Friday, July 26, 2013

New street signage in Abu Dhabi


New street signage is beginning to appear in Abu Dhabi, which I am guessing is inline with the announcement of a new addressing system for properties in the Emirate earlier this year. Each property will have an number and street address with a post code, much like the UK. At the moment, finding a property can be very difficult and landmarks are usually the main pointers. It would not be unusual to be told for example 'we are behind Najda Street (no street signs will ever show this name), next to Nissan showroom, Starbucks down, same building' . This way of giving directions and the fact that only main roads are referred to by a name (even then, not always the name on the sign - examples below), I think it's going to take some time for people to get used to a new system. But it will be a complete bonus for postal and courier services. 

There is a current zone/sector system of mapping out the city, but it is confusing and complex. If you are interested I have a pdf that explains it in full detail! Mail me and I'll send it to you

In Abu Dhabi, there is a confusing system of street names. There are names used commonly, sometimes more than one, and then there are the official map and street sign names. Below is a table to try and help...


North South Abu Dhabi roads

Common name
Number
Map name
Area
Comments
Airport Road2nd StreetSheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum St  
Old Airport Rd2nd StreetShaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoom St  
Lulu Rd4th StreetLulu RdAl Markaziyah 
Al Sharqi St4th StreetAl Sharqi StMadinat Zayed 
New Airport Rd4th StreetEast Rd / Muroor Rd / New Airport Rd South
East Road4th StreetEast Rd / Muroor Rd / New Airport Rd South
Muroor Road4th StreetEast Rd / Muroor Rd / New Airport Rd  
Al Dhafra Rd   Al Dafra St
Najda St6th StreetUmm Al Nar St  
Najda St6th StreetBani Yas Rd (Baniyas Rd)  
East Coast Rd8th StreetAl Salam St (now Sheikh Zayed Street)  
Eastern Ring Rd8th StreetAl Salam St  
New Corniche Rd8th StreetAl Salam StMadinat Zayed 
10th St10th StreetLiwa St  
 22nd StreetKhalid Bin Al Waleed St  
 24th StreetAl Karamah St  
 26th StreetKing Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Saeed St North
 26th StreetAl Nahyan / Nahayan St South
 28th StreetKhalifa Bin Shakbut / Shakhbout St  
Arabian Gulf Rd30th StreetAl Khaleej Al Arabi St  
Mussafah Rd30th StreetAl Khaleej Al Arabi St  
Coast Rd30th StreetAl Khaleej Al Arabi St  
 32nd StreetKhalidiyah St North
 32nd StreetSultan Bin Zayed St South
 34th StreetBaynunah St (Baynounah Rd) to Emirates Palace
 

East West Abu Dhabi roads

Common name
Number
Map name
Area
Comments
Corniche1st Street   
Khalifa St3rd StreetSheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed St  
Khalifa St3rd StreetAl Istiqalal St  
Hamdan St5th StreetSheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed St East
Hamdan St5th StreetAl Nasr St West
 5th StreetAl Khubairah StAl Khubeirah 
Electra St7th StreetSheikh Zayed the First St East
Zayed the First St7th StreetSheikh Zayed the First St West
Khalidiyah St7th StreetSheikh Zayed the First StKhalidiya only? 
Old Passport Rd9th StreetAl Falah St West
Passport Road9th StreetAl Falah St  
Jawazat Rd9th StreetAl Falah St East
Defense Rd11th StreetHazza Bin Zayed St  
 11th StreetAl Sudan St  
Al Bateen St11th StreetHazza Bin Zayed the First St?  




Spaccanapoli, Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi

Lately , we have gone to this restaurant. The food is great and the service pretty good too. One of their boasts is that it is the 'home of the one metre pizza'. So, when in Rome (or Hamdan Street)....






You can order them for take away or home delivery too. The have special long boxes to put them in, although I am a little concerned about how the moped rider manages?! I have to say, it was delicious and well worth a try. 

No, we didn't finish it!








A few random pics...

I like big butts and I just can't lie.... Toilet for big bottomed girls??




This is the roundabout as you enter our villa compound. Now when he was told "go straight over the roundabout" , he clearly needed a little more explanation....





Lat time I checked, Abela didn't have a licence to sell alcohol. 


Ferrari World again

We  decided last weekend to pay a visit to Ferrari World as it was something to do inside out of the heat, and we had 2-for-1 vouchers. Sadly, the best thing about FW, the Formula Rossa, was closed for maintenance. Well, at least it gets some maintenance I guess.



In the middle of Ramadan, on a Saturday morning, the place was deserted which at least meant we could walk right onto the rides we wanted to try.

There is a display of Ferrari's in one part of the place which was cool. There were some old ones, working up to some of the more recent models. A pretty penny's worth all on loan from the same guy, Mr Tariq Shaikh. Clearly he had driven at least one of them on the UAE's roads as it had the SALIK (toll) Tag still on the windshield. Here's a quick (but poor, sorry) video of the room.





















Friday, July 19, 2013

Progress: UAE

There have been some interesting articles in The National lately outlining the progress that the UAE has made in a number of areas. See the link below for some of them....

http://www.thenational.ae/topic/subjects/progress-uae

Ramadan in full swing


I can't believe this is my 6th Ramadan here! How times flies when you are having fun :-)

Here's a video from CNN talking about the impact on retailing in Ramadan, featuring my mate Pete Lonsdale at LuLu's !

(it may just take a few seconds to load)