Abu Dhabi F1 Weekend

We have just had a great weekend with my brother, Steve and his wife, Dora, who came over for the F1 weekend. Steve has been before, to the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but it was a first visit for Dora. So, inevitably, we did some of the tourist visits again. I actually like showing people around and don't really get tired of seeing some of the best sights, like the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque below....

On Friday we spent a day in Dubai. We hit a couple of malls, they went to "At the Top" at Burj Khalifa, we went to the old Spice Souq and Gold Souq and in the afternoon we spent some time at "The Walk" by Jumeirah Beach. We saw this nice "Cobra" car....

We stopped at Bob's Easy Diner for lunch......

....I was a bit worried about what Walter was doing with his wife on the beach though - you can get arrested for that out here!

I was also a bit worried when they brought these out......

...but (phew) they were for the sticky Buffalo Wings!


Dora and Caz went to a spa on Saturday while me and Steve went to the track. And then Sunday was F1 race day. For once the Abu dhabi GP was a really interesting and exciting race, with lots of incident.  Before it has been a fairly boring "parade", so it was a nice change.

....gotta love the Safety Car!

Jenson Button......

Lewis Hamilton...

Hamilton getting pole in Qualifying....

...and a quick video clip showing the first lap and last lap from our position in the North Grandstand. The leading four on the final lap were all World Championship winners: Raikkonen , Alonso, Vettel and Button.

More tat for Dubai...

Just what they need, not!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212871/Dubai-build-replica-Taj-Mahal-1bn--version-house-300-room-hotel-retail-shops.html


..and a funny spoof take on it :-)


http://www.panarabiaenquirer.com/wordpress/dubai-residents-annoyed-that-replica-of-burj-khalifa-not-in-dubai-falconcity-of-wonders/

Richard Bentley Dubai 3.0

I posted one of Richard Bentley's time-lapse videos of Dubai before. This is the third of three. They are absolutely awesome.

There was a nice article about Richard in The National the other day. Read it here.

Dubai Visit

After a great weekend at the F1, we went to Dubai yesterday with our family visitors. The F1 was really good, but I did post plenty of pics last year, so no need again I don't think. I may put a couple of video clips up.

First stop yesterday was at Burj Khalifa. I booked online for us to go to "At the top" - it's best to book in advance as it is 100 AED, but 400 AED if you turn up on the day. I have wanted to go up to the viewing area on the 124th floor ever since it opened, so now was my chance. All in all I think they have made a pretty good job of making it an "experience", showing you the history of the development and construction and taking you up in a private lift. The lift travels at 10M/sec so it is a pretty quick to get up - but it did make my ears "pop".

We were very lucky with the weather as there have been quite a lot of dusty days lately, where the view would have been very poor. However, we had some great views. I think the thing that struck me most looking down, was just how obvious it was that ultimately we were in a desert. From street level you do tend to forget, but looking down from that height there is no doubt.


Here's a video I made.....

Burj Khalifa Dubai

I found this really good SlideShare Presentation on the Burj Khalifa:

Burj Khalifa Dubai

More information than we got.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1249848/Terrifying-Burj-Khalifa-lift-ordeal-Dubai-tourists-stuck-1-600ft-worlds-tallest-building.html

Burj Khalifa? - What's in a name (about $10Bn)

So Burj Dubai, as it has been known since construction started (and presumably before in the planning stages), has been re-named on it's opening day to Burj Khalifa (after the UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi). Call me a sceptic, but it is only 2 weeks since Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai (again) to the tune of $10Bn - so was this a generous offer by Sheikh Mohammed (Dubai), or was it part of the deal?

I think if I was Mr Al Makhtoum I would be a little peeved that my pet project, which was my idea in the first place, was named after my richer uncle (not literally)...... oh and by the way he wasn't even at the opening!

Oh well ... whatever, I still think it looks cool.

Strange goings on in MbZC

As I was being a lazy arse last night and couldn't be bothered to cook, I phoned out for Pizza Hut delivery (if you didn't know you could do that this far out, ask me and I'll tell you how! - you can also get KFC!!). As I was paying the delivery man (which was around 8.15pm) I heard a massive rumble, the sort of sound you might imagine coming from a large building collapsing. The front door totally rattled as did the windows. About 10 minutes later the same thing happened again. Now I'm no expert, but I'm thinking earthquake. They are not that uncommon in the region, especially in Iran which had a few last year. I was in Dubai last December when there was one. In fact I was in the Barclay's building right next to the Burj Dubai - so I'm in the basement of a building next to the tallest building in the world and we are told there is going to be an earthquake! Fortunately, there were just minor rumblings in Dubai. Maybe it's me, because I also experienced an earthquake in Japan a few years ago - but I would trust their buildings to survive more than here! Anyway, back to Abu Dhabi. Weirdly, when you search the Internet for all the earthquake notification sites, there is no sign of one anywhere near the region. There was also nothing in the papers today. Caz put a thread on the Abu Dhabi Women's forum about it, there were about 20 other people in Abu Dhabi who also reported the exact same experience. Now, I'm not sure if some just have over active imaginations but some have suggested that the airport had reported higher than normal flight activity at the same and others report a lot of helicopters in the sky. So what could it be? Military explosions they don't want us to know about? Bomb testing (at night?). Or maybe a small localised earthquake not big enough to register..... any other thoughts???