Guarantee/Escrow Account for Property Developers in Dubai

Law No. 8 of 2006 concerning Guarantee Accounts of Real Estate Development in the Emirate of Dubai ("the Law") was recently passed.

With the enactment of the Law, property buyers can expect greater protection when purchasing new properties from property developers in Dubai.

The Law is applicable to all property developers selling uncompleted properties (including properties under construction) and accepting payments from buyers or financiers before the properties are completed.

Under the Law:

1. All property developer must register with the Land Department in the Register of Developers.

2. Developers need written permission from the Land Department to advertise in both local and foreign media to promote the sale of properties that are under construction.

3. Developers need to establish guarantee/escrow accounts with the Land Department.

4. All payments from buyers shall be deposited into a bank account under the name of the property development in an approved bank in Dubai.

5. Any loans obtained by the developer from the mortgage of the uncompleted development shall be deposited into the guarantee/escrow account.

6. Payments to the developer from the guarantee/escrow account can only be made after a certificate is issued by the consultant of the development describing the completed stage and the requirement of the subsequent stage of construction.

7. 10% of the value of the development is kept in the guarantee/escrow account for 1 year after the certificate of completion has been obtained.

The Law gives more transparency to property transactions involving uncompleted property developments and some level of protection to buyers in the event the property developer goes belly up.

What remains to be seen is if escrow accounts will be made mandatory for all property transactions, whether such properties are completed or not.

Thailand's New FBA - another nail into the coffin?

The latest update is that the draft was withdrawn from Parliament. Another last minute amendment was made to insert a clause to prevent foreigners from having a majority presence on the board of directors, thereby preventing foreigners from controlling the companies that they have invested in.

No direct majority control of the board of directors + no direct majority in shareholding = no control for foreign investors.

The saga continues.

Thailand's New Foreign Business Act - end of the road?

There has been much talk about the amendments that were made to Thailand's Foreign Business Act. The draft is likely to be passed any time soon.

Background

The Foreign Business Act ("FBA") regulates how foreigners do business in Thailand. The Act states what are the activities that foreigners can engage in without the need to have a local Thai shareholder holding at least 51% of the shares in a Thai company. Before the amendments made during the Asian Financial Crisis (1997 to 2003-4), there were virtually no activities that a foreigner could engage in without the need to find a local partner. Foreigners resorted to using what was commonly known as a "nominee scheme" or the "51/49 scheme" whereby a local Thai will hold 51% of the shares of the Thai company in his name, but his voting rights were minimised to the extent that the foreigner holding 49% would control the company. Invariably, the Thai shareholder had no involvement in the day to day management of the company or to profits of the business and was paid a fee to be a nominee. Such schemes were also used to foreigners to purchase land and landed property in Thailand.

There were provisions in the FBA which forbid Thais to abet or assist foreigners to bypass the FBA. However, there was little or no enforcement by the relevant authorities and the 51/49 scheme was never really tested in court as to its legality and viability.

With the amendments during the financial crisis, foreigners could engage in some activities where they could hold almost 100% of the shares in the Thai company legally without the use of a Thai nominee. One such activity was the wholesale and retail of good where the capitalisation of the Thai company exceeded THB100 million. This opened the doors for hypermarts like Lotus and Carrefour to enter the market. The hypermarts' low prices and bulk volume purchases from suppliers ultimately drove many neighbourhood grocery stores to closure as they were not able to compete on pricing nor could these neighbourhood stores obtain volume discounts from their suppliers.

For those activities where foreigners still could not use wholly foreign owned Thai companies to engage in, the 51/49 scheme was still used. Out of 10 Thai companies that were incorporated for foreigners, at least 9 used the 51/49 scheme. These schemes came under scrutiny when the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family sold their controlling stake in the listed telecommunication company, Shin Corp, to Temasek Holdings, an investment company owned and controlled by the Singapore government. While we will never know if Temasek actually used the 51/49 scheme to hold their shares in Shin Corp, suffice to say, it created so much publicity that PM Thaksin was ousted and now lives in exile. Probes into Thaksin's wealth were conducted by various government agencies under the current military government that seized power in a bloodless coup.

