The Hydra Open Air Cinema at the Emirates Palace

The Hydra Open Air Cinema is in the UAE for the first time this year.  Swiss Open Air has been doing outside cinema events all around the world for twenty years but this year they have partnered with Hydra Properties to host a huge 12 day event to correlate with all the National Day and Eid celebrations.  It was in Dubai at he end of November and then came to Abu Dhabi from Dec. 1st through the 12th.  On a 4,000 square foot screen with a 32 surround sound speaker system it turns any movie into quite the event!  It opened with James Bond and has all sorts of choices from family flicks, Bollywood, to the world premiere of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still".  We saw "Bolt" on Dec. 5th, quite cute although I thought the hamster stole the show!  And Barry went with a few guys on the 7th and saw "Gingus Khan", I passed on that one.

The tent to the right is the entrance area to the Open Air Cinema, held on the grounds of the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Walking around to the entrance.

We watched this Helicopter take off after several Sheikhs piled in while we were walking the grounds waiting for the cinema entrance to open.

A view back towards the Emirates Palace from inside the grounds of the Cinema.  You can see where the word 'Hydra" is how the screen was folded completely down.  When the sunset because it was family night we were surprised with a ten minute firework show.  Who would have thought there were any left in the country after National Day!  Then the laser show began as the screen folded upward, it took about 5 minutes.  Way cool!

The beginning of the laser show, smoke machines and all!

The screen almost completely open!  And that's when the rechargeable batteries in my new camera went kaput!  Oh well!  I think you've got the idea.  And no cameras once the film began, so we sat back at enjoyed the show!!!!

The Emirates Palace

The Emirates Palace is Abu Dhabi's 7 Star Hotel, there are not many in the world that are graced with that rating.  It was built partially by the Government in 3 years at a cost of 3 billion dollars.  They also partially own it.  One nights stay will cost you anywhere from $600 to $7,800 US dollars, at that's only if you book far enough in advance.  It stretches 1 km from wing to wing and has over 1000 chandeliers.  There are 128 Kitchens and pantries and has a private drive and entrance for special guests, ie; Presidents, Secretary of States, Prime Ministers, Royalty, etc.  The marble used within it's walls came from 13 different countries.  And the facts go on and on.  If you don't want to stay the night and dinner at no less than $100.00 per person is too pricey you can go for afternoon coffee.  It is served with tea cakes and has 22 karot flakes of edible gold in it!!  It's only 100 dirham ($27.00)!  In fact, 5 kg of that edible gold is consumed by guests each year!

The good news for us and other residents of Abu Dhabi is they use the facility for many cultural events and concerts which are often affordable and some even free.  Recent concerts have been; Elton John, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, and George Michaels.  In August we visited for the free Picassco Exhibit, which was wonderful.  We've been to an Itar there and most recently to the Hydra Open Air Cinema.

The Palace on a hot August day.

I had to take a picture in the ladies room!  Look at the marble and gold plated faucets!

Look at the Hillbillies hanging out in one of the smaller lobbies!

It was at least 125 that day, we were truly melting the few minutes we were outside.

The water looked beautiful, but was actual hot to the touch!

One of the wings, west I believe.

It was a wonderfully cool night when we walked the grounds the night of the Hydra Open Air show.  We walked up the private drive and all around the back balconies without seeing a soul only to find out much later we weren't supposed to go that way!  Oops!

The fountains as you pull onto the property.

Overlooking the back of the property toward the west.

Looking the same way from a different position.

Overlooking the center of the property , those are little dinner huts!

Toward the east.

And all the way east toward the private beach.  If you want to see more they have a website at www.emiratespalace.com   

National Day and Eid Mubarak Decoratons and Festivities

All the decorating for the 37th National Day was quite the sight to see.  If you haven't read the previous blog it will give you many of the details of National Day.  Here's a few more pictures I just had to share.

We saw several cars that used the "balloon technique" for decorating.

This was the next morning.  A few cars parked outside a hotel near our home.

This was the day before National Day, it was the first picture I took of a decorated car.  At that point I had no idea what I would see in the next forty-eight hours!

I'm sure all the malls were decorated, this is the Al Whahda Mall.

I can't tell you just how many buildings were completely decked out.  Probably more had decorations on them then those that didn't.  You just can't always pull a camera out when you would like, especially if you're driving!

Another one of the many.

Khaladia Mall had many festivities during the week.  I happened to be there when they had this dancer with Arabic music.  He twirled fabric while he spun about.  It was very fascinating!

This is actually the skirt he had on in the picture above.  He took it off while he was spinning and then kept spinning it over his head!

He even moved into the crowds as he spun it!  It must have been popular music because many families wee singing and clapping along.  I really enjoyed getting to see it.

National Day - December, 2, 2008

We soon found out that National Day is quite the event here.  It is the day they celebrate the birth of their country, similar to the Fourth of July in the U.S. but way ramped up.  This year they celebrated Thirty Seven years of the United Arab Emirates.  They are not only a very young country but one of the wealthiest. with both contributing to quite the festivities.  It is officially a one day Holiday, with no one working, but the celebrations go on for an almost two week period.  The Muslim Calendar has two Eids a year on it.  But with the calendar based on the moon (avg. 360 days per year) all of their holidays and celebrations change dates each year.  

National Day is always December 2nd but this year Eid Mubarak is Dec. 8th, so with two holidays being so close everyone is celerating.  All the government agencies, and over here that is a large part of the white collar work force, are closed for almost two weeks.  That means the telephone company, the post office, etc.!  The schools close for two weeks in the first part of December, back in for a week , and then closed two more for Christmas.  Even though most Muslims don't officially celebrate Christmas half of the people who live here are from some place that does.  And definitely most of the teachers.  The main American school is closed the entire month of December!

There were Grand Prix motor boat races in the early part of the day but we didn't attend.  We waited for the later part of the day to join all the festivities.  We drove to a friends house around five and had a early dinner with them and then we all walked to the Corniche beach together.  There were stages with bands and entertainment set up at different points all along the Corniche (that's the walkway along the side of the island).  At the main Corniche beach they had a three hour air show, there were para gliders and para motors performing at different times, along with a laser show on Lulu Island (across the water) and at the Emirates Palace (where the Corniche ends by the breakwater).  The guys got in line for ice cream from Basking Robbins (it tastes the same here) while the girls and kids went out to the beach.  We happened upon a table right as a family was getting up!  It was great we had a beach front seat right on a little terrace.  The fireworks started at 8:30pm and made the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest fireworks to this date.  I'm not sure what the criteria was to qualify but the show at two locations and lasted forty-five minutes.  It was quite spectacular.

With all the events taking place you would think that would be the main attraction.  Oh no!  That's what all the expats and Third Country Nationals were checking out, not the Emirates.  They spend the day quite creatively.  They decorate their cars and drive around honking their horns in an informal parade that goes up and down the Corniche road, all five lanes the entire length, probably a good three miles.  There were cars everywhere bummer to bummer revving their engines and honking.  People and children hanging out of cars, standing up through sunroofs, sitting on roofs and hoods, just driving, revving engines, and honking horns.  It was crazy!  Words can't really describe the event.  There were thousands and thousands of people just out, either participating or watching those that were.  We were so thankful we walked the six blocks or so, you couldn't get anywhere close to the Corniche without being in a traffic jam and I can't imagine the parking!

Our first peak at the Corniche road.

This picture is a bit dark, but the white SUV had been decorated by spray painting the flag colors (red, green, black, and white) all over it!

There were many cars with giant Teddy Bears strapped to the top, along with balloons, flags, streamers, etc.

Our first peak at the walkway along the Corniche with the laser show behind it.

A typical sight that night!

Thousands of cars, I wish you could hear the honking!

During the winter months or when it is windy the men often wrap their headscarf around their face.  It was a beautiful evening for us in the low 70's, but for those from this part of the globe that is cold.  I laugh at all the children in their puffy winter coats!

The laser show on the beach.  The para gliders and para motors didn't photograph well at night.  There was one set that had fireworks trail out from their engines!

The fireworks were quite the spectacular event.

The red glow to the bottom left of the picture is the Emirates Palace all lit up in the National colors.  After about thirty minutes the sky was filling with smoke!

The went on........

and on.......

It was quite the event and we were very happy we ventured out for it.  Words can quite describe..... the sounds of people, cars, fireworks, etc., the smells of smoke from the fireworks and hot engines even on a cool night, and the sights all about.  It really was a feast for the senses!   We walked back in the masses to our car and were happy we were away from the traffic!  The next day I talked to some people who live in apartments right on the Corniche and said that the honking went on all night long!!!  

Driving in the U.A.E. Chapter 3

As I vent on the crazy drivers here (technically I guess Barry and I are now part of that group) I don't think I have mentioned how the masses park.  They will park anywhere here.  I mean absolutely anywhere!  They purposely make the curbs higher here than in most places I have traveled, it keeps the cars and SUV's on the roads!  On the secondary roads they park on the right and left, but also right down the center.  Yep, right down the center lane over the dotted white line, giving cars just enough room to maneuver down the narrow lanes, just watch out for car doors opening from those parked cars!  

A common parking trick is to parallel park your vehicle nice and tight right behind the back of any car. They then leave a phone number or business card on the dash so if you need to get in contact with them to move their car you can!  I thought that was crazy, thinking it was just people owning two cars and parking their second behind their first.  Until it happened to me one afternoon!  Thankfully I had heard about the phone number on the dash trick, it was there, called, and they came and moved their car right into my primo space after I pulled out!  Quite clever. 

 Any which way they can get a vehicle into a space or design a space of their own I seen.  Here is a great example of two girls creating a parking space, one supervising the other as she squeezed into the space, never mind the fact that the black SUV can now not pull out of his real parking space! 

Cultural Presentation

On Sunday (that's our virtual Mondays), November 23rd I was fortunate to attend a Cultural Presentation at Zayed University here in Abu Dhabi.  It was sponsored for Abu Dhabi Ladies (one of the morning coffee groups) by a company called ALDAR, which does a lot of building in the UAE.  The speakers name was Wael Al Sayegh and he hosts a radio show in Dubai along with being a poet, author, and public speaker.  He is a native born Emirate and it was wonderful hearing him speak.  He did a overview of Arabic culture and then spoke on many things that were specific to Abu Dhabi.  It was a fascinating morning that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Mopping The Sidewalk

So the weather has been nice for all a while now so I have been out walking a lot and exploring all those areas that aren't close to parking.  Many of the sidewalks along some of the major streets are marble, especially  in front of major stores and shopping centers.  Anytime I've been by they have always been very clean and shiny and frankly I hadn't really put any thought into it.  It rarely rains here, so they don't get a good cleaning the natural way, they have to clean them, right?  So I'm walking outside down the street today and they are MOPPING the sidewalks!  It makes sense if you think about it, it just struck me as very funny!