Happy 2016

2015 closed in a very unexpected way...

We were at home as usual to enjoy the Burj Khalifa fireworks with neighbors. As the world knows, before midnight a fire broke out at one of the landmark hotels near the Burj Khalifa.

While we could not see the building due to other skyscrapers in our line of sight, we could see the flames reflecting off the windows of another building.

Completely confused and unexpected, we were not sure if the typical Dubai new year would continue. We turned off our music, got the kids interested in a movie and sat outside waiting to see what would happen. We were relieved to read that all were evacuated.

Much to our surprise, fireworks went off at midnight. They were beautiful. It was bittersweet as we could see the smoke of the hotel in the background.

As one friend summed up, it was a difficult year for many. Many things happened in the world, and for others many personal changes are happening. What a surreal way to close out 2015.


Several weeks ago my son's Boy Scout troop got a chance to go to the fire station and meet some of the Dubai Civil Defense team. It was impressive, and I learned a lot. In particularly, I learned that they do have plans and the ability to respond to these kinds of things. I certainly wish them well and thank them for containing this to the best of their ability.

No resolutions for me for 2016...  2015 closed with another  reminder that we never know what the future holds and life can change in an instant.

I just want to keep doing more, stay healthy and motivated to make a change in the world - even if a small one. My blog hiatus has been a result of focussing on that in the last few months of 2015.

I hope that 2016 will bring a lot of change. Watch this space.

Happy New Year

My New Year thoughts are on my photography site blog.

If you do not wish to click there, here are the images.  The LED show that was seen from the front is running until January 9th at 6:45pm and 11:45pm.  I can't wait to see it!

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

More from the Dubai Light Festival

Here are a few more images from the Dubai Light Festival last week.  

We had a good rain the day before I went out.  While the desert can be dusty, we seem to have the clearest puddles.  Although they would be a nuisance, I wish they would stay around a little longer than one day.

Dubai Festival of Lights

Dubai Festival of Lights

Palace Hotel, Dubai Festival of Lights

The Dubai Festival of Lights

Dubai Festival of Lights

Dubai Festival of Lights

Today concludes the Dubai Festival of Lights.  Downtown Dubai, which is pretty well lit already, had an exhibit of various light installations for nine days.

If you missed it, and you are not going to the World Cup Tomorrow, or the Cavalia show, or Lord of the Dance, or one of the many other activities crammed into the good weather months here, you can enjoy Earth Hour festivities in the same area tomorrow evening at 8:30pm.

Dubai Festival of Lights

Lucy and Tom Cruise

A Sunbird in it's nest in Dubai

What do Lucy and Tom Cruise have in common?

They both survived the most epic sand storm ever in Dubai - only Lucy's was the real deal.  Tom's was cinema production.  He did his own stunt on the Burj Khalifa, so I guess we can forgive the fake sandstorm.

I have enjoyed having Lucy around, and she is now used to me.  She flies up across the table and checks me out as I work outside.  She is always cautious but I feel privileged that she goes on about her business as I am in close proximity tending to mine.  I like to think she appreciates that I open the door to greet her in the morning.  Or I could just be crazy bird lady.

I am pretty sure I saw Lucy settle in her nest and lay eggs last week.  I am only guessing this because I question a bird that sits in the nest and breathes deeply with its mouth open.  She doesn't strike me as a bird that snores.

We had a very strong storm in Dubai last week that included intense rain that even resulted in hail in some areas.  After a few windy days, the grande finale blew through before it could start, but it left an impression.  So much that I received an email from my father tonight informing me that some friends were inquiring about Lucy and wondering if she survived the storm.

I was going to hold off on Lucy posts until we had babies, but since there is global concern for her welfare, I am happy to report that Lucy is alive and well.  Hopefully if she has eggs they are not scrambled, but she is fine and the nest is in tact.

Her nest was swinging like an amusement park ride all weekend, but it held on.  I only lost all my little pomegranate buds from the tree.

If you want to see the local video that was taken of the storm, you can click here to watch it.  It is pretty impressive.  If you look carefully, you may see Tom Cruise trying to out run it.

Happy New Year

Burj Khalifa 2014 New Year

December was a good month, but super busy.  While my head exploded with observations, I was not able to post at all.  After the weekend of Thanksgiving and National Day we worked a lot to wrap up the year, but had a lot of fun and good times with friends in Dubai.

