Open Skies | June 2012

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EDITOR’S LETTER

I

sit writing this in the highest habitable place on Earth: floor 154 of the Burj Khalifa. Open Skies has taken over a triplex office suite nearly half a mile above the ground, to produce this month’s Dubai issue. It is a fitting venue from which to work, as we can see the astonishing development of the past decade spread out below us. There is a famous photo taken in 1990 from the roof of the World Trade Centre looking south towards Abu Dhabi. All that can be seen is a two-lane road, surrounded by sand, a few small apartment blocks, and then nothing. The image is usually accompanied by a photograph of Dubai ‘now’, a photo that will be redundant a few months later, as the skyline morphs once again. We hope to have captured some of

Dubai’s magic on our cover, illustrated by Matt Lyon, an almost dream-like skyline, a collection of buildings far greater than the sum of its parts.

That theme runs right through this issue. From the stark beauty of Dubai International Financial Centre to the cramped lanes that criss-cross Bastakiya, there is much to discover here. Jim Krane, author of City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, and so something of a Dubai expert, explains some of the ways in which Dubai reached the point it is at today. We also go back in time, to 1990, as renowned football writer James Montague chronicles a year in which the UAE football team made history.

Speaking of sport, we managed to play a game of table tennis on the 153rd level of the Burj Khalifa. OK, so it might not have been as skilful as Roger Federer’s duel with Andre Agassi on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab, but it does get quite windy half a mile up. Enjoy the issue.

CONOR@OPENSKIESMAGAZINE.COM

Emirates takes care to ensure that all facts published herein are correct. In the event of any inaccuracy please contact The Editor. Any opinion expressed is the honest belief of the author based on all available facts. Comments and facts should not be relied upon by the reader in taking commercial, legal, financial or other decisions. Articles are by their nature general and specialist advice should always be consulted before any actions are taken.

PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE Telephone: (+971 4) 282 4060 Fax:(+971 4) 282 4436 Email: emirates@motivate.ae

89,396 COPIES Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai, UAE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Obaid Humaid Al Tayer GROUP EDITOR & MANAGING PARTNER Ian Fairservice GROUP SENIOR EDITOR Gina Johnson • gina@motivate.ae SENIOR EDITOR Mark Evans • marke@motivate.ae EDITOR Conor Purcell • conor@motivate.ae DEPUTY EDITOR Gareth Rees • gareth@motivate.ae DESIGNER Roui Francisco • rom@motivate.ae STAFF WRITER Matthew Priest EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Londresa Flores SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER S Sunil Kumar PRODUCTION MANAGER C Sudhakar GENERAL MANAGER, GROUP SALES Anthony Milne • anthony@motivate.ae DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Helen Cotton • helenc@motivate.ae GROUP SALES MANAGER Jaya Balakrishnan jaya@motivate.ae ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER Murali Narayanan SENIOR SALES MANAGER Shruti Srivastava EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS FOR EMIRATES: Editor: Siobhan Bardet Arabic Editor: Hatem Omar Deputy Editor: Andy Grant WEBSITE • emirates.com. CONTRIBUTORS: Sam Brewster, Gemma Correll, Rohan Juvekar, Ali Khalid, Jim Krane, Axis Maps, James Montague, Archie Niduaza, Jeric Rodriguez, Matt Warnock.

COVER ILLUSTRATION by Matt Lyon MASTHEAD DESIGN by Quint • www.quintdubai.com

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES: AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND Okeeffe Media, Kevin O’ Keeffe; Tel + 61 89 447 2734, okeeffekev@bigpond.com.au, BENELUXM.P.S. Benelux; Francesco Sutton; Tel +322 720 9799, Fax +322 725 1522, francesco.sutton@mps-adv.com CHINA Publicitas Advertising; Tel +86 10 5879 5885 FRANCE Intermedia Europe Ltd; Fiona Lockie, Katie Allen, Laura Renault; Tel +33 15 534 9550, Fax +33 15 534 9549, administration@intermedia.europe.com GERMANY IMV International Media Service GmbH, Wolfgang Jäger; Tel +49 89 54 590 738, Fax +49 89 54 590 769, wolfgang.jager@iqm.de HONG KONG/MALAYSIA/ THAILAND Sonney Media Networks, Hemant Sonney; Tel +852 27 230 373, Fax +852 27 391 815, hemant@sonneymedia.com INDIA Media Star, Ravi Lalwani; Tel +91 22 4220 2103, Fax +91 22 2283 9619, ravi@mediastar.co.in ITALY IMM Italia Lucia Colucci; Tel +39 023 653 4433, Fax +39 029 998 1376, lucia.colucci@fastwebnet.it JAPAN Tandem Inc.; Tel + 81 3 3541 4166, Fax +81 3 3541 4748, all@tandem-inc.com NETHERLANDS GIO Media, Giovanni Angiolini; Tel +31 6 2223 8420, giovanni@ gio-media.nl SOUTH AFRICA Ndure Dale Isaac; Tel +27 84 701 2479, dale@ndure.co.za SPAIN IMM International, Nicolas Devos; Tel +331 40 1300 30, n.devos@imminternational.com TURKEY Media Ltd.; Tel: +90 212 275 51 52, mediamarketingtr@medialtd.com.tr UK Spafax Inflight Media, Nick Hopkins, Arnold Green; Tel +44 207 906 2001, Fax +44 207 906 2022, nhopkins@spafax.com USA Totem Brand Stories, Brigitte Baron, Marina Chetner; Tel +212 896 3846, Fax +212 896 3848, brigitte. baron@rtotembrandstories.com

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33 rotating gemstones and a diamond at twelve. time to change

CONTENTS

JUNE 2012

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE THAT WE PRODUCED THIS ISSUE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD – LEVELS 152, 153 AND 154 OF BURJ KHALIFA (P36)...

LIFE IN THE DUBAI OIL FIELDS AS TOLD BY A RIG ENGINEER (P42)...

A NIGHT AT THE BURJ AL ARAB (P44)... DUBAI-BASED VOCALIST

HAMDAN AL ABRI REVEALS WHAT’S ON HIS MP3 PLAYER (P47)...

WE MAP THE WEST COAST’S COOLEST CITY: SAN FRANCISCO (P50)...

THE INDEPENDENT TOY STORE THAT OPENED MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO AND IS DETERMINED TO SURVIVE (P64)... SAM BREWSTER ILLUSTRATES OUR ALTERNATIVE DUBAI GUIDE (P68)... JIM KRANE REVEALS THE SECRETS BEHIND DUBAI’S RISE (P78)... MIDDLE EAST FOOTBALL EXPERT JAMES MONTAGUE TELLS THE STORY OF THE UAE TEAM’S ITALIA ‘90 WORLD CUP ODYSSEY (P92)... OUR TONGUE IN CHEEK USER’S MANUAL ON HOW TO SURVIVE LIFE IN THE CITY

(P105)... TWENTY-NINE INSTAGRAM PHOTOS OF THE CITY TAKEN ON MOBILE PHONES. A LO-FI TOUR OF DUBAI (P112)...

35

The Burj Khalifa is, as we’re sure you know, the tallest building on the planet. This month, we were lucky enough to be given access, thanks to developers Emaar, to Level 153 – a triplex suite of offices on floors 152, 153 and 154 – to make our Dubai issue. Project153 saw us take over the suite for three days, where we wrote and edited copy, conducted

36

interviews, spoke to local and international media, designed the very pages you are about to enjoy, and even found time to play the world’s highest game of table tennis (really).

While the views were spectacular, the decor was not bad either. And just to prove we’re not making the whole thing up, here is a small sample of what we got up to...

THE MAKING OF THE DUBAI ISSUE

37

CONTRIBUTORS

MATT LYON: An illustrator based in London, his work has appeared everywhere from Wired and The New York Times to Microsoft and Red Bull. Matt’s works have been exhibited worldwide from Chicago and Rome to Bilbao, London and Stockholm.

JIM KRANE: A former reporter for the Associated Press, he has written two books on Dubai, including the critically acclaimed City of Gold: Dubai And The Dream Of Capitalism. He also contributes to the Financial Times and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

JAMES MONTAGUE: An author and journalist, he has written a book about Middle East football called When Friday Comes. He contributes regularly to the Guardian, FourFour Two and the International Herald Tribune.

SAM BREWSTER: A freelance illustrator, his work has appeared everywhere, including the BBC, Reader’s Digest, The Times and Wired. He also produces and directs films.

ALI KHALED: A Palestinian living in Dubai, Ali writes a column for The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi and was previously the Managing Editor of 7Days in Dubai.

38

PEACE OF MIND STARTS WITH PROOF OF QUALITY. Carat Weight 1.53

Color Grade E

Clarity Grade VS1

Cut Grade

Excellent

Laser Inscription Registry Number GIA 16354621

Natural Diamond Not Synthetic

A GIA report is certainty from the source. GIA is the gemological research institute that created the 4Cs and the International Diamond Grading System.™ It is globally recognized as the unbiased expert for professional, detailed gem evaluations. Before you buy a diamond, ask your jeweler for a GIA grading report. To learn more visit www.4cs.gia.edu

THE UNIVERSAL STANDARD BY WHICH GEMS ARE JUDGED.

INTRO P. 42 • LIFE ON AN OIL RIG

P. 59 • JUMEIRAH JANE UNCOVERED

P. 62 • METRO AREA

P.64 • RETRO TOY STORE

HY PHILOSOPD MAPPE TO

GUIDE A GRAPHIC THE WORLD F O THE ‘ISMS’

P60

41

ILLUSTRATION: ROUI FRANCISCO

il has been very important to Dubai’s growth but now it makes up just a small percentage of the emirate’s GDP, so despite what tourists might think, or the impression they might get from the international media, it is quite rare to work on a Dubai rig, and I have only worked on one four times in the past 18 months I have spent in the field. My company is based in Dubai and I live here, but I usually work on offshore rigs in Iranian waters.

From 2005 to 2010 I had an office job, so it was quite a change when I moved in to the field in October

O

2010. How we reach the oilrigs depends entirely on the weather – if the seas are calm, we go by boat, and if they are rough, we go by chopper – but the first time I was flown out.

It was my first time on a helicopter,

OUR MAN IN

DUBAI

Rohan Juvekar was interviewed by Gareth Rees.

42

and I was very excited, having spent almost seven years in an office job.

It’s a totally different experience, obviously, and, of course, it carries that element of risk and adventure.

In the office job I worked from eight

LIFE ON DUBAI’S OFFSHORE OIL RIGS IS A W ORLD AWAY FROM THE FRENETIC PACE OF CITY LIFE

TWITTER

PITCH in the morning to four in the afternoon, and then had time for my personal life – it was a pretty standard life. Now I work four weeks on the rig and then enjoy four weeks off. But in the field, for those four weeks, you work 12 hours a day in two shifts – day and night – and you don’t have any real time off. There are no weekends.

If it’s four weeks rotation, you continuously work for those four weeks.

I won’t go too far into the technical aspects of my job, but I work as a mud engineer. In order to drill, you need to apply pressure to the drill bit equal to that being exerted by the soil you are trying to drill through, so we use heavy mud both to provide that weight and act as a coolant. The mud contains a mixture of chemicals, and I have to give the formulations, which depend on the soil conditions, to my team. We have to maintain those properties at all times.

