Transcending Ordinary

Steve, Case, and I won a photo contest, check it out, http://wsucougars.cstv.com/genrel/photo-contest-07.html

Since I’ve gotten back from my trip, I’ve been crazy busy, but my travel pictures are finally here, well a start anyway. I still need to post more from India, Dubai, and Thailand.

I wrote the code for this photo gallery system from scratch, In the next few days I’ll be adding more functionality, one big bonus is keyboard support. You can change galleries with the right/left arrow keys and change pictures with the up/down keys. Also, to compensate for slower connections, I’ve made a play mode. As soon as the next image is ready it will switch when in play mode. Activate play mode via the ENTER button on the keyboard. Have a look at here. Suggestions are always welcome

I just had the fortune of watching a documentary about Nelson Mandela called Goodbye Bafana.  It reminds me of the extraordinary will power of special individuals who with to make change through their perseverence to what they believe, at total risk to their own well being.  These great men, people like Ghandi, Nelson Mandla are a true instiration to others.

I can only hope to find such a cause I’m passionate about in the same way and could only aspire to reach their level of change through sacrifice.and determination.
continue reading…

I arrived in Hui Hin last night and meet up with family that I haven’t seen in years.  I was reminded of just how important family is.  They unconditionally love you and the bond shared by family members is unparalleled.

We had dinner at my cousins house.  I must admit, I was totally embarrased by my inability to speak thai.  Many members of my family speak english, though many remember me as a child who could speak thai fluently.

Before coming down, I was told my aunt was going to make me reservations in a nice hotel in Hui Hin.  Later I was told that they were all booked up and that I would be staying at a cousins house.  I must be honest, the prospect of a nice hotel to my cousins house (unknown at the time) was a bit disheartening.  However once I got the, my anxiety was quickly put to rest.  He not only had a room for me, he let me stay at the guest house, which had the design of a modern New York apartment.  The design was great, all done by my cousin, impressive.  I’ll need to post a few pics

So I departed Dubai at 930pm, to arrive at Bangalore at 3:30am, slept from 5 till 8:30am, then worked till 6pm, then on another plane to Bangkok at 12:30am to arrive at 5:50am, then a full day meeting with family and seeing some of thailand before hitting balls at the driving range. I think I’ve slept a total of 4.5 hours in the past 3 days. Tomorrow I am up at 4:30am to leave by 5:15 on the way to the golf course. Talk about hectic.

I’m a bit worried about playing golf tomorrow, the guys I’m going to play with have been playing regularly twice a week for the last 8 months straight. My dad is like near pro, so they probably have high expectations of me Oh well, it should be funny at least:)

It turns out my cousin is a pretty big businessman. I’m staying in one of his new condo’s right now. When I got here it was brand new w/o anything like a microwave, fridge, sheets, trashcan, etc. Nothing. Then he sent people to stock it and it’s pretty much done, all I need is the refrigerator which will be here tomorrow at 3pm. Hey started a software comany called Solutions Corner (www.slc1998.com) and it’s doing quite well. It seems nearly ever member of my dads (very extensive) family has started a company!

I work up to the sun shinning through my open curtains, about 15mins before my alarm. After getting ready I headed over to one of the cafes for breakfast.   When I saw the spread I thought, wow, this is a lot for a hotels complementary breakfast. After having my fill, I was greated by a waitress on my way out who curtiously handed me the bill. Ok no biggy, or so I thought. the bill was 65darhmas or nearly 20 dollars.
Anyway that darn city but arrived early again, apparently my 20min was just a moment too late.

(later)

I just finished touring the museum. Most of it is underground and it is quite nice. after going over a lot of the uae history I realize how far its come. First it was a perl fishing area, which declined impacted once cultured perl began. Next the creek was combed and oil was found. Now oil is running out and Dubai is going after tourism. the excellent international marketing combined with the free trade policies and the central location make it a popular destination in the area.

(later)

I just finished my last leg of todays tour, the boat ride along dubai creek. the comentary that accompanied the tour was quite interesting. Its called a creek because that’s what it was, supposidly you could walk across it at one time. Though a king had it made much larger and how huge boats carrying tons of cargo can pass through. Eight or nine hours in the 120 degree weather can certainly drain your energy.

