The cleaning systems on the Burj are a work of engineering art. The cleaning platforms which service the curved façade windows, run on tracks mounted on each side of the windows. Likewise, the platforms on the outer curved support columns run on tracks which can be seen in the above image on the front of the structure.The side windows are cleaned using a conventional platform suspended from divots mounted on the roof.The underneath of the helipad has another custom platform which rotates on rails around the underside. The rest is done by men like this guy - dangling from a rope, using a water-blaster, and praying that the rope doesn't break!
He's got about 200 metres between him and terra firma!
This is our view for the next couple of nights – not bad, is it?
We’re at the beginning of our next adventure which sees us leaving the UAE, at least for a few weeks.
The last 4 months in particular have been stressful. Through a series of events which I don’t want to go into again, (because we’re over it!), we are both jobless and looking for new opportunities. Over the same time period, our landlord decided that he was selling up and moving back to Greece, so our rented apartment is now on the market.
The past week has been spent wrapping up our responsibilities at our ex-work and also packing up the apartment.
Today, we moved out of the apartment which was made all the easier due to a fantastic removal firm run by the fabulous Mr Mohammed Ali. If you need a fast and reliable removing company, he’s your man – Ph: 050 548 1357. His team arrived at 7:30am, packed up all our furniture and moved it into U-Store Storage by 4pm. I’ve never seen 4 guys work as hard all day – they were fantastic. Our furniture is now packed so well, it could be moved anywhere around the world.
So we’re ensconced in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel until we leave.
Tomorrow, we’re going diving - I've been diving since 1992 and am finally completing my PADI Advanced Open Water certification which I signed up for in October 2004! It’s only 5 dives, but because of all the travelling and work that we’ve had to do over the past couple of years, I haven’t had the chance to finish it.
We fly out to Germany in the wee hours of Saturday morning. J has a few things to tidy up in Berlin, and we also want to spend some time with her kids.
We’re also planning what to do next. We really do want to come back to the UAE, but we’ll have to see how soon that can be.
Blogging will be minimal while we travel, settle in Berlin and get the internet hooked up.
We’ll see you on the other side!
When we meet new people overseas and they learn that we live in Dubai, we get one of 3 reactions.
1. They don’t know where it is, or;
2. They say, "Oh yeah - the US ports deal." or;
3. They say, “Is that where the amazing hotel shaped like a sail is located?”
The Burj Al Arab hotel is a very distinctive landmark on Jumeirah Beach. You know when you've acclimatised into Dubai life when you stop looking for it from Sheikh Zayed Road!
Built on its man-made island, the 321m building (the Eiffel Tower in Paris is only 300m) is deceptive in appearance as there’s really no other building around it to give it scale. At present, it’s the second tallest building in Dubai after the 355m Emirates’ Office Tower.
The closest building in proximity to the BAA is the 26-storey 104m Jumeirah Beach Hotel (JBH), and this amazing piece of architecture, (we actually think that it’s technically more brilliant than the Burj Al Arab), looks insignificant next to the white towering sail.
The curved front of the Burj is covered in canvas. At night, the hotel is usually lit up by colourful lights shining on the canvas, and which change colour every few minutes. Every hour or so, a little light show takes place. As well as the coloured floodlights, 4 towers outside the front entrance shoot gas-powered flames high into the air, and rows of white lights race up and down the outer frame. The JBH responds with a show of its own.
Inside the Burj Al Arab, the 3-sided structure is hollow, with the sail taking up one side, and the suites built around the 2 other outer edges of the building. Every hour, the central indoor fountain shoots a spurt of water high up into the air. To the sides of the 2 escalators that transport people to and from the main floor of the hotel, there are 2 HUGE saltwater aquariums.
There is an abundance of gold plating, chandeliers and wealth. It’s all very civilised, although we've recently noticed that with the package tours (special 7 night deals giving nights in the JBH, Burj and Bab al Shams hotels), being offered by the hotels’ parent company Jumeirah, there is now a more “Tommy Tourist” class of guest, instead of it being only for wealthy businessmen and people who look as if they were born rich.
The 2 outer elevators located at the back corner quickly rise to the Al Muntaha restaurant and bar on what is officially known as the 27th floor, but in reality is more like the 60th floor.
The décor at the top is amazing – a cross between a 70s disco and the movie “Tron”. The view is spectacular – the Jumeirah Palm and the World are visible on less hazy days, as is the financial district with the distinctive Emirates Towers. Directly below your feet, you can see the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the marina.
Yes, the round huge helipad at the top is where Tiger Woods hit golf balls into the Arabian Gulf, and where Roger Federer and André Agassi played exhibition tennis. All in the name of promotion, and it worked. Just about everyone we talk to overseas has seen TV coverage or still photos of these events, or the Emirates Airlines' ad where the elderly woman is being taken for a helicopter ride from the helipad.
What about the 7 stars? They are self-awarded. Yet another Dubai publicity machine creation, and one star for each of the 7 emirates that make up the UAE!
Well, it wasn't really a gilt-edged royal invitation – it was more in the form of a general mailout from ITP to their customer database.
M is bemused to be invited to the 4th Dubai International Wine & Beverage Fair to be held at the Madinat Jumeirah (pictured above) on Feb 28th and March 1st.
It seems incongruous to be invited to an event that promotes alcohol-based products in a country that follows Islam.
We all know that Dubai is tolerant and lenient when it comes to alcohol - possibly to its detriment given the number of people being pulled up for drink-driving, and the high proportion of UAE Nationals caught driving under the influence - all of which was published in the Feb 9th edition of Emirates Today.
Expatriates caught D.I.C. are threatened with deportation, but what will the Emiratis face? The authorities can't deport them from their own country!
It also makes us wonder which is the greater sin for followers of the Islamic faith - drinking on its own, or drinking and driving?
We guess that it depends on whether they're caught by a mullah or by the police!
The times they are a-changing – sing it, Bob!
The cleaning systems on the Burj are a work of engineering art. The cleaning platforms which service the curved façade windows, run on tracks mounted on each side of the windows. Likewise, the platforms on the outer curved support columns run on tracks which can be seen in the above image on the front of the structure.
He's got about 200 metres between him and terra firma!
