Amsterdam Break

Works at my office were picking up at a very slow pace after Christmas. Sitting around in the office without nothing much to do is very boring to me. It was during this period I received an invite to attend a training organised by regional offices of my company. The training was for 6 days in Amsterdam. Lucky me. I quickly asked my colleague to register for the training and together we raised our application to our boss. It didn't take much time for my boss to approve the application knowing how 'busy' I was at my desk and that the whole trip will be covered by a pool of money chipped in by regional offices. Lucky me.

In fact my colleague and I even took  1 day extra in Amsterdam. I was very excited for this travel mainly for 2 reasons - Europe winter & green stuff...(smile)

On the day of my arrival in Amsterdam I was surprised to see another colleague also joining the trip. She was based in Cairo office but was transferred to Dubai office. So there were 3 representatives from my Dubai office for the Amsterdam training. The more the merrier.

The temperature in Amsterdam was 4 degrees celcius during the day and it dropped to 3 degrees celcius at night. But it was a pleasant weather with 2-3 layers of clothes. The first thing I bought after checking in at Okura Hotel was a 3-days tram ticket. Tram is the best mode of transportation in city of Amsterdam.

My training classes were conducted everyday from 8.30am to 6.30pm. There were many colleagues from Europe and Gulf offices. Everybody seemed to know each other due to their experience of working together for some cross border transactions. The 3 of us from the Dubai office were like the new kids on the block. Actually my Dubai office merged with the new company recently in July 2013 and now we are part of the biggest law firm in the world.

I went out exploring the streets of Amsterdam every night. Most of the time I walk. True to what I have been hearing about this city, everybody commutes by bicycle. There were canals everywhere. And something which I didn't expect was there were many Indonesian restaurants. I can say at every street or corner of the city there was at least one Indonesian restaurant. 

Amsterdam is a proud city of liberal and free. Prostitution and weed are legal here. It was also a home to Rembrandt and Van Gogh and almost all their artworks are displayed in various museums in Amsterdam. The hotel I lived in gave me a map of museums in Amsterdam. I didn't manage to enter all the museums except the Rijk Museum which was reopened in 2013 after almost 3 years of major renovation. Whilst my colleagues went crazy with their shopping during the limited time we had at night, I spent most of my time walking and enjoying sight-seeing the buildings, canals and peoples of Amsterdam. Except paying for or having sex, I did all things which most tourists do in Amsterdam. Beautiful.

Whilst sipping my hot chocolate and eating a hot waffle overlooking a large green park, I thought to myself that peoples are capable of behaving themselves if they are given a choice. Given that prostitution and weed are legal here whilst these are illegal elsewhere, I didn't see these stuffs ruining their life and progression as a society. I am not talking moral or religion here. And when I observed closely the visitors crowding the Red Light District and coffee shops, most of them were tourists.  

I enjoyed very much the winter weather and the green stuff (smile)...It was a good break for me and my colleagues. I heard there will be another training next year somewhere else (smile). I want to come back to Amsterdam but the next time, with my wife and sons.

Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom most peoples find sin.

John Green

Happy 2014

Well..well it is quite dusty around here. I realised this blog has been abandoned for a year. Which makes it proper for me now to declare my simple New Year Resolution - I am back to blogging and I will update my blogs if not every day, every week or at least every month.

To be honest I have got tired of FB and recently Whatsapp. At this age, I feel I do not need more information other than what I can see, smell and grab around me and what more I do not want to see miscellaneous pictures of my friends daily life. FB-ing and Whatsapp-ing also diminish my writing skill when most of the time I am just interested to click 'Like' button and write occasional one-liner joke, greeting or compliment.

If not because of my motorcycle activity I have thought of closing my FB and Whatsapp accounts. I have no decision yet and I have a feeling that this annoying feeling towards FB and Whatsapp will keep lingering and bugging me throughout this year.

Anyway I have been concentrating on pumping iron and building up muscle lately. Also I am planning to polish my bass guitar playing and if there is extra money, I am interested to start an audiophile hobby.

On family side, I am currently happily living in Dubai with my wife, 7 year old and 8 months old boys. Alhamdulillah.