I think I could also contribute my lack of posting for the fair amount of time required to do the holiday things that need to be done to make it special for my son… and that is never a bad thing.  It was a lot of fun and many great memories were created.

Once again, it was very difficult to leave the comfort of home and company of great neighbors to take in the fireworks anywhere else.  If there was a time to do it, this would have been the year to conquer the crowds as Dubai is now the world record holder for the largest firework display.

After a busy day of shopping, cooking and doing some much needed organization, I insisted to get in one last run before the new year.  Sometime after 6:00pm I ventured out into the streets around Burj Khalifa.

Much of my route was closed for obvious reasons, but I took on a new obstacle course instead. Hundreds of people were multiplying exponentially in the streets to find the best place to enjoy the show.  There I found myself dodging people from all walks of life, different religions, countries and languages - a multi-cultural obstacle course.  One of the beauties of Dubai.

If you haven't seen the firework shows on Youtube yet, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Palm shows.  The videos are pretty amazing and one local photographer I follow noted that it was really difficult to do it justice.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.

UAE National Day - Not just for Emirates

Fireworks in Celebration of the Expo2020 Win in Dubai

Last weekend was very eventful for Dubai.  On Wednesday, November 27th, Expo 2020 was awarded to the Emirate.  The city celebrated, and fireworks entertained us from the Burj Khalifa. This was a great kick off to the long holiday weekend for UAE National Day.  Only 42 years ago, the UAE became a nation, and now it has been selected to host an Expo - quite an achievement.

All this happened to fall on American Thanksgiving weekend, so we were full on at home.  From me briskly walking for a good 20 or so minutes with two 6+kg (9-pound) turkeys to catch the Expo fireworks to my two day cooking extravaganza, there was a lot to celebrate and be thankful for.

While the actual National Day was on December 2nd, a lot of us in the private sector were off on Sunday and worked on Monday.  That evening, I finally took my son for much needed shoe shopping.

We went to one of the smaller shopping malls here, and were pleasantly surprised to find a central area with locals showing off local crafts - net making, basket weaving, henna painting and singing. In another area was a large table with National Day accessories like scarves, bracelets, flags, and pins.

My son very much wanted a pin with a picture of HH Sheikh Mohamed, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and the Ruler of Dubai; HH Sheikh Hamdan, the Crown Prince of Dubai, and HH Sheikh Khalifa the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.  It was small so I gave him some money to buy it - and after all it was National Day.

My son was so excited to put the pin on right away.  He walked around proudly with his chest out for all to see.  He had a sweater on that he zipped up, but immediately had to open because it covered his UAE badge.  On the way out we watched some local dancing and drumming, and he danced the entire way back to the car.

As we went to dinner, I kept thinking about how proud he was of his new purchase.  I thought about the thousands of children living here like my son, who are not local, but were born here.  This is the only home they know.  They all know they descend from parents who are not local, but this is the place they call home.

Like those other children growing up here, he loves the UAE and Dubai.  When we travel and he sees an Emirates flag on the airplane he is incredibly excited.  And when people ask where he is from, Dubai is included in that explanation.

He doesn't quite know what an Expo is, but he was excited it was awarded to Dubai.  I am sure this will be a holiday he does not forget - a celebration of Expo and the UAE, Thanksgiving and we even put up our Christmas tree early.  How can a child not love a country that can offer him the ability to do all of this in one weekend.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday to the UAE - our home away from wherever "home" is…

Fireworks in Celebration of the Expo2020 Win in Dubai

Happy New Year

Burj Khalifa did it again.  We were witness to another great New Year show in Dubai.  Like last year, we opted to stay in and enjoy the scenes from our balcony.

In theory, it seems like a good idea to venture out to the desert or somewhere to the heart of the action to get some different shots.  But in reality, we enjoy watching it from the comfort of our home with good friends.

I think my son (who much to my surprise was still awake with his friends to witness it) pretty much summed it up when he shouted "I love you Burj Khalifa!" during the show.  So do we.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2013!  Happy New Year!

