The previous posts were typed up during my recent trip to Europe (Paris + Barcelona to be precise) in September 2010
Hope it will be an enjoyable read, especially since I have not updated this blog for quite a while
Showing posts with label Trip diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trip diary. Show all posts
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Nou Camp
Last day of the trip, revisited the Nou Camp stadium, this time on the stadium tour rather than a spectator, read about the entire history of the club, truly amazing stuff. Really shows you how massive this club is and gives an inside on to how crucial it is to the 'Cules', not only in footballing terms, but also socially and politically. The stadium (and the club overall) oozes with class and european pedigree so to speak. Too bad the same cannot be said about some of its fans in the Middle East.
*Burp* Olympic
Excuse the vulgarity of this post's title, had the first proper meal of this vacation at a touristic strip on the sea called Port Olympic. It was awash with half empty restaurants mainly (and predictably) serving sea food. A couple of fortunate ones had huge groups of Asian tourists, there must have been at least 300 tourists filling up the two outlets.
Food was great and a fitting end to the afternoon after spending most of the day on that 'hop on hop off' tour of the city, food was good, but nothing to write hone to mom about. Got a couple of decent subset shots from the marina/port before the last of my cameras ran out of battery.
Forgot to mention that I met up with the brother of a very good friend of mine, lucky bastard saw Armin Van Buuren last night at Amnesia in Ibiza! The guy didn't even know his proper name lol! Might see him (my friend that is, not Arnin) later on tonight at some club
Food was great and a fitting end to the afternoon after spending most of the day on that 'hop on hop off' tour of the city, food was good, but nothing to write hone to mom about. Got a couple of decent subset shots from the marina/port before the last of my cameras ran out of battery.
Forgot to mention that I met up with the brother of a very good friend of mine, lucky bastard saw Armin Van Buuren last night at Amnesia in Ibiza! The guy didn't even know his proper name lol! Might see him (my friend that is, not Arnin) later on tonight at some club
Hop on hop off
Eventually found my way back to the hotel, went with a coupla vacationing friends to a club Opium, not my favorite typa place but had fun nevertheless. On an open bus tour around the city and the suburbs. Fun but I'm a tad exhausted and famished! (a breakfast of kitkat, frappé and a single espresso shot wasn't enough I reckon). Managed to find the street that my friends referred me to head to to find camera chargers, sadly couldn't find any of the accessories I needed (or even interesting lenses). Oh well, I'll make do with whatever battery I still have in the 2 dslrs.
Currently in the outskirts of the city, just passed Espanyol's stadium which hosted the 1992 Olympic games. Lots of history in the area.
Currently in the outskirts of the city, just passed Espanyol's stadium which hosted the 1992 Olympic games. Lots of history in the area.
Barca on and off the pitch
Day 4 - Barcelona
Ok WHAT A DAY! I fell in love instantly with Barcelona as soon as I stepped outta the airport! It is VERY relaxed and chilled out, made me realize how uptight Paris is (I still like you Paris though).
After checking in at the hotel (which by the way made the one we stayed at in Paris seem more like a hostel lol) I ventured into town to one of the malls (glories, or something like that) to try and find chargers for my cameras and possibly tickets to a FC Barcelona game in the Champions League. Eventually couldn't find either an ended up going to an area called passage Garcia or something like that to catch up with some of the peeps. Had a breather, bought some souvenirs and gifts before heading off alone to the Nou Camp stadium. Was an epic experience! Got an expensive ticket and saw them put 5 strikes against a hapless panathanaikos side (did I spell that right?). Was thrilling to see the excitement levels and the passion, even when the Catalans were leading 4-1 (ended 5-1). Making my way back to the hotel now, quite lost to be honest lol!
Ok WHAT A DAY! I fell in love instantly with Barcelona as soon as I stepped outta the airport! It is VERY relaxed and chilled out, made me realize how uptight Paris is (I still like you Paris though).
After checking in at the hotel (which by the way made the one we stayed at in Paris seem more like a hostel lol) I ventured into town to one of the malls (glories, or something like that) to try and find chargers for my cameras and possibly tickets to a FC Barcelona game in the Champions League. Eventually couldn't find either an ended up going to an area called passage Garcia or something like that to catch up with some of the peeps. Had a breather, bought some souvenirs and gifts before heading off alone to the Nou Camp stadium. Was an epic experience! Got an expensive ticket and saw them put 5 strikes against a hapless panathanaikos side (did I spell that right?). Was thrilling to see the excitement levels and the passion, even when the Catalans were leading 4-1 (ended 5-1). Making my way back to the hotel now, quite lost to be honest lol!
Sleep-deprived
For some reason I'm quite knackered today, had a very, very eventful evening yesterday as I finally managed to go to a place that was not touristic at all, it was called Quartier Latin, or the Latin quarter I suppose. Went with a classmate from university who is doing her internship in Paris, ironically we never really met properly back in Dubai, but it was quite nice to catch up with a fellow EAHM-er. Turned out there are a few other 'academians' in Paris too now, too bad they could not make it. I took some photos there, finally using my new tripod for that. Used up a lot of battery though in the process, so I really have to find a Canon shop to charge my cams! Well worth it though hope
Just an observation (or two)
Typed this up while chilling (a cooler way of saying waiting for a ride my friends are on to finish) at Disneyland. If I were to describe the park using as little words as possible, I'd probably call it overrated, way too family-centric, bit overpriced and dare I say cheesy. Having said all of the above, it's probably not like that to the visitors of the park and their kids. I should know better especially since I was a huge fan of anything and everything that had to do with Disney as a kid! A lady at a souvenir counter described the park today as "quiet and calm", as opposed to weekends when double the number of visitors would show up. Not bad I reckon
tt-see attractions that you will probably not consider visiting again
tt-see attractions that you will probably not consider visiting again
When the morning comes
Overslept and missed the morning batch's trip to Disneyland, having breakfast and coffer now at a small cafe next to the hotel. Sunny day so far!
Yesterday was quite chilled, went on the river seine cruise before going to the moulin rouge are, was a bit awkward walking towards the place in hat dodgy area (was full of sex toy stores, strip clubs and god knows what else!)
Today's agenda: catch up with the morning crew at disneyland then go to see a coupla friends from Dubai for dinner back in Paris :)
Yesterday was quite chilled, went on the river seine cruise before going to the moulin rouge are, was a bit awkward walking towards the place in hat dodgy area (was full of sex toy stores, strip clubs and god knows what else!)
Today's agenda: catch up with the morning crew at disneyland then go to see a coupla friends from Dubai for dinner back in Paris :)
Seine breeze
Caught up with the gang and went on a cruise of the river Seine, was quite fun! Got a few minutes to spare as people refresh and get some souvenirs and warm beverages and such. Was quite a chilly day thus far compared to day 1, don't mind that at all, especially that in less than a week I'll be bearing Dubai's 40+ degree temperatures!
I love the unpredictability of the climate here, was drizzling when we woke up and by afternoon the sun was out with some clouds scattered around the sky (great for the pics!). So far this evening the sky is clear and it is breezy and chilly, loving it!
Having mentioned the pictures, I had a brain fart while packing for assuming that I won't need any camera battery chargers, which predictably turned out to be an ill-fated decision. Now I will have to find the Canon shop tomorrow to make sure I'll still be able to snap away for the rest of this trip. Thanks to Stouts for helping me out with the store addresses!
I love the unpredictability of the climate here, was drizzling when we woke up and by afternoon the sun was out with some clouds scattered around the sky (great for the pics!). So far this evening the sky is clear and it is breezy and chilly, loving it!
Having mentioned the pictures, I had a brain fart while packing for assuming that I won't need any camera battery chargers, which predictably turned out to be an ill-fated decision. Now I will have to find the Canon shop tomorrow to make sure I'll still be able to snap away for the rest of this trip. Thanks to Stouts for helping me out with the store addresses!
Bird s**t
Day 2 - Paris
So, another exciting day thus far. Went to Champ-ellisys again after going to the Louvre museum (yes I saw the Monalisa). Quite an eventful day, love the confusion when it comes to the metro stations and the routes.
I probably saw the biggest LV and McdonLd's outlets so far in my life in champ ellipsis, massive! Ended up paying for a yummy (but overpriced) meal at a 'smaller' Mcdo (still was bigger than any branches in Dubai).
Off to catch up with the rest of the gang for a seine river cruise! Not sure what the rest of the night holds for us!
Before I forget, a bird shat on me a coupla hours back, hence the title. Is that supposed to be a good omen?
So, another exciting day thus far. Went to Champ-ellisys again after going to the Louvre museum (yes I saw the Monalisa). Quite an eventful day, love the confusion when it comes to the metro stations and the routes.
I probably saw the biggest LV and McdonLd's outlets so far in my life in champ ellipsis, massive! Ended up paying for a yummy (but overpriced) meal at a 'smaller' Mcdo (still was bigger than any branches in Dubai).
Off to catch up with the rest of the gang for a seine river cruise! Not sure what the rest of the night holds for us!
