Dubai Metro Rolls Tonight!

Dubai Metro will make its maiden run tonight at 9 pm, making it the world’s longest automated driverless train system built in just four years.  But only VIPs will get to ride it tonight, and will be opened to public starting tomorrow.  The trains will offer first class ‘Gold’ section, standard ‘Silver’ class, plus a women and children only section.

FAQ about the Metro answered here, here and here.

How to use the Metro illustrated here.

There will be the mandatory fireworks at Dubai Creek and Mall of Emirates tonight.

Warning:

Motorists who slow down their vehicles or stop completely to watch the Metro run will be fined for obstructing traffic.

Image taken from Khaleej Times.

Dinner, Dust and the Guy Who Wants 100 Children

We met for the first time tonight and there was instant bonding, like we’ve known each other for so many years.  The way we first smiled at each other, asked about family, job, and the weather.  We exchanged stories over shawarma and kabab at a Lebanese restaurant.  We had a great time! He is Masood’s Pakistani cousin, who lives in Houston, so we didn’t get the chance to meet him in Karachi.  He, with his wife and four-year-old son, had a two-day stay in Dubai on their way back to Houston from their Umrah trip.  They’re a wonderful family, mashaAllah, and it amazes me on how easily we all got comfortable with each other in such a short time.    I ate a lot.  I’m like that when I’m super happy.

My precious D40 is still resting comfortably in its soft, velvet case.  Ever since we brought it home a few days ago, we have been having dust storms.  The UAE was covered in a blanket of very fine dust coming in from Iraq, experts claimed. I would never bring my D40 out at any cost;  I didn’t even dare take my point-and-shoot out.

There are different opinions on why we were having these dust storms, which started last Friday and has somewhat cleared out today.  One of the reasons is that the military operations in Iraq are changing the surface terrain there.  Six years of troop and vehicle movements had ground soil into fine grains, sending powder billowing skywards.  Another expert claims that Turkish dams have reduced the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to trickles and efforts to revive the Mesopotamian marshes appear to have been abandoned, causing vast swathes of land to dry up, reducing them to dustbowls.

Then there are these two Emirati men who love a household full of children:  Salem Juma’a, in his late 70s, father-of-52  (who also says he will probably stop there) and 60-year-old Daad Abdulrahman has 86 and says he is aiming for 100.  “It’s from God,” says Mr Juma’a. “God gave me this. I can’t object to God’s gift. God gave me because I deserved it. If I did not deserve, God would not give.”

Mr Abdulrahman will marry again after Ramadan, to a woman from Sudan 40 years his junior, and hopes for a further four children a year until he reaches his goal of 100. His youngest child is just 10 months old and two babies are due next month.  The secret to virility is healthy food, says Mr Abdulrahman. “I have 40 sheep and goats. Every week I slaughter one. I always eat at home.”  But will he stop when he reaches 100? “If I have 100 rupees and I walk in the street and I find one rupee, I will take it in spite of being rich.”

Images from Google

Youtube.com vs. YouTubeISLAM.com

“GOOGLE.COM, is the owner of YOUTUBE.COM and has an attorney firm on some type of financial arrangement trying to scare people into giving them their website domain names if they contain anything with the sound or appearance of the words like “tube”, “you”, “youtoo”, “youtube”, “tubeyou” or even words like “tub”, if connected in some way with anything like “U”.” Listen to Yusuf Estes, as he tells about Google forcefully taking the rights to this site:

www.youtubeislam.com

Or read Yusuf Estes message here.

Yusuf Estes is an American convert to Islam and former National Muslim Chaplain for the United States Bureau of Prisons and Delegate to the United Nations World Peace Conference for Religious Leaders.

‘Money-Doubling’ Conmen Arrested

This incident took place in the United Arab Emirates, more specifically in Ajman, the country’s smallest emirate.  It was this Monday, when the Ajman Police arrested two Africans for allegedly cheating people claiming that they could double money by using – despite all modern things available -  witchcraft.

Some concerned residents tipped off  the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) people about these men living in an apartment in Al Nuaimia that were involved in money-doubling activities and had conned a large number of people.

Therefore, the police sent an undercover agent to negotiate a deal with the suspects. The agent carried Dh100,000 with him. The suspects showed the decoy a box containing black paper sheets in the sizes of dollar and euro bills and claimed that they could turn them into $10 million.

The suspects then took Dh100,000 from the CID agent for buying some liquid which, they claimed, they required to transform the black paper sheets into dollars.

Both were arrested immediately thereafter.

Both men confessed that they had swindled many people in the Northern Emirates.  The police, however, hasn’t determined – yet – the exact number of people cheated by the duo.

The case has been referred to the public prosecution.

Source

Misconception, Ignorance or Something Else?

So a certain hotel heiress has landed in Dubai to shoot the third season of a certain show.  The local papers said (because the news was on front page and hence, hard to miss) that she was given a very warm and VIP welcome.

I was searching online for something related to Dubai, and came across this interview.  Since I live in Dubai, this particular interview of hers caught my attention.  Curious, I watched the interview.  I’ve typed the segment of the interview that pertained to Dubai, sparing you the agony of watching the entire video clip.

Host: And you’re gonna be doing this show, which I find unbelievable, in where…what country?

Heiress *without even blinking* : Dubai

Host: But they don’t allow … really… they only allow your eyes to be shown on television, isn’t that how it works over there?

Heiress: They’re very strange.

Host: You’ll look like a ninja on their channel.

Heiress *giggles*: Yeah!  You know, I don’t … the rules are crazy out there.  They are very, very strict with everything.

Host: Are you even allowed in Dubai?

Heiress *giggles more* : Yes.  I’m gonna be seen rocking my sunglasses when I’m out there.

Host: Oh no, because the sunglasses … that’s the only area you’re allowed to have showing.

Heiress: I know!

Host: So you don’t wanna put sunglasses on, or really, you can send anyone to do that show for you, you know.

Heiress: Actually in Dubai, they’re a little more lenient than everywhere else. Like, obviously, I won’t wear something like this *looks down at her tiny black dress*.

Host: You wouldn’t?

Heiress: No.

Host: What … do you have to wear turtlenecks over there, or what?

Heiress: Like, burqas?

Host *looking surprised* : Really?!

Heiress: But maybe I’ll do my own PH burqa line.

Host *laughs* : Oh that would be great!  That’s the best idea ever, by the way.

Heiress: See-through burqas.

Host: A PH burqa, that really could change things in the Middle East!

Heiress: They really could.

Host: Well, I hope it goes well in Dubai. They chop like your heads off and stuff if you don’t behave over there.

Heiress: I’m gonna behave very well.

Host: Keep your hands in your burqa at all times.

Heiress: I will.

I didn’t make that up.

The local paper mentioned that she had a great time at the Palm Atlantis in a leopard-print swimsuit last Thursday.

Dubai could’ve invited Mickey Mouse instead.