BBC Article on Dubai
Jun 7th 2013, 8:35 am
#1
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BBC Article on Dubai
Can you guess the restaurant they went to?
BBC
Some great lines:-
I think the last quote above sums them up brilliantly.
A funny friday read.
BBC
Some great lines:-
Even the directions to the restaurant smacked of excess. "Take a cab to the Boulevard, walk past Bulgari, past The Ivy, take a right at Cartier, and you cannot miss it."
"These people seem to have emerged from some strange combination of sitcom and horror film”
She looked like she was going to cry, and hurried away to the toilet.
One heel had broken off her very high-heeled shoes, making her drunken gait even more unsteady - as if Charlie Chaplin had a lesser-known, and even more comical sister.
"I cannot stand dirty people," she told me, apropos of nothing. "I cannot stand poor people either. I went to India once. How those people smell."
"It is true that construction workers in Dubai used to have to sleep in shipping containers. But that does not happen now."
She was feeling intimidated - because if she could not talk about Hakkasan, or other restaurants, or how much she adored eating carpaccio of guava, what on earth could she talk about?
"These people seem to have emerged from some strange combination of sitcom and horror film”
She looked like she was going to cry, and hurried away to the toilet.
One heel had broken off her very high-heeled shoes, making her drunken gait even more unsteady - as if Charlie Chaplin had a lesser-known, and even more comical sister.
"I cannot stand dirty people," she told me, apropos of nothing. "I cannot stand poor people either. I went to India once. How those people smell."
"It is true that construction workers in Dubai used to have to sleep in shipping containers. But that does not happen now."
She was feeling intimidated - because if she could not talk about Hakkasan, or other restaurants, or how much she adored eating carpaccio of guava, what on earth could she talk about?
A funny friday read.
Jun 7th 2013, 8:47 am
#2
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
The Dutch woman sounds vaguely familiar.
Jun 7th 2013, 9:20 am
#3
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
I just read the article and logged in here to post about it... It is perhaps the worst article on Dubai I've ever read. To be honest I'd question whether a shred of anything that is 'reported' in it actually happened, it seems to be entirely cobbled together with dreary stereotypes. Quite what the point of it is completely passed me by.
Jun 7th 2013, 11:08 am
#4
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
I was chastised recently on another thread recently for being cheekily rude to someone who was looking for people to interview about expat life in Dubai for a TV show - When this is the level of reporting on life in Dubai from the BBC, the god alone knows how a commercial broadcaster would frame the lives of Brits out here.
To anyone that thinks they would get an opportunity to paint a balanced picture by putting their life across I think you would be sorely mistaken. Nice normal boring life makes for crap TV. Far more entertaining to paint us all as a bunch of booze swilling, nouveau riche boors who treat everyone else who lives here like shit, locals included. The truth that we are as varied a bunch as you would find in any town in the UK would not get a look in.
Rant over.
To anyone that thinks they would get an opportunity to paint a balanced picture by putting their life across I think you would be sorely mistaken. Nice normal boring life makes for crap TV. Far more entertaining to paint us all as a bunch of booze swilling, nouveau riche boors who treat everyone else who lives here like shit, locals included. The truth that we are as varied a bunch as you would find in any town in the UK would not get a look in.
Rant over.
Jun 7th 2013, 11:32 am
#5
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
I think they are written out of pure jealousy and to make their readers think even less of Dubai and it's inhabitants than they do now.
Could it be politically motivated as the Dubai Inc publicity machine tries to sweep things under the carpet and only show the positives.
Anyone know which Restaurant they're talking about? I don't.
Edited to add, it's Hakkasan in Emirates Towers, found it on their website! (Top marks to me)!
Could it be politically motivated as the Dubai Inc publicity machine tries to sweep things under the carpet and only show the positives.
Anyone know which Restaurant they're talking about? I don't.
Edited to add, it's Hakkasan in Emirates Towers, found it on their website! (Top marks to me)!
Last edited by Kix; Jun 7th 2013 at 11:38 am.
Jun 7th 2013, 11:57 am
#6
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
Yes, Rob, I beat you up on the other thread because the lot of you were very rude to a polite woman. If you were suspicious as to her motives it's perfectly fine to explain to why, but you did nothing but fuel the stereotype that Dubai expats are knobheads.
As for the BBC article, it might as well have been in London. Those same superficial people, including the exact same nationalities, just another dinner party at a posh restaurant in London.
As for the BBC article, it might as well have been in London. Those same superficial people, including the exact same nationalities, just another dinner party at a posh restaurant in London.
Last edited by Ethos83; Jun 7th 2013 at 11:59 am.
Jun 7th 2013, 1:15 pm
#7
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Jun 7th 2013, 1:26 pm
#8
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
So this man meets a few drunken twats in Dubai and assumes that all Westerners here are like that? In that case I assume that all BBC journos are narrow-minded, ill-informed, judgemental hacks with a mean-spirited, nasty and underhand agenda.
Shame on the BBC for publiching this total non-story. Man on short break is kindly asked to join strangers for a few drinks and writes nasty story about them. Could be anywhere.
From a member of the midpriced sav blanc set...
Shame on the BBC for publiching this total non-story. Man on short break is kindly asked to join strangers for a few drinks and writes nasty story about them. Could be anywhere.
From a member of the midpriced sav blanc set...
Jun 7th 2013, 1:33 pm
#9
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
What a pile of shit ! 
Jun 7th 2013, 2:49 pm
#10
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Jun 7th 2013, 6:32 pm
#11
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
Of course noone wants to write that some people have rather normal lives here, people who work hard, save what they can and are actually down to earth nice people, but I guess that would not make an exciting story (not that this piece was either to be fair).
Having said that there are some extremely awful people here who have become detached from reality and live in the dubai bubble, if I ever even show a teeny tiny bit of that all my friends are ordered to bitchslap me back to normality.
Having said that there are some extremely awful people here who have become detached from reality and live in the dubai bubble, if I ever even show a teeny tiny bit of that all my friends are ordered to bitchslap me back to normality.
Jun 7th 2013, 8:28 pm
#12
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
Of course noone wants to write that some people have rather normal lives here, people who work hard, save what they can and are actually down to earth nice people, but I guess that would not make an exciting story (not that this piece was either to be fair).
Having said that there are some extremely awful people here who have become detached from reality and live in the dubai bubble, if I ever even show a teeny tiny bit of that all my friends are ordered to bitchslap me back to normality.
Having said that there are some extremely awful people here who have become detached from reality and live in the dubai bubble, if I ever even show a teeny tiny bit of that all my friends are ordered to bitchslap me back to normality.
Jun 7th 2013, 8:35 pm
#13
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Re: BBC Article on Dubai
The article does not mention UK expats. Mentioned an Iranian and an Australian.
Jun 7th 2013, 9:02 pm
#15
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Posts: 484
Re: BBC Article on Dubai
The lady is wrong about smelly people though. I am always pleasantly surprised at how clean everyone is here. Never encountered a smelly person yet, aside from the odd whiff of sweat.