“I’m Like Ricky Bobby”

October 18th, 2009

I like to think that this, the fifth episode of The Amazing Race’s fifteenth season, is the reality television equivalent of speed dating. You see, last week, we saw the unfortunate departure of Zev and Justin in the worst of circumstances, the kind of circumstances (a lost passport keeping them from checking into the pit stop) that make you want to stop watching (or, say, dating). And yet, the nature of the my love for The Amazing Race (and people’s desire for personal connection) is such that you can’t abandon it entirely, and you’re left to sort through the remaining options, albeit with a skeptical eye.

As such, “I’m Like Ricky Bobby” is really about a re-evaluation of the remaining teams, avoiding comparing them to the dearly departed Zev and Justin but also not giving them a free pass just because they’re all we have left. In the end, I’d say that they aren’t the worst group of contestants the race has ever seen, and that they are perhaps an even stronger group (if not quite as morbidly entertaining) considering the results of this week’s leg in the United Arab Emirates.

I’m not about to propose to any of them or anything, but I wouldn’t be entirely averse to spending a few minutes chatting with them, and I guess that’s a good enough start to my recovery.

I think the team that impressed me most in this hour is Brian and Ericka, who I’ve always somewhat liked but who have never quite established themselves. What I liked about them here was that they showed that they (beyond their interracial nature) have a sense of duality to them. Brian is very nice, here helping just about every team in his vicinity to the point of questioning whether he knows this is a race, while Ericka admits that her time as Miss America didn’t turn her into Miss Nice. It’s an interesting if not entirely new dynamic, and one that is helped by Ericka’s nature: she’s not prissy so much as she is apprehensive, so while she first resists getting onto the sled to slide down the hill in Ski Dubai, she soon after is roaring down the hill screaming her excitement (while still acknowledging that her butt is very, very cold). The team has a lot of traits that could be annoying if they were dominant (like overselling the tallest building task, which is logical but kind of jerky), but they seem to be there to have fun and get good karma and that makes them enjoyable to watch.

But on the opposite end of the coin you have Mika and Canaan, quickly shooting up the ranks of the most annoying teams on the race. Forgetting for a moment what I saw in the preview for next week, which I think actually counts as physical abuse, the two of them are just insufferable to watch. Canaan has an annoying duality of preachy laid-back dude and competitive psychopath, and the switch seems to be able to turn at any moment. And, unfortunately for both the team and for us as viewers, Mika sets it off quite often by being more than a bit aloof. Her fear of heights (and, next week, her fear of a waterslide) is one thing, but her fascination at driving 120 miles per hour (it was kilometres) and her almost child-like observation that she can see the building through the sunroof are the kinds of things that make Mika treat her like a child when she’s making a turn (why he had her driving considering his typical backseat-driver posture, I have no idea). It’s a bad dynamic to watch, as the team gets more annoying the more they get lost and the more challenging the task at hand.

Which is why some part of me, if not much of it, wishes that they had gone home instead of Lance and Keri, who were highly incompetent but in a humorous fashion. This is a team that fought, sure, but in a self-deprecating fashion which acknowledged they were terrible at this race, and that it would be at some point be their downfall. Lance was a bully, a meathead to the nth degree, and yet he seemed kind of self-aware of that once he actually started failing miserably (in success, of course, he boasted), and this episode was a nice swan song for the team as they made enough directional mistakes for me to certify Keri’s observations of “directionally challenged” as a lifetime condition. With Mika and Canaan, they have that Colin/Christie thing going on where their failures only make us dislike them more; with Lance and Keri, failure actually suits them, so I’d have been glad to see them last another week or two if it meant less distress overall.

As for the rest of the teams, I think that the teams that are proving the most interesting are the ones who are different on paper. Flight Time and Big Easy are fun to watch because it’s two giant basketball players sledding down an indoor snow hill, a novelty which isn’t there with Sam and Dan, a decent team that seems to be “just racing” to the point of having them blend into the background. With Maria and Tiffany, their poker player mentality isn’t really a factor in the race, making them just another all-girl team (who here made a pretty colossal mistake with their car that they never adequately paid for), while Gary and Matt (who finished fourth here after being the first to complete the Detour after switching) have a neat father/son dynamic, a unique Montana perspective, and are more fun to watch because of it.

Yes, Meghan and Cheyne were the winners of this leg of the race, but they might well be the most boring team the race has ever seen. They’re an alpha male/female combo team, which Brian dubbed as Malibu Ken/Barbie, and more importantly I don’t find either of them likeable. Cheyne’s hair bugs me (hey, first impressions count in speed dating), and Meghan’s behaviour at the Fast Forward was fundamentally baffling. I understand that she has issues with not being entirely in control on the race, as that is a normal human response to various scenarios. However, I don’t understand why the Fast Forward in particular would bring this out in her, especially to the point of tears. She was crying when they were the only ones AT the Fast Forward, and her boyfriend was completing a task that looked impossible to screw up twice, yet alone enough times for them to legitimately fall behind. If she was that emotional over the easiest task of life, I can imagine her turning into another variant on Mika very quickly.

As for the episode, I think it was a good way to handle a place like Dubai which is effectively an oasis in the middle of the desert, offering an almost resort-like atmosphere that could come off as one big spectacle. In this instance, the ski hill was a good way for that spectacle to feel still a bit off-putting (as some people are clearly not snow people), and then the roadblock was a way to expose them to the extreme heat that Dubai is known for. Combine with some sightseeing with the construction site of the world’s tallest building, and you have an enjoyable environment in which to meet some teams as if for the first time.

