Monday, November 29, 2021:
Exploring the Excellent Dubai Expo 2020:
Although the Dubai Expo was inaugurated and is being held in 2021, it was meant to begin in 2020. All posters, publicity material, etc. had already been printed—and they carried last year’s date! Covid delayed the event by a year and now that it has finally opened, it is being held with a great deal of fanfare—but the 2020 date remains!
But to begin at the beginning of the day…we awoke in our friend Shayab’s home, showered, got dressed for a day out (comfortable walking shoes, of course) and enjoyed breakfast prepared by the maid, Seema: scrambled eggs with buttered toast, preserves and coffee. Once again, it was our friend Naazli who dropped us to the Metro station. We thought we knew the drill by this stage, but after getting our tickets (we deliberately paid double and got the Gold Star cars to avoid the heavy rush of the standard tickets cars), made an error. About ten minutes into our journey, not having Metro maps with us, I realized that we were travelling in the opposite direction and needed to change tracks. We did so, alighting at the next station and moving to the right platform. We lost about twenty minutes, but with all that, we make it to the Expo venue by 11.00 am. I need to state that the Expo is very easily reached by public transport and that the UAE government has especially created a Metro station to link the site with its public transportation network. This will, no doubt, make it very easy for people who do not have their own conveyance.
Arrival at the Expo Venue:
Security was very tight at the Expo venue. We were required to show our tickets (we have Senior Season Passes for free—a huge perk of growing up!), our PCRT Test results (we showed the one we took before leaving the US) and our vaccination certificates. After that hurdle was cleared, we were put through electronic security as at an airport—all our bags were scanned and we went through a body scan as well. They were taking no chance with security.
The Expo is superbly organized. But, I suppose, that is understandable, since each country gets about 10 years to plan and set it up. I understand that the next one (after five years will be in Osaka, Japan and the one after it, in ten years’ time, will be in Saudi Arabia). At any rate, the visitor is immediately struck by the brilliant architecture of the venue as you enter through a really huge square arch. From then on, it is nothing but a feast for the eyes as one goes from one pavilion to the next.
So here is a bit of background on the “Dubai Expo” as it is being called. 192 countries have joined in to create a showcase of their efforts to make the planet more environmentally-friendly. Hence, depending on where their interests lie, they are then grouped under one of three headings: Opportunity, Sustainability or Mobility. The venue is vast and covers hundreds of acres. To speed up the transportation of people from one section of the Expo to the other, there are free shuttle buses that operate on a 10-minute cycle throughout the day. Naturally, Llew and I picked up a map at the entrance and decided to take the shuttle bus to the first pavilion we wished to see: Singapore. This was in the Sustainability section and that was where we alighted.
I ought to say that while at home, last night, I had googled the Dubai Expo and keyed in “Ten Best Pavilions for Adults to Visit at Dubai Expo”. This took me to two sites where two different individuals gave their recommendations for the best pavilions. From among them, we saw the following:
Singapore: The entire pavilion is constructed around three upside-down cones, each of which represents a tropical rain forest. You stride upon a circular walkway that winds slowly to the top. Along the way, you pass by thousands, yes thousands, of potted plants that are embedded into the structural cones—you do not see the pots—you only see the plants. This is what gives the ambience of walking in a garden. There was one small section devoted to orchids and as they are my favorite flower, I really did love that bit. Once we had scaled the entire hill to the top, we took the elevator to get down. Singapore’s pavilion was a good way to begin our exploration.
We then browsed briefly through Slovenia, Sweden, Brasil and Azerbaijan, but there is not much to note about them.
