Mission Impossible 4 - Location, Location, Location

OK - I don't know if you've seen thee new Mission Impossible movie.  Whether you have or not, we thought we'd take a few moments to blog about the real star of the show - DUBAI.  What did we think about how our city was portrayed in the movie?

1. Sand Storms - They're worse in Lubbock, TX than in Dubai.  Seriously.  Let's consider some evidence...  Where is the only place I've ever seen the streetlights come on during the middle of the day because of dust?  Lubbock.  Where is the only place that I've lived and had little piles of dirt in my window sills after the dust blows?  Lubbock.  Where is the only place I've ever tasted the grit of dirt in my teeth during a dust storm?  Lubbock.  OK - final question - a 'haboob' - the Arabic word for 'intense dust storm' - in the Wikipedia entry for this term, where was the picture taken that illustrates this type of storm?  Lubbock.  I rest my case.  [special shout-out to my panhandle friends from Spearman, TX for having a picture on the 'haboob' entry, too].
2. Cityscape - The city is bigger than it appeared in the movie.  Mission Impossible 4 made it look like we only have one tall building.  Not true.  In addition to the 2,723 foot-Burj Khalifa (almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building), we have 17 other buildings over 1,000 feet - more than any other city in the world.  And for those of you forward-thinkers who like your measurements in meters, Dubai has 63 buildings over 200 meters  - again, more than any other city in the world.
3. Development - The city is more developed than it appears to be in the movie.  There are no camels on the streets [I won't tell you which one of my family members I had to set straight on that - I'm embarrassed that this individual asked me where we tied up all the camels].  There is no market with dirt roads within walking distance of the Burj Khalifa.  We do, however, have the biggest mall in the world right next door...

Tom Cruise on the Burj Khalifa

And one more interesting tidbit for you - the Indian billionaire in the movie who is supposedly hosting a party at his mansion in Mumbai?  Well, that was actually the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray - a hotel in, you guessed it, Dubai.  It's on the Palm Islands, actually.

Needless to say, people here were way excited about the movie.  In the theatre, when Tom Cruise told his team that they were headed to Dubai, everyone cheered.  We hear from friends that on opening night, people cheered EVERY TIME Dubai was mentioned.  It's a great city. 

Ring us up the next time you're passing through - we'd love to show you around.