In Nairobi.....again...

What a crazy last few days.. have had little or no sleep with all the preperation we were doing for the visit. It's all over now. Everything went great! I was helping out with the cooking and serving... so many meals... between 2000 and 7000 people depending on the day... that was hectic no doubt. met some really amazing and dedicated people, had some good laughs and made some new friends. worth it for sure.

Miss Dubai a bit, wanna go back.. I can't beleive the number of nice cars that I got to ride in when I was there...Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 911 C4, 2004 525i, 2003 Lexus GS 300, 2004 Porsche Cayenne S, 2004 Infiniti FX45...like wow..

Nairobi is good, lots of rain the last coupla days... gonna chill here, hang out... look into some biz ops.. that's it, that's all

...I'm tired...again... :(

I am so beat right now... it's not funny...

Not even sure what day it is... just know that I have a flight to catch tomorrow... leave for the airport at 10am....
So what have I been up to? lol... too much... tried to remember earlier when writing in my journal and took a few minutes of thinking (ouch) and reading back in the journal to decipher the chicken scratch and then hurt myself while I recalled the events of the past few days.

Captains Log:
A little runny with traces of corn...
oops...wrong log..

Tuesday Night:
came back to the hotel and ended up going with the boys to the Mujjrah bar Mehfil ..yes the one with the cute dancer... she wasn't there when we got there..she showed up later.. :D don't know how, but ended up managing to get her number :D (or so I thought...) she was a little shy (keep in mind you can't talk to these girls it's all sign language and gestures.....they just dance on a stage and sit on couches (that are on stage) when they're not dancing. Her friend helped her out, and I jokingly said I'd trade my sunglasses for her # (yes, the 5 Dhiram ones that I lost and replaced...that's US$1.50) Left there pretty happy..
Went to Hardees at 3am.. chilled out there for a bit eating, then back to the hotel to bed.

Wed Morning...
Woke up around 10, have a busy day today... (I've been sitting here for the last 10 minutes trying to remember what I did yesterday morning) oh ya, umm... ya, I called up Sanjana (the chick from the club).. turns out, she's 19, just arrived from India, and doesn't speak a word of English... (Anybody want to teach me Hindi?) which is way too funny... so her friend translated a short conversation, I got an invite to go visit them in India when they go back in May (Thnking about going..lol) but the really scary part about this was... how they are treated here. Basically they sign a contract in India, come here for 3 months, are put up in a residence compound.. driven to work and back at the end of the night. Can't go out, can't leave the compound, can't sightsee...nothing of the sort... that's just not right.. but so many of them do it.. it's a way to make money (without compromising your principles and becoming a Ho). Really shitty deal.

Took a taxi to Sheikh Zayed road, that's were all the office towers and nice buildings are, ate a ..get this.. CHICKEN BIG MAC..!! it's a Big Mac.. but instead of beef, it has 2 Mini McChicken patties... OMG SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

wanedered around.. had a Montechristo cigar for dessert (only U$8), got to see the buildings...some of them are so tall, the clouds cut through the tops... Took a cab ride to the Al-Karama Souk which is a flea market type thing with shops... ended up spending way too much money on silly stuff.. bought a Sheesha (Bong), and some other trinkets and stuff... They had to mix and match parts for the Bong so I was running late... made it to the hotel, quickly got my gear together and headed off on my Desert Safari...

The vehicle was a very nice Toyota 4 runner... white with the gold trim package... k, here's the diff.. Nairobi Safari.. beat up pre-90's Land Cruiser.. Dubai Safari... 2000+ and immaculate...
We left the hotel and picked up an Indian couple who were taking a visitor on the Safari..small wold.. the guys daughter lives in Calgary, her hubby works at Foothills...go figure..small world again.. .drove out to the market pit stop (where people try very very hard to sell you overpriced stuff.. and these tourists buy the crap... and then we took off on the Dunes... massive sand dunes, they lower the air pressure in the tires and you just 4x4 it. The SUV is going left, up, down, tilting, bumping along the sand as you climb to the top of the sand dune, bank left, and tilt straight down.. these guys are good drivers and must have a lot of fun doing what they do.. seatbelts are of course mandatory ! they parked on one of the dunes and we got to get out and walk around.. I climbed one of the hills and took some pics, got the sand inbetween my toes.. it was great!

got to see a partial sunset over the desert..there were a lot of clouds on the horizon, but it was beautiful nonetheless..