With that, the current government amended the FBA to plug the hole created by the 51/49 scheme, effectively the death sentence for most foreign owned businesses in Thailand and foreigners who owned land and landed property through such schemes.

The New FBA

I had the chance to browse through the draft. With the amendments, any arrangement that allows the foreigner to bypass the FBA, including the use of superior voting rights in shares would be illegal. So what are foreign business owners going to do? It remains to be seen if my learned Thai friends can find some way around this. What is of concern is will the relevant government agencies now audit each and every Thai company that has a foreigner that holds 49% of the shares to ensure compliance with the new laws? It is one thing to have the law and another to actually enforce it. Only time will tell. For now, I guess everyone has to mai pen rai ("Its OK" in Thai) and jai yen yen ("Relax, chill" in Thai).

Music for a lazy Saturday afternoon

This was what I was listening to this afternoon while reading the newspapers and surfing the Net.



I bought Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael a long time ago, but I had not listened to it for quite a while. This compilation album comprises of 29 songs on 2 CDs. The 1st CD, entitled "For The Heart" contains ballads, while the fast dancy tunes made up the 2nd CD, "For The Feet".

Both CDs included duets that George Michael performed with other artists - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me with Elton John, Desafinado with Brazilian artiste, Astrud Gilberto, As with Mary J. Blige, I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) with Aretha Franklin.

Good vocals, great instrumentals made this compilation album an easy listen for a lazy afternoon.

Inline Skating At Creek Park, Dubai

Having been in Dubai for a year plus, somehow I have never quite found a safe place to do inline skating. Unlike the East Coast Park in Singapore when you have 10km or more of nicely tarred bicycle track, or Venice Beach in California, where bikini cladded babes skating around in the Californian sunshine ala Pacific Blue.

The roads are fantastic, but invariably, the drivers might try and run you off the road. The vast car parks are great too, but again, you need to be wary of cars coming in and our of the car park, and not many car parks afford shade from the unforgiving sun.

There are numerous parks in Dubai, but I was not sure if they allowed skating or if the footpaths/bicycle tracks are suitable for skating. Plus the expense of at least AED5 for park entry is deterent enough for me to experiment.

Finally, a friend of mine told me that Creekside Park has a path that allowed skating. At first, I was sceptical. The paths I have seen in Creek Park were similar to the ones they use for the public pedestrian walkways and footpaths, put together by interlocking little bricks held together with sand, extremely useful if you want to get a bone rattling, joint shaking ride while you're skating, akin to a vibrating foot massage without the benefits. The tremors from skating over the seams of these bricks will transmit through the wheels, up the blades, right through the soles of your feet, up the shins through the knees caps all the way to your teeth - totally jarring.

So this morning, I took out my skates, put on the full kit sans helmet (reminider: GET A DAMN HELMET!), took the lift down and skated out towards the Creekside Park to find that elusive skatable track. I had my route all planned out in my head. Since I live at the Marriott Executive Apartments, all I had to do was take a lift down, skate out, cross a couple of roads, go up the Maktoum Bridge on the footpath, cross the Dubai Creek, down the bridge, loop right under the bridge, and voila, side entrance to Creek Park at the side of the Dubai Courts car park.

Of course, all routes planned in the head are not what they seem when you actually take them. Down the lift, exit the building, oh no, rattling footpath all the way to the road, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the road, more rattling footpath, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the next road, up the Maktoum Bridge, rattle, rattle rattle. Across the creek, loop down under the bridge, sharp downhill bend, rattle rattle rattle. And finally side entrance, rattle rattle rattle. I was already tired from all that rattling. The seams are pretty good dampeners on speed, so you have to push harder to get some decent speed, more effort when you're skating up the bridge or on an up slope. And they don't make an effective surface for you to use your skate brake when you are coming downhill. So, in every way, you are screwed - you spend more energy than normal on level ground, expend more energy than you normally would going up slope, and when you thought you could cruise coming down slope with your brake assisting you, the brake doesn't work as well as you want it to be.

