Teshrabo Chai aw Gahwa?

Wahed Masri Up the Irons!

2007-03-10T01:02:00.000+04:00

After nearly 13 years of waiting, I finally get to see Iron Maiden live ... and guess what - IN DUBAI! :D I never thought I would see them here .. but when I first heard the news back in December, that Iron Maiden would be heading this year's Dubai Desert Rock Festival, I made sure that I got my ticket as soon as it hit the website (too lazy to get up and buy it from any shop :D)

First about the concert - it was FANTASTIC! Definitely worth every fil i spent for that concert - i did not feel the time fly by as I watched the extended lineup (Bruce Dickinson, Nicko McBrain, Steve Harris, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers and Dave Murray) switch from one song to the other, some new ... many old and all classic! The stage setup was definitely fantastic, the backgrouns and props used ... not to mention EDDIE! Yup ... their mascot made a grand appearance, popping out from a HUGE tank that they had on stage!

Some of the songs played (and i recognized ... heheh i don't know their new stuff) were: 1)Evil that men do, 2) Run to the hills, 3) Fear of the Dark, 4) 2 Minutes to Midnight, 5) Hallowed be Thy Name, 6) Iron Maiden, 7) Number of the beast and many others! There are definitely more songs that they could have played, but c'mon! They have been around for 25 years, it would be impossible for them to get all their great songs in one place :)

Dubai was a good crowd - although I would have expected the crowds to know the lyrics better :) A better main vocal mic was needed (or turned up a little bit), but over all sound quality was superb!

I think now I can finally rest, knowing that i have seen my favourite band live ... and in Dubai. I take this opportunity to thank:

1- Bradley from St. Mary's high school - who got me into Iron Maiden in Gr 7 (Sr. 1 to al you St. Mary's grads) ... Live after Death was the album he lended me, Aces High was the first song I heard on my first Sony Walkman, as I waited for the morning bus to take me to school. Thanks Brad - if you ever read this :)

2- Karl Migally - yup, my bro - for the many years where I woke him up from his sleep by my Iron Maiden alarm or songs, to the point that he actually started enjoying them :) Miss you - I hope u enjoyed whatever you heard over the phone :)

3- My friends from Choueifat - I remember I was the one of very few who loved Iron Maiden, and I remember you enjoyed making fun of me ... yet you still are special to me ... Subhi, thank you for remembering on facebook :) That was actually very nice!

4- Fady Fahim - for coming with me and rocking ure head off!

5- Joseph Akkawi - just thought id say a quick thanks for enjoying Blood Brothers and Fear of the Dark during uni years, driving around the block :) Inflames was not that bad today ... although the crowd needed to be shot down!

Just thought Id also mention that I had a website when i was a kid for them - and surprise surprise its still up :) it doesn't look anymore, coz they lost the background etc - but hey, it stands tall since at least 1999 :) http://members.tripod.com/~DJMIG/index.html

Wahed Masri Up the Irons ... satisfied!

P.S. Photos and a video will follow soon!

Here is the tank coming out!

More links:
Touragraphy: http://maidenshows.ryasrealm.com/masterlist.htm
Wikipedia about Iron Maiden: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Maiden

I've done 74 out of the 122 stupid things

2007-01-24T15:40:00.000+04:00

Level 1
(x) Smoked A Cigarette
(x) Smoked A Cigar
( ) Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol

SO FAR: 3

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love
( ) dumped someone
(x) Shoplifted
( ) Been Fired
(x) Been In A Fist Fight

SO FAR: 6

Level 4
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person
(x) Skipped School
( ) Slept With A Co-worker
(x) Seen Someone / Something Die

SO FAR: 9

Level 5
( ) Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends
(x) Been To Paris
(x) Been To Spain
(x) Been On A Plane
( ) Thrown Up From Drinking

SO FAR: 12

Level 6
(x) Eaten Sushi
( ) Been Snowboarding
( ) Met Someone BECAUSE Of Facebook
( ) Been in a Mosh Pit

SO FAR: 13

Level 7
( ) Been In An Abusive Relationship
( ) Taken Pain Killers (Tylenol counts)
(x) Love/loved Someone Who You Cant Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By
( ) Made A Snow Angel