I am only supervising but it is still a physical challenge. If there is an emergency, or too great a workload, I also have to participate in the more physical aspects. Sometimes there are gas or seawater zones, which the security department predicts, and we also have to adapt to those circumstances. On top of that, during my four weeks on the rig I could be moved from one rig to another – I am on call, if you like.

Having only worked in the field for 18 months, I am not in a senior position and so I work night shifts.

My shift is six in the evening to six in the morning, and after 12 hours I can enjoy the recreation room, the entertainment room and the gym facilities. But I only spend a few hours there and then the rest of the time

sleeping or resting. It’s tough work.

In the Middle East it is all men on the rig, and you have a roommate, but I share with my superior, the guy who is on day shift, so whenever I am in the room sleeping he is out on duty. I’m not disturbed.

People I speak to about my job think it’s really cool because I get three or four weeks off, but living and working on the rig for three weeks can be hard.

You don’t have a social life, and you often feel homesick. Having worked in an office for so long it is really difficult to adjust to this kind of arrangement.

Living and working on the oil rig for three weeks can be hard.

You don't have a social life and you often feel quite homesick There’s no denying there are plus points – the company provides an air ticket back home each time you come off the rig, you are paid whether you’re working or not, including a daily allowance when you’re on the rig, so the money is pretty good compared to an office job, and I travel during my time off – but I can’t see myself working in the field forever.

Having said that, there are guys who have worked the rigs for 30 or 40 years, and they love the fact that you work four weeks and then you’re off for four weeks and you don’t need to worry about work at all.

FIVE HOME-GROWN DUBAI BUSINESSES THAT YOU SHOULD BE FOLLOWING

Wild Peeta We are two Emirati guys with a passion for serving gourmet shawarmas. Locally sourced, socially connected, freshly made. @wildpeeta

Pavilion The city’s newest dedicated non-commercial contemporary art space providing a place to view, discuss and participate in work by local and international artists. @paviliondowntown

The Fridge The Middle East’s most trusted artist and music management company with deep roots in the music & performing arts scene. @thefridgedubai

OKKU Multi-award winning OKKU luxury Japanese restaurant and lounge provides innovative dishes, haute couture cocktails and amazing supper club DJs. @okkudubai

MAKE business hub A café in Dubai Marina, aiming to serve the specific needs of the mobile worker. Its the best of both café and office and wraps it up in a cool urban space. @MAKEbusinesshub

43

ROOM SUITE

BURJ AL ARAB DUBAI

INTERNET SPEED: 1MB, free PILLOWS: Eight IPOD DOCK: No CLUB SANDWICH DELIVERY TIME:

34 minutes COMPLIMENTARY SNACKS: Dates,

water, juice, chocolate TOILETRY BRAND: Hermès DAILY NEWSPAPER: Selection of

newpapers printed out EXTRAS: Two floors, Jaccuzi butler

The Burj Al Arab is a strange hotel. From the outside it’s undeniably beautiful; from the inside it’s a little less impressive, being very much a product of the late nineties.

The room we stayed in looked like a cross between the Oval Office and a 1970s nightclub (mirrors on the ceiling, gold fixtures). The butler concept is now commonplace in five-star resorts, and the butlers at the Burj are only too happy to help.

A little too happy perhaps; it took a good fifteen minutes for ours to leave our room – and even then we had to cut him short while he was demonstrating how to use the remote control. The duplex concept is quite nice, although the technology could do with an upgrade – in fact the whole place could do with some renovation. But, there really is nowhere else like it on Earth, and how many hotels can say that?

TV CHANNELS: 48 VIEW: 3 /5 RATE: From $1,200 WWW.BURJALARAB.COM

JUNE CALENDAR

MAY 10–JUNE 10 JUNE 2

JUNE 3–4

JUNE 5–10

The Turkish capital, Istanbul, holds more than 100 performances in a month of diverse theatre and performance.

Dance music lovers descend on Glasgow’s streets in their thousands to see some of the world’s biggest DJs.

The ‘Material Girl’ makes her first ever stop in the UAE in what is set to be one of the biggest concerts in the country’s history.

Hosting one of the biggest short film festivals in the world, Toronto is the place to visit for movie lovers this month.

www.tiyatro.iksv.org

colours.co.uk

www.madonna.com

www.worldwideshortfilmfest.com

International Theatre Festival Glasgow Coloursfest

44

Madonna in UAE

Worldwide Short Film Festival

The Leading Teppanyaki Restaurant in the World —Pioneer since 1964

U.S.A, Honolulu Hilton Hawaiian Village 808-955-5955 CANADA, Toronto Fairmont Hotels 416-368-2511 U.K., Piccadilly 44-20-7494-2525

SLOVAKIA, Bratislava 421-232-186-240 AUSTRALIA, Surfer’s Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa 61-7-5592-9700 THAILAND, Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa 66-38-412120 ext. 1395

U.K., Chelsea 44-20-7376-7799

THAILAND, Bangkok Anantara Riverside 66-2-476-0022

U.K., St. Paul Grange Hotel 44-20-7074-1001

INDONESIA, Jakarta Grand Indonesia East Mall 62-21-2358-1067

ROMANIA, Bucharest Howard Johnson Grand Plz Hotel 4021-201-5030

INDONESIA, Bali De Opera Bali LEBANON, Beirut Le Commodore Hotel 961-1-734-734

‘‘We prepare your food right before your eyes.

Please enjoy our culinary performance.

Domo Arigato (Thank you).’’

Keiko Ono Aoki, Ms. Benihana/CEO

JORDAN, Amman Le Meridian Amman Hotel 962-569-6511 U.A.E., Abu Dhabi Beach Rotana Hotel & Towers 971-2-697-9122 U.A.E., Dubai Al Bustan Rotana Hotel 971-4-428-2000 U.A.E., Dubai Amwaj Rotana Hotel 971-4-705-4632 SAUDI ARABIA, Jeddah Sands Hotel 966-2-668-6014 KUWAIT, Kuwait City The Avenues Mall 965-2259-7096 Coming Soon: SAUDI ARABIA, Riyadh

Benihana of Tokyo

www.benihana-of-tokyo.com

BOOKED

DUBAI GRAPHIC ENCYCLOPEDIA

IGNACIO GOMEZ & BLANCA LOPEZ One of the more interesting books on Dubai we have come across, the Dubai Graphic Encyclopedia is more than 170 pages of cut out illustrations of everyday Dubai things. From minarets to water bottles, not much has escaped the authors’ eyes, and despite the rather narrow target market, this should be bought by anyone with an interest in the city. Designed and illustrated by a Spanish couple in Dubai, the book covers the architecture of the city rather impressively – and with a CD of the vectors inside the back cover, it should be popular among the city’s creative community. Some of our favourites include palm tree patterns – both real and man-made, the cars (Porsche Cayenne to Dodge Durango) and the chapter on urban fabric, with everywhere from Dubai World Central to Falcon City of Wonders represented. The innovation extends to the cover treatment: a cardboard finish which reveals a yellow background, the headlights of the Mercedes-Benz G55 cut out rather nicely. This is not a beach read, but if you want to see Dubai in a different light – and put paid to the belief there’s no creative talent in the UAE – this is a must.

Brusselssprout, 2011

JUNE CALENDAR

JUNE 8–10

JUNE 8–JULY 1

JUNE 25 – JULY 8 JUNE 30 Wimbledon

Dragon Boat Festival

Rockers both young and old journey to Castle Donington to see bands such as Metallica, Black Sabbath and The Prodigy perform.

All month, Poland and Ukraine will be hosting the footballing world’s second biggest event, the European Championships.

The grass courts of London’s All-England Club host the 126th edition of the world’s most famous tennis tournament.

Malaysians take their dragon boating seriously, which is why Penang‘s 33rd race is one not to miss.

www.downloadfestival.co.uk

www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012

www.wimbledon.com

penangdragonboat.gov.my

Download Festival

46

Euro 2012

SKYPOD DUBAI-BASED SINGER HAMDAN AL ABRI GIVES US HIS TOP TEN TRACKS. MYSPACE.COM/ABRIMUSIC

SHAFIQ HUSAYN – CHEEBA FT. BILAL I just love the beat on this song. Bilal is one of my all-time favourite singers and he does this song justice with his subtle singing. Great track, great video too.

SAM COOKE – A CHANGE IS GONNA COME He has so many good songs but this one takes the cake.

His voice is just phenomenal, he is such an inspiration to me for many reasons.

RADIOHEAD – BULLETPROOF... I WISH I WAS This song is from their album The Bends and this is one of the songs where one is beginning to see the band taking its music further and further.

BJORK – HUNTER She is out of this world. What an amazing voice she has. I love everything she does, Hunter is one of her top songs for me. I have tried performing it a few times; great video too.

47

MAXWELL – THIS WOMAN’S WORK I’m a huge fan of Maxwell. He has an amazing voice. I heard this song when he performed it on MTV’s Unplugged, I later found out it’s a Kate Bush original.

DAVID BOWIE – MOONAGE DAYDREAM The whole album is amazing, but Moonage Daydream is my favourite track.

This album was my official introduction to David Bowie.

IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES – NO FUN I think Iggy Pop is the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll star. For him rock and roll is not an attitude, it is who he is. The Stooges’ first album captures the moment and sound perfectly.

THE DOORS – THE END This band was a force of nature. Jim Morrison was a true artist: a poet and an amazing singer. This song captures all the elements that made The Doors so great.

48

MARK EVANS OUR senior EDITOR stays grounded with a little help from his tailor t wasn’t until my third or fourth visit that I was finally able to find Shashi’s shop without any help. The epitome of backstreet, it’s hidden among a warren of twists and turns in small covered alleyway, not far from the Iranian hospital in Satwa, old Dubai. Passing trade is a concept as surreal as Dadaism here.

Shashi’s my tailor, although that sounds much more grandiose than it is; in actuality, he’s the guy I go to when I want a pair of trousers taken in, or the seam on a shirt stitched. I’ve had a few shirts made, and a suit or two in the seven years I’ve been here, but ‘my tailor’ is probably stretching it.

I would go as far as to say I’m a regular though – certainly he knows me well enough to greet me by name and comment that I’m ‘too much thin’. Indeed, anyone with weight issues should visit – Shashi’s convinced that everyone’s too thin, regardless of size. I often wonder whether that’s just his catchphrase, a line for everyone to make them smile. Suppose it’s better than ‘suits you, sir’.

Most of my visits to Shashi’s shop run along the same lines – find the place (still a struggle), get measured up, a ‘too much thin’ from Shashi before arranging to pick up the tailoring in a few days time. It’s a long drive, in Dubai terms, from my apartment in the Marina to Satwa, especially twice, but Sashi’s efficient, friendly, and does a good job, so I always go back.

When I bought a suit recently, and wanted to wear it the same evening to some event or other, I made the trip down Sheikh Zayed Road to Shashi’s to have the trousers tapered.

I was hoping if I asked, he’d do it while I waited, and sure enough, he was his usual helpful self, sending the trousers up to the workshop above the shop to have them altered, and gesturing me to sit and wait. This was probably the first time I’d actually waited in the shop,

I

and Sashi came and sat with me. “Dubai”, he said. “Too much.”

“Too much”, I asked, “…thin?”

He laughed.

“No, Dubai too much,” he said. “Too much busy, too much hurry. Too much.”

