Monday Mural: Arabian Gazelle

This wall decorated for EXPO 2020 with different figures which represent UAE in different aspects.

Here we can see Arabian Gazelle.

Posted for Monday Mural.

falcon show

Safari at Dubai. It is kind a "must to do" here, if you visit Dubai. The programme designed for tourists but it is always fun for residents as well. I do not remember how many times I attended these tours with different reasons and different visitors. I was quite sure about the programme and what to see on last Thursday. This time there was a surprise also for me; falcon show. It was new in the programme, at least not in this way.

first they start to give a brief about falcons and their relationships with owners and the importance for the desert life. then there was a show about how falcon can catch fast moving animals. here in our case, their meal.

Falcons are the fastest creature on the earth. They can reach 320 km/h. they have great vision ability and they hunt. they can only eat 10 - 20 % of their body weight so the owner will get the leftover of hunted animals. That's why falcons are very important for life at dessert. They do not have any emotional connection with owners unlike cat / dog or any other animals. They are more like a fish, as long as you feed them, they will accept you otherwise you are not important for them.
Falcons are very important figure not only in this region also all around the world. You can see the falcon figure on many flags or on banknotes or logos.

weekend reflection: festival city

a shot from Festival City Dubai
you can see a boat, sea and palm tree from the reflection on the building.

posted for Weekend Reflection.

for sale

Another post from Al Satwa.
This shop is selling fabrics but second hand sewing machine as well.
200 Dhs is equal approximately 54 USD

Al Satwa

One of the most visited and interesting area of Dubai; Al Satwa.
Al Satwa is located south west of Bur Dubai and just parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road. There are plenty of shops and cafes which are offering different things for different needs.

You can buy plants for your garden or jewellery for your partner or paint for your house or tire for your car or frame for your favourite art piece or furniture. If you want to built/repair something you can find all necessary tools or you can buy second hand sewing machine or fabric for your wedding dress, ect. If you need anything, just go to Satwa, for sure you will find it, plus it will be much cheaper than fancy shopping malls.

With this variety, Al Satwa deserves "the most interesting place to visit in Dubai" title. At first glance you can not expect that. Here you can see one narrow street, workers at laundry in a short break.
The view from the street looks like contradicting with the image of Dubai but if you are living here, it is just Dubai.

K for Kite

K for Kite,
Post from last year. Unfortunately I do not remember the artist / piece name which was exhibited at Art Dubai 2013.
for me the name would be Kite & freedom

Posted for ABC Wednesday

Miracle Garden

another post from Dubai Miracle Garden. 
It is worthy to visit before summer arrives here.

Monday Mural - Art Dubai 2014

last week there was 8th edition of Art Dubai between 19-22 March 2014. Art Dubai is one of my favourite events in Dubai.

Even it is quite new art exhibition, Art Dubai is getting better and better every year.
This year there was more than 85 Galleries from 36 countries to exhibit artworks including, photography, sculpture, video. Some of them were easy to understand, some of them needed more attention to understand :)

Posted for Monday Murals

Art Dubai 2014

the 8th edition of Art Dubai 2014
19-22 March 2014

Weekend reflection : from Art Dubai

I was planning to visit Art Dubai 2014 and share some pictures from there but I had to postpone the visit.
While I was checking pictures from previous years of Art Dubai, I found this one.
I guess it can work for the theme "weekend reflection"

Burj Al Arab

a picture from my archive, after last weekend it was difficult for me to recover. I could't thing something new for today. So here is a picture from Burj al Arab, iconic 7 stars hotel. Today I am planning to visit Art Dubai and tomorrow, most probably I will share with you something new :)

at the lobby there is a cascade decorative fountain. the small show change continuously.
staying at hotel is expensive and without a reservation noone allowed to enter main garden gate.
If you want to do something there is always an alternative way. We made a reservation for the afternoon tee at the roof, and we spent couple of hours :)

Butterflies in the Mall,

this is just small part of the decoration at Dubai Mall. Imagine big corridor and also big square full of these butterflies.you can see detail of one single part with zoom lens.
i would like to take another view from the mall for the whole story :)
I really like that area it gives positive energy just to see them and just for a moment you may forget that you are in a mall, actually world biggest mall, Dubai Mall.

J for Jebel Ali- ABC Wednesday

Sunset at Jebel Ali Free Zone,

Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) is a free economic zone located in the Jebel Ali area at the far western end of Dubai, near to Abu Dhabi.
Jafza commenced operations in 1985 with standard size office units and warehouses. in 1990 JAFZA expands its facilities.

Today, JAFZA is a base for thousands of business from over 100 countries and attracting more than 20 % of the UAE's foreign direct investment.

please click here for more J posts from all over world.

Bastakiya

Another post from Sikka Art Fair at March 2012. Sikka 2014 will be in Bastakiya between 15-25 March 2014
Al Bastakiya located along Dubai Creek, is one of the oldest residential areas in Dubai. It is named after the Iranian town of Bastak, from many of the fist residents emigrated..
With the project in 20005 all old buildings were renewed with their original Wind Towers and narrow alleys. Today, most of buildings converted to art galleries, art centres, cafes, little shops and one boutique hotel.

faces - Monday Mural

I have just returned to Dubai, after long weekend in Turkey. It was quite challenging.
I couldn't post Monday's post on time but I am still in 17th officially so it can count :)

I took this picture in March 2012 at Bastakiya. That was second Sikka Art Fair.
March is the month of art in Dubai. There are several events all around Dubai with different name and concept. This year's event, Sikka 2014 will be in Bastakiya between 15-25 March 2014. I am planning to visit Sikka Fair this Saturday in Bastakiya after visit at Art Dubai on Friday at Souk Medinat.