We then took the shuttle bus again and moved towards the Opportunity section. Here we started our exploration in
Luxembourg: This was a wonderfully visual pavilion. It had a massive I-max screen that beamed all sorts of information and pictures about the country. We learned that although a tiny principality, it supplied all the glass and steel for the construction of the Burj-al-Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in Dubai. Fancy that! Next, we visited
Great Britain: This was a very interesting architectural building that seems to jut out like a pipe. Inside, it was a feat of technology entirely conceived by the country’s best-known scientist Sir Stephen Hawking. Visitors were encouraged to type out any word of their choice on a small I-pad. This word was then instantly crafted into a short poem of a few lines which also appeared on the screen. Meanwhile, the word of choice appeared high up on a large screen that looked a bit like a game board. I chose the word ‘Imagine’ and Llew chose the word ‘Believe’. We were happy to see our word choices reflected back at us. From there, we moved on to
Monaco: Like Luxembourg, Monaco is a tiny principality and its visuals, projected on another gigantic screen in many tiny sections, like a Cubist painting, were a representation of everything for which the country stands: luxury, entertainment, casinos, fine design…but it was also a chance to see what its monarch, currently Prince Albert, is up to in terms of making financial contributions towards sustaining our planet. Very classy. Just like the country. And on to
Lunch! Yes, we were famished by this point and decided to look for sustenance. There are a lot of national snacks offered by each country in the respective pavilions, but if you want something more generic, there are also little cafes sprinkled around everywhere. We used our map to find Food Street and settled for Greek Gyros from a food truck. These were very tasteless and easily the worst meal we ate in Dubai. Certainly not recommended. I have to admit that by this time we were starting to flag, so I was delighted to find that outside the Monaco pavilion, there were steps leading to the entrance. Someone had the inspired idea of throwing dozens of bean bags on the steps that then draped themselves to offer comfort. Llew and I rushed towards them and had the great pleasure of actually going almost horizontal as we stretched our bodies out to give ourselves muscular rest. I actually took my habitual 20-minute nap and I cannot even describe how utterly refreshing it was. After gaining our second wind, we moved on towards the next pavilion.
Switzerland: Switzerland was just wonderful. You enter a darkened space—a kind of huge hall—and start to climb gently upwards (as if you are climbing the Alpes) in the semi-darkness. You are surrounded by fog so that you do not see well at all. As you go higher, twilight gives way to night and the moon appears in the sky. It is so atmospheric that you can almost believe you are somewhere in the foothills of the Alpes in Switzerland. Amazing experience!
Next door was Egypt where the big attraction is a reproduction of the famous gold bust of King Tut. Since we had been to Cairo and see the real thing at close quarters, we decided not to brave the line but to move on. Indeed, by this time it was after 4.00 pm and we began to notice that what seemed like a fairly empty space in the morning suddenly began to crawl with people. It is clear that visitors arrive each day after their working hours end (in Dubai, at 3.00 pm, I believe). So after 4.00, the crowds grow in size. Our next stop was
Saudi Arabia: This place was incredible! Not only did they have a kind of waterfall—like a gigantic shower—that played and stopped at intervals, allowing people to try to hop in and out of it without getting wet--but it reproduced the sense of a Saudi village in an oasis using mood lighting, national music and the movement of an escalator. At the end of the ride, there was a humongous globe that had kaleidoscopic projections focused on it. It was simply mind-blowing. Out next port of call was even more awesome!
Pakistan: The Pakistani Pavilion is just stunning. It is a visual delight, being composed of upturned cones in a jazzy fluorescent color palette. When you enter, you are transported to Pakistan which is presented as a staggeringly beautiful country with incredible natural vistas enveloping the Himalayas, assorted mountain lakes, glorious wildlife, etc. This was done through the clever usage of I-max screens. In another section, you are introduced to the pluralism of its religious groups—a lot of emphasis on Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism (in addition to Islam) as it flourishes in the country today. Here too, the vast diversity of religious houses of worship sprinkled all over the country, was emphasized. Overall, it was an unforgettable visual experience.
