Week Update

I’ve been busy with Gitex (it’s an IT exhibition of sorts that happens here), which basically involves attending a lot of stressful meetings with my clients whom I otherwise do not meet.

This week, today was the ONLY day I went to the office. (tomorrow is the weekend! Yay!)
On Sun and Mon I had to go for Gitex, on Tuesday I was at the Shangri-la, attending a conference where I met this French guy from the vendor’s side who was like, totally into me! But I have this rule of “not mixing business and pleasure” , so I let it be. *grin*

On Wednesday, I went to ski dubai (again for work! It was a vendor event and I had to go! *sigh* the things I gotta do for work! :P)
It was a lotta fun, although I’ve never skied before, on real or artificial slopes. I didn’t fall down while on the slopes, but I somehow managed to fall while I was just standing around talking to people! Don’t ask me how!
I also had some trouble learning how to stop. So there was this one time I was coming down the slope where I just screamed *somebody tell me how to stop this thiiiiiiiiing* and crashed into this huuuge plastic ball they had kept there (which probably means there are more people like me doesn’t it?) and bounced back and just fell down flat on the ground. Everybody had a good laugh. Including me. (but it hurrrrts today!)

But that wasn’t half as funny as the guy who somehow managed to turn himself around while coming down the slopes, so he was sliding downhill backwards, and to top it off he tried to stop himself with his hands, so he was bent down trying frantically to get a grip of the snow! Him coming butt-first was the funniest thing I’d seen for a looong time! Lol! Just thinking about it is cracking me up again!

Oh, and I had gone to the desert last weekend for some desert driving with friends, and I drove a hummer for the first time. Not that impressive really. But I guess it’s something to talk abt eh!

This weekend, I have a LOT of work to get done (part of the personal learning process they have at work). I have a presentation on Sunday, so I need to prepare for that.

Busy busy busy is my life these days!
And I'm thankful for it! As they say over here... masha allah!

Turkey, the beginning.

There's so much to say! And just not enough time to say it all! The pics should give you an idea. (I've got over 300 pics!)

All I can say is, it's the best trip I've ever had! I was totally depressed while boarding the plane back to real life (dxb).

I want to tell you more about Cappadocia. But I can't seem to get my head into the blogging mode!

Nowadays I just walk around with a silly grin on my face.

So later then!

I'm leaaaaving on a jet plane! (again!)

I've had two new visas on my passport this year.

The first was the Omani visa, for when I went to Salalah.
And now, I'm on my way to Turkey for a short break!

I'm so excited! Ever since I got my visa, I can't waiiiit to get on the plane and just take off!

In spite of my passion for travel, I really haven't travelled much.
And inshallah, this is just the beginning!

Definitely, Maybe- a personal review

*Spoiler Warning*
(Also, it'll make more sense if you read this after you've watched the movie)

I identified with April from her very first scene. When she says "Why does one have to be a Democrat or a Republican? I'm struggling with the copy machine! I am nothing. Why am I obligated to be something? Why do I have to have an opinion about everything anyway?"

I've felt that way for ages.

I didn't realize she was one of the central characters in the movie. Or that she would be "the one". This is cos I try to avoid knowing anything about a movie before I watch it. That way the story unravels in front of me. So I thought she was one of the side-characters.


There's this scene where he asks her what she wants to do with her life ("What do you wanna be when you grow up?") and she says ...

Oh! I don't know! I don't know how to know! You know?
You know what I really wanna do is I wanna go to all those places I know nothing about.


Travel makes sense to me. Seeing the world, understanding a little bit about People, who we are, what we were, what we've done with this earth in our time to, how do you say... personalize it a little bit. I like to know all that.

I didn't like the first girlfriend, the college sweetheart, at all. And I was kinda disappointed that she was the mother, cos really, that woman had no balls whatsoever. She was scared by her boyfriend's ambitions and wanted out before she got sucked into his "dreams". And instead of doing the dignified thing and telling him she wanted out, she slept with his roommate!
Pfft!

