Abu Dhabi Development Regulation

Day 5-- Preparing to "Zone" Abu Dhabi

2008-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi currently has no zoning... and they want something that will regulate development like zoning, without being "zoning"... so we're doing Framework Development Regulations, or FDR for short.

Our goal is to flesh out the details of the daring plan, Abu Dhabi 2030:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWsIoZKx5qU

One idea we are putting forward is to preserve what's good like the villas in this neighborhood (next two pics)

As well as vibrant neighborhoods like this ...

with old school neighborhood shops like this:

And create more parks like this...

There's a most amazing waterfront prominade. Could it be better connected by foot from the city?

And have more shade streets like this...

This is an old part of Abu Dhabi that could be redeveloped in to high rises...

Below is one of my favorite parks in the city

All for now...

Day 1: Friday and Ramadan

2008-09-05T02:13:00.000-07:00

This is a not great picture of business class on Etihad airlines. The chairs adjusted so you could be entirely horizontal. I got maybe 4 hours of sleep during the 12 hour flight-- which isn't bad since it was a daytime flight that arrived in Abu Dhabi at 11:30 PM Boston time.

I've had a few hours out on the town to walk around. Actually, the city is really pretty cool. What I like best is it's international feel. You walk down the street and you see people from all over Asia who live here. The cab driver who brought me from the airport is Syrian and has lived here for 20 years. His wife and child live in NYC, but he can't get a visa to get in. And inflation is killing him. It's up about 120% in the past year.

It's Ramadan-- a month during the year when people don't eat or drink during the day. An advertisement for KFC to break the Ramadan fast.

Today is Friday, so it's a double whammy... the streets are pretty deserted-- but probably more pedestrians than you'd see in the Financial District of Boston on a Sunday.

If you click on the picture below you will see some guys lounging on a bench in an otherwise pretty barren urban environment. The streets are just too wide. They've built some very fancy underpasses to help people get across. Needless to say most of the people I saw take their chances going above ground. That might change on heavier trafficked day.

Men going to the mosque for Friday noon prayers...

This was a cluster of about 30 or so bikes that workers have parked to go work in a factory -- on a Friday during Ramadan-- safe to say these workers nor their boss are Muslim.

I found a very cool and surprisingly cheap supermarket to buy lunch. If you eat in public that's a no-no during Ramadan. So rather than eat in the hotel restaurant I bought a ton of food for about $7 -- including knife.

Yum!

Woody's place Pattaya/ Naklua

2007-11-10T00:41:00.000-08:00

Well, Woody is onstentatious. This will give you an idea of his finished product...

Woody's livingroom/ entry...

Lot's of antiques

He's on the 29th floor, one below the penthouse... about 1000 sf... his building is in the least developed land about 20 minutes out of town. The rest of the Pattaya area is really dense. South of Pattaya is much more built up. In planning is a 97 story residential building. It will be the tallest residential building in the world. From what I can tell there is an insane building boom going on here.

The bedroom... one cool thing about the 29th floor is that there are no mosquitos up that high.

The swimming pool area from the rear of the building...

The entrance... these collumns are really quite amazing

See you all in a few days!

Mark

Pokhara, Nepal

2007-11-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, Woody's house's... his kingdoms! They really are spectacular, but I'll start here with the most humble house with it's most humble side showing. It's a classic villa. It's started at about half the width and Woody expanded east. The final colors of the outside of the building will be the top band of orange and a sunshine yellow.

Yes, the outsides humble, and has very little yard. But Woody's done pretty well with the little space he has. Here is the front yard:

Woody's house has an amazing number of arches-- in fact more than 32 arches. Here's a look through from the back of the house towards the front entrance. Notice the marble walls, and Wody's trademark, lots of glass...

From the same spot looking back out over the lake and back terrace. The house has three kitchens and baths so it can be used as a single family or a three unit. This is the downstairs kitchen. A bedroom shares the terrace to the right.