He was smiling when he said it, which was good, otherwise it might have sounded a little sad, like the jolly old tailor that I’d been going to for years had given up on Dubai. He hadn’t, of course; he just found it amusing that most people, myself included, preferred to race around the emirate without taking time to reflect. He went on to tell me how he’d come to be in Dubai (“someone called and said come, so I did”), how he started out as a tailor, and about his family in Bangalore.

We had quite the chat.

His English wasn’t always the best, and my north east English accent probably wasn’t much better, but what he said resonated with me. Dubai, you see, can be fairly ridiculous at times, and the longer you stay here, the more you become blasé about it all.

I’m almost used to the fact that the guy in the car parking space next to mine drives a Ferrari, and that I’m invited to parties on the 153rd-floor of the world’s tallest building or that my local bar has a flotilla of yachts moored outside.

I’m not sure I want to become completely used to it, though. And the best way to do that will be to keep talking to down-to-earth people such as Shashi. Just as long as I can find his shop, that is.

MAPPED SAN FRANCISCO

Treasure Treasure Island Island

Front Front Mason Mason Presidio Presidio of of San San Fransisco Fransisco Richmond Richmond District District

Chinatown Chinatown Mission Mission Bay Bay

Hayes Hayes Valley Valley

Sunset Sunset District District

Lakeshore Lakeshore

Castro Castro Midtown Midtown Terrace Terrace

Central Central Waterfront Waterfront

Silver Silver Terrace Terrace

Crocker Crocker Amazon Amazon 50

Hunters Hunters Point Point

Oakland Oakland

Not many cities can pull off laid back and exciting at the same time, but San Francisco manages to be both. While the City by the Bay never denies its historic Hippy past, it has also moved into the 21st century with an audacious sense of diversity. Whether tucking into a taco truck or clubbing the night away, San Fran shines with a rather remarkable mixture of international gastronomy, pulsing nightlife and fine culture.

WWW.HG2.COM

HOTELS 1. The Good Hotel 2. Clift 3. Hotel Monaco 4. Hotel Bohème RESTAURANTS 5. Swan Oyster Depot 6. R&G Lounge 7. Absinthe Brasserie 8. Sebo

SAN FRANCISCO

BARS / CLUBS 9. The Tipsy Pig 10. Tonga Room 11. Press Club 12. Harlot GALLERIES 13. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 14. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 15. de Young Museum 16. 111 Minna Gallery 51

MAPPED SAN FRANCISCO

HOTELS 1 THE GOOD HOTEL

Central hotel ‘with a conscience’ that’s both affordable and modern (WiFi and iPod docks). It uses recycled construction, in-room recycling and free bikes so a stay will leave you refreshed and guilt-free.

2 CLIFT

3

Just off Union Square, a classic exterior hides cutting edge style that has provided a place for San Francisco’s glamorous party animals to sleep and continue the party in the Clift’s trendy bar, the Redwood Room.

HOTEL MONACO A Kimpton hotel with theatrical style housed in a 1910 Beaux Arts building. Fun and decadent flourishes like the two-storey lobby fireplace and the green striped wallpaper in the rooms add to its charm.

4 HOTEL BOHÈME

ABSINTHE BRASSERIE Absinthe Brasserie and Bar just might be the best bar in all of San Francisco for cocktail hour. Its Belle Epoque interior packs a punch and so do its concoctions, like the wonderful Ginger Rogers.

8

Built in the 1880s, Hotel Bohème was a hangout for Ginsberg, Kerouac and other Beat movement legends. Objects from this era line the walls, with retro fabrics, orange tones and lampshades made from 1950s sheet music.

RESTAURANTS 5 SWAN OYSTER DEPOT

Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, this tiny hole-in-the-wall seafood joint still draws crowds to its line of twenty barstools. You’ll come for the oysters and stay for the milky clam chowder and thick sourdough bread.

6 R&G LOUNGE

This crab speciality joint in Chinatown is usually packed with Chinese locals. The fare here is authentically Cantonese (try the greasy salt and pepper crab), the interior is no-nonsense and the cocktails are strong.

7

SEBO California rolls have no place at this upmarket, dimly lit sushi bar, which flies in most of its raw fish daily from Japan. Sushi here is the real deal and soy sauce is offered only by special request.

BARS/CLUBS 9 THE TIPSY PIG

Haute cuisine meets American comfort food at this celebrated gastrotavern in the Marina district.

Inventive cocktails, a long beer list and mac ‘n’ cheese to rival mom’s make tolerating the raucous atmosphere worth it.

10 TONGA ROOM

The Fairmont Hotel’s basement bar is a Polynesian paradise where a rainstorm soundtracks the evening’s frivolities and umbrella drinks the size of buckets are enjoyed over an actual blue lagoon.

11 PRESS CLUB

An urbane, modern lounge where wine is the mainstay: hundreds of backlit bottles along the bar form the only real décor. One of the most extensive wine lists in the city, skip a trip to Napa and try them all here.

12 HARLOT

Taking its name from 19th century ladies who once occupied this stretch of Minna Street, Harlot seduces with an unusual but opulent mix of the Victorian era and digital futurism – DJs, seductive lighting and quirky décor.

GALLERIES 13 YERBA BUENA CENTER

FOR THE ARTS The focus here is on young, contemporary artists based in Argentina and surrounding South American countries.

This nicely designed space showcases a new generation of artists.

52

14 SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM 15 DE YOUNG MUSEUM

OF MODERN ART With 15,000 permanent works of modern art, SFMoMa is only second to New York for American modern art. Designed

by Swiss architect Mario Botta, the space is as much a marvel as the works inside.

A landmark museum with an unrivalled collection of American paintings and Native American art, its strange copper façade and huge viewing tower were the result of a controversial redesign in 2005.

16 111 MINNA GALLERY

The epitome of trendy on the San Fran scene, this avant-garde arthouse is part gallery, part club and showcases a mix of local and international artists, DJs, live performances, and film screenings in an everchanging space.

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COLUMN

The rise of

The aerotropolis D UBAI-BAS E D COLUMNIST, ALI KHALED ARGUES THAT THE ART OF T RAVEL LOOKS SET TO B ECOME A WHOLE LOT EASIER . raditionally, the aviation industry has suffered from a lack of cooperation, coordination and even trust between airline carriers and airport authorities. The airline carriers that have strived while others around them struggled – and we’re lucky to have a few of them in the Gulf – are the ones that have managed to blur the lines between the two, creating a more seamless experience for the traveller. Indeed, the future of aviation, according to Australian architectural firm Woods Bagot, will come in the shape of the ‘Aerotropolis’, or ‘airport city’.

And as we well know, if there is one thing Dubai is good at, it is creating cities.

In a sense, a Dubai Aerotropolis is already with us. Few cities enjoy synergy with their aviation industry the way

T

Dubai does; the rise of Emirates into one of the world’s leading carriers since its inception in 1985 has been integral in turning Dubai into the successful business and travel hub it is today. And when

Dubai world central will become the world's largest aerotropolis the new Al Maktoum International Airport, the heartbeat of the planned Dubai World Central – a residential, commercial and business complex scheme in Jebel Ali – becomes fully functional in the coming years, it will likely become the largest Aerotropolis in the world.

55

The integrated model of the Aerotropolis, a phrase coined by John Kasarda, a professor of business at the University of North Carolina, is one that Abu Dhabi, Doha, Malaysia and other major cities are increasingly copying, according to WARP Speed: Mach I, a study by Woods Bagot, designers of airport infrastructure for the past two decades.

Importantly, new designs will focus more on the individual.

“Whilst demographic profiling is necessary to understand the broader preferences of cohorts, individual profiling will be critical to the success of future airport operations,” James Berry, Director, of Transportation & Infrastructure at Woods Bagot said recently at Passenger Terminal World (PTW) 2012,

which was held in Vienna. In the future, an Aerotropolis, designed with maximum sustainability in mind, will ensure that the needs of the individual customer will be consolidated more efficiently than ever before.

And with technological advances what they are, passengers will be demanding faster check-ins, security and baggage collection services to the already rapidly improving existing ones.

It won’t be just the needs of the affluent business traveller that will exclusively be met by this brave new world; economy passengers will benefit too.

And, hopefully, the airports might look a little prettier

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DUBAI ARCHITECTURE barasti

Wind Tower

dubai world Trade centre

The Jumeirah Beach Hotel

TBC

1

The Barasti or palm frond, was the material of choice for Dubai’s first residents. The layered leaves allowed air in and out and provided some respite from the searing heat.

2

An early type of air conditioning, the wind tower was a supremely elegant design, allowing the wind to be funneled in through gaps in the tower

56

and circulated around the building, while deflecting the heat.

3

Built in 1979, it was considered a huge gamble at the time – but as with most of the projects Sheikh Rashid devised, it confounded the critics and stands to this day. Although no longer the tallest building in the region, it is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.

4

Once a day trip destination for Dubai residents looking to get some sun and sand, the Chicago’s demolition marked the beginning of the city’s rise into a tourism power, making way for the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The hotel was the 9th tallest building Dubai when it was completed in 1997. Now, it does not even make the top one hundred building.

too. In terms of general efficiency, future designs should improve the relationships between the airports and the airline companies themselves, and will include access to retailers, hotels, and business centres and offices. And we can be sure, in Dubai at least, shopping malls.

Travel Utopia or Dystopia? It depends on how you look at it, of course.

“If our live are dominated by our quest for happiness, then perhaps few activities reveal as much about the dynamics of this quest – in all its ardour and paradoxes – than our travels,” the author and modern philosopher Alain De Botton wrote in his book, The Art Of Travel.

Capricorn Tower

“They express however inarticulately, an understanding of what life might be about, outside the constraints of work and the struggle for survival.” Of course everyone from Seneca to Ralph Waldo Emerson warned of using travel as a antidote to malaise – they both argued that happiness comes from within, not from a particular geographical location.

However, neither Seneca or Emerson ever flew First Class, or got an airport limousine, or sipped a glass of champagne at 33,000 feet , and maybe, how you get there is just as important as where you arrive. And as a new generation of urban designers set to work on the city-hubs of the 21st century, the ‘getting there’ looks set to be come a whole lot easier.

The Burj al arab

The Index

The Burj Khalifa

5

Everything Dubai architecture could and should be, Capricorn Tower is subtle, stylish and oozes charm. We pass this tower every day on the Metro, and morning or evening, it always looks good.

6

Completed in 1999, the Burj Al Arab was the first of the city’s buildings that drew admiration from around the

world and put Dubai on the map. More than a decade on it still looks stunning.

7

There is not much left to be said about this building – it is a work of art, and as beautiful inside as out – the most globally recognised building in the city. Its tapered outline gives it its beauty, and ensures it does not overwhelm everything around it.

8

This Norman Foster designed apartment complex is starkly beautiful and typical of the elegant architecture to be found in and around the Dubai International Financial Centre. Its shades of grey and brown allow it to stand out from the shimmering glass towers that surround it. An unashamedly huge shard of concrete.

