Ski Dubai

Some facts:

Ski Dubai has 5 runs that vary in difficulty, height and gradient, the longest run being 400 meters with a fall of over 60 meters. The inside temperature ranges from -1 to -2 degrees Celsius while the temperature outside ranges from 24 to 50 degrees Celsius annually. It costs approximately $75 for the whole day, or if you are just feeling tired of shopping, you can ski on an hourly rate of $25. There are many restaurants surrounding the slopes like from where this picture was taken.

But this is nothing compared to the Ski Dome. The word on the street is that it will be finished sometime towards the end of this year. Here is the quote from their website.

"A Unique Experience: The project consists of a dome - a steel structure - that will include a huge revolving ski slope, going through and around an artificial mountain range - created to emphasize the "Arctic Experience" effect. Two huge real-ice columns will mark the entrance to the dome. Within the dome, there will be all kind of Arctic experiences, ranging from Penguinarium, winter aquaria, snow castle, ice-rink, Arctic animals statues, 4-season aquaria, snowfall, sound and light effects, cold and warm bath spa and other facilities, an ice-bridge, a cable-lift, snow maze, ice-slide, polar bears, are some of the features that will be integrated into the development and attractions. It will also have a deluxe hotel, a shopping mall, restaurants, coffee shops and other retail outlets."



Friggin' crazy.

The Grinch has a Birthday Party

Oman

A few weeks ago we set out for Oman. There we would be snorkeling, scuba diving and swimming the Indian Ocean. Much of the trip was spent talking with the ex pat divers about their jobs and making new drinking buddies. I met a project manager for the Dubailand project, and was told he needed several MBAs come the summer of 2009. While Dubailand is something like 2 billion square feet (apparently bigger than Singapore), the real vision of this monstrous undertaking is a vast wasteland. It just seems unattainable. Getting off track a bit....

As we were about to drive across the border from the UAE to the city of Dibba, Oman, we stopped over at a petrol station. There, our Dean asked the girls with me to get into his car for safer travel across. As it turns out, Oman border patrol would have likely arrested me under the suspicion of trying to prostitute a Ukrainian, two Colombians and a Brit. Sweet.

Once you have entered Oman, it looks just like what I have always pictured Afghanistan would look like. Rugged, even jagged, rocky terrain, that seems to have no end. That is, until we reached the port. Unrelated to that visual, the picture above is from the dive boat at about 6:30AM. It is a much nicer image than the 'Omanistan' pictures I have.


Here we have Claudia and Sandra from Colombia, with their respective dive partners for the afternoon. I thought I would attach this picture because of how goofy they look. Hah!

And here is one more awesome picture.

First Dance Party

The first time we got together to have a dance party was the evening of Nuno's birthday (pictured here, from Portugal). While his face may not be completely representative of his personality, it was certainly meant to display his intentions of the evening ;) There are many people in the group that have a certain Latin experience or heritage to share. Colombia, Venezuela, etc. Being around this group as often as I am has made me further realize how much I miss Argentina. Spanish culture is always a party, as later pictures and posts will help to demonstrate.

Umbrella feat. Kurtis, Guarav, and Tisch

Learning the shoulder shake

Nuno's Birthday

Sunny and Nuno