Housing market in Abu Dhabi jumps 53%...Middle East 2 US -1

So that's the score the way I see it. An article posted on ArabianBusiness.com today that the demand for homes in Dubai in 2007 went up 18% respectively, and this year alone prices have sky rocketed 53%! From an investment standpoint that's a total 71%, respectively, return on your money in less then 18 months. And thats a very reasonable number in this market. The game is simple, we all know it, no matter what your hustle is.
Prices are driven by demand and supply. The demand for housing in Abu Dhabi is in the excess 140,000 homes and they are barely reaching the 100,000 mark. What it mean when the supply is decreasing as demand increases by the day? Reference picture above.
We know how bad the market is in the US. Besides New York and Hawaii, where is a secure real estate investment in the US? It's a great time to buy, but how long are you willing to wait for your investment to turn profitable, 3 years, 5, 10?

Luxury City Real Estate

Luxury City Real Estate is one of the most admired real estate companies in all of Dubai. They have been around for 4 years and are one of the most reputable company's in this city. They have been honored by some of the top developers in the country and have won countless awards from top sales agents of the year top top producers. I've worked with them in the past and am presently working with them on another project. A meeting with friends turned in to a few fierce pool games. Sorry you missed out Qais, you would have destroyed everybody.
Anyways, I'm working on creating a strategic business relationship with them, along with the friendship that we have created over the past few months with members of their staff and top shareholders. The future looks good great. Wednesday is an important day for us here. It's the 12th round baby, I'm looking for TKO.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of DUMB

So I think Harrison Ford is a great actor with films like The Fugitive and Blade Runner under his belt, even though he's never won an Academy Award or an Oscar. Sure he is. Shia LaBeouf gets more respect after doing Transformers. I actually enjoyed the Indiana Jones series, but this last film was completely over done. I thought I would get action and a good story. The movie had some action but overall there was no suspense and over done. The special effects were atypical for a Spielberg film, even for something as low-tech as the Indiana Jones series. The props looked unoriginal. Maybe I've lost my childhood imagination or sense of adventure but I thought this film was weak. Watch for it yourself if you don't believe me. When you want your money back don't come looking for me.
I still can't get over the fact that the theaters here in the Middle East give you assigned seating...

How could Kobe out do jumping over an Aston Martin?

By doing this. I hope snakes in a pool help you get rings on a finger.

Step your game up

My partner here in Dubai decided to start his own blog. You can get to his blog by clicking here: Dubai World 2008
I'm not saying he's a front runner, referring to the five hour bickering session we had with his brother about his claim that the Lakers are the greatest team in NBA history and that the Bulls could only win when there were no superstars in the league in the late and mid 90's. So let's see if Shan can hold it down and maintain the site...the bets are on homie.
I'm not saying anything, but I think the picture says it all...

UNLV is coming to the UAE

"Regents give go-ahead to explore UNLV campus in U.A.E." by Vegas News - Las Vegas Sun

So first came Michigan State University (MSU) to Dubai, then New York University (NYU) in Abu Dhabi, now UNLV is opening a satellite campus in Ras al Khaimah. Well, its been approved anyways. It makes sense for the Vegas based campus to come to this region. Las Vegas and Dubai have already partnered up in business ventures with MGM/Mirage and Dubai World investing 50% of the equity needed to fund the City Center project, and Zabeel Investments buying a 50% stake into hospitality group The Light Group. UNLV already has a satellite campus in Singapore. The campus will be focusing on hotel administration and hospitality administration. The UAE is similar to Vegas with all the posh clubs, hotels, shops, and amenities that The Strip offers. Someone who graduates from UNLV's program can be promised a similar lifestyle to that of Sin City, minus Moose Diesel.

Yallah Habibi...Yaani? Khalaas!

Yeah, that's about all the Arabic I knew before I came to Dubai. I grew up reading the Quran, writing and reading Arabic, but never learned how to speak the language. Many of peers in Las Vegas took it upon themselves to take the Arabic classes that were offered at UNLV and I heard nothing but positive things about the course.
Arabic is the 5th most spoken language in the world today and with the Middle East being a political, business and economical power in the world it will only increase in numbers. I plan to add to that list. Starting Monday I will be taking courses in the Arabic language from Eton Institute of Language. They are based in Knowledge Village, which is an area in Dubai that is home to Universities and trade schools from all over the globe, including Michigan State University from the states. I'm looking forward to refreshing my writing and transliteration skills, pronunciation, and most importantly taking the steps to being able to speak Arabic.
Never stop learning...I'm really looking forward to these classes and being able to speak the language of the middle east, but more importantly, the language of Islam.

