Apologies...

Big News! You can ALL now comment on my blog! How exciting and self-centred of me to declare such a thing... I have to apologise - I hadn't realised that previously the blog had been set so that only 'Registered Users' could comment. I have now changed this so that anyone can comment, and you can even remain anonymous! Furthermore, I have added such delights as the English language - no more do you have to struggle and strive to understand the beautiful Portuguese Language, but you can instead just click on links which are in your own mother tongue. Explore away!

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In other news, I am having a rather warm time in Dubai. Such activities as Wild Wadi (including a slide hailed as the 'tallest and fastest water slide outside of North America, reaching 80kph and experiencing temporary weightlessness') and the Madinat Souk; a trip on an 'Abra' (traditional little ferry boat. Very authentic); trips around huge shopping Malls; lots of swimming and tennis of course, and to the beach have all been undertaken so far. This place is amazing - the pinnacle of innovation, with some of the most beautiful (and the most ugly), and the tallest buildings in the world. (Well, the Burj Dubai was the tallest (although it hasn't been completed yet) but there is now a building being nuilt which will be taller, in China. Not to be outdone, another building is being planned for construction here, which will be over a kilometre in height (the Burj Dubai is just under). The credit crunch, however, has brought this to a halt.) At the same time, it is very hypocritical. With big signs all over proclaiming how the developments are reducing carbon footprint and so on, the very design of the place means that to get anywhere you MUST go by car. And these aren't short journeys, either, and petrol is cheap (£10 to fill up a 4x4 petrol tank?!). And you MUST have a 4x4, because everyone does have one - anything smaller will be crushed in an accident. This might not be a problem if everyone drove well, but the fact is that nobody is good at driving, so to be safe you must have '2 tonnes of metal around you', as dad puts it. The city seems very sporadic - they have not built steadily outwards at all. Instead, there is the centre on the water front, with the Burj Al Arab (which, in my opinion, is a stunning sight) and all the shopping malls, then there are clumps of developments spread out in the desert, only connected by long highways. It seems like the planners had a pin and blindly stuck it in a map to decide where they'd build - there seems to be no order! It's very odd...

So, that's all from me for now. I hope you enjoy commenting...
Blessings!
Aidan x