View from the upstairs bedroom:

Looking from the upstairs dining room through to the back of the house. There are also several circles in the house:

Upstairs kitchen (one of two)

Balcony on the far side of the house. This is really a walk way with little use, but it looks cool!

Woody's back yard...

Now we turn to house number two which is very much under construction. It's on the far side of the lake from Woody's village house. There are no roads and it can only be reached by a very circuitous walk (maybe 5 miles), or a paddle across the lake. It's a major number of steps-- maybe 1000 up to the house from the lake. The path in parts has leaches. The first I'd ever seen. They look like little inch worms. Both mom and Woody picked off a few leaches after our visit.

A view of the house approaching on the lake. I have some fantastic video footage, but it's too big to upload.

Here's the top of the stairs and the entrance to Woody's domain... looks like a villa in tuscany no?

It may look like Tuscany, but California will be on tap as this house will mostly sheathed in glass...yes, glass! Any exposed walls will be plastered

Woody's spiral staircase is pretty amazing. Will it stand an earth quake? This is a very active earthquake and landslide area. Note one of Woody's two min-pins.

This is where the video is killer, but this house has 270 degree views over the lake. What you can't see in the background due to haze is the white topped Annapurna range-- They jut way above the hills on clear days. This is the view to the north from Woody's living room.

Same room looking west

From the roof looking east:

From roof looking north

from roof looking west:

That's all for now!

Nepal!

2007-11-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

We flew from JFK to Bangkok and spent a rest night in the airport Novotel... $130 a night, but well worth it to not have to hike anywhere. Plus it had an amazing pool, restaurant and spa which we took advantage of. After 16 hours in a plane it was nice to just relax at any cost. Speaking of plane... Thai's premium economy class was amazing. For an extra $300 you get a bunch of leg room, and incredible food. There was enough room between the seats that Mom and I took turns sleeping on the floor in front of our seats.

One thing that surprised me about flying direct was our route... due north over the North Pole. So the really cool thing was going north the sun was setting, but after we crossed the north pole, the sun started to rise to the east. Pretty crazy!

Monday we flew on to Kathmandu. Wow, what a place. Nepal is poor, very poor. Poor enough so that the Maoist party is a major force. Actually they are trying to pull together a new constitution and government after 10 years of civil war. The GDP per person is around $1100. Kathmandu is chaotic. To give you an idea of how chaotic, check out this video!

Our hotel was in an area of Kathmandu called Thamel. It's the backpacker hippy area. Tiny alleys, no sidewalks, full of people, cars, motorycles and bike rickshaws. The pavement was not smooth at all. Can you picture an 82 year old woman navigating this? Well, this aint no ordinary woman, this is Shirley G!

We did get out of Kathmandu one afternoon to go visit the village of Bakhtipur-- this is a small town that has a lot great architecture and made the smart move of banning traffic from it's core. I would highly recommend staying a few nights here. I wish we had!

One of the cool things we saw in Bakhtipur was people threshing rice.

We stayed two days in Kathmandu and then flew on to Pokhara. The flight was in a 40 seater prop plane. Several airlines make a good business of flying tourists to Pokhara. By bus it's 6 to 12 hours. By plane it's 25 minutes.

The weather was hazy so I never really saw any big mountains from the ground. I did get a good look at them from the air though. They make the rockies look like foot hills. Not just because of their height, but their girth and the way they stretch endlessly from west to east. Here's a good photo I took of Manaslu from the plane to Pokhra. It's about 25,000 feet high and the eighth highest mountain in the world. The top ten highest peaks are in the Himalayan mountains.

Pokhara (pronounced POKE-rah), is a small city of 80,000 with the tourist trade centered on strip along the lake. We were here to see Woody's two houses. You'll get to see those in the next installment!

2007-01-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Dental Update

First the good news, I got a gig as Jaws in the next Bond movie

Atually I have 5 shiny new gold crowns that you can only see when I yawn or smile real wide. I owe all of this to the skilled hands and machinery of my crack dental team lead by Jaime Romanowsky.

