The Burj Khalifa: the World's Tallest Building

The world's tallest building is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It just opened on 4 January 2010. Since its opening the skyscraper has undergone a surprise name change, a grand opening of its observation deck titled "At the Top" on the 124th floor, and a sudden closing of this deck on 5 February because of major electricity issues, despite the media hyping it as a problem related to overcrowding by tourists. It continues to be in the news today as everyone waits for its grand re-opening which is supposedly slated for this week. (sorry scott!) Hopefully it is all fixed so no one gets stuck in the elevator for an hour+ like last week!

Before the power problems, I did manage to get to the "At the Top" observation deck a few weeks ago and I had a really enjoyable time learning about the skyscraper, the construction issues, and the overall story behind this incredible project. Originally the skyscaper was called the Burj Dubai. However, on the day of the Burj Dubai grand opening, the name was suddenly changed and announced as the Burj Khalifa, named after the Abu Dhabi leader who bailed out Dubai in the debt crisis. This was done basically as a BIG THANK YOU to Abu Dhabi. However, the name change continues to cause hundreds of thosands of dollars because of branding changes - tshirts, hats, signs all over downtown, maps, books, and basically tons of campaigns that have been in the works based on the Burj Dubai opening. So...if you have a Burj Dubai t-shirt, keep it as they are disappearing fast!

The Burj Khalifa has been described as beautiful, amazing, evil looking, weird, futuristic, and even, ugly. However you feel about it, its interesting to know that the construction of the tower is patterned based on the structure of the Hymenocallis flower, a regional desert flower, good for wind pressure resistance. If you look closer, the layout is designed in the shape of a Y, which is apparently best for light exposure and views for residential buildings. The elevator that we took up was so smooth, you could not even tell you were going up 100+ floors. And, the entire ride only took a few minutes, maybe 5. Karen, Brak and I went up at 6pm so we got a night view. You can see great views of Dubai and the best time to get is 530pm so you can watch the sunset as well, and then catch the Dubai Fountains starting at 6pm from up high.

Hopefully they get everything fixed soon. Once they do, book ahead! Its 100 AED if you book ahead and its a ridiculous 400 AED if you don't book ahead and try to go in immediately. Also check out the crazy photo of the window washers hanging on the side of the building....be thankful that you dont have that job.

Trip to Abu Dhabi

I had to spend 2 days at our office in Abu Dhabi which was exciting because I really wanted to check out the UAE capital during my visit. It is supposed to be a 45 minute drive from Dubai but perhaps we hit alot of morning traffic because it took us over 2 hours to get there. Besides the traffic, Abu Dhabi was a great place to visit - if you have limited time, a day trip to Abu Dhabi is enough just start very early!

Abu Dhabi houses many federal buildings, is home to the Emirati royal family of the UAE, and is one of the world's largest producers of oil. Abu Dhabi was primarily in the news recently since it rescued Dubai from debt crisis mainly linked to its two property firms, Nakheel and Limitless World. Abu Dhabi continues to be ranked as one of the richest cities in the world.

While there the top three things to see are: the Corniche, the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, and the Emirates Palace.

The Corniche is a 4 mile long road along the waterfront. There are many little cafes, picnic grounds, beaches and is a major hang out spot in Abu Dhabi for families during the day and evenings.

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is the largest mosque in the UAE and the 8th largest in the world. It is a gorgeous white structure from the outside, i unfortunately was at work and coudn't go! However, Brak got to check out the beautiful mosque and see the "World's Largest Carpet" from Iran and the "World's Largest Chandelier" made in Germany.

Emirates Palace is the most expensive hotel ever built. It was a 3 billion dollar project and is owned by the Abu Dhabi government. It is run by Kempinski. Inside is stunning. It has gold decorations from top to bottom with beautiful marble floors. It is a huge estate and you can walk throughout the palace for hours...be sure to have some cocktails at one of the outside restaurants:)

A visit to Jumeirah mosque

There are many mosques throughout Dubai, but Jumeirah mosque is the only one that allows non-Muslims to enter as a way for expatriates and visitors to learn more about Islam and arabic practices. The tour is organized by the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding. It is only held on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday @ 10am. Their motto is "Open Doors - Open Minds." We got up bright and early and went to the mosque! Mosques have a domed roof and two towers, which are called minarets. The purpose of the minarets is so when there are calls to prayer, muslims can hear the call from these tall towers.

When Brak and I arrived, there were about 100 visitors waiting outside the mosque. We were greeted by an Emirati volunteer who would lead us into the mosque and answer any questions the group had. We all had to make sure we were appropriately dressed meaning, long pants and shirts with sleeves. Women also have to cover their heads: you can bring your own scarf or the tour also has many that you can borrow. The tour began with us learning about how Muslims have to wash themselves before prayer. He called upon some volunteers to wash themselves at the basins outside the mosque as well. Volunteers had to wash their hands, mouth, throat, nose, ears, arms up to the elbow and feet. - the purpose is to purify themselves of all filthy substances before entering the mosque.

We removed our shoes and went inside. We were able to take alot of photographs of all the intricate patterns in the mosque. Our volunteer explained that muslims have to pray five times a day. They pray about every 2 hours, these prayer times are based on the sun and change alittle every day. They always have to pray facing Mecca. Men and women prayer in separate areas, except at Mecca where millions prayer shoulder to shoulder.

