A Dubai Orientation: Dubai's Districts

For a quick guide about Dubai, I have here the districts of the city. Because I only had a day to experience Dubai (there will be another time I am sure, when it is not summer and Ramadan!) I settled to explore where my heart’s desires were leaning towards to, and that is the old part of Dubai. What can I say, I am a full-pledged culture freak and it is important for me to see the remnants of the real Dubai before all these modern-day Disneyland infrastructure was put in place. I however managed to venture out to Jumeirah area and Dubai’s Downtown Centre, so that’s a plus.



Dubai in a nutshell is evolving. The city is a neverending contruction site, a constant work in progress, although it is currently going through a tough time with the financial crisis since the credit crunch (staging a comeback somehow?) and the current political instability in the Gulf Region. So it is just a matter of project, an economic boost, some militant investor willing to throw money in, and time obviously, that the city will have another enclave, or district or better yet, an artificial island.



I found this map in Dubai Mall but couldn’t take a whole shot of it as it it too wide, so I cut them into 3 shots. These are the popular districts of the city and the map goes from left to right:







BUR DUBAI – Dubai’s historical district situated on the Dubai Creek. This is part of Old Dubai where Bastakiya (old Dubai Ruins) is located, the Dubai Creek Walk, Dubai Museum and the Textile Souk.



DEIRA – Dubai’s old financial centre and the old downtown Dubai. It is separated from Bur Dubai by the Dubai Creek. This is where the Gold and Spice Souks are located.



KARAMA – A mixed commercial and residential district, somewhat a Little India and Little Manila because of the high concentration of Indians and Filipinos living in the area. Lots of cheap retail shops here and international food places.



MIRDIFF – A commercial and residential district for the well-to-do.







DOWNTOWN DUBAI – Dubbed as the ‘New Dubai’ and home to the biggest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall and the stunning previously tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa (she is indeed very stunning, much stunning than the Petronas Towers in KL, Malaysia), and the biggest dancing fountain as well in the world, the Dubai fountain (bigger than the one in Las Vegas, USA).



INTERNATIONAL CITY – A residential area in the middle of the desert next to Chinatown (construction currently undergoing, it is said that the project includes a Forbidden City).



SATWA – Another of Dubai’s Little India and Little Manila due to the high concentration of Indians and Filipinos living here. I cannot stress this enough... there are so many Indians (and Indian-looking, Pakistani, Bangladeshi?) and Filipinos in Dubai! It’s like everywhere I turn to I bump into an Indian or Filipino.







DUBAI MARINA – Hosts the Jumeirah Beach Walk and is home to the largest concentration of western expatriate. I wanted to go to Madinat Jumeirah after my afternoon tea at the Burj al Arab but did not have the time anymore.



JUMEIRAH – Home to the famous Jumeirah Beach and the Dubai Mosque (northern part). Along this beach you can find the Palm Jumeirah (southern part) and other artificial archipelagos such as The World (not totally completed, project put on hold) and The Universe (project put on hold). Oh, care for a trip around the Universe my dear? It cannot get any crazier than this in Dubai! lol



JEBEL ALI – A new area developed located after the Dubai Marina with equally mind-blowing projects.



So that's it! If you are reading this and have been to Dubai or are from Dubai and I have made some mistakes (or would like to add another district that I have not written), please let me know and I shall correct this entry.



Shukran! Assalaam Alaikum =)

Hike in Utrechtse Heuvelrug forest

Last weekend, we hiked in Utrechtse Heuvelrug forest between Driebergen-Rijsenburg and Austerlitz. It was good hike I think. The sun was out and there was not a lot of wind.

I’ve also been checking out houses in this area but nothing caught my fancy. Here are a few fotos of the hike:

Horses grazing on the grass field.



Right behind this field is the NS railway that pass through Driebergen-Rijsenburg and Zeist (Utrecht) and the A12 highway.We could hear the train and the cars in the forest... so near, yet so far away.


The trees in this part are tall and lean but further ahead I saw lots of pine groves that make me think of winter.


Then we ran into a pretty black and yellow house with a red roof in the middle of the forest! I first thought it was a cafe restaurant but Dutchman corrected me that its actually a private house. Hmmm, it must be cool to live far away from the neighbors and in the middle of the forest... but I don’t know why being home alone in those serial killer types of movies suddenly and vividly sprung into mind?

Notice the grounds, the grass are brown because the sun could not shine through. The thick foliage covering cuts the sunlight from penetrating.

After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with patat (Dutch potato fries). Not really the healthiest dinner out there but we’ve earned it, and most importantly, I didn’t want to stand in the kitchen upon arriving home. There’s got to be some sort of balance in everything I guess.

