I have two things to note.

The other night I went to a bar and watched a band play. It was a bar band playing cover songs that everybody knew. I realized I've spent so much time in Eastern Europe that I've gotten used to the idea of things being good only because they're so bad, if you catch my drift. I am told this is never the case here in Dubai, where the good things are good because they're so ridiculously superlative. This bar band, fronted by a little Filipino woman and two white guys in homeboy duds, was hands down the most amazing bar band I have ever seen in my entire life. They were so tight they must have practiced ten hours a day, everything down to the synchronized boy-band dance moves. (No kidding. One of the guys even did handstand push-ups!)

Everybody warned me about the traffic, but mere words are not enough to prepare you for this. I have never experienced anything quite like it. Last night I had to get from the New Gold Souk, where I live, to the Hyatt Park hotel on the other side of Dubai Creek. It's a journey of perhaps, I'm guessing, 7 kilometers, through downtown Dubai. It would have taken about an hour to walk, but I unfortunately I didn't bring a map. The cab ride took close to 90 minutes.