Harry Connick!

I had the privilege of watching Harry Connick Jr. last weekend. Tickets were so expensive, I paid AED495 (AUD150) for the second cheapest tickets, and the cheapest tickets that were seated. Comparatively, Michael Buble in Sydney costed me AUD130 and I had the most expensive tickets. It was money well spent however, as I had seats on the first row though on the side of the stage.

Harry Connick Jr. was amazing, he was accompanied by a 30 piece band, including his New Orleans band and an orchestra. He's a wonderfully talented artist, and a great performer. I can't wait to see him again!

Kayaking at the Eastern Mangroves

I went kayaking last weekend at the Eastern Mangroves, right in the heart of Abu Dhabi. It's amazing being out in the water, and people are so surprised to hear that there is so much water and nature, because I'm in the desert.

Kayaking is organised by a great team of guys from Noukhada, who are extremely professional and knowledgeable about the ecology of the area. I learnt that 70% of fishing life in the Gulf spawns in the mangroves in UAE and Oman. We saw blue swimmer crabs, herons and kingfishers which were lovely. The trip before us at 6am in the morning even saw a fox along one of the beaches.

It's sad though to hear some of the stories about how much things have changed and how the ecology is changing because of all the massive developments going on. My firm is responsible for building a large hotel there, and one of the sheiks is building a palace there as well. I wish there was more conscientious development but I think this country has a long way to go in its efforts. Even something as simple as recycling is not easy, I am lucky to have found some drop off bins about 5 mins drive away so I save everything and drop it off on the weekend. Most people never recycle, but hopefully things change as the government puts in more effort in educating people about the environment.

Sex and the City 2 - Set in Abu Dhabi!!

Apparently set in Abu Dhabi but filmed in Morocco because it was easier to film there?? I bet it wont show in cinemas here, pirated DVD please if you're coming my way!

Cityscape Abu Dhabi

That my friends, is how Abu Dhabi will look like in 20 years. A 23 X 17sqm full scale model of the city of Abu Dhabi, mapping out all the development projects based on the Urban Masterplan. Obviously my picture doesn't quite capture it, but it's mind-blowingly massive.

This was part of Cityscape Abu Dhabi, an event that showcases all the major development projects going on here. Since coming here, I've always felt that what we were developing as a firm is massive, and it's so huge, but going to Cityscape puts things in perspective. What we're doing is a small part of the whole masterpiece. Its amazing.

When I saw the models, my first question was who is going to live in all these fancy apartments and villas? Call me a cynic but I don't necessarily believe in the "Build and they will come" motto that everyone in this region subscribes to. But who's to say, I bet someone said the same thing when they were building Hong Kong or Singapore.

Insyallah, I live long enough to see the city built up fully like the model!

Desert Safari

I had the privilege of having my first visitor in Abu Dhabi over the Easter weekend. Not that I had an Easter weekend!

We drove around Abu Dhabi checking out the sites, and to be honest there really isn't that much to do in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, unless you're really into shopping malls. It is amazing however to check out how much construction is going on around here, and how different things are going to be in 3 years time, with the Louvre, Guggenheim, Zayed Museums, Saadiyat etc.

However, there are lots to do outside Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I would have loved to have time to take a weekend out to Sir Bani Yas Island which has a really good wildlife safari and falconry, Qasr al Sarab, or to drive around the other Emirates, which are said to be much more historical and rugged. There is also Oman a short 2 hours drive away.

Given my short weekend, my friend and I only had time to do a day trip to Dubai and then a desert safari. The desert safari boasted of visits to an Ostrich farm, camel farm, dune bashing, sand boarding, riding a camel and then finishing it all off with a bbq in the desert in a traditional bedouin camp underneath the stars.