Before I forget, a bird shat on me a coupla hours back, hence the title. Is that supposed to be a good omen?
Clear blue skies
Day 1 - Paris
So day 1 of my small Euro trip has been quite a random one so far... From waiting at the airport for an extra hour or two till the whole brigade on this trip gathered and made it successfully to the same terminal section that we were at, to having to wait for another coupla hours at the hotel we are staying at to get our rooms cleaned (and inspected). Add to that the restauranteur at the Italian bistro next door that turned out to be an Egyptian from "6an6a", aptly announced that right after we settled the bill (very, very awkward, especially since we were typical Arabs making the occasional mean remark). That was followed up with me missing a metro ride as I forgot my fancy tripod at another section of the station. Thankfully I somehow caught up with he rest of the crew back at the hotel and we ended up going to the Eiffel tower after a lot of gesturing and asking around in the French capital's dodgy underground stations. The day is far from over, it's already 8 in the evening and the sun hasn't set yet, eagerly waiting for it to set so we can take some neat images of the infamous tower.
Enjoying the great weather, the clear blue skies, checking out the women (well, not all of them are all that attractive, but it's not bad nevertheless).
Random- Other than the awkward incident with the Egyptian gentleman, an Algerian/north African on one of the metro rides thought we were Israelis or at least Jews lol! I'm proudly wearing a Palestinian scarf :). Love you Falasteen <3
So day 1 of my small Euro trip has been quite a random one so far... From waiting at the airport for an extra hour or two till the whole brigade on this trip gathered and made it successfully to the same terminal section that we were at, to having to wait for another coupla hours at the hotel we are staying at to get our rooms cleaned (and inspected). Add to that the restauranteur at the Italian bistro next door that turned out to be an Egyptian from "6an6a", aptly announced that right after we settled the bill (very, very awkward, especially since we were typical Arabs making the occasional mean remark). That was followed up with me missing a metro ride as I forgot my fancy tripod at another section of the station. Thankfully I somehow caught up with he rest of the crew back at the hotel and we ended up going to the Eiffel tower after a lot of gesturing and asking around in the French capital's dodgy underground stations. The day is far from over, it's already 8 in the evening and the sun hasn't set yet, eagerly waiting for it to set so we can take some neat images of the infamous tower.
Enjoying the great weather, the clear blue skies, checking out the women (well, not all of them are all that attractive, but it's not bad nevertheless).
Random- Other than the awkward incident with the Egyptian gentleman, an Algerian/north African on one of the metro rides thought we were Israelis or at least Jews lol! I'm proudly wearing a Palestinian scarf :). Love you Falasteen <3
Belated post
This was typed up when I was coming back from Jordan after the quick raving trip (Early August)... Found it on my iPhone when updating similar travel notes on the trip I went on after that (Some updates of that coming up)
Written on the way back from the trip that was mentioned earlier. Have I satisfied my wanderlust? Well, somewhat. Ironic that as soon as I started typing this "As The Rush Comes" comes up on the iPhone's shuffle
New friends? Check. Bad service? Check. Countless chuckles, check. Another rave? Check. Many other things that don't come to my sleep-deprived mind? F*** yeah
Written on the way back from the trip that was mentioned earlier. Have I satisfied my wanderlust? Well, somewhat. Ironic that as soon as I started typing this "As The Rush Comes" comes up on the iPhone's shuffle
New friends? Check. Bad service? Check. Countless chuckles, check. Another rave? Check. Many other things that don't come to my sleep-deprived mind? F*** yeah
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Blah blah blah
Alright, new year (And decade). Was a decent start in all fairness… Spending the first day of the year in the Lebanese mountains with some of the coolest and funniest people around and recalling the previous night’s eccentricities and the random moments… Too bad it was a brief trip, but it was well worth it. Spent some excellent quality time with my father, experienced some unique weather conditions (Well, not exactly unique since I experienced it twice or thrice before in Lebo and Jordan, but you know, you savor the most recent experiences sometimes and put them ahead in nostalgic and ‘intriguing’ value than relatively older experiences and events)… Also got to see some old friends before ’09 drifted away into semi-oblivion, and also saw a certain individual that is known to a few million people as Armin Van Buuren, whom if you have not heard of yet is one of the godfathers of Trance and one of the biggest names in the scene.
Armin Van Buuren, number 1 dj in the world, globally famous, has the most popular and successful radio show blab la bla (All should change in a year or two hopefully, as Above & Beyond slowly, yet surely take over the reigns ;)). Why out of all places on the planet he chose to play in Beirut on the 30th of December, 2009 and then Dubai the following night on new year’s eve?! Beats me… (Well, Dubai probably threw a lot of money at it, but still…)… Oh well, sod it… The event was a success (The one in Beirut, of course), in comparison to the Dubai one (At least from the limited feedback I heard thus far about the latter)…
What else… I always have the urge to babble, rant, bitch and bicker about things when I cannot do it, let’s say when I’m in the shower before work (And running late), or when I am heading back to the office from lunch break, or when I am out and about with no means or ways of jotting my ramblings on a piece of paper (Or hotel paper for that matter, as that teenage crush of mine Michelle Branch used to ‘rhyme’)… I thought about updating it from my BlackBerry, but it does not feel the same to type up something on a tiny screen like that… Speaking of the BlackBerry and ranting, Twitter is perfect for that. It’s quick and concise, and chances are you would find a funny/good (Very recent) update from a friend or via some news agency/dj/football team/whatever… If FB nonchalantly encouraged stalking, then Twitter in a way is the next step of stalking (But I doubt anyone would really give a flying f*k about how many hours of work are left for me or how many times I mention the likes of Armin and Schulz per day…
One thing I wish I could fix- The inconsistent moods, the ups and downs… I don’t want a lovely shrink-suggested medication or anything; I just wish that consistency could prevail instead of disharmony… Maybe there is a way of eradicating certain aspects of one’s personality, or at least play down their significance in one’s daily life… But then again, when you think of it, it takes up a lot of energy and may lead to more stress, and heck, every flaw can be ‘repositioned’ to be a trait… God bless marketers and the subconscious psychological warfares
Wow, maybe I really should stfu… I will not even proof-read it for another week or two perhaps, so please bear with me and make excusation for the makation of mistakes in the grammar, sbellinj and or not making any sense whatsoever overall
A late edit to this:
For the tranceheads out there:
Simon Patterson "Miss You"
Sunny Lax "Misgrey"
Lange pres. Fireweall "Wanderlust"
Stoneface & Terminal "Don't Give A F*ck"
X
O
Armin Van Buuren, number 1 dj in the world, globally famous, has the most popular and successful radio show blab la bla (All should change in a year or two hopefully, as Above & Beyond slowly, yet surely take over the reigns ;)). Why out of all places on the planet he chose to play in Beirut on the 30th of December, 2009 and then Dubai the following night on new year’s eve?! Beats me… (Well, Dubai probably threw a lot of money at it, but still…)… Oh well, sod it… The event was a success (The one in Beirut, of course), in comparison to the Dubai one (At least from the limited feedback I heard thus far about the latter)…
What else… I always have the urge to babble, rant, bitch and bicker about things when I cannot do it, let’s say when I’m in the shower before work (And running late), or when I am heading back to the office from lunch break, or when I am out and about with no means or ways of jotting my ramblings on a piece of paper (Or hotel paper for that matter, as that teenage crush of mine Michelle Branch used to ‘rhyme’)… I thought about updating it from my BlackBerry, but it does not feel the same to type up something on a tiny screen like that… Speaking of the BlackBerry and ranting, Twitter is perfect for that. It’s quick and concise, and chances are you would find a funny/good (Very recent) update from a friend or via some news agency/dj/football team/whatever… If FB nonchalantly encouraged stalking, then Twitter in a way is the next step of stalking (But I doubt anyone would really give a flying f*k about how many hours of work are left for me or how many times I mention the likes of Armin and Schulz per day…
One thing I wish I could fix- The inconsistent moods, the ups and downs… I don’t want a lovely shrink-suggested medication or anything; I just wish that consistency could prevail instead of disharmony… Maybe there is a way of eradicating certain aspects of one’s personality, or at least play down their significance in one’s daily life… But then again, when you think of it, it takes up a lot of energy and may lead to more stress, and heck, every flaw can be ‘repositioned’ to be a trait… God bless marketers and the subconscious psychological warfares
Wow, maybe I really should stfu… I will not even proof-read it for another week or two perhaps, so please bear with me and make excusation for the makation of mistakes in the grammar, sbellinj and or not making any sense whatsoever overall
A late edit to this:
For the tranceheads out there:
Simon Patterson "Miss You"
Sunny Lax "Misgrey"
Lange pres. Fireweall "Wanderlust"
Stoneface & Terminal "Don't Give A F*ck"
X
O
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Scorchin'
Taken away, astonished, surprised, blown away, dumbfounded, are all words that perfectly describe how my feelings were last night, some still linger, but lack of sleep and fatigue is overwhelming. The memories are imprinted in my memory forever.
