We came, we saw and we conquered ... the Dubai Mall

Wifey had to come over to the region for a short meeting, so we planned for her to extend her stay by a couple of days so we can have some R&R together. Her visit coincided with the weekend, so I only had to take a day off from work. *Yay*




I arranged for transport and picked wifey up from Dubai Int. We had a pleasant driver, Mr. Moidin, a humble chap from Keralla and he sent us straight to the hotel soon after. We checked in at the Excelsior Creek Hotel (it was almost 5:00 am then) ... a nice li'll 4 star abode we called home for the next 3 nights. Located just 5 minutes walk away from the Burjuman Center, it was ideal as I had to take the Metro to work on the final day of our break. We slumbered till almost lunch time (well, I did anyway. Poor wifey had to work from the hotel early in the morning) and then made our way to the Dubai Mall soon after.

Now the Dubai Mall is hailed as the largest shopping mall in the world ... covering more than 12 million square feet of desert land and sitting right next to the Burj Khalifa, the current champion of the world's tallest ... towering majestically at 828m high. We were utterly famished and headed straight for food before even bothering with the 1200+ retail outlets spreaded all across the mall. Since we wanted variety, we chose to dine at the mall's foodcourt. We went all American and I was delighted to finally being able to sample the world famous Taco Bell. It was delish alright! Sharing the spotlight was the very yummy and the very sinful New York Fries, flooded with loads of melted cheese, beef chilly and sour cream.



With our tummies filled, we thronged the walkways (which were very wide by the way) of the mall. Every brand you can think of, from the high streets of the fashion capitals to the ones we've neither seen nor heard before made a home at this mall. You can practically get anything and everything you want here ... for a price of course. Kinokuniya opened a huge outlet and I can literally spend hours upon hours here browsing through its aisles of literature wonders. Pampered wifey to a little bit of shopping too ... well, she deserved it after being bogged down by so much work recently. When our tired legs began screaming from exhaustion, we rested and snacked at Caribou Cafe. The leather couches were amazingly comfy and perfect for us to slouch on as we chatted and gossiped. :p


We continued exploring the mall and it's not suprising for one to feel adequately small and lost being in such a mazzive enclosure. Good thing then that there are landmarks such as the Dubai Waterfall (pictured below) to help serve as a guiding beacon and point us towards the direction we wanna go.


Oh and we also saw this on one of the outlet's display window. There's some truth in it no? ... :)


We also decided to catch a movie at Reel Cinema. Voted as the best cinema in Dubai (although I couldn't tell what was so extraordinary bout it, pfttt), we enjoyed Back Up Plan starring J-Lo. Who knew being pregnant could be so disgusting and comical at the same time. Hehe.

We stuffed ourselves at TGIF before calling it a night. Too bad we couldn't get a table at the balcony facing the Dubai Fountain and had to settle for one inside instead.



The next day, we continued our attempt to completely 'conquer' the Dubai Mall as there are areas which we have not seen yet the day before. We again lunched at the food court before Wifey did another bout of shopping. We then pit stopped at Costa Coffee as I needed my daily caffeine shot. Their double choc fudge cake was richly delicious too *lip smacking*.



We then proceeded and bought entry tickets to the Underwater Zoo and the Aquarium where we marvelled over the exotic and weirdly intriguing marine lives on display. From prehistoric horse-shoe crabs to silly looking paddlefish, cuddly water rats to snobbish penguins, frightful looking nurse sharks to the adorable clownfishes ... we had a great time immersing ourselves in the spectacles of the marine nature.




We 'surfaced' from the Aquarium and headed out for some fresh air. The weather was cooling and breezy ... perfect for us to enjoy the musical at the Dubai Fountain. Played at an interval of every 20 minutes, one can enjoy the sights and sounds of the water dancing to the enchanting melodies of the desert wind. We stayed for two 'shows' and used the time in between to camwhore. :) *chik chak*





Finally, we dined at Rainforest Cafe, a restaurant with a very authentic jungle theme where almost all of the robotic animal props can move and blend well with the lighting and audio effects ... enveloping us with a very surreal 'Tarzan & Jane' feel. OOO OOO AAHH AHH. The food's good too albeit a bit pricy ... but heck, you pay for what you get no?





So there you go ... a detailed account of our adventure at the Dubai Mall. Care for a visit? :)

Adrian's Nook on hiatus ...

I'll be away for a couple of days. Tune back again in a couple of days to know why ... :)

No ZZZzzz ...

Of late, I've been having trouble getting a peaceful slumber. When I retire from work, my body is screaming at me to go to bed so that it can rejuvenate itself. The muscles are pooped, the mind is exhausted and my eyelids weigh enough to qualify for next season's Biggest Loser. Usually I plop my worn-out self to bed no later than 10:30pm. Early to bed ... early to rise no? But to put it plain and simple, the problem is ... I just couldn't sleep. I attribute this to a few reasons, possibly ...

1) my mind is still active with a heavy traffic of thoughts, zig-zagging like a loose canon.

2) I'm an extremely light sleeper ... the slightest of noise will awaken me ... and I'll have difficulty heading back to lalaland.

