Dubai, 11.00am of a Friday. I find myself wondering if the second-largest city in the United Arab Emirates isn’t also the…emptiest? Later in the day, our tour guide runs the numbers for us (incidentally, he’s a Sri Lankan stat machine non pareil, who, we joke among ourselves, could probably address us in binary): 3,900 square km, and 300 people per square km.
Sure, those numbers mean as little to you as they do to me, but regardless of the population density, this much is true: I am staying in the hub of Dubai — the cutting-edge of “new,” here — yet wherever I turn, there is nothing but elbow room. Arguably too much of it. Read More
If you’re looking for a little rough-and-tumble this weekend, Fighting, starring up-and-comer Channing Tatum, hits the big screen today and promises to deliver on its title, and then some. Earl Dittman talks to Tatum about his work with Oscar-winner Terrence Howard, his two soon-to-be summer blockbusters, and getting smacked around by his mom and sisters, all after the jump.
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Dubai, second-largest city in the United Arab Emirates and home of countless exquisite waterfalls, 6.00pm of a Thursday. I arrive very well-rested. So well-rested that I am feeling a vague mental peace as my group exits the capacious airport, which makes departure-hub Toronto’s own Terminal 1 seem a comparative Greyhound depot.
The relaxed feeling is no doubt to do with the fact that the flight, on the Emirates airline, was beyond pleasant: business class to one of the world’s most opulent destinations, as one might imagine, leaves little to be desired that cannot be fulfilled at the press of a button. Whether the service solution involves a beverage-bearing attendant or a self-activated massage or full-bed function for the multi-position recliner, every contingent need is considered.
Still, it’s only as I am exiting the airport that I realize why I feel particularly comfortable: it’s the breathing room. My earlier comparison to Toronto Terminal 1 is apt, because both of these buildings are engineered to emphasize space, ambience. Dubai’s is bigger, of course, but surely this is the city’s raison d’être. I will soon see if bigger means better.
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