Peggy in Sharjah: September 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Marina at Intercontinental Hotel and Festival City, Dubai

Docking in front of the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai. 28 September 2008
The largest yachts are the closest in to the hotel and the mall. The marina is modest in size, but the location is prime. While I was walking through the Intercontinental Hotel, a helicopter was landing at the marina. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, took photos, from the hotel lobby, of the party on the chopper, right after it landed. This event illustrates the luxuries in Dubai.

Lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai

Dubai Intercontinental Hotel. 28 September 2008.
The Intercontinental Hotel is a landmark. The old hotel close to the sea on the corniche was sold and this new Intercontinental Hotel was built at Festival City located at the inland tip of the Creek. Festival City is one of the popular malls in Dubai. The three pencil sketches of the Dubai Sheikhs line the lobby wall across from the check-in counter. Artistic arrangement of the flowers decorate the long hall.

Birds in my backyard at AUS, Sharjah

Back yard birds at AUS. 30 September 2008
Lots of active little birds spend quite a bit of time in my small backyard, eating insects, probably those big black ants. They are not only actively moving around, but they talk to each other allthe time. It's nice to hear the different voices of the various birds in my neighborhood. Several different varieties come in for a landing, but I don't know what they are. One day a stunningly beautiful big bird landed on the chain-link fence to the right of my yard. Its chest was a peach color, its top feather a dark grey to black, and its tail feathers a gorgeous sky blue. It looked almost like a parrot, bit it wasn't. I got out my camera, but when it saw me through the patio glass, it flew off -- at the speed of light. I've never seen birds fly so fast as these right here. Notice the round white spot on the side of the bird's face in the photo. Another identical spot is on the other side.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Jute bags: Gulf News' gift to its readers.

Sharjah, UAE. 29 Sept 2008
Dubai's prime daily newspaper Gulf News is distributing jute bags to its 200,000 subscribers for free. I received the two jute bags because obviously I'm a subscriber. Supporting its environmentally "Go Green" campaign, Gulf News is encouraging less use of plastic and supporting eco-friendly alternatives. These specially designed jute bags are multi-colored, differing from the usual single-colored jute bags. They were designed in Dubai and manufactured in India. It took three months to make them. According to Gulf News, jute is concentrated in Bangladesh and India where the soil is fertile and alluvial. Jute needs rain, too, and very little fertilizer. Gulf News reports that jute is 100 percet biodegradable. I wonder why U.S. newspaper don't do something similar, like inserting an item in their papers in an effort to promote environmental and needed social causes. These jute bag inserts definitely raise our collective environmental consciousness. It was a real treat to see the bags laying there outside my door with my Monday morning newspaper.