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE, NY 2013

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE, NY 2013

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE, NY 2013 - After the fireworks

As far as the shots above, I did not do too much to them outside of correcting the lens distortion.  I used what is often referred to as "light painting", which is basically just a slower shutter speed.  The first two were at 10 seconds, f/13, while the last one was an experiment at 20 seconds, f/4.

Thoughts for the New Year

Window Washers at the Burj Khalifa

For the last few months we are now to the good part.  It’s that time of year where the weather is so nice - Mild, sunny days.  Yes, Dubai is extremely hot for 3 or 4 months of the year, but it is a small price to pay for beautiful weather the rest of the time.

The city and everyone living here takes advantage of the amazing weather.  There are countless events outside, and it is always a great day to head to the beach.  It only rained one day about a week ago, and that will likely be it for the next 12 months or more.

In addition to the weather, we enjoy the area where we live.  When we first moved to Dubai, housing was hard to come by.  If you saw an apartment you liked, you had to sign on the spot because it would be gone within an hour later.  No joke.

I came here and had a look for one week, and during that time I found a complex that was under construction.  The model looked nice, and the size seemed reasonable, but more importantly I had the most unexplainable feeling that we needed to live there.  I felt very strongly that we should not live anywhere else.  It was not until a few years later that I learned we would be across the street from the world’s tallest building and what is referred to as “Downtown Dubai”. 

I remember looking out the window asking my husband where it would be.  “There,” he told me.  But there was nothing there.  It was all desert.  We were pretty much living at the end of Dubai for a few short years.

I watched Burj Khalifa emerge from the sand out my window, and I somehow still could not believe it.  Now it is great to wake up every morning and see it.  We also enjoy a walk or run around the Dubai Fountains and spend a lot of time playing football (soccer) or lately, freeze tag on the lawn at the base of the building on the weekends.  

Two weeks ago I went out earlier than usual to shoot some architecture photography.  I was amazed at how many people were out cleaning the area.  I know they do it, but to see so many was both impressive and humbling.  Many places here are always immaculately clean.  Even if it looks clean already, someone is cleaning.  They wash the sidewalks, maintain the fountains and clean the windows of all these buildings among other things.

Since last weekend, they have been preparing for the New Year.  We will watch from our much less crowded balcony again, but to see all this come together and all the work that goes into it, has been amazing.  I am so appreciative of the workers, and all the others who work to keep the area and Dubai clean. 

The big thing in the news here last week was about a gas station attendant that was strip searched over a small tip.  Needless to say it created a lot of outrage.  Blue-collar workers here are paid a low wage, and like many migrant workers throughout the world, they send their money back home to their families and children so they can hopefully have a better life.

The story did not go unnoticed.  Many people are protesting the gas station.  But more importantly, on the seventh anniversary of his accession, Sheikh Mohammed, Ruler of Dubai, used this as an opportunity to honor and create awareness about the blue-collar workers here. 

He is quoted as tweeting, “This year, we focus on a new group: general labor employees such as gardeners, janitors, construction workers, domestic workers among others.

“These groups play an active role in society. Some have spent many years doing a great job and they deserve a big ‘thank you’ from all of us.”  Sheikh Mohammed said these “unknown soldiers” were the reason streets, buildings and other facilities were ready, clean, and decorated every day.  “We want to let them know that their services are valued and appreciated as they make our lives easier and better.”  (thenational.ae)

This is such a big step for workers rights here, and hopefully those who have been mistreated, or not appreciated will see improved conditions and pay in the future.

So while we are watching the fireworks at Burj Khalifa, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, let's not litter, pick up our trash, maybe buy the workers a sandwich or a bottle of water.  Let's do something in 2013 to let them know how much they are appreciated.  As Sheikh Mohammed said, they make our lives easier, so let’s do something in return.

Washing the sidewalks at the Burj Khalifa

My Exercise Mantra

Lately I seem to have, or see the same discussion among a lot of friends… The subject of exercise.  When is it not on our minds?  At some level it always is.  Get healthier, get slimmer, get fitter, get faster, get stronger….

I was reading a friend’s awesome blog the other night, 40’s Here I Am and her entry I Heart Triathlon was so timely.  I have known this blogger, Cristen Plummer, since high school.  We spent a few years next too each other in the same high kick line in our school dance team.  We spent many hours dancing, kicking and sweating under the hot Texas sun together.  She is now an awesome triathlete among many other things and has a great blog that I recommend.