Interestingly, I’ve lost 2 kilos recently. Oh, nothing to do with the patat really.



Tomorrow Sunday we are going up north. Hope the weather will be good.



Visit Period: August

Destination: Driebergen-Rijsenberg (Utrechtse Heuvelrug - Utrecht), The Netherlands

Right of Way and Driver Education

Last night we were returning home on our bikes. As we approached an intersection where we needed to make a left turn, we signaled and moved to the leftmost part of the lane. A motorist approaching the same intersection behind us began to honk. We turned around, confused. The light had just turned red and all three of us were stopped at the intersection. She continued to honk. We asked what the problem was. She rolled down her window, and the conversation went something like this:



Motorist:What the hell are you doing?!

We:What do you mean?

Motorist:You're not supposed to be in front of me like that, you're blocking the road!

We:We're using the road just like you. Why are you honking?

Motorist:What the hell am I supposed to do when you're blocking my way?!

We:You're supposed to wait for us to turn.

Motorist:But you're not supposed to be there if I need to get by. You don't have the right of way!

We:What? Of course we have the right of way, we were here first.

Motorist:Unless you're in the bike lane, you do not have the right of way! You're supposed to let me get by!

We: Bicycles have the right of way just like any other vehicle.

Motorist:Not if you're not in the bike lane!

We:Yes. Check your facts.

Motorist: No! You check your facts!



I don't know how things would have gone had the light not turned green at that point, but it did. The motorist floored the gas pedal and veered around us in order to proceed straight as we made our left turn.



It's not so much the motorist's rudeness that I found alarming(she was screaming at us), but the fact that she genuinely believed that cyclists did not have the right of way unless they were in the bike lane. In other words, she thought that if a cyclist needed to make a left turn, they must stand aside and wait for all the cars behind them to pass before they were allowed to proceed. This is blatantly incorrect, but that doesn't help any in situations like this.



In my view, lack of drivers' awareness about bicycling laws is largely responsible for cyclist-motorist confrontations. When I first began riding a bike in Boston, drivers would occasionally scold me for "breaking the law" (i.e. cycling on the road). Now that bicycles have become more common this seldom happens, but yesterday's encounter shows that misunderstanding of road rules still exists. I've read that in areas where this is especially bad, cyclists have taken to carrying copies of local bicycle laws and handing them out to motorists who harass them. That is further than I personally would want to go. But it seems to me that some driver's ed initiative is in order - especially if a city is actively striving to be more "bicycle friendly."

Chinooks, aerial images, Brian Massey & Mizuki Takahashi

The U.S. Army has been spending time with the Mt. Rainier climbing rangers over the past few weeks. On May 22nd, we flew to the mountain and performed hoist and other training missions near Echo Rock, Camp Muir and Camp Schurman. While participating, I was able to shoot some aerial images of the climbing routes. Check out the updated route conditions for new information and photos. Chinook cockpit image taken by David Gottlieb.

The New York Times gave their opinion of Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, and they liked him! The budget outlook for the NPS also sounds good. Of course, time will tell, but it was refreshing to see some positive press.

On a very, very sad and all-too-familiar note, two friends of this blog died climbing on Mt. McKinley last week. Mizuki Takahashi and Brian Massey (both frequented Rainier) fell while traversing high on Denali near the Messner Couloir. The exact details of what caused the accident are unknown; what we do know is that both climbers were well loved in the Pacific Northwest. Mizuki had even contributed reports to our blog last year. I knew her through the solo climbing registration program. Mizuki loved to solo climb the mountain in the winter.

It's been a very rough six months for female alpinists from the Seattle area: Christine Boskoff (owner of Mountain Madness PI), Lara Kellogg (former climbing ranger), and now Mizuki. The loss of these three unique, independent, and amazing women is an emotional setback to many climbers in the region. Our thoughts are with their friends and family. Here is an image that Mizuki contributed to the blog last year.

Petrified Forest National Park

After leaving the Grand Canyon, I drove east on Interstate 10 to visit the Petrified Forest National Park. In order to appreciate this place, you must exit the Interstate, get out of your vehicle, and take the short walks that are available. From Interstate 10 on the north side of the park there is a road that will take you a short ways into the Painted Desert, then it turns south to take you through the Petrified Forest. It comes out on U.S. 180 east of Holbrook, where you can easily pick up the Interstate again. It may take you a couple of hours to drive through the park, but it is well worth the slight detour.

The colors in some of the pieces are incredible. It looks like someone came along with a chain saw, a very large one in some cases, and cut up the “trees” into small pieces.... then they went and tossed those pieces and scattered them around the desert floor. Of course, the Rangers deny any such thing.