5,000 homes to be built in Palestine

Qatar to build Palestinian community
Someones taking the initiative to build homes for the refugees of Palestine. Qatari Diar plan to build over 5,000 affordable homes in the West Bank near Ramallah over the next 5 years. Upon completion, the site will be home to over 40,000 Palestinians. Hopefully Isreal wont "reclaim" the land before Qatari Diar starts the building process...

The Bank Nightclub coming to Dubai

Zabeel Properties to develop food and entertainment venue, Tiara Village, on Palm Jumeirah | Zabeel Properties

Okay so why does anyone care? Why should you? Well the Vegas expansion has begun. World famous Light Group, based out of Las Vegas, will be bringing The Bank Nightclub to The Palm Jumeirah Island. It will be the first of what may be many clubs to be designed and operated by the Light Group here in Dubai. Moose, it's time to ask for a transfer!

Shoreline Apartments at night

Shoreline at night
Originally uploaded by MrTooDamnGood

After lifting I went for a jog on the beach. The nights here are so calming when your away from the city.

So I've been MIA for a while...

But I'm back.  You know who it is, it's me...!

Quickly, I'm blogging from the iPhone. Yes, I unlocked and jailbreaked it. Yes it works fine and yes I'm happy with the results. Especially now that my laptop has completely died on me. The power cables started popping and I saw some sparks and finito.  Plus the battery died. So I can't charge it and my battery is probably a brick now.  For those of you calling, I won't be able to return calls until I do the following: a) buy a MacBook, Pro, or Air b) buy new power cables and battery
Take a guess which one it will be?

The last week I've been in Abu Dhabi for the Cityscape show.  Great projects were displayed there from all over the world, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. One project inparticular caught my eye in the hills north of Madrid, Spain. Nathan Dayspring, I think you and I should consider talking some more about this and discuss taking the jet from the Prof for a weekend. Call me.

Nephew is crawling now, miss him a lot, and wherever I go I find him gear I want to buy him, but I don't know how big he is now...

Looking forward to this week. A lot of things will be going on. Keep the FAM in your prayers and the success of our ambitious endeavours.

Fajr, check.  Protein shake, check.  B-E-D, check.  Congrats to all the homies that graduated, shoutout, check.  I'm Done!

Red Devils!!!

Manchester United! Sad to see Terry go out with the dislocated arm but he says he's a go for the match versus Man U in Russia. Tonight the Red Devil have won the Premier Title!

Pictures...Finally! And Mariachi Music in Dubai, what?

I haven't been able to upload any pictures from one of my two cameras because I didn't have the proper USB cord. I guess I left it back home. The Mall of the Emirates has been sold out of the cord in every store for the last 2 weeks, but luckily I found one there today.
Click the link below to see the photos I've taken so far, here in Dubai.
First set of photos in Dubai
Whenever I upload photos I will always put the whole set here or I will them link from Flickr to the blog, I'll upload a few on to myspace and facebook as well.
So while I was walking through the mall to buy groceries I heard Mariachi music playing. I thought, wait a minute, I'm in the Middle East right now, there are no Mexicans here, why the hell is Mariachi music being played. Well there's a stage in the mall, similar to what they have going on at the Fashion show mall but on a bigger scale, and they have performances there throughout the day. Right there on the center of the stage, in the middle of the mall, surrounded by Arabs and Europeans, were five short Mexican men with instruments in traditional Mexican clothes singing "Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera." Tonight the headliners were Mariachi Figueroa, a Mexican mariachi band from Canada. I know right, it just keeps getting stranger, Mexicans in Canada too??? What?!?! Martha! You didn't tell me you had family here, jerk! haha Anyways, they played live and their voices sounded great. I know it's a Cuban song, but still it rekindled some Vegas memories.
Another thing. That grocery store that I went to inside the mall is like a Wal-Mart Superstore. It's HUGE! Like I haven't heard that before, anyway back to the story haha. I got lost in there a few times and after a while I didn't even know what the hell I went in there for, even though I had a list in my hand. It's just wild that they have grocery stores inside of shopping malls here, and they have even designed escalators especially for the grocery customers so that they can take their shopping cart up and down the 3 different levels of the mall.

