Dubai, UAE trip August 2008.

I have been following the development of dubai on SSC forums for over 2 years now and couldn't believe the construction and projects that are going on there by just looking at pictures and reading posts. Watching Burj Dubai grow on SSC ever since it was in the mid 30's floor count, I grew the urge to see it with my own eyes. The whole city leaves you speechless.

Being in Dubai gave me a new perspective on life. I thought living here in NYC was everyone's dream in terms of architecture and lifestyle. Well i was wrong, I am now giving it serious consideration to moving to Dubai. I encourage anyone with the means to take a trip out there and see for themselves.

Enjoy the pictures...................

John F. Kennedy International Airport - NYC
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Emirates Airlines:
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This was over Iran.
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Emirates Business class seats. I took this pic after the plane emptied out when we got to Dubai. I wanted to pretend I flew business class. I had an economy seat(economy is better than first class on US flights, no joke). But on the way back to JFK, Emirates upgraded me to Business class free of charge. Go figure.
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Dubai International Airport - DXB
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Emaar's project in Syria - Eighth Gate Project
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There are dozens of car rental companies at the airport - We booked through National - 2008 Honda Accord for about $55/day.
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Dubai Marina
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You don't have to look very hard to find high end cars in Dubai, they're all over the place.
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Dubai Marina.
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Burj Al Arab Hotel.
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I wish I had a better camera for this shot. I'm saving up to get the Nikon D300.
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Business Bay ad.
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Dubai Marina construction billboard.
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Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
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Sheikh Zayed Road. Notice Burj Dubai, the farthest building on the right side of the photo.
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LOL. We tried to access a website for escorts and it was blocked.
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At out hotel - Towers Rotana on Sheikh Zayed Road.
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Restaurant in Dubai Marina.
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Dubai, UAE trip August 2008.

Enjoy the pictures...................

The silly thing is, I can't view these pics from within Dubai because Flickr is b-a-n-n-e-d, bummer

The silly thing is, I can't view these pics from within Dubai because Flickr is b-a-n-n-e-d, bummer

Yes I'm aware of that and I don't know what to say besides I'm sorry and tough luck. Everyone else on this forum deals primarly with flickr. If there's another site that some people are using, please let me know and i will post my pics there.
I don't know what the penalties are for doing this, but try using extensions by working around the proxy to limit restriction and you'll have access to flickr. I did that when I was in Syria whenever I wanted to access facebook as it's blocked there too along with other sites like youtube and skype. But the funny thing is Flickr and myspace weren't blocked. Go figure!.

Very nice phototour

Burj Al Arab Hotel.
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Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
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Dubai Marina.
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Residential Tower construction in Dubai Marina.
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Mall of the Emirates.
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Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates.
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Two locals were nice enough to have our picture taken with them.
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Top parking deck of Mall of the Emirates.
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Burj Dubai.
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Peacocks at Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoom's Palace (ruler of Dubai).
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Desert Safari (We opted out for the Hummer, a little more expensive but worth it).
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Enjoying a hookah after dinner at the desert safari.
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Belly dancer show.
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We got a $60 ticket parking at this handicap parking space.
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Mailbox.
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Somewhere on Sheikh Zayed Road.
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Our hotel. Towers Rotana(4 Star hotel right in the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road).
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Smart car in Dubai
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Hotel pool area.
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Hotel pool area.
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Hotel pool area.
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Hotel pool area.
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Hotel pool area.
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View from the hotel.
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Towers Rotana Hotel. View from the pool area.
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I hope you enjoyed my pictures. You are more than welcome to comment or ask questions and to view more photos please visit the threads in my signature or view my account on flickr by clicking the link below.

Your friend,

Mike

Amazing photos! the progress and speed of the developments in Dubai is incredible!

by the way did you take any pictures of palm jumeirah? and what about Dubailand? I'm excited to see how that's going :cheers:

Nice pictures. I would really like to visit Dubai it looks very cool. I also want to fly Emirates it looks like a really nice airline. How was the Hummer? I always thought they were just really large SUV's that weren't capable off road vehicles. Are you middle eastern? What other sites are blocked in Dubai?

Nice pictures. I would really like to visit Dubai it looks very cool. I also want to fly Emirates it looks like a really nice airline. How was the Hummer? I always thought they were just really large SUV's that weren't capable off road vehicles. Are you middle eastern? What other sites are blocked in Dubai?



