Friday, January 2, 2009

Went to Corniche Beach

Got in the car and went to the beach today with Lee, Rochelle and Jessica. It take a about 35 mins from our house. Not to many nutters on the road today, makes a nice change. Found a parking space not too far from the bottom of 30th street right opposite the main entrance to the beach. Result.

The beach was free when it first opened, but within a week they had erected (ironic choice of word as you will read!) ticket entry booths and closed off all other access. Basically, this was to stop the (mainly Indian/Pakistani) workers from gathering in groups on the beach to perv the women. Many complaints had been received and so now they charge 5 Dirham to go on the family side and 10 Dirhams to go on the "Persons" side. I have had to go on that side when I have gone to the beach when Caz has been working and it does make you feel like an outcast! Anyway, the entry price has precluded the workers from entering as they can't afford it. Now they just peer from a distance on the walkway to see as much as a glimpse of a female in a bikini. I do kind of feel a bit sorry for them as they work like 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, their wives/girlfriends are back home and they probably don't get to see them hardly ever - they don't have too many pleasures in life! But I guess I would think differently if I were a woman.

I read The National newspaper while sat on the beach. The National is about the only sensible local newspaper. It is written in good English (mainly) and isn't full of government propaganda and general sycophantic brown nosing. There are always stories that make me smile though. Today there was a story about the problem of graffiti in one of the housing areas (Bani Yas). Basically it is being done by local yobs who are bored and have nothing else to do. There was a great quote from one of the yobs, one Mr Saleh al Mahri, 18. He is quoted as saying:-


"The only bad thing we really do is throw stones at those who bother us or
our women, but we definitely don't spray-paint because it's destructive"


Two things stuck me about this; one, an 18 year old taking about "our women" like he is a real man of the world and has like 4 wives (!), and two, throwing stones at people is ok, but they would never spray-paint!

It seems like there is either no one policing what people wear on the beach or things are pretty much going the way of Dubai where anything goes (not topless though of course). Supposedly things are meant to be more conservative here and the beach rules state that you must moderate what you wear. There wasn't much sign of it today. One particular group of girls, who were actually quite close to the Police office, were pretty scantily clad. One had a tiny thong and super enhanced boobs. She was quite obviously very proud of her looks and definitely wanted to be seen! Clearly, I don't really have a problem with it (!) but if there are rules I do think they should be observed. Given the local sensibilities, I do think it is somewhat of a p-take.

Lee had decided to apply suncream himself. Not a good idea. Now he has huge patches of bright red and white. Still, the kids enjoyed the beach, even if the water was freezing!

Passed the stadium on the way home where the tennis tournament is taking place. Looked packed. Got in just in time to see Murray win through to the final.

Probably going to do some of the sights and shopping in Dubai tomorrow.

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