Dubai Fantasies

by Malaya Fabros

Dubai is a fast growing city. Constructions can be seen at literally left and right of main roads, Sheikh Zayed Road. The Arabs have got a lot of money to fund these projects and investors from all over are  confident to invest here. It seems like everybody wants to build their fantasy in Dubai. One could say that the motto is: 'Why not?!'

I know several of these fantasies. Some of them are now operational and some are still under construction. Firstly, there's the Burj Dubai - seen as the world's tallest skyscraper once finished.  Then there's the Burj Al Arab on the beaches of Jumeirah. They say its the world's only 7-star hotel and the most expensive one (around 5000 USD a night, whopper!).  It's a real eye-candy. Beside this is the Madinat Jumeirah Hotel which brings back Arabic architecture in it's full elegance. It has a Souk inside which is like a little arabic market place but an air-conditioned one.

The latest hot mall is the Ibn Battuta Mall along Sheikh Zayed Road. It has 6 pavillions: Persia, Egypt, China, Andalucia, India, and Tunisia. Actually, one pavillion is equivalent to one big mall. Perhaps it would take more than one day to go around the entire mall for the first time. I've only been to Persia, Egypt and Andalucia so far. Andalucia has this street-like portion where you feel like you're outdoors. It's because of the well-lit high ceiling that's painted like the sky. Quite entertaining indeed. I can't keep myself from saying 'Why not?!' while passing through. Bloody hell! Why not?!

The Mall of the Emirates is still under construction. Set to be the biggest mall outside of North America, it has an indoor ski area. All I can say for now is that it has a very big Carrefour sign on the side, which means it could be twice as busy as I imagine. (Carrefour is a supermarket much like Makro)

Then there's Dubailand. Well, it's a big theme park. A real big one with roller coasters  coming out of an ancient Egyptian head's mouth, a 200m diameter Snow Dome with hotels around and inside it; a city with all the world's famous places like the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc.; (Sadly, they missed the Banawe Rice Terraces, hehehe); simulated dinosaurs; a golf course; a heritage village;... they've put in almost everything. Maybe you could even find a replica of your own house in there! Haha!

There's also the 3 Palm projects. These are reclaimed lands that are shaped like palm leaves. There's one in Jumeirah, another one in Deira and another one in Jebel Ali. I heard that the Sheikhs intended to make them so big that you could also see them from the moon like the Great Walls of China. They are also being built right now.  We've got a hotel project at the Crescent portion of the Palm Jumeirah. It's on a single plot of around 40,000 sq.m. The hotel beside ours occupies 4 plots. They really like building hotels here.

Aside from the 3 Palms, there's also The World. It's basically a set of islands shaped like a world map. So one country is an island. Investors can buy their own country. I overheard one of our designers during lunch saying that she sailed around The World in around one hour. It sounds funny.

I'm beginning to feel like a travel promoter with this post. I was actually planning to write about the Cityscape 2005 Exhibition we went to yesterday. It featured other future developments in the Middle East and around the world. But I'll just discuss it some other day.

So all I can say about Dubai for now is: Oh yeah! Why not?!