French Spiderman Climbs Burj Khalifa

So Alain Robert aka The French Spider Man decided one day to climb Burj Khalifa, and he did.

Dubai Government Statement on Restructuring Aid

We interrupt our regular blogging to bring you this announcement regarding Dubai:

STATEMENT FROM HH SHEIKH AHMAD BIN SAEED AL MAKTOUM, 

Chairman Of The Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee

Dubai - 14 December 2009: The Government of Dubai, acting through the Supreme Fiscal Committee ("SFC"), today announces a set of actions in relation to Dubai World:

HH Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee said:

"Like other global financial centers, Dubai has faced recent market challenges driven by the global economic slowdown and a severe real estate market correction.

"Recently, Dubai World announced that it might not be able to commercially support its obligations. Since that time, the Government of Dubai has worked closely with the Abu Dhabi Government and the UAE Central Bank in addressing and assessing the impact of Dubai World on the UAE economy, banking system and investor confidence.

"The following provides a comprehensive set of actions:

"First, the Government of Abu Dhabi and the UAE Central Bank have agreed to provide important support.

"Specifically, the Government of Abu Dhabi has agreed to fund $10 billion to the Dubai Financial Support Fund that will be used to satisfy a series of upcoming obligations on Dubai World.

"As a first action for the new fund, the Government of Dubai has authorized $4.1 billion to be used to pay the sukuk obligations that are due today.

"The remaining funds would also provide for interest expenses and company working capital through April 30, 2010 - conditioned on the company being successful in negotiating a standstill as previously announced.

"In addition, the Government of Dubai is particularly focused on addressing the concerns of Dubai World trade creditors within the Emirate of Dubai. To help address these concerns, today the Government of Dubai is announcing that the remainder of the funds provided will be used for the satisfaction of obligations to existing trade creditors and contractors. Discussions with affected contractors will begin in short order.

"Next, the Central Bank is also prepared to provide support to local UAE banks.

"Finally, today the Government of Dubai will announce a comprehensive reorganization law, a framework that is based upon internationally accepted standards for transparency and creditor protection. This law will be available should Dubai World and its subsidiaries be unable to achieve an acceptable restructuring of its remaining obligations.

"Today's actions, taken together, demonstrate our strong commitment as a global financial leader to transparency, good governance, and market principles. There will certainly be challenges periodically, just as there are challenges in other major financial centers around the globe. We believe today's actions will best serve the interests of all stakeholders.

"We are here today to reassure investors, financial and trade creditors, employees, and our citizens that our government will act at all times in accordance with market principles and internationally accepted business practices. Dubai is, and will continue to be, a strong and vibrant global financial center. Our best days are yet to come.

"The Government of Dubai remains committed to its high standards and its obligations. We are confident in our economic model, and we are confident in the long-term health and outlook for our economy.

"The actions taken today are consistent with our market development, and we believe they are the actions that will best serve the interests of all stakeholders."

Du's Blocked Page

Here is Du's blocked page. Almost makes you happy that you got blocked. Almost, especially if the banned site is flickr.

BREAKING - Building in Deira, Dubai Collapses

According to twitter user @malizomg, a building in Deira collapse. THe building was in final stages of completion and there where workers still inside. The fallen debris has crushed some cars parked around the building. The police are cordonning the area and not allowing photos to be taken.

Here are some pcitures taking by @mailzomg







More from Khaleej Times.

What does Google think of your city?

Google has a variant of its search engine, that gives suggestion after you type a few words listing out the most popular search terms. You can find it as Google Suggest.

I tried, just for fun, a few cities and see what people where looking for in these cities. Here are a few results.

Starting with Kuwait:



Five air travel related sites, seems like a lot of people want to leave and / or come to Kuwait.



Riyadh has a lot of people looking for the latest news followed by banks and commerce.



Dubai is really becoming a second home with people looking up properties and holidays there.



Baghdad is not very appealing with Baghdad burning one of the top searches, with green zone and curfew coming close.



Paris, well known as the City of Love, has got paris je t'aime as one of the most popular searches. Other results include museums and Paris by night.



San Francisco with silicon valley right next door, has its state university listed, and the public library also. Lots of smart people there.

Here are a few other search results, or try your own on Google Suggest to see what google thinks.

Dubai on Fire

(click on picture to enlarge)


This morning a warehouse in Dubai storing illegal fireworks caught fire causing a massive fire.

Video here:



Article here

Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai, 160 floors completed so far.

Slow Internet in Kuwait - Saudi Arabia saves the day

all of you in Kuwait are probably experiencing extremely slow Internet, I know I am.

Well the reason is two submarine fiber cables being cut, one off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt and the other off the coast of Dubai, UAE. The company owning these fiber cables is FLAG Telecom. Flag Telecom has an update from FLAG Telecom in PDF or you can read it here:

Update on Submarine Cable Cut - Daily Bulletin @ 0900 GMT February 1 2008
Bulletin will be updated Daily with Progress.

Cut # 1:
− FLAG Europe-Asia cable was cut at 0800 hrs GMT on January 30 2008.
− Location of cut is at 8.3 kms from Alexandria, Egypt on segment between Egypt and Italy.
− FLAG has restored circuits of customers who are covered under Pre-planned Restoration service.
− FLAG is implementing restoration on alternative route for customers who have requested Ad hoc Restoration service.
− The Repair ship is expected arrive at the site by February 5 2008. The Repair work will be completed within a week thereof.

