alternative to finding my way around. I’ve even helped out the occasional limo driver, who haven’t known where basic landmarks are.

It’s not entirely related to the topic, but typing directions made me think of it. As I was walking through the carpark on my way out of the shop, I probably pass about 20 - 30 drive straight in car spaces.  I would say, tonight when I passed these spaces, almost a third of all the cars were pointing in various directions - other than straight ahead.  No word of a lie, a couple were driven in and left at around a 40 degree angle! This adds to the examples of bad driving that you see everywhere, and that I’ve written about previously.

A few of the guys have asked more than once when I’m going to change my driver’s license over and hire or buy a car. My position is getting more concrete everyday, I’m going to put it off for as long as humanly possible!

But in reality, once the family arrive, it would be a good time to get more daring. There’s more to see in Dubai than the vicinity of Deira and the creek, and where I’ve been able to impinge on the kindness of others who have driven somewhere else.

The prices to hire cars is quite expensive, so a couple people I know hire the small and basic cars.  It might be a good idea until we get used to the roads, driving on the other side of the road, but most importantly, all the other crazy drivers.

Ryan Ponderings cars, driving, shopping

I survived my second week in the job, and joined a few Aussies at Irish Village for more than a few pints of Guinness. Until then I have been on a real health kick, and avoiding alcohol.

The Irish Village is a nice pub, in a semi-secluded spot. It’s near a couple of our offices, and the tennis courts where the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships will be played later this month.

At the pub there was yet another case of, it’s a small world afterall. Initially there was just four of us at the pub, and my boss mentioned to one of the other guys, I should tell you, Ryan’s wife is from Tasmania.  I thought this was a bit abstract, but the guy made a bit of a joke, so I figured he may have been to Tasmania, or something.  But no! It turns out he’s from Ulverstone - the same town as my wife’s family. A town of less than 10,000 people. Now that’s getting a little freaky.

Ulverstone seems like one of those places though, like Toowoomba. If you’re having a chat with a certain number of Australians,  you’re more than likely to find someone with a connection to the place.  I remember Elle was working in a Brisbane bar a number of years ago, where she happened to work alongside someone also from Ulverstone - whom she had never met before.  What are the chances.

But anyway, The Irish Village was a nice place.  When I was in Australia considering whether to take the job or not, I did a fair bit of Google-ing to suss the country out.  One of my questions was whether they had anywhere that cooks some decent fish & chips. There seemed to be more than a couple of favourable references to the fish & chips at Irish Village.

It was funny how no matter what I searched for - no matter how obscure - there was always more than one web forum, or site where someone had asked the question previously.  I can’t think of all the questions now off the top of my head, but there were plenty of things like whether they had baby formula, childhood panadol, and things of that nature.

Google also helped me identify the sex of a person when I couldn’t discern it from the Indian, or Arabic name.  All you do is an image search on the name, and each and every time it displays dozens of images of people by that name. Presto.

Earlier in the day I did a fair bit of running around, finalising the joining stuff, such as attesting my marriage certificate. I caught a taxi from the Consulate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the guy was an absolute madman. Everyone on the roads here are obviously a bit crazy, but this guy took it to a whole new level. He actually had great skill with the way he could drive up to 100km/hr within 10 cm from the car in front, and stop suddenly at the lights. I was wondering why he was in so much of a hurry, and the only thing I could come up with was he going that fast to give him more time to watch himself in the rear vision mirros as he brushed his hands through his thick head of hair, and polish and straighten his shiny Ray Bans sunglasses. It was a bit compulsive. But he wasn’t just the king of speeding, he was also quite an expert at shepherding the other cars out of the lanes around him, and his use of the horn was quite special also.

In Dubai, people use their horns more than anywhere else I know. I would say on any built-up stretch of road, you’d hear a horn go off every 3 - 4 seconds. Most of the time, there are multiple horns going at once. There seems to be a number of contexts for people’s horning, and more than a few meanings attributed to it.  Yes, the humble car horn is a multi-faceted communication tool.

From what I’ve seen, people use their horns to say:

• look out
• hurry up
• slow down
• don’t cross there
• hey, I’m driving here
• LOOK OUT!
• are you f-in crazy?
• BOO!
• you’re a mere pedestrian, don’t tempt me
• this is your last warning. Grrrr; and
• hey, it’s been quiet for three seconds - my turn.

The road rage statistics are actually quite low - if you believe the newspaper reports (which some have told me I shouldn’t do!)

We drove past some of the frantic construction of the Metro (Dubai’s first train system - expected to be running in Sept this yr). A sign on their wall caught my eye, “Know safety, no pain. No safety, Know Pain”. I thought this was quite insightful. Unfortunately it seems not everyone across the country has the same thinking. I was walking on a footpath, and at random intervals there were large and sudden drop-offs at least three feet in depth. I’d hate to be walking past there at night.

The night ended up going back to a birthday party of one of the expat gang. It was a pizza and trivia night party, where they used the Play Station 3 Buzz game. I was initially cynical, but it was extremely entertaining!  Particularly when the teams were split into guys and girls, and the guys would only take points from the girls - to ensure their demise.

Ryan Ponderings cars, driving, Google, horns, Irish Village, taxis, what a small world