SO FAR: 15

Level 8
( ) Had A Tea Party
(x) Flown A Kite
(x) Built A Sand Castle
(x) Gone mudding (offroading)
( ) Played Dress Up

SO FAR: 18

Level 9
( ) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves
( ) Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game
(x) Been Lonely
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School

SO FAR: 21

Level 10
(x) Watched The Sun Set
( ) Felt An Earthquake
( ) Killed A Snake

SO FAR: 22

Level 11
(x) Been Tickled
(x) Been Robbed / Vandalized
(x) Been cheated on
(x) Been Misunderstood

SO FAR: 26

Level 12
(x) Won A Contest
(x) Been Suspended From School
(x) Had Detention
(x) Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident

SO FAR: 30

Level 13
( ) Had / Have Braces
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) Danced in the moonlight

SO FAR : 30

Level 14
(x) Hated The Way You Look
(x) Witnessed A Crime
( ) Pole Danced
(x) Questioned Your Heart
( ) Been obsessed with post-it-notes

SO FAR: 33

Level 15
(x) Squished Barefoot Through The Mud
(x) Been Lost
( ) Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean
(x) Felt Like You Were Dying

SO FAR: 37

Level 16
(x) Cried Yourself To Sleep
(x) Played Cops And Robbers
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers
(x) Sang Karaoke
( ) Paid For A Meal With Only Coins

SO FAR: 41

Level 17
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't
(x) Made Prank Phone Calls
(x) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose
( ) Kissed In The Rain

SO FAR: 44

Level 18
( ) Written A Letter To Santa Claus
(x) Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About
(x) Blown Bubbles
(x) Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere

SO FAR: 47

Level 19
(x) Crashed A Party
( ) Have Traveled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People
( ) Gone Rollerskating / Blading
(x) Had A Wish Come True
( ) Been Humped By A Monkey

SO FAR: 49

Level 20
( ) Worn Pearls
( ) Jumped Off A Bridge
(x) Screamed "Penis" or "Vagina"
( ) Swam With Dolphins..

SO FAR: 50

Level 22

( ) Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube
( ) Kissed A Fish
( ) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes
(x) Sat On A Roof Top

SO FAR: 51

Level 23

(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs
( ) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel
( ) Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours
( ) Recently stayed Up for a while talking to someone you care about

SO FAR: 52

Level 24

( ) Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree
( ) Climbed A Tree
( ) Had/Been In A Tree House
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone

SO FAR: 53

Level 25
(x) Believed In Ghosts
( ) Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes
( ) Gone Streaking
( ) Visited Jail

SO FAR:54

Level 26
(x) Played Chicken
(x) Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
( ) Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger
(x) Broken A Bone (Does it have to be your own?)
(x) Been Easily Amused

SO FAR: 58

Level 27
(x) Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
( ) Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
(x) Caught A Butterfly
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried
( ) Cried So Hard You Laughed

SO FAR: 61

Level 28
( ) Mooned/Flashed Someone
( ) Had Someone Moon/Flash You
(x) Cheated On A Test
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name
( ) French Braided Someones Hair
( ) Gone Skinny Dipping
( ) Been Kicked Out Of Your House
( ) Tried to hurt yourself

SO FAR: 63

Level 29
(x) Rode A Roller Coaster
(x) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling
(x) Had A Cavity
(x) Black-Mailed Someone
(x) Been Black Mailed

SO FAR: 68

Level 31
(x) Been Used
( ) Fell Going Up The Stairs
(x) Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone
(x) Licked Someone

SO FAR : 72

Level 32
( ) Been shot at/or at gunpoint
( ) Had sex in the rain
( ) Flattened someones tires
(x) Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
(x) Got five dollars or less worth of gas

TOTAL: 74

Repost this with the title:
I've done 74 out of the 122 stupid things

Keepin' it real in China - Finale, Photos and more ...

2006-12-03T11:26:00.000+04:00

It took me a lot of time to update - and I have lost some of the entuthiasm that came with the trip - so I will leave you with some of the photos I took during the trip. But first ... here is a summary of what happened the last couple of days:

Day 5 - We visit Temple of Heaven & everyone leaves (except Brent, Tarryn & Chaeli-Jade)
Day 6 - We go for what I adored the most ... SHOPPING!

Hope you enjoyed my trip, as much as I did :) Enjoy your coffee ... but don't worry, you will have another post before you order your seconds ...

