sharjah after the storm

The winter months in the UAE bring relief from the 120°F summer. Winter is also the "rainy season." I say "rainy" because the average annual rainfall in the coastal region of the UAE is less than 5 inches. (A south Georgia thunderstorm laughs at the puny rain clouds of the Emirates.)

With hardly any rain, there is little reason to invest in a proper drainage system. When it does precipitate, the rain amounts to a light drizzle. After several days of on again, off again drizzle, Mother Nature opened up on January 28.

Tophi and I were just about to head out for a walk to neighboring emirate Ajman when the storm hit. The power was knocked out, and our hotel's restaurant was leaking badly around the doors and windows. We were trapped in the restaurant until things settled down. We watched outdoor furniture slide around as the sky turned a dark gray.

As we ventured out, the streets were flooding, and drivers didn't know quite what to do. All of the palm trees were deformed from the wind.

The remains of a beach fair got blown around. See that carousel? It was going around backwards like something from a Stephen King novel.

Where's the palm tree?

Oh! What's it doing there?

The wind uprooted several of the palm trees that line the road.

Debris was blown onto the streets in many places.

This flooded bus station was on the way to Ajman.

The sign reads "Apex Dewatering" in front of a construction site. The water is above the curb in this picture.

The wind was pretty intense, and construction sites were easy targets for damage. The sad part is that many of these sites were abandoned anyway -- who knows when this will get cleaned up.

Just as the southern communities in the United States were not equipped to deal with this winter's storms, the UAE is unprepared for a deluge. Most of the streets don't have drainage systems because usually the water can evaporate quickly enough.

The Met Office forecasts more storms are on their way. I'll keep you posted with more photos. There are more photos from our walk after the storm here.

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Posted in: ajman,leisure photos,sharjah,weather

tour dubai: part 3 - the dhow wharves and souks

There are a few sites that I always take my visitors to see. This post is the third and final in a series that covers those locations. And while my Nikon D5000 provides stunning images of the environs, you really have to see all of the glitz and sand to fully appreciate where we are. So come visit! (Or at least read the blog.)

It has been unusually wet here in Sharjah and Dubai for the last week. It has also been quite chilly, even during the day. I'm not sure what's going on with the weather, but it has put a damper on going places.

Our new hotel has also put a damper on going places. We're on the other side of Sharjah now, closer to Ajman, so it's more expensive to catch a cab to Dubai. This will be the final part of the tour dubai series; however, don't let me mislead you. The transportation is not discouraging more posts; the lack of variety in travel destinations is limiting new ventures. I can only write about walking around a mall so many times.

Onward! Today's tour is something that I find to be an eye opener. We often say how a country is built on the backs of this group or that. Dhow trading is the foundation of Dubai's economy, and it will probably return to being the only real thing going when the dust settles. There's such an immense contrast between the glamour of the shopping centers and hotels and Old Dubai.

To stretch out our travel time, we decided to walk from the old hotel to the Sharjah-Dubai border. We encountered this lot of cars leaving a mosque after the Friday service.

Though not quite a dhow, this wreck is part of the litter in the Sharjah Lagoon. In the far distance, you can see the Sharjah Eye. (NB: London later copied this Ferris wheel.)

The Dhow Wharf in Dubai is packed with boats waiting to pick up cargo. Most carry tires and appliances to countries around the gulf like Iran.

I don't think your hand is going to keep you from getting wet. Tophi and I wandered around an office tower with shops on the ground floor for over an hour waiting for the rain to stop.

This yacht takes "wooden" to a whole new level. 

Dubai's Spice Souk

It's always fun to play the "Name this Spice" game with the souk merchants. After a merchant offers you tea and dates, he tries to convince you that his saffron is the best. I convinced Tophi to play the game with one merchant in German to see if the merchant would follow. That crafty man carried the conversation with no problem.

Well. That's that. No more to see here. Move along... 

No, I'll have more stories and photographs in the coming days. We're almost at the halfway point! In the meantime, check out the some of the pictures that didn't make it to the blog.

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Posted in: dhow,dubai,leisure photos,sharjah,tour series

posting delays

I realize that it's been over a week since I last updated you on Haida or showed you another stop on the tour dubai series. Last week, the company moved Chris and me from the Al Seef Beach Hotel to another place farther away from the port that had lower rent. Since the move, I have had trouble connecting to the internet, along with a myriad of other "difficulties."

I've got more stories to share, so stick around. In the meantime, you could always take a look back through the archives or browse the gallery of pictures on my Picasa album.

Scott has a new kite surfing board, but the wind here in Sharjah hasn't given time to play with it.

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Posted in: announcements,procrastination

sharjah desert park

After multiple trips to the UAE, I finally made it out to the Sharjah Desert Park home to Sharjah's Natural History Museum, Children Farm, and Arabia Wildlife Center. (I skipped the Children Farm... I don't want to know about that.)