Actually, the Petrified Forest, as we see it now, is but a shadow of its former self. Before it became protected as a National Park, people came and took away quite a bit of the petrified wood. Even now, with a warning of a fine of several hundred dollars, people still walk off with bits and pieces. I can understand the attraction. It is beautiful stuff and the colors are startling, but I resisted the temptation and went away empty handed, except for the photographs I took.

Maude and Romey

Maude Catherine Wise Brubaker Yontz, my great grandmother, was the daughter of William Pythagrus and Sophia Dunfee Wise. She and her twin brother, Maurice James, were born on December 9, 1877 in Whitley County, Indiana. Maude passed away February 14, 1953 and was buried on my 5th birthday (so my mother has told me a zillion times, at least).

Maude lived with her parents and siblings on the family farm in Troy Township until her marriage on February 7, 1897 to Charles Romain "Romey" Brubaker who was born August 19, 1871 and was the son of William and Malissa Joslin Brubaker. He was 25 years old and she was 19. According to my grandmother, they eloped because her parents didn't approve of him. He didn't have a "steady" job and had a bit of wanderlust. He had lived in Chicago for a short time and in northern Michigan. I imagine they didn't think he could provide for her. When Maude and Romey went to her home to get her clothes and other things, her parents wouldn't let him in their house. Eventually, they accepted him but never did fully approve of him.

My grandmother wrote that "Romey and Maude set up housekeeping in Huntington, Indiana. They were very happy and carefree for a time. Then came the Spanish American War. Romey just didn't have a thought about enlisting; it seemed just a very small affair. But one day his mother drove down to Huntington and demanded that he enlist. She told him that his father would disown him if he didn't. Well, he enlisted and was soon in Cuba. He was a mess sergeant." [Updated 04/30: There is a separate post about Romey and some of his exploits.]

She continues, "While Romey was in the service of his country, Maude was trying to live her life as best she could. Mama was a very small girl, weighing only 98 pounds when she married and only 89 pounds while Papa was in the army. She was a brunette and very attractive. Mama had gone to live with Papa's parents. She and Grandma Brubaker never got along as both of them had terrible tempers. As she had very little to keep her busy, Mama got a job selling books about the Civil War so that she could be on her own some of the time. She always enjoyed meeting people and this was good therapy for her as she missed her husband so very much."

"In due time Papa came home; they lived on the farm at Goose Lake and Grandpa and Grandma moved into Columbia City where Uncle Hale entered high school. In February 1901, Mama gave birth to a little premature boy. John Wise Brubaker he was named but he lived only one week. He died in Mama's arms, this was a shock to Mama and she would talk of it for years. They buried him in Scott Cemetery just north of the schoolhouse where they both had gone to school. It is only about one mile from the farm."

Soon after the death of their little son, Maude and Romey moved to Lorain, Ohio where Maude's brother, Harry Wise, and their aunt, Rose Wise Zinsmeister, and their families lived. It was there that their second child, Hazlette Aileen, was born on January 16, 1902. She was also born premature, weighing only 2 1/2 pounds. When she was 6 months old, the family moved back to Whitley County. They lived on a small farm located a bit south of the Goose Lake farm. The following year, on April 14, 1903 another daughter, Choella Jane, was born. Not quite two years later, and a move to yet another farm, their fourth and last child, William Hale, was born on February 22, 1905.

Maude had some medical problems after the birth of William Hale and the family moved into Columbia City. The family moved a lot. They would live in a house for a few months then move to another, for no apparent reason. Maude was quite ill for several years and would have surgery in the spring of 1907. When she got out of the hospital they moved again, to another farm. During her illness Romey had been the dutiful husband - he had kept house, taken care of Maude and the children, and saw to their needs. But after Maude recovered from the surgery, he moved the family back to the Goose Lake farm then took off for Traverse City, Michigan. He had been there before they were married and liked the area. He rented a house, got it furnished, and sent for Maude and the children. My grandmother wrote of her memories of their time at Traverse City. It was an idyllic time, interrupted occasionally with a dose of reality.

On December 14, 1910 their world changed. They received a telegram that Romey's brother, Maurice Hale, had died of pneumonia while attending the Law College of Columbia University in New York City. The family left immediately for Whitley County, taking only what they could carry in their suitcases. Maude would return later to deal with their household goods, as reported in the Columbia City Post on Saturday January 14, 1911: "Mrs. C.R. Brubaker, who went to Traverse City, Michigan, to look after the shipment of the household goods, was stormbound for three days and did not arrive here until Wednesday. A great snow storm was raging in northern Michigan. The C.R. Brubaker family will make their home with his father, Wm. Brubaker in Troy township."