China - Day 1 - Once Forbidden

Day 2 - The Great Wall ... conquered

Day 3 - Wassup Duck

Day 4 - Kung Fu Madness

Day 5 - Kingdom of Heaven

Keepin' it real in China - Day 4 - Kung Fu Shoppin'

2006-10-19T20:27:00.000+04:00

Last day of seminars in Lenovo Innovation Centre ... finally!

After the short discussions and lunch we take the bus to our first shopping stop this trip - finally!

So we end up in some place (forgot the name because of its insignificance to my shopping :) ) - where we had our first taste of true shopping in China: the bargain game! Practicing the bargaining skills were essential if you mean to shop your head off ... because once you are a tourist, you are bound to be ripped off buying anything there!

So here are some shopping/bargaining (same same!) tips I picked up ... mainly because of the few trials and many errors I had playing this 'game'!:

1- They will give you two prices ... the first price is the one they claim to give to other tourists, but the second price is what they will give you because you look like a 'beijing-er'. This is the first trap they lay - if you fall there, then you just got your 'GAME OVER' sign across your forehead.

2- So the question comes up about what price to start bargaining with. Rule of thumb in China: 10% of the SECOND quoted price ... yup, its not a typo - 10%!!! Mind you - if you buy something at 10%, they are still making a lot of profit!

3- A fair price for a tourist would be 10-30% of the second quoted price - if you fall within that range - you have done well in the game!

4- Collect benchmarks. What I mean by this is: make sure you have a benchmark to use to determine the best buying price for you. There are two ways to do that, and I will give examples to each:

a) If you can buy the same product (whether it is original or fake) in your home country - then use it to target a lower price for the deal at hand. Usually works well (especially if it fits between the 10%-30% rule)

b) Whether you know a price back home, or not - you have to collect prices of the same product from the different shops in the mall. Usually a 'market' in Beijing - will consist of many floors, each floor having zillions of stalls selling the same type of products (clothing, electronics etc). These stalls will usually sell very similar products, so you can go around finding out the best price you can get for the same product. This is how you collect a real-time benchmark! Which brings us to an important point:

5- NEVER buy anything from the first place you go to ... even if you bargain your life out. You might find it cheaper later! (*Mena cries*)

6- You lead the bargaining game - never let them give you the 'fair' price ... you set your price and play along!

7- Know your 'enemy': You have to understand the psychology of the chinese salesperson in front of you ... but they all share similar selling techinques which I will share now. A word of caution first: If you are, like me, a soft-hearted person, or, like me again, the worst person to bargain ... either get your act straight, or don't buy! It is very serious - you have toughen up. Just remember, you are in control ... its your money, not theirs. So here are some techniques they use:

a) 'Joking' Price: Once they give you their initial price (always on a calculator in case their english does not help) - they will ask you for your 'non-joking' price. Once you key in your price (i hope its 10%!) ... they immediately say 'You are joooookiiiiin'!' :) With this you know you are on the right track

b) Then the next step would be the haggling - but during that time, especially when you hold your ground, they will start getting 'angry' and 'irritated' and slightly 'pissed off'. Rule of thumb: Don't be fooled - they are not! This just tells you are still within the OK range, but they need more margin. It is then up to you to increase (little increments please). So when I meant that this game is not for the faint-hearted - yup, they can fool anyone with their act, unless you are ready!

c)They will run after you: If you have reached the price you want, and they are not happy - just leave them. Don't worry - they will come after you!

d) How do you know you gave them the wrong price? If you gave them a very low price - they will just take the product away from you, and turn their backs on you. You can easily go back to a discussion, just raise the price. If you gave them a high price - they will give you comments like 'You very good at bargainin' ... especially if this comment comes out at the beginning of the deal.

8) Team Power - i believe in the power of a group. If you went to the market with a group of people - try to divide yourself into small groups. Whenever you are interested in a product, make sure your group shows SOME interest - this way when both of you leave the shop 'unsatisfied' with the price - they will run after you faster ... they are missing major revenue here!

9) Baby Chaos - Now, I had a good time shopping with Brent, his wife and little daughter, Chaeli-Jade. Being the cutest baby on the planet, she struck a LOT of interest in the market, especially since most of the sellers are ladies. Now, this is not necessarily a good thing. It could be the ice-breaker the vendor wants, to make conversation with you - and that is noisy! Second thing - before you know it, your baby will start screaming from all the touching and interest he/she is generating so your shopping might need many breaks!