This place is messed up in a fascinating way, the unique mix of pretty much everything here is probably unorthodox anywhere else in the world.
Beirut, I love you! A proper post to follow hopefully, I was planning to do a similar travel blog or diary, similar to what I did last summer, but didn’t really have much time, laptop’s battery doesn’t help either when it keeps on running out after 40 minutes! (Or less), but hey, being out and about is better than being stuck in a hotel room ;)
Back in Dubai in a few hours
This place is messed up in a fascinating way, the unique mix of pretty much everything here is probably unorthodox anywhere else in the world.
Beirut, I love you! A proper post to follow hopefully, I was planning to do a similar travel blog or diary, similar to what I did last summer, but didn’t really have much time, laptop’s battery doesn’t help either when it keeps on running out after 40 minutes! (Or less), but hey, being out and about is better than being stuck in a hotel room ;)
Back in Dubai in a few hours
Friday, August 03, 2007
Trip diary - Waiting... Again
Note: You might have read this, I posted it then removed it after realising that there was another 'diary post' that I have not posted yet.
Trip diary Day 5 – Queen Alia airport [July 29, 2007]
Haven’t slept since yesterday, was kind of worried that I might miss my flight if I went to sleep… Will continue where I stopped last night...
Here goes, Ashtek began playing at around 12-ish me thinks, another good local dj, nice warm-up for Gunther & Stamina, I think they’re quite underrated, it was the first time that I see them perform live (Missed their gig at Fashion TV Arabia’s gig in Dubai a few months ago). They played for about two hours, before Beebee took over the mixing duties. (Note: Flight started boarding at that point, now I am completing this 24 hours after arriving back in Dubai…). Bee Bee started his set with Karen Overton’s “Your Loving Arms” (The only track I ID-ed, hehe), played for about an hour or so.
Fila, one-half of Egyptian duo Aly & Fila, he's the one who’s more into DJing, leaving the production duties to Aly, started spinning, at that point, I decided to try my luck and sneak into the backstage area, luckily enough the security personnel didn’t spot me, and even afterwards, they did not seem to bother, thinking I was part of the crew maybe. It was far more fun there, seeing Fila mixing, in addition to meeting a childhood friend of his (A cousin) and a fellow trance hitter! Cool stuff, Fila is one really down to earth guy, gotta like the guy! He was brilliant, tracks that I expected him to play and he did anyway: “Whatever”, “Why” and his collaboration with Shadi of Lebanon aka. Amadeus “A Dream Of Peace”. He was forced to stop playing at 4:00am, as Julian, the event organizer asked him to do so as apparently the yacht club operators/managers/owners/whatever wanted that, in addition to the fact that guests of nearby hotels were complaining about the loud music. I bet he would’ve loved to play on, so many people came up to the dj booth asking ‘us’ (Me and Kevo, the fellow TH member) if the party is over or not, and other random questions, one even asked us where he can get the CD of the tracks that were played, hehe! Stayed there for a while talking to Gunther, Bee Bee, Fila, Julian and the people in charge of the lighting and the amazing visuals…
Went back to the hotel with Kevo, we initially planned to take the 7:30am bus back to Amman, but ended up falling asleep after eating a late, late dinner, woke up at 2:00pm (!), checked-out, and that took ages, the service overall at the Inter Continental was below par. Also had to struggle to find a bus back to Amman, ended up being put on separate seats for the long journey, but hey, at least we got on a bus when initially the bus was full. One was seated on the ‘hostess’ seat, when there was no hostess to begin with, and usually the hostess on such buses is a MALE! During the 4-5 hour journey, we met some new friends who were there at Aqaba and Wadi Rum (They were also staying at the same hotel). Cool bunch =). It took a while to find a cab while in Amman, when I finally found one, he started the same stupid price haggling argument, I wonder why they initially answer your question of how much are they going to charge with “Whatever price that suits you, sir”, only to begin arguing once you bring up ANY price! Even if it was well above the normal rate if they used the bloody meter… I mean, they should realize that sometimes if they don’t push for it, they might get that extra 1/2 JD or 1 JD that they're nagging about… Idiots!
Was checked-in and given the exact same room at the Holiday Inn! Bet it hasn’t been occupied at all since I checked-out three days earlier. Met with a friend, cruised around Amman for a good hour or two, finally got to see the new ‘place to be’ in Amman that's called Vy… The gym, bar, café and God knows what else (Not sure of what it offers exactly, but it’s quite massive and luxurious =)). After some driving around, went to get some sweets before heading back home. Stayed up watching tv, and decided eventually to stay up, simply becaue I overslept on every single day of that trip, thus, I just couldn’t risk missing my flight (Although thinking about it now, it might not have been THAT bad to spend another day in Amman…)
At around 4 or 5am, I signed in on msn (Well, not online, appear offline mode/status is good enough), and found a friend whom I only knew online, one that I argue about football with, the Champions League and AC Milan (The team he supports), and we decided to meet up, went cruising again in the early hours of the morning, empty streets rock! Went to the new bridge again, to Abdoun, deer ghbaar which has Casper & Gambini’s and Noodle House now and also to some oldish parts of town! Sometimes I wish I knew more people there to go to such places (Referring to NH and C&Gs), maybe I finally do now... But on a second thought, Dubai has these places and more, but I hardly go there either… Hmm, some food for thought there. Asked Mohammed (My friend) to drop me somewhere near our house there, I walked for a bit in a neighborhood that I shouldn’t have gone to (Second time in that trip), before going to our neighborhood… Felt awkward, first time being there in almost a year… Took some pictures before the battery of my SLR died (Didn’t have the spare one on hand :(, too bad).
Went back to the hotel, chatted on the phone with a friend for a bit, very constructive convo (Bless you H =)), before packing, checking-out (3rd check-out in 5 days!) and heading to the airport, everything was smooth. Got myself in mini-trouble when I cost the Duty Free a $700+ sale of a Canon camera, I advised the lady that wanted to buy it to NOT do so, as the price was ridiculously inflated when compared to prices in the UAE and probably the US. Some cameras in the States are sold at almost half the price they sell them for here in Dubai. The sales executive followed me after that to criticize my so-called unacceptable attitude, and accused me of being wrong about the prices, at that point, I claimed for the first time to be a so-called “professional photographer” and that I know the prices of these cameras, especially the G7 and my very own 400D, hoping that would shut him up but he kept on blabbing. Anyway, screw them, they’re supposed to be competitive prices and WITHOUT taxes, hey, I intended to buy the G7 myself from them IF it was cheaper than Dubai… If they want to cheat people into that, it’s their problem. They still had my obsolete S2 IS on display! Didn't check the price, but it would have been some ridiculous figure probably. The S3 IS and even S5 IS are out now! In the Dubai duty free on the way to Amman I checked out the prices of the same cameras, and they were the priced the way they should be =)... Their loss afterall.
On the flight, I happened to be sitting next to a mature and cool woman, kept on talking for most of the flight, was cool to do so. Most of the passengers are usually grumpy old farts after all or annoying crying and screaming kids ;). Upon arriving back in Dubai, it was a case of continuous and endless dozing off and waking up again. Was an exciting and enjoyable trip, but at the same time it was also tiring… I can safely say that I somewhat miss Jordan (Never expected I’d say that before), I hope I get to go there with my folks when they go there next month… Let’s see what happens =)
Cheers to Julian, Laith and his gang, all the djs, the ‘bus’ people, Kevo the fellow TH-er, Omar, Mohannad and many others for everything! Rave on peeps and see you on July 25, 2008 =)! Praying it wll be John Askew warming up for Paul Van Dykeee!
Trip diary Day 5 – Queen Alia airport [July 29, 2007]
Haven’t slept since yesterday, was kind of worried that I might miss my flight if I went to sleep… Will continue where I stopped last night...
Here goes, Ashtek began playing at around 12-ish me thinks, another good local dj, nice warm-up for Gunther & Stamina, I think they’re quite underrated, it was the first time that I see them perform live (Missed their gig at Fashion TV Arabia’s gig in Dubai a few months ago). They played for about two hours, before Beebee took over the mixing duties. (Note: Flight started boarding at that point, now I am completing this 24 hours after arriving back in Dubai…). Bee Bee started his set with Karen Overton’s “Your Loving Arms” (The only track I ID-ed, hehe), played for about an hour or so.