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other"

Abraham Lincoln

New Sport

I have been worried about my cholesterol level and thought that I need to go back to the gym and do cardio on running mill. But uric acid is going to ruin my ankle. Somebody suggested cycling and swimming since these activities would be less harmful to joints and bones.

Yesterday I finally got a big push from my biker friend. He bought himself a mountain bike. I wanted to buy a same bicycle. Then suddenly a guy approached me in the Go Sport store. He introduced himself. A fellow Malaysian and he is literally my neighbour in Ghooroob Mirdiff. He asked whether i was interested to buy a bicycle. Apparently he is an avid cyclist. He cycles every week together with his group. What a coincidence.

So the next 4 hours I spent going through my selection of bicycle and its basic accessories with the help of my neighbour. Instead of mountain bike I was advised to get a road bike with sleek tire and lighter body.

So today I am  a proud owner of Giant SCR road bike. There is a lot to learn about cycling and I should study the basic.

My self pride to motivate myself - I have cycled from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi (approx 400km) in 2002. This body can do it !

Try to be closer

I have many weaknesses and one of it is my indiscipline attitude towards religious duties. I hope this Iphone app will help in one way or another to drive me towards doing the right thing..PRAY !

Crocs No More

I am a fan of Crocs shoes. I had a long argument with a friend about Crocs shoes. For me it is the most comfortable and tough shoes I have ever used. It is a proven fact since I had walked a lot on Crocs without hurting my feet.

Today I am giving my Crocs a retirement opportunity with a purchase of a new pair of Barjeel sandal. I quite like the Arabic caligraphy on these sandals. I am very impressed with how comfortable this sandal is. I hope it can serves me well same like the Crocs.

Iftar in Ramadan 2012

During Ramadan 2011 I joined a group of 3 friends to cook and dine together for Iftar throughout the month. We had great time enjoying the camaraderie and friendship in preparing our meals.

This year 2012, two of them had left UAE for good including the chef. Only my friend and I left in the old group and we decided to continue with the group Iftar. I took the task as a chef. We keep receiving guests every day which makes Iftar this year memorable similar to last year.

Please excuse my white short..haha

Last weekend, members of my motorcycle club came to my house and showed their skills as chef. The result was very impressive, these guys really can cook. My cooking skills also get improved this year when I start to cook for the group Iftar.

I hope this Ramadan will be the last when I spend it without my family. By next year I hope to enjoy Ramadan with my family. It has been 4 years of spending Ramadan far away from my family and it is not a good feeling at all. Nevertheless I thank God for this life, my family and good friends around me.

Ramadan Kareem !

“The similitude of the heart in its travel to Allah is like a bird. Love is its head and khawf (fear) and rajaa’ (hope) are its wings. When the head and both wings are sound, the bird is capable and skilled in flying. However, when the head is cut off, the bird will die. When the bird loses a wing, it then becomes a target for every hunter and predator. The scholars favoured, however, the wing of khawf over the wing of rajaa’ especially when the person is young and healthy. They favoured the wing of rajaa’ over the wing of khawf when the person is about to leave this world.” 

(Sheikh Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah)

1292-1350CE

Islamic Jurist

Farewell 2012

It is almost 4 years for me now of living and working in UAE. When I first accepted the offer to work here I told myself that at least I must do this for 5 years. That period is running so fast that I still dont think that I will be ready to think about going back to Malaysia by next year.

In fact I am arranging to bring my family to live with me in Dubai starting 2013. Naturally this plan would mean I that I need to stay longer in Dubai. Seriously once my family is with me I will not have any issue whatsoever to live and work in UAE until retirement age. I like Dubai and I made many friends here and some of them are considered brothers to me.

However I have many good and close friends who decided to go back to Malaysia for one reason or another.. Some of them have to make the decision because they had no other choice.

This week will be the last week for a good friend of mine. I have a close group of friends with whom I hangaout with almost everyday, mostly during lunch and dinner time. We call our group as Dewan Sendat since the most popular topic we like to talk about are foods and nice restaurants in our cities. Two friends in Dewan Sendat had left early of this year. Now another one is going.

It is a bit of sad news to see friends leaving me in this city although we are heavily connected through blackberry messenger and facebook.

I wish my friend a better career and life in Malaysia. Hopefully he will have his rezeki again in Dubai.