we headed out of there and over to the camp for Sheesha, a Feast, some belly dancing (where I got dragged on stage and made a very very feeble attempt at dancing to arabian music)

Met a few people here from Bombay that are doing a play in town.. pretty good bunch, had some laughs, they actually are staying at the same hotel as me... fed a stray cat some food... cute kitty..

we headed from there back to the hotel, where I would have loved to take a nap... ended up making a couple of phone calls, going shopping with a bunch of the actresses for about 20 mins...I bought more stuff that I didn't really need...oh well :)

back to the hotel again, sorted out some of the packaging and stuff that I bought... see now I remember about the shopping at Karama... there are so many, so many great clothes there.. and they are so cheap... the only problem is... they're all for women... I think I need to get myself a girlfriend so I can buy her some of this cool stuff.. ;) anyhoo, packed up some of the stuff and we went to a nightclub in town...

OMG the place was off the hook.. turns out here, if you are not a girl, know someone, or a couple, you don't get in... luckily the guys I was with knew someone, so we got in.. they give you a table, bring a bottle of whatever alkyhol you want and the party starts...I had a Romeo y Julieta Churchill and started dancing at around 12 and didn't stop until they turned the lights on at 2 and I still had some cigar left!!!, it was one hell of an R&B set. unbeleivable... met some of my buddies girlfriends friends...Nairobi, Somalia, Germany.. it's amazing how multicultural Dubai is, you find more foreigners than locals... we went to eat after...Hardees again...lol...reminds me of Denny's Crowfoot/16th!

by then it was time for bed.. I was beat...

woke up semi early, drew up my list of stuff I had to do... too much stuff (wait that reminds me, let me make sure I did everything..lol..k, almost got the list done...)
Went shopping.. bad idea..bought more stuff... :( the sales guy was good... I spent a bundle at his store... but I did buy the worlds smallest Usb flash drive... it's about the size of my thumbnail (or no bigger than a usb connector for those Geeks like me)...did I need it? no but it was cool.. had to go buy a suitcase as well... to put all this crap in... now the hard part will be getting it from Nairobi to Calgary...I guess I should have though of that first...oooppss...my bad...

after shopping, I headed to the beach.. WOW what a beautiful beach.. I was thinking the public beach would be crap and packed...nope it was quite nice.. worked on my tan for a bit... realized I forgot my towel...thank god for beachside rentals... after I decided to leave, I found out that they do Scuba lessons there and that the beach is 3 times the size I though it was (they've placed rocks to calm the water and seperated the beachfront into sections). It's a great! beach.. not too crowded, nice and hot, cool breeze... the waves were very fast coming in.. kinda cool feeling tho.. went back to the hotel, had a shower, packed some more...gotta make sure I get all packed before I go out tonite or else I'm toast...I am not going to be coherent tomorrow... left the hotel...did some more shopping (gotta put the mastercard away) and now I am finishing up almost 3 hours at the inet cafe... Supposed to go see Paul van Dyke at the Grand Hyatt Ballroom (supposedly 5500 people will be there) but I have a feeling we won't make it... plus its about $30 for a ticket...I'm broke... Raghav is playing tonite as well...maybe I'll go watch his show.. NOT!

I managed (very slowly) to upload some more pics... will put them out soon..

A Big thank you to those of you that have been following this blog... I've realized that I've done a lot of things I normally would not have, however, the opportunity to write about it for an audience has given me that "extra" push to actually go out and do it... Thanks!

ok really, people here have too much $$$

Lets see... woke up early this wonderful Tuesday morning... had a meeting to go to.. had a shower, changed and headed out to meet with some folks at the Aga Khan Development Network... wanted to talk to them about volunteering in Central Asia this summer. Nice offices they have, had what I thought to be a good meeting (wasn't expecting 3 people to be interviewing me!)

