Saadiyat Beach Villa

Looked around one of the new villas on Saadiyat Island - let's say we won't be moving in anytime soon!

CNN on Saadiyat Cultural District

A good overview off what is to come in Saadiyat Island. I am also playing my very small part in this development and will be able to look back at it with a smile well into the future.

Still the same twit that is Richard Quest though I'm afraid...

Photography lesson: shoot a sunset, go to jail (The National - News, 16 Feb 2010, Page 1)

There has been many a time I have thought about stopping on this bridge to take a photograph, the only thing stopping me being the thought of getting taken out by a Land Cruiser at 180 Kmph! Well this guy thought he would take his chances, but found himself in trouble of another kind........maybe I won't bother.

This is all part of the ridiculousness that is the UAE...

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Photography lesson: shoot a sunset, go to jail
Marten Youssef Courts and Justice Reporter
The National - News
16 Feb 2010

ABU DHABI An amateur photographer who said he was aiming for the perfect snap for a photography competition was jailed, relieved of his passport and yesterday fined Dh1,000 (US$270) for taking prohibited pictures on Khalifa Bridge. M A, 30, a...read more...

Tech Tags: The National - News newspaper Front Page

The rain continues

I had the misfortune of having to drive to Dubai this morning through torrential rain. Normally at home I wouldn't think twice about this really, but here this involves seriously putting your life at risk. Actually it wasn't too bad - I only saw 9 major car crashes between Abu Dhabi and Dubai! The first 2 were on the Saadiyat highway (emptiest piece of motorway in Abu Dhabi) two cars on the fast lane hard shoulder and another on the slow lane hard shoulder for the first accident and another 2 cars in the second (2 more on this stretch on the way home btw). These drivers really are the most brain-dead individuals, I actually think the drivers of the UAE share 1 brain cell, but the one they share is used up working their mobile phone.

I would bet that all of the "accidents" caused this morning could have been avoided if they weren't driving like tossers (not sure if "tossers" is going to get the web police onto me, but hey, that's what they are!). Even in sideways rain they still drive at 160kmph (100 mph) on their phone, tailgating within inches. I had to slow to 70 because any faster and I couldn't see a thing.

One of the most annoying things they do here in rain (and fog) is put their hazard warning lights on the whole time. This helps no-one. Now you don't know if they are going left, right or whether there is actually a hazard coming up. They seem to think that rain per se is a hazard, whereas in fact, they are they hazard!

Below is a short clip taken on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai this afternoon. Once again Caz says I am a hazard by doing this, but trust me, I could be videoing, making a cup of tea, doing a Rubik's cube and putting my tie on all at the same time and still not be as dangerous as some of the guys I have seen today!

Madness on the Saadiyat highway

I was travelling from Khalifa City home using the Saadiyat highway this afternoon. This motorway has 5 lanes each way and there was literally only the odd few cars around. Then I saw the flashing lights. A car (looked like a Lumina SS – same as a Vectra VXR or Holden Commodore SS) was smashed up facing the wrong way in the central reservation. Go figure.

The highway travels across Yas Island, Saadiyat Island and in-between goes across some mangrove swamps. It turns out that some people (you know who I mean!) have complained that you cannot enjoy the sight of the mangroves because the safety barrier is too high and blocks the view. As I was driving over today there were teams of workers cutting through the middle of the concrete barrier to make it about half the height is was. I suspect that the height of the barrier is designed to stop cars crashing over the top and ending up in the said mangrove swamp. So now they can drive at 200kmph (there are also no cameras on this highway) taking in all the beautiful views as they crash into the wall and plunge into the lovely aqua blue water below. I’m thinking of opening a book on how long it will take – but then that would be illegal…..

Camera after Saadiyat Bridge

A speed camera has appeared just after the Saadiyat Bridge as you come into the Mina area towards Abu Dhabi. I can’t vouch for whether it is live or not, but I guess it is the slippery slope to having the whole new highway covered – rats!

Sowwah & Saadiyat Islands

I had an interesting week this week with trips yesterday and today to Sowwah and Saadiyat Islands respectively. For those in the know, you will understand that this wasn't some kind of idyllic trip to the beach or anything, but it was work visits related to the construction.

Sowwah Island will be the home of the Abu Dhabi Financial Centre and within it the new AD Stock Exchange. It will also house some new 5 star hotels and also the Cleveland Clinic hospital campus. There will be 13 bridges on and off the Island, the first of which you can cross from just before AD Mall.

Saadiyat Island is targetted to be the Cultural Centre, not only of the UAE, but of the Gulf Region as a whole. There will be:

Sheikh Zayed National Museum
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum
Maritime Museum
Performing Arts Centre

In the slide show below you can see where some of this will take shape. The Zayed Museum is all a bit "hush hush" as far as the design and content is concerned, and at the moment is only marked on the Island by a pole in the desert with a UAE flag on it. About the only thing that is known is that it will be designed by Lord Norman Foster. Here is a press release about it.