Jaime is a tennis pro who’s moonlighting as a dentist in the fashionable Los Lomas District of Mexico City. Who can blame him-- there’s a shortage of tennis pros, and too many dentists in Los Lomas.

Enuf joking… I found Jaime through the US Embassy website in Mexico City. I intended to interview a bunch of dentists, but Jaime answered the phone on a Mexican holiday. Talking to him, I knew he was THE MAN. In retrospect I have reflected on my choice of dentists in the US. Pretty much I’d choose the closest dentist and hope for the best. Or more recently I found Gentle Dental in Porter Square because they had a website-- with an unbeatable introductory x-ray cleaning deal. So, I haven’t been historically rigorous in picking dentists. In any case, Jaime's the best dentist I've every been to. Definitely has the most architectually interesting dentist's bulding...

Jaime's building is the small one in front...

I spent 6 mornings in this chair...

View from the chair

Jaime was personable on the phone, he studied at BUMC in Boston and his wife studied at MIT. I felt that any dentist that passes grade on the embassy website can’t be all bad. After all I grew up seeing dentists in the Middle East. My last serious dental work was in the Peace Corps in Togo. The dentist there said, I probably have about 5 years before I’ll have to back for a root canal. Those fillings lasted a whopping 19 years—and still no root canal.

Team Romanowsky:

Diana, Alicia, and Jaime

I found out after I met Jaime, that he also taught dentistry at UNAM—the biggest university in Mexico and probably the biggest in the Western Hemisphere (250K students). Alicia, the co-pilot was one of his students at UNAM.

One big advantage of Jaime’s outfit is that the cap manufacturer is down stairs from his office. So I was only wearing a temporary crown for a day verses up to two weeks in the US. So these misfits ended up being a minor inconvenience. I have learned that there’s some luck involved with capping teeth.

As I understand it there are two major risks to crown work. First, you may experience increasing pain after the cap is put on meaning that you’re too close to the nerve—Root canal time!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_canal

Second, your tooth can break while the work is being done—Implant time!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_implant

Both nasty things you want to avoid. Well, maybe you want to avoid any trip to the dentist, but you definitely want to avoid more seat time than you bargained for!

In Guanajuato I heard scary stories from a woman who had a nightmare with her implants—in the US! First the work to be done was optional but recommended. She experienced the too close to the nerve phenomenon and needed a root canal. The root canal became infected and the bone rotted and she needed some kind of fancy graft. I may be getting the details and sequence wrong, but upshot is she was in a world of pain and out some $6,000. My solace at that point (having already had 3 caps done by Jaime) was that if anything did go wrong, getting it fixed in Mexico City would still be far cheaper, even including some additional round trips to Boston.

Okay, so what are the expenses?

Airline trip to Mexico City $300-- granted this was an amazing deal!

Expenses in Mexico for a Month +/- $1600 (including my hot new 28” pure steel old-school Mexican bike and tuition for two weeks of Spanish classes)

Team Jaime’s 5 Crowns: +/- $3600

Baseline estimate for work at Gentle Dental: $6000

Bottom line: + $1500

Well, sort of… I spent a month in Mexico which I think is a real major duty plus!

Mexico isn’t for everyone though. A good friend found Mexico City a little too loud and poverty stricken for her. Others worry about crime and air pollution. But most of these can be mitigated and they must be weighed against the benefits…

Mexico City has more history and art then just about anywhere in the Western hemisphere. Heck, they were building serious cities here before the pilgrims landed up north.

The food rocks! When you’re having your teeth worked on and you’re waiting for the Novocaine to wear off you can enjoy the most amazing smoothies.

To hit my budget you need to eat a lot of street food. My favorites:

Enmoleadas—tortillas with cheese and mole

Tamales—Often eaten on the street as a rocking breakfast sandwhich

Quesadillas—with squash flowers and mushrooms

Huaraches—sort of a whole wheat quesadilla shaped like a sandal (thus the name).

Blue corn sopes (like a thick tamale) with shrooms and cactus

Tostadas with shrimp and salsa

The picture below is not street food... but you gotta like the presentation... enchiladas with red sauce... mmm mm!