Anyways, enjoy the photos. You guys have the phone number, it's the weekend, give me a call. Hope everyone has a great weekend, I know I will! (researching, designing, marketing, etc. Yay, the weekends here!)

Lebanon erupting into Civil War...

Hopefully not, but the government has publicly waged an undeclared war with Hezbollah is what the news is saying here. They are also trying to compound the problem by referring to it as a Sunni / Shiite war. Even now in Beirut, at 10:20 PM, their is gun fighting going on. My prayers are with all the families in Beirut whose sons, brothers, and fathers are in the street fighting for what they believe in. I hope both parties can negotiate, comprise and come to an agreement to solve this conflict before it escalates even more. God be with you all...

Burj Dubai Commercial

Congratulations...Russia has a new President

Now it's our turn. Dmitry Medvedev is Russias third President, following Time Magazine's 2007 Person of The Year Vladimir Putin. Like him or not, in his eight years as Russia's second president he tuned the country's economy around and has constructed the highway for Russia to become a super power once again. Some say Pres. Medvedev is a tool of Putin, but in all honesty he has his own agenda about his legacy and he started it by clearly saying "human rights and freedoms...are deemed of the highest value for our society. We will increase stability, improve quality of life and move forward on the path we have chosen." Sounds like a good start to me. The inauguration of a president for another country was very interesting to watch, especially Russia, with all the mystique about the country. If you're interested, here's the video...

The visionary who's designing the new Middle East

So who the hell designs these new cities in the Middle East? He's designed some the world's most aesthetically appealing malls which in turn generate tremendous revenues by their customers. He's moved to designing cities in the middle east and his aim is to change the world. Amongst one of his many projects is the Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens here in Dubai. This guy truly has vision and this article is amazes you about someone who's found his purpose and is driving his vehicle towards his dreams.
Eric Kuhne is making the future a reality

Ajman developing new coastal city

Ajman is city north of Dubai and some major focus is being moved there with plans on a AED 220bn project for a coastal city. Along with all the developments this coastal city will bring, a new airport is also in the mix.
Ajman's billion dollar coastal city

Sami Al-Hajj freed from Guantanamo Bay

Sami Al-Hajj was imprisoned in the highly criticized Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba from January 2002 until April 30, 2008. He is the only journalist that was held captive there without being formally charged with any crime. He's finally been reunited with his wife and son after almost seven years.
Sami Al-Hajj freed

It's been a while...

I've been extremely busy out here. We've had meetings back-to-back everyday for that last few days. I've been swamped here, plus I'm in the process of setting up the company website. BitExtra is creating the website, the design, hosting the site and all the other technical aspects of creating a corporate website. They have been very helpful and I highly recommend their service if you are planning to create a personal website, a blog, or something on a bigger scale. I didn't realize how much research is involved in creating something like that. When the site is done I will add the link to the site here.
My partner is flew back to the US to speak with some key investors. He'll be back in Dubai in a week or so, before Cityscape in Abu Dhabi. Cityscape will be a major opportunity for us to network, and find the most equitable projects in the UAE that will hold their value and keep their exclusivity which will drive their demand and appreciation upwards. It will be a great opportunity for us.
Lastly, I finally purchased a memory card reader. Somewhere, somehow, I lost my cables to connect my cameras to my laptop. I haven't been able to post any pictures, so today when I get some free time I will be uploading some photos too.

Relax.......I'll be back in 3 months!!!

For all those who received the mass e-mail I sent out, I must apologize! Some think I am permanently here in Dubai now, but that's not the case. I'll be here for 3 months and than I'll be coming back home to Vegas. Some people thought I left permanently without saying good bye. Those closest to me know I would never do that. Plus, my birthday is in 3 months so I want to be back home with my family and friends in the dry-heat that is beautiful Las Vegas. Sorry about the misunderstanding!
By the way, I've been very busy out here in Dubai and that's why there haven't been any updates. Some people have been complaining (Nathan Dayspring haha) that they can't keep up with all the articles I've been putting on here. We both know that's not true, but expect more to come soon. I'll be sharing our investment strategies here and some other tangible information that has helped us focus on the projects worth investing into.