3) I sleep better under a cool temperature and with summer approaching now ... it's getting hot hot hot! Me no like hot :(

The list goes on ...

I've tried numerous remedies but they don't seem to work for me. Before hitting the sack, I make it a habit to read, attempted to clear the busy highway of thoughts, downing a glass of warm milk, exercising vigorously to drain the life outta my body etc.

As a result of this constant insufficient rest, I transform into a walking zombie each morning. Slugging my weary body to work and pumping my blood with a steady flow of caffeine just to keep on going. My skin is also suffering with a breakout of acnes which I'm certain is mostly caused by this factor. *Sighhh*

Anyone out there have a workable cure or a proven solution? :( *YAWNZZZzzz*

Mrs. Smudge and her li'll one ...

Mrs. Smudge


Utterly adoring ... I think I'll name 'em ... Notti *lol*

A couple of days ago, a stray kitty wandered its way into our villa compound and brought along her four li'll kittens. They soon made their way into our hearts as my colleagues and I soon find ourselves greeting and playing with the 'new tenants' the moment we retire from work. Wai Kuan and Jenson made it their duty to feed them proper too. Lucky fellas huh.

I call the mama kitty Mrs. Smudge for obvious reasons. Of her four kitties, the one pictured above is the boldest one and sooooo photogenic wouldn't you agree? The other three are rather shy ... always hiding beneath the car and refusing to come out. *So DIVA* I'm sure I'll be able to shoot them (with my camera of course) soon enough though. There are moments where I'll catch a peep at them scratching and biting on our shoes and sometimes they'll mischieveously play a game of tag among themselves. After a hard day of work, it's a great way to unwind as they're a real joy to watch :) And I could tell they're beginning to really warm up to us too. *Yay*

It's nice when simple things like these help puts a smile on my face ...

*For more photos, head to my FB*

You got drive?

Calling all motorheads ... watch the video. 'Nuff said!

Here's its official website ... www.thedriver.tv

This awesome animation series is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2011. Can't wait Can't wait Can't wait!!! >_<

Tired hound dog

Every employee signs a contract with his / her company. You get paid an agreed sum of remuneration for executing the work scope stipulated in the aforementioned contract. As straightforward as this may seem ... I'm sure most would agree that more often than not, this isn't always the case.

It's perfectly fine to give and take. As long as there is a balance of sorts, I reckon it may even work to one's benefit. We accomplish, we experience, we learn, we gain ... you get the gist.

The question is what happens when that oh-so-critical balance is no longer within a tolerable equilibrium? What happens when it tilts towards a side where it compromises one's principles and ethics?

I have a front row seat here in my current project as I watch all the drama unfold. I bet ... with a good scriptwriter, I could possibly win accolades by bringing all these to the silver screen. It has all the elements needed for a most intruiging soap opera ... we're talking big time betrayal, corruption, anguish, hatred, pretention, sacrifice, frustration, lies, lies and more lies etc. And the best part ... the ending isn't written yet. The game is still being played as I type out this entry.

Truth to be told, I wouldn't mind being a mere spectator in this play of deceit but when I'm being sucked into it ... it's a different story all together. To get tangled up could be dangerous and at the moment ... very very tiring. I despise myself for putting up a mask in the presence of certain individuals. Sometimes this is not a choice ... it's a case of survival of the fittest and the weak ones get tossed to the sharks. This is further amplified with the fact that being in foreign land, we're here on our own ... no family, no friends, no one to watch our backs. It's every man for himself in every sense of the word. Trust is a comodity most valuable but give it away too easily and it may turn around to bite you ... hard! Your best friend may actually be a wolf in sheep's skin.

Of late, I see this 'mask' I so regularly put on starting to crack. I've possibly reached my limit and God knows what this blogger will do if pushed further to the edge. Like I said, the plot is getting stale and I'm as tired as a freakin' hound dog. I just want to be left alone to do the work I was asigned to. I crave for this now ...


Screw all the politics, away with all the unethical dealings ... let's just finish the work we're sent here to do, take a bow, let the curtains fall and everyone goes home happy.

Sighhh ... if only everyone else felt the same way ...

The things that go bump in the night ...

What would you expect to see in a construction site? Well, the usual includes heavy machineries like big-ass trucks, tractors, cement mixers etc. You also get loads of building materials namely concrete, sand, blockworks, wood planks etc. As far as the people goes ... you get the management clowns in their smartly pressed shirts and pleated pants, the supervisors in their jeans and sweat soaked t-shirts and of course the labourers in their bright overalls and hard hats.

What I didn't expect to see was a pair of shoes ... kiddie shoes to be exact ... the cute li'll ones meant for 2 year old girls I reckon. It was black and dotted with pink petalled flowers. I saw it when I was busying myself at the site today. As I approached it for a closer look, two of em' Indian labourers gestured frantically at me to not get any nearer. Although I couldn't make out what they were saying (I was pretty sure they were speaking in Tamil) ... I could tell they were trying to warn me to stay away.

Not one foolish enough to tamper with the unknown ... I backed away without another glance. It made me wonder ... just why was that pair of shoes placed there and just who or what was it intended for ... spooky stuff. *cue Twilight Zone's theme song*