A Country of Excess

Dubai is a capitalist state much like any other capitalistic country.  In fact, the very thing that makes it attractive are the lavish, nay, grandiose excesses that it offers to whoever is out there willing to spend the money.  This excess can be seen in the most mundane everyday things. 

I went to the Festival City mall yesterday, first stopping by Ikea for lunch.  Yes, Ikea also offers lunch at its own food court.  For a mere 25 AED, or approximately 260 PHP, you can get either half a roasted chicken or about 400-500 grams of grilled salmon together with whatever sauce is available and a hefty serving of rice, vegetables or french fries - whilst in the Philippines food is measured and served in the smallest possible amounts.  It’s the same case in many developed countries such as the UK where serving sizes are about double the serving sizes in Manila.  For example, in London, a regular size soft drink served at the a cinema or fastfood restaurant is at least 500-700 ml and still"upsizeable", much larger than even the largest size available in Manila.  

While I wasn’t able to finish off my rice (sorry), I noticed that many of the plates at the busing counter didn’t really have many leftover.  I guess it’s modern human nature to eat whatever is on your plate, but this excessiveness in food is leading to what else but the excessiveness in weight of millions of people. 

Grilled Salmon, yum.

Special carts for massive food orders

A mountain of rice with your salmon, sir? 

More salmon, rice and brocolli soup. 

If the chicken doesn’t fill you up, the rice will.

Left over rice.  If only I could send it over to the Philippines.

Overall, we had ordered the equivalent of a lunch and dinner combined for a family of three. 

Many of the establishments including malls, commercial and residential building have to abide by the overall image that is being depicted by the Emirate.  That is, these structures must convey a message of lavishness and luxury in every aspect.  Many, if not most, buildings are covered by expensive marble and granite without too much regard for maximisation and efficient utilisation of space.  For example, as a standard, one bedroom apartments are built with two bathrooms, one guest bathroom and a main bathroom, a separate kitchen, centralised air-conditioning and water heating.  The main bathroom is normally fitted with two toilets, the second one being some sort of urinal for both men and women, some sort of a cross between a basin, urinal and a toilet bowl.  Bathtubs are also ever-present.

Malls are no exception.  We’ve all heard of the Mall of the Emirates with it’s indoor skiing.  The Festival City Mall also went all out in its bid to attract more customers.  The entire roof is a lattice work of glass bearing a resemblance to the one over the British Museum but at a greater expanse.  It also boasts a man-made canal, possibly inspired by Venice, albeit shorter than expected, on which you can take an equally short boat ride. 

Although undeniably beautiful, this kind of over-the-top way of doing things has become a culture in Dubai, no doubt a side effect of its goal becoming one of the world’s top international destinations.  It already has the world’s tallest hotel and possibly the most ostentatious, as well the current tallest man-made structure on earth, the country seems to be intent on making everything else just as outlandish.  If only they could compensate for their excessiveness in some way but there seems to be no real effort to curb wastefullness as well as to recycle much waste produced by the population.

It looks really boring.

This week’s funny photos.

Ang bastos!

Low meets high technology.