More Design

There is this fantastic art form here that will create a message while using the Arabic script and caligraphy, weave it into a nonlinear graphic art piece. This is just the label from bottled water, but there are others that incorporate philosophical messages into similar works. There are many examples of this of which I will try to capture a few pics of in the future.

Grande Mosque

This is a photo taken on the fly of the Grande Mosque in Abu Dhabi, we haven't gone in yet but plan on doing it soon. This is touted as the 4th largest in the world and can hold 40,000 people!

You'll notice a haze in a lot of the shots that is just humidity, lots of it! You can almost drink the air here.

Palms in Oman

This is a shot from the Shell gas station in the Sultanate of Oman, ( I like writing that it sounds more exotic than just Oman) I'm assuming the palms were planted and are most likely irrigated as is most of the vegetation is this area.

Cool Camel

This camel was cool and content with being trucked around.

Sultanate of Oman

Oh man ! Oman is hot ! Here I are, in the Sultanate of Oman. I became temporarily disoriented which was really bad because I was the driver of the vehicle. No worries mates,...I just need to get out and get reacquainted with my surroundings. Once that was done we got back on the road.

A Sultan is similar to a governor of a province or a region, someone who has complete sovereignity (does not depend on anyone else).

Coffee Pots

If you like bright shiny objects the way I do then take a look at this. Pictured here are two humungeous and very shiny coffee pots forming the gate to a park in the downtown area. That is Lila standing in line for a free coffee handout.

Designs

There are lots of very cool designs here, especially the architecture which is always imaginative and bold. I'll cover this more as we go along but here is some for now.

Hot Hot Hot !

We thought this razor wire looked rather uninviting so what better place for a photo? It is probably protecting water or ice cubes. Note how cool and collected I look. The truth is that I am dying. The sweat is spouting out of my pores, I am totally drenched. Little tiny streams are wandering down from my forehead and soaking my pant cuffs! I can only think of getting home to lay down face first on the cool marble floor.
The shocking thing is that the real heat of the day has yet to come.

Taxi !!

Check out the excellent taxi hailing technique here, unfortunately I couldn't stand in the shade to do this. We were having no luck so we had to go to a large mall because that's where a schwack of cabs drop people off . This is a "take a cab everywhere town" and so there are queues for catching cabs. No problem for me standing in a line up, at least you know you will get one.

Very few people call a cab on the phone it costs extra, and so if you are thinking of coming here you should probably study this photo. (Lila has a "soon to be released novelette" on Abu Dhabi Cabbing,...stay tuned).

Cresent Moon

Ramadan starts after the new moon (no moon) which is why we see the waxing cresent moon symbolized so often. In some areas they insist on actually sighting it, which can delay the event if there is cloud cover.