Dubai seeks world record glory

The city accustomed to going big and bold is now trying to claim some obscure titles

The 6,148 whiskey shots perched atop glasses of energy drink waited for the push that might send them tumbling into the record books - just another night in Dubai, and another chance to make a certain kind of history.

Superlatives like "the world's biggest" and "the world's first" are almost as ubiquitous as the skyscrapers and megaprojects that have come to define this city-state on the Arabian Peninsula, home to the tallest building and the busiest international airport on Earth.

With time, this largest-in-life approach has filtered down to more humble and odder pursuits - such as Monday night's attempt at the world's longest domino drop shot.

You probably weren't aware that there was a record to beat in the domino drop shot, or even that there was something called a domino drop shot. Just imagine someone dropping a shot glass into a beer, but before you can guzzle it down, another thousand shots drop into another thousand pints behind it, like dominoes.

The current record holder for the longest drop is the Bahama-based location of the alcohol-soaked chain Se?or Frog, which got 4,107 of its 4,109 shot glasses to fall correctly in February 2013.

On Monday, The Huddle Sports Bar & Grill in Bur Dubai sought to break the record. Staffers carefully set up over 6,000 glasses of Camros whiskey and Bazooka energy drink. It was an effort five months in the making, with tests twice a month that took 12 hours to set up.

"When you say Guinness World Record in Dubai, it's something everyone will talk about," said Ahmad Taher, the food and beverage manager at Citymax Hotels, which went for the record.

Such an event would be inconceivable in other Mideast countries like neighboring Saudi Arabia, where alcohol is illegal and officials are preparing for the annual hajj pilgrimage, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life.

Little attention

But in Dubai, which has a large expatriate population and relatively lax rules on alcohol, the event is unlikely to draw much attention - unless, of course, they make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Before Monday, the United Arab Emirates held 165 such records, including 129 set in Dubai, according to Guinness.

Among them are the architectural marvels of Dubai, like the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 828 meters, and the continent-shaped islands of The World, the largest man-made archipelago. The world's longest driverless metro line passes by the twin towers of the JW Marriott Marquis, the world's tallest hotel at 355 meters.

Then there are the stranger feats, like when Indian national Maharoof Decibels won the Operation board game with surgical precision in a world-record 21.87 seconds in 2008. Or when Mohamed Ahmed al-Mulla, an Emirati, typed the fastest blindfolded Arabic text message in 2009. The two-sentences included the phrase: "the razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus."

Some records are more infamous. The largest tanker ship ever hijacked? The UAE-based Sirius Star, later released by Somali pirates for a $3 million ransom. The highest shortage of women, according to Guinness? The UAE, with its vast workforce of male, low-paid migrant laborers.

One place the UAE isn't ahead, however, is in the number of overall world records. The United States leads the pack with 6,874. But the UAE and Dubai dominate the Middle East, Guinness spokeswoman Leila Issa said.

"The UAE's initiative to be the first in all industries and their drive for success and to be the best is what drives them to attempt Guinness World Records titles," she said.

(China Daily 09/07/2016 page11)