Toys Are Us

I think this Hummer is a bit too big to pull this little wooden trailer, even if it is packed with toys for children to play with. This display was at the Mercato Centre.

Trickcyclist

Besides the acrobats, as shown yesterday, Wafi City was also entertaining the shoppers with this trick cyclist. He was very good and did some quite amazing things on his unicycle.

Legs Eleven

A bingo reference here for these acrobats, doing a demonstration for shoppers at Wafi City. They attracted quite a crowd, who applauded politely during the show. The main aim was to give a diversion during shopping, as they were part of the shopping festival.

The Sky's The Limit

Besides all the new hotels, apartment blocks and offices that are being constructed around Dubai, a new monorail route is currently underway. It's a huge project and almost every road is affected in one way or another. I understand it is going to go both overground and underground & that the trains will be driverless. Should be good when its finished.

What Price Vanity?

Here's a shot of a rather vain plant preening itself in the mirror & making sure all it's leaves are in order!

There's No "T" In Coffee

I guess it's why this outlet sells coffee and not tea. As for some unknown reason, one of the "T"s has become unstuck from the wall. I hope they mend it quickly, otherwise it might cause an accident.

Mirror Mirror On The Ceiling

I took this shot at the airport during those long hours after checking in, but before boarding. Dubai airport is huge has quite a few duty free shops to keep one amused and spending. But being a photographer, my eyes were always looking around for something to snap, even though photography is not supposed to be allowed. Couldn't resist this jewellery stand that had a mirrored roof.

Frozen In Time

This rather macabre tableaux was inside the Wafi City shopping centre. I couldn't work out what it was supposed to be promoting. I thought it looked quite colourful though in a ghoulish, Tim Burton kind of way.

Bag It Up

Here's the carrier bag figure I was writing about yesterday. Quite an amusing little character isn't he. The sweets he was handing out were quite tasty. I resisted though and only had the one.

Handbags and Gladrags

This rather attractive handbag collection, is one of three promotions girls that are walking around the Burjuman mall highlighting the shopping festival. There is also a large red carrier bag accompanying them. He hands out sweets to passers by. Naturally they were causing quite a stir, and spent ages being photographed by visitors and shoppers alike.

Let's Hit The Beach

This is the Jumeirah Beach Hotel taken from the restaurant of the Burj Al Arab hotel. Both hotels are about the best there is until the Burj Dubai is completed sometime next year.

Sitting in the Sun

Here's a great spot along the Creek to have a drink and whtch all the water traffic go by. It's right at the top, so all the boats etc have to turn round there and go back down to the other end where the sea is.

Eat Like an Egyptian

Here's another view of Wafi City shopping mall. You can tell the scale of the figures by the people standing close to them. Incidently there was a big dinner going on in the restaurant, and the waiters were parking the guests' cars.

Sleepyhead

what's better than having a lie-in on a Sunday morning? Hopefully finding a very comfortable and relaxing bed. Here's Dubai's branch of a top bedding store.

Flying Horses

This tiled mural of Arabian stallions in full gallop can be seen at Dubai's international airport. You aren't supposed to take photos inside the airport, but I couldn't resist taking a snap or two, which is the reason why the photo isn't the best I've ever taken.

Meter in the Heat

Up till around 2 years ago parking in Dubai was free, but now parking meters have sprung up all over the place. I have never driven in Dubai, as it is far too scary. I think tailgating is one of the rules of the road. I have not seen any traffic wardens or indeed parking tickets on our visits. So maybe they are not taken too seriously.

Plain Sailing

Here's a shot of Jumeriah Beach close to the Hilton Hotel. I liked the look of this small boat with its colourful sails. In the background you can see the usual cranes which seem to be a standard feature of the Dubai skyline these days.

Past Times

This model of a wind tower is at the entrance to Sheikh Saeed's house. Although it's not some much a house in the normal sense of the word, but more of a scaled down version of a castle. Most of the rooms show photograps of Dubai as it changed over the years from a small fishing village, to the metropolis we all know today.

Licenced to Thrill

The title is a bit of an exageration for today's photograph, a Dubai car registration plate in Arabic. The first 5 characters of the licence plate read 683HH. I'm not sure what the last character is, althought is really the first, as Arabic script is read right to left.

Night Tower

Here is one of the Emirates towers taken at night, without a tripod. I'm not sure whether this is the office block or the hotel. But they are a prominent feature of the Dubai skyline.