Dubai under construction 2

As I stood in the sun doing my sketches of the city scape of Dubai laid out all around me from the top of the building where my son has his apartment I realized how hot it really is here. For the past week or so I have either spent most of my time indoors doing my paintings or the weather has been mild where the heat is concern and it was even rainning quite out of season according to those who has been here long enough.

The cityscape is like the aftermath of a science fiction where after a nuclear holocaust the whole population decided to rebuild their city from ground zero on wards except that this whole area was nothing but barren desert not two decades ago! Thanks to the far sightedness of the Maktum (The Ruler of Dubai and Deputy Primeminister of the Emerates) the city of Dubai has emerged from the desert sands like sand castles. There is so many buildings filling up the skyline and so much construction activities going on that the whole city feels like one huge construction site. Where does all the materials and machineries come from is only the most basic of questions compared to who is going to occupy all these rooms and buildings when they are completed? like what really is the population of Dubai itself and are the majority of the locals not already situated in their exhorbitantly built villas?

Well who am i to ask these silly questions in the face of such an awesome undertaking perhaps comparable to the construction of the Egyptian construction of the city of Luxor by Rameses in the ancient times or perhaps the Babylon of Humurabai. Any which way, Dubai will one day stand out as something the history books tells about as far as constructtions goes and in the meantime suffice to say that i am glad to be able to behold such a historic moment in the making even if it means staring at cranes and being dusted by cement trucks and oggled at by Pakistanis and Philipinos.

Perhaps its the Eimir's way of sharing the wealth of State with the rest of the world while giving his people all that he can give while at the same time putting Dubai and the rest of the Emerates on the pages of History. It is greatly hope that history will reflect his efforts as such and not the the man who 'built sand castles in the desert'.

In these times of economic woes all over the world, a project undertaken like this is a very noble act realized by the rest of the world or not. The money earned by the oil and gas is put to use to generate income not for the Emerates alone but for the entire world as they supply the workers, the materials, the expertise and so forth. In this sense it is a brilliant economic as well as identity building or what i would call the 'Branding of Dubai' as a State in the Emerates.

Mural 3

The third project I set upon was comissioned by Steve another Emerates pilot who lives upstairs from my son's apt. Steve is originally from Arizona and his apartment is very well decorated with earth tones of warm Arizonian Landscape. We settled for a solitary tree painted on assorted sizes of canvasses grouped together. When finished the canvasses will be seperated from each other leaving an inch gap creating hopefully and added interesting twist to the dimension of the painting.
Steve, Naz and i spent quite a while choosing the canvasses at an art shop and spreading the all over the floor outside the shop to pick out the most feasible choice of combinations. Steve I found is a very meticulous person and as evidenced by the decor of his living space one cannot help but salute the man. I guesse this is where the difference is between the successful and the not so, that is why he flies for Emerates, its in the character.

Steve envisioned a blazing sunset in the back ground and a monochromatic bonzai type tree in the foreground with colors that are in sync with his walls. This was what I try to evoke in my rendition of this piece. What is tough about doing this painting is that it is very hard on the back. I utillized large brushes and acrylic using mostly burnt umber as my primary color. Perhaps it is where I am or maybe the beautiful company of those who I love and being loved by that has given me this energy to be creatively active again AND AT LEAST WHILE IT LAST I AM GOING TO ENJOY IT TO THE MAX.

Do buy or die...The Souks/The Creek

Took a trip to the Deira District where the 'Creek' or the water front area of Dubai lies. Here the gold and spice souks or business outlets are carried out with all kinds of spices from all over the world. This is said to Dubai's original market scene in the older days and the old wooden boats that were used back in time are still parked along the quay loaded with their cargoes from the bigger ships that are anchored at the harbour not too far from where they are.

Naz, Eli and her friend from Scotland and myself took a ride on one of the smaller ferry boats along the creek which gave us a great view of the cityline and its tall structures. It was and incredible sight to behold of the buildings along the creek as they were all almost new and their designs well thought out instead of the regular triangular shapeless structures of most buildings found in the cities all over the world.

Evertyhting offcourse was overly expensive and i felt sorry for my son who had to bear the cost of the whole trip including a lunch at a not too cheap restaurtant on the water front. However I know that he is out to give his dad the best after fifteen years of not seeing him and if I were in his shoes I would do no less, like father like son when it comes to spending it seems we know no bounds so long as everyone was happy and satisfied. My son throws a BBQ party once every week at his apartment, inviting his fellow Emerates Pilots and crew members to get together and and again het foots the bill like there is no end to it. I only hope that his charitable heart does not go unreciprocated and that he will always have close and caring friends for in his times of need.

