Friday, August 16, 2013

History where there is none

The Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai first opened in the late 90's on what was then a largely empty Sheikh Zayed Road, then some 30 km out of Dubai, headed toward Abu Dhabi.  It was nearly across from the Emirates Golf Club, which at that time was surrounded by a whole lotta desert.  A few kilometers away sat a handful of lonely beach resorts,  easily missed if you were driving on the main road.  It's only maybe 15-16 years ago,  but at that time Dubai was seemingly in another century.  Hardly anybody from the US (and none of my family or friends) knew where it was or could even pronounce it.


It was a strange site for any kind of pop culture tourist attraction,  consisting of a miniature Empire State Building (maybe 50 m high if that) with a Hard Rock globe spinning around on top,  with the two iconic guitars in front.  Parking was on the sand lot next to the building, taxis parked on the paved service road in front, a disco (Amnesia) was its neighbor in the same fake skyscraper.  Behind it was a low slung building called the Dubai Park Hotel which was said to house Jebel Ali workers,  and whose existence allowed the building of a renowned restaurant and bar serving alcohol on its property, in the middle of nowhere, in an officially Muslim country.

Today, the site of the original HRC sits behind a billboard, empty, surrounding by 100-story buildings and 16-lane highways on the north end of Dubai Marina,  in the midst of a local community within a 2 mile radius which went from population zero to well over 150,000.  The HRC was closed in 2008 after 10 years of being an expat hub and the first place I drove to in Dubai by myself on a weekend day.  It was 2 pm, the place was quiet but open.  It was 2001, on my first trip to Dubai,  the first of some 4 dozen trips made to the UAE on business over the following decade, eventually culminating in my move here in 2012.  My only regret was not buying the HRC-Dubai "Save the Planet"spare tire cover in the gift shop which sold for $50, and fit on the outside spare tire of the SUV I didn't own yet but would have bought just to show it off.  I always enjoyed telling people I had reached the end of the world, and there was a Hard Rock Cafe there.

On subsequent trips, I would drive down a two lane Al Sufouh Road at twilight, and encounter a row of hotels on the Gulf that stood by themselves in the middle of nowhere,  although in reality not far from HRC.  They felt like the end of the world too, especially the Hilton and Sheraton.  Those hotels, now surrounded by the gross overdevelopment of Jumeirah Beach Residence and the construction of malls ON the beach,  also look like relics from another century (which in reality, they are).  The infamous Barasti beach bar, hidden away in Mina Seyahi, was there too, but substantially less crowded.  I recall never getting served there when I was by myself.  They apparently were really particular on who they let in, and couples and cliquey groups congregated just like today, but much less so.

My subsequent visits with colleagues to the HRC at night saw a place that was busy every night,  the chipper live band covering 90's and 00's pop hits and singing Happy Birthday to the little British and Aussie kids who were the core of HRC's customers, along with families, groups of singles and workers from the then infant Media City and Internet City developments.  In 2004,  it was even rumored Bill Clinton stopped by after a speech at American University of Dubai, but it is possible there was no one sober enough that night to confirm it.

Dubai is not known for reminiscing or honoring its history outside the well-worn areas near Dubai Creek which are rarely promoted anymore (but were the core of Dubai until circa 2001 or so).  But HRC along with the long gone Cyclone club (the "UN of prostitution" which closed in 2007 to make way for Healthcare City) were for many visitors (maybe not families in the case of Cyclone) the highlights of a Dubai trip.

The original Hard Rock closed in 2008 to make way for a Marina/Media City development which of course never happened in light of the real estate apocalypse which nearly vacated many areas of the new Dubai for a few years.  A Hard Rock Hotel was proposed in the crazy development era but never built,  but eventually the HRC we know today in Festival City  (ironically much closer to Old Dubai) was built and opened in 2011.  It is larger, glitzier, and while there are no guitars in front (perhaps the only HRC in the world without guitars in front!),  the building looks like God's own drum kit.  My wife's expat organization had a party upstairs in the VIP area earlier this year, and I can't really complain about the place.  The band is very similar-sounding to the band of 10 years ago,  and actually plays most of the same songs, even the crappy 90's-00's pop tunes.  But there is no connection to the old HRC,  no pictures on the walls, no evidence of the place in the middle of the desert, the unlikeliest location for a tourist and expat haunt,  the last stop before the oblivion (or Abu Dhabi).

The place sat empty while skyscrapers popped up surrounding it (of course nothing was ever built on the HRC site). Finally,  it was totalled in spring of 2013, a piece of history in a place not known for its history.

Just before demolition, 2012.

The guitars were destroyed too.

