This weekend, we tested the new road out and took a little detour to peek at Al Hayl castle. Located just a short drive away from Fujairah city, the (pretty quaint) castle is about 250 years old in a gorgeous location surrounded by mountains and date palm farms.

The structure is by no means huge, but nice to look at all the same and you can climb through it to explore the whole thing. There is a wind tower on the hill above the caste that you can climb to the top of for some lovely views as well.

Also stopped by Fujairah’s mangrove swamps, which I would love to kayak through at some point!

& I know, this blog has been pretty quiet lately. Fuck off, I simply haven’t had anything to say, I guess.

Wengen, Switzerland last month was wonderful; many times better than last year as I didn’t suffer from any migraine attacks this year and I also got new bindings and boots, which did me a world of good on the snowboard. The bindings (K2 Cinch bindings) particularly, I think were much better than my previous pair and gave me much better control. We did a lot of long runs from the top of Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg that took you all the way down to the village of Grindlewald. These long runs are the best: they wind through the woods (smells like Christmas tree!), have less people on them, and take almost an hour to complete! I love rambling runs!

What’s coming up? While February looks to remain pretty quiet, March and April are going to be rather manic. By the time May rolls around I’m probably going to be on the verge of going utterly fucking mental, so thankfully I have 2 weeks in India to look forward to in early-mid May. Focusing on Kerala, I’m currently working on some vague plans for what to do in the spice & tea plantations in the mountains, Alleppey’s backwaters and Varkala’s lazy beaches.

I hope I find a little something to help beak up the summer here in the UAE (UK? Lebanon?), then plan for a trip into the states (Pittsburgh & NYC) this October – Halloween YESSSS!!

Kerala, India: After putting India on the backburner so many times over the years I’ve lived pretty much next-door to it, India is definitely scheduled in for a visit this year. I have to get it out of the way. I’d like to focus on Kerala in pre-monsoon season (ie. May) for a couple weeks. It will be the total opposite of Dubai with its abundant greenery, lack of glittering, soulless housing developments & skyscrapers and bling, and hopefully regular bouts of rain. Exactly what I am looking for in a holiday – the opposite of my normal life. If I’m really lucky there will be poor t0 no internet/phone service so no-one can get in touch with me! That’s a real vacation. And curry, the curry. I just hope I don’t get tired of having to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and everything in-between.

Lebanon: Party, shop and EAT in Beirut. Historic sites and ancient ruins throughout the rest of the country. Maybe summer?

Hong Kong: Whether I continue to consider a move out here or not, I desperately want to visit Hong Kong with the quickness. The urban/natural combo landscape of the area looks incredible and anyway I absolutely love visiting Asia. The city looks far more stimulating than Dubai and I bet there are some good eats, too. I’m particularly curious about Kowloon. And delighted to visit whenever I can fit it in to the schedule.

Wengen, Switzerland: Yeah, so I’ve been here before and am returning to the exact same place pretty much exactly one year later so it doesn’t sound that interesting. BUT! I never got around to trying out that rather dangerous-looking and injury-inducing sledging sledding down the mountain last time. It’s definitely on my list to try this year. After more than a few glasses of Glühwein. Because getting hurt hurts so much less when you’re drunk.

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Outside of this, I hope to pop in some random long weekends/short week trips to other locales around the Middle East (& possibly India, as I think the visa for that country should last a full 6 months, so may as well make good use of it). And I really want to go back to Oman to see an opera in Muscat’s new opera house, Royal Opera House Muscat. And hopefully a Halloween/wedding-related trip back to the states in the second-half of the year?

And I’m certainly not one of those new year resolution assholes, but if I do have one for 2012, it is this: I will not waste/lose my vacation days next year like I did in 2011. Out of the 30 vacation days I am given, I think I only used maybe 20? I’m in no way pleased about this, as what I don’t use I simply lose at the end of the year, and will be making sure it doesn’t happen again in 2012.

It also had some archaeological crap.

peek!

