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It can't return to the 'good' days as those have past. For me the best Dubai has been was about 6 to 7 years ago.

Chocoholic wrote:It can't return to the 'good' days as those have past. For me the best Dubai has been was about 6 to 7 years ago.

What was good about it? and why cant it return?

Because it was quiter, there weren't as many people here - the construction 'boom' hadn't really kicked in, so the entire place didn't look like on big construction site.

It was just nice, felt like there was more space, people were nicer too. How you go back to that? You can't.

Chocoholic wrote:Because it was quiter

No wonder it failed

Ambassador wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Because it was quiter

No wonder it failed

Pfff excuse me for a typo! QUIETER!

Actually it was pretty nice back in the early 1990's.

The construction boom had not started and people were much more approachable. Less traffic, but also fewer roads and some of them definitely needed improving. Abu Dhabi was a minimum 3 hour trip down a 2 lane highway filled with trucks and speed bumps every 2 or 3 kilometers.

RAK took 5 hours in a 4x4 as the road often disappeared under sand dunes beyond Ajman. We ended up driving along the beach on many occasions!

I remember sitting in the most chic coffee shop in town in 1993. It was Gerards on the beach road and the view was the beach! Its still there but in a mall now and no views of the sea.



Knight

The good old days DK.

You forgot the camels on the road and hence the need to overnight in the Ali Pally.

For me, ‘The good old days’ were in the mid/Late 70’s, when on SZR the tallest tower was the World Trade Centre and the steel road ended at the Defence roundabout, I think the Toyota building may have been there at that time as well? Driving to Abu Dhabi was an adventure and driving to Sharjah dodging the camels was considered an extreme sport!

The Hotels in Sharjah had two bars, one for the guests that closed at 22:00 and one for the locals that closed when the bartenders felt they were man enough! And the entertainment was then to watch the Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Chevvies play dodgems in the Car Park as they left!

You were always made welcome at the various Mess clubs around Dubai where you would buy a book of ‘Chips’ and exchange these for drinks at the bar that worked out at just above cost!, cigarettes were ten a penny and the Beedis? Well, they were almost given away but they were an incredibly good smoke , the Wimpey Mess was a favourite and the place to be at the weekend was the Red Lion! A different place today!

The Beach at Jumeirah ran as far as the eye could see, you had around 5-6m of good inshore visibility while snorkelling to see the coral reefs and the sea life which, was more than you could shake a stick at, on Thursday afternoons and Friday most of the individual groups of beach visitors tended to merge and share facilities that they brought, whether they were BBQ’s, Beer, Umbrella’s Cool Boxes or babysitters.
The Souq was an exciting and vibrant place to negotiate with it’s associated smells of fresh roasted nuts, coffee and spices, cheap pirate cassette tapes, the money changers sat outside their cabins with wads of cash of every currency there was, you did however need to keep an eye where you were treading, for the little puddles left behind by those who considered it acceptable behaviour to relieve themselves at will and most of Dubai, even in those days was pretty much a construction site, and the only fast food outlet I recall was Popeye’s? Whatever happened to them? The Fish Market was a bit of a Zoo, with the rats as big as ‘Big’ rats!

Rose tinted glasses? Possibly!
Would I do it again? Most definitely.
When will Dubai return to the good old days? Never.

And finally, a more sensible poll

Chocoholic wrote:Because it was quiter, there weren't as many people here - the construction 'boom' hadn't really kicked in, so the entire place didn't look like on big construction site.

It was just nice, felt like there was more space, people were nicer too. How you go back to that? You can't.

I presume you are referring to the mid 90's or before and I would certainly agree that it was much quieter even more so if you go back to the 70's.

Dillon wrote:For me, ‘The good old days’ were in the mid/Late 70’s, ....

When will Dubai return to the good old days? Never.

Given that it was much smaller & everyone pretty much knew everyone else, what group did you fall into?

Old and working
At school locally (DC or St.(something) or Choueifat)
At boarding school

Only asking as I was there as well at that time

umm, if the definition of "Good Days" is a time when there were fewer buidings and less people about then the answer would certainly be "never" . And that answer would not be unique to Dubai but applicable to most ,if not all places - cities around the globe.

Perhaps I should have clarified; by "Good Days" I meant the "boom" years of 2005-2007.

Would anyone change his/her vote with the "revised" definition of "Good Days"?

I would'nt call them good days, far from it. Maybe the few who were lucky enough to be minting fortunes while flipping but for most there wasn't anything good about them.

Like most for me the good days would be from the early 80's to the mid 90's

At DK thanks for sharing some of the good old times man. I remember that gerads and the horrible ride up to abu dhabi on that nasty partially lit highway. There was always a sigh of relief when you saw the Trade Center lit up in the distance, cuz you knew you've made it back. But there was one more obstacle to cross.

The coppers, just before defence R/A at night. And if you got caught overspeeding. There would be cop with a flashlight at the end of the road pull you over, actually write you a ticket and punch a hole in your license !

Dillion : That was an excellent write up man, I love reading about the old times and reminiscing about the real good times, although I was too young to remember the 70's but the early 80's were pretty similar too. I remember wimpeys and popeyes is back

I'm a sucker for stories about the "good days" and would love to hear more, anyone got pics ?

OK here is a site for those who wish to take a trip down memory lane:

www.dubaiasitusedtobe.com

50+ years of Dubai history in photos!

See if you can spot some of the locations and think about how they look now.



Knight

viking-warrior wrote:

Dillon wrote:For me, ‘The good old days’ were in the mid/Late 70’s, ....

When will Dubai return to the good old days? Never.

Given that it was much smaller & everyone pretty much knew everyone else, what group did you fall into?

Old and working
At school locally (DC or St.(something) or Choueifat)
At boarding school

Only asking as I was there as well at that time

Well, it was in fact, not too old and working!

-- Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:58 am --

desertdudeshj wrote: ... I remember wimpeys and popeyes is back

Hi DD, The Wimpeys I was referring to was the Wimpey Construction Sports and Social Club on Deira Side, I believe they were subject to several mergers and takeovers over the Years and are now part of the Carillion Group of Companies. I'll stand corrected but I think you're referring to the Wimpy Burger Chain?

I was kind of refering to both, but mostly the burger chain

what jumeriah beach road looked like 10 years ago



2 dudes having fun in a porsche in 2000

Oh thats a nice find, although the second video was just hopeless, bunch of dumb gits anywhoo.

Damn ! I live there (or is it here ?)now ( DG next to Jebel Ali Village) gosh how much has happened in just the last 10 years. Although you've seen it before you eyes but to see pics and video is totally different.

Although Jebel Ali Village or the approach to it from SZR has changed at all. The Sign, the gates still all there. Infact Jebel Ali Village is the kind of place which has stood still in time, and I hope it stays that way.

I was just mucking about there sometime back and literally feels like you gone back in time a couple of decades. The old villas still there, the club etc etc.

Personally I think its a nice small time sheltered haven in the middle of this chaos. One of the very few or maybe the last untouched places of good old dubai.

it will!!

I really do think it's a shame that Dubai got caught in the whole 'must have the biggest and best' attitude. It's lost so much of the charm it used to have.

Ahhhh the good old days are long gone.

Dubai was at its best in the early to mid 90s - it had enough of everything, now it's just too much - IMHO