A Day at the ......

A day at the..... Tennis Match

How Dubai manages to attract so many sports names and events is beyond me, but usually in the "winter months" we get busy with days out at concerts, sports, races, exhibitions etc. This winter has been no exception. Wake Stock was probably the highlight for Aric and the boys, when they went to Abu Dhabi to see the world's top wake board performers do 360 tricks. I've managed to clear the wake without wiping out and now practising my "jumps" (think I got 3 inches above the wake last weekend)!!

It's fantastic when your friends give you tickets to the Tennis Finals and you expect to see Venus, Andrew Murray, Roger Federer - only when you finally get to the day of the playoffs, everyone famous has lost out and you have to watch people you don't know. We went with our colleague Vince and his wife Sarah, and ended up seeing some Serbian and Russian players....got rained out and never watched the final set. The highlight was the blowdrying and sweeping of the courts - and the Royal gazing, Sheikh Hamdan and his entourage in dish-dash sitting under a huge cover!

A day at the....Races and Sting

Five times the size of Ascot; huge hotel, lighting that can be seen from space and yet no betting! It was probably the most we have ever spent on race entry/concert ticket combo, at $275 each we expected the red carpet, a spot in front of the stage and decent food/drinks. Of course in Dubai, the more you pay, the further away from the stage you get to sit! Meydan race course has missed the trick. In a shape of a falcon, the giant structure somehow just doesn't impress.

Everyone got an arm-band coded according to ticket price paid, and pink didn't seem to get you in anywhere but the toilet...Aric and I wandered around and thought we could take in the over-the-top place. Can we see the hotel? "NO". Restaurants? "No, not unless you belong to the Dubai race club". Hmmnn, the winner's circle? "Are you kidding me, you infidels !- you cannot get close to the Sheikh's race horses!!" -- Can we see Sting? "Yas, from 1200 feet away, you may stand in the small sectioned off area but no lewd dancing or swaying of the hips!!"

Thank God for good friends....we did our own secret betting among the group and I won 35 dirhams when my stunning long-legged number 13 came in first - from behind the field in 750 meters he glided right up to the front. Amazing! That bought me a glass of red wine at the make shift kabab and hot dog stand we were allowed to walk to! To think I had to hussle my way to a drink! Sting came on after the last race, plus another hour of waiting, and the people who only paid 150 dirhams for their ticket ($70) got to stand right in front of the stage. Yes there is such logic to Dubai! On March 27th the race season closes with Elton John, Santana, lots of women in hats, and we have spoken to several people who say "no way, it's just a sterile corporate place built to impress....don't know who!"

A Day at..... Paulo

Our crazy Scottish friends, Fiona and Angus, had tickets for us well in advance. This concert was in Irish Village (the only place in Dubai who actually employs waiters from the country represented, i.e. Ireland in this case). Normally the place rocks with Guiness, big screen TVs and football games. As it is outside, the duck-pond is especially a serene sight while Irish drunks stumble around (no disrespect to any Irish reading this ;-). This particular evening, the organizers covered the pond and we stood on top of the boards. I do hope the ducks got out before they covered it. What a concert.....a third of the price and 50 feet from the stage, we had such a blast. The music was fantastic!