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My home from outer space thanks to Google and NASA.
2 / 29
Ridiculous' would best describe real estate prices in the UAE. My villa is out in the middle of nowhere. (exact coordinates are N24 25.739 E54 44.794) though there’s a constant stream of jets from the Abu Dhabi airport flying overhead or sounds from the construction site across the street. There are major freeways to the north and south of my villa so there's always noise. It’s well equipped with a couple of big screen TVs, washer, dishwasher, fridge, nice furniture…far better than what I’d buy.
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Mi casa..
4 / 29
A view of my neighborhood.
5 / 29
There are several Mosques in my neighborhood. I use them for navigation.
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It's fascinating that for the most part, when you find a Mosque, you'll find a business or two on the same property. Five times a day, you'll find Hojo, the high priest, singing religious chants calling all to pray through loudspeakers audible throughout the neighborhood.
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I believe the small building to the right of the Mosque is the women's temple...separate temples for the sexes is the norm.
I love the architecture of the Mosques....the lines.
8 / 29
It's really hard to convey how ominous this mosque really is but the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque is just that...ominous. You can't see it in the photos but the white tone is so bright. It's hard to conceive how this is achieved especially considering the sand storms seem to paint everything in tan.
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With an estimated cost of a HALF-BILLION DOLLAR$, it announces a huge presence as you're driving into Abu Dhabi.
10 / 29
Construction is scheduled to complete some time in 2009.
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The lighting varies seeming to be computer controlled. Mosques seem to be designed to be viewed at night. Agree?
12 / 29
The currency is the Dirham. By law, it’s pegged to the US Dollar at 3.66 Dirham to the Dollar. Anything less than a 5 is in the form of a coin. Most folks don’t like the coins as they aren’t in the 0-9 digits most folks are used to.
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10
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20
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50
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100
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200
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500
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1000
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Quick...what is it? We call it the Rorschach test. We've tossed up a hockey puck, a frisbee, a VW medallion.
21 / 29
Actually, it's a 15,000 room hotel complex (Al Raha Beach) under construction near where Bluelou works and next door to the Mall where he eats.
22 / 29
a hockey puck, a frisbee, a VW medallion?
23 / 29
Got the last day of the weekend and I just fried the motherboard on the laptop. What to do? Let's go touristing. Decorating the Dubai skyline, the Burj al Arab is the definition of posh. Standing in at 2313 feet (705 M) or 110 floors, it's the major tourist attraction in Dubai. You need reservations to come in for tea...credit cards are encouraged.
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The Burj Khalifa or Burj Dubai before its inauguration in 2010 is in the competition for the world's tallest building. The exact height: 829.8 m (2,722 ft, just over half a mile).
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With the slender profile, it isn't hard to hide it behind its' tall neighbors.
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Though it's temporary, I was more impressed with the sales office to the Burj Dubai than the grand facade itself.
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We were heading to lunch when we spotted this photo opportunity. For you folks without the internet, the photo shows a crane with its' boom parallel to the earth and the chassis at an angle...not normal. We called the folks following behind and they captured the shot. The next day, we saw this crane in the same position but supported by two similar cranes...no clue what it was doing.
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Some friends and I left a local eatery and we saw this right here in Abu Dhabi. I figured it was worth a picture. It's a gold plated Range Rover. Want one? Not even some day...
