FRIDAY NIGHTS IN DUBAI

 Relishing my weekends in Dubai. They won’t last forever.  I’ve known Bayt as Wakeel for almost twenty years I guess.  Used to be a favourite meeting place when visitors came to Dubai.  It’s not  quite as exciting as it use to be. That’s mostly me I think. The Abra rides have changed a bit as well.  I prefer the newer version now that I am less steady on my feet, but so many happy times, crossing the creek on those old boats in the open evening air. Coloured lights reflecting in the water.

 

On the Deira side of the Creek.  Haven’t wandered through these alleyways for many a year. Colourful displays of goods on a humid evening. Crammed with atmosphere and memories.  Salesmen shouting out their wares.  It’s good that Dubai still has places like these to contrast with the ultra-slick modern tourism that has expanded exponentially since I arrived in 2004.  Dubai has been good to me.  I was rescued from the desperation from Zimbabwe in political and economic turmoil. Hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods.  In those days I still had great respect for newspapers like the Guardian and the Independent, but friends from the UK sent my links to articles about Dubai which were so negative, scornful and frankly racist, that I started to question the way that things has changed since I left UK 25 years earlier.

 

Now I am on the point of returning to a country that is the same but different. No longer will I drive on six lane highways past megaprojects that spring up overnight.  Britain used to be the most vibrant and innovative country in the world.  In my teenage years the music from  Merseyside took the rock and roll of American origins and transformed it into a message of hope for mankind.  Swinging London led the world in style.   I am still immensely proud to be English and British, European even. But do we have the vigour of places like Dubai and Singapore?  Definitely not, for better or for worse.

These are cities that have tapped into the cultural energy and financial capital of immigrants from all over the world while retaining tight control over citizenship and even permanent residence.  You come here to contribute and to prosper, as long as you are able. Make trouble of fail to pay your own way and you are out.  No endless appeals or special pleading. It can be harsh, but it works and Europe as a whole seems to be slowly waking up to this more muscular approach to an open society.

 

Another contrast.  Al Boom Tourist Village. Feels like a throw-back to the Dubai of 20 or 30 years ago.  We went to look at possible dinner cruises on the creek by Dhow.  Almost went for that option, but looked around and chose the Egyptian restaurant on land, but with a nautical theme.   The young band was great. A successful fusion of traditional and modern.  Food, service, ambience, value … It was wonderful to discover this little gem hiding in plain sight for all these years.

 

I have been to Souq Madinat so many times, but not in recent years.  We even played here for three or four years in a row at Fete de la Musique when I had my three piece band: "Out of the Blue."  Seems so long ago now.  We dropped off at the hotel by mistake, happy accident really.  So much of my work with Godwin Austen Johnson has been on hospitality projects. This is not one of our projects but it almost could have been. I like to think we would have done it slightly better but it’s pretty good as a balance between design integrity and serving the tourism market it targets. 

 

The souq itself is an interesting comparison to the old souq area in Deira.  Much pricier shops of course and somewhat sanitised atmosphere, but those are givens of the brief.  You have to acknowledge the ability of Dubai to keep diversifying its tourist appeal.  The recognition that water is a key element. Abu Dhabi has more of that just naturally but Dubai has been able to engineer a huge increase in waterfront property over the past two or three decades. 

Nice glimpse of the Burj Al Arab next door.  I has been eclipsed to some extent by later “modern marvels” but still a memorable sight in its own right. To repeat, I’m really enjoying getting out on a Friday night and taking advantage of this amazing city that has been my home for 21 years, and counting.