I was there early last week for work and though is was only 2 full days, there are lots of things that I could conclude.
(This is the National Mosque, the largest mosque in UAE and the 6th largest in the world. At night, its lighted to a aqua blue-ish hue. Beautiful!)
1. Despite being the capital and independent for only 39 years, they are excellent in city planning. Roads inside the city (even in the old parts of the city) are at least 3 lanes wide on each side. Roads towards the suburbs and outskirts of the city are about 4 lanes and above. I was told the Abu Dhabi - Dubai highway is 6 lanes wide. This totally minimises the occurence of traffic jams for a city with a population of 6 million.
2. About 80% of the 6 million population is comprised of foreign nationals. Most of them are from India, Egypt, Pakistan and other parts of the world. I did notice that there was a fair amount of Koreans there as well; so much so that the hotel I stayed in had a few Korean staff to better serve them. On a side note, a Korean waitress spoke to me in her native language during breakfast, thinking I was a comrade. After noticing my puzzled look, she apologized and spoke to me in English. Hehehe...
3. The local citizens of Abu Dhabi seem to be pretty well taken care of by their government. They are pampered with lots of incentives and are very rich. The civil servants are very well paid, and hence almost all of them are with the civil service. You would be hard pressed to find a local working in a private firm.
4. Most of the cars here are high powered, well at least above 2,000 cc. Its rare to spot a car less that engine capacity, though i did see a Peugeot 308, Mini Cooper and a few more smaller cars. Cars here are cheap because there ain't any taxed levied on cars, unlike in Malaysia. Price of petrol is also comparable to Malaysia but if you take into account their average salary in comparison with the price of petrol, then its even cheaper for them. Also, did I mention I saw uncountable number of Bentleys, Porches, Maseratis on the roads here? heck i even saw a few Hummers! Mercedes and BMW just doesnt take the cake here.
5. The locals here love their country a lot, and unlike Malaysia, they are forced to hang flags stick flags on their cars. The governemnt doesnt need to take initiavtive, the locals do! I have seen many Bentleys, Mercedes, Range Rovers and all sorts of expensive cars being painted / decal-ed with the country's flag as well as the Sheikhs face. Some even custom painted their cars with the colours of their flag. These aren't cheap cars mind you! But yeah, i can sense the nationalistic pride while I was there. The night I left was the eve of their Independence day, hence there were decorations over the city.
6. Despite being a Muslim country, it doesnt feel like it is as strict as Malaysia. I guess the 80% foreign population helped changed that. Restaurants here do not have to proclaim that they are halal, people will still eat at those places. Local women are cover up in diffrent amoutn of cloth, but most of them seem to wear only a thin head scarf over their head. Its rare to see women to be fully covered in the burqa.
7. On the other hand, being covered up and just wearing a head scarf (not tudung) seems to be alright with me. Did I mentiont aht the people here look half Caucasian? Man, they have sharp features, nose bridges, and yet maintain that slightly Asian look. Couple with blue/ light hazelnut / green eyes, the people here look great! Guys look macho (partly due to their bigger, more European size) and the women look pretty.
8. In fact, I think its great that the we can only see the women's faces. Less emphasis on them having to dress provocatively just to look pretty. Many a times, I am just stunned by how beautiful some of the women here look, just by looking at their faces. Did I mention the eyes, they have the prettiest eyes over here, coupled with the asian look! OMG!! Eyes are like windows to the soul, and with eyes like those, its like I'm in Heaven!! (Yes, Im a sucker for the eyes, oh also smiles) Yes the Women here seems to have the right proportion of Eyes - nose and mouth width. Which makes them smiling even more appealing. And I dont even have to resort to looking at toher parts of their body (not that I do that, I have objectifying women, but I appreaciate mother nature's beauty ;-p)
Well, yes, those are some of the observations I made during my short stay there. Maybe if I had a longer stay I would be able to learn more abouit their country. Well, till the next time...
Boodyboy, out!!!
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