I Heart Triathlon resonated with me because she really articulated that she is in a very Zen place with her training.  I am not even training for anything, and I could relate. 

I have another very dear friend in Dubai who just participated in an Ultra Marathon and completed her first marathon in a very brutal Venice this year.  She is also a rock star.

In a few brief emails upon her return, she mentioned she wants to take me to the ultra, and she thought of me when she was in Venice and is encouraging me to get back to my runner self again.   In theory, I love this idea.  In reality, I don’t think I want to.  At least not anytime soon.

In no way am I slighting her amazing achievements, or her thoughtfulness.  As Cristen acknowledges she is in a place that she is happy to focus on shorter tris.  I am happy to acknowledge that I am in a place where I am not focusing on any type of distance what so ever… Insane? maybe.  

A “few” years ago I completed a marathon.  It was one of the best and worst days in my life equating to a life changing experience.  Having experienced both, I think childbirth could be easier.

Back when I was a long distance runner, I always told myself I would complete an ironman when I turned 40. Well, guess what?  I passed that benchmark.  I am sincere when I say that I am equally ecstatic that another friend I know from that same dance team completed an ironman – two years in a row.  And she rocked it.  I have not completed an ironman, or any kind of tri for that matter, and it is okay.  I am so happy for those that have.

My philosophy about exercise today is if everything works and I can function, then that is enough for me.  I don't sit around and let it deteriorate, but this is my mantra right now.  I think a lot has to do with the fact that I always live by a number. 

I live by the time I need to get up.  The time I need to get out the door.  The time I need to drop my son at school.  The time I need to pick him up.  The time the nurses will check his blood sugar.  The time they will call me if something is off.  The time I need to be at this meeting or that one.  The time my son’s blood sugar will be checked again.  The time I need to go to a doctor’s appointment.  The time my friends are getting together for an early dinner that I will not be able to join. The time I need to work later because I break in the day to pick up my son from school mid-day.  The time my son goes to bed.  The time I need to check my son’s blood sugar.  The time he needs to eat so his blood sugar does not go too low later.  The time of that yoga class I will not make because I need to work to finish something before the scheduled meeting the next day.  The time of that cool aerial silk class that is way too early for anyone who works.  The time I need to be at that party.  The time I need to be at that dinner.  The time I should be sleeping.  The time I need to get up the next day to achieve everything else I need to do… the time…tick tock tick tock.  Enough scheduling and racing against the clock.

As a result of living by the watch, I have a new exercise philosophy, which I owe a lot to my previous yoga practice.  I started yoga years ago as the result of a running injury before it was as cool as it is now.  I found something amazing, and I was in the best shape of my life, but the benefits are not only physical.

What it did teach me was to live in the present.  Enjoy the moment.  This is my new training regime.  I am just in the present and enjoy it.  Maybe I will change someday.  But for now, I am just happy to be with it.  Be in it. 

I do not run every day.  I do not do yoga every day.  I am not sure what I am.  I am pretty sure this does not matter.  Shocking revelation: I exercise based on my mood and what I feel, and what time of day it is.  I look at what I need at that time, and do it. 

I do not have any PRs (Personal Records) to beat, or distances to further.  It has been refreshing to not have to train for anything.  I just go out and do what it is I need to do.

I ran the other night.  I love running again.  Why?  Its not the distance, or the hope to fit into my skinny jeans.  I love running because I can run past the Dubai Fountains while listening to the Talking Heads or something else that is not expected.   I can run to meet my friend that is getting her hair colored at the salon nearby.  I can run behind my son as he rides his bike and we stop for lunch. 

I wear no watch.  I know no distance.  Be sure, “Run mommy run!” is the best phrase you will ever hear that indicates you are about to embrace the best speed workout or tempo run of your life.  The beauty is, it does not feel like work.

I really salute all of you amazing people out there accomplishing your fitness goals.  It is never easy, and always admirable.

However, sometimes, there is something indescribable about being in that moment.  That moment which is so amazing that you will never get it back.  I do realize a lot of those epiphanies happen during races and PR’s.  They also happen at other times when you least expect them…

Today I asked my son if he wanted his sunglasses as I ran after him while he rode his bike around the Burj Khalifa past the Dubai Fountains. 