---------------------------------------------------
The day did not end there: We ended up going to a Kung Fu show in the Red Theatre, that was absolutely breath-takingly fantastic! We even had urges to do all the Kung Fu moves and training techniques (including shoving a knife in your stomach, spears in your throats and bricks to your head!) ... which was hilarious!

The story was very ... oriental, and the acting was magnificent. The choreography was fantastic ... and no words can describe the music! It was about a boy, whose mother sent to a Buddhist monastery - where he was identified by the Chosen One, as the next in line. It speaks about his training, and how he became superior at it - but it also sings about his temptations, downfalls and recovery - until the day comes where he becomes the Chosen One ... and you see the cycle continuing.

Finishing off the day perfectly with the Duck ... was just what we needed before crashing. Finally i will get some sleep ...

Keepin' it real in China - Day 3 - Uhhh ... Wassup Duck?

2006-10-18T19:01:00.000+04:00

Began with a more relaxed waking up this time, going down (last again!) to catch the bus going to Lenovo ... today is exciting!

In brief, the exciting stuff was seeing the call-centre in action, but moreover the manufacturing plant. Now, I know that I will sound biased being a Lenovian, but man that manufacturing plantis super! Very efficient and definitely showed the way it is really done ... to get a well tested, safe and functional desktop. Details will be boring ... but maybe some facts will keep you interested:

1- The call centre has 1500 people working in it ... and that does not include the engineers who go do the actual calls!
2- They do not post ads for people to work in callcentre or the plant - they come to Lenovo because it is one of the most important brands in China
3- Workers are allowed 45 NAP time during the day ...thats their mid-day break :(
4- There is a department in the manufacturing plant - where they test the desktops ... how? By playing games,watching movies, browsing the net, chatting and word processing! Although they have a 2 month rotation shift in the plant (i.e. everyone rotates every 2 month on the line) ... but its 2 month of vacation! I wish I can play counterstrike all day :(

The rest of the day was normal EXCEPT for the duck restaurant! Man that was crazy! I cannot begin to describe to you the kind of food we eat here ... its amazing! And although I haven't tasted anything WEIRD (thank God!) ... but the normal stuff is amazing! The duck in pancakes ... with some plum sauce and spring onions ... rolled up in your mouth ... the duck crunching slowly as bite through ... hummmmmm! I want to go back :(

Now, I need to sleep ... I had TOO much to eat today (lunch and dinner! hehehe) and will probably wake up early to work a bit.

Cheerios!

Keepin' it real in China - Day 2 - Great wall ... conquered (am I hero now?!)

2006-10-18T05:31:00.000+04:00

Mao Zedong said: “He (she?) who has not climbed (conquered) the Great Wall is not a true man (hero to be politically correct!) … two meanings were explained to me regarding conquering:

1) Conquer the Great Wall meant that you walk the 6,000 km of wall (ehm!)- I mean even though I have the to-die-for physique, that has made millions of chix fall at my right, and ten millions of guys go green in jealousy – that was too much for me to do on a 5 day trip :)
2) Conquer the Great Wall meant to reach the highest point in the wall

Well I settled to walk a smaller part of the wall and conquer the second way! … there are only 5 parts of the wall open for tourists in Beijing – the most famous being at Badaling (meaning The place with many routes leading from and to) … now when you reach the wall, you either go to the right which is the easy way up, but as crowded as rush hour in Beijing … or you can go left which is much steeper but less crowded. Now to me I wanted the most picturesque – and although both sides are claimed to have great photographic opportunities, I went for the left side for two reasons – the most important being less crowded, and then second because it was more challenging – i.e. more fun! Ehm … I learned that that is not necessarily always true … the hard way!

According to my inaccurate GPS reading (because it went off a couple of times along the way) we walked a total distance of about 4 km and going up nearly 100m to reach 809m at the highest point (at least what I recorded). I can tell you doing so is not easy!! If you are planning to go up that side, here are my lessons learned (all mistakes I made!):

1- Even if you are with the most important people in your life … wearing casual clothes is a MUST! Sneakers (comfortable is important, but best grip is more important going up and down the left side!) – and the jeans … unless you want your only good pants to stink or tear … JEANS!

