Whee. Enjoyed Munich so much I missed my connection to Dubai. Had to stay in a hotel in Munich, catch a flight to Quatar in the morning, and then catch another flight from Doha to Dubai. They upgraded me to business from Doha to Dubai which was nice, and I got to my parents place a half hour before christmas day. It was about 48 hours door to door. I honestly thought I was going to have christmas at a german airport hotel!

Dubai is ridiculous. Totally insane. Its one giant construction site and 15% of the world's cranes are in this city alone. It grows exponentially, and has no planning whatsoever. They are building the biggest of everything in the world, and nothing takes longer than 2 years. Everyone loves the benevloent dictators and their pictures are everywhere. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister (you have to write that every time you mention him) is an awesome looking dude, and they seem like pretty darn good rulers actually. They plan to build a comprehensive subway system, and the deadline is 2 years from now. And it WILL be completed in time.

This city is car crazy. The road is streaming with trucks full of construciton materials and people drive like maniacs. The shoulder on Sheikh Zayed road is nicknamed 'the fast lane to Abu Dabi' because cars drive along it at 200km/h (I've seen this a few times already!). Cars are king, and if you joked around on a bike you'd last less than a minute before becoming hamburger. We went and saw where they load the Katyusha rockets into wooden barges to ship to Somalia. They leave all the cargo out and theres no gates. The barges look ready to sink. Somehow it all works.

My parents live in a crazy gated community. Its called 'The Green Community' not because it uses green building principles, but because they dump so much water on it that its a veritable paradise. There are 100 gardeners in the compound, my parents have a live in maid and her husband, plus a gardener to look after the house, and my dad drives a jag, and my mum drives a big mistubish suv. Its so not 'them' its crazy!

This place is simply out of hand. I can't even explain it. Its ******** crazy.

Pics pending my return!