DXBtoDOH

Hard Rock Cafe was already closed when I came for the first time in 2008. There were discussions to reopen it down at Festival City. I still remember seeing the original building along Sheikh Zayed.

The sea in the video is amazingly blue and clear. I still remember seeing marine life back in 2008-9. Including schools of stingrays off Umm Suqeim beach.

Palm and La Mer has changed the water quality for the Marina beaches. By closing off the water flow it's become more stagnant and not as blue and clear as the beaches further to the north, which are still ok, although don't have the marine life they used to.

scrubbedexpat141

It makes me feel like I've been here a while that I know the place you're talking about, albeit only as a closed off site waiting for demolition. Loads of people whining for the guitars to be saved too if I remember correctly.

IKnowNothing

Catboy on Dubai 92 (When he was still married to GeordieBird) tried to get a "movement" together to get them re-sited.

As usual no-one was bothered about them, so they got flattened.

There were some great bands at the Hard Rock, even the resident band were decent (not as good as Golden Star at Seaview mind you, but still good).

When the Palm Hotel was closed in 2007, the Hard Rock lost it's booze licence and slowly died, closing a year or so later and left rotting for 4 or so years before it got flattened - in 2012 if I recall.

co durham boy

17 dizzers a pint in there as well at one point

Millhouse

Yup. And at 7 to the pound. Brilliant.

scrubbedexpat141

Good knowledge. Yeah, must have been 2012ish as I came in 2011 and they were here. Shit. It was 7yrs ago yesterday I arrived.

New Hard Rock up at Festival City I think, never been, just know one is there.

Millhouse

Been a few times. Decent enough.

IKnowNothing

And on that I bought a 1.5 litre bottle of Tesco's Vodka for AED27 yesterday at the local bottle shop, so around a fiver.

Got back, looked up the price on Tesco's website - £27.

That's a scary markup.

Just seen the amount of duty you pay :-

Or in my case, 1.5l @37.5% is £16.16, then 20% VAT too, so best part of £20 of that is duty!

DXBtoDOH

£23 isn't as scary as drinking cheap vodka.

IKnowNothing

When mixed with orange/coke/ribena and 7up etc. it all tastes the same.

DXBtoDOH

Point taken.

So you're 18?

Millhouse

I thought you were the type that had it on their cornflakes.

DXBtoDOH

I'm sure he can outdrink a Russian pensioner languishing away in a Siberian industrial town.

IKnowNothing

Only the women...

Reminds me of the time I was in Belgrade in 2005, the Serb that I was working with was having beer and shots for breakfast, we had a meeting with the Gov and the Airline, they had shots with their coffee, and on a night, a pint was swallowed in 2 gulps and a shot with it. He told me, "Don't try to keep up". I didn't.

Dunno what the shots were, tasted worse than bad grappa.

scrubbedexpat141

Respectfully disagree but not everyone seems to be bothered by the difference with vodkas. Perhaps some seem to see it as a drink to just do a job rather than one to enjoy like gin or whisky.