The demolition gang are in...

I posted back in August that there'd been an announcement that Oasis Beach Hotel was to be demolished.

The work is well under way...



There goes another little bit of history. And the only non-five star hotel on the beach strip.

Please sort out the roadsigns!

I've complained many times about the bad management of signage by the RTA.

While the design of the signs is good - large, with clear, easy-to-read wording, Arabic and English - they are all to often misleading, confusing, in the wrong place. They add to the dangers of driving in Dubai and they do cause crashes, I've seen it myself.

Now there's a frantic campaign under way to make them even more confusing.

It's gone beyond just changing signs which indicate the way to suburbs to the new obsession with showing the way to roads we've never heard of.

I came across this sign yesterday on Interchange 4. They used to indicate the way to "Dubai" or to "Jebel Ali. Abu Dhabi", which was clear, concise, not confusing.

So they had to go, to be replaced by:

JBR ain't all bad.

Jumeirah Beach Residence has taken a lot of stick for the high density accommodation and I have to agree - far too many towers, too tall and too many of them packed in together.

But actually, walking around it there's a whole side of it that's been done very well.

On the Plaza level, although you're surrounded by the towers, there is some open space, water features, landscaping, and I'm surprised to say that I think it's done well.

When you're on the ocean side there are more architectural features and of course there's much more of a feeling of open space...

There are shops and restaurants up on the Plaza Level too, and some of the restaurants look to be worth a try so we'll do that over the next few weeks...

Then down at ground level on the Gulf side there's The Walk. That's the retail section, about two kilometres long I guess, with a lot of coffee shops and restaurants going in, many already open. There are also banks and shops such as Jumbo Electronics and clothing retailers.

It's a much more human scale down here, the ocean to one side and much lower buildings on the other, masking most of the towers from view.

Again there's open space and landscaping. A good choice of street furniture too I think, the lamps, benches, even the waste bins...

The Walk takes on a different atmosphere at night, a very pleasant one too...

There's also some nice detail, particularly the use of design and materials relevant to the region...

But of course it wouldn't truly be Dubai unless the completed work was constantly dug up.

Inevitably the holescaping gangs are out in force in the completed areas, digging them up again.

The towers remind me of the low cost towers in Hong Kong and Singapore and I wouldn't want to live in such high density, crowded accommodation. But overall I'm pleasantly surprised, the rest of it is well done.

I think I'm in the best position - a short walk from the facilities without living there.

Height of luxury.

“The United Arab Emirates is the most luxurious place for an expat to live”

HSBC Survey of expats.

This morning I came across another expat revelling in the luxury...

Any shade will do

Even in this beautiful weather it must be hot work for the labourers on their long shifts.

If there's time for a break, any shady spot is welcome:

Space Age & Stone Age

A couple of news items from India caught my attention in the last few days.

A thriving economy, the world's 12th largest, yesterday launched a rocket on a two year mission to the moon.

Meanwhile, villagers are holding an annual ritual. Women in the Badi Sadri, Udaipur district, have to prove they have been faithful to their husbands by dipping their hands in boiling oil for five seconds.



AP photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo: Renu Rakesh/Gulf News

All living on the same planet, in the same country, at the same time but they're millenia apart.

There's plenty of work to be done to stamp out these barbaric, stone age practices. I wonder if anyone in authority is bothering.

You can read the full reports here:


India launches moon mission.

Barbaric test to check wife's fidelity.

Two week campaign against dangerous driving.

I don't know whether something's been lost in translation, but another 'initiative' from Dubai police raises questions.

Gulf News reports that "...the two-week campaign focuses on three dangerous offences which include reckless driving and what accompanies it from speeding, leaving enough distance between vehicles and zigzag driving.

And it's going to be "on the stretch of Shaikh Zayed Road from the Trade Centre Roundabout to the Mall of the Emirates."

Two week campaign?

This is the type of driving that kills and injures so many people.

Shouldn't it be an ongoing, fifty-two weeks a year, twenty-four hours a day campaign?

And why on just one tiny stretch of road?

But it will be extended. "After completing the campaign on Shaikh Zayed Road, it will move to other highways and external roads and will continue until there is a positive reaction and commitment from the motorists."

I simply don't get it.

A two week campaign on a small stretch of road, to be extended later.

If we're ever to get our horrendous accident and death rate down we need more traffic police out on the roads, all the roads, all the time. Starting now.


The full report is here.



Then onto another hot topic around town.

Another Gulf News report tells us that As the deadline for tenants in overcrowded villas draws nearer, Dubai Municipality has clarified that people can share villas if they are related.

That seems to suggest a bit of backtracking by Dubai Municipality, that they've given a little more thought to their original all-encompasing directive. Or perhaps something was lost in translation when the original announcement was made.

The 'one villa one family' campaign is a misnomer apparently. Now "...the current inspections aimed at curbing the illegal sharing of villas is in line with 'Let us protect our residential environment...together', and not to implement a 'one villa one family' policy."

At least an official from DM has now said that the crackdown is against overcrowding, although they still haven't gone far enough and seem not to understand the concept of shared accommodation.

The official said: "If the members are in some way related, there is no problem if they share a villa but there should be no overcrowding."

No overcrowding, yes I agree with that. But sharers have to be related? Why?

I know, for example, two British couples, friends but not related, who share a three bedroom, three bathroom villa. For the same money they could each get a small studio apartment, so they prefer to share the villa with much more space and comfort.

Why shouldn't they?

And singles sharing a villa, each with their own room. Why should they not be allowed to share?

The new clarification is a step in the right direction but they need to go further. Stamp out overcrowding, yes. Stamp out sharing accommodation, no.



That story is here.