Photos from Dubai

my plane, the Emirates A380 - the largest commercial airliner in the world

it needs 3 boarding ramps! boarding took 45 min. i just sat and ate my burrito. (thanks sarah =)

the stairway to the 2nd deck (1st class seats). basically, a cruise ship in the sky... and, i don't want to think about my now super huger carbon footprint.

all the seats had a HD widescreen, cup holder, and 3 prong plug for laptops. and this was in economy class.

the stars came out during the night =)

flying over the iraq/iran border area

the compass that always pointed towards mecca

my swine flu paperwork that i had to fill out!! they also did thermal scans of each of us as we got off the plane to see if we had a fever.

the thermal scanner, and the thermal scanner guy.

dubai airport lounge

mcdonalds, the start of my taxi tour of dubai (my driver: "i eat sometimes at mcdonalds when i'm hungry and don't know where to eat") me too, Amin, me too.

Ace Hardware!!

road sign to Abu Dhabi (on the left) and the man-made palm island (on the right)

entering the palm island

one of the condo buildings on the palm island

Atlantis hotel, on the palm island

tunnel to the Atlantis hotel, with a drawing of the palm island

the persian gulf, and the rocky beach - across from the atlantis hotel

the moon and "media city" - a part of dubai with lots of skyscrapers.

making a u-turn

a floodlit sign asking people to reduce their carbon footprint... i guess they don't see the irony there...

an inlet to the gulf, and a few more skyscrapers - in the dubai marina. Amin and I walked around here for a bit, to feel the warm breeze.

more of the inlet.

amin getting back into the cab

street sign for dubai/abu dhabi

the burj al arabi - the most famous landmark of dubai. it's a SUPER exclusive, all suite hotel. fitting symbol.

another of the hotel arabi

Amin posing in front of his cab outside the Arabi hotel

ski dubai - the indoor ski slope

burj dubai - 818m tall, the tallest building in the world. (on the right)

burj dubai, with the new monorail tracks in the foreground. the burj is supposed to be finished later this year, and the monorail, soon after.

burj dubai with the moon

the grocery near my hotel. i bought some cashews.

inside the grocery

the palms along the road near my hotel

my restaurant tonight, the arab udapi - near "Osama Computers" - proud sellers of hewlett packard.

my dinner, fresh juice, aloo gobi, and cheese naan.

recycling bins on the street.

an ad for the red crescent (islamic relief charity - like the red cross)

my room. the arrow on the ceiling points towards mecca.