Working in media, I get to hear all sorts of interesting snippets about new things launching in Dubai. So I wasn’t surprised when I read a fellow journalist’s Facebook update this morning:

“I have just been sent a press release about the launch of a twerk class in Dubai … this is not a joke.”

Even funnier is that it’s my friend’s job to review such things.

Then there are the news stories in the local media that keep us amused in the office, like Lady Gaga arriving in Dubai dressed in a ball gown, ready for her first (tamed down) Middle East concert; and this (perhaps not surprising) nip and tuck story from 7Days:

Sparkle Towers: Like living in a giant chandelier

“UAE has highest ratio of plastic surgeons in the world” – with breast reduction the most requested procedure by men; liposuction or rhinoplasty the treatments of choice for women; and, worryingly, 15 per cent of patients going under the knife under the age of 23.

Twerking little monsters going gaga and plastic surgery aside, my job is, in fact, on a business magazine, with far more serious, industry-related news. But, increasingly, we’re coming across stories that confirm the era of fanciful projects is well and truly back now that Dubai is booming again – such as the news today that the crystal giant Swarovski plans to build ‘Sparkle Towers’ at Dubai Marina.

I did check that it wasn’t April 1st.

For style-sensitive residents, the ultra-luxurious residential project will feature “exquisite crystal-themed innovations” including sparkling lighting solutions and crystal interiors [their words, not mine].

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

And finally, the headline of the day award goes to the Khaleej Times: