This is our October page  2005  " life as an expat !!

 

The girls ventured out to Burj al Arab for exercise ( right!!!) and a coffee on 27th floor.

Poul is getting ready for the first round at Emirates Golf Club.

The following pictures are from the first Tee, the clubhouse and the constructionsite where they are building a new course.

Eating in public during Ramadan will cost you Dhs 2000 if you're non-muslim or one month in jail if you're a muslim.

 

This illustrates how Ramadan affects the cafe's. This is from the Mercato Mall - all empty at 1pm.

It's a nice mall, though, with the decor very italian.

here you can have your nails done - but ladies only!

Not one nosy man will be able to have a peep through the windows!

Hospitality tent for henna handpainting

Now it's time to get your skis out! In about a month 5 slopes (the longest 400m long) covering three football fields will open in sunny, warm Dubai. This will happen in the Mall of the Emirates - a very classy mall with lots of expensive stuff. The snow will be created at -8C and during the day it will be -2C. Water from the melting snow will be used to water plants outside the mall and the cooling effect of melting the old snow will be used for the mall air condition. 30 tonnes of new snow will be made each night.

The danish ski club will be open to members being able to say "rødgrød med fløde" in fluent danish on the opening day (subtle, very subtle)

 

This is the Mall of the Emirates outside the skislope.

There are hospitality tents, like this one, in almost all the malls, often you can have your hands painted in henna here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love desert roses and this pretty one is from Bodils garden:
The views are towards the Lakes Club and towards one of the newly built areas in the Lakes.

Wafi City is yet another mall. This time with Egyptian decor. The ceiling is made from glass mosaic and looks like the inside of a pyramid.

The floors ar marble with leaves inset - very decorative!

As we are now in the holy month of Ramadan, there are exhibits like this one in several of the malls.This one telling about the man who calls to prayer - also at night.

This cafe was fined for serving food during the day, so is now only open for take away until evening.

This is how the holiday of Eid al Fitr is declared. A committee will  spot the moon and declare the month of Ramadan over. If anyone sees the moon he should call the committee and inform them of the fact.

As Eid al Fitr approaches everyone has to show how much they appreciate their loved ones by buying jewellery. Notice the ideal family portrayed in the ad.

This is another advertisement for jewellery, very modest compared to local standards. õõEid coincides with the Indian holiday of Diwali, so gold is sold in huge amounts.

Dubai was declared the hippest place on earth with celebrities such as David Beckham, Michael Schumacher, Rod Stewart and Donald Trump (of course building Trump International Hotel) getting their piece of the action. 16% of the worlds cranes are currently employed in Dubai and you can actually buy an island here for $3million.

And yet more jewellery, and they are REAL diamonds...

Congratulations to everyone at home - we follow the news too, you know!

Traffic is outrageous - this is my left hand mirror

- my front windscreen

 - and my right hand mirror. Please note that the road is one lane only in each direction. At one point there where 4 rows of cars travelling in my direction and one in the opposite - when they could get a space, mind you. Cementmixers with one wheel in the sand - now THAT'S scary... and I was behind a van full of gas bottles. Yuk..