THE SOUQ
Deira's souq, the town's public market, was lined with narrow, covered passageways. With 350 shops of commodities from around the world, it was the largest market in the region.
‘Many of the craftsman in the suq had no shop, but worked on a vacant piece of ground as close as possible to their clients. They were known by name, and the cry would go round the suq, "Where is Hassan the mattress-maker?" until it reached him and he was able to make contact with the potential client. A mattress-maker's creation was vulnerable to visits from passers-by, who might stop to pray on it or simply to rest and chat.’1

It is sad to notice that most of these stalls are owned or run by Indians and Pakistanis and rarely do you find any Emerati or real Arab to deal with. Most of these guys are not any different than the ones I find back in Malaysia, they have an attitude problem when it comes to dealing with those who look like them and would salivate over any European or Caucasian women. But them are the breaks when a country has to depend on foreign workers to get its job done. It is like the story of the camel and its master on a cold night in the desert. First the master allowed the camel to lay its head in the tent then its neck and then slowly but surely its body and out came the master being kicked out of his own tent. It is happening in Malaysia and no doubt here too. As it is most taxis are driven by Pakistanis or Indians here and over time there is no way that this is ever going to change and so the locals as well as those who come as visitors will have to bear the demands that they will make in the future.

My second Mural in Dubai

Having completed the mural on my son's living room wall I was comissioned to do one on the wall of his colleague who happened to live the floor right below his apartment. Scott wanted me to do a surfing painting on his wall and so I offered to do Hokusai's Waves at Nakagawa and insert a surfer into it instead of the fishing boats as is on the original painting. The size is about six feet by four and is going to be framed by Jack another friend of my son's who has a interior renovation company.

Everyone who has viewed this painting seemed to like it and it is not too shaby if I may say so myself. I am now being comissi0ned to do another wall two floors up from this floor, only this time the owner wants it done on a group of canvasses forming one painting. It is to be of a single tree initially suggested as the Joshua tree but later was changed to a bonsai tree. The size of the painting as a whole is about seven feet by six that will fit into a living room wall. The colors will be mono chromatic to match the earthly colors of the living room.

Went out to dinner with my son and my (potential daughter in law)Eli along with Steve and his sister Megan who was visiting him and his lady friend, Lucia . Steve is an Emerate Pilot and is the one who wants the tree done in his living room. We ate at a Spanish Restaurant and the food was out of sight! But the cost for the whole meal came to about 700Dirham! Which is almost six hundred Malasian Ringgit, it made my hair stand just to think about it. However it was for five people and the Emerate Pilots gets a fifty percent discount or something at some of these places, so not too bad..

On the next evening we had dinner with one of Naz's closest friend and I like this guy like my own son, his name is Tareq and he is originally from Jordan but rather be a Colombus,Ohio boy . It is something about him that wins your heart immediately, perhaps his mannerisms, his gentle manliness yet you know this guy is tougher than a nail if he chooses to be so.

We had our dinner at a Persian Restaurant eating Iranian dishes and the lamb dish i ordered was the most delicious leg of lamb I have had in my life and i have had many lamb dishes
cooked in various cultures albeit roasrted or cooked as Kurma curry as in Kassim Mustafa's restaurant in Penang. I have a preference of lamb over all other kinds of meat like beef or chicken, however eversince I was informed that my blood pressure can be a problem a couple of months ago I am a little weary of eating mutton. So far so good and i have been have quite a fair amount of it eversince i have been in this country and my head head has maintained a good level of chronic pains that has off and on been a part of its existance, nothing out of the ordinary.

The various other dishes ordered by the others were as equally tasty as we shared small portions for the sake of tasting. Having had this dinner I felt like i have a good sense of what Middle Eastern Food was all about. However Tarek insisted that there is an even more interesting place to eat that we will check out in the future God willing.

Dubai At Night

Took a drive with my son in his Subaru hot rod that somehow gives me a feeling that we were always out of sync witht he rest of the crowd when it comes to cars and RVs in Dubai. Like all great pilots flying the Marktoum's fleet of Emerates Air, my son drives like a maniac on the Dubai dusty and often muddy highways although he swears and insists that the rest of the Emeratis who drove their BMWs and Messeratis were total idiots when it comes to driving. Dubai is considered the second most congested city only to Cairo when it comes to traffic in the whole of the Middle East and sources say that the volume of vehivcles on the road is ever growing. I asked one of my son's colleagues why everyone drives big and heavy Rvs. and he said that it is for safety reasons and not prestige. Most of the roads are excellent, however being relatively newly constructed, however during the rainy days one sees lighted signs warning against 'ponds' on the road. In an area of what used to at one time being a desert this is a modern day miracle for Dubai. On a more serious note i foresee a major problem for the city if the municipality does not pay carefull attention to proper drainage system as part of its blueprint, I do not even want to dwell on what the sewage system is like as yet.