In the end, no one can measure up to Zev and Justin, but no one is going to be able to. Ultimately, I think there are some racers here who I won’t hate seeing make it to the end, and who I’ll put up with until the season ends. That, at least, is a very good sign, so here’s hoping that I don’t have to go back to the well all over again if Brian and Ericka, the Globetrotters and Gary and Matt go down in succession.

Cultural Observations

• I noted above that they should avoid the resort feel in Dubai, and yet next week has them at the Atlantis resort – I wouldn’t exactly call that testing your limits, as that waterslide is not that terrifying.
• Speaking of Mika, she had my second favourite comment of the evening when considering the detour options. She decided that they couldn’t possibly do the “Find” option because she’s never been on a sled before. It’s a SLED, people, not some sort of mythical beast.
• However, favourite line of the night goes to Lance admitting that the only reason he’s sure their planned wedding will survive the race is unrefundable deposits. Lance is many things, but dishonest is not one of them.
• The logic of no other team going for the Fast Forward is solid, don’t get me wrong, but I really wish that they would make the Fast Forward challenges more of a, well, challenge to encourage competition. The lap task was too easy, making it a race to the race track as opposed to completing the task – if there had been something to it, another team might have risked it. Seeing a team just walk away with 1st place isn’t interesting at all, and did nothing to help me like Meghan and Cheyne more.
• Was glad to see Maria and Tiffany note that they were sorry for how Zev and Justin left the game while commenting about how lucky they are – they put in a solid leg, so I was glad to see they weren’t being terrible human beings in the process. I also loved Tiffany’s description of what happened to the car, complete with anthropomorphic descriptions.
• Usually alliances bring out the worst in racers, but the Sam/Dan and Maria/Tiffany alliance makes me like both teams more even in their relatively boring states: Tiffany’s help with the ladle made it possible for them to complete the Roadblock, and Sam/Dan waiting with them for the car was stupid (it’s a race rule, so waiting won’t make it come faster) but faith restoring.
• Speaking of the car issue: shouldn’t there be a time penalty for being a terrible driver?

The Sultan of Dubai, the heir of a 600 year legacy worth $22 billion dollars is credited for building one of the largest indoor ski results in the world. I’ve known about Ski Dubai for a little minute now and have always found the concept to be quite ill. It’s a 22,500 square meter ski utopia, equipped with real snow all year round and a nice -1 degree Celsius temperature to make you forget that youre in the middle of a desert.

What the Sultan of Dubai does seem’s to blow my mind, what one can do with wealth amazes me. He’s been known to give away phantoms as present for coming to his parties and has said that if he had Bill Gates money he would commit suicide LMAO! Anyway it’s about time for me to dip outta here Ski Racers, grab some hot chocolate and meet me in the ski lounge.

~ANT-D~

1. Stay at Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa for 3days and 2 nights. – ok well, I know it’s asking for a bit too much but I get a 50% discount for being an employee of my employer all year round on this luxury desert hotel. (how I love the perks, not that 50% is enough discount for me to afford this AED4000 per night hotel). Each villa has its own pool and the cost already includes full board meal and two desert-based activities. Oh well, maybe if I win the National Bonds or Mashreq Millionaire, then I can go to this serene hotel which banned the presence of children below 10years (works well for someone who really doesn’t like screaming children running around the hotel).

I would have said a stay at the Burj Al Arab but seriously, I think the hotel is just ridiculously expensive. I have had the opportunity to have a show-around of this hotel and well frankly, it didn’t give me an itch to stay in this horrendously priced hotel (which I think is way overrated). Sure I was impressed by the gold things surrounding you (the elevator walls, the mirror frames, the stair railings etc. etc.) but…. Al Maha still has it for me.

2. Go on a Hatta trek – I just want to experience dipping my feet in one of the wadis of the trek. :p

3. Take a swim at Wadi Wurrayah – just a bit of my curious-cat case, I want to see the only nature-made waterfall in the whole of UAE. Living in this country where everything is man-made, places like these are majestic for my eyes.

4. Go on a Karting Race at Dubai Autodrome - am not much of a good driver (I have yet to get myself a valid UAE driver’s license) but it would be fun to drive one of those go-karts inside the Autodrome. It’s AED100 for a 15-minute session, schweet!!!!

5. Go quad-biking on Dubai desert. – a good friend of mine told me numerous times that he will give me a call and take me with him to one of his quad-biking weekend with his friends, but he never did (you know who you are siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir……..). It has always tickled my curiosity as to how it would feel like to ride an ATV, so the Dubai desert is probably the best way to do it. I’m already picturing myself climbing up to one of those sand dunes on high speed and making the ATV fly and land on the farthest possible point from the dunes. (of course, it didn’t hurt me at all in my imagination…). Oh well, someday when I finally receive a call from that friend.

6. Go snorkeling in Musandam. – Musandam, Oman is just a stone’s throw-away from Dubai and I have been planning on that since the start of my stay here so why has it never happened? Nobody wants to go with me.  I want to see the wild dolphins (and swim with them if possible) and I want to see some real and colorful coral reef (not like the lifeless sea of the UAE). Oh well….