“No mommy.  Everything is so beautiful I want to see it”.

Make sure you see it.  Don’t miss it.

View from a run in Downtown Dubai

Cold in the Atmosphere

A few days ago it was my 12^th wedding anniversary.  Ironically, we bought each other watches.  They say some couples start looking the same after a while, but I guess we stepped it up a notch and think in the same way sometimes.  No, they are not matching watches.

Wore out from the usual work stuff, we wanted a quiet celebration so decided to have a drink at the Burj Khalifa restaurant, At.mosphere.  Yes, that is not a typing error, there is a period after the At.  While I am sometimes good at word play, I am not sure why the dot is there.

At.mosphere holds the world record for the highest restaurant above ground level.  While this is pretty straight forward, the website says it is on the 122^nd floor.  I was certain that the elevator button was 123 - another thing that perplexes me.

We considered going there for dinner with a small group of friends shortly after it opened a year or two ago.  After insisting that we had to dine in a private room (with no view) and have a set menu that they would select for our party of six, we quickly cancelled our reservation.   Going for an anniversary drink this year seemed safe. 

The entrance is through a car park.  Once you are in the lobby, it is very elegant.  There is a receptionist that asks you to have a seat until the hostess can greet you.  The hostess confirms your reservation and then opens an entrance gate to escort you to the elevator.

It seems that there is only one elevator.  The strangest part was that another couple arrived while we were waiting in the lobby.  They were not addressed until we were in the elevator.  This made me uncomfortable.  I have no issues sharing an elevator with people who are obviously going to the same place.  I assume they are trying to create a service experience of exclusivity, but this felt insulting.

While very dark inside, it has a great view of Dubai, obviously.  We had our celebratory drink and would have enjoyed it except for one thing.  It was freezing inside.  I am not exaggerating when I say the temperature was likely close to 15C, or 60F – and the place was empty.  Dubai is known to use too much air conditioning, but this was of epic proportions.  The staff may be from countries that have acclimatized them, but this is a waste of energy.

There is something fundamentally wrong when someone brings you a shawl in a restaurant that is in a controlled climate.   On the way out, the hostess on the ground floor asked how our visit was.  We were honest and requested that she give our feedback about the temperature to someone.  She had a look of horror on her face as she asked, “Did no one give you a shawl?” 

I have never been more thankful to be out in the 38 C (100 F) summer heat of Dubai so that I could thaw and feel my nose again.  If I had not worn shoes to match the occasion, I would have been more than happy to walk home.

I like Dubai and enjoy living here.  I love that every morning I look out my bedroom window and see the reflection of the sun on the Burj Khalifa.  However, that sun does not seem to penetrate the structure.  If you come visit, by all means go to At.mosphere if you like.  The view is great.  Just make sure you bring a winter coat. 

Happy New Year

I felt like this year many people were fed up with the outrageousness in the over-priced, over-ratedness of New Years Eve.  I have been there for a while now.  Paying three or more times per person for something standard or sub-standard is just not fun or necessary.  Most people I talked to this year had a party at home or stayed home.  Many, like us, went to dinner the night before. (I hope the restaurants do not figure that out!).  For the big event we stayed at home balcony bound to watch the Burj Khalifa fireworks with another couple who live in our building.

We are fortunate we do not need to venture out into the traffic and craziness to watch this.  That morning I went for a walk-pseduo run with my son through the area as he rode his bike and saw this year they were much more organized than last year.  Among the many kiosks there were two stages set up for live music, so I imagine the park opposite Dubai Mall was a great place to be last night.  However, I enjoyed the blaring music from the nearby hotel and just relaxing in my jeans and sweater, plus blanket (it is cold in the desert at night in winter).  Despite a mild tri-pod challenge, I was able to get a few good shots like the one below using slow shutter speed and similar settings you would use for light painting.

In Dubai you can choose the beach side near the Burj Al Arab hotel or the Burj Khalifa for fireworks.  In my opinion if you are ever in Dubai for New Year's Eve, hand's down Burj Khalifa is the best.  They were more colorful and spectacular than last year and they combined more traditional fireworks with the special technology that shoots them off the building.  It was awesome and I cannot wait to do the same thing next year.