I just got back from the big bus, the blue line. I was astounded even more by the magnitude of building going on here. They will have a theme park twice the size of disney world, a metro by 2012, the largest mall in the world (currently have the third), I just inquired with a real estate agent and a two beadroom apartment goes for 380k and is about 1200sf, a 3 br one for nearly 600k. The setup is such that you can lease it pack to a property manager for 40% of the revenue. They currently offer a 8% return minimum guarentee for the first 3 years.

I met a few english girls who just had just visited Goa. Infact they where there a week after me. We will we meeting later tonight at a club called Mix at the Grand Hyatt.

I met a nice girl here at the hotel. Out of the blue she approaches and asked if I was Filipino I said no, but I had worked there and we talked about manila and various other areas in the Philippines like Cebu and Buroqui.

Based on my talks with her, another girl at starburbux and various taxi drivers I have gotten a good idea of the plight/story of the foreign worker in dubai. Ok, first off it is very difficult to attain UAE citizenship. One of my cab drivers was born here, but because his parents were not citizens, neither is he. even if he marries a citizen and has a child, his son will not be a citizen unless the wife if of very high stature, very powerful as he says. For the hotel workers i spoke with, it seems that they have to work 6, 9 hour shifts per week, and overtime without pay if needed. To make matters worse, the provided housing is 1 hour away from the hotel. taking that into consideration, they work roughly 66 hours a week. she said she was paid 800 denhars per month. I talked to a taxi driver and he say they make from 2-4k per month.

Ok, its sunday morning and I’ve just checked out of the marriott and am on my way to Le Meridien. After checking in I plan to visit a locall mall called city center and get a ticket for big bus tours, basically a bus that runs all day with many stops through the city.

Ok, so i’ve arrived at Le meridien and have had time to evaluate things. The room itself is nice, minus the bathroom, its pretty compareable to the marriott. Unlike the marriott they also offer free shuttles from the hotel to both the airport and the city center mall, one stop along the big bus tour. To marriotts advantage is their size and popularity. They have more stores, more elaborate public areas, more guests, more resturants, etc. It really depends on how much time you spend in you hotel, for me le meridien works out best.

I took a direct flight from Bangalore to Dubai.  The flight lasted 4 hours and I was surprised at the lost cost of the taxes.  On my 500 dollar round trip flight, taxes/fees were only around 23 dollars.  United Arab Emirates Airlines turned out to be pretty nice including a nice full meal.

Even with my early arrival however, the emigration line was huge, though painless.  Simply show your passport and you’re in, no papers or anything.

After finding a map at the airport I sat down to plan out the locations I’d hit first.  Fortunately I met a girl who was studying in UK but who grew up in Dubai.  She gave a good overview of what to see and do in the city.  Once I got out of  the airport I got a cab.  I had about 2-3 hours to kill before i could hope to check in early so I ended up paying the driver extra to show me around Dubai.  I was amazed by the scale of the development out here.  (check the pics I’ll post later)

Man, in the blink of an eye it’s already August. Last night I went to another dance club with Mohamed, this one called called Hint. It was on the top level of a shopping mall with a nice balcony offering great views of the city. We were meeting a bunch of his friends there. We got there a bit before everyone else and so we spent the first 10 minutes getting drinks and checking out who was there.

The music was great, although I couldn’t understand a word, give me a beat and i can’t help but move. I asked my wingman, Mohamid, if he felt like hitting the floor dance floor and meeting some new people and he agreed. First we were on the edge of the dancing and as I moved closer to the center, I look back, where’s Mo? Lol, caught up in the music I just kept dancing and ended up meeting a bunch of other people., one of which actually used to work for AOL. Before I knew it, the last songs were played and the club was closing (11:30pm, the policy in bangalore). I found Mohammad again and met up with the rest of his friends, who I had met at another club last week, the grand Ashok. After hanging out a bit, the group split up, one going home, one going to this girls house for some kinda mutten (apparantly a big deal and delicious) and the rest of us went to a late night resturant called Empire. The food was great (as always with indian) and quite reasonable for the nice place.

It’s nice to have local friends who are well connected and like to go out and have a good time;)