Al Bastakiya, located along Dubai Creek, is one of the oldest residential areas in Dubai. It is named after the Iranian town of Bastak, from where many of the first residents emigrated. in 2005 the Dubai Municipality started a project to restore the old buildings with their typical wind towers and central courtyards, situated in narrow alleys. Most of the buildings have been converted into art galleries and art centres, cafes, little shops, boutique hotel.

posted for Monday Murals, for other posts please click here 

Weekend reflection

Reflection from Dubai International Airport. One passenger arranging his suitcase just before check in.

posted for weekend reflection theme.

for more reflections from all around the world please click .http://weekendreflection.blogspot.ca/2014/03/merry-go-round-weekend-reflections-233.html?m=1

horse at the mall

taken at Mall of Emirates. the fountain is quite big and there is

Indoor Piazza

Taken at Mall of Emirates just after opening hour in one Friday. Otherwise it is not possible to find this area that much empty.

You can think this part of the mall is a kind of square in regular cities, decorated with fountain and surrounded with several cafes and restaurants.

Because of the climate, I guess this is quite reasonable. : )

Dubai International Airport

Entrance of Dubai International Airport - Terminal 3- it is dedicated to Emirates Airlines.

It has fascinating architecture,. I took this picture at arrival level after my parents left Dubai, two years back. When I travel usually I do not have much time to take pictures. :)

I am leaving Dubai today for the long weekend and will return on Sunday.

Ice rink for ABC Wed.

In these days, I am quite busy, I couldn't take the picture I would like to post for I letter.
Here Ice Rink from the Archive.

Ice Rink is located in Dubai Mall, the biggest mall. you may get private class for skating or you can enter with public schedule.

posted for ABC Wednesday. please click here to see more contributors. This week's letter is I: I for Ice

teddy bear in the mall

taken at Festival City.
Don't ask the relation of big teddy bear and live music from piano.
Most probably management was trying to take some attention to their mall. I just make a quick search for the number of malls just in Dubai.
wikipedia listed 69 malls. !!
with this number of malls, I can understand the motivation of managers. :)
it doesn't have to have any meaning, just present something new, different, and unexpected for visitors.

Monday Murals

I guess I will post every single details of this wall which is decorated for EXPO 2020 :)

On the left side, you can use it for traditional coffee or tea or cold beverage. Even today, this design is very popular in this region,
On the right side, we see traditional wind tower (=wind catcher) or another way to say A.C. without electricity. Because of the architectural structure of these towers can catch the wind and divert it into the house. very creative way to keep houses cooler when summer time temp reach 49 deg. C. Today, you can see these towers in modern building just for to keep the design as traditional and actually they look nice.  I posted wind towers here earlier from Souk Medinat.

I hope I can find more graffiti or wall arts in Dubai. Actually I don't think that but I want to keep my hope :)
posted for Monday Murals

fireworks

I was preparing another post for today, but suddenly I heart sound from fireworks. I do not know the exact reason why it was for. Actually I don't care the reason, I always enjoy the view. :)

I know it is very harmful for birds and environment still I cant stop myself to watched them like hypnotised.

Today, sky was hazy. Even I didn't try to take a couple of shots. I remembered this picture from the same point but in a better weather. I changed my mind and I decided to post this one.

It was my first attempt to catch fireworks and as you can understand easily; without tripod, the success was limited.

Still I like this shot. I wanted to post particularly this one, Even it is not matched with general understanding of "fireworks photography"

I hope you will like it too.

Weekend reflections

The Greens and reflection from a window.
posted for Weekend Reflection, Please click here for more posts.

the beach mall

Light show at "the Beach Mall"

view from Burj Khalifa

Another from the world's highest open air observatory deck. "at the top" You can see earlier post from here in that post, you can see feel the real height better than this picture.

Observatory Deck is on the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa.

If you are planning to visit Dubai, it is better to book the ticket online before you arrive Dubai so you can get it at reasonable price in advance.

If you want to buy the ticket and visit the Observatory Deck at the same day, you should be ready to pay nearly 4 times higher than regular price.

the highest building: Burj Khalifa

World's highest building; Burj Khalifa.
height: 828 m
floors: 163
"the worlds highest building" is not the only title of Burj Khalifa, for other world records of the building can check its page in wikipedia.

It is definitely a masterpiece of Engineering, every-time I visit observatory deck, I admire the engineering and how great the project it is.
On the other hand, every time I see this building from distance, I wonder "Why?"

posted for today's theme of ABC Wed.
This week's letter is H. You can see other contributors from here.

Snowball at Festival City

On Sunday we went to IKEA at Festival City. I saw this snow ball in front of the mall. At that time there was no kid inside and I took a picture of it freely. I am quite sure this is very interesting for many kids and even for some adults. :)

Eye of Dubai-Monday Mural

Another detail from the wall which is decorated for EXPO 2020 with iconic images of United Arab Emirates.
Earlier I posted other details from this wall. In this part of the wall we can see silhouette of Dubai Skyline and Eye of Emirati Lady.

you can reach more interesting posts from all over the world at this link : Monday Mural

WR- Pony in the mirror

I almost forget this picture. Thanks to Lightroom; I found it after I filtered pictures for "reflection & Dubai" and I am glad to find this one.

It was taken at bowling night with colleagues after I figured out I was hopeless to win. : )

Posted for weekend reflection, you can visit more interesting post from this link.

People at Textile Souq

The City Daily Photo theme for March is “People on the Street”.  Click here for more contributions.

Textile Souk is located in Bur Dubai area and its one of the oldest Souk in Dubai. Its renewed but kept the originality. 
People can find any kind of fabrics and tailors with reasonable price. Fabrics from all over the world.