Happy New Year everyone!

Tom Cruise is a Bad Ass

I always say, say what you want about Tom Cruise, but as an actor, he is awesome.  Yes, its crazy to swing from the Burj and all that, but he did it and it was entertaining.

An image I took of Burj Khalifa
back in Dec 2009 before it was open

Sometime last year it was announced that the new Mission Impossible film would be shot in Dubai.  Pretty exciting.  Even though there are a a fair amount of films shot around this region, to have such a blockbuster wouldn't be such a bad thing.

So one day in November 2010 I come home from work and look out the window at the Burj Khalifa.  I see a man scaling down the tower with way too much finesse to be a window washer.  I had my suspicions and thought this might be something to do with the film.  After all, how can you not shoot an action movie here and not feature this massive structure that is 828 meters / 2,716 feet high?

The following weekend I looked up as I was having my breakfast and low and behold there were a few people swinging and running up and down the Burj as a helicopter hovered over.  As we know Tom Cruise likes to do a lot of his own stunts, I would have bet money that was him.  Reports and pictures later confirmed it was.

Its a bird, its a plane, no its Tom Cruise!

I don't have any kind of zoom that can reach that far, but I still took a few snapshots.  - So excuse the poor quality and noise in the images further down.

Wondering how to explain this to my son who was only finishing age 2 at the time, I didn't really have to because he was more interested in the helicopter than the fact that there were some crazy guys playing on the tall building.  I accept he is a risk taker, but I don't want to feed too many crazy ideas in that department just yet!

It was impressive because they were at it all day, all weekend.  I heard they also continued the following weekend, but we were traveling, so didn't see it.  So at least 3 or 4 days of filming for just a few seconds, or a minute of a thrilling scene.

We finally went to see the film on Christmas Eve.  I like a good caper film and a little action is always welcome.  In my opinion, it delivered.  It was fun and I would be lying if I said I was not interested to see my apartment building from that angle.

Tom came back to Dubai to open the movie at the Dubai Film Festival in early December of this year.  The press said that he invited all the extras to the movie.  I thought that was really decent.  Based on all the buzz and snapshots in the newspapers about him, he seems like he is a decent guy.  While he came here to make money and do crazy stunts for his movie, at the end of the day he worked hard and earned it.  He didn't have crazy publicity stunts where people paid thousands of dollars to have dinner with him and then sneak out, nor did he come here looking for his new best friend for a "reality" show, he just came here and did his job.  Not just a bad ass, but a classy one too!

Be sure to check Google images as there are
way better images of this out there than mine!

Yes, Tom Cruise is that spec on the outside

Burj Khalifa

Above is an image I took last Saturday as I was walking over to the Burj Khalifa to shoot some street photography.  This is from the bottom of one of the several parking garages of the Dubai Mall looking up.  I found this by accident while waiting to park on a busy day.

Today I read about a little boy in a local newspaper who visited the building the same day with his parents.  He has cancer and it was one of his dreams to visit the world's tallest building.  The description of his experience is lovely and he was truly wowed by the whole thing.

Before he came to Dubai, he also got to meet the Pope.  The article said the Pope blessed him.  I am really hoping and praying the Pope has some extra pull for this little boy and his family.

New Year's Eve Dubai Style

In Dubai, New Years Eve is a pretty big deal.  

I am not sure if it was always like that.  When I first moved here, I felt like things were pretty normal and moderate.  I think we can thank Buddha Bar for the onset of the over the top “spectacular” priced dinners.  The funky restaurant and bar was the first that I recall to offer a New Year’s Eve dinner at the price of 1,000 AED per person.  This is just under 300 USD.  I remember how shocked my friends and I were at the time, but they got away with it because there were not as many places open as there are today.  And I guess it was the place to be seen.  Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice place.  I guess if you have great music and can get away with a 30-foot Buddha in a Sharia law country where religious icons and paraphernalia that do not represent Islam are technically a crime, then you can charge a lot for your party.  When other outlets learned people would actually pay such a price, everyone offered similar prices for the years to follow.  Thus enter the “typical” Dubai New Year scene.

