DUBAI — Eight years ago, I remember watching the contestants of the infamous adventure travel show, The Amazing Race, make a pit stop in Dubai for the very first time.

RYE, ENGLAND - At two oʼclock in the morning, everything is quiet. The dim light of the desk lamp is following the contour of the pencil, its shadows placed like stamps onto the coloured pages. The year is 2003. Sitting across from me, my cousin suddenly gives me a worried look. He whispers: “We really should be going to bed.”