DUBAI RISING
W
ake-ups
I could have lazed in the posh
to Burj Khalifa — the tallest
observation deck, I couldn’t
calls sound
living room, worked at the free
building on the planet. (Dubai
help but gasp at the light
harsh in any
Wi-Fi equipped office, dined
rightfully flaunts a slew of
reflecting from this site. Below,
language.
at a table recessed in a round
these superlatives.)
a pea-sized city looked as
Ticketed guests enter the
if I was viewing it from an
But, they ring hideous when
nook, and used a second
you’ve gone to bed just a
bathroom. Instead, I slumped
tower and stroll past a series
airplane, but of course, I was
few hours earlier, following
with jet-lag into a magnificent
of construction photos and art,
not. Burg Khalifa stretches a
24-hours in-flight. However
king-sized bed at two in the
and then pose for an obligatory
massive 2,716.5 feet in the air,
groggy I was, dawn beckoned
morning, almost unaware of the
souvenir photo taken en route
and even from the 124th floor
and I had little time to waste.
room’s most gaga addition — a
to the elevator. About 10-12
platform, some 26 stories still
I’d traveled thousands of miles
triangular glassed-in space.
folks fit (my group spanning
teeter above.
and was scheduled for a full
The staff explained that guest’s
many nationalities) and when
day of touring. I glanced out
children sometimes use the
the doors close, a multi-
glass enclosures, I regained
the floor-to-ceiling windows,
recessed bed for sleeping,
colored psychedelic light and
my bearings and soaked in
sound show begins playing
a panoramic party of epic
Stabilizing myself against the
and then stood, agog at the
but Iby Leah reclined to
would have Walker
glistening new city rising from
daydream in the sexy glass
on the walls. Simultaneously
proportions. Fortunately, the sky
the sea. The vista of downtown
point, surrounded by a starry
a digital monitor displaying
remained clear; no sand storms
Dubai from the 33rd floor
sky — and preferably with a
floor numbers whizzes by in
blew in, as are common.
of Jumeirah Emirates Hotel
glass of wine.
Towers presented itself like
none I’d ever seen before.
The JumeirahTowers,
Alas, I had no
time to indulge
high-tech
rapid succession. The
Burg
Khalifa
stretches
a massive
2,716.5ft in
the air
elevator jettisons
From on high, I could see
the flat desert, the simple land
passengers
mass that was the entire city
from the
until recently. Over the past
lowest to
ten years, Dubai has risen
highest
at an unprecedented pace,
stop at
as if Sheikh Mohammed, the
a rate of
emirate’s ruler, doused the
ten meters
sands with Miracle Grow. His
two sister structures, were
buttons
constructed early in Dubai’s
that
rags to riches rally. Since April,
operated
2000, one has served as an
black-out
office building and the other, a
curtains
hotel: actually the world’s third-
and opened
tallest all-hotel building. The
blinds. I
shimmery steel and glass icons
dressed and
exude power and pride, and
descended to the
lucky me, I’d slept a few hours in
lobby in a crystal clear elevator
floor in one minute flat. Whew!
and mega-malls with indoor
one of their 40 fabulous suites.
in time to be whisked off to the
Strangely, I don’t recall my
aquariums and ski resorts.
Dubai Mall. The mall makes a
ears popping.
Dubai has been described as
Had I arrived earlier the
previous evening as planned,
convenient entrance for visitors
or almost
33 feet per
second. We
reached the 124th
As I stepped onto the
dream metropolis now includes
state-of-the-art infrastructure,
eight-lane highways,
computerized mass transit,
a city of excess, Vegas without