Fila, one-half of Egyptian duo Aly & Fila, he's the one who’s more into DJing, leaving the production duties to Aly, started spinning, at that point, I decided to try my luck and sneak into the backstage area, luckily enough the security personnel didn’t spot me, and even afterwards, they did not seem to bother, thinking I was part of the crew maybe. It was far more fun there, seeing Fila mixing, in addition to meeting a childhood friend of his (A cousin) and a fellow trance hitter! Cool stuff, Fila is one really down to earth guy, gotta like the guy! He was brilliant, tracks that I expected him to play and he did anyway: “Whatever”, “Why” and his collaboration with Shadi of Lebanon aka. Amadeus “A Dream Of Peace”. He was forced to stop playing at 4:00am, as Julian, the event organizer asked him to do so as apparently the yacht club operators/managers/owners/whatever wanted that, in addition to the fact that guests of nearby hotels were complaining about the loud music. I bet he would’ve loved to play on, so many people came up to the dj booth asking ‘us’ (Me and Kevo, the fellow TH member) if the party is over or not, and other random questions, one even asked us where he can get the CD of the tracks that were played, hehe! Stayed there for a while talking to Gunther, Bee Bee, Fila, Julian and the people in charge of the lighting and the amazing visuals…
Went back to the hotel with Kevo, we initially planned to take the 7:30am bus back to Amman, but ended up falling asleep after eating a late, late dinner, woke up at 2:00pm (!), checked-out, and that took ages, the service overall at the Inter Continental was below par. Also had to struggle to find a bus back to Amman, ended up being put on separate seats for the long journey, but hey, at least we got on a bus when initially the bus was full. One was seated on the ‘hostess’ seat, when there was no hostess to begin with, and usually the hostess on such buses is a MALE! During the 4-5 hour journey, we met some new friends who were there at Aqaba and Wadi Rum (They were also staying at the same hotel). Cool bunch =). It took a while to find a cab while in Amman, when I finally found one, he started the same stupid price haggling argument, I wonder why they initially answer your question of how much are they going to charge with “Whatever price that suits you, sir”, only to begin arguing once you bring up ANY price! Even if it was well above the normal rate if they used the bloody meter… I mean, they should realize that sometimes if they don’t push for it, they might get that extra 1/2 JD or 1 JD that they're nagging about… Idiots!
Was checked-in and given the exact same room at the Holiday Inn! Bet it hasn’t been occupied at all since I checked-out three days earlier. Met with a friend, cruised around Amman for a good hour or two, finally got to see the new ‘place to be’ in Amman that's called Vy… The gym, bar, café and God knows what else (Not sure of what it offers exactly, but it’s quite massive and luxurious =)). After some driving around, went to get some sweets before heading back home. Stayed up watching tv, and decided eventually to stay up, simply becaue I overslept on every single day of that trip, thus, I just couldn’t risk missing my flight (Although thinking about it now, it might not have been THAT bad to spend another day in Amman…)
At around 4 or 5am, I signed in on msn (Well, not online, appear offline mode/status is good enough), and found a friend whom I only knew online, one that I argue about football with, the Champions League and AC Milan (The team he supports), and we decided to meet up, went cruising again in the early hours of the morning, empty streets rock! Went to the new bridge again, to Abdoun, deer ghbaar which has Casper & Gambini’s and Noodle House now and also to some oldish parts of town! Sometimes I wish I knew more people there to go to such places (Referring to NH and C&Gs), maybe I finally do now... But on a second thought, Dubai has these places and more, but I hardly go there either… Hmm, some food for thought there. Asked Mohammed (My friend) to drop me somewhere near our house there, I walked for a bit in a neighborhood that I shouldn’t have gone to (Second time in that trip), before going to our neighborhood… Felt awkward, first time being there in almost a year… Took some pictures before the battery of my SLR died (Didn’t have the spare one on hand :(, too bad).
Went back to the hotel, chatted on the phone with a friend for a bit, very constructive convo (Bless you H =)), before packing, checking-out (3rd check-out in 5 days!) and heading to the airport, everything was smooth. Got myself in mini-trouble when I cost the Duty Free a $700+ sale of a Canon camera, I advised the lady that wanted to buy it to NOT do so, as the price was ridiculously inflated when compared to prices in the UAE and probably the US. Some cameras in the States are sold at almost half the price they sell them for here in Dubai. The sales executive followed me after that to criticize my so-called unacceptable attitude, and accused me of being wrong about the prices, at that point, I claimed for the first time to be a so-called “professional photographer” and that I know the prices of these cameras, especially the G7 and my very own 400D, hoping that would shut him up but he kept on blabbing. Anyway, screw them, they’re supposed to be competitive prices and WITHOUT taxes, hey, I intended to buy the G7 myself from them IF it was cheaper than Dubai… If they want to cheat people into that, it’s their problem. They still had my obsolete S2 IS on display! Didn't check the price, but it would have been some ridiculous figure probably. The S3 IS and even S5 IS are out now! In the Dubai duty free on the way to Amman I checked out the prices of the same cameras, and they were the priced the way they should be =)... Their loss afterall.
On the flight, I happened to be sitting next to a mature and cool woman, kept on talking for most of the flight, was cool to do so. Most of the passengers are usually grumpy old farts after all or annoying crying and screaming kids ;). Upon arriving back in Dubai, it was a case of continuous and endless dozing off and waking up again. Was an exciting and enjoyable trip, but at the same time it was also tiring… I can safely say that I somewhat miss Jordan (Never expected I’d say that before), I hope I get to go there with my folks when they go there next month… Let’s see what happens =)
Cheers to Julian, Laith and his gang, all the djs, the ‘bus’ people, Kevo the fellow TH-er, Omar, Mohannad and many others for everything! Rave on peeps and see you on July 25, 2008 =)! Praying it wll be John Askew warming up for Paul Van Dykeee!
Trip diary - End of a rave, and the long road.
Trip diary day 4 – Bus going back to Amman [July 28, 2007]
The raves are over, now on the way back on yet another bus heading back to the more familiar and busy surroundings of Amman. Been two crazy days really. I’m kind of blank now, just sitting there not knowing what to type! Guess I should just talk about what made me go on this whole trip, the Distant Heat electronic music festival!
We finally left Aqaba’s yacht club at around 9 pm, the bus ride was fun, met some cool people, amongst them is a couple of sponsors working with radio stations (Play FM IIRC), a couple of Jordanian/Palestinian dudes and many Europeans (Irish and Dutch), of course, the first few interactions were to teach them the typical swear words in Arabic, amongst a few other more reasonable expressions such as hello, sorry, good night, it’s always fun to see how foreigners pronounce Arabic words, khmaar instead of 7maar (Hmaar as in donkey), but for some reason if the word already had the ‘kh’ part they wouldn’t be able to pronounce that part! Don’t worry, we ‘exposed’ them to a more abusive array of abusive terminology ;).
Arrived there at around 10 pm after a stop at a checkpoint and a long sandy road, I simply have no clue whatsoever how people actually managed to get there, let alone the fact that most cars were small (As in small, I mean salons, hatchbacks, and so on, not big SUVs and 4x4s), there was no signage and directions (Or at least I couldn’t notice them), no street lights and no proper roads, but hey, many people probably know the exact location, apparently that is where people usually go to camp when they go to wadi rum (Hence, the adjacent camp with many tents. Also, the small fact that this is not the first time the festival was held, it’s been held for several years in a row boasting names such as Markus Schulz, Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten.
Got off the bus, got my wrist band and proceeded to the main area in front of the dj booth, BeeBee, a Jordanian talent was doing the warm-up and boy, the first time I hear a set of his and it was magnificent, he certainly knows how to get the crowd pumped up. Played a mixture of some electro, prog house and prog trance if memory serves me right, wicked stuff. Roamed around the massive ‘venue’, VIP area was neat and well-planned, seemed a tad too crowded though after midnight, not that it matters much to me as I hardly hanged out there, Wonder why I paid extra, I didn’t sit on the comfy couches, nor did I drink any alcohol, thus, coupons were gone for water bottles and red bulls. The water was supposedly being given out for free, but it wasn’t, not that it matters much now though, the whole extra coupons thing is a control measure and to entice big drinkers.
Dave Seaman took over the decks at around 12 or 1, can’t recall correctly, he was until recently a dj that I only recognize by name, but his set was magnificent, perfect for electro and prog house lovers. By the time he started mixing, the place was already busy with many ‘ravers’… I wish I could remember some of the tracks he played, all I recall is Muhannad aka. Moe (Met him on the bus, cool fella) IDing two or three tracks produced or mixed by Trentmoller, other than that, I remotely recall a track being played towards the end of his set, one that Gabriel & Dresden have something to do with, probably was either “Tracking Treasure Down” or “Till There Was You”… Before Dave finished his set, while being in front of the dj booth I saw Toni and Jono Grant of A&B talking to someone in the backstage area, I simply couldn’t stop myself from going there to try and talk to them, which I succeeded at after persuading one of the security personnel to let me in, I talked to them briefly and took pictures with them, I went again with a couple of new friends (God bless Facebook), but couldn’t get in without the event promoter, organizer, manager, EVERYTHING (God bless her!), Julian, sneaked us in, we took a picture as a group with the two Anjunaboys who came with MY CAM (Will get back to this point later), Paavo stayed back in London, it seems a habit for dj bands to divide activities and tasks between them, usually someone is more into production and the other is more into mixing and DJing =). Also met FILA of Ali & Fila! Who by the way didn’t spin at Tala Bay in the morning as I thought and anyway, I thought it was ALI rather than Fila! Heh, people will know this by the time this is posted, but the Lebanese beach-goers will be in for a big surprise on Sunday, as part of MixFM’s great beach parties called One Big Sunday, he’s the one who is the surprise, I went on Trancehits today and read comments showing how curious people were, I PMed a couple of them spoiling the surprise, I just couldn’t hide it hehe! Some went as far as thinking it might be Ferry Corsten or something, but my first impression so far is that this Fila fellow is the friendliest and most humble dj I have met personally thus far, he didn’t have ANY attitude whatsoever, and he seemed even happier than us! Respect to the Egyptian dude! Also met BeeBee, djing and party animal hehe! Tried to talk to Dave Seaman, but I guess I ran out of my luck with security guys at that point.
