i consider an advertising agencies as the hub of the city, because they offer their communication services to everyone, dealing with everyone… they keep monitoring everything going on in the city so they can communicate well with their advertising, create good brand that can stand out and solve the their clients communication problems.

for me, being working in the strongest advertising agency in abu dhabi which means lots of different clients i can say that abu dhabi is absolutely booming .. i never seen or heard about anything like this, new companies everyday, new employees everyday, unqualified people are getting fired, people are coming from all over the world…

but,

the city wasn’t ready for this at all, so:

- accommodation problems [i will write about this in a separate post].

- there is no enough parking for the cars, and it’s normal to see cars parking anywhere, everywhere.

- very bad services everywhere, because companies used to hire unqualified people who were good enough before this booming, but now everyone is suffering from this bad services that doesn’t stand with the standard of living that people expect to have when they decided to come to abu dhabi.

hmmmm, simply this abu dhabi is not ready at all for this booming… but i am sure things will change, because things can’t remain like this, and the good things is that the government is aware of the situation, but when things will change!

let’s get real and take a look inside abu dhabi .. all what you need to do is go for a walk “inside” abu dhabi .. forget the beautiful corniche and the amazing parks and go for a walk in the streets of abu dhabi like: hamdan street, electra st., al najda st., el moroor st., …… any street, it doesn’t matter which one you will choose, they are all the same …

well, this is what you will usually see:

so forget about all what you heard about how calm is abu dhabi, this is abu dhabi, most of the time…

if you walk for just half an hour, this is what you will face:

- people don’t know how to walk! seriously, while you are walking it’s normal to find someone pushing you, or just stop suddenly without leaving a space for the rest to keep moving, or or or….

- all what you will hear and see is people spitting! i am serious .. and i can bet, in just half an hour walk you can count more than 100 spit, and if you didn’t give attention while you are walking, you will be so lucky if you don’t get one on you, or at least having hundreds of them on the bottom of your shoes!

disgusting.

- after your walk, just try to get a taxi ..

first it’s so difficult to find one

second, try to be a nice, civilized, respectful person and stand in a lane waiting for your turn to get a taxi, just try, and i can assure you that you will stand there for hours without getting a taxi.

well, that’s enough .. won’t say anymore, you should experiment the streets of abu dhabi yourself!

good luck!

- flowers and plants are everywhere, just go for a walk and you will see flowers everywhere, plants everywhere ..i used to wake-up early and go for a walk through the parks and enjoy the smell of the flowers, and of course in company with my camera .. amazing start of a day.

- shopping malls, cafe shops, restaurants, night clubs, bars .. these are the places where u can find the people who lives in abu dhabi! and these places are always full!

beautiful and clean city, .. with people who just enjoy their life, just indoor!

- and also u can see things like this on the corniche and the parks:

so, a beautiful corniche, interesting parks everywhere, and… empty, most of the time! where are the people? in the next post i will tell you where are the people!

- and more people…

and as you can see this city is just a mix of lots of nationality .. it’s just normal here to go out with a group of 6 different nationalities .. it’s so interesting!
but,
where are the local people!
seriously, where are the local people?
i really mean it, where are the local people?

this is the most thing i like about abu dabi .. the beautiful corniche and lovely parks parallel with the corniche .. & this is what u can see if u take a walk on the corniche, or decided to relax in one of the parks .. let’s start with the people..

just so busy, this is why i’m not posting anymore, but i wanted to .. and i was just waiting for any “push”, and i got the “push” from cairogal .. so thank you very much cairogal.

well, i will continue talking about abu dhabi, lots of things to talk about, lots of positives and negatives .. and lots and lots of photos.

i started this serious [abu dhabi .. i love this city] because i wasn’t really sure that i will stay for long time here in abu dhabi, so i was trying to share with you the positive things in abu dhabi before i leave it .. but since i am really sure now that i will stuck here for a while :-) so this will be the last of this series.
and i will end it with these flowers:

and with some lovely words:
” I love Abu Dhabi for many reasons.. For the very reason of me being born & bred here.. For the very reason of its peaceful salty waters.. Tranquil life.. Easy going pace.. Security.. But one of the things that ruin this loveliness, is RACISM :( There’s a huge difference between an emirati & an expatriate over here.. And the more I live the more I see it.. The more I get affected by it.. It’s sad to witness this in a muslim country.. Really sad..

I love this place.. I love its courniche.. I love flying kites in its sky.. I love riding the bike on its smooth land.. I love driving the car so fast (but not getting caught by its radars ;) ) in it’s khalidya & corniche.. I love how I could get to swim in a ladies whole beach (and also swimming pools).. I love how I could ride a horse with a female trainer.. I love how cleanliness is a part of its identity.. I love the diversity here.. I love how I can walk & hear over five different languages being spoken.. I love how when I teach, there are more than ten different nationalities sitting in front of me.. I love how the flowers are growing everywhere.. I love it when car drivers here wait for a lady to cross & while doing that, they lower their car’s front lights, so that her whole body won’t be on display.. I love how the buildings have good maintenance programs..

I could go on forever..”

those lovely words by [sara]

abu dhabi taxis:

before,

old cars .. very dirty from outside .. more dirt inside .. smells like shit .. horrible, ignorant and unprofessional drivers .. very difficult to get a taxi .. runs by individuals [the drivers].

now,

new cars .. stupid silver color with a stripe of islamic motifs that you can’t see! .. clean from both outside and inside .. smells good .. nice, friendly and professional drivers .. very easy to find a taxi anywhere anytime .. runs by 7 companies .. one toll free line for any comments.

what i want to say is: they know where is the problems, and they take action.

Steve Jobs .. a man who had a dream, a dream to change the world, a big challenge ..
and here he is, he is changing the world.

check out the world’s thinnest notebook.[ MacBook Air ]

he: hani, i got some bad news!
me: tell me.
he: you should adapt the whole art works you did to the new corporate identity of abu dhabi, so, more work for you.
me: new corporate identity of abu dhabi!
he: yes.
me: you mean abu dhabi city has a corporate identity!
he: yes.
me: and they have a corporate identity manual!
he: yes.
me: and they following their corporate identity guide line!
he: i hope so, they just released it, it’s new thing, and they asked me to follow it.
he: see, i know it’s to hard to do the whole thing again, but we should.
me: i love this city.
he: !!!

welcome to abu dhabi [ brand ]

sunrise :-)

abu dhabi, the riches city in the world!
this is one of the reasons why i love this city ..
so, should i explain more!

check this report from [ furtune magazine ]