reflection at pond

taken at "the Greens" from one of high-rise buildings with help of zoom lens. At that time, the weather was nice and I was lucky to capture the reflection. we see Golf course and one of ponds in the golf area.
posted for Weekend reflection. you can see more reflections from this link.

alley at wasl Square

I saw this back alley yesterday at Wasl Square which is located opposite to Safa Park. While we re running / jogging around Safa Park, we were wondering these building how it would be when the construction completed. Here is a photo from their web page during construction. last 1.5 year residents has started to live here. I had visited earlier but didn't notice or it was not like this at that time. Yesterday while I was looking for parking space, I noticed this small alley full with flowers. All gardens has different flowers / plants but bougainvillea is the most popular one.

Thanks

Last Saturday, after I left my car at the workshop, I spent some time at Mirdif Mall and had lunch at Le Pain Quotidien.
I noticed this at their another branch but that time cafe was so busy and no time to catch any photo. but in this branch my timing was better and catch this picture. I like the post and drawing.  I understand s/he was happy from the service & food.

Thanks to all for visiting my photoblog. :)

T for turtles

Taken at the start of The Big Jumeirah Sea Turtle Race  in 2012. Jumeirah group has Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Every year they release found and rehabilitated turtles to the nature. Some of turtles tagged with satellite transmitter to collect data about their journey, migration behaviour. All of the transmitter data is publicly available on this link who are interested.

According to information on their web site, there are two types of Sea Turtle commonly found in the Gulf of Arabia. They are under protection with law in UAE.

I couldn't catch the turtle release in 2013 and in 2014 one school sponsored the transmitter and the release was organised by the school as educational purpose for their students.

posted for ABC Wednesday. you can see more post from here about letter T all around the world.

stained glass from Mirdif City Center (Mall)

Taken on last Saturday at Mirdif City Centre.

Mirdif City Centre is one of Malls in Dubai.
The first City Centre mall was Deire City Centre which opened in 1995. since then it keeps popularity. Then Sharjah City Centre in 2000 and the last and the biggest one is Mirdif City Centre opened in 2010.
You can see the inside of the mall from this panorama (stitched 5 pictures)
I posted on Trekearth the day before yesterday.

Monday Mural: Falcon & Emirati Boy

I was thinking that I had finished all pictures that I had. Today I just realized I haven't show all the details from this wall. I really don't know how I missed these details.

here we have falcon and the little emirati boy. Falcon is also traditional bird here in this region. The relationship with falcons and Emirates is strong and coming from centuries in this region. Having falcon was very important to survive at desert in those times since falcons were used for hunting.

falcons are keeping their importance here. You can understand the importance if I mention the World's largest Falcon Hospital is located in Abu Dhabi / UAE. There is one also in Dubai. I am not sure if there is any other hospitals dedicated only falcons in another place.

on the way..

Today, I left my car at service and this time it will take min 1 day to be done. I stopped by for shopping and on the way back I took a taxi. When you are a passenger instead of a driver, city looks different. I noticed many things which I didn't before.

I took this picture on the E-311 high way. It was called " Emirates Road" earlier. starting from 2013 they renamed it. new name is now, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road. It could be easier for everybody if they would not change the name E611  road as well at the same time from "Dubai Bypass Road" to "Emirates Road" :)

getting direction from people is getting more difficult now,

A- You will take the Emirates Road, ok?
B - which one? the old emirates road or the new Emirates road?
A - how many Emirates Road is here?
B - only one, but earlier E311 was Emirates Road now E611
A - ???

reflection at JLT

taken at lunch break at Jumeirah Lake Towers.

posted for weekend theme Weekend Reflection

chit chat

Tonight I went live performance of one Turkish Rock Group with friends. I was planning to take couple of pictures of the group when they were performing. Unfortunately, the bar was small, and smoky, I couldn't stand. Went outside for fresh air; but the humid was high, couldn't stand either.