7. Have a white and sexy yacht party. – am planning on having one on my birthday, hopefully I’ll be able to loot the right amount of money from someone to fulfill this plan. I will invite all my friends to have a “white” party with me and I really mean it when I say that everybody should wear white. On top of it all, there should be noone wearing something which covers more than ¼ of their body parts during this white and sexy yacht party. Of course, the sexy part will commence after the yacht has sailed far from where the Dubai police can see us, to avoid any inconveniences. :p

8. Go skiing in Ski Dubai. – sad to say, I haven’t been here yet. I was torn between ice skating in Dubai Mall and skiing in MOE, the latter tickled my fancy more.

9. Take part of Dubai World Cup. – am not into horses or anything (the only horse encounter I’ve had was the occasional Tagaytay and Baguio summer get-away in the Philippines and for someone who’s an idiot when it comes to horse riding, I am pretty good at it, I mean the horses follow my lead when I turn the ropes to the left or right and it usually runs faster when I want him to… so I would say, not really bad.) But am not going to attend this event for the races, I just want to see the funny hats the guests will be wearing for this event. :p

10. Watch a live Dubai Rugby Sevens Match. – I have no idea about how the game is being played let alone the teams playing. I just want to see the Sevens arena in Al Ain road getting the action and to see the Rugby Rock concert on the final day. I’d probably cheer on both teams while am there or probably cheer on the team with the largest number of cute players. Woot Woow!!!!!

Dubai è un “laboratorio sociale” estremamente interessante, ogni giorno qualcuno sperimenta nuove metodologie in questo microcosmo multiculturale di un milione e mezzo di abitanti di 200 nazionalità.

Il campo della distribuzione e del retail qui è molto sviluppato, con il mall più grande del mondo, vicino al grattacielo più alto al mondo, alla pista innevata per sciare, con ski lift e seggiovia con quasi 50 gradi di temperature esterna.

Mall di Dubai

Qui è facile visitare un supermercato appena aperto, modernissimo ed estremamente invitante che alla  clientela offra la possibilità di aderire alla carta di fidelizzazione e di vincere premi, giocando alla ruota della fortuna.

Il premio più facile da vincere e quello più ambito, è un minuto di spesa gratuita.

Ogni vincitore, accompagnato da un dipendente con un cronometro, ha sessanta secondi per riempire il carrello di qualunque merce in vendita, che alla cassa non pagherà.

La domanda che viene subito in mente è: ”il management è folle o furbo?”.

Io sono decisamente propenso a dire che l’azienda, regalando la merce, ha fatto… un affare.

Sembra una perdita netta per la gestione, ma in realtà provate a pensare che tutti quei nuovi clienti che hanno ricevuto un minuto gratis, per sfruttare al meglio l’opportunità offerta, hanno memorizzato prodotti, marche e percorsi in modo molto efficace. In uno spazio nuovo, in cui non erano mai stati.

Quella piccola emozione di sessanta secondi li porterà a tornare, troveranno velocemente i prodotti preferiti in un ambiente che seppur nuovo sarà già per loro molto familiare. E la società si rifarà molto presto del suo investimento iniziale, che probabilmente avrà anche trovato il modo di scaricare, almeno in parte, sui suoi fornitori.

In un mercato in cui ogni giorno vengono aperti nuovi punti vendita questa mossa ha consentito di acquisire la fidelizzazione del cliente, molto più preziosa del contenuto del suo primo carrello.

Complimenti pertanto alla creatività del suo marketing team, chissà se questa piccola invenzione diventerà una prassi anche in altre catene, e se presto la vedremo anche in Italia.

The boys who brought us Ski Dubai have a new project in the works. Hooking up with Adrenaline Sports Live (the big extreme sports expo), Majid Al Futtaim Leisure are building a temporary ski slope as a part of the event. No word on how big or bad this slope will be, but there will be enough room for both the professionals and regular visitors to have a go. More info, here.

Paris Hilton is back to work on her BFF show in Dubai after taking a break to dump her boyfriend and dance on tables. She’s already raised controversy after reports surfaced that she had gotten in a rift with local authorities for wearing a bikini, but Paris was quick to take to Twitter saying, “One of my friends just called me from back home and asked if I got in trouble for wearing a bikini at the beach here and once again – FALSE”.

Even though she hasn’t gotten arrested yet, she has been keeping herself busy while filming abroad. So far she’s met a huge guy, rode a “cute” camel, gone skiing, and tonight she’s hosting a party at Club Neo.

Yep, skiing in Dubai. They happen to have one of the world’s largest ski domes, in a mall none the less. The Ski Dubai Resort, located just behind the Mall of Emirates and the Kempinski Hotel, features 5 runs that vary in difficulty. For newbies, there are pro ski instructors available for individual or group lessons. There is even a quarter pipe for snowboarders and a snow park for kids. And don’t worry about packing your snowsuit, the resort provides guests with winter clothing and ski gear, all of which is included in the price of admission. A day pass to the park is around $50 but you need to book in advance via their website.  by cmb - Jaunted

[Photo: Pop Sugar]

Related Links: Hotel Deals in Dubai,  Kempinski Hotel, Dubai Vacation Packages

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Last week I was on vacation entertaining my two very tiny nephews whose Mum (my sister) made the long  journey from Australia to Dubai to spend some time with the rest of the family in Dubai.