Did I mention that I saw a guy jerking off on the side of the road? dude was sitting on a planter / sidewalk thingy and whacking it... like eeewwww... in plain sight of anyone walking by... :(

anyways, left there and decided to catch up on more emails and burn some pictures to CD... was gonna upload them, but the site decided to go to maintenance mode... bought a really cool gadget tho.. An AC to USB adaptor... now I can charge them USB powered devices without a computer (seeing as I have such a hard time finding a decent one) I am SUCH a GEEK

went back to the hotel, started to fall asleep.. changed and headed back out for lunch... ate Burger King while watching Tom and Jerry!!! classic! they have all the chains here. BK, Kinkos, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts... it's all here...
after I ate, decided to catch the free shuttle to the Global Village so after a half hour bus ride... I get there... the cops wouldn't let me in... apparently it's Family day.. so if you're not with your family... you dont get in.. so I had to sit for a half hour in the sun :D then take the bus back to the mall :( oh well, the drive was nice.. got to get a bit out of the city

went to the mall and wandered around there... if you are a shopaholic, fashionista or have a designer fetish.. this is the place for you...

http://www.burjuman.com

Prada, D&G, Cole, Canali, Versace all the big names are here!!!

If you have money to burn, check it out, you'll be broke in less than an hour...

Had a Double Short Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel and lots of sugar...mmm... gotta love Starbucks!

Made my way back to the internet cafe... I've updated the pics with captions and sorted them into the appropriate folders... hope you all enjoy them..

http://justfez.smugmug.com

Opulence

Couldn't go for a swim.. pool closed at 5 :(

Bummed around, went and picked up my laundry...bought a Sim card reader for my dad.. bought a really cool shirt..

Mary had a little lamb
(It was delicous)

HA HA

Went to my room and had a shower, got dressed and headed off to meet Rafiq and Shaheed for dinner...
http://www.burj-al-arab.com

Here's a pic until I get mine up.


What an Amazing Restaurant... got there, there was tight security... drove across the bridge and had (free) Valet Parking.. of course the Aston Martin and the Lamborgini got to park in front of the hotel... ;)

The lobby is incredible... apparently the tallest atrium in the world.. this thing goes straight up!

thanks to Shaheed, the 3 of us went on a "Submarine" Ride to the acclaimed Seafood hotel downstairs, got to see the private VIP room they have.. this thing has a multi storey salt water fish tank... THAT REQUIRES DIVERS TO CLEAN!!!!

Chatted for a bit and headed to the Al Iwan Restaurant for our buffet dinner. The food was incredible... veal, shrimp, lobster, scallops, beef, red snapper, chicken, all done in different ways.. this excellend pasrty and cheese dish, I can't even begin to list all the wonderful items...
For those that have been to Banff springs for brunch.. this place makes the springs look like Dairy Queen!
I had starters... then I had Soup, then I had main course, then I had main course again, then I had dessert, then I had Chai, then I had Chocolate..mmm.. chocolate,... and I was stuffed... oh also had an Aprico Smoothie... The bill for the 3 of us... 1000 Dhs or about $270 US !!!! but wait... being the brown guy, and thanks to Shaheed, we got a 50% discount... so $150 US for the 3 of us including tip... I can say with 100% certainty that it was well worth it.

After dinner we chilled in the lobby, took more pictures... then took the express (I mean express) elevator to the 27th floor Sky View Bar... but they were full, so we had to come back... chilled some more in the lobby, looked at the expensive jewellery and watches (BVLGARI, CARTIER, etc...) took some more pics outside... the people at this place were so dressed up and elegant... I felt like a millionaire and all I needed was a Credit Card # to get a reservation (Like they say... for everything else...there's MasterCard!!!) went back up to the 27th floor, this time we got in... WOW!! what a view of the city!!! just frieakin unbeleivable... I must say that this is something I will remember for a long time... I am very glad that I did it and had the opportunity to do it...

Oh ya, the way these guys light up the hotel.. is with really really bright lights on the bridge leading to the hotel.. they point the lights up towards the white sail... way cool...

Left the hotel and dropped Shaheed off, Rafiq dropped me back to the hotel and I headed up to the room to freshen up and head over to the Dance Bar...again... couldn't help myself... sat for a bit, then headed back to the hotel.. time 4 bed ...zzz....

Hee Hee...

An old Arab lived close to New York City for more than 40 years. He would have loved to plant potatoes in his garden, but he is alone, old and weak. His son is in college in Paris, so the old man sends him an e-mail. He explains the problem:
"Beloved son, I am very sad, because I can't plant potatoes in my garden. I am sure, if only you were here, you would help and dig up the garden for me.
I love you,
Your Father"
The following day, the old man receives a response e-mail from his son:
"Beloved Father,
Please don't touch the garden. It's there that I have hidden 'the THING'.
I love you, too,
Ahmed"
At 4pm the US Army, The Marines, the FBI, the CIA and the Rangers visit the house of the old man, take the whole garden apart, search every inch, but can't find anything. Disappointed they leave the house.
A day later, the old man receives another e-mail from his son.
"Beloved Father, I hope the garden is dug up by now and you can plant your potatoes. That's all I could do for you from here. I love you, Ahmed."