The Desert Park is a hefty drive out of Sharjah, so the distance has been cost prohibitive in the past. This weekend Scott is away, and George told us to take the car and see some of the sights. The car was useful for getting to part 2 of our tour dubai series, and we would not have made the journey out to the Desert Park without it.

On to some pictures.

The less than full parking lot for the Sharjah Natural History and Botanical Garden.

The first hall within the Natural History Museum is filled with marine life suspended from the ceiling. The hanging sharks and fish had the effect of lowering my expectations.

Oops! Someone forgot to write the English translation for this kiosk. 

Awwwwwwe. This model sand cat made me happy. It's not quite Squeak, but I want to find one of this elusive cats for Webb.

Oh yeah? How about a little amoxicillin for those survivors?

The Camel -- the national animal of the UAE

Some people need help to tell the camel's mouth from its rear.

The museum even had 'splosions! of life!! in Arabic!!!

The dinosaurs were pretty neat. Every natural history museum should have at least one dinosaur.

The Botanical Garden side of the museum had several interactive exhibits. You could braid rope, play with a xylophone, smell different plants, and even find out the energy value of different compounds. Here, Tophi is seen enthusiastically playing the xylophone. In case you missed the connection, too, the xylophone is made of wood. Trees are a type of plant, obviously...

After wandering through the Natural History Museum and skipping over the Children Farm (whawhawhattt?), we went to the Arabia Wildlife Center. Live animals are always pretty cool, but the Wildlife Center was not cool with photography. You can pretend to have seen countless exhibits on snakes, rodents, birds, and mammals. And if you thought the taxidermy sand cat was cute, then you really missed out on two live sand cats running around the Center.

What a great day to celebrate the natural environment that is so often tarnished by Emirati progress! I'll close with the Desert Park's recycling initiative.

The Sharjah Desert Park is leading the way for alternative sorting.

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Posted in: culture,leisure photos,sharjah

tour dubai: part 2 - the mall of the emirates

There are a few sites that I always take my visitors to see. This post is the second in a series that covers those locations. And while my Nikon D5000 provides stunning images of the environs, you really have to see all of the glitz and sand to fully appreciate where we are. So come visit! (Or at least read the blog.)

Stop. Before you start making remarks that my tour destinations consists solely of malls, let's stop to consider what other tourist destinations Dubai has to offer?  ... Can't think of any? Right. This emirate is based on a commitment to become a shopping mecca.

Eh... word choice. I'll glaze over that by introducing you to the Mall of the Emirates.

The Mall of the Emirates

While the Dubai Mall may tempt deep-pocketed travelers with superlatives like "world's largest mall," "world's largest acrylic viewing panel for an aquarium," "world's tallest fountain," "world's tallest building," and "world's largest candy shop," the slightly smaller, slightly older Mall of the Emirates doesn't bring shame to the royal family. The Mall of the Emirates boasts the Middle East's first indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai, and in typical fashion, the slope is the largest indoor ski slope in the world. (Take that, Dubai Mall!)

Get excited!

Now, I didn't give much credit to Ski Dubai the first two trips out here. Sure, I've peered into the climate controlled frosty wonderland's windows from inside the mall on many occasions, but I haven't considered actually skiing. Be it the fact that everyone asks if I have ridden the slopes in Dubai or be it the fact that I had an accomplice, I can now claim that I have skied Dubai.

For $41 your kids can romp around the Snow Park, featuring attractions like the one shown here. Based on this ride and the bubble experience at the Dubai Mall, I'm beginning to doubt how these kids are raised.

The chair lift to the top of the 80-meter slope moves slowly, allowing Tophi to capture these pictures.

Ski Dubai and the Mall of the Emirates require the energy of 3500 barrels of oil each day for air conditioning and electricity. That averages to 1 barrel of oil for each daily visitor.

So I'm not exactly graceful on skis.

Our two hours on the slope went by like two hours. It was entertaining, and I was able to practice my skiing. But. more. than. two. hours. would have been too. much. We hopped back in the car and glided towards the Burj Al Arab, the glitzy seven star hotel that didn't make the 7 Modern Architectural Wonders List.

That's not the Burj Al Arab -- that's the hotel Atlantis!

One wrong turn later, I narrowly escaped the long road to Abu Dhabi by taking the slightly shorter road to the Palm Jumeirah. I conceded to defeat, stopped for some pictures, and headed back to Sharjah. The Burj Al Arab wasn't brightly lit that night anyway.

The Atlantis hotel is the top of this photo on the "crescent." How apropos for the Atlantis to be on the first bit of land that will likely descend into the Arabian Gulf. It's beautiful in the mean time.