Above & Beyond, world number 9 djs according to the controversial DJ Mag yearly poll, who have recently rocked the Olympic stadium in Los Angeles graced the decks of Wadi Rum soon after that. Two tracks into the set, for some f***ed up reason, naïve and stupid me entrusted a total stranger to carry my camera while I was recording a video, only for what I imagined was unthinkable to happen. As soon as I turned my head, that lowlife and tactless effing cunt disappeared with OUR memories, excuse my French, but that is the least I could describe that piece of s***… I am still kicking myself in the backside for assuming he was with the new friends I met there, I don’t want the camera itself, I was whining and nagging about it in my last diary update!!! I just want the bloody memory card with all the videos and photos that I took. He can shove the camera up his backside as far as I am concerned, chances are he will not even know how to use it in the first place! Thank God I still have my baby, my Canon AND I will get another Canon when I am back in DXB, a smaller one of course than the 400D. This just shows you how precious pictures (and recently videos) are to me, they have no monetary value, but the fact that they evoke memories and good times is more than enough. And by the way, the less I say about the crappy attitude I got from people I asked for help the better, you can keep your silly advices and hoes to yourselves!
Back to the music, it took me a while to recover from the fact that everything from that night is gone, par a few pictures other people took, but I eventually got back to a state of trance, I kept track of the, err, track list of A&B’s set, I couldn’t ID everything, but I recognized many of them, which were played on their radio show, Trance Around The World, I’ll nag again and say that IF I still had my cam, I’d have been able to ID them later on when I watch the videos. (Or at least someone would’ve helped out on Youtube, Trancehits, or wherever. Here is my improper track list with a few comments:
“Welsh Morphology”. kind of an intimidating ‘vocals’(But no lyrics) in this track IMHO, but still quality beat nevertheless.
A Life Less Ordinary – Alex Morph vs. Rank 1. YES, I finally IDed it after hearing it live for the umpteenth time!! But of course, I have no clue whatsoever which remix
Needs To Feel – Super 8 & DJ Tab [Wippenberg remix]. This is one of my favorite tracks at the moment, limited, but deep vocals, I ‘overheard’ it while arguing with security at the venue entrance :P
Air For Life – Above & Beyond vs. Andy Moor. They simply had to play it, the first track I ever heard by them, still recall hearing it on the radio in Lebanon in the summer of 2005, massive, massive tune.
I Can’t Sleep – Above & Beyond. They played it at 4:30 am!!! I couldn’t quite understand why Jono & Toni were pointing at their watches when the track started playing, took me a few seconds to figure out, but I went berserk nevertheless once it started, call their productions cheesy if you want to, but this isn’t, this is a classic.
Waiting Here For You – Thrillseekers feat. Aruna. YES, they played it! Don’t think it was the original (Breakfast remix perhaps?).
Fly Away – Vincent De Moor (me thinks)
No One On Earth – Above & Beyond [Gabriel & Dresden remix]. Reminded me of a former trancehitter (S), always nice to hear this track.
Untitled Audio (Not sure)
Dangerous Power – Gabriel & Dresden (I think!). Another track that I didn’t expect to hear.
“Touch Me” – Mike Koglin & Jono Grant mash-up/remix. Crowd went absolutely nuts when he played it, again. Great timing as the sun was rising!
Sun Is Shining – Bob Marley [MLV remix]. Wohooooooo! Orgasmic, simply orgasmic, with the sun literally shining on the rocks in the magnificent natural setting!
Tri-state – Above & Beyond. [Some remix, I think Robert Nickson]. No comments!
Nothing – James Holden. Top notch.
Sand In My Shoes – Dido [Above & Beyond remix].
Good For Me – Above & Beyond.
Alone Tonight – Above & Beyond. This was it; I’d have been content if they stopped playing after this!
Home – Above & Beyond [Club mix]. I expected a “Satellite” finale rather than Home (I think this was the last track of their set), but it was good to hear it nevertheless… “Looking for a place called home” :(
As mentioned before, there were several other tracks that fall in the HIB category (An acronym I made up for Heard It Before type of tracks). They finished their set at around 6:30-7-ish…
BeeBee, did the after-hours set, only recognized Armin’s Rush Hour, the third track of the set. I left the area soon after and met up again with some of the guys who were on the bus, what was after that was an organizational scramble, as we could NOT find the bus that brought us in the first place, and kept on asking the bus drivers till after more than 30 minutes of canvassing, we finally found one. Don’t recall the time we got back to Aqaba at, but it was a long journey nevertheless. Was too knackered to go to the after party at Tala Bay, where some upcoming local Jordanian DJs were spinning till sunset… Went online for a while before sleeping till the evening, headed to the Yacht Club, where the ‘smaller’ rave was taking place. Arrived at 11, only to be told at the doors that the ticket was NOT sufficient to guarantee entry, what else was needed? COUPLES, they must be freakin’ kidding me, luckily, Stamina, one half of the BO18 club residents in Beirut Gunther & Stamina was entering at the same time, I talked to him for a bit and he managed to convince the bouncer to let me in, chatted with him, Gunther and another Jordanian DJ called Ashtek when we got in the club briefly about what set they’re going to play (Hope I got the spelling right).
At the time of writing, we are about 90 kilometers away from Amman. In total, it’s more than 300 KMs. I wonder how much time would it take me IF I was driving my own car, the last time I drove to Abu Dhabi in UAE, it took me about 50 – 60 or so minutes, with ‘normal’ driving it takes one hour and a half.
I stopped writing at around 7:30pm as the bus stopped for the passengers to refresh for a bit by buying some overpriced stuff. Chatted all the way back with some more new friends, yey! Will continue later, got to consider what I am supposed to do now…
The raves are over, now on the way back on yet another bus heading back to the more familiar and busy surroundings of Amman. Been two crazy days really. I’m kind of blank now, just sitting there not knowing what to type! Guess I should just talk about what made me go on this whole trip, the Distant Heat electronic music festival!
We finally left Aqaba’s yacht club at around 9 pm, the bus ride was fun, met some cool people, amongst them is a couple of sponsors working with radio stations (Play FM IIRC), a couple of Jordanian/Palestinian dudes and many Europeans (Irish and Dutch), of course, the first few interactions were to teach them the typical swear words in Arabic, amongst a few other more reasonable expressions such as hello, sorry, good night, it’s always fun to see how foreigners pronounce Arabic words, khmaar instead of 7maar (Hmaar as in donkey), but for some reason if the word already had the ‘kh’ part they wouldn’t be able to pronounce that part! Don’t worry, we ‘exposed’ them to a more abusive array of abusive terminology ;).
Arrived there at around 10 pm after a stop at a checkpoint and a long sandy road, I simply have no clue whatsoever how people actually managed to get there, let alone the fact that most cars were small (As in small, I mean salons, hatchbacks, and so on, not big SUVs and 4x4s), there was no signage and directions (Or at least I couldn’t notice them), no street lights and no proper roads, but hey, many people probably know the exact location, apparently that is where people usually go to camp when they go to wadi rum (Hence, the adjacent camp with many tents. Also, the small fact that this is not the first time the festival was held, it’s been held for several years in a row boasting names such as Markus Schulz, Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten.
Got off the bus, got my wrist band and proceeded to the main area in front of the dj booth, BeeBee, a Jordanian talent was doing the warm-up and boy, the first time I hear a set of his and it was magnificent, he certainly knows how to get the crowd pumped up. Played a mixture of some electro, prog house and prog trance if memory serves me right, wicked stuff. Roamed around the massive ‘venue’, VIP area was neat and well-planned, seemed a tad too crowded though after midnight, not that it matters much to me as I hardly hanged out there, Wonder why I paid extra, I didn’t sit on the comfy couches, nor did I drink any alcohol, thus, coupons were gone for water bottles and red bulls. The water was supposedly being given out for free, but it wasn’t, not that it matters much now though, the whole extra coupons thing is a control measure and to entice big drinkers.