At the Goose Lake Farm, about 1914: Thornton Brubaker (sitting on the stump, half-brother of William Brubaker), Jane, Orville Day (a hired man), Maude, Billy, Hazlette, Spot, and Charles Romain Brubaker.

So it was that the family returned to the Goose Lake farm. In the spring of 1911, William and Malissa moved to Columbia City leaving Romey to manage the farm. He must have liked it there, or perhaps had some sense of responsibility, for he and his family remained on the farm for six years. In her autobiography, grandma wrote quite a bit about their time at the farm. After several business deals went bad, they moved to North Webster in neighboring Kosciusko County. The farm was leased for a while to Uncle Harlow Barber (Maude's brother-in-law) but later sold. I'm not sure how long they lived in North Webster, probably just a few months. At any rate, they moved to Columbia City after leaving North Webster.

According to an article in the Columbia City Post dated January 15, 1919 Maude and Romey separated on September 15, 1917:

Maud Brubaker, who is now living on the south side, filed suit in the circuit court Monday for divorce from her husband, Charles R. Brubaker, better known in this city as Romey Brubaker. Her attorneys are Gates & Whiteleather.

She sets out in her complaint that they were married February 7, 1897, and that they separated on September 15, 1917. Her first cause for complaint is non-support, she is alleging that the defendant refused to support her and her children.

She charges further that the defendant was intoxicated most of the time. She avers that three years ago he inherited property worth four thousand dollars but that he squandered it on drink. That there were times when he would leave the house and be gone for several days and that she knew nothing about his whereabouts. That he would often bring liquor into the presence of his wife and children and that when the plaintiff objected he swore and cursed her; that he often brought friends home and would drink with them and that when she objected he said he could bring anyone he wished home and drink what he pleased. Then he enlisted in the army and that during that time she received the government allowance, but that since the time he was discharged he refused to support his wife. That the plaintiff was the owner of real estate in Troy township which was heavily encumbered and that the defendant refused to join with her in a deed so that she could sell the same. She asks for absolute divorce and the control and custody of her children.

They must have reconciled their differences, at least for a year or so - Charles and Maude were enumerated together, along with the children, on Line Street in Columbia City in the 1920 census. Records show that they were divorced on April 13, 1921.

Romey moved to Pascagoula, Mississippi. I haven't found his World War I service records yet or even a mention of it in the local newspapers, but I think he must have been stationed in Mississippi during his time in service. That's the only reason I have come up with for his moving there. On April 1, 1923 he married Viola Fagan. Romey remained in Pascagoula the rest of his life, although he did return to Whitley County at least once to visit his mother. He passed away on December 19, 1945 at the Veteran's Hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Maude remained in Columbia City where, on January 30, 1922 she married Joseph Yontz. My mother and her sisters have fond memories of visiting Maude and Joe. Aunt Phyllis says they were a very happy couple and were wonderful grandparents. Joe passed away on December 9, 1948. Maude would live another four years, passing away on February 14, 1953 of complications from diabetes.
Maude and her 2nd husband, Joseph Yontz. They were married January 30, 1922 when she was 44 years old and he was 50. This could be their wedding picture.

One of the things that always confused me was when mom and her siblings spoke of Maude they always called her "Grandma Bill." Mom explained that one day Maude and her son, Bill, came to visit. The kids all ran out yelling "Grandma" and "Uncle Bill" over and over, until it became "Grandma Bill" and the name stuck. From that day forward, she was always Grandma Bill. And Joseph Yontz was Grandpa Joe.

Maude and her granddaughter, Phyllis Phend, 1924.

Twenty years or so later, about 1945-46, four generations. Phyllis Phend Mitchell, her children Mike and Kathy, with Gram "Bill" (Maude Wise Brubaker Yontz) and her daughter, Gram Dunn (Hazlette Brubaker Phend Dunn).

Altitude

One thing that really fascinated me about Hurricane Ridge was the Altitude. The Ridge is said to be 5,242 above sea level. There are all those magnificent mountains around it that may be a bit higher and it makes you feel, as I have said, on top of the world. There are glaciers on those mountains. You are in an area that measures rain and snow in feet instead of inches. There are animals and flowers and trees that would never grow in my home state of New Mexico. But here in New Mexico, in the high desert country, I live at about 6500 feet above sea level. Makes you wonder why some areas have one kind of Eco system at a certain altitude and another type of Eco system at another altitude. Of course there is the difference in latitude and longitude, also.