Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts

My Adventurous August

Okay okay, I'm good at postponing things, people who don't follow my blog regularly (88.8% of you) wouldn't notice though since I realized just now that my posts don't carry date tags... Suckers! *blinks*. Do excuse that, I'm fasting; simultaneously keeping up with +2 topics can be quite a challenge at the moment.

August was really fun this year, whether it was the "Know Your Country Tours" my uncle would take us on, or the heart-stopping, make-your-temple-throb restaurant-bill dining, or getting sprayed with a stray McDonald ketchup packet while jogging thanks to random fumbling feet and late night sleepovers with my cousins that included all sorts of movies ranging from the best of the box office to poorly-directed, shitty-dialogued British indies.


Translated: Welcome here (Jordanian dialect)



Qasr Al Harraneh (there was a camera crew shooting those Visit Jordan videos, my uncle was capable of messing up their best shooting moments by peeping through the castle door while they were zooming in XD)



Al Harraneh Castle



Qasr Amra



It was what you may call a high-end bath back in the days


We also happened to attend Jadal's album release.. they're a Jordanian Arabic Rock Band, really worth listening to if you're willing to hear something new.. not your typical 7abibi/7ayati/ya 3eini ya leil/amoot/anta7ir music that everyone's singing nowadays. Let me add, I don't listen to Arabic music with an exception to this band.. so try them out.


Left to right: Rami (vocalist), Mahmoud (guitarist) & Laith (drummer) from Jadal.. More photos here.

It was all fun until my summer got cut and I suddenly had to leave to the UAE thanks to an issue I'll will lengthily blog about in the posts to come. Just to give you a heads up; I, Velvet The Great (ignore that again please, remember, I'm fasting) who studied my butt off during my senior year of high school (Tawjihi / Thanawieh 3amme) and got 96.4% Scientific stream (and gained a good few *cough* kilos) was no longer considered an over-achieving student. On the contrary, I was just like any other drop-out or failure of a student who didn't study worth a rat's ass... And I couldn't get The English Language and Literature (not MEDICINE) seat I was positive I'd get with my feet crossed up on a table... Like I said, I'll get to that issue in a future post.


Back to the UAE

So I left to study at the Super Uni (as my cousin calls it)..


Orientation at "The Super Uni"

Buuuuutttt....




I'm back in Jordan now.

To be continued...

Comedy Cafe..

It's been forever since I blogged, it's like I can't find the right words to express my mind. I've somehow gone mute, mentally.

So I spent my evening last night laughing my butt off in Comedy Cafe located in Jumeirah Beach Residence.. I'd been planning to go ever since I heard that Aron Kader from The Axis of Evil was coming. Yes I can repeatedly watch the DVD over & over again and find it amusing each time.

The trip from Sharjah to JBR was quite amusing & time consuming as always.. I had my kit ready (the printed google maps, photos of landmarks and the GPS on my mobile), we got there alright.. walked the last kilometer because dad was running late on his lecture. I've never been to that part of Dubai, El Wakalat Street in El Sweifieh back home is a rip off compared to The Walk over here. Anyways, we bought the tickets we'd booked earlier *looks at watch*, it's still 6 and the show starts at 9, so we checked out some shops, bought a couple of paintings from Gallery 1, eventually got bored and decided to go back to the Cafe and get some good seats. Sat in the front row *wiggles eyebrows*.. Shotgun.




The show was pure awesome. Really, I laughed to a point where my stomach ached. Aron was hilarious. He portrays your typical Arab, jumping from politics to daily life smoothly and brilliantly interacting with the audience.






He was nice enough to take pictures with us too... Totally enjoyed my time. I can't wait till summer, he told my brother & me that he'd be coming to Amman Inshallah.

I only captured one video, was shaking with laughter too hard.



I'm off for now.
Peace!

Day 2 + 3 of the Campaign

Salamz guys,

I wasn't in the mood to post about the second day last night mostly because it wasn't exactly my day. We got our result yesterday, yes THE RESULTS of all results. It was quite a shock when I heard about my average, the marks had dropped noticeably all around the Emirates; well YEAH, they will when you make weird assumptions that the students can somehow improvise despite the the observations I previously talked about. Anyways I'm pretty satisfied now after all the support I got and the way people put it for me, Al Hamdulilah.

