Dubai and my boys.

On my way from Zurich to Dubai via Doha on Qatar Airlines.Left Zurich 4pm and flew via Dohar to Dubai where I arrived at 03.20 and found Russell Bird waiting for me with a coffee for him and a tea for me. Went to his apartment and chatted through till 07.30. Had Bacon and Eggs for breakfast. No sleep!

The aquarium in the Great Mall near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Gives a sense of scale. Everything here is BIIIIG! I met up with Spokus Maximus after Russell Bird dropped me off on his way to work on my first morning.

Feeding the fish by hand.

Waterfall fountain in the Mall of over 2500 stores.

On the Hop-on Hop-off bus around Dubai. 6 hour trip 11.00 till 17.00. The 'Wave' and 'Sail' hotels on the shoreline.

White beaches and turquoise water of the gulf.

Twin copies of the NYC Chrysler building!

Heading towards the Palm Island. Metro train line on the left. It has no drivers and it is wierd sitting in front with no driver there.

Sol's Dubai Atlantis at the entrance to Palm Island. Impressive, but ostentatious.

Skyline of the '2nd' city.

Inside Dubai Mall which is the '2nd' Mall and is huge.

The bottom of the biggest indoor snow slope in the world. What you see here is a quarter of the slope which goes on up and away to the top left.

Ski slope entrance.

One of the many 6 lane highways into the city.

Just visible above the Metro line is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world and totally overwhelming when you stand directly below it.

Another view of the Burj Khalifa.

Structures and construction. Still nearly 1/4 of the worlds cranes are in Dubai. The amount of construction is just mind blowing.

Into Downtown and passing the lake.

More of the Northern part of the city. Buildings, buildings, buildings and each with the purpose of outshining the next in architectural 'style'.

One of the many very elaborate gates in the Emirati neighbourhood where John Sillifant lives.

Part of the Souk in the old town, now covered with an elaborate roof.

I would have loved to have brought a sample of each home for my brother Michael. The wonderful aromas of all these spices is something you will not forget apart from the amazing colours.

A little bit of Gold in one of the shops and it is worth a fortune. Most of this is 22 carat.

SACSies at Grant Jewell's home (top left back). I think the youngest was Deen Joseph (top right) Russell Bird and Pete Stringer missing in this shot.

Bougainvillias thrive in this hot and dusty climate. They are also planted on the slopes around bridges on the highways and in hotel and golf course gardens for a magnificent show.

Closest I got to a wild camel thanks to John.

At the Barracuda Liquor store. look at the prices. R3 equals 1 Durham. So will you pay nearly R150 000 for a bottle! Totally insane.

And this little gift pack at nearly R70 000 id a snitch.

At last, I see the desert with no buildings or abandoned construction which is all over and a reminder of the crash of 2008.

In not many places to you find that they paint murals on the bridges. It worls.

John's wife, Pauline, owns this magnificent riding horse. I love the colour.

A little OTT I think? An Emirati home.

Front door to John and Pauline's home. The double doors are molded solid aluminium and weigh a ton.

Another little Emirati home near John's place.

Not so clear in the photograph, but the walls have moldings all over them. Ostentatious.

Went a round of golf with John on his Home course.

The Club House designed from the arc of a golf swing. OTT as well.

John laying into one.

'Jump' with Daniel Stringer about to pot one.

Not quite in focus, but Daniel up there again.

The 'Big Room'. Each black square is a trampoline. We need a 'Jump' or 'Bounce' in Greenpoint and another at KC I think and maybe at Blue Route too. Great exercise for the kids and some adults too. Mom's have a special morning here in Dubai.

A part of the wall at 'Jump'. Some good some corny.

Musical fountain at Burj Khalifa outside the Dubai Mall. Very impressive when the water goes nearly 80m high on some notes.

The Stringer family who treated me royally for the whol;e time I spent with them. They were incredible.

Looking up the Burj. Too big to fit in, but oh so impressive. The lights are tuned in with the music as well.

The address in Dubai downtown. Cannot recall the name, but it must be very impressive to live up there and watch the fountain display at night. The dosplay is about 300m long.

Another view of the musical fountain at full chat with Vangellis playing.

Another view of the musical fountains. It is so massively impressive.

One of the few Mosques open to the general public who may not be Muslim. Very impressive.

We were enthralled by a wonderful morning of lessons and lectures by this 'semi-retired' (his own words) businessman volunteer. He gave so much insight into the culture of the Emerati people and of how the Mosque functions. It was most enlightening. He did not shirk answering any questions no matter how sensitive or probing they were. 'Open minds' is the basic motto of the city as there are only about a 1/4 of the city or less that are Emerati. The rest are internationals from accross the globe and they need to live together, therefore understand the local culture.
Dubai is so impressive, but I get the feeling, as I did in the USA this time around, that it is pure capitalism and living in a bubble and on borrowed time. I have no idea how this massive expansion and the USA's massive debt can continue ad infinitum. If you want to earn a lot of money quickly, work here.
The SACS boys say I should come and twach in one of the hundreds of new private schools going up. There are a number of South African teachers here including a couple of SACS OB's too.
To Russell, John, Pete and Lawrence and families, a massive thanks for all they did for me and also to Damian (Spockus) for helping me with my phone and getting me back to Russ' apartment and Grant for the wonderful OBU braai. Every one of them has just been amazing and generous and helpful and just magic friends here.
Well, whatever, the journey, this magical journey, continues.