grooving right along...

The Sky View Bar

OK, three weeks in now and basically settled into a rhythm of sorts. It's still a comfortable place to be, no question about it, and the work is going well: we have a decent repertoire assembled and the group dynamic is coming together nicely. I have figured out where most things are, how to get what I need and not ruffle any feathers doing so.

the lobby at night

And I have passed the initial phase where everything is so new and interesting that you have to try it – meaning, to put it plainly, that I am not eating as much. I've realized that most things are in a kind of rotation and you don't have to put a little of everything on your plate, because if you don't try it this time it will come around again.

the India Court at Ibn Battuta Mall

Additionally, and also hopefully of use in resisting unfettered weight gain, I have managed to make friends with the treadmill. I've never really liked them, I much prefer running outside, preferably in the forest, but with no real option (running outside in the Dubai summer heat would likely be quite dangerous) I am finding it's not so bad. Actually I bought a new pair of runners today, mainly because they were so absurdly cheap compared to Germany.

quite a setting for a Starbucks...

It's a day off and Lars (our bassist) and I went to the Ibn Battuta Mall, which is by far my favourite of those I've managed to visit so far (malls are kind of the centre of all life in Dubai, and there are a lot of them). It's actually kind of six malls all connected, each done in the architectural style of one of the countries – all Muslim at the time – which the 14th century traveler the mall is named after, visited and wrote about.

So you have the China court, the India court, the Persia court, the Egypt court... and I suppose two others, but that's all I managed to get through today. Since Dubai is such a new city, only half-born as it were, there is little 'real' architecture here, and to get the flavour of the city you have to see what's being built now – much of which is pretty outrageous.

the Dubai 'Marina' development

Of course, a great deal of it is also quite bland – clusters of tall glass towers with little to distinguish them from one another. There is an enormous herd of these being thrown up nearby at what is called the Dubai Marina, though it has very little to do with marine services from what I can tell. Something like a hundred huge skyscrapers, business hotels and condominiums, all being built at once, and already apparently over 90% sold. Business, at least the construction business, is booming in Dubai.

A Passage to India?

However, there are also some architectural gems here and there (besides the malls... with or without indoor ski hills), one of which is right next door to us here, the Madinat Jumeirah complex. Jumeirah is the company that owns and runs the Burj Al'Arab, and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel across the street, and a host of other hotels and developments besides. It's a big company, and being a big employer with close ties to the Royal Family, quite powerful as well. As usual, I find it very strange working for large companies, but perhaps it's imprudent to go into too much detail on that...

a secluded nook at Mina A'Salaam

In any case, Jumeirah have turned away in recent years from the ultra-modern eye-popping style that the Burj represents, and towards a more traditionally-inspired idiom. The result is the Madinat complex, incorporating two large hotels, the Mina A'Salaam and the Al Qasar. The latter is another gated, ultra-luxury project like the Burj and I have not been inside, but the Mina A'Salaam is open and it is, to me, really much more beautiful and tasteful than the over-the-top opulence here (supposedly the Al Qasar is even better;

they also have a desert oasis resort, out in the middle of nowhere, called Bab Al Shams, which I'm told is worth a visit too). There is also a theatre, some private luxury villas, and a 'souk', which means marketplace but it's really more like a low-rise mall with a bit of a traditional Arabic cast to the architecture. It's a tourist trap in some ways, and the deals are not the best in town, but actually it's kind of a nice place to wander through. And it gets me out of the hotel.

The whole compound is arranged around 3 km of artificial lagoon, beautifully manicured, with island villas and sculptured gardens and traditional boats called Abras putting slowly around taking guests from place to place.

the harbour at Madinat

As with so many things here, none of it is 'real' at all, but it's really quite pleasant all things considered. For a bit of a splash but still well below what a stay in the Burj will run you, it would probably be rather nice. Not that I'm advertising.

Well, as I say, I have more or less adjusted to this rather surreal lifestyle. It really is not too unpleasant.

Besides rehearsing, performing, eating and sleeping, I have spent a fair bit of time watching World Cup matches with Lars and Vadim, the Russian pianist from the lobby band. Still have not found the rhythm to get the creative process kick-started, but hopefully once the World Cup is over that will happen of its own accord. I did finally manage to get to the beach, although it was the middle of the night. I will leave you with this picture of the hotel in its evening dress...

