Iconic carts

Posted by Kanga.

A common site in Dubai is the cart. Actually, let me clarify, it is a common site in Deira and Bur Dubai, the older parts of the city.

The quintessential sighting we had was as we came around the corner heading for our apartment building, we passed a guy pulling an empty cart down the left side of the street (our lane) while talking on his cell phone. Unfortunately, we did not have time to get a picture of that. DaddyBird was too busy trying not to crash into him.

When we first arrived in Dubai, one of our fellow “newbies” described Dubai as “first world meets third world.” That’s a pretty accurate description and the use of carts is one excellent example of that.

It makes perfect sense to see these in the souk areas because the souks are pedestrian traffic only, so a hand cart is perfectly suited to the task of moving goods around.

Naif has car traffic, but you will still see many carts here because it is the easier way to move things from place to place.

It is not uncommon in Naif to see a family or group of women who are shopping with a cartman following them with a cart full of their purchases.

This video shows two cart-men negotiating the crossing of a busy street.

The most amusing use of carts is for moving.

Restaurant Signs

I took a walk during my holiday break to gather a few pictures of the signs that are amusing due to spelling or images or business name choice. First is the Exzotica Restaurant which is a Russian restaurant.
It had the ever present chef image. He is labeled “pectopah” and I had to do a little research to discover that is the transliteration for the Russian word for restaurant.

Here we have the Fast Food Restaurant and the Fast Meal Restaurant which are about two doors down from each other.
Below is the Generous Visitors Restaurant. I’m not sure if this means that they are generous to visitors or they expect visitors to be generous.

Naif

Here is a fun example of driving through Naif. Naif is a crowded neighborhood not far from where we live. There are lots of little shops, lots of little winding, narrow streets, lots of jaywalking pedestrians, lots of men pushing carts, and one amazing example of parallel parking. Enjoy!

(This was not our destination, but getting there was half the fun.)

Signs

We have a rental car again, so went for a drive. Our goal was to find the “best” fish-n-chips place in town, but it eluded us. We did, however, snap a couple of shots to share. At first, we thought this sign said “Tasty Meal Restaurant,” but, apparently, you get attitude with your meal.

Testy Meal Restaurant

The full name of this establishment is Moon Way Passengers Transport by Rented Buses, LLC. Really. I’ve seen other similar companies “____ Passenger Transport by Rented Buses.” Many of the company names here are way too specific and spelled out. Others are very cryptic and don’t give a single clue about their product or service.

Moon Way Passengers Transport by Rented Buses

Naif, part two

I sneakily turn my camera on record and hold it nonchalantly in front of me as if I am just carrying it. It makes for blurry, bumpy and generally bad video, but it is the only way to capture the scene. This will give you everything but the smells (some good, some bad).

Naif

I was feeling like we hadn’t had an adventure lately. Or maybe our adventures are getting too tame. Daddybird declared that we were going to take a walk in Naif, a nearby neighborhood. We had dinner at “Asia Restaurant.” Using Asia in the most liberal way. It was Indian food. I had “chicken fry” which is almost out of the picture – a skinless wing and breast cooked crispy and tasty. Daddybird had chicken biryani. The plate with tomatoes on it is actually chopped cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. The bread is freshly made flat bread. Does this look like $7.00 worth of food?

Look like $7 worth of food to you?

A common site in Naif is the gathering of hand trucks chained to a street sign. Apparently, this is how they store them when not in use. During the day there are guys moving goods from place to place with these hand trucks.

Common sight in Naif

Here’s the Picadilly Hotel sign with a cupid. Not sure why they chose a cupid.

Someday I will do a montage of business signs. There seem to be three types – straightforward but boring business names, overly creative business names that tell you noting about the nature of the business, and those that seem like a really bad idea (like Exit Restaurant). This is one of those straightforward ones. Smokers Centre.

This last picture makes the whole evening worthwhile. Maybe I’ve been watching too many episodes of the Electric Company that Daddybird got from Itunes. I used to love that show as a kid. It is still great and entertaining. Anyway, I love this sign. It says is all.

Picture worth a thousand words?