Finally I found this place; entrance of the bar, a kind of cafe with AC, non-smoking area and I was able to listen their music. What else I could ask for?
at the end I was able to enjoyed the music in my own way.

I catch these two waiters having chit-chat away from their supervisor.

art with traffic signs

Different style of art.
Traffic signs and lights are together.
My favourite one (camel) is quite hidden here.
You can see it in better way at my yesterday's post.

S for Sign

For today's post, I was thinking to post something unique here in Dubai. I've just posted one photo for Shisha yesterday. It could be nice theme for the S week. but too late now. I had to think it earlier.

No problem..
I found S for Sign. While I am preparing this post, no-one posted for Signs. I know it is not much "Dubai" thing, but this sign is special..

You can see this traffic sign in Dubai or lets say in this region, especially if you are on side roads. Plus I have Burj Khalifa here, world's tallest building (for the time being) which is one of Dubai Icons.

I will post another picture tomorrow, to show how that signs stays there, in that way.

Posted for ABC Weekend

details from Shisha

Sisha or Nargile what ever you called for it, it is the same. one of the most popular thing in the region.

You can see Nargila at nearly everywhere at restaurant, cafe or one open air bar at one of luxurious hotel or in a shopping mall.

In these days the weather is still nice, We can spent time outside. Actually for shisha lovers, there is no limitation from the weather. Many places allow to smoke shisha even indoor. I do only like it when I took photographs of it.
People love it so much, and part of their daily routine. Some prefers only evenings after dinner, some can take it any time even early in the morning before going to office.

details from downtown Dubai

taken near by Burj Khalifa, world's highest building.

the building on the right is a part of the Burj Khalifa complex.

Queen & King at night

two weeks earlier, I posted these buildings for ABC Wednesday theme but in day time. You can see it from here.
At that time, I was not able to find this picture Now you have night version as well.

Marina Mall - Weekend reflection

Reflection from Marina Mall. posted for weekend theme of Weekend Reflection.

For SOMA

...to all victims at coal mine disaster in SOMA / Turkey.

burj khalifa made from flowers

Taken at Miracle Garden.
the best season to visit is winter time. they are still open but I am not sure after 40 deg C heat how these flowers will look like. I took this picture in late Feb.

R for R2D2

Here we are the letter R in ABC Wednesday. My favourite letteR. : ))

R2-D2 is a major character in all Star Wars films. There are only 4 characters to appear in all six of original Star Wars films, others: Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader), Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO.

You can read more information about R2 from Wookieepedia which is Star Wars Encyclopaedia.

Flame tree at The Greens

This is the season now, every May, these trees became red and till July they keep their flowers.

Its called flame tree. if you check wikipedia, you can see flame tree may refer different types of trees in different region.
I am not specialist on trees but according to Mr. Google, I guess we have Delonix Regina here in Dubai.
In fact, the beauty of tree is more important than the botanical name :)

beach time

I picture from Jumeriah Beach Residence, JBR's beach.

Lost in Reflection

Taken at Dubai Mall,
decoration on the mall's wall.
posted for Weekend Reflection. You can see more reflections all around world from clicking here.

Children's day in Dubai

Yesterday, I was one of volunteer photographers for the 23 Nisan Children's Day Celebration in Dubai.
This is the 5th year in Dubai. You can read more information about this event from here in English.

23rd Nisan Children's Day is reflection of 23rd April National Sovereignty and Children's Day of Turkey. Turkish women expat group decided to celebrate this day for a good reason in Dubai.
If we consider, April is the month for Autism and 23rd April is dedicated to children, supporting Dubai Autism Center (DAC) perfectly matched with the motto of the day. This year, the event date has to postponed in May due to Easter break.

With this celebrations, the expat group (Sultans of Dubai) has manage to donate more than 600.000 DHS (nearly 165.000 USD) to DAC , In order to support their autism awareness programme.

Yesterday's programme was full with more than 15 different shows. I was at the venue before show, and left very late. At the end of the day, I was so exhausted to post my blog on time for today.