In a long term

I know it has been ages since i last posted in this blog. I guess I am a facebook addict nowadays. But I am trying to limit my activity in facebook. It may get you be carried away with 'like', comment, adding, poking, and browsing on peoples' pictures for hours.

It has been almost 4 years of living alone in UAE. It has been an exciting adventure but sometimes it could get very lonely and discouraging. It is not easy to live 6000 km away from a beautiful wife and a cute boy.

My wife and I decided that our marriage life should not continue to go like this. Recently we celebrated our 7th anniversary and suddenly we realised that out of 7 years of marriage, we lived together only for 3 years. Before something happened and get too late, I need to improve this situation.

So, my wife and I agree to do this. By next year my family will move to Dubai and stay with me forever. I am very excited now. This plan alone is what motivates me to face my days at the moment.

In the meantime, life goes on. There are a lot of changes in my life since the last posting in this blog. I am a Harley biker now and you could read my biking life in the other blog. I made a lot of friends and I have several groups which I keep in touch daily. This city and country is where I call home now. And I look forward to have my family back to make the term 'home' perfect.

"The family is heaven in a heartless world"
Christopher Lasch (American historian 1932-1994)

New Lease of Life

OK I just want to share a happy news with you all. After years of dreaming, watching, surfing, contemplating, imagining, disappointment, observing, envying....I finally got one for myself. Only god knows how grateful and happy I am right now.

I have been writing about it secretly all this while. But I think the time has come for me to share the adventure of up and down with "it" with you friends and strangers of my blog.

It's called Ringo !


Check out THIS link.

1 malaysia or 1% ?

Four wheels move the body.  Two wheels move the soul.

January Thought

It is common for peoples to plan their new year resolution when the month of January comes. In fact the most popular one is the resolution to go to the gym. I can proudly say that I no longer need to declare the gym resolution as I have been constantly going to the gym nowadays. So it is my lifestyle already babehhh...!

But I seriously think I should work my ass out to fulfill these resolutions before another January for the sake of my mental sanity:

1) Buy a harley and ride it

2) Save tons of money

UAE Dirham

Someday it could be me on that bike

So let's work on it and make it happen !

Just Do It !

My gym coach

Exploring Urdun

Ruins of Jerash

I had a blast year end celebration with family in December 2010 ! This time we complete the year with a short trip to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Unlike Dubai or UAE, Jordan (or Urdun in Arabic) is a very old country sitting on a crossroads of various ancient civilisation. It has been inhabited by men for more than 1000 years since the stone age world. There were a lot of traces of civilisation, religions and empires here from Roman Byzantine, Umayyad, Abassid, Fatimid, Ottoman, British until the current dynasty of Bani Hashim (decendant of the Prophet Muhammad's tribe).

We flew to Amman on December 12th 2010 (which was a National Day of UAE) vide FlyDubai airline which is a budget airline similar to Air Asia. For traveling and accommodation we used the service of a travel agency in Amman called Jordan Direct Tour. They quoted me USD665 per person for 5 days including different 3 stars hotels, a car and a dedicated driver. It was worth the price and I really recommend Jordan Direct Tour for a family or group tour in Jordan. Absolutely hassle free. But take note that the quote price may vary according to season, hotel and places to visit.

Legionnaires of Jerash

Here is my travel itinerary prepared by JD Tour:

Itinerary Day 1 (Thursday, 02/12/2010), Arrival Amman Upon arrival, a member of our staff will meet you at Queen Alia International Airport for assistance with customs and immigration procedures. Day 2 (Friday, 03/12/2010), Amman/ Madaba/ Mount Nebo/ Dead Sea/ Amman Breakfast. Morning departure to visit the Christian town of Madaba, "The City of Mosaics" and take a detour to Mount Nebo, the site of endearing monastery. Depart to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the earth for a swim in its warm salty waters. Free time at leisure including Entrance fees and lunch at the Dead Sea Spa Hotel. Then transfer back to Amman. Overnight at the hotel. Day 3 (Saturday, 04/12/2010), Amman/ Petra visit Breakfast. Transfer via the desert highway for a full day visit of Petra. The visit of the ancient Nabatean Capital starts on horseback, followed by a walk through the Siq, a long narrow fissure between two overhanging cliffs. The tour then proceeds to gradually unfold the mysteries of the Red Rose City. Overnight at the hotel in Petra. Day 4 (Sunday, 05/12/2010), Petra/ Wadi Rum/ Amman Breakfast. Transfer south to the enchanting desert of Wadi Rum, Jordan's largest desert and one of the most spectacular desert landscapes in the world. Jeep Tour inside the Wadi and transfer back to Amman. Overnight at the hotel. Day 5 (Monday, 06/12/2010), Amman/ Jerash/ Departure Breakfast. Proceed north to visit the Graeco-Roman city of Jerash; one of the most preserved in the Middle East. Transfer back to Amman. Transfer to QAIA assistance with formalities and departure.