2- Don’t even think about not going up there without a sweater/jacket or a pull-over if you are a brave one. It gets really cold up there … and that was right in the middle of afternoon!

3- If you are a photographer, here is an important tip – don’t think of going there if you are under time pressure, or if part of a tour (unless it’s a photographic tour!) … because you will not get the chance to get your tripod down for those great photos you could have taken! So you might as well not carry it (I did )

4- Another tip for photographers: October did not seem to be the best time of year as color of the sky was terrible. However, you will probably need to worry about your exposure more, as the sun is strong over there.

5- Whether you are voluntarily bald (i.e. shaving head for any reason – me!) or it was God’s gift (or at least it is still on its way creeping up your skull – me!) … a cap or something to keep it warm … must must must!

6- Try not to have a lot of food before going – it’s not cool when your tummy has all the energy that your legs and feet should be having – you can have that duck at dinner!

7- Toilet break is a must before going up … although I saw a sign for a toilet somewhere along the way – I am pretty sure Jack told us that the ones at the hotels are the only ones we should use.

8- Stretching before going up – now see, I am always one of those guys who goes to the gym and skips the stretching part because I feel I am still young, and superbly fit (you should really see my photo ;) hehe ) … don’t think of missing it this time! Result of not doing it? I had to pray to God ten zillion times that my legs don’t fail me, starting at 5/6 of the way up! So you can imagine how going down (which is ten zillion times more difficult) felt like! I had to stand in the bus, because my legs kept shivering for half an hour straight – and did not allow me to sit down … STRETCH!

9- If you are alone – music is a great energy booster!

10- You will meet ten million peddlers along the wall, selling you anything they can – from t-shirts that say “I conquered the wall” to “official” certificates saying that you conquered the wall to photographs and books about the wall. The authorities should really remove them from there – they just slow you down for no reason. The best way to get away from them, is to make sure you move in a big group, or pretending you are part of one – this way if they see you are not interested, they will just go to the next person – opportunity management at its best! God be with you if you were going up a strip of the wall alone … you will end up carrying pashminas and “English” books of the wall that has more French and Japanese than English inside!

Now enough about the tips … more about the wall: The wall is magnificent! This wall was built during the Ming dynasty (3rd wall to be built apparently) to protect China from the Mongolians … so just walking up the walls, you would think: What idiot would want to tread mountains, swim through rivers and then climb a huge wall, with horses and equipment? I mean just the idea would probably put the mighty Genghis Khan off– the same man who once said “A wall is as strong as the people who defend it” (thanks Jamie!)! What is magnificent about the wall is actually the thought of “How in heaven did the Chinese build this wall (6,000 km of it!) in those treacherous mountains and this wide and high?” It’s nuts! Definitely a wonder … I am sure it was done by the same aliens who build the pyramids, right boys? Grrr I hate that book … the origin of the antimena (another entry later!)
However, the stories of the day do not stop here. I mean, waking up was an issue – I set the alarm that the hotel provided in my room so I can wake up one hour before the agreed meeting time – and sleep heavily trusting the device (although I was a bit hesitant at the beginning seeing it was an electric one and then remembering scenes from Home Alone where it reset because of some power issue) – to then jerk out of the bed as the same alarm clock displays 7:54 … 6 minutes to meet the guys … and I am a Lenovian! So getting ready was the quickest task I ever accomplished on time (i.e. washing my teeth, gathering all my camera equipment from all over the room, stuffing them along with the lappie in my bag pack and then running down looking calm and collected to face the customers  )

We then took the bus to visit the Lenovo Innovation Centre … a centre that actually gave me more than one reason to be impressed, even as a Lenovian! Loads of old systems, new systems and future systems are on display or has been presented to us – the customers had a good time. I will share some photos later – you will need to check the blog regularly until I upload the photos. We then had nice lunch and it was off to the Great Wall.

