The Dubai Mall has a T.G.I. Friday‘s chain restaurant establishment, but the name does not match the local customary weekend. The Islamic holy day is Friday (whereas the Jewish holy day is Saturday, and the Christian holy day is Sunday). Dubai recently set the weekend as a universal Friday and Saturday to bring the country more in-line with global standards; some Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, have the weekend on Thursday and Friday, reportedly because they refuse to have the weekend include the Jewish holy day.
A local restaurant in the Deira old town district of Dubai has a play on the T.G.I. Friday restaurant theme.
About Curzon
Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859 - 1925) entered the British House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 1886, where he served as undersecretary of India and Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Viceroy of India at the turn of the 20th century where he delineated the North West Frontier Province,
ordered a military expedition to Tibet, and unsuccessfully tried to partition the province of Bengal during his six-year tenure. Curzon served as Leader of the House of Lords in Prime Minister Lloyd George's War Cabinet and became Foreign Secretary in January 1919, where his most famous act was
the drawing of the Curzon Line between a new Polish state and Russia. His publications include
Russia in Central Asia (1889) and
Persia and the Persian Question (1892).
In real life, "Curzon" is a US citizen from the East Coast who has been a financial analyst, freelance translator, and university professor; he is currently on assignment in Tokyo.
what’s it like living in Dubai right now? Is the place bankrupt or what?
Life here is fine. The news of international bankruptcy have been banished from the English newspapers, which are overwhelmingly local papers, and it’s hard to get your hands on the WSJ or IHT, but the stories do show up on the internet and on CNN/BBC. Frankly, while Dubai does have liquidity problems, it is widely believed by many in international institutions that Dubai does have more cash than they claim and could probably pay off a significant amount of their debts. Arab culture views debt repayment much more casually, the downside being that there is still debtor’s prison if you can’t come to an agreement with your creditors.
The inability of Dubai to pay international debts has had little affect on lifestyle here, except for those people working on construction projects as there are few if any new projects in the pipeline. There is very little crime, and Dubai is comparable to Tokyo in this regard. The traffic and the driving customs get a bad reputation but it’s frankly not that bad. The food is great and there’s lots of variety. Everyone complains how expensive things are, but the prices are notably better than Tokyo. Housing prices have dropped and despite stabilizing for the past few months will probably continue to drop as more projects come online.
Too bad I can’t get a bacon cheeseburger there.
You can make one, you just can’t order it.
Just as I can’t order a beer, although I can enjoy one at home or in a hotel bar.
Turkey bacon is an excellent substitution. And if you’ve been reading The National – the UAE’s better English-language daily, out of Abu Dhabi – you’ll see lots of coverage of Dubai’s financial situation.
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