The new one (kind of a half-assed drum kit, no guitars)







Thursday, August 8, 2013

The US and Dubai

I've been living in Dubai Marina for a year now,  on the Marina waterway and 2 blocks from the beach (the part that is not being built on).  I like living here better than working here, which has been the biggest surprise for me.  Actually I work in Abu Dhabi,  which is probably like the Dubai of 20 years ago except it is relentlessly boring, unlike Dubai,  which has always had designs of fame and fortune long before the palm-shaped islands and the glam British and Russian gals flocked here to hurl themselves at the indigenous population.  (The hookers have always been here, but many gals who seek to be WAG's of the rich and famous are basically doing the same thing, just more legit.)  The commute to AD is tolerable from Dubai Marina so long as you don't encounter accidents, which can cause anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of delay every week or two.  

The government clients here generally consist of Emirati managers (some barely out of college) and either western or western-trained middle managers or Indian / Pakistani staff who have some technical skills,  and consultants like myself who basically do all the work in exchange for low-bid prices and getting sh*tted on periodically by the Emiratis or those others who think they have the Emirati-granted wasta to do it.  There are some exceptions,  but as the Emirati moves up in the food chain, something definitely happens to their personalities and egos.  Those that remain calm and decent will get ramrodded by those who are trying to climb the ladder and impress the sheikhs at the top.  Enough venting for now,  I have too much work to do over Eid weekend, and my wife doesn't get back till next week.  No,  I haven't brought back any hookers to the apartment,  the guards and staff all know me and my wife and there are cameras everywhere in my apartment building.

I went back to the States in July for a month - got to bring the Porsche out of storage and enjoy it as well as some of my old Porsche Club friends.  I lived in the DC area (my wife is from New England),  and really, Dubai is really on a different planet compared to the non-NY areas of the East Coast.  I would never accuse the Washington area of being laid back,  but compared to Dubai,  seeing trees and 2 lane roads and quiet neighborhoods (even if some of the houses are ratty) and even a freeway with only 3 lanes in each direction makes the US look like some Normal Rockwell painting compared to the Brave New World of Dubai.  And New England,  especially Connecticut, with hills and lakes and Sunday lobster bakes, family get togethers, minor league baseball games, hot dogs and the smaller restaurants and bars?  Well, everything seems to be on half speed (and less) compared to Dubai.  

And then there was the rain.  Every. Single.  Day.  It was hot and humid,  not quite like Dubai,  but we always had to squeeze time in to enjoy things outside before the rain hit.  Luckily,  our Sundays were nice.

I'm not sure what has hit the US,  but I think Obama has lost control of the US rudder.  (1) He can't come up with an appropriate solution to the Snowdon revelations (why can't the guy stand a fair trial in the states instead of staying in......RUSSIA, that bastion of liberty and freedom??????)   (2)  He seems to be content in inflaming long dormant (especially those over 40) racist passions after the Zimmerman show trial, perhaps because he has long lost the support of the average US citizen.  (3) Obamacare has turned into this overly complex thing which no one can figure out.  They would have been better off just moving to a complete national health care system a la Britain or Canada....or just leaving well enough alone.  (4)  Everyone seems pleased with letting the political discourse in the US deteriorate to PeeWee Herman ("I know you are but what am I?") and Sam Kinison levels.  When my friend says she now trusts Fox News more than CNN or newspapers to actually report news, what does that say about American society? 

The beauty of being in Dubai is that, while the news reporting locally is practically all fawning Sheikh-loving press releases, (except when it comes to reporting about those miscreant expats kissing in the streets or being involved in car accidents),  the cable/satellite channels provide literally all but the Israeli news channels.  CNN, Fox, MSNBC, BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, SkyNews, plus all other Arab, Indian and Filipino news channels are here, and you can see Meet the Press, Stephanopolos, Face the Nation, and all three US nightly news casts at some time or another (usually middle of the night).  So you can choose who you want to believe, and at least networks like BBC still pride themselves on reporting the news and keeping opinion shows to just that, not making it 24 hours of bleached-blonde (male and female) talking heads.

Well no one in the US wants to hire American-born medical assistants now, which keeps my wife out of the job market in the states, so she is here in Dubai with me (as is our little Beagle, affectionately known as Shithead), where she can't really work either.  See here,  masses of young women are flown in from the Philippines and plopped into ant-farm housing to work as medical assistants 200 hours in exchange for just enough money to send home and the rest to enjoy a weekly dinner at KFC.  The good news is she has met some like-minded Americans and Brits, so thanks to all the frequent expat-woman coffees all over the Marina,   she has an active social life. Enough happy hours and dinners abound so that the husbands get  pulled in and they have a half-plugged-in social life as well.

Just a view of things for now.  I should continue trying this blogging thing   I've gotten bored with ExpatForum,  and Facebook with old friends and grade school classmates just seems to be the same thing over and over again.  I have increasingly been following guys like RooshV on Facebook lately as well as his blog.  I'm not quite sure why - he is a blogger from the manosphere (a serial skirt chaser, usually of young Eastern European girls) and I'm married.  I'm going to have to explore that. 

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Trying this blogger thing for the first time live from Dubai.