Just like home ... but different

When some people start running on fumes -- about six hours of sleep during the past 48 hours will do that to a fella -- they reach for a strong cup of coffee or a soda or an energy drink.

I throw on the tennis shoes, go for a brisk walk, work up a sweat, and get the blood pumping.

I took about 50 minutes just now to go for a walk/run/waddle down Sheikh Zayed Road, one of the main throroughfares through this part of Dubai. I went 1 1/4 miles up the road and then back -- 87 degrees and sunny ... heaven!! -- and was struck by how much this section of town could be like Anytownyoulike USA.

I believe it was Vincent Vega in the movie Pulp Fiction that told his pal Jules that Europe was just like America ... except for the little differences. Same in Dubai.

On this one small stretch of road, there is a McDonalds, a TGI Fridays, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a Pizza Hut, a Subway, a Baskin-Robbins, a Dunkin Donuts, a Hardees, a Chili's, an Applebees, a Tony Roma's, a Burger King, and probably a few others I forgot to mention.

Oh yeah, and a Starbucks or other chain coffee shop about every hundred yards or so. I'm not joking.

Mixed in with those are bank branches, electronics stores, several mom and pop supermarkets and pharmacies, and local ethnic restaurants of every persuasion -- Persian, Lebanese, Chinese, Japanese, Moroccan, Italian and, again, probably a few others I forgot to mention.

Many of those establishments had outdoor seating where even at 11:30 a.m. local time, men in native dress as well as businessmen in dress suits could be found eating, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, or smoking shisha.

It's a hectic yet laid-back atmosphere all in one.

Sort of like back home ... just a little different.