Burj Khalifa - awesome

[Starmummy]

I know there is a lot of Dubai bashing at the moment and no doubt much, but def not all, is deserved. But I must just say the opening ceremony of the newly renamed Burj Dubai was amazing.

The tallest building in the world is stunning and I would just like to say for once I am really proud to have been part of this.The idea was started in 2004 and is now a reality and open to visotrs allbeit not yet to resisents.

Awesome take a look on YouTube.

Wow, has it really been renamed?

I was there in 2004 and it's so hard to believe that from the laying of the foundation stone back then it is now open to visitors.

Yep, renamed during the opening ceremony last night. Big shocker to see it then.Shk Mo looked a tad strained. Not a shock of course that some visible evidence of repayment to Abu Dhabi needed to be publicly made. After Dubai being bailed out by them to the tune of US$10bn.

Sorry for spellings in the orginal and to clarify by residents, I mean of the building not Dubai. I think I was over excited this morning ;-)

dh's aunt lives next door, was hoping ot go up at the opening - has been waiting for the tower to open for years but the complex itself is far from completed.

LIZS - correct me if I am wrong, but in 2004 when I went to the site, there was nothing apart from some pre-fab buildings with show apartments and show shops for the Mall of Dubai.

Hasn't the Mall been open for a while now, and isn't there a big hotel complex with shops etc behind the Burj that has been open for a couple of years? 2004 is only 6 years ago, it seems to have gone up very quickly.

Starmummy - do you know anything about the opening of the Meydan complex, due at the end of the month?

dh is there at the moment and says the opening was quite a show.

I may be an old misery but I just can't get excited about yet another luxury building. never mind me.

I'm not involved in this Dubai bashing generally though starmummy. What's that about?

They must have moved in about 3 years ago, pils visited them 2 years ago after they had moved in . I believe the Mall is open and the roads, landscaping etc but think other leisure facilities had been intended but all resources went into completing the tower.

hello starmummy i was stuck in my last ante natal class and missed the opening the class was meant to finish oon time but everyone was stuck in traffic so was late for the class....cant beleive i was only a mile or so from the whole thing and missed it all!

"2004 is only 6 years ago, it seems to have gone up very quickly."

It's amazing what can happen when you have basically slave labour.....

Yes they did use labour from the sub-continent, upto 12,000 labourers to be precise. However the vast majority, and never anywhere is there 100% agreement were happy with the wages paid. Many now have land and homes in their villages. Of course it isnt a salary we would ever be happy to accept BUT the point is in their countries they are now well off people. After all expats comprise the vast majority of the workforce in DXB and we are all here for the money, and yes for some of us the life style. A bit of sun sure opges along way to making the day seem more pleasant.

Nothing in the Burj is open yet, although from today it is possible to take the double story 42 person elevator to the 124th floor. Dubai Mall, the largest in the world, has been open since last year. The fountains, again the largest in the world (although IMHO the ones at the Bellagio Las Vegas are superior) have been open since the summer.

Meydan, the new project to replace Nad Al Sheba where the Dubai World Cup horse racing was held is due to open for racing BUT it is in no way complete.

Dubai bashing is the old fur coat no knickers syndrome. Yes they do use slave labour (see point above), yes they do jail people for 0.04gms of weed, its breaking the law, clearly stated NO DRUGS. Yes they do treat expats of all nationalities including western badly if they feel like. Its a problem, Dubai was dragged or has dragged itself into the 21st century in the last 30 years and yes it has cocked it up numerous times on a phenomenal scale. They wanted to be the financial centre of the Middle East, a great vision and ambition however it does require a modicum of financial expertise and transparency which have been proven to be lacking, hence the need for a $US10 billion bailout from Abu Dhabi.

some of the apartment blocks in the Downtoen complex have been completed in the last 18 months but landscaping and the whole area need to be compeleted, but again in MHO this isnt about that but the realisation of an awesome vision rising from the desert in less than 10 years when the rest of the world would still eb scratching its head. For me its not the excitement of another luxury building but the tallest buidling in
the world by almost 200m.

Hiya Starmummy. Sounds exciting. Hoping to get over to Dubai soon as I am sick of Bahrain at the minute. You know how it goes in fits and starts - loved it in June, hate it at the moment.

Come on over, Air Arabia is really cheap. You can stay with us ;-) get a few drinks, bit of shopping, must say the sales are pants at the mo so wouldnt really plan on buying anything.

I know exactly what you mean about fits and starts, we are just back from Christmas in Thailand, and its not feeling so great, all boring, overspent etc.

PS DS loves House ;-) not sure he would go so far as to say he loves Gregory House tee hee.

of course it sways. the all sway. they have to. it is all part of physics.

Yep apparantly upto 1.5m at the top. OMG Not sure I'm fancying that.

IloveGH think yourself lucky, Bahrain is 100% better than where I live across the causeway

love dxb, was at The Address late last year, watched the Burj tower with fascination.

So wanna move to the Middle East but looks like disabled ds is going to be a big sticking point sadly

MABS I take it the schools will be a problem (on checking with Dubai ones SN are not really allowed catered for in mainstream schools.)

Will be in Dubai next year (MIL is hanging on for life (literally) and we haven't the heart to tell her while she's still fighting)

mumoverseas very true. You're in Riyadh aren't you? Not easy to get over the causeway from there.

IloveGH yes, sadly although in the UK at the moment, due to fly back tomorrow depending on LGW!
We used to drive up a lot, used to be around 4 hours from our compound to the Seef Mall but now it really depends on the causeway. Sometimes it can be a couple of hours just on there. Was thinking of starting to hint to DH about us going up there for the Bahrain GP this year but it was madness last year.
Also, the prices of hotels has shot up, pretty much doubled in the last year for some bizarre reason. The Ritz Carlton is now only affordable to lottery winners

wordsonascreen, as it happened , the couple of Heads i spoke to last week in auh were quite receptive as ds' needs are purely physical. However, this week it now looks like he needs major surgery towards end of this yr in london, so everything on hold i reckon. we will know more after meet at hospital 27 Jan, we'll see... am pretty pissed off.

Very difficult with your poor MIL, must be very hard for you all,so sorry.

MABS - I hope your ds is ok - how long will his recovery from surgery take?

and words - I'm sorry to hear about your mil

he will be 8 weeks in london hosp,4/5 month recovery,its a biggie

It's gross.A testament to vanity and greed.

And as for your point about the slaves who built it being happy with the wages they received, what a pile of shit.

What is your source fro your information?
A MORI poll?

matter of opinion totally

MABS, so sorry to read about DS's forthcoming surgery, I hope everything goes ok. I will be back in the UK the whole of July and August so if it is around then I will be on hand if you need anything.

moondog, how do you KNOW the 'slaves' are not happy with what their wages.
Where I live there are a lot of 'foreign' workers, ie from India, Bangladesh, Philipines etc. I was appalled when I found out what they earned, to me it is a pitance but some of them who have been there for years are actually relatively wealthy when they go home. They do have a hard life when they are there working but send most of their wages home to provide for their families and are set up for life when they go home.
Obviously, I don't know any information about the workers wages, conditions etc who built the buildings, roads etc in Dubai but just wanted to illustrate that not all foreign workers are slaves.