Dave Seaman took over the decks at around 12 or 1, can’t recall correctly, he was until recently a dj that I only recognize by name, but his set was magnificent, perfect for electro and prog house lovers. By the time he started mixing, the place was already busy with many ‘ravers’… I wish I could remember some of the tracks he played, all I recall is Muhannad aka. Moe (Met him on the bus, cool fella) IDing two or three tracks produced or mixed by Trentmoller, other than that, I remotely recall a track being played towards the end of his set, one that Gabriel & Dresden have something to do with, probably was either “Tracking Treasure Down” or “Till There Was You”… Before Dave finished his set, while being in front of the dj booth I saw Toni and Jono Grant of A&B talking to someone in the backstage area, I simply couldn’t stop myself from going there to try and talk to them, which I succeeded at after persuading one of the security personnel to let me in, I talked to them briefly and took pictures with them, I went again with a couple of new friends (God bless Facebook), but couldn’t get in without the event promoter, organizer, manager, EVERYTHING (God bless her!), Julian, sneaked us in, we took a picture as a group with the two Anjunaboys who came with MY CAM (Will get back to this point later), Paavo stayed back in London, it seems a habit for dj bands to divide activities and tasks between them, usually someone is more into production and the other is more into mixing and DJing =). Also met FILA of Ali & Fila! Who by the way didn’t spin at Tala Bay in the morning as I thought and anyway, I thought it was ALI rather than Fila! Heh, people will know this by the time this is posted, but the Lebanese beach-goers will be in for a big surprise on Sunday, as part of MixFM’s great beach parties called One Big Sunday, he’s the one who is the surprise, I went on Trancehits today and read comments showing how curious people were, I PMed a couple of them spoiling the surprise, I just couldn’t hide it hehe! Some went as far as thinking it might be Ferry Corsten or something, but my first impression so far is that this Fila fellow is the friendliest and most humble dj I have met personally thus far, he didn’t have ANY attitude whatsoever, and he seemed even happier than us! Respect to the Egyptian dude! Also met BeeBee, djing and party animal hehe! Tried to talk to Dave Seaman, but I guess I ran out of my luck with security guys at that point.
Above & Beyond, world number 9 djs according to the controversial DJ Mag yearly poll, who have recently rocked the Olympic stadium in Los Angeles graced the decks of Wadi Rum soon after that. Two tracks into the set, for some f***ed up reason, naïve and stupid me entrusted a total stranger to carry my camera while I was recording a video, only for what I imagined was unthinkable to happen. As soon as I turned my head, that lowlife and tactless effing cunt disappeared with OUR memories, excuse my French, but that is the least I could describe that piece of s***… I am still kicking myself in the backside for assuming he was with the new friends I met there, I don’t want the camera itself, I was whining and nagging about it in my last diary update!!! I just want the bloody memory card with all the videos and photos that I took. He can shove the camera up his backside as far as I am concerned, chances are he will not even know how to use it in the first place! Thank God I still have my baby, my Canon AND I will get another Canon when I am back in DXB, a smaller one of course than the 400D. This just shows you how precious pictures (and recently videos) are to me, they have no monetary value, but the fact that they evoke memories and good times is more than enough. And by the way, the less I say about the crappy attitude I got from people I asked for help the better, you can keep your silly advices and hoes to yourselves!
Back to the music, it took me a while to recover from the fact that everything from that night is gone, par a few pictures other people took, but I eventually got back to a state of trance, I kept track of the, err, track list of A&B’s set, I couldn’t ID everything, but I recognized many of them, which were played on their radio show, Trance Around The World, I’ll nag again and say that IF I still had my cam, I’d have been able to ID them later on when I watch the videos. (Or at least someone would’ve helped out on Youtube, Trancehits, or wherever. Here is my improper track list with a few comments:
“Welsh Morphology”. kind of an intimidating ‘vocals’(But no lyrics) in this track IMHO, but still quality beat nevertheless.
A Life Less Ordinary – Alex Morph vs. Rank 1. YES, I finally IDed it after hearing it live for the umpteenth time!! But of course, I have no clue whatsoever which remix
Needs To Feel – Super 8 & DJ Tab [Wippenberg remix]. This is one of my favorite tracks at the moment, limited, but deep vocals, I ‘overheard’ it while arguing with security at the venue entrance :P
Air For Life – Above & Beyond vs. Andy Moor. They simply had to play it, the first track I ever heard by them, still recall hearing it on the radio in Lebanon in the summer of 2005, massive, massive tune.
I Can’t Sleep – Above & Beyond. They played it at 4:30 am!!! I couldn’t quite understand why Jono & Toni were pointing at their watches when the track started playing, took me a few seconds to figure out, but I went berserk nevertheless once it started, call their productions cheesy if you want to, but this isn’t, this is a classic.
Waiting Here For You – Thrillseekers feat. Aruna. YES, they played it! Don’t think it was the original (Breakfast remix perhaps?).
Fly Away – Vincent De Moor (me thinks)
No One On Earth – Above & Beyond [Gabriel & Dresden remix]. Reminded me of a former trancehitter (S), always nice to hear this track.
Untitled Audio (Not sure)
Dangerous Power – Gabriel & Dresden (I think!). Another track that I didn’t expect to hear.
“Touch Me” – Mike Koglin & Jono Grant mash-up/remix. Crowd went absolutely nuts when he played it, again. Great timing as the sun was rising!
Sun Is Shining – Bob Marley [MLV remix]. Wohooooooo! Orgasmic, simply orgasmic, with the sun literally shining on the rocks in the magnificent natural setting!
Tri-state – Above & Beyond. [Some remix, I think Robert Nickson]. No comments!
Nothing – James Holden. Top notch.
Sand In My Shoes – Dido [Above & Beyond remix].
Good For Me – Above & Beyond.
Alone Tonight – Above & Beyond. This was it; I’d have been content if they stopped playing after this!
Home – Above & Beyond [Club mix]. I expected a “Satellite” finale rather than Home (I think this was the last track of their set), but it was good to hear it nevertheless… “Looking for a place called home” :(
As mentioned before, there were several other tracks that fall in the HIB category (An acronym I made up for Heard It Before type of tracks). They finished their set at around 6:30-7-ish…
BeeBee, did the after-hours set, only recognized Armin’s Rush Hour, the third track of the set. I left the area soon after and met up again with some of the guys who were on the bus, what was after that was an organizational scramble, as we could NOT find the bus that brought us in the first place, and kept on asking the bus drivers till after more than 30 minutes of canvassing, we finally found one. Don’t recall the time we got back to Aqaba at, but it was a long journey nevertheless. Was too knackered to go to the after party at Tala Bay, where some upcoming local Jordanian DJs were spinning till sunset… Went online for a while before sleeping till the evening, headed to the Yacht Club, where the ‘smaller’ rave was taking place. Arrived at 11, only to be told at the doors that the ticket was NOT sufficient to guarantee entry, what else was needed? COUPLES, they must be freakin’ kidding me, luckily, Stamina, one half of the BO18 club residents in Beirut Gunther & Stamina was entering at the same time, I talked to him for a bit and he managed to convince the bouncer to let me in, chatted with him, Gunther and another Jordanian DJ called Ashtek when we got in the club briefly about what set they’re going to play (Hope I got the spelling right).
At the time of writing, we are about 90 kilometers away from Amman. In total, it’s more than 300 KMs. I wonder how much time would it take me IF I was driving my own car, the last time I drove to Abu Dhabi in UAE, it took me about 50 – 60 or so minutes, with ‘normal’ driving it takes one hour and a half.
I stopped writing at around 7:30pm as the bus stopped for the passengers to refresh for a bit by buying some overpriced stuff. Chatted all the way back with some more new friends, yey! Will continue later, got to consider what I am supposed to do now…
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Trip diary - in Aqaba [July 26, 2007]
Trip diary – Day 2, @ Intercontinental Aqaba hotel
Well, well… Second day in Aqaba, three more hours to go before I get on another transportation medium, the bus that will take me to Wadi Rum and Distant Heat, apparently there have been buses to take people from Amman to the festival and back, but I wasn’t aware of that, but hey, some touring around the country (In Arabic ruboo3 il wa6an! Heh) won’t hurt anyone. The hotel is much nicer than Holiday Inn, almost as good as the Four Seasons in Amman, the family’s preferred accommodation in the capital. Actually, it might look better, it’s roomier in general and has nice décor, the interior design is spot on. Won’t go into architecture and exteriors, all the buildings in general look alike in the Levant region with no distinctive features (Apart from a few trying to look distinctive). But the service here does not match the Four Seasons, the interactions, the small details, the unspoken things as well; the ‘feel’ you get from people is lacking here (First impression? Having to drag my bags up the stairs leading to the entrance, a misunderstanding with the bellboy, and some minor errors in check-in)… But hey, it’s way better than many, many properties around the world, and it is probably amongst the top hotels in this country, I am just being mean and picky I guess!