Yeah the H2 Hummer is great for off-roading not just in the desert. I frequently go off-roading around my area. Check out this forum to see some pics and videos: http://www.hummerforums.com/forumid_221/p_/tmode_1/smode_1/tt.htm

I'm from New Jersey but of Syrian origin. As far as I know, it's just flickr, facebook and skype that are blocked in the UAE. Youtube is not blocked, it was working just fine when I was there.

very nice pictures, looks like you enjoyed yourself in Dubai.

Amazing landscape n amazing couple, u make me jealous ......:lol::lol:

Amazing landscape n amazing couple, u make me jealous ......:lol::lol:


LOL. Couple? No dude, we're brothers. Thanks for the feedback anyways. :)

Ive added this thread to my favourites because , well because i liked it :D thanks Mike !

It is disappointing to read that Dubai is blocking access to various commonly used websites. If it truly wants to be a world destination they need to cut the crap.

Awesome pictures, the Burj Dubai is really otherworldly.

What a place! Great developments.
But I do think I prefer the traditional big cities in the 'Old World'.
Nice tour, just like we've been there ourselves.

Thanks for the tour mate, nice pictures

Nice tour. Thanks for taking us along on your trip. Very fascinating.

A few questions:

1. Are there any pedestrian friendly, sidewalk crowded, kinds of places?

2. There seems to be a haze in the air in all the pics. Is that desert dust or air pollution?

3. What would you say is the cost of basic items, like food, soft drinks, beer, etc.,
versus NYC. More or less expensive?

Nice tour. Thanks for taking us along on your trip. Very fascinating.

A few questions:

1. Are there any pedestrian friendly, sidewalk crowded, kinds of places?

2. There seems to be a haze in the air in all the pics. Is that desert dust or air pollution?

3. What would you say is the cost of basic items, like food, soft drinks, beer, etc.,
versus NYC. More or less expensive?



You're welcome guys, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Stayed tuned in to either this thread or my youtube account as i have over 10 hours of video footage of my whole trip. I will start editing the videos and uploading to youtube.

1.) Yes Dubai has plenty of pedestrian friendly areas. There are air conditioned bus stops that you can take a rest in and very very clean public restrooms. The negative things are just the heat(you hardy find people walking in the afternoon hours in the summer) and the amount of construction going on somewhat limits sidewalks for now because everywhere they have cones and blocked off areas but that will be taken care of once construction slows down.

2.) We were there in early August(aka extremly hot and humid time of the year). So the reason for the shots being not clear at times is a combination of my shitty $300 camera, desert dust, construction debree. But not air pollution whatsoever, Dubai is not China.

3.) Traveling to Dubai is not cheap at all, I didn't expect it to be either. The prices for basic items are slightly less than what you would pay in the US. But not much less, we're talking about pennies only depending on the items but in general it's about 10-15% cheaper. But then again, I live in NYC and everything is expensive here. So to answer your question, prices in Dubai are cheaper.

Burj Dubai.
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from the beginning, i don't think a 800m tower would be nice. and truly is...it looks awful, doesn't have the 'harmony' with surrounding at all.....:sleepy: sorry, my UAE fren...

btw, nice trip hey, iMike :okay:

You are right, it looks awful now because of all the construction going on around it. If you look at the renders of how it will look like around Business Bay, looks absolutely beautiful and in a perfect place. So, no worries, it will start look better by the day from now on.

What does the rest of the Middle East think of Dubai? It seems like it is going against the grain of Islamic tradition. It seems like an American boomtown on steroids. Is alcohol still illegal there? Are gays accepted? Although the array of buildings is mesmerizing NYC is such a deeper city in terms of its character and tradition.

Although I despise Hummers the desert seems like an appropriate place to have one.
I am not into the glitz and material culture that seems to be in your face in Dubai. I will have to go someday but its not first on my list. Miami is like a mini Dubai where religon is not as intertwined with the politics. I would rather see Damascus or Beirut before Dubai.

Gee mate are you syrian?

How's the hooker scene in Dubai? Aren't most of them Russian?

u missed visiting the old districs of Dubai.

u missed visiting the old districs of Dubai.

I actually did visit old Dubai but didn't have the camera handy that night. I visited Bur Dubai, Deira area, gold souk. Lots of traffic there, holy cow.

I even went into and drove around Sharjah for about an hour.

Landing in Dubai. JFK-DXB via Emirates Airlines
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Burj Dubai
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Dubai bus stop
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^^ IFE on Tayaran Emarat is definitely the world's best !