20 Reasons We Had To Smile In Dubai In 2015

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With the year drawing to a close, we decided to look back over the best moments of 2015. From Donald Trump getting a small taste of his own medicine to some hilarious marketing stunts; these were the moments that made us smile in 2015.

1. When Sheikh Hamdan’s friend, Mohammed bin Ahmed Jaber Al Harbi, shook hands with the Queen of England in June… 

2. When we heard Jet Man pulled off this stunt safely…

We held our breaths when Yves Rossy and Jet Man Junior (Vince Reffet) flew alongside an Emirates airbus A380 using jetpacks in November. We couldn’t help but smile when we heard they came through the crazy stunt safe and sound. 

3. And when we saw who had the best view of the Jet Man stunt…

Yup, they definitely had the best seats

4. When we woke up and saw this…

A stunt during the World Air Games in December saw hundreds of hot-air balloons fly through the city early one morning as most of us made our way to work. Despite the neck cramps from craning our necks skyward this was one of our favourite random moments of 2015.

5. When Eva Longoria got engaged…

We were blown away when Eva announced her engagement after her beau proposed on a Dubai desert safari, and the office sighed a collective ‘aawwwwwww’ when she posted this pic to her Instagram account two weeks ago.

6. When One Direction wowed as a four-piece…

When Zayn made a shock departure from 1D at the end of March, Directioners in Dubai went ballistic as there was a question mark over whether their Dubai concert in April would go ahead. Luckily, there was no need to worry, the four lads (Zayn who?) came out and put on an absolutely stellar performance at the Sevens Stadium.

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Photo cred: thenational.ae

7. When the Emirates marketing team got it very right…

From this hilarious advert to partnering up with Jet Man, Emirates hit the nail on the head with their marketing strategy and have been all over social media in 2015. 

Jennifer Aniston having a nightmare on an Emirates flight

8. When we heard a new royal baby was born…

We could barely contain our excitement when we heard Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed had given birth this month…and when she released this picture we were done…

9. When David Beckham came to visit…

Sports legend, family man and fully-fledged heartthrob, how could anyone not love this guy? We were all pretty enamoured when he paid a visit to the new Adidas store in Mall of the Emirates in September.

Adidas David Beckham Dubai Store 03

Our editor Devinder was particularly smiley about this one…

10. When we watched this video of Dubai in Flowmotion

1.5million views and 10 months later; we’re still proud of how awesome Dubai looks

11. When it rained for the second time in a month…

Yup, we just can’t get enough of that rain

12. When the city went absolutely bonkers for National Day…

These pics are just a small glimpse of what the city was like during the National Day weekend celebrations

13. When we had the chance to zipline past the Burj Khalifa…

14. When Trevor Noah killed it at Dubai Comedy Festival…

15. When 44 cute turtles were released into the sea…

We couldn’t help but smile when The Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Programme (DTRP) released 44 Hawksbills back into the wild after a six month period of caring for the unwell turtles.

16. When the Trump name was removed from a Dubai golf course…

Following Donald Trump’s announcement that all Muslims should be banned from the U.S, we were only too happy to see his name being removed from a huge building project on the outskirts of Dubai. We couldn’t help being seriously miffed though, when we saw his name restored again two days later. What was that about?

17. When an iPhone survived a fall from the Liberty House, DIFC (that’s a 42-story building!)

When photographer Catalin Marin dropped his iPhone from a 42-story building eight months ago, we doubt he thought there was a chance of it surviving. But using the Find My iPhone app he managed to relocate the phone without a scratch on it…amazing!

How it looked after the fall

18. When Rory McIlroy landed a hole-in-one…

So we know this happened in Abu Dhabi in January of this year, but when the world’s number one (at the time) lands a hole-in-one in a nearby Emirate, people get excited.

19. When Sheikh Hamdan posted this on his Instagram page…

Sheikh Hamdan (lovingly known as Fazza) melts our hearts again and again with shots like this one. He has over 3 million followers on Instagram and was chosen as one of the top 100 ‘influencers’ by Snapchat. Don’t follow him yet on SC yet? You’ll find him at Faz3.

20. When we broke the world record for the largest fireworks display…

Starting bang on the stroke of midnight, January 1st 2015; this mega-display is something we’ll never forget. Unless, of course it’s topped in 2016…Can we ever expect something as big again?

Read Next: 16 words that should be banned once and for all in 2016

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