Extended my stay as I wished for another night, meaning I can still recover here without bothering to check-out and find another hotel. Yesterday was quite good, after chilling in the guestroom for a while, went downstairs to have dinner. After that I contacted a very friendly and cool guy whom I’ve arranged to buy my rave tickets from, had a brief chat about how things will go, some small tips and such… Went afterwards to a beach/pool type of café at the hotel which serves argeela/sheesha and drinks, was very calming! Made me miss the cooler months in Dubai (Although it is humid here, but not as bad as DXB! Trust me!). Took some pics around the property, including a representation of my infamous long exposure dancing ghost picture, but this time on the beach, better background than a parking lot! Bet people were wondering how bored and silly I am, but hey, this is me, I guess I’m destined to always be the odd one out and quite eccentric. ;)
Now I’m bored out of my skull, waiting for the minutes to pass, I just hope everything goes according to plan, no unpleasant surprises such as any cancellations, technical failures, terrorist attacks (lol) or even worse: My cam’s batteries to die! Talking about that, I think sometimes that I shouldn’t have gotten a point-and-shoot Nikon which doesn’t offer much flexibility to control the outcome of the pictures (Well, it probably can, but I’m a manual mode whore, shutter speed and all that crap), but hey, it really, really makes up for it by having a flexible body and quick responses or whatever the actual description of something that, err, responses quickly. (Google it, Nikon Coolpix S10). Two batteries and three memory cards with a combined capacity of almost 3.5 GBs, that should be enough, eh? ;)
This will be the longest party I’ve ever been to; I think I’ve been in Dubai for too long! But I’ve been sick, I’ve been knackered and shattered before, only to be ‘saved’ by EDM, so, I think and hope I will last till the very finale of above & Beyond’s 3-4 hour set… I guess the trick will be to not get too excited during Dave Seaman’s set that precedes the Anjunaboys’ few hours of madness. (Tony, Jono and Paavo, heard all three are coming… I really want to meet them :()… Before I end this, currently ’warming-up’ by listening to TATW # 173, this track rocks: “Saved Again” – Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren (I think, I have the track list though somewhere)… Hope they play it, along with Falling, Shadow World, Waiting Here For you and Dave202’s Generate The Wave (Don’t think I heard it at any clubs live yet, I’d go mental if they actually played it, although it’s a bit old now…
Fingers crossed… Let the voyage into the rum commence (Well, in 2:30 hours time ;))
Well, well… Second day in Aqaba, three more hours to go before I get on another transportation medium, the bus that will take me to Wadi Rum and Distant Heat, apparently there have been buses to take people from Amman to the festival and back, but I wasn’t aware of that, but hey, some touring around the country (In Arabic ruboo3 il wa6an! Heh) won’t hurt anyone. The hotel is much nicer than Holiday Inn, almost as good as the Four Seasons in Amman, the family’s preferred accommodation in the capital. Actually, it might look better, it’s roomier in general and has nice décor, the interior design is spot on. Won’t go into architecture and exteriors, all the buildings in general look alike in the Levant region with no distinctive features (Apart from a few trying to look distinctive). But the service here does not match the Four Seasons, the interactions, the small details, the unspoken things as well; the ‘feel’ you get from people is lacking here (First impression? Having to drag my bags up the stairs leading to the entrance, a misunderstanding with the bellboy, and some minor errors in check-in)… But hey, it’s way better than many, many properties around the world, and it is probably amongst the top hotels in this country, I am just being mean and picky I guess!
Extended my stay as I wished for another night, meaning I can still recover here without bothering to check-out and find another hotel. Yesterday was quite good, after chilling in the guestroom for a while, went downstairs to have dinner. After that I contacted a very friendly and cool guy whom I’ve arranged to buy my rave tickets from, had a brief chat about how things will go, some small tips and such… Went afterwards to a beach/pool type of café at the hotel which serves argeela/sheesha and drinks, was very calming! Made me miss the cooler months in Dubai (Although it is humid here, but not as bad as DXB! Trust me!). Took some pics around the property, including a representation of my infamous long exposure dancing ghost picture, but this time on the beach, better background than a parking lot! Bet people were wondering how bored and silly I am, but hey, this is me, I guess I’m destined to always be the odd one out and quite eccentric. ;)
Now I’m bored out of my skull, waiting for the minutes to pass, I just hope everything goes according to plan, no unpleasant surprises such as any cancellations, technical failures, terrorist attacks (lol) or even worse: My cam’s batteries to die! Talking about that, I think sometimes that I shouldn’t have gotten a point-and-shoot Nikon which doesn’t offer much flexibility to control the outcome of the pictures (Well, it probably can, but I’m a manual mode whore, shutter speed and all that crap), but hey, it really, really makes up for it by having a flexible body and quick responses or whatever the actual description of something that, err, responses quickly. (Google it, Nikon Coolpix S10). Two batteries and three memory cards with a combined capacity of almost 3.5 GBs, that should be enough, eh? ;)
This will be the longest party I’ve ever been to; I think I’ve been in Dubai for too long! But I’ve been sick, I’ve been knackered and shattered before, only to be ‘saved’ by EDM, so, I think and hope I will last till the very finale of above & Beyond’s 3-4 hour set… I guess the trick will be to not get too excited during Dave Seaman’s set that precedes the Anjunaboys’ few hours of madness. (Tony, Jono and Paavo, heard all three are coming… I really want to meet them :()… Before I end this, currently ’warming-up’ by listening to TATW # 173, this track rocks: “Saved Again” – Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren (I think, I have the track list though somewhere)… Hope they play it, along with Falling, Shadow World, Waiting Here For you and Dave202’s Generate The Wave (Don’t think I heard it at any clubs live yet, I’d go mental if they actually played it, although it’s a bit old now…
Fingers crossed… Let the voyage into the rum commence (Well, in 2:30 hours time ;))
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Trip diary - Going to Aqaba
Trip diary – Day 1, bus going to Aqaba [July 25, 2007]
Overslept today (surprise, surprise), but was able to check-out on time and rush to the bus company to book my place on the bus, which was leaving in 10 minutes. Opted not to fly by plane as it turned out to be a hassle, lots of waiting and commuting, by the time the flight would’ve landed in Aqaba, I’d be already or almost there on coach. It isn’t that bad, the ‘music’ is horrible, lots of the new cheesy Arabic tracks that I do not even know. Such songs were al I knew really a couple of years back. Thank God for the iPod and the stuff I downloaded on the laptop before traveling, the 2MB connection back in the Academy has proven to be very useful when it comes to downloading torrents and uploading videos to Youtube, I guess I should reduce the size of the videos I take, I was checking out some old videos yesterday, including some videos of the Above & Beyond gig almost a year ago, the video quality was OK, more like webcam quality, but the sound was almost as good as the videos I usually take with my point-and-shoot Nikon camera, the size was significantly lower.
Didn’t see anyone yet, doubt I would, apart from the few Facebook friends which I contacted and will probably meet there in Aqaba or Wadi Rum, there is a gig in Lebanon that has been pushed forward to this Friday instead of the following Friday as originally planned, it’s tooo tempting to go, Dirty South and Ron Van Den Beuken, would be something! But for the time being I should be content with Above & Beyond, Dave Seaman and the bunch of Arab talents, such as Bee Bee & Aly & Fila. Didn’t eat anything yet in Jordan, not hungry, I guess it’s psychological, would probably eat well and not feel stuffed if I forced myself. (Late correction: That was wrong, RVDB plays on Friday August 3rd, 2007 in Forum De Beirut, excuse the spelling).
On another note, apparently Above & Beyond won’t be spinning at Peppermint come September as originally planned, the last time I checked, their website still had Pmint pinned for the 6th of September, before Ramadan, but nothing has been confirmed yet by the club itself. Would be gutted, was looking forward to telling them I saw them live at Distant Heat as well, lame, I know. But also, they really have to unleash their talents at a big club like Peppermint, hope they change the set-up for them like they did for the recent Sasha gig. But I also hope that Deep Nights bring a cheesy house DJ on the same night, that would do the same effect as Markus Schulz vs. Benni Bennassi, I think I mentioned it on the other blog, but many people went like “Markus who?!” when it should’ve been the other way around. At least we had more space to ‘shake it’! The whole (Well, almost) two or so rows of people that were in front of the DJ booth are more ‘ravers’ than posers, would be fun to party with them again once everyone’s back to DXB, too bad one of them is leaving to Canada though for good, all the best to her! (Although we hardly spoke to each other, but Peppermint connects people, how cheesy, eh? =))
Overslept today (surprise, surprise), but was able to check-out on time and rush to the bus company to book my place on the bus, which was leaving in 10 minutes. Opted not to fly by plane as it turned out to be a hassle, lots of waiting and commuting, by the time the flight would’ve landed in Aqaba, I’d be already or almost there on coach. It isn’t that bad, the ‘music’ is horrible, lots of the new cheesy Arabic tracks that I do not even know. Such songs were al I knew really a couple of years back. Thank God for the iPod and the stuff I downloaded on the laptop before traveling, the 2MB connection back in the Academy has proven to be very useful when it comes to downloading torrents and uploading videos to Youtube, I guess I should reduce the size of the videos I take, I was checking out some old videos yesterday, including some videos of the Above & Beyond gig almost a year ago, the video quality was OK, more like webcam quality, but the sound was almost as good as the videos I usually take with my point-and-shoot Nikon camera, the size was significantly lower.
