You know you lived in the UAElong enough when

I had a lot of positive feedback about this post and I thought by reposting on the UAE Community blog I might be able to put a smile on a few more faces. :-)

You know you have been here for a while:-

1. You remember playing games at Sindbad
2. Dixie Cola was a rival to Pepsi. In fact coke wasn't around when I was a kid.
   
3. You remember Al Ghurari Centre and how it was the only shopping mall around
4. You remember the opening of the first McDonalds at Al Ghurari Centre and the crowds that flocked to it
5. You remember Naif as a residential area and not a 'Meat Market'
6. Trade Centre was a TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL building and could be seen from miles around
7. Chicago Beach!! And there was a stretch of open beach right next to it. Now its Jumierah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah complex
   
8. The Shindagha Tunnel would often leak and they would regularly close it down for repairs
9. When you'd travel abroad NO ONE knew where Dubai was and you would always have to say things like: " Its next to Saudi or Iran"
10. Sharjah was the happening city and families would go there for their parks
    
11. Sharjah had that flyover right at the beginning of the city onto wahda street which would make me and my friends 'stomachs tickle' every time you would cross it. We nicknamed it 'tickle bridge'.
    
12. Dubai Sharjah highway had a very famous and popular site now dwarfed by all the construction. The KFC and Hardees restaurants which became a family hangout spot.
13. You know you are a kid from Dubai if you remember the biggest toy store back then: Dhadabai ( dunno if i got the spelling right) . There was a huge store located opposite present day Hamarain Centre/ JW Marriott.
14. Channel 33 used to air an Indian movie at 10:30 on Thursday nights
15. There was a falcon roundabout just as you came out of Shindagha tunnel and a flame roundabout near present Danata
16. The expo centre in Sharjah was the most happening place in the late 70's and 80's. Everyone would come from all over to watch the circus, shop, eat the ice creams etc
    
17. All the local TV channels would have "prayer intermission". A notice which would appear for a few minutes on the screen before the daily prayers.
    
18. The cartoons, remember Grundaizer & Jungar and Captain Majid
19. Sharjah fish and vegetable market pretty much remains unchanged through the decades.
20. Al Ain fun city was Disney land! Al Nasr Leisureland ( and you could ice skate) was next, followed by Al Jazeera Park in SHJ.
21. Gulf News back in late 70's was in the format of today's tabloid section.
22. Junior news and Young times? I used to love Young times!
23. Hardrock cafe was the first and ONLY 'sky scraper' on SZR you saw when coming from Abu Dhabi
24. The road to Abu Dhabi was two-lane and had speed humps
    
25. Desert Springs Village was in the desert and had a licensed bar
26. It took 15mins. from Deira to Safestway via Shindaga
27. Safestway was originally called Safeway but had to change its name
28. You remember Dubai as just Bur Dubai and Deira
29. you remember the old Emirates petrol pumps( not Emarat) and that they did not sell anything other than car oil and petrol (no drinks/snacks etc)
    
30. You remember Al Nasr cinema, the first cinema to show English movies. It was then followed by Galleria Cinema in Hyatt Regency
31. The first escalators, in the Al Ghurair Centre, being an attraction to people who'd never seen a moving staircase.
32. Lamcy was originally just simple department story before it got burned to the ground.
    
33. Hyatt Regency was the only place for Ice skating (waaay before Lesiureland)
34. You remembern SunTop Juice!! and used to collect it stickers
35. Safa Park looked so big and on the way to Safa Park the Big Chinese Villa could be seen.
36. When camels were a hazard on the highway.
37. You remember a time when there were only taxis in dubai when dubai buses were launched
38. Cabs did not have a meter in then until the mid 90's. Prior to that you would stop a cab, tell them your destination and bargain over the price before you got in. The first Dubai Tranport cabs were Merc e-class
39. The police used to place radars on the road with a policeman standing close by it. If you exceeded the speed limit the policeman would radio in your plate number to a patrol car a few kilometres down the road who would pull you over and issue you a fine on the spot
40. You've seen the etisalat building being built and always wondered why on earth they placed a massive golf ball on the top
41. The Bank of Baroda building in bur dubai as the biggest building in that area..
42. You could buy ice cream from those ice cream trucks near the Khalid lagoon (yuummmm!!!)
43. The Galadari roundabout being one of the most beautiful and biggest one of them all..
44. Trade centre roundabout as just a roundabout with fountains

Continue the list people... i will add them from the comments