ASIA

<<< The Yas Hotel seems straight out of "Star Trek," with its colorful grid shell and futuristic design.

You can hear Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque's call to prayer  from the pool at  the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi >>>

This oil-rich Middle Eastern capital city lives life in the fast lane 

BY LORI RACKL - Travel Editor

     Chicago Sun-Times - March 31, 2010

    ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The world’s fastest roller coaster — a white-knuckle thrill ride said to approach speeds of 150 mph — is slated to open later this year in Abu Dhabi. It’s fitting symbolism for a city that goes ga ga over anything that goes fast, whether it be camels or Formula 1 cars zooming around a track, or the season opener of the Red Bull Air Race season last weekend...

    Much of the city’s recent hotel activity has centered on Yas Island, a 15-square-mile patch of land that’s poised to be an entertainment and sporting playground. Ferrari World, the planet’s largest indoor theme park, is set to open here later this year. At Ferrari World, thrill jockeys will be able to have a G-force experience, shooting 200 feet through the park’s roof. You can feel what it’s like behind the wheel of a Ferrari in a racing simulator, or take a flume ride through a giant 12-cylinder engine. (Did I mention that nearly 75 percent of the U.A.E.’s population is male?) This also will be the home of the world’s fastest roller coaster...

Workers scrub the marble (imported from Greece) at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the few open to non-Muslims >>>

Read the rest of the story at the Sun-Times :
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/travel/2131184,abu-dhabi-uae-ferrari-033110.article