Largest Candy Store in the World in Dubai

You know candylicious? Well they're making dubai the sweet capital of the world with the largest sweetshop in the world. Candy Time! Based in the Dubai Mall, and 10,000 sq ft of sugar coated sweet stuff counds like a combination of heaven and hell and hyperness all in one go. Think Charlie and the Choclate factory for real, without the weird Willy Wonka!




Prices range from lollipops costing Dh1 to hampers packed with chocolates, T-shirts and toys worth Dh500. Sunaina said: “We will sell popular products that everyone knows about as well as premium products like Conti, which are imported Italian chocolates that are our most expensive at Dh249 a box. “We even have gourmet Garrett popcorn, which is Oprah Winfrey’s favourite brand and is a completely different experience from the normal popcorn. “A good 80 per cent of what we sell is only available in this store which you won’t find anywhere else in the Middle East and South East Asia.”

I feel though, that despite the exclusivity of all thoses sweets, one would feel sick after being there more than 5 minutes. Hey, you gotta have some will power to work there. No doubt they are headhunting oompa loompas as we speak.

Candylicious the World's Largest Candy Store Opens in Dubai
Candylicious affair: Sweet elation

Dubai Building Checklist

How the world perceives Dubai's buildings:



From CRACKED.com

The Most Spectacular City Skyline (N)ever Built

Nice representation of the Burj Al Arab amongst some of the old timers.



From Pelfusion

Welcome to Abu Dhabi

....where things are rarely as they seem.


Another forget Dubai - check out what's going on in Abu Dhabi article, and these are the key things to look out for: big mosque, shangri-la from where you can see the mosque, going to be a grand prix, daynight yada yada, Emirates Palace, big big... OTT, regurgitate copy from other newspapers, blah blah yada yada.

Here's a taster:

George Mallory climbed Everest because it was there. The Emiratis, it seems, have turned theirs into lawn because they can. Welcome to Abu Dhabi, where things are rarely as they seem.
Most of the world's economies are in retreat, but the capital of the United Arab Emirates pushes on with business and leisure developments of the highest specification, all funded by petrodollars. When the oil does run out, Abu Dhabi hopes to have established itself as a haven for high-end tourists.


Thanks Daily Mail.

Amazingly, no mention of Manchester City! Unfortunately, they didn't cover Masdar, but no problem - Venture Beat to the rescue:

Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy company, announced over the weekend that it will be raising between $300 and $600 million to start construction on Masdar City, the massive planned hub for cleantech research and innovation, especially in the renewable energy sector. As its name suggests, the development will also be a zero-carbon, zero-waste city for about 50,000 residents, the government in the United Arab Emirates capital claims.

Today, the company followed up with more news that Masdar City will be home to the Persian Gulf’s first geothermal energy facility, which will be used to power its 5-megawatt air conditioning system. Engineers will start drilling wells as soon as Nov. 1. Water will be pushed into these hot wells to be converted into steam, which will then turn turbines. This project alone is estimated to cost $11 billion. So far, it has signed one $1.6 million contract with Reykjavik Geothermal, a company from Iceland, where Geothermal expertise runs deep. Masdar says it plans to recruit five to six more contractors by the end of 2009.

Abu Dhabi looks to raise $600M for renewable energy hub, Masdar City

But the most worrying story of the week that noone has picked up on is about water...the water in the desert is running out:

According to the environment agency in Abu Dhabi, current consumption rates of underground water are 24 times higher than a sustainable level, said Raouf. “We have to do studies on how to make our water use sustainable. The fact we don’t have much agricultural land means we need to identify our agricultural capacity accurately and if required, import food,”

Now that's a real story.

Is the Gulf Running Out of Water?

The Dark Side of Dubai (the cake)

The Darth Vader Cake available from House of Cakes (Dubai) - with Caramel Creme filling if required.

Michael Jackson Island Dubai

The concept of a Michael Jackson Island in Dubai resides in the imagination of 3 individuals. But imagination they do have:

In the first of the entries entitles "The Jackson islands", the islands are made up around the lines of Michael Jackson's face, with artificial hills, and renaming The World islands as We are the World Islands. Nice.



The second entry build upon having Michael Jackson as an island but instead of personifying his face, this looks to make his iconic dance move into an island. Not the moonwalk, not the balancing at 45 degrees, but the stand on your tippy toes made famous in the Billy Jean Video and the legendary Motown 25 performance. Interesting.



The third entry takes it to a whole new level. Building on the previous entry of creating the Michael Jackson dance move, this one comes off the top of Palm Jumeirah. There is an area called The Moonwalk where all the yachts can dock. From there is the PYT Promenade, a New Neverland amusement park surrounded by a wildlife preserve called Bubbles Jungle! There's Pepsi New Generation Town and to top it all off the whiter than white sands of Vitiligo Beach. Oh and to get across the island there is the Speed Demon Monorail which will take you between the Thriller Pavillion showcasing his work.



Could it really be true? Or is this just made up for the press? Actually it's the Michael Jackson Monument Design Competition where these three entries from many relate to the former late great King of Pop. What's interesting is that the three entries were from individuals not related to the Dubai, the UAE or the Gulf. They were in fact from Vienna, New York and Louisville. What does that say for Dubai? It says that Dubai's stamp on the world map is that crazy things could happen - where the impossible is possible. Could the Michael Jackon Island be built? Perhaps? And if it were to be built, where would it be built? Dubai. Will it be built? No. As I said, it's in the imagination of 3 people. Shamone! Hee Hee.

Michael Jackson to live forever as an island in Dubai
Michael Jackson Monument Design Competition - Live Forever