Al Sufouh trams

Gulf News tells us that the RTA has awarded the contract for phase one of the Al Sufouh Tram project. Phase One is scheduled to commence operations on April 11, 2011.

It'll run around Dubai Marina, including Jumeirah Beach Residence, link with the Metro at Jumeirah Lake Towers and Marina stations and have a total of thirteen stops (or stations, as they're called).

That's all good news, but I still fear for safety with trams 44 metres long carrying 305 passengers trundling along rails on the same roads as Dubai's moronic drivers.

And I have a question about the planning. Don't I always!

Phase One is a tram to nowhere. Here's the graphic produced by Gulf News (click on it to enlarge it):

Why doesn't Phase One go the extra distance to Madinat Jumeirah? Or even better, to Mall of the Emirates Metro station. Why leave that section to be included in Phase Two?

The Gulf News story is here.

The beach romp final word.

The last word on the beach romp - perhaps.

There are what I think are a couple of very good columns, the first by Minette Marrin in the UK Sunday Times.

An extract:

‘Why don’t we do it in the road?” That was the question posed by the Beatles in 1968 in the song of that name....

...Now, 40 years on, we have a couple of well-to-do British expatriates in Dubai shamelessly and drunkenly doing it on the beach...

...I have absolutely no sympathy for them but I do think that given the permissive culture of the country in which they grew up – they were born only a few years after 1968 – it is understandable, if depressing, that they themselves didn’t see much wrong with their behaviour.
From their perspective it is apparently quite normal for two strangers to meet at a hotel brunch, drink themselves silly and proceed to perform sex acts on each other in public. It is normal to insult a policeman who has the effrontery to caution them, regardless of the law, and to carry on.

That is what Britons do at home and abroad. They belch, vomit, copulate, litter and barge their way through public spaces, dressed like hookers and louts, defying the police without shame or modesty. British expatriates are some of the worst: overpaid, oversexed and all over the place.

Palmer and Acors are appealing against their convictions. Yet by Palmer’s own admission, she was drunk and they were kissing and cuddling. “We didn’t have sex together,” she insisted. “I was lying on top of him.” This is rather to miss the point.


See what you think, it's here.

The Times also ran a column on Friday by Ross Clark, along the same lines.

For example:

The Dubai beach-sex couple weren't just stupid, they were irresponsible.

There is no better recruiter for al-Qaeda than Westerners thumbing their noses at the laws of Islamic countries.

It would be very easy for Dubai to turn a blind eye to the behaviour of British tourists and expatriates: to say to themselves, we may not like it, but we like the foreign currency too much to discourage these free-spending Westerners.
That is the Faustian pact into which so many holiday destinations around the world have entered, with inevitable results: Westerners start to behave like outlaws, doing things that they wouldn't dare do at home.

You can read the column here.

One for the boys

First, trivia. The photograph of the foggy junction I posted yesterday - here's the same spot a couple of hours later:



And these are what I thought car enthusisasts might be interested to see. They're parked every so often by Al Sufouh Road just before Knowledge Village

Morning fog

Friends overseas are surprised when I talk about the thick fog we get in Dubai.

Fog in the desert? There sure is, and we had some dangerous stuff this morning.

This is the major crossroad at the Dubai Marina/Media City junction:



I was pleasantly surprised at the driving. Even the usual suspects - the labourer buses and Land Rovers - were driving within the limits of visibility.

But there's still the stupidy of the lights question. Thick, thick fog with visibility in places no more than 10 metres and there were plenty of vehicles with no lights on.

Amd of course, the morons with their hazard lights going, like this bus:

Three months for beach romp

Inevitably the British tabloids' hysteria about Vince and Michelle facing six years in Al Slammer were just a little over the top.

They were charged with engaging in sexual activity in public, committing an indecent gesture in public and consuming alcohol. And they've been given three months jail, a fine of Dh1,000 and deportation.

Their lawyer says he will appeal.


The story is here.

The whale shark PR

"Representatives of Atlantis resort...did not return calls to the AP on Thursday. They also did not respond to AP's request to speak to one of the marine specialists the hotel says monitors the whale shark around the clock."

That was in the International Herald Tribune.

Atlantis' handling of this story should be written up and used in marketing communication courses as a perfect example of what a company should not do.

A large juvenile female whale shark is being held in the resort's aquarium. According to the original announcement that she was there for paying customers to see, the resort said that the animal was recued by fishermen and they were giving it medical care.

I don't think anyone will be surprised at the revelations by ex-employees of Atlantis reported in Gulf News today - another bad PR hit for the hotel:

Sammy was not rescued by the Atlantis hotel, Gulf News has learnt, after speaking to ex-Atlantis employees who say that plans to have a whale shark in the hotel's Ambassador aquarium were clear from the beginning.

According to several previous employees who spoke to Gulf News on condition of anonymity, there was never been any plan to release Sammy and the hunt to find a resident whale shark was relentless, with fishing boats heading out every night to find one.

And they continue their PR strategy:

No comment was available from Atlantis or Nakheel after repeated attempts by Gulf News on Tuesday.

Like so many cliches, the saying that any publicity is good publicity simply isn't true.

There's been a raft of bad publicty, here and internationally, about the resort, not only about the whale shark. Instead of handling it professionally their strategy, if they have one, has been to ignore it.

The bunker mentality PR plan.



IHT story is here.

Gulf News' latest story is here.

Like a good Chinese meal?

Over the last few years we've all-but stopped going to Chinese restaurants, other than in Singapore, because the food they serve has become predicable, all the same, bland...and every dish is swimming in that strange, slimy, beige coloured sauce.

However, there is one in Dubai that we enjoy, the food has been consistently good every time we've been there and the menu offers a good selection of different regions' cuisine.

The restaurant is China Times in Jumeirah Plaza on Beach Road. That's the end of Beach Road near Jumeirah Mosque and the giant flag.

We've tried many of the dishes and although we obviously prefer some to others we've never faulted the quality of any of them, even the ones we didn't like very much.

We were there on Saturday evening and as I said I'd post about it Mrs Seabee took photographs for me.

It's part of the Bin Hendi group and they seem to have a policy of serving very large portions, (Japengo is another example) so it's easy to order far too much. However, it's normal in Chinese restaurants to tau pau (take away/doggie bag) and we always leave with a bagful.

So here's what we had this time...

The fabulous crispy vegetable spring roll to start:



A (very large) bowl of Singapore noodles with chicken:



Vegetables in oyster sauce:



And my new favourite, crispy duck with plum sauce. I've never had such meaty duck anywhere, so this is a big portion:



The duck is more expensive than most items on the menu at Dh50, but the total bill, including a bottle of mineral water and the these-days-inevitable service charge, was only Dh155.

The staff are great and it's a pleasant enough restaurant to sit in too - if you have a window seat you can watch the world go by on Beach Road.



Nothing pretentious about it, it's just a good neighbourhood restaurant. But well worth a visit in my opinion.