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INTERVIEW

MY TRAVELLED LIFE JUMEIRAH JANE, SUBURBAN EMPRESS, 44

ON LEISURE

ON STAFF

one has to be taken out of school early but, you

I really hate the term ‘Lady of Leisure’. Anyone

We have a small staff that tends to

know, I’m thinking of her hair too. We summer

that knows me is aware that I am anything

the essentials (gardening, cooking, pool

in Europe – we like the south of France,

but lazy. My days are full: reiki healing,

maintenance), and they’re a part of

although Nice has become so commercial the

manicures, yoga, coffee mornings, lunches,

the family. They have such a good life,

past few years. It seems they let anyone in.

shopping; it really never ends. I probably work

we let them out on their own once a week,

harder than most executives. And I don’t have

although they do have to be back by sunset.

an assistant. And no, the maid doesn’t count.

They sleep in an outhouse near the pool, it’s

ON SOCIALISING

like a mini-villa for them! They’re very lucky.

It’s important to be able to relax after a long day. Luckily, there’s always something

ON CHILDREN

on: an exhibition opening, a fashion

I think one child is enough. It would be nice

ON SUMMER

launch, an awards ceremony; it’s important

for my daughter to have a little brother

I enjoy living here. Except, of course, for the

to see and be seen. I take my husband – he

or sister, but it’s also nice to be able to

summer months. It too hot for me, the heat

loves a good event. Sometimes he leaves

concentrate on my career and my beauty

plays havoc with my hair – split ends aren’t a

after the first thirty minutes, but I know he

regime without too many distractions. Buying

good look. I usually leave the country in mid-

just doesn’t want to take the spotlight away

shoes is no fun when you have the kids and a

April and come back in September. Our little

from me. He’s very caring.

maid in tow. No, one is definitely enough. And I am not just thinking of myself – I really don’t want to pile any more work on our maid.

ON CREATIVITY I’m a very creative person – that’s why I have never actually had a job. I just don’t fit into the ‘by the numbers’ approach so common in ordinary companies these days. So I focus now on my own creative projects. I set up a wonderful boutique that married flower arranging and cupcakes, but people here weren’t ready for it. If I had set it up in Paris, I am sure the market would have loved it.

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GRAPH INFORMATION ELEGANCE

60

PLACE AL RAS EXIT, PALM DEIRA STATION •

DUBAI

•

YEAR BUILT: 2010

PHOTO: ROUI FRANCISCO

A RC H I T E C T U R E M APPED

62

STORE U R BA N C ARTO G RA P H Y

•

TOYS & US

•

DUBAI

•

TOY STORE

I

f you speak to anybody who isn’t a resident of Dubai, chances are, they’ll picture a city overrun by mega malls and little else. But take the time to look beneath the twinkling veneer of the modern city, and you’ll find a world way beyond the air-conditioned tourist traps.

Established in 1977, Toys & Us is part of that world; an example of one of the rare businesses that has survived the emirate’s rapid expansion.

Originally located in Deira’s Al Ghurair Centre – one of the city’s first malls – the toy shop later found a more suitable home in the distinctive, and mainly residential, Sheikh Rashid Building. Sitting beside the once infamously jammed Defence Roundabout, just off Sheikh Zayed Road, the 72m, 17-floor building would at one time have been a sign of modernity, but is now dwarfed by the city’s skyscrapers.

For the past 20 years Toys & Us has called a space on the building’s ground level home – one outlet in a small parade of stores that has similarly receded into the background during two decades of hurried growth.

While it sells a few Barbie dolls and Action Man figures – the latter popular with the city’s young community of comic book geeks – the speciality of the shop is radio-controlled vehicles: aeroplanes, cars, helicopters and even a submarine.

The small store with the immaculately swept entranceway is presided over by 62-year-old Joseph D’Souza, who sits behind a small counter, spare parts in plastic packaging neatly arranged on the wall behind him, taking calls from steadfast customers.

“I came from Goa more than 30 years ago and met a local man [partner Mohammed Muntaser M Razooki] who had a passion for these radio-controlled vehicles,” explains D’Souza. “He is now my 64

TEXT: GARETH REES / IMAGE: ROUI FRANCISCO

partner in the business, and he pops in once every six weeks or so to see how everything is going.”

Strangely, D’Souza isn’t a devotee of the toys he has sold for more than 30 years, preferring to see himself as the caretaker of a one stop shop for the city’s small community of enthusiasts.

“I don’t have time to enjoy playing with the radio-controlled vehicles, I never have, because I’m in the shop all day,” he says.

“The customers’ hobby is playing with these toys. My hobby, and my job, is selling and fixing them.”

Unlike the glitzier shops selling similar toys in the malls, D’Souza will fix any toy, whether it has been bought from his store or not.

Having worked as a turner, fitter, welder and general ‘Mr Fix It’ from childhood, and after devoting his career to Toys & Us, D’Souza survives the world of Dubai business by offering his customers (“mainly male and Western”) a level of service not often not found in the malls.

“When we first started, there were no other shops like ours in Dubai, but the competition from the malls is definitely there now,” he admits. “People come to us because they have come here for 20 years or more – they trust us.”

There were plans to demolish the Sheikh Rashid Building – the fate of many of the city’s older buildings – but D’Souza is confident it is safe for now.

“There was talk last year of demolishing the building, but the plans were changed, and the demolition was postponed,” he explains. “If it were ever destroyed, we would just find somewhere else affordable – we’d keep the business alive no matter what.”

Toys & Us, Sheikh Rashid Building, Defence Roundabout, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai; www.toysandus-uae.com; +971 4 3436035 65

THE CROSSROADS OF CULTURES! ONE SQUARE MILE. A WORLD OF CULTURE. Welcome to Katara, a vibrant center of global cultural events. Enroll in art courses at the Qatar Art Society, enjoy a drama at the outdoor amphitheatre, let the music of Chopin move you at the Katara Opera House, or simply experience the world in a bite at one of the many restaurants.

Things are always happening at Katara, so find out what’s coming next by visiting our website today.

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MAIN P. 78 • INSIDE DUBAI’S RISE P. 92 • THE UAE’S ITALIAN ADVENTURE

P. 112 • AN INSTAGRAM PHOTO TOUR

ED ILLUSTRAT DUBAI CES

RITE PLA OUR FAVOU S FROM PARK Y, IT IN THE C S ET K R TO FISH MA

P68

67

We

Dubai Our favourite City Hangouts

illustrations by sam brewster 68 DUBAI

SATWA S

atwa is one of the most vibrant neighbourhoods in Dubai, and contains almost every conceivable service. Tailors, framers, carpenters, mechanics – you name it, Satwa has it. The streets are bustling and noisy, and the population really does warrant the use of the overused moniker ‘cultural melting pot’, with Filipinos, Pakistanis, Indians and a smattering of Westerners falling in love with the area’s low-slung charm and bustling street life. And what’s not to love? The beach is a short walk away, there are countless 24-hour restaurants and supermarkets, and the skyline – the area runs parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road – is spectacular.

DUBAI 69

al serkal avenue

T

ucked away amidst the warehouses of the Al Quoz industrial area, visitors to Dubai could be forgiven for failing to notice Al Serkal Avenue – an area that is fighting hard to become the hub of the city’s cultural scene. A cul-de-sac of warehouse spaces, the avenue is home to more than ten galleries, including Mojo and Green Art Gallery, as well as purpose built spaces, such as Shelter, designed to provide an ad hoc base for freelance creatives but also hosting regular seminars targeted toward a growing band of start-up entrepreneurs and UAE-based artists on subjects ranging from UAE farming to design. With regular exhibitions, and unique events like the Sole DXB Sneaker Summit held in April, Al Serkal Avenue is worth a visit if you want to see for yourself that the view of Dubai as a cultural black hole is rather invalid. As the city strives to stake its claim as a key player on the global art scene, there is hope amongst the city’s creative community that Al Serkal Avenue will provide the blueprint for Dubai’s cultural future.

70 DUBAI

Bastakiya

Laneways

A

warren of tiny lanes in the middle of the Bastakiya heritage district of Dubai, this is one of the most hard to find – and most interesting – parts of the city. While the new Bastakiya Souq has clearly been designed with tourists in mind (the spotless streets, brushed concrete and varnished wooden beams give the game away slightly), just next to this lie a hodgepodge of laneways so narrow you have to duck and turn sideways to get through some of the smallest gaps.

Despite the claustrophobic nature of the place, business goes on here: flower shops, corner stores, a temple and a number of fabric shops line the alleyways. The area itself is tiny; taking up maybe two hundred square metres, but therein lays its charm. The buildings look misshapen, the walls slightly warped, and however this layout came to pass, it was not with the pedestrian in mind. But in an era where everything is planned, this air of chaos gives Bastakiya its character.

DUBAI

71

The other burj

I

n the heart of Deira there is a narrow street flanked with retro structures – a reminder of Dubai’s first building boom back in the early 1980s. This area used to be the financial centre of the city, and for many Dubai residents, it still is. Even better, since the opening of the Metro, it is easily accessible at any time of the day. The street itself boasts a diverse range of businesses ranging from Turkish restaurants to Chinese medical stores, Ethiopian shops to Russian hotels, all watched over by a succession of concrete buildings that have aged very well. The HSBC building is a design classic, and would not look out of place in Mad Men – it’s the very definition of retro style. Head down one of the narrow connecting lanes that dot the street and you will come out at the northern edge of the creek, onto a long path lined with dhows heading everywhere from Somalia to Iran. Locals have nicknamed this street ‘Burj’ street, or tower street, and despite being outshone by the Burj Khalifa, this is still one of the most interesting places in the city.

72 DUBAI

I

n recent years Dubai has seen the arrival of its first farmers’ markets, purveying produce from local farms to the ethically-minded, on-trend and educated middle class, but if you’re looking for a real taste, and smell, of Dubai’s culinary bounty, you should pay a visit to Deira Fish Market.

Opened in 1988, following the closure of the city’s original market, Deira Fish Market is located on Al Khaleej Road, near the Deira Corniche and the Shindagha Tunnel, and is certainly no mere tourist attraction. Housing hundreds of traders selling fish caught in both regional and international waters, the fish market is frequented by both local chefs and wholesalers alike, and provides a window into one of this coastal city’s traditional industries.

Deira FISH MARKET

DUBAI 73

DIFC Y

ou wouldn’t usually expect to find culture and striking design at the centre of a city’s financial industry, but Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) boasts not only the best architecture in the city, but also its best restaurants, cafes and bars and, to top it all off, a burgeoning art scene. Gate Village is the area’s centrepiece, a maze of cobbled streets, art galleries (our favourite is Cuadro) and fashion boutiques that mix art, culinary excellence and finance like nowhere else in the Middle East. Stop off for a coffee at the Venetian Caffè Florian, an Emirati favourite, where diplomats, filmmakers and writers sip espresso while a variety of Arabic news channels play in the background. Come sunset, Zuma, one of the best restaurant-bars in the city, is not to be missed, but there is an overabundance of international brands to choose from, including Argentine steakhouse Gaucho and the city’s most popular French restaurant La Petite Maison, guaranteeing a buzz about the place, night and day.

74 DUBAI

al mamzar park D

ubai has plenty of beaches, but Al Mamzar is our favourite. Located close to the Sharjah border, the drive from the city centre is definitely worth it, with a succession of lagoons undulating gently into the sea, making it the most attractive place in the Dubai for anyone who fancies a refreshing swim. There are BBQ stations bordering the beach, and the lines of palm trees make the area seem almost tropical. Away to the south lies the Sharjah skyline, and many of the beach’s visitors come from the nearby emirate, presenting one with the chance to meet some of Dubai’s neighbours. The best time for a swim is first thing on any weekday morning – the beach is deserted and the waters are calm and clear.