Didn’t see anyone yet, doubt I would, apart from the few Facebook friends which I contacted and will probably meet there in Aqaba or Wadi Rum, there is a gig in Lebanon that has been pushed forward to this Friday instead of the following Friday as originally planned, it’s tooo tempting to go, Dirty South and Ron Van Den Beuken, would be something! But for the time being I should be content with Above & Beyond, Dave Seaman and the bunch of Arab talents, such as Bee Bee & Aly & Fila. Didn’t eat anything yet in Jordan, not hungry, I guess it’s psychological, would probably eat well and not feel stuffed if I forced myself. (Late correction: That was wrong, RVDB plays on Friday August 3rd, 2007 in Forum De Beirut, excuse the spelling).
On another note, apparently Above & Beyond won’t be spinning at Peppermint come September as originally planned, the last time I checked, their website still had Pmint pinned for the 6th of September, before Ramadan, but nothing has been confirmed yet by the club itself. Would be gutted, was looking forward to telling them I saw them live at Distant Heat as well, lame, I know. But also, they really have to unleash their talents at a big club like Peppermint, hope they change the set-up for them like they did for the recent Sasha gig. But I also hope that Deep Nights bring a cheesy house DJ on the same night, that would do the same effect as Markus Schulz vs. Benni Bennassi, I think I mentioned it on the other blog, but many people went like “Markus who?!” when it should’ve been the other way around. At least we had more space to ‘shake it’! The whole (Well, almost) two or so rows of people that were in front of the DJ booth are more ‘ravers’ than posers, would be fun to party with them again once everyone’s back to DXB, too bad one of them is leaving to Canada though for good, all the best to her! (Although we hardly spoke to each other, but Peppermint connects people, how cheesy, eh? =))
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Trip diary - Greetings from Amman
Trip diary – Day 0, Holiday Inn, room # 1315 [Evening of July 24, 2007]
So, I’m finally in my hotel room, if I want to briefly describe the hotel, I’d probably say that the exterior looks unique and somewhat modern, but the interiors are outdated. Anyway, I’m supposed to check out in 12 hours anyway, hope I manage to find a flight to Aqaba, my bum can’t take 3-4 more hours of sitting, especially NOT on a coach… Will I be able to go to Petra? I doubt, although it would be a pity not going there, but hey, three months ago I couldn’t even envisage myself making this whole ‘rave’ trip in the first place.
So, after checking in, I settled in my room, finally got my phone to function (Well, it was an electricity socket problem rather than a technical problem within the phone itself), checked my e-mails, jotted down the important numbers, then changed and went out with my trusted camera, took some nice pictures. Well, to be fair they looked good on the LCD screen, on a normal laptop/PC screen all the flaws become far more obvious. Fingers crossed, I won’t get many other chances to take night shots during this brief trip.
Lots of walking, for some reason I went to Starbucks, couldn’t get anything as the Point-Of-Sale system was down, I was impatient and it was getting late… I did somethin stupid though, I’m always a fool, unfortunately.
I forgot to mention how brilliant the weather is outside compared to Dubai, it was breezy, a bit too breezy in fact that I was wondering if some of the photos will suffer from motion blur. It’s obvious that I didn’t upload them yet to have a look, I will have a LOT of time to see them and play around with them later on anyway… I just hope that I wake up on time tomorrow morning; I really don’t need my sleeping disorders, not now!
Tomorrow is another day…
p.s. For some reason I didn’t (And probably won’t) check out the family’s flat/apartment here.
So, I’m finally in my hotel room, if I want to briefly describe the hotel, I’d probably say that the exterior looks unique and somewhat modern, but the interiors are outdated. Anyway, I’m supposed to check out in 12 hours anyway, hope I manage to find a flight to Aqaba, my bum can’t take 3-4 more hours of sitting, especially NOT on a coach… Will I be able to go to Petra? I doubt, although it would be a pity not going there, but hey, three months ago I couldn’t even envisage myself making this whole ‘rave’ trip in the first place.
So, after checking in, I settled in my room, finally got my phone to function (Well, it was an electricity socket problem rather than a technical problem within the phone itself), checked my e-mails, jotted down the important numbers, then changed and went out with my trusted camera, took some nice pictures. Well, to be fair they looked good on the LCD screen, on a normal laptop/PC screen all the flaws become far more obvious. Fingers crossed, I won’t get many other chances to take night shots during this brief trip.
Lots of walking, for some reason I went to Starbucks, couldn’t get anything as the Point-Of-Sale system was down, I was impatient and it was getting late… I did somethin stupid though, I’m always a fool, unfortunately.
I forgot to mention how brilliant the weather is outside compared to Dubai, it was breezy, a bit too breezy in fact that I was wondering if some of the photos will suffer from motion blur. It’s obvious that I didn’t upload them yet to have a look, I will have a LOT of time to see them and play around with them later on anyway… I just hope that I wake up on time tomorrow morning; I really don’t need my sleeping disorders, not now!
Tomorrow is another day…
p.s. For some reason I didn’t (And probably won’t) check out the family’s flat/apartment here.
Trip diary - Dubai Airport
Trip diary – Day 0, Dubai airport [July 24, 2007]
Hmm, didn’t think that I would take my laptop out of its bag before boarding the flight, I don’t know why I’m calling it day zero, should it be day one instead? Magazines, newspapers, etc. always start with issue number one. Well, whatever. Flight was originally scheduled to depart two hours ago, but there has been a ‘little’ delay and the gate has been changed as well (Apparently it was changed twice). Checking my bag every two minutes, to make sure that I haven’t lost anything (yet).
Has been so random, unexpected as well, but thankfully the planning of the trip worked out, now the fun part should start once I arrive in Amman. I walked around the whole terminal probably twice already (In terms of total distance), guess that’s my workout for today! Took several photos, saw people from literally all walks of life, some sleeping on the floor, others playing with whatever gadget they have, some totally engrossed with their books. Talking about books, NO, I didn’t read the latest Harry Potter book, and I don’t know why people actually want him to DIE in the latest edition of his book. I don’t even read my school books. School? Hmm, what about it? Oh yeah, I ended my 3rd year last Thursday, was an OK semester, one could always say that there is room for improvement. Apart from a couple of courses, any efforts are wasted (Got my lowest grade EVER in one, the other’s grade is not out yet). But hey, I’m less than twelve months away from graduation, part of me is happy, another part of me is shocked that time flew and went past so quickly, it still feels like yesterday that I went to the Academy on a somewhat foggy day in a suit that was a bit too big, sitting in the café, anticipating my ‘fate’ quietly with two fellow students, somehow ended up talking about football (One turned out to be a Manc, the other an Arse fan), another part is NOT looking forward to working hard, and yet another part is looking forward to finally being productive (Despite the hard work bit!) and earning money… This is life at the end of the day and one’s gotta do what they gotta do, right? ;-). How many parts are there of me already? Hehe! If that implies that I’m torn, then yeah, it kind of how I am these days. (“Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia comes to mind).
Flight’s boarding now (Finally!)… Will get back to my lovely laptop if I got bored on the flight, fingers crossed, hope no screaming and crying kids are nearby, also hope that no XXL-sized person is seated next to me. Aah, always feels good to go back to economy class… NOT!!!!
Hmm, didn’t think that I would take my laptop out of its bag before boarding the flight, I don’t know why I’m calling it day zero, should it be day one instead? Magazines, newspapers, etc. always start with issue number one. Well, whatever. Flight was originally scheduled to depart two hours ago, but there has been a ‘little’ delay and the gate has been changed as well (Apparently it was changed twice). Checking my bag every two minutes, to make sure that I haven’t lost anything (yet).
Has been so random, unexpected as well, but thankfully the planning of the trip worked out, now the fun part should start once I arrive in Amman. I walked around the whole terminal probably twice already (In terms of total distance), guess that’s my workout for today! Took several photos, saw people from literally all walks of life, some sleeping on the floor, others playing with whatever gadget they have, some totally engrossed with their books. Talking about books, NO, I didn’t read the latest Harry Potter book, and I don’t know why people actually want him to DIE in the latest edition of his book. I don’t even read my school books. School? Hmm, what about it? Oh yeah, I ended my 3rd year last Thursday, was an OK semester, one could always say that there is room for improvement. Apart from a couple of courses, any efforts are wasted (Got my lowest grade EVER in one, the other’s grade is not out yet). But hey, I’m less than twelve months away from graduation, part of me is happy, another part of me is shocked that time flew and went past so quickly, it still feels like yesterday that I went to the Academy on a somewhat foggy day in a suit that was a bit too big, sitting in the café, anticipating my ‘fate’ quietly with two fellow students, somehow ended up talking about football (One turned out to be a Manc, the other an Arse fan), another part is NOT looking forward to working hard, and yet another part is looking forward to finally being productive (Despite the hard work bit!) and earning money… This is life at the end of the day and one’s gotta do what they gotta do, right? ;-). How many parts are there of me already? Hehe! If that implies that I’m torn, then yeah, it kind of how I am these days. (“Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia comes to mind).
Flight’s boarding now (Finally!)… Will get back to my lovely laptop if I got bored on the flight, fingers crossed, hope no screaming and crying kids are nearby, also hope that no XXL-sized person is seated next to me. Aah, always feels good to go back to economy class… NOT!!!!
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