New Mosque

I took this photo the other night on my way back from the F1 Fan Zone. It’s a new mosque that is soon to be opened. It’s of a modern design that has caused some stirrings amongst the traditionalists. There was an article about the subject recently in the paper together with some photos of some other new more radical mosque designs.

How should a mosque look? - The National Newspaper

Royal Wedding Today

I was merrily wending my way back into the City from Mussfah today when the traffic clogged up by ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre). It soon became apparent that something involving the Royals was going on. There were many Police cars, military vehicles and 30th street on one side had been brought to a standstill by police. Here's a clip of what I saw as I passed by ADNEC.....










And here is the reason as described on the Gulf News website....


Rulers attend UAE wedding of shaikh's daughter



WAM Published: May 12, 2009, 16:29


Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, attended a wedding banquet on Tuesday.


It was hosted by Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, on the wedding of his son Shaikh Mohammad Bin Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan to the daughter of Shaikh Khalifa Bin Hamdan Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan.




Now, to me, there doesn't sound like too many degrees of separation there! Multiple congenital defects looming for their offspring?? ("Bin" = "son of"), let's hope not - Inshallah




As I carried on down 30th Street, various high ranking and diplomatic cars were passing. Then I saw a nice white Jag with the good old Union Jack flying, with a diplomatic number plate of "1/1". Yes, inside was our very own British Ambassador to the UAE, Edward Oakden CMG (had to look up CMG, as I didn't know what that was - it's a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, something to do with M&S and ASDA I think? - sorry , UK joke) .



Here's the snaps I got as I drove down 30th , then along the Corniche - he then turned off towards the Embassy...

Went to IDEX today

The International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) is held every 2 years and is visited by military personnel, government ministers, ambassadors and others connected with the defense sector from all over the world. Why was I there? It's top secret - I can't tell you! Only kidding. ADNEC is a customer of mine and it's good to keep up with how they deal with different exhibitions, but also I had a few customers exhibiting there. It was certainly an eye opener. I've never had the opportunity to get up so close to so much military hardware. Some pictures follow with a link to all the pictures at the end (including some of and from the new bridge over 30th street).


Some vehicles I'd like to drive down Airport Road to sort out the idiot drivers:-








Some shots of the bike display team:-








The bridge:-







The full album:-

IDEX '09

OMG! Just when I thought I'd heard it all....

You have just got to read the letter in The National today titled "More trouble on the roadway" - Unbelievable!

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The National - News
16 Feb 2009

Tanks rolling in to ADNEC

(Sorry the picture is not very good, it was taken quickly on my phone - the tanks are in the middle of the background, click on it to get a better view)

There is a Military exhibition at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre later this month called IDEX. This is taken majorly serious. The whole of the road outside the venue has been closed for the last few weeks while they build various tank assault courses, build a bridge over the road to a newly built marina area which has been dredged deeper so navel frigates can dock for the show etc etc. The UAE Armed Forces take control of the venue from now until after the show as various pieces of military hardware arrive for the show. ADNEC is one of my customers so out of interest I have registered for the show, which meant I had to submit copies of my passport, visa and photo so that they could be vetted by the armed forces. Obviously I don't pose a major threat as they are going to let me in! I'm sure I'll be blogging the event - without pictures, they won't be allowed I guess!