Yup all of these on the street where you can generally get filled up on just a few bucks. I know some of you are thinking—not worth getting sick. To that I add a couple of pointers… if you’re worried, only eat at popular places with long lines. One, the locals know something about the quality, two, the food turns over a lot so it’s fresh.

More reasons to love Mexico...

Mexican people rock! Oh, that’s a generalization... there are good and bad people everywhere. But, mostly I found people incredibly kind, fun and helpful.

Mexican Cities rock! I’ve visited around 10 now and there are at least another 10 that I’ve heard are really fun. There are five or more great cities within five hours of Mexico City by bus (buses that are way way better than US buses—think food, drink and only 3 seats to a row). Cities that I've been to, or heard are really incredible...

Puebla

San Miguel

Queretaro

Cuernevaca

Taxco

Guanajuato

The whole state of Michoacan

Why do they rock? See my earlier blog entries…

But why leave Mexico City…. I’ve been here 4 times now and I still haven’t seen everything I want to see. It’s vibrant. There’s incredible food and culture! Here are some pictures from my last few days. As always, click on the picture for the best view...

This is the Federal Institute of Education which is covered in Diego Rivera Murals...

In this picture Frida Kahlo is handing out guns for the socialist revolution

Government building at dusk on the Zocalo

Well, here’s why you will probably want to leave Mexico City at some point…

Noise pollution: so many cars don’t have mufflers and so many people play loud music and hawk wares using loudspeakers that you can go looney. Mitigation strategy—take it slow, hit pedestrian only streets when possible even if it’s a bit out of your way, and make sure you have a quiet hotel!

Air pollution: Temperature inversions mean that the colder the weather the worse the pollution is first thing in the morning. As the day wears on, it’s no worse than in any Mexican city—Why? Because the worst air pollution is spewing from the bus that’s on the street next to you. These “pesero” buses are in every city in Mexico. Mitigation strategy: sleep in! The longer you sleep in the cleaner the air will be when you get up! Hit pedestrian/ low traffic streets when possible. Pace yourself!

Crime: This is the most over-hyped aspect of Mexico City life. Probably everyone in Mexico City has experienced crime or knows someone who has. But, I’ve found the same in Washington DC (excluding Georgetown). Almost everyone who lives on Capitol Hill or Columbia Heights experience crime—and it’s usually more violent. Mitigation strategy—avoid being alone on streets late at night. Always call a cab instead of hailing one on the street. Keep you big cash and valuables back at the hotel so you can hand it all over without too much of a loss. I’m staying in one of the seedier neighborhoods—the old Historic District, but there are cops everywhere. Literally every corner and midblock on every street. So, I fee very safe… but it’s good to be smart too.

Okay, gotta end on a good note…

First the air was the cleanest yet on Friday! Here's a picture of the Torre LatinAmerica from the back porch of my hotel on a really good clean air day...

That same day I met with the a few non governmental transportation organizations in the fair suburb of Coyoacan. This is such a sweet part of town! It’s sort of like Cambridge for quality of life in that you can live there and never really need to leave… Bookstores, cafes, parks, a lovely central square. Check out the lovely pictures!

This is the back yard of Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Coyoacan

Look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Guanajuato Wow!

2007-01-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

This is the coolest Mexican City… beautifully set in the valley between several hills with tiny alleys and several roads that are pedestrian only. This because old silver mine shafts are used as a subterranean road system that frees up the surface for beautiful walking. The town is small (85,000 people) yet has a university. There are tourists, but probably more mexican tourists than gringos.

This was one of the richest cities in the world at one time. Reportedly 20% of the world's silver came out the mines here. The mine's themselves are now an underground road network that allows for a very sweet above ground pedestrian environment. The best I've seen so far in Mexico.

If you don't know, you can click on these pictures and they become big.

This is the view at night from the roof of my hotel... $16 a night...

As in most of Mexico, there's some great public art. If you click on this picture you'll see a two staues, one in the foreground and one up on a hillside above the city...