Petra.
(full photo album)

It costs a small fortune to get in (USD $70 for a 1-day pass, but if you get a multiple-day pass the prices are much better) but it really is worth every cent. The site of Petra is absolutely huge and you pretty much get full run of it. For the most part, you’ll see no ropes or fences holding you back from going anywhere, like those who’ve visited historical sites in America or Europe would be familiar with. You can climb all over the place, go inside the ancient carved-out structures and no-one and nothing will stop you!

After you’re assaulted by the adorable and playful kittens at the entrance gate, you’ll next be assaulted by the agitating guys trying to get you on a horse or donkey for the the walk through the Siq into the main site of Petra. I think the walk (or ride, if you’re a lazy bitch) was about 2 kilometers and when you get to the end you are immediately met with the Treasury (of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade fame) bang in your face. Being an early-riser, we got to Petra around 7am, before almost anyone else, so had the pleasure of seeing the Treasury and a bunch of other stuff without the usual crowd mob (there were only 2 other people there at the time).

On the way back out of Petra later that day, the Treasury and Siq, empty upon arrival, were overflowing with assholes. If there’s one tip I would give anyone visiting Petra, it would be to get there as early as possible (I later found out it actually opened at 6am and had we known that, probably we would have got there even earlier). Having a site this incredible to yourself, before the mob of guests and vendors arrive, is practically priceless.

Simply, Petra was really incredible. So much to see, everywhere you looked there was yet more carved into the stone. I cannot really even begin to comprehend what this place must of have been like while it was occupied. The exploring options are really endless and now having been there, I can see how you can easily spend multiple days on the site.

the afternoon sea of people

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The Dead Sea & Karak.
(full photo album)

dead sea

Prior and on the way down to making our way to Petra, we also stopped at the Dead Sea. Not that I actually got in.

Two reasons:
1.) It was fucking cold. I mean like, wearing a jacket and shoes with socks cold (& LOL I only brought 1 sweater, sandals and no socks because I’m one of those asshats who thinks everywhere in the Middle East is hot like the Gulf). I’m not getting wet in that weather.
2.) I was disgusted after seeing this from An Idiot Abroad, I just no, ew, no, did not want to get in there (although to be fair, I already harbored a healthy distaste for most bodies of water because you just do not know what disgusting shit is in there):

All that aside, it was a nice place to stop for the night. I may not have gotten in, but the Dead Sea looked lovely, especially at night when the lights of Jerusalem lit up the sky on the other side, and resort, the Mövenpick, was really very pleasant and had a bunch of fluffy cats strolling the grounds.

crusader castle at karak

On the drive down to Petra the map indicated there would be a few Crusader castles/fortresses to check out along the way. While unable to find them all, thankfully the castle in Karak was impossible to miss and well-worth the stop to explore it. Perched on a hill atop the town and much like Petra, it was still in impressive condition and you were able to explore pretty much every nook and cranny within the castle as again, there were no fences, ropes or signs to stop you from doing so. This town also boasted a delicious lunch. And anywhere with delicious Levantine food is good in my book.

Today I was grocery shopping and what did I discover but Cadbury Screme Eggs. My delight at this was incomprehensible. These scream eggs are like an oasis in a year-long drought of sugary deliciousness.

So this Friday Fancies post is for you Cadbury Screme Eggs. Thanks for the October save.

On a side note – I miss Halloween in America very much indeed.  And Renaissance Faires.  Hopefully I will make it into the states next October to partake in both (plus a wedding!).  *fingers crossed*

{ music: Tycho }

1-B) Test that shit out if it’s not a straightforward painting that simply needs to be hung up.

2) Out with the old (wall text)…

…and in with the new!

3) (optional) If you have movable walls in your gallery, re-arrange them into a fresh layout.  Make sure to move the ones that are stuck in their tracks the most!  Everyone likes to work really hard.

{ BREAK: Help the Mulberry team blow up the traveling Mulberry Bayswater bag for a photo-op outside of the gallery. }

4) Once you’ve settled on the artwork and wall layout, hang those fuckers up.

5) Pretty up the space and work your opening reception!

