Keep Your (Social) Distance

Interesting sticker I saw at Al Jimi Mall this week. 

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Social distancing sticker on the floor of Al Jimi Mall

A post shared by Brian Hall (@wbrianhall) on Oct 30, 2020 at 2:50am PDT

Al Ain from the top of Jebel Hafeet

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Al Ain from the top of Jebel Hafeet.

A post shared by Brian Hall (@wbrianhall) on Oct 29, 2020 at 7:38am PDT

Schadenfreude

Over Eid in Al Ain, a Toyota Landcruiser that was parked on the sidewalk was nearly swallowed by a sinkhole.

A person who saw this story and felt that it was somehow fitting that someone who was parked illegally had this happen to them would be experiencing schadenfreude. Many people think that if you experience schadenfreude, then you should feel shame for feeling that way.

I don't think that there is a word to describe the feeling that it is unfortunate that this happened to one such person and not to all sidewalk parkers.

Cool Al Ain Sidewalk Image

Very cool chalk 3d image by Leon Keer and Peter Westerink in honor of national day.

The Happiest Place on Earth in the UAE

OK, it isn't Disneyland, Vanuatu, Denmark or even Tijuana, but according to a recent survey, Al Ain (along with Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain) is the happiest place in the UAE, with 56% of people reporting that they are happy. What is really interesting is that people in Buraimi, just across the fence in Oman, are happy at an 88% rate, despite having less money. I guess that it is true that money can't buy happiness.

Just a guess, but these people were probably in the 44%.

I Sure Hope So or That was Awful Fast

I'm not sure that four days is really enough to draw conclusions, but:

Traffic offences and accidents have dropped in [Al Ain] - with police saying drivers are being more cautious following the implementation of new unified traffic laws.

The police have not recorded a fatal accident in the city and its surrounding areas since Saturday when the law came into effect.

The cynic in me says that this is just more of the same old, same old, but then my taxi driver this morning remarked how he didn't run through a yellow/red light because of the new fines, and two of my co-workers noted (without my asking) how the new laws are making them take extra care.

Of course, my inner cynic also wonders how many thousands have died needlessly, if these sorts of rules would have made traffic safer over the years.

A Dark Day in Al Ain

Blaze claims two children in Al Ain [Warning: there are some gut-wrenching details at that link, so you may not want to read the whole story. I suspect I may have trouble sleeping tonight after reading it myself.]:

Two Emirati children - Hamad, 4, and his brother Mansour, 2, - died in a fire that broke out in their house in Zakhir area in Al Ain on Friday...

The source said the fire might have been started due to a short circuit in one of the air-conditioners.

The aunt of the victims said the children were playing inside a room. Suddenly, the other family members heard the children’s cries and rushed to the room. But the fire had already engulfed the room.

"Our neighbour who rushed to the house and we tried to rescue the children but could not see them due to the fire and heavy smoke," she added.

The family are blaming the deaths on "the delay in the arrival of the rescue team" but the police head says otherwise. I only know that when we had our fire, it took the fire department a very long time to find the house.

Crash: Car overturns killing girl [second story on page]:

A teenage girl died and her mother sustained severe injuries when their car overturned yesterday in Al Kharis [sic - should be Al Khrais] district.

A traffic police official said the car was driven by a Syrian woman, identified as N.M., who was accompanied by her two teenage daughters. The woman lost control of the vehicle while she was negotiating a roundabout.

Since the other daughter was unhurt, it seems possible that she was the only one wearing a seatbelt. Of course, she could also have just been very, very lucky too.

(Speaking of which, it is good to see that the Dubai police are launching a two-week campaign to encourage seatbelt use for children. I agree with the experts in the story, it is not enough, but a start is better than nothing.)

Then, to top everything else off, we are also apparently facing a stray dog infestation:

Residents in Al Ain have been complaining about the rise in the number of stray dogs in the city that is famous for its quiet and clean environment.

The stray dogs, they feel, are a traffic hazard as they can cause accidents by running across the streets unexpectedly.

Mohammed Al Mahdi, a resident, said the stray dogs disturb his family as well as the neighbours, especially at night. "Sometimes, the dogs attack the passersby," he added.

Ashraf Sharif, another resident, said the stray dogs seem to be diseased and urged the local authorities to initiate measures to protect the health of the public, especially children.

It isn't clear if the disease that these dogs have is rabies, which would be a big concern. It would also explain why these dogs seem to have turned aggressive suddenly. Everytime I have seen a stray, it avoids everyone like its life depends on it.