While I am well versed in showing my mates a good time when they come and visit, entertaining a four year old and a five month old takes a little more planning and thought. Here are the little lads enjoying “Happy Feet” which I think I have now seen about twenty times.

The first point of business was that of transport. While the Hummer is OK for five adults at a push, having to take four adults and two small children needed something slightly larger. So a quick phone call secured Rupert’s seven seat Pajero. The next thing was how to secure the tiny nephews. There are few things that make me really mad in Dubai, one of them however is the number of times I see kids running freely around inside a large 4×4, especially when you can see the child seats in the car. It is really sad. There was a nice article about this in 7Days recently.

A quick scout around the Web and we located Rent-A-Crib,  quick phone call to these chaps and we soon had delivery of two correctly sized car seats as well as a travel cot and bedding for it. We got good service from these people and I would highly recommend them.

Now that the transport was fixed I had to come up with some entertainment. For a start we made daily trips to the pool complex at the apartment block I live in. All of I sudden I realised what tremendous value that a shaded kids pool has or even the playroom with the padded floor and toys that my maintenance pays for. It seemed worth it for a change.

We got a “trainer seat” for Alex and he was really happy to bob around in the water while Julian wouldn’t let go of his “noodle” for dear life:

Going to the pool everyday for three weeks quickly made Julian much more comfortable in the water. So we took advantage of two for one entry voucher on the front of  Time Out to visit Aquaventure and Julian was in his element.

In previ0us visits to water parks it’s  usually this pattern – high octane rides -> lunch -> high octane rides -> wave pool -> home. This time for me it was Water Adventure playground -> lunch -> Water Adventure playground -> home. I still had a great time, though no where near a good time as Julian had who had endless rides down the yellow slide:

In the adventure playground there is a large bucket that slowly fills with water then comes crashing down with rather dramatic effect:

Sadly, this did not agree too well with Julian who was frightened of the big water and would run from the “big water”  with his hands clamped firmly over his ears. Poor little fella, it interrupted his fun for about five seconds.

We did get to go on the lazy river in “boats” as Julian called them and he enjoyed the rapids and surges though we were sure to take him on the gentlest of routes:

We did a lot of things with the kids and in particular Julian. A few of my favourite moments  are below.

Here is Julian at the Aquarium in Dubai Mall. He likes seeing fish and particularly star fish a lot. Though when he had his face up to the glass looking for small crabs he got the fright of his life when a monster crab crawled up. This was as close as we could get him to these giant crabs and if I make a pincer movement with my hands and edge along sideways he freaks out a bit…

Julian also shares the same great taste as his Uncle in dressing up gear as when we took him to Favourite Things in Dubai Marina Mall he made a bee line for the Buzz Light Year outfit (good chap):

Early one morning we took Julian down to the Beach at Dubai Marina. It is so nice at this time of day. There were only joggers for company and Julian had the beach to himself:

And my favourite moment of the whole trip. I took him to the Snow Park at Ski Dubai. I have not written about this landmark in Dubai before, mainly as I don’t ski or snowboard. When we told Julian he was able to play in Snow he got very excited as they don’t get much of that in Perth. So we got the snow boots, hat, crash helmet, jump suit and mittens from the well organised reception area at Ski Dubai and spent the next 90 minutes charging around the snow.

He is pictured here on the smallest slope. What it does not capture is the amazing “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” noise that he made as he span down the slope. Then watching him bounce out of the tube and drag it up for another go, simply made my heart melt.

It was a fantastic few weeks with them that flew by all too quickly. It is clear that with some organisation that Dubai really is a family friendly place and the service we got at the places we visited was of a high standard.

Now if only they could make it a little easier to navigate from my flat to The Walk (about 200 meters) with a stroller then I would be even happier. Having to go up and down eight kerbs with no dip can be challenging.

I look forward to doing this all again soon when Alex is able to enjoy himself as much as his older brother did this time, Uncle Aaron will be waiting for them.

After spending two days in Abu Dhabi we were on our way to another Emirate, one that is more known in the states, Dubai. I have heard nothing but great things about Dubai and was extremely excited to finally get to go here. We took a bus from Abu Dhabi to Dubai that took about 2 hours. Before heading to the hotel we went to Zayed University (an all girls school) where we got to meet with and have lunch with some of the students. We talked about everything from Google, terrorism, boys, President Obama, fashion, shoes, shopping, religion and culture. It was enlightening to realize how much we had in common with these girls who live in a completely different part of the world and who come from a very different culture than our own. Just because our cultures and values may be different, I realized that underneath it all we are the same. We are college-aged girls who have many of the same dreams and aspirations and I feel stupid to ever have thought differently. The girls who attend this University are very well off and one of the girls told us that they come from the Beverly Hills of the Emirates and that they vacation every summer with their whole family and leave Dubai because it gets so hot. The most interesting aspect of the conversation to me was how sympathetic and outraged these girls were toward 9/11. In the states many people are ignorant and unaware of the fact that most of the Muslim world was against this happening and deeply hurt by it’s circumstances and are not as extreme as the individuals who attacked our country. A greater education about the Middle East might help to alleviate this discrepancy. I also found it interesting that Muslim girls dress in Burkas and cover their whole bodies to keep and protect their identity and that it is a cultural thing and not a religious thing.