Burj Al Arab - first thoughts

the main lobby at the Burj

OK, I've been here for almost a week now, I guess it's about time I got around to writing a few things down and sending them out there into that world – the one I suppose is still out there, somewhere, beyond the confines of the lovely but artificial realm which is, for the moment, my home. I'm afraid it will be very much in my usual meandering style; I will however try to break it up a bit so it's not all in one big chunk. Some of you know how difficult that is for me; I hope you appreciate it!...

the circular fountain

I have taken some pictures, and i will post a few here, but it's difficult for me to really capture and convey how strange it is here. At the moment, for example, I am sitting in the lobby cafe listening to the resident traditional quartet playing what sounds like classical Persian music on Ney, Riq, Santur and Oud). I can't take a picture of them as photos are not allowed in this area. Above me stretches the atrium which, even if I could take a picture, it would be impossible to give any real sense of. It's enormous.

the view from my floor

I have taken a few from above – from my floor, the 9th (really the 18th, as each floor is actually two; all the main suites are on two levels. My own humble room has a false ceiling, above which is a technical area; I'm not entirely sure what exactly it's for, but thankfully it does not seem to be used much, at least not while I'm there) and from the 18th (36th) where the spa and fitness room are. Hopefully they can give you some idea...

from the 18th floor

Of course, everything here (besides our rooms) is aimed at all-out, over-the-top, no-holds-barred opulence. For the most part, they achieve it. It's an impressive level of service, if sometimes a little surreal. I think I have been thanked more in the past few days than in the previous 5 years, and for no apparent reason. They say thank you at every possible interaction with a guest. They thank you for riding in the elevator; for giving them your dirty laundry; for walking through the lobby. They thank you when they put the cappuccino you've ordered on your table. Thank you sir, for allowing me to get out of your way. And of course, always, a smile. It's a bit unnerving. Thankfully some of the staff allow themselves a bit of latitude in their relations with the entertainers, a bit of joking around; it's not all as sterile and artificial as it sounds.

after the gig

They tell me around 1200 people work here. I'm not sure if that includes the entertainers or not (there are 10 of us, by my count – the trio I play in, a Russian quartet who play light classical and such, a strolling guitarist who plays on the terrace, an Armenian pianist who plays melodic easy listening, and a harpist in the fish restaurant downstairs, also Russian; oh, and the traditional quartet, but they don't stay in the hotel), as we fall between the cracks a little – not really staff, not really guests, in a kind of grey area.

dessert

We have most of the priveledges of guests, we can eat in some of the restaurants - not all, but then we don't have to pay in the ones we are allowed in... we can use the spa and fitness facilities, come and go more or less as we please as long as we're dressed sharp and on time for the gig. Par for the course, and certainly not a bad way to pass the days, if a bit isolated. The space-station effect.

cleaning the fishtank

Anyway, with about 205 suites, that's around 6 staff per suite. When you take into account everything that is involved – a concierge and a butler per 'floor' – there are suites on 24 floors – on duty around the clock; reception staff in the lobby, around the clock; cooks and waiters and hosts and bartenders and sommeliers at 4 restaurants and a handful of bars and cafes; therapists, fitness coaches and various attendants at a fully-appointed spa; clerks at several luxury shops; cleaning staff for all of the above (as well as the fountains and the giant aquarium; see photo); lifeguards for the outdoor pool and the private beach; drivers for the fleet of Rolls Royce limos, on duty all the time; ditto for the buggies which are the main form of transport across the bridge (to the beach areas, the neighboring water park and other hotels in the complex, and the 'souk' - really a kind of mall with a nod to traditional market architecture. It's simply too hot to walk). You begin to get the idea. The place is actually quite seriously understaffed, with many employees working literally absurd hours.

18th floor panorama

The hotel is really in two wings; the 'billowing sail' which stretches between them, constituting the hotel's facade from the land side (more on this later) is more or less just that – some sort of fabric-like material stretched across a huge frame, and designed to let the wind blow through it to help keep it cool in here. So far so good – at least a tiny nod to ecological concern at the design level. Sadly, that's about as far as it goes; in fact, this place is like a gigantic temple of waste on almost every other level – the endless piles of top-quality towels and linens laundered every day. The ship which comes every night to dredge the channel between the Burj and the mainland to keep it from silting in – for then we would no longer be on an island. I cannot imagine the amount of food from the buffets – amazing food, really, superbly prepared from the freshest and finest ingredients – that is thrown away at the end of each day. I do my best to eat as much of it as I can, but after all there is only so much that one man can do...

OK I'll wrap it up there for today. I'll try to keep momentum and write fairly frequently, at least as long as it seems interesting enough to write about. More soon!
t

this is getting out of hand...

I am, unbelievably, writing from 35,000 feet in the air. Posting a blog entry. We are travelling at 575 miles per hour, and are somewhere north of Turkey, if the electronic map in front of me is to be believed. South of Yalta. A friendly man just came through the cabin with free vouchers to try the onboard broadband wireless LAN for 30 minutes for free. We are definitely entering the twilight zone.

Stranger still is the fact that Lars, the bassist with whom I will be playing for the next 4 months, is sitting next to me and talking to his girlfriend on Skype. This is truly insane...

Anyway. I will elaborate on this very shortly- but for now I thought I'd say Hi, just because - again, unbelievably - I can, and because it's been so ridiculously long since I posted anything. I have been meaning to, of course, but normal life has proven remarkably distracting over the last few months. However, here I am... on my way to Dubai, to live in a 7-star hotel for four months. It's a little disorienting, but I am going to try to make the most of it... OK, details to follow...

t