Cut # 2:
− FALCON cable is reported cut at 0559 hrs GMT on February 1 2008.
− Location of cut is at 56 kms from Dubai, UAE on segment between UAE and Oman.
− FLAG is arranging Restoration of circuits for customers covered under Pre-planned Restoration service.
− Customers have been advised to contact their respective Account Managers for Ad hoc Restoration service.
− The Repair ship has been notified and expected to arrive at the site in next few days.

Here is the part of the FLAG fiber network:



Right now, KEMS (my ISP) is being routed through Saudi Arabia by Sattelite.

View from Burj Dubai

Burj Dubai, due to be completed in late 2008, will be the world's tallest building.

Here is a graphics of Burj Dubai





Here is a real view from Burj Dubai itself, you can clearly see Sheikh Zayed road right under.




Click on the picture to see a bigger version.

Girls just want to have fun

and watch football.

20% Salary Increase for Everyone Announced

Read it here.

One little detail, you need to be working in Dubai.

Coffee Shop Incident

I was sitting at a Coffee shop in Dubai and asked the Filipino waitress if she had honey to sweeten the cafe latte that I was ordering. She replied, "We have playboy only" I paused, trying to comprehend, "What?", I asked. "We have playboy", she repeated. "Excuse me? What do you mean?", I asked again. "we have playboy, we have caramel, banila, chokooloot playboy". "Ok, thank you, no playboy for me" I answered.

Back

I just returned from the vacations and would like to wish everyone a belated happy Eid / New Year / Christmas / Year of the Dog / Saddam Hanging / etc. vacations.

I know I have been away but I am back now with some pictures. I went to Dubai for the week long holiday and did a little exploring over there. I will not go on about how fast Dubai is growing and the magnificient generic landmarks like the Emirates Towers.



Instead here are a few pictures of cool stuff I found in Dubai. I found cans of Spam stocked on a supermarket shelf. I wanted to take those cans and trash them because I hate spam in my email inbox but managed to control myself :-)



Something more exciting is an actual size replica of the Predator character made out of little gears, tractor chains and metal bits and pieces.



While walking around the smaller streets of Dubai I came across a Wimpy Hamburger place. Wimpy in the late 70s was in every Cooperative Society in Kuwait, then other hamburger and fast food places took over and Wimpy disappeared.



I ordered a Wimpy Cheeseburger meal and sat outside to eat it.



As I was about to bite into my hamburger, a street cat walked under my feet, spit out the cigarette it was smoking and gave me a menacing look.





So I shooed the cat away and enjoyed my rare meal.

I went to the Emirates Mall where they have a ski slope built inside the mall. It was cool, but what was cooler was when I ordered from a sandwich shop called Toast and they gave me an electronic beeper that beeped when the order was ready.



On my return to Kuwait, I found out that the monitors where all blank down at the luggage carousel.



No one knew which bag came from which flight.





So, just in case they still did not fix it and you are due to arrive in Kuwait in the near future, the trick is to go to each of the carousels and read the luggage tag which shows the flight it came from. If you find your flight, stand near that track and wait for your bag.

Kuwait - Among the First

Different lists are floating around about Kuwait's transparency, UN New York Traffic violations, low productivity, etc. Not things we are very proud of. Well here is a little item that we can all be very proud of for our small country.

I was looking around Wikepedia and found that we are among the few countries that have fiber to the home. This list includes 8 European countries, The United States, Australia and New Zealand. In the Middle East, only Kuwait and Dubai Internet City (DIC) are included, and the DIC is only a plot of land and office complex and not really a city.

So walk tall and be proud, there are some good things here that are not very well advertised.

The Wikepedia article is here.

Dubai's Emir Dies in Australia

Dubai’s Emir Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum has died in Australia.

Sheikh Maktoum was also the vice-president and prime minister and of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven Gulf states. Forty days of mourning have been declared, and government offices will be closed for seven days starting Wednesday.

"The UAE has today lost a historical leader who dedicated his life to building the nation and doing good for its people," said a statement from the UAE's presidency.

The funeral of Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum will take place on Thursday morning at the Umm Hurair cemetery after his body arrives back in Dubai from Australia.

Sheikh Maktoum maintained a low profile, preferring to allow his younger brothers to run the daily affairs of Dubai. His brother Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum is expected to succeed him as ruler of the emirate.

Internationally, Sheikh Maktoum was known as co-owner of Dubai's Godolphin stables, which competes in major horse races.



My Sincerest Condolences to our Emirati brothers and all the Gulf People on this sad day.

After the Kuwait Fog, Now Dubai

After Kuwait's episode with fog followed by rain, it seems that the fog has moved down to Dubai, here are some really beautful pictures of the fog in Dubai blanketting the well known landmark buildings there.

Winter is here

Winter is here. The weather is getting cooler in Kuwait and around the Gulf. Get ready to get your heaters out, turn off your air conditioners and get your winter woollies out.

Now is the time to play in the snow, make snowballs, ski, but wait a minute! It never snowed in the Gulf, we did have some nasty hailstones but no real snow. Well now we do. You can find snow laden slopes at the Mall of the Emirates. The Mall of the Emirates is the largest shopping center outside North America. The Mall of the Emirates is located on Shaikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Here are some real live pictures.