{ music: Martin Denny }

“Before I had any right to dismiss Twihards or criticize the psychologically unhealthy relationship model that Bella Swan and Edward Cullen present, I felt obliged to read the books. So I did. All four novels, one novella, and an incomplete document in portable format. The content lived down to my expectations, but I was unprepared for how poorly crafted the saga is. ” - Reasoning with Vampires

The henna night, or Laylat al Henna, (and definitely not to be confused with a hen night) is a traditional ladies-only celebration a few days before the wedding.  Normally henna decoration would be applied to the bride-to-be and the females in attendance, but things in Dubai are not quite so traditional any more, so there was no henna (which I was kind of bummed about).  In this case, the celebration is sometimes called instead Laylat al Arabiya, the “Arabian night”.  Lack ‘o henna aside, it was a beautiful evening of Arabian decor and fashion, food, music and celebration. For this event I chose something a bit more casual and bohemian…

{ kaftan by Hemant & Nandita }

…and for the wedding I went for something that had a bit of a fancier or more evening-wear look to it.  Although, not evening-wearish enough.  I felt (and looked, I guess) pretty under-dressed for the wedding, where people dressed like they were about to accept an Academy Award. Oh well.  I pulled my dual-toned hair back into a simple, sleek ponytail to make up for the omgaccessoriesandprintoverload! going on with the rest of the outfit.

{ kaftan by Mimosa | clutch by Aila | necklace by Assad Mounser }

This is my new office orchid, which I have had for a couple weeks now.  It’s doing fine so far, but they always do at first.  Give it time.  I’ll killn the pretty little thing dead, I swear I will.

alive...for now

Added bird bonus: Check out the bird I saddled to the stem of the orchid.  I was ridiculously tickled the other day upon making a purchase in Mulberry when they attached a bird to my shopping bag.  I love little packaging details like that.

• Speaking each word distinctly.  I have a tendency to mumble my English, especially in a situation where I’m feeling uncomfortable or shy (like, in a class with people I don’t know) so it’s a real struggle for me to even attempt to speak any Chinese in a clear and confident way.
• The ‘j’, ‘q’, and ‘s’ sound group.  I have even more trouble with these (I think) than the usually more troublesome gang of ‘zh’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’ and ‘r sounds’.  ’J’ especially, oooooh I hate you j-sound!!
• The words xièxie (thank you) and zàijiàn (goodbye).  I just feel like I slobber out xièxie, while in zàijiàn that fucking impossible j-sound strikes again.
• Simply not being too embarrassed to say the words/accent/tones correctly.  A lot of the time, it’s not even that I am unable to say the accent/tone correctly; it’s just that I become overwhelmingly self-conscious about sounding like a fool.  And then I end up sounding like more of a fool because I can’t get over that embarrassed feeling.  I just feel like such an asshole when I try to speak in an accent not my own and I hate doing it.

i'm not sure why, but i find the "Strike While the Iron is Hot" thing in a lesson book endlessly hilarious

It’s early days yet, so I’m not letting my troubles with the language get to me. It can be frustrating, yes, but I also know I’ve improved class by class so I don’t feel totally hopeless.  I wonder how much easier it would be to learn something like this, that is so utterly foreign, at a younger age?  To me it just seems like one of those things that is probably more difficult to learn the older you are.

Which brings me to the American musician, Lana Del Rey.  I was hearing about this bitch all over the interwebs and so I finally gave in and gave her a listen, just to see what all the fuss is about. I did not expect to really give a shit, because I generally mostly give a shit for only EDM, but what the hell.  I thought maybe it would be like the time I finally looked up Die Antwoord after hearing about them for like a year, and for whatever reason assumed they were some soft indie band.  They really aren’t and it was an entertaining surprise for me.  Anyway so, I looked up Lana Del Rey and was immediately taken by her retro look; I can be such a sucker for retro.  Still skeptical about what kind of music she would be spouting, I started listening and to my immense surprise (this is really far from about 99% of the stuff in my music collection), I really loved her!  She’s got a lovely voice and I dunno…her songs are just catchy and pleasant to listen to.