Living in Paintings and Fake Hotels!

We had a 3 day weekend last week, and we drove 1250km away to a Salalah ( in Oman. That's a neighbouring country).

Overnight, the scene changed from nothing but desert on both sides...

... to this!


The weather was wonderful, the temperature at a pleasant 20- 22 deg C, and the place was so greeeeeeen!

We were going up this mountain at one point of time and we had camels climbing alongside us, ambling along, calmly grazing. And then, 10 minutes later, we came across cows!
Never have I ever heard of camels and cows sharing the same zip code!

And the place was just soo beautiful, I felt like I was in a painting, cos it's so hard to believe that a place this beautiful actually exists! That too in the middle of a desert!

The whole trip was planned at the spur of a moment, so we didn't have any hotel reservations, which was the only downside! The Hilton, which is supposed to be the only decent hotel around, was completely booked. We stayed at another place, which was very opulent in it's decor, what with arabic-style furniture and all, but felt like a fake hotel!

Ok, I know that sounds weird, but let me tell you why! First of all, we went to one of the restaurants at the hotel and when we ordered a dish, the waitress had no idea what it was! We had to give her the number on the menu! The food, obviously, was pretty awful.

Then, in our suite, I decided to relax in a bubble bath for a while after the long drive. I got into the tub, and pulled the shower curtain, and the whole thing came off in my hands! I'm not Incredible Hulk and I hadn't tugged that hard! So when I looked up, I saw that the rod was not fixed to the wall!!! It was just there, a rod about the same length as the wall, just propped up!
:P

Later, in the tub, my elbow hit the soap dish, and it just fell off the hook that it was resting on and plunked into the tub!

See what I mean? It's a building pretending to be a hotel!

But besides the hotel thing, everything else was wonderful! I had amazing company, fantastic views and the best weather one can wish for (esp. when one is used to roasting in 50 degrees heat all the time!)

It was a wonderful road trip, and driving there was half the fun! We had to drive through clouds that were so thick that visibility was zero, and the only way we could make out where to go was by the reflectors on the roads! And this on a 2 lane road on the side of a mountain with oncoming traffic on the other lane!

I can't think of a more perfect break! I would recommend this trip to anyone who lives in the UAE. Just make sure you book the Hilton in advance!

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

In case you still haven't seen the movie *Spoiler Warning*

It's been ages since I went to a movie and laughed so hard!
There is nothing special about the story, it's the normal boy meets girl and they don't know they're in love till the end thing.
But the dialogues were hilarious and the way the scenes unfolded were so normal and casual-like. It's like my friend said... even the most serious bits were not taken too seriously. Very real. Not like a movie.

Everyone I know either loved Imran Khan or Genelia D'souza.
They were good, yes. But my favourite character was Shaleen. She is so cool! So sorted!
I've never wanted to be so like any character before! And I like that she's single. There's no pressure on her to get a guy cos everyone else in the group is hitting on each other. No tension! Just calm, logical and so cool!
I've not been able to find any pics of just her character, but here's one with them all (she's the one on the extreme right).

I actually don't like Imran Khan's character so much. I don't like the idea of someone who is so into the girl he's seeing that he ignores his friends. That's not a very nice friend, if you ask me.

But the movie itself, if you don't try to psychoanalyze the characters, is hilarious!

Worker Ants

When I was little and the reported temperatures in Dubai got up to 48 degrees, people used to nod to each other and say "It's actually hotter than that. But according to the law, they have to declare a national holiday if the temperature goes above 50, so they'll never declare it!"

Either that rule was just a myth, or else they just don't give a damn anymore.

On Monday, the radio announced that the mercury levels soared to fifty two point two freakin degrees!
CELCIUS!

I'm dying here!
I can't stand outside for more than 5 minutes (at night) cos I feel like I'm going to just explode cos of the heat. And I don't even have to experience it all that much. I move from my air-conditioned home to my AC-ed car to my AC-ed office.
And yet, I wake up in the mornings feeling tired and listless and thirsty.

They reported in the news that the hospitals have had over 50 cases of people who were affected by the heatwave one way or the other.

In spite of this, people go about their business.
The labourers keep labouring, the people who need to catch buses keep waiting in the heat till the unreliable buses come round on their on sweet time...

Who has the energy to complain? What will happen? Will they actually declare a holiday?
Of course they won't. They cannot.
Nothing good can come of it.

And so ... life goes on.

Ah Bombay!

You would think I'd have hated the fact that my hair looked like when Monica went to Barbados.
That I would have hated that in spite of taking at least 3 showers a day, I'd still feel all sticky and icky the whole time.
That I'd have hated having to walk in the hot hot weather, which made me all crabby (I become a terrible person in the heat. My otherwise *ahem* sweet and wonderful personality takes a violent turn if I'm subjected to aimless walking when it's 40 degrees in the shade and the humidity is 75%.)

But I miss it all!

I miss being able to sit at home and order everything. ( You name it, Bombay delivers it!)
I miss walking on the beach at midnight.
I miss walking into a hotel and spotting Bollywood stars ( I didn't technically spot one, but Salman Khan and I were in the same hotel at the same time. I missed him cos I decided that my eyes didn't have enough kohl and was in the ladies room at the time! But if anybody asks, I say we crossed paths and smiled at each other! *grin*) (and to think I don't even like the guy!)

I miss waking up and having a wonderful breakfast kept ready for me by the maid, who btw, forces me to eat more and to have tea even though I don't drink tea! (WHY are maids so expensive in Dxb?!)

I miss eating yummy Maharatrian food (anyone know of any maharastrian restaurants in Dubai? Gee! I wonder if anyone from dxb even reads this blog!).
I miss the hazar different types of restaurants there. And the alcohol that is so freely available everywhere! :D

I miss Dominos' chicken barbeque pizza. ( I know it's weird, but I doooo miss it!)

I miss having my closest friends around me, always ready to hug me when I'm feeling low, always ready to talk, always there for me. There.
In Bombay.

:o(

And yet...

Everything makes me cry, and
Yet, nothing makes me cry anymore.

Everything makes me want to write and
Yet, everything stops me from writing.

Everything I see makes me want to believe
But everything I've seen, makes me think again.

Why you don’t need Enemies

So you’re feeling all bugged and depressed and you call on a “friend” to feel better.
And what does he do? He steers the conversation round to how you need to lose weight.

Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more upset than I already was!

There are all kinds of love...

...and to reject all others cos one kind left you bitter just isn't right.