Bol Bangalore, not Dubai..

No more Bol Dubai

So that's it folks. I am leaving Dubai for good will not be updating this blog anymore.

It was great being part of the the Dubai blogging community, especially contributing to UAE Community and interacting with some fantastic people out there. Despite all the whining, I will be taking home some good memories, but not enough for a farewell speech. I will not be deleting Bol Dubai because people still come to my blog through search engines and hopefully they will find some useful information.

I will continue to visit UAE Community and blogs like Sam's One Big Construction Site, Prometheus' Moving Middle Finger, Secret Dubai Diary, Falapeno, Grapeshisha and the rest whom I have bookmarked.

I'm sure you still have a lot to talk about.

No more Bol Dubai?

Bol Dubai is not being updated for personal reasons. I will have to decide whether to discontinue this blog or not in the coming 2 weeks time.

Meanwhile, I have been busy spicing up Mutiny.in where we are having a fantastic time, being nominated for the Best Group/Community Blog in the IndiBloggies 2006 edition.
If you have a minute, please click and caste your vote for The Great Indian Mutiny.

The Leaning Tower of UAE?

One of the most high profile buildings in the capital, the ADIA tower situated at the Abu Dhabi Corniche remains unoccupied long after completion allegedly due to a 'tilting basement' besides problems with wiring and power supply.

The unique building, shaped to resemble 'shifting sand-dunes' and featuring a double-glazed facade curtained with automatic blinds took more than 5 years to complete and cost Dhs 500 million. But if the problems remain unresolved (reportedly it has sunk 3 inches and has had frequent fires due to short circuits), who knows, some world-renowned project consultants and architects might give us the world's first leaning tower where people actually work.

Hold on to your desks and bring a candle, folks!

Image courtesy : Skyscrapercity

The Hartal Way to ease your traffic woes

Happy New Year to everyone! Let me begin 2007 in the true expat whining spirit.

My hopes of having a dubai-less holiday did not start on the right note after I found the UAE Labour Minister in my home town back in India.

The minister expressed his pleasant surprise at the sparse and orderly traffic over there (just like Dubai he said - pleasant, orderly traffic without a hint of irony. Good for him that the Dubai traffic situation is not front page news around the world), only to be wryly informed by an official that there was a 'hartal' in the city and drivers were wary of being pelted with stones by the protesters; black-tinted glasses being their obvious favourites.

Meanwhile, the possibilities of seeing free-flowing traffic in Sheikh Zayed Rd will remain as remote as a hartal organised by UAE's disgruntled labourers.

Monopoly Dubai Edition - Print & Play!

After fiddling with the 'light' beta version of the Monopoly Dubai Edition game, I have decided to have a go at a full working version. This time I have created a completely vector pdf of the board for a start - so that it can be printed on any size and in good quality. Please have a look(300 dpi jpeg) or download the high resolution pdf(2.5 mb) for print.

Download from Sendspace

Download from Rapidshare

I would appreciate some feedback and creative input for the chance and community cards - something along the lines of 'Pay __ Dhs toll' or "You have won the DSF lottery.. " etc. I am working on the pdf's of the currency and the property cards which means it be ready for 'print and play' very soon(except the dice, ofcourse).

By the way, I am going on a holiday to the real melting(boiling, as some say) pot and will not be blogging regularly(or not blogging at all) this month. So, Merry Christmas and Eid Mubarak in advance and see you next year!

Petition against Torture

Please sign this petition.





Referred attachment - Al Barari Gulf News Wrap Advert.

Dubai's Tunnel of Death

After the infamous Russian tunnel video, Dubai's very own Rashidiya tunnel is getting YouTubed for all the wrong reasons.

And hey, this is not part of the "pre-plan-ned media campaign to tarnish the image of the country". Ok?

Who is she?

You got to know who she is.

Or take a guess before you go to the Flickr page.