The world's tallest building like 'the needle whose eye through which the camel could not pass' strikes up into the desert skies like a lightning rod inviting the wrath of Allah. This structure has brought the Petronas Twin Towers a notch down from being the tallest phallic symbol man has created pointing at the heavens. It stands among some of the the most uniquely designed architectures in modern times lining the skyline of what is the Heart od Dubai City. In ancient times the Beduins musy have congregated in the area never imagining in their wildest dreams that their Wadis would one day become a world class city.

Where Mecca and Madina draws muslims from all over the world yearly, The Emerates is a shopper's heaven and visitors comes from all over the world to have a great time fulfilling whatever their needs may be. This is the future playground for the rich and famous no doubt after all the infra structures has been set and the last of the tower cranes has disappeared from the skyline, perhaps The Emerates will be ready to do some serious tourism business.

In the meantime what do I really feel about my being here so far? It is too sterile for me, this place is like there is very little human warmth, like one big bazaar where alot of business florishes but you will never know what the other guy feels beyond the Dirhams. The locals, as far as foreigners are concern is like oil and water and symbolically it spells outright in their traditional costumes of men in white and women in black long robes. The foreigners are here to earn a living mostly in one form or another and what with the global economic as it is, one goes where the money is and most are not here to socialize or learn about the native or the country and its social customs, norms and religion. I have yet to meet a real home boy Emerati someone who I could sit and talk to about life here, dive beneath the surface and touch the bases of culture and traditions, but that is not going to happen not in the near future, not on this trip.

I am watching my son live his life, reflecting over what his sense of values are and what makes him tick while holding back a father's role and enjoying what is being offered with grace and thankfulness. I have almost completed two murals since I arrived and am quite happy with the outcome, safe to say that I have left my mark on the walls in Dubai as an artist. I am enjoying the fantastic food and company my son and his friends has to offer and the sights that I would never have behold had I not been here. I am in another country on another journey to find out.

Deep down I feel a kind of loneliness, an empty feeling like something is missing. Maybe I miss my two children back in Malaysia, but that's not entirely true as they are well cared for and are most probably glad that I am out of their hair for a while. Maybe this is part of ageing a process that creeps up on you whenever you are having fun and whispers in your ears that 'this too will pass'. Bright lights and glittering tall sky scrapers, luxurious dinings at fancy restaurants, I hunger for deeper more meaningful conversations and spiritual awakenings not talks of fish n chips and the traffic in Dubai.

The unveiling of the Mural

An inauguration party was held to unveil the Mural on Naz's wall although it was officially unannounced as such but all those who were there were forced to take their pictures against the wall! It gives me a great feeling to have been able to create something in a short period of time and hear the compliments for it. It is such an opportunity to be able to express myself with no pressures hammering at my mind knowing that I am in my son's home and his care I feel a sense of temporary relief from the life I am leading in Malaysia. And this too will pass, as the great Jalaludin the Sufi Master in his infinite wisdom once said. However I am going to enjoy this temporary reprieve no matter how short it may be and make the best out of it by possibly doing as many more murals as I can afford to on other walls as there has been requests to do so.

The guests were all employees of the Emerates Air off course, pilots and flight attendants from all over the world and it was just as exciting for me to watch my son living his own life among his friends and colleagues a far cry from how I lived mine and an even more distant cry from that of my father's.

I am experiencing a whole different world of existance as compared to those I have had before. This is where the successful hang out, the captains and the crews of one of the most 'prestigious airline' in the world today and they each in their own ways have their own special personalities that makes them who they are and yet when you talk to them you find them to be down to earth ordinary kids learning the ropes of survival in a mixed up world.

A Shot At The Mountain

I started painting the Mural on living room wall of my son's apartment two days ago and is now almost completed. The theme sort of materialised as I got al;ong wiht the help on my son's inputs and suggestions as to what he would like to have. The end product is a scene of a winter scene of Mount Fuji with a Tori ( a Japanese Arch or gate) in the fore ground and an archer striking a stance underneath the arch. The Painting was done with acrylic paint in black and white using the acrylic spray to pull the painting together. So far the painting has received mostly positive comments from my son's friends and visitors to the apartment.