Dubai diaries: Meet Jumeirah’s Jack of all trades, master of many

Gulf News

Why German expat Jorg Stobel is a neighbour you can talk to - on and on  An ex-Navy pilot; a master goldsmith; a foot specialist who works wonders with his hands; a farmer with a 13-acre citrus and cork farm; a fit-out expert with an impressive portfolio; a cloud-cruising adventurer who has a plane for every mood; and a “crazy guy” whose funny bone never lets him down.  Now, that’s Jörg (aka George) Stobel for you - all rolled into one.  Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3fXEfhm  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnew #Germany #doctor

Transcript

00:00When I came to Dubai I had no idea how the whole city works and we're talking about 25 years ago.

00:09I came to Dubai first time in 1996 and the main reason why I came to Dubai is because I had

00:16qualified as a specialized diabetic foot specialist. I had a few patients in Germany

00:20that visited me coming from Dubai and many of them were asking me if I would at least consider

00:28to move my place from Germany to go to Dubai. At that time we were the only independent

00:34chiropractic clinic in the whole Gulf area and the word of mouth went round like crazy.

00:39When I came to Dubai I had no idea how the whole city works and we're talking about 25 years ago.

00:46Of course the city has changed. Basically I had a very nice Indian lady who was a property

00:51agent and she showed me around and then I gave her the requirements that I need. I could basically

00:56write a guide for all the available villas in Dubai or especially in Jumeirah. And then the

01:02last one she said look it's a little bit beyond your budget but you should have a look at it

01:05because from a business perspective it's nice. The gate opened and the main door opened and I

01:10don't know there's this kind of sixth sense that you have sometimes where you enter a building or

01:15enter a group or enter whatever kind of situation and you feel in this moment already comfortable.

01:20I have to admit these 13 years in that villa I really missed them. It was really amazing. Not

01:24only that at lunchtime whenever there was free time which in the beginning we had you could just

01:28take your bathing suit and your towel and go to the beach. It was just amazing. From the balcony

01:32we could see in the distance how Burj Khalifa has been built. I witnessed the time when Jumeirah

01:37beach road has been expanded from two to three lanes and that was yeah it was really something

01:44special. A special place. What I enjoy is of course the beach. That is the top number one

01:49thing here in Dubai. Now here in Sunset Mall behind Sunset Mall we have the kite beach

01:54to see all the guys doing their kiting stuff. It's not only the swimming and the sporting

01:58activities but I mean sitting in the evenings with some friends in one of the small little

02:03fisher restaurants or something here at the beach and then watching the sunset and all that stuff

02:08the evenings when you've finished work and you just want to chill a little bit fresh

02:12fresh air in the winter a bit sticky and humid air in the summer which is okay

02:16which is part of this country but yes of course it's always a plus. What I felt a bit sorry was

02:23that we had down the road from our villa we had these old fisherman villages or fisherman houses

02:31over there which then eventually I don't know when they have been really converted I think

02:35beginning 2000s they tore them all down and the atmosphere and the flavor that you could get there

02:40while you were walking down in the evenings and passing by this old fisherman houses and

02:45all these things that was evaded and was then basically replaced by this square cube buildings

02:51which then became those villas which have been built there but yeah this is something that I

02:55was really missing. So of course the initial character and the initial time of that

03:02period is unfortunately really gone. I was basically the last person in that villa when

03:07the caterpillar came to really knock it down and then when the caterpillar came I was standing

03:11outside and saw the caterpillar destroying that building I was there a few tears was running down

03:15my face because I really loved the place big time. After I quit the German navy I think I besides of

03:22that what I like that I'm doing but at the end of the day I'm just doing it to one day be able

03:26to just do that what I like most and that is definitely flying. So my wife and I we closed

03:30the clinic on a Thursday afternoon at about one or two o'clock we jumped in our car drove to

03:34Omakwem spent the night over there flying on the weekends and then you know landing on the

03:40beaches teaching other young Emirati boys and girls how to fly and had the tourists of course

03:45flown around and that was really amazing.

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