Sign at the side entrance stated "Gate Closed. Use Gate Car Park 2". Another sign stated "This gate wil open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday." Hmm, maybe I was too early. No, the opening hours sign stated "Sunday to Thursday 8am to 11pm, Friday, Saturday and public holidays 8am to 12pm (sic)" I think they meant 12 midnight there. OK, gate closed, head to Car Park 2 then, more rattling on footpaths. Rattle, rattle, rattle.

Skating through the car park of Dubai Courts, I headed towards the footpaths that led to other entrances of the Creek Park. The policemen at the car park sentry post did not even bother even though I skated past and waved to them. Sorry, not my day, they've dug up the whole footpath, the only way to the other entrance was to skate on the road. Not actually what I had intended to do, but as they say “马死落地行“ （when the horse dies, you dismount and start walking), if I wanted to get to Creek Park, gotta hit the road. Good thing too that it was a Friday morning, not much traffic, but a lot of learner drivers on the roads. Hopefully, I don't get run off by one of them. Anyway, I had some identification on me, so if anything happens, they will know who to contact. I hope.

After 2 roundabouts, countless stepping aside and giving way to cars and learner drivers, I made it to the entrance of Creek Park. The moment of truth. "Good morning." I took out AED10 from my pocket and gave it to the Arab manning the ticket booth. "Good morning", he replied, and gave me my ticket and AED5 as change. I skated on into the park. No "Hey, you can't do that here", so I went on my way, back to rattling on the footpaht in the park. All the footpaths in the park were made of the same material as the public footpaths. If I didn't find that path that my friend mentioned, I swore I'd give him a good rattling the next time I saw him.

The park was huge. The lawns were green, very green, and well maintained. The landscaping was very well done, and the plants were well maintained. Quite impressive, I must say, excellent place for picnics and for family outings, especially for families with kids. There were quite a few play areas for children, and very well spaced out. There was a huge group that was having their outing, at least 50 persons, I must say, but the park was vast enough that if you move away from any noisy crowd, you won't hear or see them. There was also the famed cable car that takes you up 30m into the air and allow you to have an unobstructed view of the park and the creek. Not free of course.

I headed towards the creek, and yes, the much spoken path was there. Not tar/bitumen/asphat, but probably concrete. It was good enough for me. I had just about enough of that rattling. The path stretched the full length of the park on the side of the creek, so you are skating with water on one side and greenery from the park on the other side, and a cool breeze with the warm sun. I would think it is about 2km, or slightly more. Beggars can't be choosers. Mindful that I had to make my way back home on skates and get rattled on the way, I did 5 laps up and down the path. Saw a few kids on skates as well, but they looked like they needed more practice. Attracted a few stares along the way, not sure if it was because they've not seen a person on skates before or if it was just me.

The weather was getting hotter, and I decided to head back, hoping that the roads were still just as empty as they were when I came. Exited the park, onto the road again, back into the Dubai Courts car park. The policemen have abandoned their sentry boxc position retreated to the cooler climes of airconditioned comfort. Under the bridge, rattling up the sharp bend, across the bridge, crossing the 2 roads, stopping by the nearby convenience store for milk to make my latte, and back into the buildling where my apartment was. The security guard on duty commented "Very interesting". Yes, if only she knew what I skated through.

I thoroughly enjoyed skating at the Creek Park. I wished I had more time and energy. I am starting to feel the muscles that I knew I had, coz they're all starting to ache! If anything, I'll probably pay for the price of the rattling tomorrow, when the joints start complaining. Still, it was good, not having skating for such a long time.

Next time, I'll just drive to the Creek Park.

Grand Cinemas E-ticket, Blood Diamond, The Departed

Grand Cinemas now has a online ticketing facility that allows you to book your movie tickets online, choose your own seats, print out your ticket, and present yourself at the entrance just minutes before the screening of your preferred movie.