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Posted in: atlantis,dubai,leisure photos,ski dubai,tour series

haida: now served with working engines

It's been a while since Haida has stretched her sea legs -- 10+ years. While sea trials may still be in the (very) distant future, the engineers gave a preview this week of what's waiting to roar to life.

M.Y. Haida has been moored in Port Khalid, Sharjah during an extensive overhaul and refit for the last several years.

Haida is powered by two Enterprise medium-speed diesel engines that produce about 1000 hp each. She's been reported to reach almost 19 knots, but sea trial data from 1947 report a speed of 16.7 knots at max engine RPM. Over the last year, the refit support team has been working to locate replacement head gaskets for the Enterprise engines. As you can imagine, it's not easy getting parts for an engine built in the early 1940s. After searching around the United States, the engineering team in Sharjah decided to fabricate the head gaskets. With a little (read: quite a bit) of love and care, the engineers put the Enterprise engines back online.

The three-bladed, 65" propellers await the command of the reinstated air control system.

Port astern, starboard ahead.

This picture was taken while the port engine was going astern. In these early quayside tests, the engines are only going 150-200 RPM. 

This is the engine control station that has been temporarily installed as a bridge wing station. Control air signals from this stand travel down to the engine room.

The Enterprise engines have been modified to accept the control air signal. This eliminates the need for a telegraph; however, the engines can still be controlled from the engine room.

More quayside tests will be necessary before the engines will be ready to go to sea. In the mean time, work continues on restoring the interior and updating the vessel's systems. 

If you squint, you can make out the puffs of smoke coming from the funnel. Haida will celebrate her 64th birthday this year.

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Posted in: Enterprise,haida,haida photos,work photos

tour dubai: part 1 - the dubai mall

There are a few sites that I always take my visitors to see. This post is the first in a series that covers those locations. And while my Nikon D5000 provides stunning images of the environs, you really have to see all of the glitz and sand to fully appreciate where we are. So come visit! (Or at least read the blog.)

Last Friday, Tophi and I worked until lunch time and finished the day around 3:00 pm. Scott suggested that we use the rest of the afternoon to go see The Dubai Mall and have dinner. I have been to Dubai's crown jewel at least five or six times. I have walked every square meter of its spacious 4 floors, watched numerous fountain shows, gazed up at the Burj Khalifa, and enjoyed fresh fro-yo at Red Mango; however, there is always something new to see.

If you haven't hit the highlights of the "World's Greatest Tour," go back and see those here.

For now, we'll see the Dubai Mall from Tophi's eyes. 

We took the Metro from Deira City Centre to the Dubai Mall stop. As you exit the aboveground Metro station, you can't help but notice this really tall building...

 With a name like "The Dubai Mall," it must be the world's greatest.

The Guinness Book of World Records awarded this plaque to the Dubai Mall Aquarium for having the largest acrylic viewing pane, but you already knew that from reading the plaque, right?

This is Fashion Avenue's catwalk. It lights up with nifty colors and patterns that would induce a seizure for any model, but it entertains the locals!

The Dubai Mall is training kids for the a better world.  

Here's an example of training kids for a better world. Let's fill a giant bubble with air, and tell the kid to roll around the lagoon. At least we know the kid won't keep his bubble beyond the rental period...

After exploring the mall for ages, we took to the streets. Here Tophi is inspecting an interesting ramp/stair thing. Those crafty Emirati!

Abu Dhabi is host to a terrific collection of Islamic, classical, and modern art. The rejects are sent to Dubai.

 The Dubai Fountain by night. The Fountain is patterned after the Bellagio's, but this fountain can shoot almost 20% the height of the Burj Khalifa, some 500 ft.

The Burj Khalifa by dusk. The building's towers all have strobe lights that twinkle like diamonds in the night sky.

The Ice Rink at Dubai Mall -- note the figure skating on the left with the white fedora. Yeah, he had some moves.

After we went back inside, we noticed this escalator had glass sides. Our tour ended with staring at the escalator for several geeky minutes. 

So that was our trip, we finished up with a light snack at Red Mango. We tried for four hours to walk around the mall to build up an appetite, but Scott's club sandwich from lunch was enough food for several days. As a result, we weren't hungry, but there's always room for fro-yo and fresh fruit.

On our next adventure, we'll journey to the Sharjah Natural History museum -- a trip that I've been trying to make each time I've lived out here. Never fear! Ski Dubai is also in our future. For more pictures from our trip to the Dubai Mall and my other travels in the Middle East, check out my Picasa web album.

Oh, there's some really good symmetry with Tophi being here for my last winter work. It's not quite Adventures in Salisbury, but leave a comment if you have travel suggestions for us.

**AinS Bonus for Facebook users: click here.

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Posted in: dubai,leisure photos,tour series,world's greatest