This is a little fountain near my guest house. Kids play soccor and people hangout hear at night.

Typical neighborhood stores sell everything you need... and best of all ... NO CARS!

The big white building is the university. It was controversial when built in the 50's, but people have grown to really like it.

Many of the arteries are underground and like most Mexican cities, there's a good bus network. Here's a picture of the steps going down from the surface to a bus stop.

I also really like the way the tunnels transition to the surface... here's a picture...

The town is almost entirely made up of Callejon's which are pedestrian alleys that are too small for vehicles.

Here's the alley that goes up to my hotel Casa Bertha. I love this hotel. It's got the best view in town on the roof...

I've been taking some amazing night pictures. You have to click on these to get the full effect...

Tomorrow I'm back to Mexico City for the completion of my dental work. Then, next Saturday, I'm heading back to Boston.

Day 13

2006-12-29T16:38:00.000-08:00

Ah, the street food... it is so yummy. I always tell comidores that I don't eat meat and they tell me what they can make... below are tortillas stuffed with nopal cactus covered with mole sauce, sour cream, cheese and advocado...

San Miguel D’Allende

This is sort of like Martha’s Vineyard of Mexico. Incredibly beautiful and incredibly expensive-- even by US standards. The Gringos and upper middle class Mexicans enjoy this as a place to live-well-- away from the craziness of their home cities in Mexico or the high prices of the US. I am really here because my good friends from NYC were here and I thought it would be good to hang out and see it now because otherwise I’d probably avoid coming to such a gringo-haven. One of my major goals while I’m down here is to improve my Spanish. That is hard to do when English speakers are estimated to make up between 10% and 30% of the population. But anyway I sure aint suffering...

Like in many rarified towns, the people who work here can’t afford to live here. Also there’s a huge parking problem. For some reason I haven't been taking many pictures of that... but there's an empty space in front of this really cool house...

Just outside of town is a botanical garden... I went with my class mates from Spanish Class. The guy on the right is my professor

Lots of cactuses and it gives you an idea of what the country side was like before it was cut up by roads and villages

Last weekend I went to "La Grutta" a thermal hot spring spa about 10 minutes out of SMA. It's really a must go if you make it here. Very relaxing and very nice hot water to soak in. They have a really cool tunnel and cave that you can soak in. I didn't risk my camera in it to take pictures. But here's one of the above ground pool...

At La Grutta I met Moy and Alicia, two hip 20 somethings from Mexico City who were up for the weekend. We spent most of the afternoon together and had a really memorable evening taking night shots of SMA. This is Alicia taking a shot...

This one sort of looks like Alicia firing a rocket launcher but I like it!

Finally, my favorite shot of the evening. I pulled the camera away just before the shutter closed...

Day 4

2006-12-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

My trip to Mexico is funded by my paper savings in having dental work done here instead of the States. I needed five crowns. In Boston this would cost a minimum of $1200 per crown or about $6,000. Here the cost is a little over half of that. My joke is that I’ll come back with a full set of dentures, but really this dentist is really awesome. As of today, three of the five crowns have been completed and I’ll have two more my last week in Mexico. That will be the week I’ll give you the official dental report with pictures of me and my dentist. My shiny new crowns and hopefully a report of no complications.

Coolest Street Furniture Ever

I’m Staying at the Casa Gonzalez in the Zona Rosa, or Pink Zone. It’s a trendy area with a couple of Woonerf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woonerf) like street/ pedestrian malls. It’s pretty much known as the gay area with cafes with names like “Be Gay/ Be Proud”. The bars are apparently pretty wild, but as I don’t stay up that late I can’t report on them.

Between my hotel and the Zona Rosa is Avenida Reforma. The City has been investing a lot of money in to making this a showcase for the city. The most modern buildings, all the embassies and many government offices line Reforma. My favorite part of the renovation is the way cool street furniture.

One must see attraction in Mexico City is the Anthropology Museum. It has great exhibits showcasing the populating of the Americas up to the Spanish Colonization. My favorite part though is the architecture… check it out…