Dubai as I see it

Source: http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/07/sinister_paradise.html

Dubai fascinates me. The entire city seems to be in a constant state of development. Developing newer, bigger and more iconic skyscrapers, office buildings, apartments, condominiums and malls. I even learnt a new term, Pentaminiums, meaning penthouse condominiums. Everywhere I travel along the highways, I see many buildings in different state of development and construction, seemingly trying to surpass one another with awe-inspiring or jaw-dropping intents.

Piling works ongoing in empty plots of land. Long cranes sitting high atop already tall, half-finished skyscrapers. A fully developed apartment tower is sandwiched in between another two partially constructed buildings. Every few kilometres, one can see billboards and posters advertising newer development areas and projects.

In time to come, the well-known Burj Al Arab will be surpassed by yet another monument skyscraper, the Burj Dubai. Looking at this latest project, the words that come to mind are sleek, majestic, modern, cool, cold.

The skyscrapers and buildings do make for a pretty sight. Sunlight reflecting off the shiny windows of ceiling to floor glass buildings, glittering and sparkling like blue sapphires. Images of the sky and fluffy clouds can be seen mirrored on these shiny glass facades. At night, the long cranes are all lighted up, and the skyline of the entire city twinkles every other second, warning helicopters and airplanes of the sheer height of all the skyscrapers in this concrete jungle desert city.

At times, they all seem so surreal and unreal. As much as I am a city girl, I just cannot imagine myself to be living in this city. Maybe I am not the sophisticated city mouse that I thought I am. Or perhaps, this is really the grandeur an oil-rich country can buy for itself.

And becos they are so rich, I imagine that it would be beneath most Arabs to think about working in the service industry. In the hotels, the malls and the retail shops, the staffs are Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos or Africans. Carrefour has an entire section dedicated to selling common items and condiments for Indian and Philippines cuisines. Timeout Dubai list many Indian restaurants around the city, ranging from the affordable and value-for-money to the haute cuisine.

Still, I’m grateful for the chance to see and experience Dubai, even though I’m holed up in the hotel more often than not. I chalk it up to an education and eye-opening experience.

Right now, I can’t wait to go to the spice souk and/or perhaps the gold souk. Instead of being greeted by service staff with a foreign accent, I hope to glean into the Arab of old. One where perhaps, an old and weathered man, sitting amidst all his products, hawks his goods.