On our second day in Dubai we ventured out into the desert and went on a tour of the city. We learned that Dubai is the first city to have air conditioned bus stops for people to get out of the heat which was pretty cool. We got to see most of the city including the Gold Souk, the Dubai Museum, various traditional cultural buildings, the Rulers Court, the Spice market and the Dubai Mall (which is the biggest mall in the world). We also got to see the ongoing construction of the Dubai metro which began in 2005 and is predicted to be finished in 2009. On the tour we stopped at Jumeriah Beach and got to take pictures standing in the Arabian Sea and in front of the only 7 star hotel in the world, which by the way was amazing. We also collected a bunch of seashells to take home. After this we drove through a tunnel under the water to Palm island which is completely man made and we went and explored the Atlantis hotel. After the tour we went to the Emirates Mall and got to see Ski Dubai which is the ski resort inside of the mall. Everything in Dubai is extremely over the top and extravagant and it is amazing to think that before 1971 everything in Dubai was a desert.

Later in the afternoon we went on a desert safari and got to go dune bashing. We split up into two SUV’s and went cruising around the desert and over the dunes. After we rode camels for the first time, ate traditional food at a desert safari camp, got henna tattoos and watched a belly dance performance. This experience was definitely one of the most adventurous and also a favorite of just about everyone on the trip. I was surprised though, that the camels didn’t smell as bad as I thought they were going to.

On our third day we got to lay out by the pool all morning and tan because we had some free time and half of the group went shopping at the mall and to the markets around Dubai. At night we attended the Pan IIM Alumni Gulf Summit. The theme of the dinner was riding out the downturn and focused on the economic crisis and how this impacted the IIM universities through out the Middle East. The dinner featured guest speakers and an alumni panel to discuss important changes in business paradigms and their outlook for the future at IIM. We then all went out to one of the discos, Zuma and then some of us went home while the rest of us headed on to Double Decker, which was a British pub.

Our last day in Dubai was packed with briefings. We first went to Bates Pan Gulf and met with Avi Bhojani. We learned about their public advocacy campaign and their strategy toward bridging the gap between the younger and older generations. We then went to Brand Dubai where we learned about the different techniques and strategies to literally “brand Dubai” and how they attracted tourists and marketed their region. Lastly we went to Hill and Knowlton and were exposed to common misconceptions of Dubai and how their company was trying to correct these misconceptions with awareness and knowledge of the facts through public relations and advocacy campaigns. Lastly we went and visited the Pearl Museum where some of the biggest and most beautiful pearls are housed. We learned about the history of pearl diving and how valuable true pearls are.

Our time in Dubai thus came to an end and the similarities between Dubai and the states were fascinating to explore. We all learned a lot and had some great experiences through out our time in Dubai that we will never forget. Dubai was said to be comparable to Las Vegas in the states and their over the top everything made this point evident. I would love to go back to Dubai sometime in the future and could definitely see myself living here at some point.

Pictures to be uploaded after my return to the states on 6/15/09

xoxo Christine

A volte rimango un pò basito da quello che scovo sul web. Ma in questo caso trattengo il mio commento, e lascio a voi esprimere il personale parere. Ognuno ha la propria visione di cosa vuol dire snowboard; la mia è strettamente legata all’ambiente montagna, che ringrazio di avere a portata di mano (e di auto…e di portafoglio). Di controparte, mi metto nei panni di chi le montagne le può vedere solo con il telescopio, e sono costretto a biasimare queste persone capaci di rinchiudersi in ambienti claustrofobici. L’argomento di oggi sono gli snowpark indoor che sempre più vedo nascere.

Dubai fa scuola, ma la vecchia Europa non sta certo a guardare. Lo Ski Dubai, che tanto ha fatto discutere, non è più l’unico posto al mondo in cui è possibile sciare al coperto. Nella fascia settentrionale del nostro continente, strutture del genere hanno avuto un exploit nel giro di un paio d’anni. E’ il caso degli Snowworld di Zoetermeer o Landgraaf, in Olanda, oppure di Snow Valley e Ski Casablanca in Belgio. Menzione d’onore al complesso Xscape, impianti sparsi tra Glasgow, Leeds e Milton Keynes, nuove frontiere dell’intrattenimento nel Regno Unito con annesso bowling, cinema, rock climbing, sala giochi e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Gran parte di queste strutture hanno (inevitabilmente) puntato molto sugli snowpark, dedicandone ampio spazio. E’ una realtà bella e buona che vivono molti giovani di quei paesi, vista la possibilità di girare tutto l’anno, tutti i giorni, fino a tarda ora.

Uno dei nuovi arrivati è lo snowpark indoor di Bispingen, tra Hannover ed Amburgo. Gli artefici della sua progettazione (che sta per raggiungere il completamento) sono i ragazzi di QParks, che tanto per capirci hanno realizzato park come Dachstein, Silvretta Nova o Sölden.

Nella foto: Snowworld di Zoetermeer

Raniroo is TravelPod’s Local Expert on the United Arab Emirates. She highlighted a really nice list of things to do in the UAE from Time Out Dubai magazine.

Here are some of the best ideas for things to do in her neck of the woods.

1. Coo at baby turtles at the Ras al Hadd Nature Reserve

Sea turtle going back to the ocean

The reserve includes about 50 km of coastline along the eastern most portion of Oman, about 170 km south of the capital, Muscat. The reserve is the nesting grounds to upwards of 20,000 green turtles. - Npacadia

2. Take a day trip to Jebel Hafeet

Holyrockthrower's friends at Jebel Hafeet

You do, however, get a nice view of the desert…or you would have, anyway, if the air wasn’t so hazy.  As it is, you can see that the desert stretches forever, and Al Ain is just one little patch of green in that sea of terrifying nothingness. – Holyrockthrower

3. Snoop in a Sheik’s palace

Mandy_karl at Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House

We walked down the creek past the textile souk and then down to Sheikh Seed Al Maktoum house (one of the oldest restored houses in the area with a good collection of old photos of Dubai and Sheikhs and a collection of coins). - Mandy_karl

4. Have a picnic in Za’Abeel Park

Some flower beds in Za'Abeel Park

The park took you away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city streets and constant honking of horns from the crazed motorists. – Rosswilson82

5. Get a henna tattoo

Mandy_karl's henna tattoo

After a while we headed over to a camp – where you could go camel riding, i had a henna tattoo, you could smoke hubbly bubbly/sheesha, buy coloured sand in bottles and belly dancing outfits, go on quad bikes or go sand skiiing. – Mandy_karl

5. Experience the desert

Kevinwanders into the desert

There was just a stark beauty, and a sense of openness and endlessness that is impossible to describe, and impossible to capture in photographs. It was just a exhilarating place to be, if only to spend a sunset there. Absolute magic. – Kevinwanders

6. High Tea at the Burj

Nickers in the Burj lobby

Tea at the Burj was as extravagant as you’d expect it to be. Maybe the seven courses were overkill, but they were delicious. – Nickers

7. Watch the sunrise

Cool December morning in Dubai

I had my first “Wow” moment of the trip, seeing the sunrise below the clouds and between two towering skyscrapers. – Mebiner

8. Ski in the desert

Surleplat at Ski Dubai

I had not snowboarded before and learned that it isn’t as easy as it looks and the snow at ski dubai tastes just fine when you are face down in it. – Surleplat

9. See the Dubai World Cup

The Dubai World Cup

We had firedancers surrounding the trophy itself, pyrotechnic stilt characters that danced and detonated, projection costumes and a range of fantasy characters as well as the flying performers that elevated the show and audience to a state of unforgettable, audio-visual, high-end impact. – Showme

10. Ride an abra

Mandy_karl on an abra in Dubai

After our curry breakfast and cake! great way to start the day! we caught an abra (little boat) across the creek for a whole 2dhs/20p each to see the fish market, where there was an amazing selection of fish and lobster and huge prawns etc etc. – Mandy_karl

Younis Al Mulla, general manager of Mall of the Emirates & Ski Dubai, throws a snowball at the Ski Dubai complex. With the arrival of the real-life Alp, Ski Dubai should generate even more buzz. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

You’ve heard about Dubai’s indoor ski slope. You’ve wondered exactly what luxuries a seven-star hotel like the Burj Al Arab affords. Both are trifles compared to what the Las Vegas of the Middle East has planned next — moving the Alps to Dubai.

Don’t worry, snow bunnies and mountain goats. The Swiss (and all the other countries that are home to the Alps) aren’t parting with the entirety of their prized mountains any more than they’re giving up the cash stored in all those secret bank accounts. But a pristine peak near Mont Blanc will be painstakingly dismantled and reassembled in that desert city of excess. The pint-sized Alp will fashion a dramatic new entrance to Ski Dubai, according to a recent AP story.

The peak in question will be removed with a method similar to that used in mountaintop mining, according to the Ski Dubai press release. Rather than dumping the tops in nearby valleys and streams as this New York Times story details, the pieces will be packed in special mesh shipping containers that will allow the soil to “breathe” for its unprecedented trip over land and sea. So far, no word on what will happen to the flora and fauna that unluckily fall into this piece of prime real estate. The kindhearted Swiss reportedly are making special arrangements for the native goats.

So how much is a mountain worth? Neither the Swiss government nor Ski Dubai would comment on the price tag, but AP is reporting that the final tally falls in the ballpark of $450 million. That seems a bit pricey, especially when you consider that the National Park Service budgeted $12 million to move the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the 1990s.

A couple of questions came to mind when I read this story. Namely, what? Really? And is there any way we can get the city of Atlanta to move some beachfront real estate into its landlocked borders?

Oh, and one last question. Did you know it’s April Fool’s Day? Now head back to the HowStuffWorks.com homepage for some real content. Or read over some of the ways we’ve pulled the wool over readers’ eyes in the past:

How the Air Force One Hybrid Works
How Animated Tattoos Work
How Cell Phone Implants Work

Fontane, laghi, acquafan, neve (lo Ski Dubai ne ospita 6000 tonnellate): Dubai è una città d’acqua. Come? Grazie alla desalinizzazione e al riciclo.

Un piano per il decennio 2005-2015 stabilisce che ogni anno venga costruito un desalinizzatore.

Tutte le ville dell’arcipelago artificiale The World si doternno di desalinizzatori a gas da 100 mila litri d’acqua giornalieri ed ogni progetto è pensato anche per gestire al meglio l’H2O a disposizione.

Il Wild Wadi Water Park ha un impianto che ricicla il 97% dell’acqua.

Secondo l’Electricity and Water Authority, per ogni litro d’acqua che esce dai pozzi del paese, 20 arrivano dai desalinizzatori (attraverso una rete di 502 km di tubature).

La sola area del Golfo possiede il 60% dei desalinizzatori del mondo.