Meeting Zafar, Ridda and her Family:
By this time, Llew’s former colleague and friend Zafar had finished with work. He was keen for me to meet his daughter Ridda who had taken my course on South Asian Studies when she was a student at the Stern School of Business at NYU in 2002! She remembered me affectionately and well and was keen to meet me again. Now married to Salman and with two little ones, she is a designer of high-end fashion handbags. She had spent one year at La Pietra in Florence, NYU’s Italy campus, and had then spent another year, after graduation in Florence, where she went into fashion design. Now based in Dubai, she designs handbags in crocodile and snake skin (responsibly sourced, she assured me), has them made in Italy and then sold in the UAE at pop-up exhibitions. I was so delighted to meet her (I did remember her once I saw her), her husband and her two children that I felt it was a high point of my stay in the UAE. Imagine meeting a student after 20 years who remembers you and makes the effort to seek you out to say Thanks! It is immensely gratifying. We took some pictures together, exchanged news about other batchmates I recall from her year and then exchanged contact information. Truly, our sit-down in the restaurant called Dawaat in the Pakistani Pavilion where we enjoyed Kadak Chai and Punjabi samosas was so meaningful to me that I was barely focused on anything other than catching up with Ridda.
Then, it was time to say goodbye as she left to find suitable dinner for her little ones while Llew and I sought out the Norway Pavilion as Ridda told us that there was a massive waterfall built inside it that we simply had to see.
Norway: Ridda was mistaken—there was no waterfall in the Norway Pavilion They were actually one in the DP World Pavilion, not far away. We sat through a thoroughly boring documentary film about Norway’s oil drilling efforts and wind turbine efforts in the North Sea (which we could not even leave even if we were bored stiff) and then told that was it. Utterly disappointing! Since Ridda had raved about the waterfall, we entered the DP World Pavilion next.
DP World: Again, yes, there was a waterfall that plays every fifteen minutes, but it was very similar to the one we had seen in the Saudi Arabia Pavilion—so again, we were not impressed. We decided very quickly to move on as it was almost 9.00 pm by this point and we were fading away. On making inquiries, we were told that the pavilions closed at 10.00 pm and the Expo at 11.00 pm. We had two more that we really did want to see, the USA and India.
USA: The American Pavilion was also highly impressive. By means of a moving platform, visitors are ferried through its various sections as they read text and see pictures of American History from 1776 onwards. There was special emphasis on American invention and contribution to global technology such as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and Ford’s Model T automobile right up to the moment. The section began with a welcome address from Kamala Harris, VP, but other than that, there were no images of the country’s leaders at all. Emphasis was on the common man, not on celebrities. Finally, in the last section, you could see a reproduction of the module that has been left behind on Mars and actually touch a piece of moon rock that was brought back to the earth by the Apollo 11 Mission that first put man on the moon. A lot of emphasis on America’s scientific achievements as it moves towards creating a more eco-friendly nation.
With this one done, we hurried to the India Pavilion. And what did we find? Not only was the façade least interesting, but it was closed! It was only 9.35! We discovered that the India Pavilion closed at 9.30. Again, this was a disappointment to us and we realized that we would have to return just to see it!
We had caught glimpses of the nightly light show in the Main Pavilion, but as we were simply too tired by this point, we did not stop for it. We were also disappointed to find that the UAE Pavilion which everyone said was gorgeous, was closed because a special function was being held inside it. Another disappointment!
By this time it was almost 11.00 pm and we had covered a lot of ground. It was time to leave. We found the shuttle bus that took us back to the first stop from which we joined the crowds leading back to the Metro station. A little later, we bought our tickets and hopped on to the train and were at our stop within 20 minutes. By then, it was almost 11.30 and we had not eaten dinner. It was time to look for a suitable place near the station.
Dinner at Kapadokya Turkish Restaurant:
Luckily for us, the Kapadokya Turkish Restaurant was still open and we were able to find a lovely table inside and order a nice meal. We decided to share a large plate of mezzes which included hummus (chickpea mash), babaganoush (eggplant mash), tabouli (parsley salad), Fattoush (pita bread salad), dolmas (rice-stuffed vine leaves)—all served with puffed up kaboos (bread). It was all wonderful and we were fully stuffed by the end of it.
All that was left for us to get to the Taxi stand and hail a cab that took us to the Ayub residence. We had the key and since it was almost midnight and the entire household was asleep, we crept up quietly to our beds and called it a day!
Until tomorrow, kuda hafiz.
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