Sight-seeing in Wadi Rum

We did exactly what was planned in the itinerary. In fact when I first saw the itinerary suggested by JD Tour I got kiasu and tried to squeeze in a few other places not mentioned in the itinerary like Village of Ajloun, Kerak (for Crusader's Castle) and Beida (an extension of Petra). However they explained that if I include in those places, it will affect the timing to visit the more important places suggested by them. I thought they should know better than me and so finally I just agreed with the itinerary. It turned out to be a very well organised trip ! So for a trip of 5 days in Jordan, try the itinerary above.

My wife and I had our different favourite places during the trip. I enjoyed the sightseeing trip in Petra which reminded me of the Indiana Jones movie and several other Hollywood movies shot at Petra, the latest one being the Transformer 2. My wife likes her relaxing dip in Dead Sea where we float so easily as if our bones were made of styrofoam. We covered our faces and bodies with free Dead Sea mud for about 3 hours and we almost missed our lunch..

The weather in December was a lot colder than Dubai. It was around 15 - 17 degrees celcius and very dry. We were lucky(unlucky?) that we didnt get any rain during our trip. I remember the coldest weather was during our one night stay in Petra. It was cold and windy, I could hear my bones were rattling ! Luckily I heeded to my friend's advice to bring gloves and warm jacket.

On the third day I met my colleague El-Ghul who coincidentally was back in Jordan for the weekend. He came picked me up from the hotel and we drove around town using his dad's antique car. He came with his sister who has long migrated to Australia. So both myself and El-Ghul's sister became tourists in Amman that night. We hung out at a chic bar in a trendy street near the First Circle in Amman. El Ghul told me that the First Circle is the first roundabout in Amman and was where all the development of modern day Amman started. There were a lot of roundabouts (called circles by locals) and hills in Amman. The whole city is built on hill tops. But to me the most memorable circle was the Fourth Circle because that was where El-Ghul's suddenly stop whilst ascending a hill on the way back to my hotel. The car ran out of gas ! But we were quickly rescued by El-Ghul's friend within half an hour and the city trip was completed with a bit of fun memory.

So that was the short of it..enjoy the pictures.

Amman Colloseum

The Treasury Building, Petra

..a view from the Sig (like the shot in Indiana Jones movie scene)

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.

A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves..

Bill Vaughan

(American columnist, 1915 - 1977)

This Time I 'Unskirted' Her

The 4 of us..

Last weekend I officially started my winter activities by joining the first desert offroad trip. Normally I join my usual group doing laid back slow paced drive to a picnic spot in a desert but this time it was different. And I found out about this during the trip itself...:-)

The 'super fine' sand dunes

For this trip I invited 3 other friends to join me. After some effortless suggestion, Jumper, Shajil and Helmey agreed to come with me riding as passengers in my Nitro. We were on the way to meet the rest of the group behind a petrol station when the adventure began. I was the first person who got stuck in the sand and it was only on the way to the meeting point ! My car climbed its way out of the delicate sands in less than 10 minutes after some push by my friends.

Nevertheless I was not discouraged by that moment though I felt embarrassed a bit. During the briefing I was introduced by the organiser to a group of marshalls who will accompany us. These men are seasoned offroaders from the Lion Desert Club. I checked out their vehicles and it was obvious that these guys were hardcore. So I made a mental note that this trip was going to be different from my previous ones.