DUBAI 75

safa park F

or a city that is not that pedestrian friendly, Safa Park is a gift. A huge expanse of greenery in the centre Dubai, its 3.5km-long perimeter athletics track is teeming with runners, joggers and walkers every morning and evening. The park itself is huge, verdant and full of surprises, and for the Dhs3 entrance fee one can enjoy the hidden hills in the centre of the park, fair ground rides, a big wheel, a huge lake with pedalos, football pitches, countless playgrounds and landscaped gardens. The whole place is kept spotless, and there’s no better place to be on a winter evening: families roam the pathways, the smells of barbequing meat waft through the air, and flocks of birds making their way south, nest in the trees. So forget Dubai’s many cutting edge health clubs – for a real rejuvenation of body and mind, simply head to Safa Park and lie on the grass for a few hours.

76 DUBAI

DUBAI 77

Building blocks

the secrets of dubai’s rise by jim krane

WHAT IS NOW WORLD TRADE CENTRE ROUNDABOUT IN 1977

D

ubai was just a clutch of thatched huts huddled around a coral-and-mud fort when Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher took power in 1894. There weren’t many places on earth as poor and primitive as Dubai. Survival meant enduring searing heat, while eating dates, fish and bugs, washed down with camel’s milk or foul groundwater.

Around 1900, some nimble policymaking by Sheikh Maktoum allowed Dubai to turn an evolutionary corner and become a modest international port. When the Iranian government raised taxes on merchants in ports across the Gulf, the Dubai ruler sent emissaries to persuade disgruntled merchants to move their businesses to Dubai. To sweeten the deal, Sheikh Maktoum abolished customs duties,

80 BUILDING BLOCKS

turning his village into a free port.

The incentives worked. The heads of a few of the biggest Iranian businesses agreed to relocate, and their business partners followed. The Dubai ruler gave each a plot of land, and the Iranians built the Bastakiya neighbourhood, named after the ancestral town of Bastak in south-central Iran.

The Iranians also improved life in Dubai with the latest cooling technology: the windtower. Most of the new homes had at least one square tower that rose above the roof, with openings on all sides to catch the breeze – whether blowing off the sea or from the desert. The windtowers funneled the breezes indoors, directly onto the hammock of a merchant taking his afternoon nap.

By 1901, there were 500 Iranians in Dubai. The town’s enlarged dhow

fleet was doing brisk trade with India, Africa, and the Gulf. Dubai was still tiny and poor, but it was on its way up.

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum is the father of modern Dubai.

He literally brought Dubai out of the dark and connected it to the world.

When Sheikh Rashid took power in 1958, Dubai had no paved roads, no concrete buildings, no refrigeration, air conditioning or electricity.

There was no running water, no telephone, not even a glass window pane.

Ship and aircraft passengers could pass Dubai without seeing a trace of human settlement. The town wasn’t even accessible by road. Sheikh Rashid changed all this. His schemes, which often came against prevailing advice, allowed Dubai to parlay its small oil reserves into the infrastructure of a global container port. When he had

finished, Dubai enjoyed a business base that took advantage of the Gulf’s energy-driven growth – even though most of the energy resources sat outside his emirate.

On his watch, Dubai grew into the commercial capital of the Gulf. Sheikh Rashid built the Middle East’s tallest building – the 39-story World Trade Centre – as well as a busy dry dock and airport, and a huge port sector.

Sheikh Rashid accomplished this by taking risks and claiming first-mover advantage. Gulf states with more natural resources tended to invest their profits from oil in Western stocks and bonds. Instead of following the neighbours, Rashid’s investments diversified Dubai’s economy. The more he poured into ports, industry and airports, the faster the economy grew.

State spending triggered an even larger torrent of private investment.

Sheikh Rashid’s frenetic energy in building Dubai won him misplaced ridicule on the front page of the Wall

Street Journal – which found him overambitious – and merited a moment of silence at the UN General Assembly on his death in 1990.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the architect of Dubai’s emergence as a global capital. He is the force behind the wild growth, the headline-grabbing projects, and the culture of extravagance that is the trademark of this cutting-edge cosmopolitan city.

His ventures include the industries and amenities that are the engines for the city’s growth, allowing it to double in size and quadruple in area between 2001 and 2008, reaching the size of Houston. This growth was fueled by immigration and foreign investment, much of it in the city’s newly opened real estate market.

Sheikh Mohammed, the third son of Sheikh Rashid, also launched the

EMIRATES GOLF COURSE IN 1990

amenities that brought the world to his city: the hotels, the airline, the business parks. When he ran out of beachfront, he built more, dredging up islands in the shape of a palm tree.

Without his decisions, you wouldn’t be reading this magazine.

The Dubai ruler’s worldly accomplishments are especially impressive

when you consider that he grew up without electricity, amid camels and livestock, in a rambling coral house on the Dubai creek. You can visit his boyhood home, known as Sheikh Saeed’s house, which is now a museum. In 2007, then-US President George W. Bush stopped at the ancestral Maktoum home, after his jaw-dropping BUILDING BLOCKS

81

MAKTOUM BRIDGE SPANNING THE CREEK IN 1987

tour of Dubai’s architectural marvels.

The American president’s perceptions of the Middle East were soundly shaken. “He was in awe of what Dubai had accomplished,” says Tarik Yousef, the former dean of the Dubai School of Government, who greeted the former U.S. president. “He didn’t expect it to be this developed. You could see that he was blown away.”

It was clear that Dubai’s creations couldn’t have been managed without stability and good governance. “Dubai is a model,” Bush gushed to his hosts.

“The sheikh is an inspiration. There is hope for the Middle East.”

In order to understand the rise of Dubai, it’s important to look at some of the key decisions - often derided at the time - that allowed Dubai to grow and eclipse its neighbours.

In the 1950s, Dubai was in trouble.

Its chief port, the saltwater inlet known 82 BUILDING BLOCKS

dredging the creek would see the city begin a spurt of growth which has yet to stop.

It was a vital move

as the Dubai creek, was being choked with silt. Visiting ships had to anchor a mile offshore and transfer goods to barges, which could only enter the port at high tide. Ship’s captains on tight schedules skipped Dubai, which could only handle tiny cargoes. In 1954, Sheikh Rashid commissioned a feasibility study for dredging the creek and building up its banks with bulkheads and sheet piling.

But the estimated cost, about $3 million, was far beyond Dubai’s means, representing years of economic output. Sheikh Rashid decided to raise the cash. He gathered $1 million by levying special taxes, selling bonds, and strongarming donations from merchants.

And the rest he borrowed from Kuwait.

Aerial photos from the era show how the dredging barges, with their backhoes scraping the creek bed, swept away the shoals from the creek’s mouth.

Crews shored up the banks, allowing boats to moor. From a shallow tidal wash, the creek became a defined channel. When the work finished in 1961, the creek could handle ships with eight-foot drafts, carrying 7,000 tons of cargo. One ship could deliver triple the cargo Dubai imported in all of 1951.

The dredging cleared away the obstructions to Dubai’s modernization as if they were bowling pins, catapulting the growing port into the commercial leadership of the lower Gulf.

Merchants could order hundreds of tons of concrete, or block, steel, glass and plaster. No one built from palm fronds or coral anymore. Dubai became the region’s chief port, warehousing goods that were transshipped down the coast in dhows or lugged into the interior by camel. From then on, Dubai would ride a growth spurt that has yet

to stop. The dredging of the creek was the spark that ignited it.

Had the decision gone the other way, Dubai as we know it would not exist.

Another Gulf town would have taken the development mantle, and the fruits of progress would have been bestowed elsewhere.

In the 1950s, another deficiency threatened to stunt the city’s ambitions: the lack of an airport. Sheikh Rashid knew his impoverished town needed an airfield to connect it to the world, but the British agent who oversaw the sheikhdom’s affairs in those days rejected the idea. The Dubai ruler pleaded his case to the British agent’s boss, and won crucial support.

He launched his project immediately, and in 1960 inaugurated a small landing strip between the creek and the Sharjah border as Dubai’s official

airport. Dubai has expanded it relentlessly ever since.

By 1969, Dubai’s airport was a flyblown patch with an open concrete shed where sweaty officials handstamped passports. But it could handle Boeing 747 jumbo jets. Nine airlines served 20 destinations.

In 1980, the airport had more than tripled its destinations to 64 and airlines to 31. By 2007, Dubai International was the world’s eighth-largest airport, with 118 carriers serving 202 destinations. In 2008, Dubai International received nearly 40 million passengers, nearly double its design capacity ahead of the opening of Terminal 3.

Mammoth Jebel Ali port and free zone is Dubai’s premier asset and is responsible for the largest share of the city’s income. When Sheikh Rashid launched it in the late 1970s, there

jebel ali port is dubai’s most important asset, a triumph of defeating the odds

AN OIL TANKER BEING WORKED ON AT DUBAI DRYDOCKS WORLD

BUILDING BLOCKS 83

DUBAI’S INFRASTRUCTURE HAS GROWN ALONG WITH THE CITY

was no natural harbour. Every square inch of the new port had to be dug from the shoreline, and a channel dredged through the coral beds offshore.

This was, by far, the biggest undertaking the sheikhdom had ever conceived. The excavations that created the world’s largest man-made harbour were the first of Dubai’s coastal alterations that became visible from outer space. When the port opened in 1981, tiny Dubai had more berthing space than San Francisco Bay. But the giant port languished in its initial years, until Sheikh Mohammed and 84 BUILDING BLOCKS

his advisers converted it into a free port.

It became a special economic zone, where companies could import raw materials, assemble finished goods and re-export those products. The area won exemption from the federal government’s five per cent import duty, as well as its prohibition on majority foreign ownership of any business.

Those incentives triggered a flood of investment that not only made the Jebel Ali port one of the world’s most important, but led to a slew of other free zone projects that have been instrumental in bringing foreign investors, workers and

sheikh mohammed had thought of dubai as a tourist destination way back in the mid 1980s residents to Dubai. Now, Jebel Ali Port’s 52-square-mile-patch of warehouses, factories and container storage is some of the earth’s busiest real estate.

To call it bustling is an understatement. The level of activity is relentless and disorienting. Cranes swing shipping containers overhead, trucks rumble past, forklifts dash about like houseflies and tugboat teams nudge juggernaut ships to their berths.

Two further free zones are worth mentioning. In the late 1990s, the northwestern edge of Dubai petered out along the beach. Just inland lay a salt-crusted lowland, flooded with ponds of brine. It was some of the least attractive real estate in the city. In 1999, Sheikh Mohammed announced that this lowland would house Dubai’s next free trade zone.

Foreign firms would get the same relaxations of federal tax and ownership laws as at Jebel Ali, except the enticements would be restricted to information technology companies. There would be unlimited visas for imported workers, no income or corporate tax, and no restrictions on repatriating capital. The swamp got a name: Dubai Internet City.

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Demand for Dubai offices was hotter than anyone predicted. International companies were desperate for a tax-free base in the region. Internet City’s four initial buildings filled immediately. More companies wanted the same deal, so the zone expanded. Sheikh Mohammed wanted technology to be given space in Dubai at all costs, to keep valuable firms from finding homes in a competing city.

Builders have struggled to keep abreast of demand ever since. Internet City now hosts 25 buildings with 15,000 workers and hundreds of companies. A month after Internet City’s inauguration, Sheikh Mohammed made the announcement that brought me to Dubai.