After the Great Wall – you can just imagine what everyone did: run to hot water and then soft beds! We arrived 5:45 and were supposed to gather for dinner at 7:30 ( I thought it was 7 so I ran down early – wot a day … too early or too late?) so we had little time to do everything we need to do within a tight time frame. Dinner, however, was “interesting” – nothing lavish – but Chinese style (Beijing cuisine – apparently there are 5 cuisines in China!), so we enjoyed some nice Squirrel Fish, Sweet and Sour Pork and loads of other stuff I do not remember. What I do remember, and what I think everybody does, is Pork ears! Many ate it thinking it was just crunchy bacon – soon to find out it was cartilage from the poor pig! It was good though. Although talks of donkeys were whispered around the tables, nothing showed up that looked like that in Shrek  Apparently donkeys are rare in China and are a delicacy – imagine the opportunity I have! Egypt has abundance – I will just start a business to sell them to China  I would be shot in Ramses Square if they hear I paid money to eat donkey 

However the best part of the night, was the walk I had with Jamie, Brent, Tarryn (his wife), Thorsten and a couple of other people – and that was a walk through “Everything-on-a-stick” street – and really, ALL YOU CAN THINK OF is on a stick there! From insects to scorpions, fish, squid, snake/eel and fruit. It stank – but personally, I was waiting for someone to step up to just WANT to try, so I would take the step myself! However, we played it safe and got Bananas on a (toothpick?) stick – that was interesting … a little oily, but nice! On our way back, Terry and myself satisfied our need for real coffee getting the Mochas from a nearby Starbucks – hey Starbucks employees: you will memorize us soon – I will live there!

End of the second day … and from tomorrow – less fun in terms of sightseeing and more serious business seminars. Less exciting for you – very interesting for me :)

C ya!

Keepin' it real in China - Flight here

2006-10-16T07:14:00.000+04:00

Yeah - I am in China baby!

I was invited here, part of a customer study tour that Lenovo has organized, and now I am with the customers, who shrunk down only to one customer who sent two people(Jamie and Brent). Brent came with his wife, Tarryn, and very cute kid, Chaeli-Jade - so I think we will here more and more about her as go along.

So I packed a massive bag - full of proper clothes (dull!) and loads of gadgets (yaaaaay!) including cameras, GPS and computer stuff, then I was ready to board the 7.5 hours long flight from Dubai to Beijing.

The flight was cool - uneventful, a couple of movies, a couple of snacks - checked on the guys (yeah they happened to be on the same flight!) and read more and more about Beijing.

Weather was slightly chilly, airport dead but very organized - but then one NASTY ride from the airport to the hotel. Apparently, due to MASSIVE amount of construction (including roads etc) for 2008 Olympics, all major roads to Beijing are closed after 11pm (yeah i left dubai at 10 am reached here at 10 pm ... bummer!) - so we had to take all those crazy winding roads, until we felt secure among the zillion flashy chinese-charactered beijing stores!

This should be exciting ... and as Sid (a friend of mine, not the cartoon character from Ice Age) said - i will be "keepin' it real in China!" baby! - I will keep you posted from my station here at the Crowne Plaza in Beijing.

Over and out!

The kids are growing up

2006-10-13T13:10:00.000+04:00

Well boys and girls ... I have a late announcement to make. Many of you here know my two best friends, Amira Elias and Sameh Magdy ... let me refresh your memories a bit:

1- Amira Elias: If you are new to St Stephen, and you just step into the taranim session ... you are usually hit by a capturing voice that sometimes makes you think ... "why the hell did I get up from bed today?" :) Yeap ... Amy, the one with the mic sometimes, the chik whose been there for everyone, a sister who spares no effort to make you feel at home.

2- Sameh Magdy: Well if you don't complain about the chik singing on the mic, then you must be deaf and heartless if you don't hear the soul-full music that comes out of the keyboard in the front. The man second in height contest in our meeting, the boy whose innocence might make you think twice about cracking that joke again, a brother whose heart smiles to everyone he meets.

I will not take this moment to talk about them ... for 6 years of being amy's friend, followed by 3 years being sameh's friend ... cannot be expressed in words, not even in an endless blog opportunity.

Amy, Sameh: I am proud to be part of your lives, for not only were you guys a blessing in mine ... but the lessons learned and shared with you cannot be put into words ... they can stay only in one's heart, where its really safe ... you know the music i play, imperfect without the both of you.

May you be a blessing ... sharing a life worthy of the calling you truely follow ... may He be your beacon, light, shelter and strength all your lives.

your brother ... the antimena.

