The World’s Coolest Sandpit…

Being a big kid at heart means I am always up for a bit of playtime. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to spend 3 nights visiting the lads in Dubai on my way to La Londres. A couple of big nights, a serious case of sunglasses tan and a spot of indoor snowboarding later and I was out of there. It went so quickly. Whoever came up with the saying, “time flies when you’re having fun” was not talking shit.
The city of Dubai is an absolute phenomenon. It’s as if there is a group of rockstars sitting in a room trying to think of the coolest shit to build and do and then someone does it. Almost every building has a crane on top of it and the skyline is dominated by what will be, upon completion, the tallest building in the world. It is also being built with the capacity for add ons so if another building claims the the title it can be made higher. Some other architectural and engineering marvels include the world’s tallest hotel, the palm tree shaped islands and the currently under construction world islands. Every now and then, however, you are reminded that you are in the desert as you drive past a plot of undeveloped sand.

The population is divided in a 70-30 expat-arab split which means that while you still get exposure to a different culture and religion, there is a certain degree of familiarity and comfort in this decidedly westernized society and you don’t get the impression that you’re going to have your knob amputated for looking at an angel’s lady lumps.

In essence, the Sheik is trying to create a Utopian society… A truly beautiful city where there is no income tax, you get deported if you test positive for HIV and those in power really look out for their people. A few years ago, the ruling Sheik underwent a triple bypass, survived and recovered from this major surgery. He was evidently rather pleased with this outcome because he subsequently paid off every citizen’s debt. Moral of the story: Next time the Sheik goes in for surgery, rack up one hell of a credit card bill and then pray that he survives.