He launched a free zone dubbed Dubai Media City. My employer at the time, The Associated Press, rented an office, as did Reuters, Agence-France Presse, BBC, Dow Jones and many others. Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya put its headquarters in Dubai.

It was a smart move. Journalists need to travel to war zones, and Dubai

sits in the middle of most of them, with great f light connections. Afghanistan is a three-hour flight. Baghdad is two hours. Pakistan is three hours.

Lebanon is three hours. There are direct flights to Sudan, Congo, Yemen, Libya, Syria, even Somalia. Like Inter net Cit y, Duba i Me d ia Cit y started with humble office buildings beside an artif icial lake. Now the zone holds a thousand companies in two dozen buildings.

The two free zones have become such hives of activity that they’ve helped reverse Dubai’s rush hour traffic flow.

In the mid-1980s, Sheikh Mohammed – two decades before becoming the Dubai ruler – tinkered with the idea of turning Dubai into a vacation destination. On an occasion described in his autobiography, he tells of interrupting a political discussion among Arab ministers with a proposal.

“I said to the ministers, ‘Why don’t we try to develop this region, and particularly Dubai, as a tourist destina-

tion to attract people from all over the world?’” The response was scalding.

“What is there in Dubai to make it a tourist attraction? You have nothing but humidity, red-hot sun, burning sand and barren desert!”

There is no motivator like ridicule.

When the young sheikh strode out of the gathering, he was formulating the opening moves of one of the most sudden and lucrative tourism plays in history. Sheikh Mohammed, like his father, was blessed with an uncanny knack for timing.

In the 1980s, sun-star ved Europeans were flying further afield to escape the continent’s winter gloom.

Tour operators flew them to Spain, Greece or North Africa. Dubai is sunnier and hotter than those places. The city gets around 350 sunny days a year. Six months may pass between rain showers. In January, the coldest month, the average high is 75 degrees.

Dubai’s guaranteed sunshine wasn’t a turn-off, it was an asset. Dubai also had 40 miles of fantastic beach

DUBAI’S NEW HARBOUR BEING DREDGED IN 1970

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DOWNTOWN DUBAI AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE BURJ KHALIFA

washed by a warm turquoise sea. The rest, as they say, is history.

After two decades of building hotels and other amenities, the World Economic Forum ranked the UAE as the world’s 18th most competitive tourist destination, behind Spain and ahead of Portugal and Japan. The UAE ranked near the bottom in terms of historic sites and natural beauty. But it made up for that with its friendliness to inter national tourists (third in the world), public safety (10th place), and marketing – number one in the world.

Little Dubai now brings in more vacat ioners t ha n Au st ralia, Bra zil or India.

In 2002, Sheikh Mohammed made perhaps his single most momentous decision. It would catapult Dubai into global consciousness and, within a few years, into the household vocabulary of nearly everyone on earth.

He decreed that foreigners could buy homes. The city was already the Gulf’s most desirable expatriate base.

Suddenly it became the only place 88 BUILDING BLOCKS

in the Gulf where foreigners could buy real estate. Sheikh Mohammed’s message to foreigners was: I don’t just want you to bring your money to Dubai. I want you to bring your skills and your family and contribute to our economy and society. And I want you to be comfortable.

The decree unleashed a typhoon of pent-up demand that was far stronger than anyone knew. A gold rush ensued. Expatriates jumped at the chance to buy. Investors followed, funnelling cash into Dubai from ever farther away. The free zone expansion and the residential real estate boom fed off each other, sucking in immigrants and speculators from around the world and turning the city into a giant construction site. Dubai became the world’s fastest growing city during the boom that extended from 2002 to 2008.

By the end of that year, however, the property bubble that had been fuelled

by Dubai’s debt-leveraged expansion fell apart amid a global recession. The

city saw its property values and real estate demand plummet, and thousands of investors burned. Its debt debacle has yet to be fully resolved There are several other reasons why Dubai has beaten the odds and grown so quickly. Two of those are technological advances that allow the city to defy its geographic and climatic deficiencies.

First is the advent of desalination, which allows potable water to be distilled from seawater. Dubai’s only freshwater resource is its groundwater reservoir, far too small to support a city of its size. Without the ability to ‘create’ drinking water from the ultra-salty waters of the Gulf, Dubai wouldn’t be here.

Second is the introduction of air-conditioning. The region’s fierce heat and sticky humidity have been turning off would-be visitors and invaders for thousands of years. It was only when electricity arrived in 1961, and air conditioners could be imported and enjoyed, that Dubai truly became habitable. The technologies that support life in Dubai hap-

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pen to be energy intensive, which means that the region’s natural resources have become the city’s lifeblood.

Two other factors give Dubai a competitive advantage over its neighbours in the Middle East, and have played major roles in its rise.

First is the city-state’s long record of political stability. Since 1833, the year the Maktoum family’s rule began, not a single coup has marred the transition from ruler to ruler. This unbroken record is unmatched in the region and much of the world. By contrast, America has seen four presidents assassinated in the same period. Political stability has allowed Dubai to serve as the first-choice refuge for businesses, tourists and residents fleeing unrest elsewhere.

Second, and most impor tant, is Dubai’s ingrained tradition of toler-

DUBAI MARINA IS NOW NEARLY COMPLETED

90 BUILDING BLOCKS

Since 1833, the year the Maktoum family’s rule began, not a single coup has marred the transition from ruler to ruler

ance. The city has always embraced visitors, no matter what their faith.

It cultivates an environment where foreigners from any culture feel comfortable. Tolerance has allowed Dubai to become the world’s most cosmopolitan city by far, a thoroughly globalised cornucopia of t wo million people from 200 countries.

It’s an impressive achievement when you consider that, not long ago, Dubai’s story was one of poverty and isolation.

The ragged village had better odds of melting back into the sands than rising as a city. It took an unlikely mixture of leadership and key decisions, fuelled by investment and immigration, to place this metropolis before us.

Jim Krane is the author of two books on Dubai: City of Gold and Dubai: The Story of the World’s Fastest City.

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f o d r a e h e v a h t o n You might st e b e h t e r e w y e h T s. y u these g . y r o t is h in m a e t ll a UAE footb a s r e b m e m e r e u g a t n o James M go a s r a e y 2 2 r e m m su s u glorio

T

he first 45 minutes at Milan’s San Siro stadium had gone broadly as expected, but for a brief few moments, the greatest shock in World Cup history looked possible.

West Germany, favourites to win Italia ‘90, had dominated the first half of their group match against a team of young amateurs playing at the World Cup for the first time in their country’s history.

No one expected much from the United Arab Emirates, a then unheard of Persian Gulf state that had only existed for 19 years and which had virtually no footballing tradition. It was only the second time the Emirates had even attempted to qualify for the finals, let alone play at them.

It was the last time the opposition, West Germany, would compete on 94 UAE 1990

the international stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it was a team that frightened even the very best; Klinsmann, Voeller, Matthäus, Brehme – the list of legends went on. West Germany had made it to the past two finals in 1986 and 1982, and had featured in all but two finals since 1966. No one was surprised when they quickly went 2-0 up. It was going to be a massacre.

But football has a habit of throwing up the unexpected. With the second half under way, a long hopeful ball from the right seemed to be easy pickings for West Germany’s notoriously miserly defence. Instead, misjudging the bounce, the ball sailed to the UAE’s Khalid Ismail Mubarak, a left back who played for Al Nasr in the UAE’s rudimentary league, who fired the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of

the goal past a shocked Bobo Illgner.

Klinsmann stood with his hands on his hips as he admired a finish that any top class striker would be proud of. It was now 2-1, game on.

Sudde n ly, t he i mp oss ible w a s possible.

There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes past without Diego Armando Maradona upsetting someone in the UAE press. Argentina’s legendar y midfielder and former coach of the Argentine national team now patrols the touchline for Dubai’s Al Wahda in the UAE Pro League. He is one of the best paid coaches in the world, earning more than even Pep Guardiola used to at Barcelona. But the money hasn’t tamed him, complaining as he does about the referees, the opposition coaches and players.

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Sure, Maradona was attracted to the money, but there was something else that attracted him to the UAE. In the past few years the Middle East in general, and the UAE in particular, has become a new power centre in the world of global sport. Today there is a professional football league that has attracted some of the best-known players and coaches in world football; the money of the Abu Dhabi royal family has bankrolled Manchester City to the tune of $1.6 billion, making them the richest club in the world and handing them their first league title in 44 years this year; one of club football’s most prestigious tournaments, the FIFA Club World Cup, has been hosted regularly on UAE soil; companies such as Emirates and Etihad now have their names embossed on the new stadiums of English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester City, respectively. Meanwhile neighbours Qatar have won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup finals, whilst bankrolling their own teams, PSG in France and

96 UAE 1990

Malaga in Spain, both qualified for the Champions League this season. A Qatari institution even sponsors the world’s best team, Barcelona.

Maradona came to the Middle East because the global power in the game has shifted eastwards. Now the region, and the gulf in particular, is arguably the single most important financial player in the game. The money has helped to improve the standard of football in the country, especially youth football. The under-20s team qualified for two FIFA World Cups, making it to the quarter-finals in 2009. And March 2012 saw arguably one of the finest achievements in the country’s short sporting history when the UAE came back from two goals

down against Uzbekistan to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics. But that still comes second to the country’s proudest moment, when the UAE qualified for the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy. And 19 years ago things were very different.

Back then the UAE was a sleepy but ambitious sporting backwater, still young, having only been unified by the country’s first president, Sheikh Zayed, in 1971. The story of how a team of footballers from a new country, playing in amateur teams whilst working as policemen, customs officials and civil servants during the day, is unlikely to be repeated in the modern game.

The road to Italia ‘90 began with little hope. The UAE had been drawn in the same group as Kuwait, who

famously qualified for the 1982 finals and whose team gained world wide notoriety after a member of the ruling royal family invaded the pitch to remonstrate with the referee after he allowed a controversial goal in the game with France to stand. But the UAE qualified on goal difference after scoring nine home and away against Pakistan.

In those days Asia only received two World Cup qualification berths and a round robin tournament was held in Singapore for the group winners. Two goalless draws against North Korea and Saudi Arabia, and a last gasp 2-1 victory against China set up a crucial clash with South Korea.

“We knew all we had to do was draw,” the team’s captain and star midfielder Abdulrahman Mohammed would later say in an interview with UAE paper

The National of that crucial match.

Mohammed is now First Lieutenant Abdulrahman Mohammed in the UAE’s immigration department, but 19 years ago he was striker, converted to a midfielder by the team’s Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira.

“But Korea scored first, and that meant we really had to attack them.

Thankfully [the UAE’s all-time leading goalscorer] Adnan [Talyani] equalised and we drew 1-1. When the referee blew the whistle for the game to end, it was something I will never forget, something incredible.

“This, for me, was the best moment in the UAE’s football history.”

Preparations for the finals in Italy hadn’t gone well. The Brazilian coach who had masterminded qualification – two-time World Cup winner Mario Zagallo – was sacked before the tournament began. He was replaced with the man who had taken Kuwait to the finals eight years previously: Carlos Alberto Parreira.

But the worst piece of news was the draw: they were in the same group as the technically superb Yugoslavia – another team that would not exist by that name after Italia ‘90 – an idiosyncratic Colombia and, of course, the most efficient and brilliant team in the game, West Germany.