The route was from Kalba to Al Awir desert which was approximately 20 kilometres one way. There were 4 vehicles driven by newbies like me and 4 vehicles by the marshalls. We were taught on how to handle a climb on steep sand dunes of more than 3 metres high and descent from it. I learned about the steering technique to avoid rolling from a hill as well as various methods to rescue a car from a sinking situation. It was a trip full of tips and information. The most interesting part was that we learned all the techniques hands-on and on real situations. All of the newbies got stuck several times that day !

oucchhh !

But the most tragedic one was my Nitro when I first hit my front bumper a bit rough against the sand during a descent and hit it again whilst maneuvering a slope. My front bumper detached from its mount after the second hit. I was not really surprised when it happened but it was not a pleasant feeling to watch the first injury I did to my Nitro.

Hmmm..

Naked Nitro !

I must say it was the best offroad trip so far. I got the thrill and adventure that I was looking for...with a price. Fortunately the price I paid was only AED350 at a small workshop in Umm Ramool the day after. Now my Nitro is back to its usual shape and ready to hit the sand again.

I hope I got lucky the next time.

Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer.

It's the SONS Season Again !

Jax and his Dyna

To anyone who watches FX Network series called Sons of Anarchy, I know what you do every Tuesday since September. I have been following this drama since the past Season 1 (2008) and Season 2 (2009). Now the Sons are back for Season 3 in 2010 ! Although I did not subscribe to FX Network channel but thanks to Isohunt torrent website uploaders, I get to download all aired episodes of Season 3 every week.

This drama is all about the life and struggle of the members of a bikers' club called Sons of Anarchy with the authorities, its own members and other villains. The Sons of Anarchy is also nicknamed SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club of Redwood Original). The SAMCRO's mother chapter is set in a US town called Charming in the State of California (I found out that this place does not exist in California). The stories centered around a few characters in SAMCRO namely Jackson "Jax" Teller (Vice President), Clarence "Clay" Morrow (President), Gemma Teller Morrow (Prez's Old Lady), Tara Knowles (VP's Old Lady), Alex "Tig" Trager (Sergeant at Arms), Robert "Bobby" Munson (Secretary), Filib "Chibs" Telford, Harry "Opie" Winston, Carlos "Juice" Ortiz, Piermont "Piney" Winston (Opie's dad), Chief Wayne Unser (local Sheriff Head), Happy, Jimmy O (IRA dealer), Agent June Stahl (ATF Agent) and other interesting characters.

Similar to other episode drama, you got hooked if you follow every episode week by week. So I don't want to summarise this drama here. It will be too long. You can read the synopsis anywhere in the internet. Just google it.

L-R: Clay, Jax and Kozik

What is interesting about this drama is, all human elements showed in this drama is played by bad-ass biker characters and I am looking and understanding their actions and decisions from their points of view.

I have all the episodes in Season 1 and Season 2 and now collecting episodes in Season 3. I just downloaded Episode 5 last night. Today is Tuesday, so enjoy the Episode 6, Season 3 guys. SAMCRO rules !!

"When you talk to your boss, you let him know if I find out he's been lying about my son, I'm gonna track him down. I'm gonna beat the truth out of him. And then I'm gonna let Chibs cut him from ear to ear.."

Jax
Episode 4, Season 3

Old Wish List

When I was in a mountaineering club during university years there were two things I wanted the most, Karrimor Condor 80 litres and Teva sandal. These two branded items are the best gears a mountaineer could have. But I just could dream about it since these items were way out of my student's wallet. Nevertheless I still enjoyed my climbing years despite not having the best gears. Really, it was not about the gears but the spirit and passion about mountains and climbing.

Anyway the other day I was shopping around for a squash racquet and I found a corner full of Teva sandals and shoes. I got excited and immediately tried 2-3 pairs of this legendary sandals. Of course the price was still expensive. But I can afford it now. At the end I decided not to buy it. It guess I had passed it. Maybe if I climb again, I will buy it.

"The old dreams were good dreams; they didn't work out but I'm glad I had them."
Robert James Waller

(The Bridges of Madison County)

SsqqQuashhh....

Recently my friend Jamizal from Kuala Lumpur moved in to Dubai as a legal counsel for one of the biggest petroleum company in Malaysia. He and I graduated from the same alma mater. We also used to live in a same building during our university years. After graduation we met occasionally for teh-tarik sessions around Kuala Lumpur and he met me when he first came to Dubai for a meeting last year. So I am very happy that he is now a new resident of Dubai as he adds to my expanding list of teh-tarik and 'happening' friends !