And the daugther, she was cool. She had the balls to confront her dad and force him to look at himself and make him realize that he was unhappy and needed to do something about it. So I thought the mother would be Rachel Weisz, whose chracter is a real go-getter when it came to such things (the first time she met Will, as he was leaving her house, she ran upto him and kissed him. Sorry, I was curious, was her excuse!

I didn't like Ryan Philips as the hero too much. They should've gotten someone more convincing. The only scene he was convincing in was the one in which he was drunk. Every other scene, he looked like creep-trying-to-act-nice types. Dunno why. Maybe he's just not a good actor.

But I liked the movie! It was good, everyone other than the lead guy acted very well. :P

And there was this line in the movie that is an inscription on a book -

With love and hope and dreams of second chances

-Alice


I like that the name they chose is Alice. Like Alice in Wonderland.
Cos really.... love? hope? second chances?
She's gotta be in Wonderland!


Ok, sorry! That was the cynical me speaking!
But really, I like the movie. So I can't be that bad a cynic as I make myself out to be!
Right? :o)

More than a fender-bender

I had an accident yesterday.
It was on the highway, and the first accident I've had where there's actual visible damage to both my car and the guy that hit me.I was pretty shook up when it happened, cos it was a hard knock. But I'm ok now, and I was wearing my seat-belt and all, so I was fine.

Can't afford to have another accident cos I'm going to India on the 6th.

This time round I'm going to Kerala, to stay with my parents and my sis.
Sis has gotten admission in the UK and I wanna spend some time with her before she leaves.
I'm so proud of her! But I'm gonna miss her a LOT!

Oh well... such is life I guess. Filled with hellos and goodbyes.
Just gotta make sure the in between part is worth it all.

*Sighhhhhhhhh*

Freshly brewed coffee, "cowboy" omelette, (with minced meat and spring onions and salsa and cheese folded into it) with sour cream on the side and potato wedges. And pancakes with butter melting into the warmth of the pancakes and maple syrup dripping off it...

Perfect recipe to get over a hangover!

Sense and Nonsense

So I'm at Festival City's canal walk with a friend. I ask her to take my picture. I sit at the edge and she takes my picture. We walk back indoors, walk all the way back to the Ikea section of the place, and I realize that I've left my cellphone back there at the canal walk, when my pic was being taken.

We walk back to the place and find 2 security officers standing there and there's this other random guy, who's sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun.

My phone is not there.

I cried out "Oh no! It's not here!" and the man on the bench asked me "Did you lose your cell phone?"
"Yes yes!"

He pointed at the security guards.

We went upto them, one male, one female.
"Excuse me, I've left my cell phone right there, do you have it with you? It's a Nokia phone. Bronze and black. "

The lady guard takes my phone out of her pocket.
I know it's mine, cos well, what are the chances of someone else leaving the SAME model of the phone at the SAME place at the SAME time?

But to prove it to her, I asked my friend to give me a call. She started dialling the number, and the lady guard stopped her and told "No, I'll give a call from MY phone.
We're like ... ok! Whatever!

I give her my number, and for whatever reason, she can't call me. The other guard and my friend, both try sperately, and the phone starts ringing.
But the woman, is not convinced.

"There's something wrong with this number. Why is it only 10 digits?"

I was so shocked! Hellllo! What freak country is she in?!
I wanted to shout IT IS ONLY TEN DIGITS HERE YOU MORON!
I didn't, but I did get very irritated.
Standing out in the heat brings out the worst in me anyway.

I said "Excuse me, I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know why it's not working when you call from your phone, maybe you're not dialing it right, or there's something wrong with the connection, but my friend here has called the number and so has the other guard and it's ringing, so I think we've established the fact that the number I have given, does indeed, belong to the phone in your hand. So I don't understand what you're waiting for."

By this time the other random guy on the bench had also come up and dialled my number, which was being repeated so many times that anyone would have remembered it by-heart by then.
Still, she refused to give me the phone on the grounds that it wasn't going through from her number and kept repeating that the number didn't seem right, cos it was only 10 digits.

The male guard apologized, and asked her to give the phone to me.
She finally gave the phone, and she said "Don't become angry. This is my job, to ensure that it is your phone."

PLEASE!

What the hell happened to common sense?