E-tickets are currently only available for 2 venues in Dubai, namely the Grand Megaplex 21 at Ibn Battuta Mall and the Grand Mercato at the Mercato Mall. There is an ongoing promotion where for every e-ticket booking you make, you get AED5 back in the form of a sticker. Collect 6 stickers and you get to redeem a free ticket.

















I booked myself for 2 movies, Blood Diamond and The Departed, both starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The good thing about online booking is that you get to choose what seats you want, and decide which movies to watch back to back, no queue and you don't have to reach the box office early to make sure that you get the better seats. What I didn't like about Grand Cinema's online booking system was that if you wanted to watch movies back to back, you need to complete your booking for 1 movie before making the next booking. And I didn't like the idea that I had to collect 6 stickers to enjoy the refund. You can't use the AED5 refund sticker as cash.

No spoilers here for either movies. I thoroughly enjoyed Blood Diamond. Moral of the story is: If you can, check the source of the diamond that you are buying. I also enjoyed The Departed although I had seen the Hong Kong version, Infernal Affairs, on which The Departed was based on. Infernal Affairs had 3 parts, so it would be interesting to see if Hollywood would pick up on the trilogy although if you had watched The Departed, and compared it to Infernal Affairs, you would know that the likelihood of this happening is extremely slim.

Seems like DiCaprio excels in roles where he plays the underdog, or the unlikely hero, like in Titanic and in The Aviator.

Try and catch these 2 movies if you can.

Hey, Where Is My Filet O Fish?

I went to the Ibn Battuta Mall yesterday to catch 2 movies at Grand Cinemas 21. Grand Cinemas now allows movie goers to buy their tickets online. Pretty convenient if you ask me. At least, now, I don't have to go to the box office at least 2 hours in advance and join the long queues to get my preferred seats when I watch a movie. I will elaborate more on the e-ticket option in another post.

My first movie was scheduled for screening at 8pm. I reached the Mall at 7pm, spent a few minutes looking for a car park space.

TIP: If you need to park near China City, there is a double storey cark park at the covered car park. Enter the covered car park, go on straight, exit and turn right up the ramp to the 2nd level. Plenty of car park lots, even if the covered car park is full.

As I came down the stairs, I saw a Scotch 3M tinting shop within the car park. Made a mental note to myself that I should check out the prices since summer is coming and I need to tint my car windows soon.

As always, the Mall was crowded, given that this is a Friday evening. Fought my way through the crowd to get to the food court at the other end of the Mall. For those of you who don't know, Ibn Battuta Mall is the largest themed mall to date in the Middle East, so it takes quite a bit of effort to walk from one end to the other end.

By the time I got to the food court, having stopped by a few shops on the way, I had 30 minutes left before screening started and about 20 minutes left to eat since I'll be fighting my way in the crowd again to get back to China Court. So, it has got to be fast food. So McDonalds it shall be. This guy, Mariel was his name, I think, took my order.

"Filet O Fish meal, please"

"Sir, for 1 dirham, you can upsize to a larger Coke and fries."

"No, just give me the regular."

"Sir, that will be 14 dirhams."

Gave him 20 dirhams. He gave me my change, and place my regular Coke and fries on a serving tray and said "Sir, you will have to wait 2 minutes for your Filet O Fish. You can wait here", pointing to the a corner at the serving counter, "or over there", pointing to a table adjacent to the counter.

"Alright, I will wait at the table."

Took my Coke and fries, and went to the table and started eating, turning my back with every munch to see if they'll call me to get my Filet O Fish. My fries were half finished and so was my Coke. Mariel was nowhere in sight. He's probably gone off to do kitchen duty. So I approached his colleague, an Indian guy, and asked "Hi, I am waiting for my Filet O Fish." He turned back, checked the burgers, checked the fryer and said "Sir, 1 minute more." Alright, I've waited for 2 minutes, another minute won't kill.

I had finished my Coke and fries, still no sign of my Filet O Fish. Mariel has reappeared with a mop, and he has happily moping the floor, chatting with his colleagues. I approached the counter again. The Indian guy saw me coming, turned his face to avert my line of sight. His other colleagues were either busy with customers or simply oblivious to the fact that I needed some help with the service. Mariel was still chatting and moping away. I stood there for 30 seconds, and then I raised my voice and said "Mariel, hey Mariel, where is my Filet O Fish?"