Despite the money, the facilities and a professional league, the UAE has never come remotely close to replicating that great football team of 1990 Mohammed realised then that their World Cup hopes were doomed. “[We said to each other] ‘OK, let’s do our best. If we get a good result, fantastic, but, if not, no big deal after all, nobody expects us to beat Germany.’

The first match against Colombia was the UAE’s best chance of a result, and the first 45 minutes remained goalless.

But two second-half goals ended that dream. The UAE had also failed to score, a fact that had been picked up by the global media. It was reported in the run-up to Italia ‘90 that the then president Sheikh Zayed had promised to buy a Rolls Royce for anyone who merely scored a goal.

The press didn’t have to wait long.

With the second half of West Germany versus the UAE a few minutes old, Khalid Ismail scored his thunderbolt and, for a few brief moments, an upset was on the cards. For all of 60 seconds.

Lothar Matthäus stormed forward and scored a third. The match finished 5-1 and the UAE’s World Cup dream was over.

The team’s 4-1 loss to Yugoslavia also saw another defender, Ali Thani Juma’a, score only the UAE’s second ever World Cup goal. But contrary to what the watching media thought, both later claimed that they never did receive their Rolls Royce. No matter, for the team of amateurs the World Cup gave them more than that. It made them feel like real footballers for the first time.

“Only at the World Cup did I feel like I was really a footballer,” Jumaa said.

“In the UAE at that time there were no professional players, and we all worked and played football. But in Italy, it was crazy. I thought to myself: ‘Now, I am a footballer.’

To this day it remains the high-water mark of Emirati football. As money has transformed the game, so the UAE has transformed, too. Today a team of bank clerks and immigration officers would not get anywhere near the finals.

Despite the money, the facilities and now a professional league, the UAE has never come close to replicating that great team of 1990.

Fou r of t hat tea m r et i r e d a nd joined the police force, another three stayed in football at the UAE FA. Mohammed went back to his desk at the immigration department. Others now work as pundits in the UAE’s flourishing local sports media. But it was that team’s coach that went on to win the highest accolade.

After doing what he could with the UAE at such short notice, Carlos Alberto UAE 1990 97

Parreira took charge of Brazil at USA ‘94, and promptly won it, ending a 24-year wait following the victory achieved by Pelé’s great Brazil side at Mexico ‘70.

“It’s a feeling you can’t put into words.

One that you can never forget,” Parreira said of the moment he lifted the World Cup, just four years after losing every game as coach of the UAE at his previous finals.

“By chance and a quirk of fate, I was the last person to carry the trophy. I went down the steps carrying the cup; 98 UAE 1990

that has stuck in my memory because the images were being transmitted live to Brazil.

“Those couple of moments felt like an eternity. A World Cup leaves a mark on any professional. It forms a part of your life right to the end.”

For the UAE’s great team of Italia ‘90 the World Cup left its mark too. In many ways, it has also left a shadow over every team that followed it: the 1996 side that reached the final of the Asian Cup; the 2007 side that won the

Gulf Cup on home soil; the 2011 team that failed to even reach the final stage of qualification for Brazil 2014.

But at last t he UA E has tasted success on a par with those three distant, exotic matches in Milan and Bologna. This summer, the under-23 side will play in the Olympic football tournament. They won a group that contained the likes of Australia and 2004 semifinalists Iraq. Their reward has been, like in 1990, a fiendishly tough draw. This time they will play

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It’s a feeling you can’t put into words.

One that you can never forget Great Britain – a team likely to be full of P remier L eague stars like Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs and possibly LA Galaxy’s David Beckham – Uruguay, currently ranked third in the world by FIFA, and who can count on the likes of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlán, and finally Senegal.

Like 1990, the UAE Olympic team will be the longest of long shots at London 2012. But the team should look back for inspiration and an example of how to approach seemingly insurmountable odds.

In the words of First Lieutenant Abdulrahman Mohammed: “Our plan was to attack them [West Germany] … In the second half we gave them a scare.”

And scare them Khalid Ismail’s goal did. It may not have been for long, but it proves that every dog – even the underdog – can have its day.

James Montague is author of When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone 100 UAE 1990

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dubai

A user’s

manual ILLUSTRATED BY JERIC RODRIGUEZ

106 HOW TO

HOW TO RIDE A CAMEL It’s not as easy as it looks, it’s certainly not graceful and you’ll probably need help doing it.

But once you’re up there, it’s surprisingly comfortable

1

3

Through a combination of firm orders and pulling the camel’s head towards the ground, encourage the camel into a sitting position.

2

Approach the rear half of the camel’s back, swing your leg over the camel and the mount until you’re sitting with a leg either side.

4

Give the camel a tap with your feet and encourage it up. It will stand quickly, back legs first. Be sure to lean back and keep yours arms locked – if you don’t, the camel will throw you over its head.

The most important step. Lean back, pull your legs back and push hard with your arms against the mount or saddle hoop in front.

HOW TO 107

HOW TO WEAR A GHUTRA There are many variations, styles and colours, but how you wear your ghutra ultimately comes down to personal preference. But this one is a classic style, popular with youngsters and students

2

4

1

Fold the ghutra diagonally in half to form a triangle. Place symmetrically on your head with the mirzam (the centre of the longest side of the triangle) on your forehead and the two ends hanging down in front.

3

Repeat with the other end, but this time throw the end back over your opposite shoulder.

Pinch the outside of one end and place it behind the back, towards the opposite shoulder.

Place the agal on top of the head to keep the ghutra in place. Adjust until nicely spaced and comfortable. Add large sunglasses.

108 HOW TO

HOW TO STEER AN ABRA In this day and age, steering an abra (and most dhows) is no more complicated than driving a bumper car. But if you find yourself in that tight space, here’s what to look for

1

3

Whether it’s a rusty car battery or a fancy rechargeable boat, the single propeller is almost always electric-powered nowadays. Turn the key and press the starter button (or connect the alligator clamp to the battery, if you’re in one of the older Dubai Creek abras).

2

To go forwards and backwards, simply push or pull on the throttle handle. The further you push or pull, the faster the abra moves.

4

Stopping is an art form. Aim the abra at the dock and put the throttle in neutral, allowing the abra to float slowly into dock.

If you’re travelling too fast, give a quick backwards blast.

Cables attached to two rudders pass up the boat and into the steering wheel. Turn clockwise to turn right and anticlockwise to turn left.

HOW TO 109

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT SHAWARMA Everyone in the UAE must have eaten a shawarma. But, with local chain Wild Peeta upping the ante with its fusion shawarmas, making Dubai’s favourite fast food snack is not as easy as it looks

2

4

1

Place one piece of bread in the bottom left-hand corner of a square of greaseproof paper, and spread a generous serving of your chosen sauce across the surface.

3

Now it’s time to add your vegetables, choosing from a selection including salad leaves, cabbage, grated carrot, green pepper, jalapeno, olives and many more. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and chilli sauce.

Carve roughly 70g (a handful) of chicken and place it on top of the sauce in the centre of the bread; don’t use too much, or it will hinder your progress later on when it comes to wrapping the shawarma.

And, finally, the tricky bit – wrapping your shawarma. Pinch the two edges of the bread together between thumb and forefinger, roll the bread, wrapping it in the greaseproof paper, fold in one end, finish wrapping and twist the top.

110 HOW TO

HOW TO DIVE FOR PEARLS Modern-day advancements mean that all you really need is a mask and oxygen tank, but the real skill lies in mastering the traditional methods used by generations of Bedouin

1

A rope with a weight tied to one end is run over the boat’s oar so that most of its length is in the water. Jump into the water and grab hold of both ends of the rope, while wrapping your foot around the end nearest to the weight.

2

3

Let go of the non-weighted end of the rope and prepare to plummet to the seabed. Remember to take that last deep breath before submerging.

Holding your breath underwater can do some nasty things to your lungs so, as you search around for oysters, make sure your keep a tiny stream of bubbles coming out of your mouth.

4

Oysters are normally found in bunches, so when you do find one, don’t be hasty; search around the same area for more.

Traditional pearl divers can hold their breath for up to five minutes but, at first, you’ll probably manage about one.

HOW TO 111

112

29 'GRAMS Twenty nine photos of Dubai.

All taken on Instagram. All taken on a mobile phone. Welcome to the retro-future.

113

Twisted tower in Dubai Marina, Global Village at twilight, Ski Dubai, Trade Centre, Bubbles Galore, Dubai Creek, Marina jogger.

114

115

Marina morning, Creek sunshine, Bur Dubai gym, Safa moon rising, Bastakiya shop, Dubai Mall watching, Abu Hail graffiti.

116

117

Goodbye Metropolitan Hotel, Burj rises, Wind Tower, Metro Gold, Aquarium Colours, Garhoud Ducks.

118

119

BRIEFING P. 123 • HIGH-FLYING FUN WITH EMIRATES P. 124 • AVIATION GOES GREEN

P. 130 • ROUTE MAP

BARCAS K BREA ’S OF EUROPE

NE S WE VISIT O CITING CITIE X E ST O M

P122

121

EMIRATES EMI RATES NEWS NEWS

FLEET GU I DE

1 NOU CAMP

One of the world’s most famous stadiums, the Nou Camp is the home to one of the most decorated football clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. The tour of the cavernous 90,000 capacity stadium is well worth it – with the trophy room a particular highlight.

2 PARK GUELL

Set in the Gràcia district of the city, this garden was built in the early 1900s and various sections of it were designed by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. Wandering through this World Heritage Site is a perfect way to spend a day.

3 LAS RAMBLAS

The vibrant heartbeat of the city, Las Ramblas is very popular with tourists and locals alike. Expect to see street performers, souvenir shops and plenty of restaurants.

With over 3,800 of Pablo Picasso’s works on permanent display, this is a must stop for any art enthusiast.

5 SAGRADA FAMILIA

One of the most famous sights in Barcelona – you are able to see this enormous unfinished Gaudi-designed cathedral from everywhere across the city. A wonder to behold, make sure to take the guided tour.

BARCELONA

Perfect timing.

Don't miss your next Emirates flight.

Be at your departure gate no later than 35 minutes before your flight departs. Passengers reporting late at the departure gate may not be accepted for travel.

emirates.com

122

ILLUSTRATION: EDWARD MCGOWAN

4 PICASSO MUSEUM

FLEET GUI DE

High flying fun with Emirates

THERE’S FUN ON the horizon with the exciting arrival of the new range of children’s inflight entertainment on Emirates. With new packs onboard for children of all ages, young jetsetters will be kept entertained and educated inflight.

The lovable new travel companions, Fly With Me Monsters are boarding all Emirates long haul flights this June. Emirates has created this exclusive range of collectible friends for its youngest passengers, in a suite of blanket buddy and seatbelt critter plush toys and magnetic character sketchers. The magnetic sketchers are a sure fire

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ENGERC WWW.PASS

hit to fuel creative minds during long flights, whilst the cuddly plush monsters complete with snug blankets will ensure children are comfortable and at ease whilst high in the sky. There are four furry characters to collect, with new friends set to join the fleet in the not too distant future.

For the trend-savvy kids, a collaboration with iconic sports lifestyle brand Quiksilver, provides the ultimate in inflight ‘edu-tainment’. With the latest info and statitics on ski, surf and snow, the Quiksilver activity suite is comprised of a travel folio, wallet and fun-fact playing cards. Hours of fun await.

