Room with a view

My accommodation for the first 10 days or so in Dubai was in a hotel, not far from the main centre of Dubai proper, but nonetheless some distance away from the main road (Sheikh Zayed Road) where all the skyscrapers, big buildings and other developments are located.

Nonetheless, the view from my hotel afforded me with some perspective of what the city of Dubai is like. At the time I did not have a clue as to which buildings were important or grandiose or ones that I should take particular note of.

However, one of the buildings which Dubai has become well known for (as the tallest building in the world today) dominates the skyline, pretty much wherever you happen to be in Dubai. This photo of the Burj Dubai was taken from my hotel in March 2008 and at the time it was not quite at the height it is at today...

I have since taken photos of the Burj Dubai at its' now final height. It still has some way to go before completion and fit-out, but it is nonetheless a very impressive and imposing building. Here is my most recent photo of it taken at close to "ground zero" from a development nearby known as Old Town...

Unfortunately there is a haze that seems to be constantly a part of the Dubai skyline which does not do the building nor the photo justice...you have to see it with your own eyes to really appreciate the enormity of it and the engineering expertise that has gone into creating it.

A rainy day in Sharjah

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would put up some photos of what the roads near my workplace/office in Sharjah are like when it rains. Well, it certainly has been raining in the last 5-6 days, and moreso than I can recall seeing back in Australia for a long time.

This photo was taken last week after a night of heavy showers (including thunder and lightning). Because there is no stormwater drainage system in the industrial areas of Sharjah, this is what it is like in many of the surrounding roads. It takes days for it to dissipate and unfortunately when it continues to rain for several days, as it has done, it only gets worse.

This photo was taken 3 days later - same street (if you can call it a street) and bear in mind there is a lot of traffic that drives through here. Apparently it is not unusual to have rain and thunder storms in the UAE at this time of year, however it is now a little over 1 year since I arrived and it certainly was not like this at the time I arrived.

Getting out of the car to go into my office is not the most pleasant experience in these conditions. This photo shows where I have to "park" and you can guess what my shoes look like after walking to the front door of the office...

BTW, this was completely awash 3 days later. And you can see on the right of this photo people don't particularly care where they park...footpaths (where there are any) are as good a spot as any...