I live in Canada..where it’s full of snow for much of the year… but I’ve never been skiing or snowboarding.  The high school that I attended organized a ski trip every year and every year, on that day, my friends and I went shopping. I kind of regret it now. So, when Alex and I visited Dubai, we decided to go skiing!

I know, it’s weird, right? I had to go all the way to desert in the Middle East to ski for the first time.

The whole experience was pretty ridiculous. This place is located in a mall!

Since I had never been skiing, I decided to take a lesson. Well, I actually had to because you need to have some experience to go on the recreational slope. In the meantime, Alex went snowboarding. He said he loved the experience. I wasn’t able to compare it to anything. Alex has been snowboarding several times and said that, if he lived in Dubai, he would come back often. The snow is real and not the crunchy, chemical stuff that they sometimes put on real ski slopes.

Check out my sexy ski suit:

Everyone rents this same style of suit. You are able to bring your own jacket and equipment if you choose. My lesson was for an hour, which was the perfect amount of time considering my short attention span.

So, in the middle of the Mall of the Emirates, I learned to ski. It was the perfect place to learn! It’s temperature controlled (always -1 celsius), the snow is great, and there’s padded walls that you can crash into!

Alex got to meet the Ski Dubai mascot:

There’s a cafe in Ski Dubai where we enjoyed a reeeaally good hot chocolate and sat in front of a fake fireplace.

Despite my inexperience, I had a pretty good time. Alex really loved it and can’t wait to go back.

Io non amo il freddo in generale. Quindi non amo fare la settimana bianca e non so sciare (Mea culpa!!).

Forse perchè sono nato al mare ed ho il mare dentro. Infatti Dubai ha un mare mozzafiato, meraviglioso e unico.

Però come si fa ad andare a Dubai e a non andare a sciare??

Tutti starete pensando che sono impazzito!! Ed invece no!!

La città di Dubai ci ha abituati ai progetti i più stravaganti in termini di architettura. Ski Dubai, il nome di questo nuovo progetto, è l’unica stazione coperta di sci in medioriente e la terza al mondo per grandezza.

Ski Dubai

Questa stazione di sci ultra moderna, dotata di una discesa di 400 metri di lungezza, offre agli appassionati, ai debuttanti e ai semplici curiosi l’occasione di fare l’esperienza della vera neve.

 Il tutto sotto dei pannelli di colore blu cielo per dare l’illusione di essere all’aria aperta. Tutto questo quando all’esterno la temperatura supera i 40 gradi.!

Su una superficie di 22500 metri quadrati, l’equivalente di tre campi di football, Ski Dubai utilizza 6000 tonnellate di vera neve per uno spessore di 50 centimetri.

Il sito può accogliere fino a 1500 persone nello stesso tempo; l’obiettivo è di attirare 500.000 visitatori l’anno. Trenta tonnellate di neve fresca sono prodotte ogni notte per rimettere la pista in ordine.

Anche le mitiche tenniste Sharapova e la Davenport ci sono state:

On a Dubai holiday winter sports enthusiasts can also ski and snowboard in the heart of the desert. At the Mall of the Emirates in the heart of Dubai is a 22,500 square metre indoor ski resort – Ski Dubai – where you can also enjoy tobogganing or simply playing in the snow. There are five ski runs, the longest being a black run 400 metres in length with a 60 metres drop, and in addition there’s a massive 90 metre quarter pipe for snowboarders to show off or perfect their skills. At Ski Dubai you can hire everything, so don’t worry about packing any skis, snowboards or ski suits as they are all available at the resort.

Ski Dubai

The revamped Dubai may be young but it is full of everything tourists want from a great vacation. The finest shops and restaurants line streets of Dubai and there are so many things to do that a week or two will not be enough to get to them all. Dubai has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Ride the Dunes

If you have ever taken a ride in a dune buggy, you have experienced a small taste of what is awaiting you in the desert of Dubai. When you get in an SUV driven by a specially trained desert driver, you are embarking on the experience of a lifetime. Dune bashing, or riding up and down the dunes at high speed for several hours and then ending the evening with dinner and dancing is the perfect way to combine adventure and romance. If dinner and music is not to your to your liking, you may continue to ride the dunes well into the evening. Dune bashing is a favorite attraction in Dubai.

Ski the Great Indoors

Who ever would have thought there would be skiing in Dubai? Who ever would have thought there would be skiing anywhere that is located inside a building? But there is and it is a fabulous experience. The Mall of Emirates contains one of the largest ski centers and rents out all the equipment you need. The temperature in the ski area is -4 degrees Celsius – enough to keep the snow from melting and the fun from ending. As if that were not enough, a new indoor ski center opens up this year — the Dubai Sunny Mountain Ski Dome in Dubailand.

From Snow to Sand – Dubai’s Beaches

If warm sand, water and beaches are more to your liking, Dubai offers unbelievable beaches. The water temperatures average 22 degrees Celsius in the winter and 35 in the summer. Be sure to use sunscreen when spending time on Dubai’s beautiful beaches. If diving is on your mind, Fujairah, Sharjah and Khor Fakkan are less than two hours away. Dive the coral reefs and spend time mingling with the marine life living off the coast of Dubai.

Cruise the Creek

Shipping once defined the very existence of Dubai. Ports that once served African, Indian and Middle Eastern trading ships are now viewable from a fascinating cruise down Dubai Creek. It is not just the ports that are interesting. The Dubai Creek Cruise will take you past numerous historical buildings that go back hundreds of years.

