Fact about the country. U.A.E. stands for "United Arab Emirates" and is a country in the Middle East region, which is part of the Asia continent. The country has seven emirates and each emirate has its own ruler (and rules of course), but together they are united under one governing body, hence the name.
Fact about the rulers. The head of the UAE governing body is the ruler of Abu Dhabi emirate. His full title is "UAE President, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan" with "HH Sheikh Khalifa" in short. Following him is "UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum" with "HH Sheikh Mohammed" in short. FYI, "sheikh" means "prince", "bin" means "son of", and "al" indicates the family name. If you ever visit UAE, you will see posters of big and small with photos of the rulers everywhere:
Fact about the twin cities. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of U.A.E. and Dubai is the biggest city. They are just about 1.5 hr drive apart from each other - without traffic jams of course. (Q says just over 1 hr, but then he speeds and I don't, yet.)For those of you who asked why Abu Dhabi, Q and I picked it for three main reasons: our passion for a distinctly-different culture, a central location for further travelling and a decent income - simple as that! When Q's friend Maarten the Super Chef suggested Dubai to us, we jumped on the idea right away with a scouting trip earlier in February. As it turned out, Dubai was very impressive, but a bit overwhelming considering how fast and aggressive it grows, so we decide to opt for the lower-key Abu Dhabi, which sits on an island sorta like the Manhattan. This way we can enjoy the less-crazy city life and it's an easy drive to Dubai if we crave for something bigger.
p.s. For those who have shown great concern about my driving, I ensure you that I have successfully passed the honking exercise, i.e. not panicking even when getting honked.
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2 comments:
Thanks for the informative article. I learnt much just from this one.
Btw, recent research indicates that auto-insurance premiums have gone up in UAE.
;)
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has recently issued a law establishing the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority. It shows the sincere desire of the president to provide citizens with better living standards and quality of life. These housing initiatives will go a long way in community building and development of the country.
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