Under Construction

I took this picture couple weeks back, the traffic was nearly stopped.
It is kind a summary of this city; "under construction"

before the recession (at the of 2008) it was said that approx 25-30 % of the world's construction cranes were based in Dubai.
After Dec 2008 the demand dropped dramatically
Last couple of years all projects has speed up again. After EXPO 2020 announcement more constructions are expected in Dubai.

Ghosts of Starbucks

Yesterday, after I left from my friend's home, I decided to walk a bit, instead of going back home and enjoy the nice weather. I was luck the weather was still nice. just around 28- 29 deg C, of course in evening time :)
I took this picture at Starbucks Cafe - Jumeirah Road.
I didn't notice it earlier, that we had Starbucks Drive Through Cafe in Dubai. Maybe because I am not Starbucks fan.

according to the information, I found on internet; this store was opened at the beginning of 2013 and became the 103rd store in the UAE and also the first Drive-Through one in Dubai.

Q for the Queen & King

I know, the question is: hey where is the Queen?

hey they are "The Queen and The King"

These twin buildings are illuminated in evenings, when their lights are on, top of buildings remind me crown.

I couldn't think any picture for letter Q better than this one. 

The funny part, I had prepared my post for today. But at the last minute I realized after letter P there is letter Q before the Letter R. :)) so I had to think something Quickly to catch today's post. 

I think my busy mind counted letters in Turkish and jump to the R just after the P. Yes, in Turkish Alphabet we do not have Q. When I am so tired, my mind just works in Turkish, there are some times it doesn't work even in Turkish...

driving in Desert

Today I noticed that I posted very few photos from desert, even though we are living in it. So we have it one more.

When you are living in a city like Dubai, you can not understand that you are in desert unless there is sand storm.

the best activity for tourist in Dubai is Desert Safari. in this way people can understand how & where the city build from. also it is good experience to being in desert and appreciate the nature.

in fact, safari / desert is not just for tourists, I enjoy going to desert even after 5 years.

unfortunately it is not easy to go off-road by yourself.

requirements,
well maintained 4 x 4 vehicle. (min 2 cars but preferably 3 or more)
very skilled drivers, - because of the wind, the ground and sand may change so rapidliy.
enough water - even if you are going in winter time, with AC, water has high importance always.
GPS device - you might want to return to home :)


or you can buy a ticket from one of tour operators.

we had a company gathering last month, kind of team building activity. They arrange it with professional tour operators, which was more safe.
Lucky me! I was sitting at the rear seat. it was not comfortable for the ride but it was acceptable for taking pictures.

Monday Mural: cloudy wall

this post might be the last post for the Monday Mural for the moment. I haven't seen anything recently and with this one, I think I am posting the last piece for this theme.

I will continue to look around and hope to find something new to share here.

posted for Monday Mural, You can find more murals if you click here

illusion in reflection

reflection on an artwork at Art Dubai.
even though it is from March, I want to share this one or "weekend reflection" theme, this week.

Blended: Elvis Costello & Diana Krall

this year Dubai has a new music festival called Blended between 1st of May and 2nd May.
Festival for Blues, Jazz, Soul & Folk.

On the second day of Blended, first Elvis Costello was on the stage then he left the stage to his wife, Diana Krall. At the end we were lucky to listen 2 songs from them together.

lines @ JLT

temperature in Dubai is getting higher and higher.
Everyday, I insist to sit outside during lunch time but many people has already give up and they prefer indoor.
I know we have few more days or couple of weeks for outdoor.
Just for your information, today expected temperature is 39 deg. C (102 deg F)
As you can imagine, what you feel is more than official announcement.
I took this picture earlier but I think this bright and hard light can give you the feeling of heat.

Looking for squares

this month's theme post also from the Art Dubai exhibition. Every year it is getting bigger and bigger. I really enjoy the visiting Art Dubai exhibition and taking pictures from there.
This one is one of those.
You can see other contributor's posts from here.