Sand Golfing

Don’t let a lack of green grass stop you from enjoying a round of golf. Dubai thumbs its nose at convention and offers tourists the chance to play golf in the sand. Other golf courses penalize for balls that land in the sand. Here, landing in sand is par for the course – so to speak.

Up, Up and Away in a Beautiful Balloon

Who hasn’t dreamed of taking a ride in a hot air balloon? A sunrise or sunset ride through the skies above the mountains and deserts of Dubai can be a dream come true. After a day of fun, experience beautiful Dubai from the skies. Via: Huzaili Aris

Hot Links: Dubai Hotels, Vacation Packages, International Flights to Dubai

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Dubai is one of the seven city-states that comprise the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the northern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, fronting the Persian Gulf. Dubai is building a name for itself when it comes to extravagant hotels just as it is for interesting and unusual architecture. You can stay in an underwater suite, swim with the dolphins and even dine at a Nobu.

Atlantis The Palm

The Atlantis The Palm, which opened in September 2008, is on the man-made island Palm Jumeirah.

My October 2008 trip to Dubai was in connection with Cefalon’s new office in Dubai. Cefalon is one of the fastest growing distributor of online company formations in world, and it’s now time to expand to the sands of Arabia. Several of the world’s leading companies have an office in Dubai; Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, Intel, IBM. We will base a range of Cefalon’s best salesstaff in our Dubai office, this is an exciting opportunity for individuals with considerable personal drive!

Michael Dell, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Dell called on the Dell Regional Office in Dubai Internet City in April 2008 during his first ever visit to the Middle East region. The visit in October was my first visit in this region! Dell, a Fortune 500 company set up a presence in the UAE 11 years ago. It has been operating from Dubai Internet City for the past seven years. Last year, Dell’s global revenues surged to billion, while profits rose to $ 3.4 billion.

Burj Dubai

Although, the sand there is quickly being replaced with skyscrapers, highways, shopping malls and golf courses. As a recent article in The Guardian reports, Dubai is the fastest-growing city in the world. The amount of development currently underway there is, in fact, nothing short of mind-boggling. Literally hundreds of high-rise buildings are currently under construction, including the Burj Dubai, which will be the tallest building in the world once it is completed. It is said that sixteen percent of the world’s supply of high-rise construction cranes is currently located in Dubai. Such a claim is hard to verify, but the Dubai skyline is nevertheless dotted with cranes.

Why the frenetic construction boom? Dubai’s prime location in the oil-wealthy Middle East, with America and Europe to the west and India, China and the Pacific Rim to the east, as well as its lack of corporate taxes, is expected to attract scores of businesses over the coming years, while its sunny climate is expected to attract tens of thousands of wealthy families from all parts of the world looking for vacation condos. Dubai real estate is obviously a hot commodity and housing prices are already so high that a sizable chunk of the city’s workforce resides in Sharjah, the neighboring emirate to the north, where housing costs are somewhat cheaper. Nevertheless, there is something vaguely unsettling about the surreal scale of construction currently underway in Dubai. Is this incredible frenzy of construction really justified? Can all this office, residential, hotel and retail space now under construction really be absorbed?

Generally speaking, Dubai is a safe, clean and prosperous city. Most people speak English and virtually all the signs are bilingual (Arabic and English) so getting around is not a problem. Dubai is building a two-line metro system, set to open early next decade.

Ski Dubai

Dubai is also very cosmopolitan. About eighty percent of Dubai’s population are expatriates from all over the globe; this creates a fascinating mix of peoples, cultures and cuisines. Indian, Thai, Pakistani, Filipino, Chinese and European restaurants are everywhere, as are stables of American culture such as Starbucks, Chili’s, Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds or Burger King. I visited the massive Ski Dubai indoor ski slope at the gleaming new Mall of the Emirates. I didn’t get to ski, though. Maybe next time.

The United Arab Emirates is officially Islamic. However, it is more liberal than other Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia. Other religions are freely allowed to practice and worship there. There are no religious police running around telling you what you can or can’t wear. Women can drive. Alcohol is readily available at hotels (the UAE is one of two Gulf countries that allow alcohol consumption; Bahrain is the other). Bikinis are the rule along Dubai beaches. Western movies are shown in theaters along with the latest Bollywood productions; American programming such as CNN and ESPN is readily available. However, the local press is careful to avoid any criticism of the government, and the state-owned telecommunications monopoly, Etisalat, actively censors the internet and blocks a lot of sites as being “inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.” The UAE is an absolute monarchy; there is no democracy and political freedoms are severely limited.

But maybe the strict control is what makes Dubai the safe, prosperous hyper-boomtown that it is today. The aforementioned Guardian article suggests that this is the “trade-off on which Dubai is relying. A booming market, with a consciously courteous social culture and a tight police system … deliver a better wage than would be available at home – all this in return for surrendering anything resembling a political right.”

Dubai International Airport is a new facility that serves as the hub for rapidly-growing Emirates Airlines (which I flew from London to Dubai) as well as several other airlines. We used the brand new, exclusive terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport. Terminal 3 is designed with the capability to handle 43 million passengers a year when fully operational.

All in all, it was an interesting experience and I looking forward to return to Dubai. If you’ve ever wanted to visit the Middle East, this is the place to start.