Yesterday (the second day of the campaign) was HECTIC! We packed 25,000 hygiene kits! Just shout for something you need and you'll see it hurling your way in NO TIME! Everyone WANTS to help, and the spirit they have cannot be described & yet again people of all nationalities & religions showed up! I met truly inspirational people & a couple of bloggers too.

Yesterday was NOTHING compared with today, 3200 people attended so the place was packed! We got so much work done! To be quite honest, I'm totally spent and I just feel like throwing myself on the nearest surface, I'll leave you with some photos & videos.





After we were done, we tidied up






At work


After the storm


Oh oh, and SHOUT OUTS to the ladies & gents in the group I was leading! Table 20, you guys were amazing! Very cooperative and responsive! I want to see you guys tomorrow Inshallah!


I'm off for now!

Peace!

Dubai Cares Campaign - Day 1

Salamz everyone!

Yesterday was the first day of the Dubai Cares Campaign, volunteers were called in to assemble School & Hygiene Kits & it was NOTHING like I expected.

It was quite an adventure for us (my dad & mom dropped me off), we left Sharjah at 3:30 p.m. and I got to DIFC at nearly 5:10, why? Mostly because I've NEVER seen so many DETOURS in one place IN MY LIFE! Example: The detour roads have two lanes and if you're not familiar with all the last-second lane choice you'll end up totaled with a metal bar. So I say "dad go left", mom says "go right", and the GPS says: You are not on a road =_='... Go figure.

No worries, once I got there my jaw pretty much dropped out of place after seeing the building, you feel so tiny standing next to those Skyscrapers! Everything is just so.. huge!


And the people inside, straight out of a movie, you know... The rich Armani-wearing business man who eventually ends up committing suicide? They were scattered all over the place! Me and my sister would get weird glares but I'd just beam back in return, it actually felt good giving the place a little color, everyone was so neutral & sour-faced.

Took 15 minutes to find the Emperor Hall, we got lost in "The Gates", found another lost volunteer and continued searching.. we got there thanks to a security guy (aren't they always lifesavers?).


Hundreds of people showed up, there were HEAPS of bags to fill and stack & the best part was that everyone was cooperative, men, women, teenagers, children, Arabs, non-Arabs, all sorts of colors gathered for ONE noble reason... For Gaza.


Each bead of sweat that rose on every forehead was worth a LOT, for a moment or two when we could have a minute off before another load came I would look around and suddenly feel a lump swell in my throat, I couldn't tell whether I was overwhelmed with the fact that there were so many people who wanted to help, or because I felt that still, this was the very least we could do...



They called it a wrap at around 7:00, more work got done than expected. There's still more work to do today & Friday, so try to make it if you didn't have the chance yesterday.



The weather was amazing at night, reminds with being back home in Amman, only difference is the scenery; crop out the skyscrapers, Corvettes and Lamborghinis and there you have it!



I'll be there today Inshallah too, my big brother wants to tag along, the more, the better. Try to bring your friends & family :)




Peace!

Help needed, lend a hand.

Salamz guys...

Today I had my last Final exam, chemistry -thank God- it went well. So, HELLO HOLIDAY!

I wanted post about the past couple of weeks and exams and all but right now there's a more important issue:

We've all been helping out with the current situation in Gaza by donating money, food & medicine... now you can help out by lending a hand:

Dubai Cares needs volunteers to help package 50,000 school kits & 50,000 hygiene kits for the Children of Gaza.

Date: Wednesday, January 14 through January 20, 2009
Venue: DIFC – Emperor Hall
Weekdays: 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday January 16, 2009: 2:00 -6:00 p.m.
Saturday January 17, 2009: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

More info here.

I'm going to be there Inshallah everyday (if dad agrees to take me to Dubai everyday). And I'm sure I'll be there on the first day Inshallah. Any bloggers attending? Leave a comment if you are, we're bound to see each other.. POWER OF THE PEOPLE :D

Spread the word people, blog it, invite people to the Facebook event, tell your family & friends!

Peace,
Hala!