.....it's been great, but the towering glass and chrome are starting to get to me. I'm staying in a five-star Chinese hotel in the Financial Center of one of the richest cities in the world, and the highlight of my past week was a day-trip to the mountains.
Yes, this place is the playground of the rich and famous but frankly, it's starting to wear me down. You can't get away from the money and excesses. Here was the valet parking behind my hotel as I waited for my tour guide yesterday:
For the record, from left to right: Lamborghini, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston-Martin and Rolls Royce.
For the lack of anything better to do, I emailed this photo to my Farmer's Insurance agent and requested a quote for annual coverage on this little beauty:
This is my last day off and I didn't book any trips. I got up this morning and took the train to the Emirates Mall--the so-called "world famous mall with the ski slope." It was kind of a half-hearted thing just to kill time and the ski-area was really the only thing that interested me.
They actually do rent out ski clothing and equipment and the experience comes complete with a chair-lift to the top.
If you have the money, and many do here, there are all kinds of ways for you to spend it. The mall also has an indoor zip line and even an indoor skydiving area--they attach straps to you and turn on 200-mph fans to give you the sensation of parachuting. You might take note of the MasterCard ad in the upper right corner of the photo.
I spent a couple of hours walking around the mall and thought how much happier I was yesterday hiking in the mountains. This is nice, but it isn't me. This is how the 1% live only the rich comprise far more than 1% here in Dubai. Everything from the "recreation" to the exclusive Gucci, Rolex, and Cartier shops is geared for money and excess and they've got the concept figured out really well here.
However, I've got a $143/day meal allowance and can't find a decent BBQ brisket sandwich and a Shiner Bock. I don't think they've figured out the "quality of life" concept yet--maybe they just think they have.
From the hotel, I usually walk a few blocks down the street to find a restaurant and there is one open area where they're pouring the foundation of what will probably be another skyscraper. Usually, as it's getting dark, you'll see the construction workers waiting for a bus. They're typically Pakistani, Indian, Filipino and/or Indonesian. They're filthy dirty, obviously exhausted and wearing open-toe sandals while pouring concrete for who knows how many hours a day. Dubai has a terrible human rights record with regards to immigrant labor over here. They've been warned by various agencies about the conditions--many workers are charged room and board for about what they earn. In other words indentured servants.
Ironically, CNN did a story today on one of the guys who washes windows on the world's tallest building over here. He was from Nepal and gets paid $600/month to hang 125 stories up washing windows and wouldn't give up the money for anything. I have no idea where he could find a place to live over here on that salary.
The Middle East was the only part of the world where I really hadn't had a chance to visit or work. I wanted to go out with a good job and this has been so far. But I'm pretty convinced I've made the right decision to retire after this.
I'm heading home to Texas Tuesday.
Yes, this place is the playground of the rich and famous but frankly, it's starting to wear me down. You can't get away from the money and excesses. Here was the valet parking behind my hotel as I waited for my tour guide yesterday:
For the record, from left to right: Lamborghini, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston-Martin and Rolls Royce.
For the lack of anything better to do, I emailed this photo to my Farmer's Insurance agent and requested a quote for annual coverage on this little beauty:
This is my last day off and I didn't book any trips. I got up this morning and took the train to the Emirates Mall--the so-called "world famous mall with the ski slope." It was kind of a half-hearted thing just to kill time and the ski-area was really the only thing that interested me.
They actually do rent out ski clothing and equipment and the experience comes complete with a chair-lift to the top.
If you have the money, and many do here, there are all kinds of ways for you to spend it. The mall also has an indoor zip line and even an indoor skydiving area--they attach straps to you and turn on 200-mph fans to give you the sensation of parachuting. You might take note of the MasterCard ad in the upper right corner of the photo.
I spent a couple of hours walking around the mall and thought how much happier I was yesterday hiking in the mountains. This is nice, but it isn't me. This is how the 1% live only the rich comprise far more than 1% here in Dubai. Everything from the "recreation" to the exclusive Gucci, Rolex, and Cartier shops is geared for money and excess and they've got the concept figured out really well here.
However, I've got a $143/day meal allowance and can't find a decent BBQ brisket sandwich and a Shiner Bock. I don't think they've figured out the "quality of life" concept yet--maybe they just think they have.
From the hotel, I usually walk a few blocks down the street to find a restaurant and there is one open area where they're pouring the foundation of what will probably be another skyscraper. Usually, as it's getting dark, you'll see the construction workers waiting for a bus. They're typically Pakistani, Indian, Filipino and/or Indonesian. They're filthy dirty, obviously exhausted and wearing open-toe sandals while pouring concrete for who knows how many hours a day. Dubai has a terrible human rights record with regards to immigrant labor over here. They've been warned by various agencies about the conditions--many workers are charged room and board for about what they earn. In other words indentured servants.
Ironically, CNN did a story today on one of the guys who washes windows on the world's tallest building over here. He was from Nepal and gets paid $600/month to hang 125 stories up washing windows and wouldn't give up the money for anything. I have no idea where he could find a place to live over here on that salary.
The Middle East was the only part of the world where I really hadn't had a chance to visit or work. I wanted to go out with a good job and this has been so far. But I'm pretty convinced I've made the right decision to retire after this.
I'm heading home to Texas Tuesday.
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