Last weekend I helped Jamizal moving in to his new apartment in Southridge area, Downtown Dubai. The place is a posh expatriate area and is also very close to Dubai Mall and the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. He got himself a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment with a very large patio. But the most interesting finding is, the apartment building has two squash courts.



I have always wanted to learn how to play squash. So after all the boring paperworks with DEWA and Du, we went to Dubai Mall and bought our squash racquet and balls. We played squash straightaway that night for 3 sets. It was an easy game to play and very effective exercise for cardio too.

This month is the last month of summer and that means the beginning of winter outdoor activities for peoples here. I will be playing volleyball every Friday starting next week and not to forget, a game of squash for every other days !

Squash - that's not exercise, it's flagellation.

Noel Coward
English Playwriter

Ramadan and Eid 2010

Ramadan

This year I spent my month-long fasting in Ramadan without my wife and son in Dubai. The feeling was definitely different compare to Ramadan 2009 when they were here.

However I am happy to sum up that this year's Ramadan I managed to attend many congregational Tarawih prayers and read a few chapters of Al Quran. I will also remember this year's Ramadan for the good times I spent with my buddy Jumper and our new friend Radwan from France. Radwan is now back in Marseille and I hope to see him again To avoid loneliness, I also joined Iftar majlis held by Malaysian Association every Friday where I got to eat delicious home-cooked food, Malaysian styles !

Jumper and Radwan prepared these French style Iftar

AL Qasba scene after my my lonely Iftar. The tall building at the horizon is my crib.

The one thing I could not manage to do is to have Iftar together with other Muslims at mosques which is a popular practice in the UAE. I always want to do this, not because of the free food but for the humble feeling of togetherness and sharing with peoples from all walks of life. I think such feeling can remind me of the purpose and simplicity of life.

Eid

I took 2 weeks vacation to spend Ramadan and Eid with families in Malaysia. The first week my wife, son and I flew to Oya, Sarawak. I am grateful to find out that my niece is recovering fast from her brain surgery and has grown up to be a lovely girl. This year I also received a new nephew in Sarawak. I enjoyed observing how my son Adrin learned to interact with his many cousins, uncles and aunts. I hope he gained a good experience from it.

Eid will not start in Malaysia without this guy's cameo

A reunion

At home in KL, I am vary satisfied with the decorations and new curtains bought by my wife. I am lucky that my wife shares the same design philosophy when it comes to our home interior design. We like to live in a resort and that is the feeling I enjoyed everytime I reached my KL home. We have a lot of decorating ideas to be done to the apartment, slowly one by one. Apart from meeting my parents and relatives, I could not do many of the things in my coming home list. It was 2 weeks full of quality activities.

I got back to Dubai yesterday and started my first day at work. The busy time in the office provide a bit of help in diverting my mind from post holiday depression, which is good.

My mind now is focusing on the next happy occasion in November where my wife and son will come visit me in Dubai. Besides that I am also saving up some dirhams to buy an object of my dream.

I have a dream...

To want to be what one can be is purpose in life

Cynthia Ozick
Novelist

oF jOuRneY aNd DesTInation

It is my second summer now in Dubai. My life is coming back to normal after the Great Depression in June. I enjoyed following my favourite teams in World Cup and going to Fitness First gym for work out. Although my favourite teams (France, Ghana, Holland) could not reach their intended destinations but the activities spent at 6.00pm and 10.30pm (Dubai time) almost every day and week end were worth its while. But it was quite tiring to watch the 10.30 pm match. By the time I watch the final match between Holland and Spain, I was half awake and sometime was in a dreamland !

In Dubai, peoples watch the matches either at homes, cafes, sport bars or public halls. There is no mamak restaurants here. The cost of subscribing to Al Jazeera channel is quite expensive so I decided to watch it with my friend in a cafe. Really..I think football match is meant to be watched with a crowd. It certainly was more fun than watching it alone at home.

Talking about my latest craze i.e Fitness First gym, so far I managed to be consistent in working out in the gym at least 3 times a week. Although to be honest I still struggle to finish my reps and lift heavier weight, I have started to like the after effect of every work out session. Like for example today, I joined my colleague Scott for his weekly RPM class during the office lunch hour at the Fitness First in DIFC. It was a group exercise on cycling machine and fuhhh...it really sweat my ass out. I thought I was going to feel tired and sleepy after lunch hour, but to my surprise I felt alert and refresh throughout the day. I think I can do this lunch exercise everyday.

Result First !

Alright...last Friday I drove out to Muscat again. It was an impromptu planning whilst doing a lunch on Thursday afternoon. The trip was planned by Jumper together with his 'couch surfer' friends - Radwan from France and Martin from Germany. It was another good road trip to Muscat. What made it interesting was because I had a very good company in super cool Jumper, Radwan and Martin. These guys are great travel buddies. To make it more interesting we even had a host in Muscat. Yousef was not only very friendly but also a generous 'couch surfing' host who offered us to crash on his couch and finished his large bowl of Tunisian style spaghetti. It was also my first encounter with a Tunisian bloke. Yeah, you probably is asking what do I mean by 'couch surfing'. I will get to its story later but if you can't wait, check THIS out.

We made a move to Muscat around 10.00 am on Friday morning. I voluntered to be the first driver since I decided to drive my Nitro and Jumper just finished his night shift at 8.00 am. By 2.00 pm we reached our first destination - Bin Ateeq Restaurant. This time we were lucky because there was a special menu on offer. The dish was called Shiwa', another traditional Khaleeji food. It was basically a generous serving of basmati rice topped with chunks of mutton. What made it so special because it was cooked under the sand. True bedouin style ! We had no problem finishing everything in less than 30 minutes. Everybody ate like a hurricane.

After lunch we headed to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. We met Yousef at the mosque parking lot. He was so friendly that at first I thought he was a long time friend of Radwan. I performed my Asar jama' with Zuhr prayer and Maghrib before we drive to Yousef's apartment in Al Ghubra area, near the Grand Mosque.

At night we went to several hanging out places around Muscat City. There was not many activities to do and things to see. In one of the places we drove through, there was this stretch of street dubbed a Love Street by the locals. It was named so because there are a lot peoples who park their cars in the dark and make out with each other in the back seat. Funny thing was, the place is not only popular with lovers but also gay lovers ! And to sum up the story , I was told that Sultan Qaboos himself is gay and this has been an open secret in Oman...woohooo that's crazy stuff ! At last we decided to have kebab and shisha at a cafe near a seaside. Everybody was exhausted but we stayed at the cafe for almost 3 hours anyway.

The next day we woke up very late. I could not sleep at all, thanks to Jumper's vuvuzela..haha. But I was not feeling groggy or tired. As a driver, I planned to bring the group for a sight seeing in Ruwi area. After a very frustrating lunch (too much vinegar in my supposedly chinese noodle which turned up like a chicken salad !), off we go to Ruwi.

After a few photo shots we stopped by at Oman Dive Centre in Ruwi. To be honest nobody was planning to go in, but when the security guard asked us if we want to get in, everybody said Yes ! I like this kind of spontaneous adventure. Oman Dive Centre, as its name suggests is a diving centre in Muscat. But besides the diving equipments, they provide decent club-like facilities such as swimming pool, cafe, kayaks and benches. So for the next 3 hours we enjoyed swimming in the pool and open water, sun-bathing, boob-watching and ass-watching...hihi.

On our back to Dubai, we stopped by Yousef''s house. The intention was to say good-bye but Yousef was very generous to cook us meal, a tunisian style spaghetti ! It rectified my tongue which has been polluted with the sour noodle I had for lunch. After wiping up a big bowl of spaghetti whilst watching one of Yousef's favourite Hindi movie - Dostana, we finally said goodbye and drove out to Dubai.

tourists

Jumper and me

Road trip gang L-R: Jumper, Matin, Radwan and me

Shiwa' Lahm

Beach boys

Yousef the magnificent

I was very exhausted by the time I reached home. But the trip was one of the best spontaneous journey I had in Dubai. It was a road trip, a memorable one.

Road trip stands for hope - that somewhere, anywhere is better than here..