P.S. Na22ash ... don't worry buddy, ure turn is next ;)

Lib-ja ...business at a higher level

2006-10-12T15:27:00.000+04:00

It felt like we never slept, as we tossed and turned reminding ourselves that all this will b over soon. Moments then were spent finalizing our strategy for our business meeting ... Then we rushed off to get away as soon as possible.

From our dealings with the Lib-jans i can say this about them:

1- You can recognize the 'now-old' Arab qualities that vanished as countries fought for a modern way of living ... Hospitality and generosity were just the norm over there ...

2- They also had some other Arab qualities ... That at least Egyptians managed to cherish and hold on to ... And that is the 'we've got all day' attitude. Sense of time in Lib-ja is non-existant ... Which came to me as a sweet home-calling as we waited for hours for our business meeting to start

3- Most of them are satisfied with the kind of living they live ... Few wish to explore, expand and learn.

4- They possess high awareness of their history, culture and 'tourist-attractions'

Now thats an interesting point i raise here ... lib-ja is home to many historical sites ranging from the roman occupation to the most recent italian occupation ... Other than the mysterious hills, mountains and desert they have ... however it is barely explored or exploited for tourism. Few tour operators exist, and souvenirs are next to impossible to find.

My colleagues adopted a great habit of buying two souvenirs from everywhere u go. "one for yourself to remember the place, and one for your mother to enjoy" ... Well it was funny that the only souvenirs we could pick up were from the airport ... That included chocolates like Smarties and Toblerone! When we looked for something cultural or has the word 'Lib-ja' on it ... We found only a couple of mini bottles, collecting dust at the back of some store with multi layered sand, with Lib-ja on them. Mine was even cracked! A lot could be done here ...

So back to the world of hotels ... We r done with our long business meeting ... And we receive great news: we have three rooms available in the good hotel! We rush back to Oasis, pick up our stuff ... Check out (they accepted only dinars ... American dollars are un heard of, and credit cards ... Dont even mention it!) and then run to where the sheets are changed daily. Corinthia is not your next Burj al Arab ... But it sure felt like one!

We close the day with an italian dinner at our business partners place and then rest for our flight the next day.

Guys and chiks ... We approach the end of this trip, but ill mention a few things before i leave you with photo album:

1- The airport: We have an interesting egyptian saying that translates to: 'Entering the bathroom is not like exiting it!' and that was our experience leaving the country of green. we thought having 'wasta' who would help us get onto the flight asap - even with that we ended up in what i'd like to describe as the bus station situation. In no airport in the world did i ever see bags being sent to the front of the queue by catapulting/throwing them or by sending them above the passengers heads. In no airport in the world did i see business class passengers being treated as cargo passengers ... And definitely in no airport in the world did i see a MASS of people moving forward, targeting no certain airline, but just trying to accomplish the impossible feat of reaching the front!

2- The money: ... And no i dont mean the currency, economy is what i mean! The people are poor, but the country clearly isn't... Not only in terms of what they already have but also in the opportunities they have (tourism, technology ...hotels?!). I think if the game is played right (unlike other arab countries), then the few millions who live there will be witnessing a boom like no other.

So this is about the good midternean weathered country, one full of mysteries (i pray i dont become one of them), full of potential and of adventure ... Dont forget to take your towel with u!

Lib-ja ... the story in photos!

Lib-ja! ... to know the value of one's own home country!

2006-09-26T01:14:00.000+04:00

Gather around guys! Here are your drinks ... and if you didn't send me any requests, tough luck! You have regular American coffee for you though ... no sugar!

Last week, as I was getting ready for another boring event in Fujeirah (a city roughly 2 hours away from Dubai), I receive that shocking phone call - "Mena, forget Fujeirah - come and get your ticket to Lib-ja ... you are traveling tomorrow!"

Now, I always asked God and wondered: Why are the highly sought after nationalities (USA/Canada/Australia etc) have the privilege of traveling with no restrictions (no entry visa etc) to many countries ... while the holders of the A4-size green passport (a lovely shade I have to add!), have to struggle to get most? I also wondered if we had any privileges, and on that day I got the answer ... and i wish i never got it.

