Ahlan Wa Sahlan..

*yawn*

i'm so so stoned..

but i need to blog...

itz been a while since i last did..

but i just need to blog now.. the sudden urge to blog..

but i dont have things to say..

so i'll make things up along the way..

so here goes..

i just got back from Dubai.. landed abt 3 hrz ago..

for those of u who dunno where in the world is Dubai.. itz in United Arab Emirates, or for short, UAE..

i think only in recent years that ppl started to notice this little city.. and most ppl who have heard of Dubai would not have heard of United Arab Emirates, or knowing that UAE is a country..

i wonder how my friends in Emirates can tahan living there.. oh God.. i cant imagine having to live in a city that dont have a band to play in.. or gigs.. or jamming studios.. or having to jam with a group of ppl playing tablas and doumbeks and accordions..

no way..

anyway.. Dubai is an extremely modern Arab city.. which is unArabic to start with too..

as much as we think that the Arab countries are made up of strict Muslims, therez a lot of hypocrisy involved too..

the countries are PORTRAYED to be made up of strict Muslims.. sure.. there are a lot of the good ones there.. but behind the scenes.. and what not seen in the eyes of the world.. hmm..

therez a traditional Turkish drink called the Lion's Milk, with 70% alcohol content, thatz popular among the locals..

anyway, Turks and Egyptians arent Arabs.. itz just that they are Muslim states close to the Middle East and the Egyptians speaks Arabic as their natural language..

and there are underground clubs in Brunei too.. according to my close friend who had worked as a Royal Concierge for 4 yrz in Bandar Sri Begawan..

Dubai is really a modern city, and itz clean.. and full of nice cars.. and very Americanised..

and very hot.. just like Singapore, without the humidity..

in a few months time, Dubai will be SCORCHING hot.. with probable temperatures higher than 50 degrees.. and the worst i've experienced there was abt 7 yrz back.. at 54 degrees..

anyone for a BBQed brain?

but itz a nice place anyway.. and beautiful..

Dubai is like Chelsea FC.. from nothing, built to perfection with lots of HARD CASH..

i spent the day meeting up with Nani, a friend of mine who is flying for Emirates.. and went out for dinner with her at a nice, cheap and good restaurant called Silver Eagle.. had too much to eat, spending less than S$15 for the two of us.. with a huge portion of lamb briyani, romali chapati, chicken-65 (this one is reaaaaaallllyy nice), and masala tea..

we met Raihan, the friend of mine who i met in London with her husband, Azim, both of whom are flying for Emirates too.. and me, the crew from Singapore Airlines, had to introduce the two Emirates crew, who works in the same company, living in the same city.. and never met each other before.. heh..

the other Emirates friend of mine, Yuliez, coincidentally was flying back to Singapore the day i depart for Dubai..

had coffee at Dome at Reef Mall, abt 10 mins walking distance away from my hotel.. and Raihan sacrificed her sleep to spend that hour with us before flying off to Osaka.. how sweet..

here we are..



Raihan, Me and Nani.. at Dome..

Azim couldnt join us coz he was bz entertaining himself in Bangladesh.. which was a waste coz i had time to spend in Dubai, rather than like the other time in London, which was just for a few hours..

but we'll hangout somewhere in the world again soon.. definitely..

ok.. thatz it abt Dubai.. and now.. backtrackking time..

was in Shanghai last week.. a flight where i always end up spending more money than i intended to..

initially, i wanted to go down to Xiang-Yang market, as usual, to burn some cash.. but some of the crew suggested that we go down to Shifu Lu.. or Tailor's Rd.. coz itz a shopping place too..

so 7 of us went down.. and arrived at Shifu Lu at 2pm, and split up and was supposed to meet up at 4pm..

so i had 2 hrz to walk ard on my own.. and was hoping to shop..



Shifu Lu..

walked round and round and all over the several malls there.. and it was such a disappointment coz there wasnt anything remotely interesting to buy.. most of the stuffs there were locally made clothes and the design were boring..

so i just walked ard and snapped some pics to pass the time..



some of the slums that i managed to snap..



some more slums.. and therez actually a wet market along the alley...

i was extremely hungry and i couldnt find any fast food restaurants there.. so i walked and walked.. and at abt 3.30, i came across a Muslim stall at Fujian Rd.. which was abt 5 mins away from Shifu Lu..



i couldnt understand the menu.. and couldnt understand what they said.. and they couldnt understand what i said.. and so i just gestured that i would take anything.. and one fella fixed for me a plate of fried rice with lamb.. which wasnt bad at all..

met up with the rest of the crew at 4, and they were just as disappointed as i was, and we decided to head down to Xiang-Yang to do some REAL shopping..

we spent abt 20 mins trying to get a cab..

so.. if u ever try to do that.. take a cab, in China.. here's a tip..

run to the cab and dont show pity to anyone else grabbing the cab.. and just board.. whether or not the previous fella had got down from the cab..

u have to be tough to survive.. or to take a cab.. show no mercy.. no pity.. treat it like getting a cab is the most important thing in the world that u have to accomplish..

ignore the hustling and the shoutings.. therez no queues at the taxi stands anyway.. everyone treat the TAXI stand sign as a place to fight a war..

if u are not tough, then u have to walk across China..



outside of Xiang-Yang Fashion Market..

and so we arrived in Xiang-Yang alive..



and this is the way to go mobile.. and u will never lose ur fone.. or ur reception..

and i spent 50 bucks in 10 mins..



inside Xiang-Yang market..



THATZ the real shopping in Shanghai..

but i've heard that this place might close down in June and the stalls are not gonna be relocated anywhere.. which would be kinda sad..

i spent the rest of my off days in Singapore with my princess and my band.. and we might be recording the first song for the Pirates this Saturday.. which is NOT gonna be Ska..

but then again.. we are still a Ska band.. always will be..



and here'z my princess, trying to be a musician..