He showed many pictures of Mecca and talked about the Hajj, which is the annual pilgrimmage that Muslims take to Saudia Arabia. It is a journey to Mecca that every Muslim has to do once in their lives. In 2009, approximately 2 million people participated in the Hajj, which usually happens in November/December based on the lunar calendar.

It was a great experience and definitely a must see while in Dubai to learn more about the culture.

High Tea @ the Burj Al Arab

So I finally got to go inside the Burj Al Arab! The Burj Al Arab is the iconic tower that looks like a sail which you'll often see on any brochure related to Dubai. It is a beautiful structure on an artificial island that is part of the Jumeirah chain. You can only go inside if you are a hotel guest, pay to go on a tour with a siteseeing company, or have lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants inside. We opted for high tea at Skyview bar so that we could see the view of the other man-made islands in Dubai: The Palm and the World.

Brak and I got dressed up and headed to high tea @ 1pm. We arrived and of course had to "check-in" before they could allow us through the gates to cross the bridge. You have to have a reservation and they check you off at the welcome center. Once you get inside, it is like an assault on the eyes. There's tons of gold and rainbow-like colors all around with intricate designs on the floor, ceiling, and pretty much everywhere! It is often described as gaudy but it is still an amazing sight to see in terms of how much detail was put into every single part of the inside.

High tea was delicious with a glass of champagne perfectly poured by our waiter to kick start the experience. Brak got the All Day Energy tea and I had the Strawberry Fields tea. We then received a 4 tiered serving tray in the shape of a sail of course, filled with mini sandwiches, desserts, and all other kinds of yummyness. The view at the top was amazing with all the islands, sailboats and the view of Dubai amidst the turquoise sea.

For those of you visiting Dubai with an interest to see inside the Burj Al Arab, definitely do the high tea @ Skyview bar. It is alittle pricey, but once you have the experience, it is totally worth it since you've made your trek all the way to Dubai. There is a direct elevator straight to the Skyview bar, take it! The elevator is all glass kind of like the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory elevator and you can see a crazy ocean view and you shoot up to the top and down. The service, food, and views are a once in a lifetime experience - call them and make a reservation early as they fill up!

Dune bashing, Camel Rides, Falconry, Sandboarding & Belly dancing!

This week, Brak came to visit Dubai! We decided to go dune bashing. What is dune bashing? It is a type of off-roading in the sand dunes and is a common day trip in the Middle East to explore the desert! We were in one of the 20 cars that were going dune bashing together. Before we set off, all the drivers had to let about 40% of the air out of their tires. This would give the tires more traction in the desert. Once all the cars got in the desert it was like a roller coaster on the sand. Half the time i felt like we were going to flip over and we would slide almost vertical down the side of the sand dunes. We drove up and down dunes while we screamed for dear life and our driver Alwyn would laugh with amusement. He has been dune bashing for 17 years! Unfortunately, we DID see the car in front of us totally tumble over down a sand dune and we all had to do an emergency stop while the team rescued the passengers inside. Luckily, all the SUV's are equipped with a roll cage so that the top doesn't crush in should the car turn over. In this case, that roll cage really came in handy! The poor people inside were definitely shaken up....but everyone was ok in the end and we headed off to camp. The people in the turned over car were real troopers and still had a good rest of the day considering their car was a crumpled piece of metal.

We visited a camel farm and saw some locals teaching falcons how to hunt. At camp we had a huge buffet BBQ. Then, you could climb up the dune and give sandboarding a try - i managed to stay on the board the whole time. Sandboarding was super fun. The night ended with a full moon and the belly dancer dragged me out in the center to balance a pole between us. I was a good sport and publicly belly- danced! It was a great day in the desert, I would highly recommend Orient tours! Alwyn got us safely home without any overturns in the desert at night. phew.

I met Haile!

After months of working on the Dubai Marathon, it was an awesome surprise to run into Ethiopian athlete, world record holder, and Dubai Marathon winner Haile Gebrselassie. Yup, literally, ran into him as I was on my way to the post-marathon party. Amazing!!!!!

The Dubai Marathon - a huge success!!!

Hurray! After all the sweat and tears, the Dubai Marathon is finally over. It was a huge success and one of the greatest projects I have ever worked on.

This past Friday was the big day! The Dubai Marathon attracted thousands of runners for the full marathon, 10K, and 3K fun run.

Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie attempted to break his own world record and walk away with a million dollar bonus, but the 66 degree weather and a bad back didn't help his effort. He set his world record in Berlin in 2008, and failed to break it by a little over two minutes. He finished in 2hr 6min 9sec, while the record time is 2hr 3min 59sec. However, Haile still won his third successive Dubai Marathon with great fanfare. His ever-faithful fans stood at the finish line and cheered for hours in celebration of another great win in Dubai!

Henry and Joseph finished 16th overall in the 10K. Go H & J! To learn more about Henry and Joseph's amazing story, please read their story below. Henry is a blind Kenyan runner and olympic gold medalist. He runs tied by a tether at the wrist to his guide Joseph to raise awareness about preventable blindness. They are truly an inspiration!

It was a beautiful day with all the events running smoothly - interviews with all the elite athletes, finish-line activities including drummers, face painters, balloon benders and the biggest attraction, water walkers! I had an awesome team of volunteers. There was tons of music, food, and fancy-dress! Thanks to everyone who came out to make the day such a huge success.

I even had time to do the 3K 'Seeing is Believing' Run!

Henry and Joseph were proud. I've now promised them that I'd do a 10K in 2010! uh oh...