So it turns out I am traveling for a customer meeting, for a brand that is not my own - why? I am Egyptian, I do not need a visa (!) while the other brand manager needed a visa. Naturally the traveler in me kicked in and shouted thoughts of scenes of natural beauty and photographic opportunities in my head - so I got excited! Cancelled all my plans for the next 3 days, and spent the ritualistic 2 hours preparing my stuff ... I was set for a trip to Trip-in-oli.

Next day (Tuesday), 9 am im on the plane - only one a/c unit (out of probably 10) was working, already going late, a stash of dollars in my pocket and my two bags are rite above my head. One hour later (i.e. one hour late!) we decide to leave Dubai airport to Tripoli - watching two movies (Un-Lucky & X-Men 3) and eating one meal (which is weird since we traveled for nearly 6 hours! I smell racism)

Now on the flight, my friend ashen, decides to tell us how his friend who was in Lib-ja recently, was given a full account of what he did during his stay in Lib-ja on his way back ... and given the political situation in Lib-ja, we guessed the message was clear: We had to keep our mouth shut. We had one problem though ... we were Egyptians and so that didn't happen :D

Now we reach the Lib-jan city by afternoon (2 hour difference) and we get our first shock - but to explain it I will need to give you some background. Concentrate guys, this is where it gets interesting:

There is only ONE proper hotel in Trip-in-oli (i.e. 5 stars) and that is Corinthia Bab Africa hotel - all the rest are few stars at max, if not few sorsar (cockroach in Arabic). All hotels in Lib-ja (including Corinthia) are government managed. Naturally, before we left Dubai our only condition was to stay in Corinthia, and only after we got such confirmation from our business partner did we get our tickets. So we reach there, and we start heading towards another hotel. For my personal safety reasons, I will just call the hotel Oasis. From the outside, I was reminded of a rundown hotel we once stayed at in Egypt by mistake, and even then we moved out. When we asked the guy who was dropping us, he said "oh! we confirmed by phone - but it turned out that they were completely full so they did not confirm by email, but don't worry! After 10,00000 calls to all the important people in Lib-ja, we got you three rooms in Oasis! We called the owner, who is the son of one of the "know-what-you-did-last-summer" guys - and he gave us these rooms!"

Now you can just imagine our shock - not only are we going to stay in a 3 star hotel (security), but it is owned by just the person who could make us stay there forever if we say something wrong! Maybe now you can imagine how we spent the three days ...

That ladies and gentlemen, was the highlight of our day. Although we called managers in Corinthia (even went there for lunch :)), the best we could get was "We will try to get you rooms tomorrow - tonight is impossible. So we go to our rooms and we all fainted. I will not describe anything now ... I will let the photos that will follow in the next post explain it all!

The rest is history ... a business dinner in a "Lebanese" restaurant that served jumbo prawns as big as olives, followed by a miserable night ... trying to get some sleep on bedsheets that are washed every 5 customers (hotel policy) - and in rooms where a/cs can never be turned off!

That was day 1 ... gnite guys.

2006-09-14T17:34:00.000+04:00

Welcome to my new blog! Ok let's start with some arabic lessons before we continue with why I created this blog, why is it there 2nd to antimena's desert, and why the funny name.

Most of you are arabic speakers and many of you understand khaleeji arabic - so I am guessing you don't have a problem with the name - maybe you can skip this part :)

Chai - to those of you specializing in spending your days and nights in the likes of Tim Horton, Starbucks, Second Cup etc - you would understand that this means Tea

Gahwa - same as Qahwa it points out to tea's arch enemy: coffee!

Teshrabo - the most polite way (at least from the different options I might use) to asking people whether they would like to drink ... whatever

Full Sentence in English: Would you like to drink tea or coffee? (and that is said not as giving the person an option of tea or coffee - more like, would you like to drink anything?)

Now that I am done with my Ara101: Intro to meaningless Arabic - now we can talk about more (weird?) interesting stuff:

The reaon why I have this blog up, is to basically have space to just ramble on. That will include thoughts, emotions, travel reviews, and just general sharing. A space for me and you to feel free, take off the shoes (only if you make sure there is no smell) and chitchat.

So whats different from what is happening to antimena's desert (antimena.blogspot.com)? Well antimena's desert will no longer host these kind of posts - it will only involve lessons learned along the way with God. More on that coming up on antimena's desert.

So please welcome me in this new blog - grab you tea or coffe, and just sit - you might come out of this with something useful sometimes!

Tata