Most often we have found ourselves among friends at home.  Last year we went out to a semi-private dinner where we had an amazing roof top view of the fireworks at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeriah as well as those on the beach near the Burj Al Arab.  We were able to look down from our bird’s eye view and see people who spent a lot of money for fancy dinners, as well as those who flocked to the neighboring open beach to ring in the New Year for free.

One year when some friends were visiting from Istanbul, we decided to go to the desert.  We found a place offering dinner, music, dancing and camping at a very affordable price so we booked it.  For sure this was one of our most memorable evenings ever because we learned after we arrived that this was more geared toward the Indian population in Dubai – so much that we were the only Caucasians there.  This didn’t bother us at all, but I better understood why my Indian coworkers would pause when I told them of our plans.  We had a blast watching them dance to the sounds of who we assumed was a famous Indian DJ.  As it gets very cold in the desert around this time of year it was not long before we were dancing with them just to stay warm.  We danced all night.

At the end of the party everyone hopped on buses to head back into town with the exception of us and maybe five other people.  They offered us huts around the camp that were used to market various things during the party.  My only issue with this evening was hearing the desert mice squeak beneath my hut as they celebrated their New Year in style with all the party leftovers that would be cleaned up the next day.

So this year when discussing how to greet 2011 with our friends, everyone wanted it to be reasonably priced.  The previous Buddha Bar example is now the price floor.  Despite a slower economy, you will be hard pressed to find a "moderately" priced evening out unless you are camping on your own.  We also wanted our children to join because some of our friends with older children were wondering how long before they will not find it cool to hang out with their parents on NYE.

In the end one friend threw a big house party, which we did not attend as all of us had been sick throughout the week.  We decided to go small and rather than cook, get some ready gourmet food and eat on our balcony at home.  If we decided to stay home, we could watch the Burj Khalifa fireworks from our balcony, or we could walk across the street to see the festivities in full.

As planned, I got my sick self up around 7:00pm and went with my husband to get the food.  The huge mall parking lot was already full with people that were ready to ring in the New Year under the Burj Khalifa.  I dropped off my husband and drove around several times until he came out with the goods. 

Back home we had a lovely dinner and then played with our son until a later than usual bedtime.   Although tired, and a bit sluggish trying to digest our food, we walked across the street to the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall area.  We didn’t even need to get into the park or water fountain side.  It was already full of people in the streets, on the bridges, on the grass.

I set up my tri-pod next to a few other photographers planning to catch some snaps of the show.  As we waited for it to begin, I watched the people around me.  It was great, and reminded me of one of Dubai’s most endearing qualities.  There were people from all walks of life, from all over the world out with their friends and families ready to celebrate the New Year. 

As I mention, the UAE is a Sharia law country, so alcohol is not compliant.  They do make it available for “tourists” in most of the Emirates at bars and restaurants that have a tourist license to serve it – most of which are in hotels.  Now I love wine with my dinner and a little toast at midnight, but I have to admit it was kind of both refreshing and strange to not see anyone make a fool of themself on the street.  It was all very pleasant.

After the fireworks show, many proceeded to leave rather than hang out in the streets.  I assume one reason for this is that many people here celebrate Islamic New Year, rather than the Gregorian calendar New Year.  Like all other Islamic holidays, it follows the citing of the moon, so it does not fall on the same day every year.

But in this instance, it did not matter what holiday it was or what you believe in.  I saw many conservative and non-conservative people.  There were women who were totally covered with their husbands who wore long conservative beards and dress to match as well as scantily clad women carrying their high heels because their feet were hurting from walking.  At one point I started counting how many different languages and accents I heard.  Within five minutes, I probably counted around ten.

While many people were heading back to the main roads, we walked in the opposite direction into the crowds to experience who was there and what was going on.  We could not believe our eyes - tens of (possibly) hundreds of thousands of people.  My husband estimated around 200,000.  I had no idea, but it far exceeded what we expected. 

The Burj Khalifa was only opened in December 2009, so this was the first year the complex was open for a New Year celebration.  It was spectacular and we enjoyed every minute of it and the festive, peaceful environment.

I love those moments where you realize you just a spec on the earth, or a part of something bigger. In a crowd of so many foreigners, so many languages and cultures, you can’t help but be reminded of how diverse the world is. Hopefully 2011 will be a peaceful, prosperous year for everyone.