Salukis - the only cherished dog breed in Islam
by JessH
The Saluki is the only dog-breed that is regarded as "clean" and acceptable in the Muslim belief. This surely stems from the bedouins' close connection with this animal throughout the centures. After all, this breed is one of the world's oldest hunting hounds: it has been known for more than 9,000 years.
It is thought that the name Saluki is derived from the ancient city of Saluk in Iraq southeast of Baghdad. The breed, however, is known as a number of names throughout the Gulf - e.g. "Tazi" in Persia, "Sloughi" in North Africa (Morocco), "Azawakh" in Mali & parts of Africa & "Salaq" in the S-W of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, Armenia & to the west of the Caspian Sea.
Known by the Bedouins as "Wind Drinker", "Daughter of the Tent", "Son of the Desert" & "Desert Eye", bedouins even allow them to share their tents.
Saluki is a long-bodied, slim-statured, abdomen-atrophied and high-limbed dog, much like a Greyhound. It has a long head, narrow oblong mouth, strong jaws (capable of making rapid killing bites) and is considered a strong animal in jaw use with sharp canine teeth.
Arabs speak fondly of the Saluki, saying that it plays effectively the role of loyal and faithful guard to its master, protects his house and is one of the lightest sleepers & therefore makes a good watch dog. They also say that the Saluki does not eat nor drink from a dirty bowl & never hunts unless accompanied by its master. It can easily hunt rabbits & deer.
The animal is capable of reaching speeds up to 65 km/hour.
Through the civilisations, the saluki maintained its importance as a coursing (chasing) hound. The Egyptians called them the "Royal Dogs of Egypt" and only the nobility were permitted to have them. Mummified remains of Saluki hounds have been discovered in tombs with their masters.
On top of all its hunting attributes & talents, the Saluki is also highly intelligent & trainable, and makes a loving family pet :-) Mr Hamad Al Ganem is the director of the Arabian Saluki Centre. Their website is: http://www.arabiansaluki.ae or also see: http://www.salukiofarabia.com
The centre is located in Abu Dhabi:
Tel: 00971-2-575 5330
Fax: 00971-2-575 5339
Desert Adventure
by Rinjani
Going to the desert is a great experience. And while you are visiting Dubai, don’t miss this chance. The perfect time to explore the desert is from December to March, where the temperature is cool and the weather is perfect. Early in the morning is great to see the early live on the desert. Or, you can also go later in the midday and stay in the desert to watch the sunset.
You can book a desert safari trip organized by travel agents, or if you fancy off road, plan a trip with your friends. If you are a first timer, it’s highly recommended to go with experienced person who knows how to drive in the desert. Or you can book desert driving course (usually one or two day course) to learn tips and tricks driving in the desert.
Four wheel drive car? Absolutely. Never go alone to the desert. It is always better to have several cars go in the trip, in case you get stuck.
UAE has many nice places to explore. Fossil Rock, Hanging Garden, Khutwa, etc. You can buy “Off-Road in the Emirates” by Dariush Zandi in the book store for your places and the Do & Don’ts reference.
But if you love to enjoy desert adventure without hassle, ring the travel agents. Usually their organized trip including belly dancer performance, henna design, camel riding, etc. Four Wheel Drive, tyre pump, map, compas, emergency survival supplies, extra spare tyre.
There are some shops sell outdoor equipment, such as Ace Hardware (Sheikh Zayed Road) and Picnico (Jumeirah Beach Road)
Great place to chill
by Pneuma about Mercatto
I like this mall, i think it has the best crowd and its a great place to chill.I love the ambience the rush and its got a movie theatre as well. They have brands like next,diesel,top shop,top man and my fav MNG Big bucks
Winding down... or living it up
by JessH about LOTUS ONE
It seemed highly unlikely to me to find a funky lounge and club on the ground floor of something as bland as a convention centre, but that's exactly what the Novotel in Dubai has succeeded in creating:
Lotus One markets itself as an Asian "fusion restaurant" that is open for lunch and dinner, and later-on in the evening transforms into a swanky & trendy cocktail lounge and club. The music choice is generally chill-out lounge, later blended with funky house and some R'n'B.
If you can live with the occasionally slow bar service and manage to ignore the "I-wear-my-sunglasses-at-night" posers (the people I like to call *nose lifters*, looking down their noses at the entire world) there is quite an enjoyable evening to be had, especially if the DJ hits your exact taste of music on their various different clubs evenings.
The doormen can be tough & it can be a bit tricky to get inside (they have a big thing about imaginary *guest lists* at clubs in Dubai) even if you have plenty of ladies in your party, so my recommendation is to book a table, get down there early, enjoy some food and relax before the party-crowd spills in at around 11:30pm.
Lotus One is also mentioned on the website "world’s best bars.com". However, it's important to note here that apparently Lotus One has suffered from the usual social-slide and that service, food and ambience used to be a lot better last year (2007). It seems the staff and management had built themselves a good reputation, but now no longer put in enough effort into keep up their highest standards.
Nevertheless, this is still a very swanky & decorative (albeit slightly cheesy) club and lounge, and definitely recommended for a nice night with the young and stylish yuppies of Dubai. I'd recommend coming here with a group of minimum 4 to 6 people to really enjoy your evening and just ignore any snobs in the vicinity! ;-) "It's stylish, it's sexy, it's glass & chrome, it's slightly overdone: it's your usual top-end club and lounge in Dubai."
Dress Code: more SMART than casual.
Opening Hours:
12.00pm-04:00pm, 07.00pm-12.30am daily.
Tuesdays - Ladies Night (2 complimentary drinks)
A RETROspective of 70s, 80s & 90s music.
Fridays & Saturdays – Rock 'n' Roll Pop Sushi:
All you can eat sushi or 259 Dhs with unlimited selected house beverages while you listen to rock-n-roll pop tunes.
Click here for all special promotion & events:
http://www.lotus1.com/events_calendar.html
NOTE: there is a smoking section inside.
Knew you'd be here tonight
So I put my best dress on
Boy I was so right.
Our eyes connected
Now nothing's how it used to be
No second guesses.
Don't wanna rush it
Let the rhythm pull you in
It's here so touch it.- Kylie Minogue, SLOW.
Future Train link from Dubai to other Emirates
by JessH
Finally!
After the announcement that Dubai will build an inner-city monorail system, plans are now also underway to build a railway that will connect Dubai with the other emirates. It will be more than 700 km-long and will link Dubai with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in the east with Ruwais and Ghowaifat in the west.
The move follows Dubai's effort to establish the region's first urban light rail system & comes at a time when the feasibility of a GCC-wide rail network is being studied by governments of the 6-nation block that is planning to integrate the economies by 2010. It looks like in particular, the Emirate of Ajman will also soon commence construction on its own Metro system, which will link-up with that of Dubai in the future.
This should make travelling between the emirates much faster, easier and also safer! Some of these desert-highways are so straight and monotonous that many drivers have fallen asleep, or cause accident due to high-speed driving.
Read interesting articles & updates here:
http://www.uaeinteract.com/news/default.asp?ID=145
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