Mariel seemed a little embarrassed, but is that my problem? His female colleague turned to look at the burgers, and sitting there were not 1 but 3 Filet O Fishes. She took 1 and gave it to me. No "Thank you, sir", no "Sorry to keep you waiting, sir". Nothing.

I don't know about other countries, but in Singapore or in Thailand, if you have to wait for your burger, the burger will be brought to you at your table when it is ready. I suppose in some situations, you need to put your foot down to get what you want or else you will never get it.

Education and the UAE

The International Enterprise Singapore, a quasi-government body, is organising a trade mission for education providers from Singapore to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi from 4 February 2007 to 8 February 2007. During this mission, mission delegates will get to meet government officials involved in education in the UAE as well as visit some of the educational institutions in these 2 emirates.

I am of the view that there is tremendous potential in this industry, what with the private schools increasing their fees by at least 50% for the new academic year. While I hated some aspects of the Singaporean education system while I was in school (too much emphasis on exams, too little emphasis on projects and creativity), the system has played an important role in the one and only resource that Singapore has ever had - human resource. Any country that is looking to strengthen the skills and knowledge of its population ought to take a look at the education system of Singapore and adopt the finer points of the system.

Interested parties should contact the IE Singapore to participate in this trade mission. If you are an education provider in the UAE and you are looking to collaborate on or provide some educational or corporate training programs, I would encourage you to meet the mission delegates to explore the possibilities of a joint venture or a consultation.

iPhone ... Would You Want One?

The moment that all Apple fans have been waiting for ... first, the iPod, and now, the iPhone - the totally quinessential mobile phone, web device, portable music player, portable media device with a touch screen running on Mac OS X. The penultimate wet dream of all Apple fans!!

The question is then, "Would you want one?" Yes I do, but not now, and not when they've just launched it. IMHO, any new product will have bugs, and sometimes, nasty ones, that will surface and bite you real hard in the backside. Until and unless these bugs have been resolved, all you get are bragging rights, and agony that you face when you encounter the bugs.

Having said that, Apple has once again outdone itself with the design and the interface on the iPhone. We now to have see how it will survive in the real user environment.

Can you say ... SCUBA?

YES!!! PADI Certified Open Water Divers! Yup, both me and my wife. After spending 3 days in the cold pool water, rainy weather, choppy seas, puking on the boat, puking in the sea, having the world spin around you when you're on terra firma, bitten by mosquitoes, cut by coral, bruised by oxygen tanks, gulping endless amounts of sea water, getting stung by salt in your eyes and having the nose cavity in your scuba mask filled with mucus, we finally got our certification, and YES, it was well worth it, and WE WILL DO IT AGAIN! Thanks to Rich and Bive, our instructors from Ban's Diving Resort on Koh Tao in Thailand.

To Set Up A Company in Dubai ...

You need to

1. Reserve a name for your intended company;
2. Indicate the intended business activities according to the "Standard Classification of Economic Activities";
3. Get an in-principle approval for your proposed lease premises;
4. Sign your lease agreement;
5. Have the Memorandum and Articles of Association notarised before the Notary Public;
6. Open your bank account and deposit the capital;
7. Bring all the documents to the Department of Economic Development.

And for the in-principle approval, make sure you have:

1. The name of the actual landlord who will be leasing the premises to you;
2. Plot no.;
3. Floor no.;
4. Unit no.;
5. Area of unit to be leased.

The above information should NOT be construed as legal advice. You are advised to seek proper legal advice from qualified professionals.

Merry Christmas

Here's wishing one and all Merry Christmas

Technorati Profile

Global Village - the world's biggest pasar malam

By the time we arrived in February this year, we had missed the Global Village.

Friends were singing praises of how big it was, how fun it was, how they nabbed bargains for products brought in by vendors from all over the world. We were so psyched up that we weren't going to miss it for the world when the Global Village opened again a week ago. This year, the participating pavilions are:

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Yemen.

The Global Village is located on the Emirates Road (E311), between the Arabian Ranches/Autodrome Roundabout and the Nad Al Sheba interchange on Emirates Road.

Directions: If you're coming from Dubai, you're well advised to take Sheikh Zayed Road, turn off to Al Barsha at the exit to the Mall of the Emirates, head towards the Dubai Autodrome, passing the first roundabout which leads to Al Khail Road, turning left on the second roundabout which leads to Emirates Road. And you will hit the Global Village in less than 30 minutes, traffic conditions permitting. Of course, you can also take Emirates Road coming from Sharjah, but then you will be stuck in traffic from the Nad Al Sheba interchange for a good 40 minutes with the rest of the visitors to the Global Village coming from the Northern Emirates. So, take your pick.

The Global Village opens at 4p.m. everyday and close at 12 midnight, from now till 9 February 2007. Closing hours are extended on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to 1a.m. Parking is plentiful, but get there early if you don't want to park too far away from the entrance to the Global Village grounds. When we went, P1 was closed. P2 was paid parking (AED35 per entry), as it was the closest to the main entrance. P3 onwards was free parking.

We got there at 3:45p.m. A small crowd had built up at the entrance.



Entrance fee is AED5 per person, maps are available for AED1. If you get lost, you could rely on one of these huge maps placed on billboards within the Village.



First pavilion past the main entrance is Iran, with a replica of the Ishtar Gate.



Nothing much in the Iraqi pavilion, just some paintings for sale. Vietnam, which was next to it, had better traffic, but more than half the booths were occupied not by Vietnamese, but vendors from mainland China peddling "Made in China" products.



Sri Lanka, which came after Vietnam, had some interesting products.



We saw this chair made from buffalo hide for AED350.

Greece was next to Sri Lanka, nothing much in there. It looks as bare as its facade.




Opposite Greece was Japan. Sorry, no Panasonic, Sony, Canon or any of your famous Japanese brands. Just Daiso (of Lamcy Plaza fame) with their "Everything for AED5". And more of the same mainland Chinese vendors who were masquerading as Vietnamese in the Vietnam pavilion selling their "Made in China" wares.

Alongside Japan, you will find Jordan

and Tanzania.

and Kuwait, which has a lot of perfume and oudh booths. Your olfactory senses jump into hype drive in here.

At the intersection, you have Egypt, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.


The Egyptian pavilion had a photowall showing black and white photos of HH Sheikh Zayed. There were some interesting items here in the Egyptian pavilion - Egyptian antiquities, Arabic cravings and signs made from wood or leather.





I did not venture into the fortress of Iran, but my wife did and returned with a cup of the nicest pomegranate juice I've ever tasted.



Saudi Arabia has lots of vendors selling dates (packed with honey, or dried), perfumes and oudh.


Moving along to the next intersection, there were a few colourful pavilions here.

Philippines, which was again filled with mainland Chinese vendors, had this colourful mask for the entrance to their pavilion.



Afghanistan had carpet vendors with very nice and soft carpets with intricate designs much like the colourful entrance to its pavilion.



Bangladesh was probably the "Spice Pavilion" in the Village. It was filled with vendors selling spices, yet another one that will send your olfactory senses into over drive.



Thailand was not going to be outdone as well, with this grand looking entrance in royal yellow.



There were Thai vendors selling orchids and "Made in Thailand" food products. The missus bought this green packaged "Coconut biscuit with pineapple jam". Absolutely delicious. There was also a booth for traditional Thai massage - AED100 for 1 hour, or AED60 for 30 minutes. Wife had the 30 minute head/shoulder/body package, while I had the 30 minute foot reflexology. It had been awhile since we had this, and we enjoyed the relief from tension tremendously.

If you are looking for shawls, scarfs, either Pashmina or wool, then go to India.



Lots of bargains to choose from, but as always, bargain, and let the buyer beware. Everyone can make the claim that their pashiminas are the genuine stuff, but unless you're an expert and have an eye for detail, it is almost always impossible to tell the cheap stuff (which are being sold at high prices) and the genuine stuff (which are being sold at even higher prices).

It was getting close to the evening. The Dubai Balloon Festival was held on nearby grounds. Hot air balloons were going up, beautiful sight with the sunset in the background.



As the night came, the pagoda at the Chinese pavilion lit up.



There was a stage at the entrance for kungfu shows and Chinese cultural dances. A few other pavilions (India and Pakistan) had stages for performances as well.

While the women will go shopping from pavilion to pavilion, the kids can enjoy the many rides and the game booths.

They have a huge Ferris wheel, where you could probably see the whole Village when you're at the top. AED3 per person.



There were also other rides, like the Viking, the Slingshot, Vertical Lift, mini-roller coaster and other less heart pounding rides for the kids. There was also a kids only bumper car compound, which was quite a different bumper car experience if you ask me. Kids had no idea how to steer or manage their bumper cars, and when they finally do, they started avoiding each like instead of bumping into each other, and by the time they figured out everything, the ride was over. Maybe the driving schools should include a bumper car module in their curriculum. Any learner driver found bumping into other cars will automatically be disqualified for a driving licence.

For dinner, we had this really good shwarma (good according to my wife. I, on the other hand, have an alligator's tongue, so I could not tell the difference) from this stall



Look at the size of the packed meat, and you'll know they sell a lot of shwarmas, and the reason why they probably do is because it is good.



There is also a huge variety of food stalls - Al Safadi and Beirut for Lebanese, Ravi's for Indian curries, Chinese food, L'Auberge, Beirut and the usual KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardees. And of course, booths for snacks (candy floss, pop corn), fruits and drinks (bottled water, soft drinks, chai) along the way, like this Thai Fruits booth which can be found in various locations.



And if you're short of cash, there are ATMs from Emirates Bank.

There were fireworks displays almost every hour from 8p.m onwards.

And if you like parades, they have it too.















All in all, good fun for the family, young and old. So, if this isn't the world's largest pasar malam (which means night market or night bazaar in where I come from), I won't know what is.

More pictures at

Dubai Global Village

Who Said ...

"Never give up, and never give in."

Which character in which movie said that?

The answer? I dunno, that's why I'm asking you.

What's in the CD Changer

Bearing in mind that my wife drives the car more often I do, some of CDs belong to her.

1. Top Gear: The Ultimate Driving Experience



This is a 2-disc CD, probably a follow-up to this one



If you recall, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and David May actually asked viewers in one of th programmes to contribute what the viewers thought was the best music for driving. And I think that culminated into these 2 CD releases.

On CD 1, Track 1 "I Like The Way" is great for crossing the Maktoum Bridge against the flow of the traffic jam, coz I'm moving while the opposite side is stuck in the jam. I also like Track 3 "Somewhere Only We Know", Track 7 "Sunshine of Your Love", Track 11 "In The Shadows" for cruising on Sheikh Zayed Road with the sunroof open. All in all, great music for driving, not great if you're stick in a jam.

2. Claude Challe: Best Of



This is a 3 CD collection. I think we got ripped off for this one when we bought it at the Virgin Megastore. When we saw it back in Singapore, it was half the price at HMV. My wife and I particularly liked Track 2 on CD 1, "And I Love Her", originally from the Beatles, but performed in Spanish by Jose Alberto, whom they call "El Canario" or The Canary. Absolutely spellbinding. The rest of the tracks on all 3 CDs are great for the chill-out fans.

3. Ronan Keating: Bring You Home



The missus like Ronan Keating. I suppose its great if you're stuck in the jam with this one. It becomes good background music to me. The 1st 2 tracks aren't too bad, but I suppose not many people will agree.

Will probably stock up on more CD when we get back to Singapore. If anyone has any recommendations, please leave your comments.

Today will be the last day of the brokest day of my life

New hope, new aspirations, new ideas, new goals, new life.

If The First Time Was Not Enough ...