Your Film Festival CREATED, WATCHED AND JUDGED BY YOU. YOU’RE INVITED TO join the world’s largest film festival jury.

Cast your vote on YouTube for your favourite deserving filmmakers, between June 1st and July 16th, and become part of this global film event. The ten top finalists, as chosen by the YouTube community, will travel to Dubai on Emirates, then on to the Venice Film Festival. In Venice, a Festival jury will award one filmmaker a $500,000 grant, to create a new original work with Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender. Who will be the world’s next great story-teller?

Find out this summer.

Voting is open from June 1st to July 16th. www.youtube.com/yourfilmfestival 123

EMI RATES NEWS

EN VIRONMENT

AVIATION INDUSTRY PUSHES GREEN AGENDA

35%

AIR TRANSPORT CARRIES ONLY FIVE PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S TRADE SHIPMENTS BY VOLUME, BUT 35 PER CENT IN VALUE. SOURCE: ENVIRO.AERO

SHUTTLE FLY-BY

LEADERS OF THE AVIATION industry have reinforced their commitment to supporting sustainable development by jointly signing a declaration to show that the industry is taking its role in sustainable development seriously.

The declaration, signed at the 6th Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva, is to be presented to a gathering of the world leaders who are meeting at a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro later this month.

Signed by heads of 16 global aviation companies and organisations, the industry has reminded governments

of the vital role that they play in economic growth, providing jobs whilst taking its environmental responsibilities seriously.

The declaration states that the aviation sector brings ‘enormous benefits to communities and economies around the globe,’ adding that it is a key enabler of economic growth and social development, providing connectivity and access to markets and tourism.

Currently, air transport supports 56.6 million jobs and more than US$2.2 trillion of global GDP with an every improving record of fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions savings.

The retired space shuttle Enterprise has taken its final flight – but this time it replaced the far reaches of space with a ride on the back of Boeing 747 to its final resting place at the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York.

NASA’s shuttle programme ended in July 2011 after three decades of flights and after building the $100 billion International Space Station, a 15-nation project.

It will begin work on a new generation of spaceships that aim to carry astronauts beyond the station’s current 384-km-high orbit.

SPACE WEATHER THE SKY IS NO longer the limit for aviation companies, as a group of businesses claims that the sector could benefit by monitoring space weather.

The Space Weather Prediction Center based in the US, claims that magnetic storms in the Sun’s atmosphere can have a direct effect on the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.

Such storms can push satellites out of position and cause power blackouts.

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2009

THE AVIATION SECTOR WAS THE WORLD’S ONLY GLOBAL INDUSTRY TO PROVIDE A UNITED PLAN FOR REDUCING EMISSIONS AT THE 2009 CLIMATE TALKS IN COPENHAGEN. SOURCE: ENVIRO.AERO

EMI RATES NEWS

COMFORT

BEFORE YOU R JOU R N EY CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE TRAVELLING IF YOU HAVE ANY MEDICAL CONCERNS ABOUT MAKING A LONG JOURNEY, OR IF YOU SUFFER FROM A RESPIRATORY OR

IN THE AIR

CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITION. PLAN FOR THE DESTINATION – WILL

TO HELP YOU arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips.

Regardless of whether you need to

rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you to enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.

SPECIAL MEDICATIONS? GET A GOOD NIGHT’S REST BEFORE THE FLIGHT. EAT LIGHTLY AND SENSIBLY.

AT TH E AI R PORT

SMART TRAVELLER DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

YOU NEED ANY VACCINATIONS OR

ALLOW YOURSELF PLENTY OF TIME FOR CHECK-IN.

TRAVEL LIGHTLY

AVOID CARRYING HEAVY BAGS THROUGH THE AIRPORT AND ONTO THE FLIGHT AS THIS CAN PLACE THE BODY UNDER CONSIDERABLE STRESS. ONCE THROUGH TO DEPARTURES TRY AND RELAX AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

REHYDRATE WITH WATER OR JUICES FREQUENTLY.

CARRY ONLY THE ESSENTIAL ITEMS THAT

DRINK TEA AND COFFEE IN MODERATION.

YOU WILL NEED DURING YOUR FLIGHT.

MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE

DU R ING THE FLIGHT CHEWING AND SWALLOWING WILL HELP EQUALISE YOUR EAR PRESSURE

KEEP MOVING

DURING ASCENT AND DESCENT. BABIES AND YOUNG PASSENGERS MAY SUFFER MORE ACUTELY WITH POPPING EARS, THEREFORE CONSIDER PROVIDING A DUMMY.

LOOSEN CLOTHING, REMOVE JACKET AND

EXERCISE YOUR LOWER LEGS AND CALF

GET AS COMFORTABLE AS

AVOID ANYTHING PRESSING AGAINST YOUR BODY.

MUSCLES. THIS ENCOURAGES BLOOD FLOW.

POSSIBLE WHEN RESTING AND TURN FREQUENTLY.

WEAR GLASSES

USE SKIN MOISTURISER

AVOID SLEEPING FOR LONG PERIODS IN THE SAME POSITION.

W H EN YOU ARR IV E TRY SOME LIGHT EXERCISE OR READ IF YOU CAN’T SLEEP AFTER ARRIVAL.

CABIN AIR IS DRIER THAN NORMAL THEREFORE

APPLY A GOOD QUALITY MOISTURISER TO

SWAP YOUR CONTACT LENSES FOR GLASSES.

ENSURE YOUR SKIN DOESN’T DRY OUT.

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EMI RATES NEWS

CABIN L BE CREW WIL LP HE HAPPY TO D E IF YOU NE

CUSTOMS & VISAS

E C N A T S I S S A PLETING COM THE FORMS

TO US CUSTOMS & IMMIGRATION FORMS WHETHER YOU’RE TRAVELLING to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs and immigration forms will help to ensure that your journey is

as hassle free as possible. The Cabin Crew will offer you two forms when you are nearing your destination. We provide guidelines below, so you can correctly complete the forms.

CUSTOMS DECLAR ATION FORM

IMMIGR ATION FORM

All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a CUSTOMS DECLARATION FORM. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only. The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.

The IMMIGRATION FORM I-94 (Arrival / Departure Record) should be completed if you are a non-US citizen in possession of a valid US visa and your final destination is the US or if you are in transit to a country outside the US. A separate form must be completed for each person, including children travelling on their parents’ passport. The form includes a Departure Record which must be kept safe and given to your airline when you leave the US. If you hold a US or Canadian passport, US Alien Resident Visa (Green Card), US Immigrant Visa or a valid ESTA (right), you are not required to complete an immigration form.

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FLEET GUI DE

ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR

WILL EXPIRE ALONG WITH

TRAVEL AUTHORISATION (ESTA)

YOUR PASSPORT.

IF YOU ARE AN INTERNATIONAL

APPLY ONLINE AT WWW.CBP.GOV/ESTA

EMIRATES NEWS

TRAVELLER WISHING TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES UNDER THE

NATIONALITIES ELIGIBLE

VISA WAIVER PROGRAMME,

FOR THE VISA WAIVER *:

YOU MUST APPLY FOR

ANDORRA, AUSTRALIA,

ELECTRONIC AUTHORISATION

AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BRUNEI,

(ESTA) UP TO 72 HOURS PRIOR

CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK,

TO YOUR DEPARTURE.

ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, HUNGARY, ICELAND,

ESTA FACTS:

IRELAND, ITALY, JAPAN, LATVIA,

CHILDREN AND

LIECHTENSTEIN, LITHUANIA,

INFANTS REQUIRE AN

LUXEMBURG, MALTA, MONACO,

INDIVIDUAL ESTA.

THE NETHERLANDS, NEW

THE ONLINE ESTA SYSTEM

ZEALAND, NORWAY, PORTUGAL,

WILL INFORM YOU WHETHER

SAN MARINO, SINGAPORE,

YOUR APPLICATION HAS BEEN

SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SOUTH

AUTHORISED, NOT AUTHORISED

KOREA, SPAIN, SWEDEN,

OR IF AUTHORISATION

SWITZERLAND AND THE

IS PENDING.

UNITED KINGDOM**.

A SUCCESSFUL ESTA

*

APPLICATION IS VALID

** ONLY BRITISH CITIZENS QUALIFY UNDER THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAMME.

FOR TWO YEARS, HOWEVER

AD

80 mm wide x 224 mm high

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

THIS MAY BE REVOKED OR

136 THE LENGTH OF FLOOR SPACE IN ACRES COVERED BY EMIRATES ENGINEERING:

80

THE NUMBER OF AIRBUS A380 SUPER-JUMBOS CURRENTLY BEING USED AND ON ORDER.

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ROUTE MA P

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WHERE ARE YOU GOING? TELL US OR UPLOAD A PIC AT

AD

FACEBOOK.COM/OPENSKIESMAGAZINE TWITTER.COM/OPENSKIESMAG

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EMIRATES EMI RATES NEWS NEWS

FLEET FLEETGUI GU DE I DE

ET INS E L F THE NTA

CO OF LEET ADE UP F R S OU ES. M PLANE LAN R E P S 7 G E 7 N 1 N ASSE GO PLA 169 P R A 8C AND

Boeing 777-300ER Number of Aircraft: 72 Capacity: 354-442 Range: 14,594km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-300 Number of Aircraft: 12 Capacity: 364 Range: 11,029km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777-200LR Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 266 Range: 17,446km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m

Boeing 777-200 Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 274-346 Range: 9,649km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 60.9m

Boeing 777F Number of Aircraft: 4 Range: 9,260km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m 134

FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.EMIRATES.COM/OURFLEET

FLEET GUI DE

EMIRATES NEWS

Airbus A380-800 Number of Aircraft: 22 Capacity: 489-517 Range: 15,000km Length: 72.7m Wingspan: 79.8m

Airbus A340-500 Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 258 Range: 16,050km Length: 67.9m Wingspan: 63.4m

Airbus A340-300 Number of Aircraft: 8 Capacity: 267 Range: 13,350km Length: 63.6m Wingspan: 60.3m

Airbus A330-200 Number of Aircraft: 26 Capacity: 237-278 Range: 12,200km Length: 58.8m Wingspan: 60.3m

Boeing 747-400F/747-400ERF Number of Aircraft: 2/2 Range: 8,232km/9,204km Length: 70.6m Wingspan: 64.4m

AI RCRAFT N UMBERS AS OF 3 0 / 0 6 / 2 0 1 2

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NEXT MONTH

ext month we are focusing on power – those who have it, those who don’t and those who want it. We interview a man who was once described as Britain’s most powerful person, and we take a look at the cult of the wrestler in Senegal. We take an illustrated trip around the most powerful city in the world and discover a few surprises along the way. A master of business and politics gives us his tips on travelling well and we check-in at one of the coolest hotels in Barcelona. See you next month.

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Amazing camera.

Authentic sound.

Shot on Nick’s HTC One X while free falling at 126 miles per hour

As recommended by Nick Jojola Freefall fashion photographer

Watch Nick’s personal experience at htc.com

| Capture HD video and photos at the same time | | Includes HTC Sense |

James Bond materials Š Danjaq and United Artists. 007 and James Bond Trademarks, TM Danjaq

Limited Edition www.omegawatches.com