So we set out for an hour's drive out towards the deserts near Al Ain, and stopped at the ostrich farm where we got to see some pretty huge ostriches. We then saw some camels at the camel farm, and then drove off in a convoy of 26 4WDs for a spot of dune bashing. To the uninitiated, that basically means driving along metre high sand dunes then tipping over them. It's pretty intense stuff, especially for the front passenger, aka MOI! It basically felt like a rollercoaster only scarier. We also got stuck once, and had to be towed by another 4WD (see pic). Would I do it again...er only if I had to.

Then we made way to the traditional Bedouin campsite and it so was not what I expected. It catered for maybe 200 people, with carpets and tables. It was nice sitting outside underneath the stars though it just was a little too touristy for my liking. I didn't bother trying sandboarding because there were so many people waiting and watching and I knew I would fall on my face. I did try the camel ride though (all 5 seconds of it!), that was pretty uncomfortable especially as the camel gets up from the ground. I of course, looked the obvious klutz and I think my friend and I made quite a sight trying to stifle our screams! They finished the night off with a belly dance which err if anyone has checked, is NOT emirati at all. She was the best belly dancer I've seen though, and I guess most tourists wouldn't know the difference between countries in the Middle East anyway.

All in all, a pretty interesting experience though I'm not sure I would want to go again..

Qasr again!

I had to go to Qasr al Sarab again a few days ago, for another workshop. It wasn't as pleasant as before, I wish I didn't have to work while I was there. The highlight was definitely this camel that we saw along the way, we actually had to stop while it crossed! It's amazing kinda like our cows in Malaysia, but this time it's camels. It is quite dangerous though as most people are driving at more than 150km/h and I heard if you hit and kill a camel, you go to jail. Urban myth? Better safe than sorry me thinks..

Saadiyat Island

I was lucky enough to visit Saadiyat Island last week as part of a site visit. The island currently houses a Gary Player golf course, and a temporary exhibition centre. Eventually, the island will house the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums, 14 5 star resorts, luxury residential villas, a wildlife reserve and who knows what else.

It's absolutely fascinating to see nothing but sand and crane and concrete pilings there now, and to know that in 3 years, this will be where everyone who visits the Middle East will want to visit. That's the other exciting thing about the job I"m doing, I meet all sorts of interesting people - an urban planner who did part of the Egypt town centre, a lady from one of the most prominent museums in the world, and my housemate is one of the designers who is helping to design some of our hotels and a dive centre. Beats all the bankers and corporate people I used to work with in Australia!

Qasr al Sarab

I had an offsite workshop on Wed and Thursday last week at the awesome Qasr al Sarab resort at the Liwa desert. It's basically a resort developed in the middle of the desert, about 2 hours drive outside of Abu Dhabi, 20km from Saudi Arabia. Link here.. http://qasralsarab.anantara.com/

Getting there was an adventure itself! We got lost along the way, trying to find the road that leads there..just like Malaysia, there are no signs. We did see 1 sign, and took that turnoff, but then of course, after that there are no more signs so we ended up driving until we came to a pool of cab drivers. My colleague who speaks hindi gets out and asks for directions. There is a huge commotion, lots of shouting, waving of hands and finally the asking of some moolah! It was hilarious, I of course stayed in the car being the only female..the taxi guy did lead us to the right track finally!

On the way, we saw camels walking along the desert. It was amazing for me, just like what we would see in the pictures. There is no herder either, the head camel seems to know where to lead the herd too, and there are like 20 camels in a herd. It was surreal, I wished I could have taken a picture but we were going at 150kmh so not a good idea.

The resort itself is amazing. It stretches 1.8km from one end to the other. I stayed in a basic room. By basic I mean it included a nespresso coffee maker, lots of fruits, dates, sweeping views of the desert and a huge deep bathtub that took 25mins to fill! There are villas with private pools, and a royal pavillion which is where all the sheiks stay. The views are amazing, it changes colour throughout the day. While it's not cheap, I really think it's a once in a lifetime experience. I'm glad I got to do it for free though I was cooped up in a boardroom for the whole day.

Pictures coming on my flickr site soon..