You go a second time, this time, with guys who drive faster than you, in faster cars.

Of course, I am talking once again about Jebel Hafeet.

And I went with these guys, J (aka Dubai182) and K (aka ghoonk).

J drives a Renault Clio Sport.



K drove this monster


Yes, that's a Mitsubishi Evo VIII!!

We met at the Eppco station in front of DIC, and J led us to a way via Jebel Ali through the desert before we hit the Dubai-Al Ain highway (Route E66)

Speed cameras on the Dubai-Al Ain highway were aplenty, and there were a few tricky ones hidden behind plants. You'll know you've ventured into Abu Dhabi territory when the cameras face away from you instead of staring you in the face. The Dubai portion of the highway was desert on both sides. We saw more plants and bushes once we ventured into the Al Ain portion of the highway.

On reaching Al Ain, we followed J, who had the directions. Basically, we followed all the brown coloured "Tourist Attraction" signages. The drive through the town centre was pleasant, with lots of tree and greenery on both sides of the road. There were a lot of roundabouts in Al Ain. I could have sworn they were there to confuse you. By the time we got to the foot of Jebel Hafeet, it was close to 5p.m.

And up we go the winding road, stopping at the first car park to take in the cool air and a bit of the view before making a break for the top of the hill. And there was absolutely no way I was going to catch either J or K. First, I was caught behind a rather slow Camry, and by the time I overtook the Camry, I couldn't even smell the brake dust that those guys left behind!! There was slightly more traffic than the last time I came, so if you want to have the winding road all to yourself, come on an early Friday morning.

We were basking in the cool winter air and the orange setting sun when we reached the top. The car's thermometer showed 17 degree Celsius. And while K and I stood around taking pictures of the surrounding, the view and our cars, J wanted to make his trip worthwhile by going down and coming up again.

Here's J and K posing with their cars before J went off for his 2nd run up Jebel Hafeet.



Here are our cars with Jebel Hafeet in the background.




And our cars with the sunset in the background.



And with the sun finally setting in the horizon, we made our day down Jebel Hafeet on our way home.



Again, i was caught behind this Nissan Tiilda, which I could have sworn, either desceding Jebel Hafeet on 1st gear or with the parking brake on. And there was only 1 section of the downhill where you were allowed to overtake. And by the time I reached the bottom of the hill, the guys were gone again and I had to play catch up. Of course, I was never going to catch them, and at a certain point, I saw a sign that pointed "Dubai" and went that way. No more going through the town centre, no more nice trees and plants, just brightly lit roads and it wasn't too long before I hit the Dubai-Al Ain highway again. I tried contacting the guys on the walkie, but no response, probably out of range.

And 20 minutes later, J zoomed past in his Clio. And 5 minutes later, K zoomed past in his Evo. So, even though I had taken a shorter route out of Al Ain, these guys actually caught up.

I thought I could have taken a shortcut to Sheikh Zayed Road by getting to Bab Al Shams, and from Bab Al Shams to the Autodrome before hitting Umm Suqiem and onto SZR. Turned off the highway at the Bab Al Shams signage, drove for about 5 minutes before hitting an unlit road. I was tempted to go fast, but sometime told me to slow down, and suddenly, I could see no lane dividers and the road ended into the desert sand. I gave myself a reminder to get the headlights adjust so that I could see further out and turned back. Seems like I had to take the route to Nad Al Sheba instead.

And when I finally arrived at Sheikh Zayed Road, and settled down at a restaurant for dinner, after getting lost and all, I called K up. He had finished a car wash and his dinner and was chilling out. Great driving, guys. Let's head for Musandam in Oman!!

More pictures at

2nd Drive to Jebel Hafeet

Dubai Creek At Sunset

Taken from the Marriott Sky Bridge

Dubai Creek at sunset

Drive Up Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain

From Dubai to Al Ain, and then up to Jebel Hafeet on UAE's most winding 15 kilometres of road.

Drive to Jebel Hafeet

Desert Run In The Early Morning

Where only the camels and the 4x4s tread ...

Desert Run