No One Likes the New Taxis

It seems like the residents of Abu Dhabi have the same reaction to the new taxis that I did:

Residents in the Capital are dissatisfied with the new taxi services that were launched a few months ago.

While speaking to several commuters, Khaleej Times found out the reasons for their disappointment. Most of those spoken to were unanimous in their views that the taxis’ fares had doubled, registering an increase of 100 per cent compared to the old taxis.

I agree wholeheartedly. It is interesting to note that some of the people interviewed said that they are now walking as much as 4 kilometers because they cannot afford the new fares. So you have to think that this decision could quite easily increase the pedestrian accident rate, especially as the roads here a very unfriendly for pedestrians, not to mention the potential for heatstroke when the temperatures increase.

In response to these complaints and demands, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed Maiouf Al Kotbi, manager of drivers’ licensing and vehicles in the General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police, said the decision of the new taxi services came as a result of the demands and requests of the Abu Dhabi residents, as they frequently complained about the behaviour of many of the old taxi drivers. "We received so many complaints from people that the drivers of the old taxis refused to stop for passengers or that they refused to drive outside the city centre or in crowded areas," said Lt-Col. Al Kotbi.

"For these reasons people demanded a new taxi system and the Abu Dhabi Police responded by launching the new taxi service, which aims to solve the problems," he added.

Lt-Col. Al Kotbi also pointed out that the new taxi project allows for more confidence between passengers and drivers, who are trained to be cooperative and friendly. "The problem of doubling the taxi fare is unacceptable and the passengers are entitled to get a receipt for the payment and, in case of increasing the fairs, they should come to the police," he said.

As I pointed out before, the new taxis are also charging by the hour, which seems, in my limited experience, when combined with the increased milage rate, to be the cause the doubling.

I'm not sure exactly why the two systems cannot run together either; if one wants to pay extra for a cleaner car with a more courteous driver, great. But for those who cannot, why get rid of the older system? For that matter, why make us change in Al Ain for problems that we were not having? I have never had or heard of a driver refusing a fare to anywhere in Al Ain. Has anyone ever that this experience?

Hawk at Your Own Peril

Dh100 fine imposed for spitting in public places:

The local municipalities in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region are now imposing a Dh100 fine on those caught spitting in the streets and public places.

Engineer Omar Al Hashimi, Director of the Department of Municipal Service Affairs, told Khaleej Times that move is aimed at protecting the community from unhygienic practices.

One small problem with the article is that it is wrong that "spitting in the streets and floors of public places ... have [sic] become a problem", it is that spitting has been a problem for some time. Why else would there be signs like this posted?

Zayed bin Khalifa

Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan

Al Ain Palace Museum

Zayed bin Khalifa was the grandfather of Sheikh Zayed. He was born around 1840 and ruled the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

This painting of him hangs in the Al Ain Palace Museum along with many other portraits from Sheikh Zayed's family. (It helps to be able to read Arabic for these, since all the names are only written in Arabic.)

East of Al Ain

If you head out of Al Ain to the east, past the Intercon, past the go cart track, there is this flat, rocky land just before the Omani border. The landscape is very different than the area to the north and west of Al Ain. Out here there is almost no sand, and the beginnings of the Hajar mountains on two sides.

Juxtaposition

Two things I saw yesterday:

Tamouh plans for indoor ski slope on Jebel Hafeet

Controversial plans to build an indoor ski slope on the highest peak in Abu Dhabi are being considered by local developer Tamouh Investments, as part of a major mixed-used development...

The project is controversial as it will radically alter the appearance of Jebel Hafeet...

Although the scheme will use the natural slope of the mountain, it will still require substantial work to alter the profile of the mountainside.

Quote at the Al Ain Palace Museum:

إن حجم الدول لايقاس بمساحاتها على الخريطة بل نتراثها و
حضارتها

زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان

Probably not by its ski slopes either.

Al Nagfa

So I am trying to remember that time is short, so I finally got around to going up to see Al Nagfa today. M and K were up in August and have some photos from then, and I took some more.

View of downtown, with the oasis in the foreground:

Al Ain FC stadium:

In case you missed the announcement last summer, this hilltop is going to be turned into a mall and motel.

Development

One of the worst illusions in life is the feeling that you have plenty of time to do things later. When Bss and the kids were here, we used to occasionally drive past a park near the Hilton that looked like it would be fun. There were always large numbers of families out enjoying themselves. I always meant to go there with the kids. But now, even if they were here, we couldn't, as the park is being developed into something else.

I have seen these big plywood walls to hide construction in Dubai, but never here in Al Ain. If you consider that Al Ain is being surveyed for high-rises as well, it really does mark the end of an era here.

Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely in favor of land owners being allowed to use their property any way they want. But it will be sad if Al Ain just becomes a smaller Dubai or Abu Dhabi, chasing after a dream and forgetting the good that it has now.

I guess that we have more vistas like this to look forward to.

Al Ain Video

Here is a short (5 minutes) YouTube video about Al Ain from AME Info. It covers things like archeology and history, the oasis, museums, camel souk, parks, and zoo.

I Guess It Depends on Who You Ask

We, in theory, live in the Information Age. But how good is the information that we are being given? Take these seriously conflicting statistics about accidents during Eid, all taken from the police, reported in the three main English language papers:

Khaleej Times:

During the Eid Al Adha holidays, more than 500 traffic accidents were reported in the emirate of Dubai, resulting in injuries to several people. However, no casualty was reported.

(I assume from the context that the author meant "no fatalities" and not "no casualty", since injured people are casualties.)

7Days:

In Dubai, officers said there had been 65 accidents, with four people left dead and 46 injured - some seriously - over the three days.

Gulf News:

Two people were killed and several others were injured in traffic accidents during Eid holidays in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

7Days:

In Al Ain, eight people died and 39 injured in crashes...

So, in Dubai, the death toll was either zero or four. In both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the death toll was two, or in Al Ain alone the death toll was eight.

Another Answer

Back in October, I noted that the police were cracking down on fireworks and the claim that it would save many lives and asked if there were any stats on injuries/deaths.

Today's Khaleej Times finally has some stats: "Colonel Hamad Saeed bin Trais Al Dhahry, Deputy Director of Al Ain Police Directorate, said no injuries to children due to firecrackers in Al Ain City and its surroundings areas were reported during the current year." Maybe this is because fireworks aren't really that dangerous (as I noted, when I was a kid we used to do all sorts of dangerous things with them), or maybe it is because the police here have been so busy confiscating them. They have nabbed about 2,000 kg of fireworks, or about 5.5 kg per day. When you think about how light the average firecracker is, 5.5 kilos is a lot of firecrackers. And how cool is it that the police have a "Weapons and Blasts Section"? Almost as cool as the "Difficult Missions team", but I still think that it sounds like a fun place to work.

An Answer (Five Months Late)

Back in July, I wrote about people living in Al Ain and working in Dubai, and in the comments it was asked about average rent in Al Ain, which I didn't know. The Gulf News had an article the other day that seems to answer this question;

According to Asteco's latest figures, annual rent for a new three-bedroom villa at the town centre now hovers around Dh60,000 to Dh75,000, or about Dh15,000 to Dh25,000 more expensive than last year.

On average, current rates for old three-, four- and five-bedroom villas are at Dh45,000, Dh60,000 and Dh70,000 while prices for new villas are at Dh60,000, Dh75,000 and Dh85,000. The figures represent a 35 to 40 per cent rise from last year.

Some new residential properties fetch an annual rent of Dh100,000 to Dh120,000 while office space commands Dh500 to 750 per square metre, depending on location.

So there you go. It is cheaper than Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but getting more expensive (up 30% this year). The story lists several reasons for the increase in demand, but leaves out one really big factor. The additional restrictions on the Al Ain-Buraimi border crossing caused many people who had formerly lived in Buraimi (which has lower rents) and worked in Al Ain to move to Al Ain.

Also, when considering the article, there is one small mistake and one big mistake. It lists the population of Al Ain as 300,000. The Al Ain Times had reported that the population, according to the most recent census, is 400,000. But that is nothing compared to "property prices in Al Ain may be rising, but the emirate is still much cheaper compared to Dubai and Abu Dhabi". Unless I missed it, Al Ain is still just the second largest city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Al Nabagh Camel Racetrack

Yesterday afternoon, boredom led me to drive around aimlessly, when I stumbled across Al Nabagh camel racetrack. There were no races, but lots of camels out exercising.

Rebuilding Sheikha Salama Mosque

I admit, I don't read the paper every day, but this story seems to be the first mention of the rebuilding of the Sheikha Salama Mosque that I have seen.

The design and supervision contract of the project has been given to Aldar Properties, said a company spokesman, adding that the mosque would have the capacity to accommodate 3,860 people. The project is expected to be completed in 2009...

The mosque's ceiling will gradually ascend in the direction of Makkah. The natural stone cladding, granite flooring and abundant light in the structure will produce an inner space that communicates the mosque's exquisite symbolism, whilst the incorporation of lifts will give the new structure a modern aspect.

Incidentally, this is the way that the location of the mosque looked a couple of weeks ago:

Previously posted, but here are some pics of what the new mosque is apparently going to look like: