Back from Dubai
I just got back from a week’s long trip to Dubai, UAE .It was a very interesting experience and a photographic paradise. Its the ultimate contrast : the poor and the wealthy.Vast shopping malls to shop till you drop and 5 stars luxury hotels to spend even up to 2.500 euros per night like the Burj Al Arab :
Of course the majority of the people are in the middle to low class with many other ethnicities like Indian, African, Philippine working like dogs carrying cargo at the harbors along the Dubai Creek. Of course tourist get to see the glamorous and “traditional” aspect of it all and enjoy a boat ride across the Creek.
I really loved walking endless hours through the Souks in the Deira side of Dubai, areas where shops selling the same stuff like gold, spices, perfumes or toys are gathered together in an endless maze.
At Bur-Dubai on the other side of the Creek many Muslim temples can be seen, still active, with their towers poking towards the sky. In the night you can take one of the Dhows and cruise along the river and enjoy the creek’s banks full of lights and reflections while having a local delicious dinner.
Dubai is all about shopping ! My credit card is almost full from impulse shopping. OK, my wife had a part in this too.
There are hundreds of shopping malls. Just pick a couple and prepare for endless hours of walking and shopping. Luckily you can stop and have a snack or an expensive lunch or dinner without going anywhere else. And remember Dubai loves night shopping. Carrefour for example closes doors at midnight.
Locals like to take small naps to relax and rest in afternoon and resume working after 15.00 untill late at night.
More pictures at my Flickr
Its a girl !
Suddenly all things in life have a different meaning.
Time, space, values, all change and get a new epicenter.
My newly born daughter.
My angel.
The road to nowhere..
Sometimes there is a road ahead of you that you don’t know where it is going.
Sometimes you just have to take it no matter what.
Despite your fear and your insecurity.
And when you finally see your destination, you will instantly recognize it and all will become familiar and friendly.
All you have to do is dare and make the first step.
Because no matter how long and big the journey is it always begins with a small step.
Even if you make the wrong decision and find yourself among misery and despair you will gifted with the knowledge of your mistaken judgments.
So just dare and take the path.
Pentax K100D
Yes its mine !
My first DSLR is here and I am so excited.
I have already 500 clicks with it but only a bunch that can stand a critical eye.
Still learning the controls and stuff.
Soon to be pair with his friends :
Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4.5 DC Macro
and Pentax FA 50mm F1.4
Cant wait till there are here !
Untill then the kit lense seems a nice “waiting” lense to play with !
Why do you blog?
I was just wondering that myself.
Why do I blog? Why am I exposing myself to the web world?
What do I seek? What do I want to accomplish?
Why millions of people create web blogs, communities, post their thoughts, their pictures and their souls on the web?
Is it a substitute for the old secret diary we use to keep locked with that small silver key?
But that was locked. And web content is all but that.
Everyone can read “you”. Your friends, your mom, your girlfriend, your husband, even your boss !
So is blogging self-journalism? Yes there are some sites doing journalism. War, tech, knit, love, sex, anything goes.
But there are sites of individuals that are soul-blogs. Inner thoughts and emotions that nobody else would know otherwise.
So why do you do it ? Well here are my thoughts on that matter.
Recognition, popularity, fame, self-promotion. It’s sad, but it all comes to that.
Bloggers fight over Top 10 or Top 100 lists. The higher the better. The more visitors the merrier. .
They fight over Technorati ranks. They fight over how much their blog is worth.
They comment like they are possesed. They post like hell. They tag their posts with a huge cloud of tags that have nothing to do with the post.
Just for the publicity. Just for the exposure. Just for the traffic. Bloggers want to be read. Not like that secret-hidden-locked-diary some of us used to have. Bloggers want to be somebody on the net. They want success.
Yes I would like that also. I would be very happy of I had 15.000 of everyday visitors/readers/followers. So is that all to it? Our 15 minutes of fame ?
Some are blogging for money. Some are blogging as part of a open source project. Some are blogging beacause they need to be a part of a team, a member in a community. Some are blogging without knowing why. No problem either way.
Just wonder.
Dont blog about it.
Just tell yourself.
Married
So I did it. Went and got myself married.
Wish me luck.
Bachelor party was very cool though !
No photos from there of course !
Boston’s Cardinal blogs with wordpress !
It seems people of the church can have a little web fun with wordpress, too !
BOSTON (Reuters) – Looking to marry the Roman Catholic Church’s 2,000-year-history with the modern world’s technological bent, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday became the first U.S. cardinal to launch a blog.
O’Malley, 62, who wears the plain brown habit and rope belt of his Capuchin order, said he had timed the launch to coincide with a trip to Rome.
“While this is a new venture for me, and for the Archdiocese, I am eager to take advantage of the latest technology and mode of communication to share with Catholics of the Archdiocese my experiences as I return to Rome,” O’Malley wrote on his Web log, at http://www.cardinalseansblog.org.
Back to Earth
Took me a whole week to realize I was back at the office working.
It suddenly came to me that I was back to earth.
Actually, back to hell.
Beautiful mountains and exotic beaches had given their places to jammed streets and ugly block of flats.
I felt the urge to start running away from all this.
But at a second thought, I stopped.
I could leave.
I am a city boy.
And I will have to wait till next year in order to escape again.
back to paradise
Or maybe I could do it earlier…
Post Mortem
Its amazing how fast days pass.
Its more than 40 days already, since my father passed away.
There is an empty space in our lives now, the space he used to occupy.
I realise that, more now than before.
Nothing I can do except remembering him.
In fact that is what is left from our deads.
Memories and moments we have shared.
The Sick Rose
O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
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