...Tired... (There is a Theme here)

.Monday.

woke up exhausted...tried to delay getting out of bed.. until they started drilling a hole in the hallway outside my room. Grrr...
woke up, had breakfast/lunch (it was 1:00pm what can I say!) again great food, this time a Non-Veg Thali (Indian Food) for 7Dhs.. USD$2 not bad at all... the Daal was so yummy... I want more! bought a dress shirt for dinner tonite, picked up another nice shirt... 2 shirts... 50dhs..or $13.50 I love Dubai... must shop and shop and shop... wait... I got no room to take this crap anywhere... :( now I feel like crying like a baby was just robbed of candy, has a soiled diaper, a bad rash.. not to mention one hell of a toothache... :(

came back to the hotel.. Ironed the shirt (Yes I know how to Iron... I'm not very good at it, but I can get by) and came down to the dial up computer and now I'm about to sign off and go for a swim (If I can find the pool)

Can't wait to go for dinner... I'm still in denial and prob wont get excited until it actually happens... dinner at a 7 star hotel.. the only 7 star hotel in the WORLD...YAY!!!

Lost my sunglasses :(

OMG sooo tired.... drained... :(

sorry for the delay in updates, been too tired the last few times to write anything coherent.

.Friday Night.

So after my last update, I went to Khane (Mosque), it's a really nice one they have here. A little small, and there were LOTS of people, but still it was very welcoming. I guess I've been really lucky that I have been able to go to quite a few different ones in my travels (Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, London, Nairobi, Mombasa, Dubai) and it's interesting to see the differences, but at the same time, the similarities. It really makes you feel like part of a much larger community, but makes you realize that you all have lots in common.

After Khane I met up with Shaheed, got his number from one of my dad's partners. Really cool guy, studied at one of the top tourism schools in Switzerland, and is now working for one of the top 5 star hotel/restaurant chains in Dubai. We went over to the York hotel near my hotel and just chilled out there.. the bar offers free internet access if you buy a drink..not a bad deal eh? just chilled there and got filled in on all the nitty gritty details of how Dubai operates...not the utopia I thought it was. I'll have to detail the information once I leave... you never know who might be listening!
Left there, laughed at the hookers again, played some pool, and went to the Mujjrah's to chill out.

.Saturday.

Woke up and found myself watching some twisted animated cartoon /cgi show on TV, it was actually kind of intriguing. That reminds me... the funniest show was on the plane (but I didn't understand it) it was the Middle East version of South Park..LOL..cartman and Kenny and all the fools were portrayed in this version..

Took the bus (yes public transit) to the Wild Wadi park

http://www.wildwadi.com

OMG this place is AMAZING.. spent most of the day chillin in the water, going on slides.. they have waterslides that take you up to the top, and then bring you back down.. no walking up stairs anymore... it's all done with water pressure..., they have the 2nd tallest and fastest waterslide (no tube) outside of North America.. this thing gives you a rush...!!!!
Took in some sun, looking at all the tourists (no americans :D ) lots of Russians though, almost the whole place was full of them.. the place wasn't very crowded which was really good.
Had lunch there.. managed to get a discount on admissions and food (Thanks Shaheed!) so instead of the $40 entrance fee, it was $4
that's what I call a discount. Lost my sunglasses on the lazy river... I was sad for about... 30 seconds.. I'll grab another pair in town... these ones were only 5 Dhirams.. so USD$1.35.
We then headed over to the Jumeirah Madinat Souk which is one hell of a market... you feel like you are in paradise.. the place makes you feel like you need to be a millionaire to even set foot there.

http://www.madinatjumeirah.com/

Marble, wood, excellent and exquisite decorations. They have a river that runs in between the different hotels and hotel guests can take a boat ride across and inbetween the different resorts. Great place.. a must visit if you're ever in Dubai. Took some pics of the
Burj al Arab hotel... the ONLY 7 star hotel in the WORLD

http://www.burj-al-arab.com/

Managed to get reservations there for dinner on Monday nite!! so pumped... it's bloody expensive, but you only live once..right??
left the area and jumped on the bus back to the hotel...I was so drained.. so tired..fell asleep on the bus and thought I missed my stop... :( didn't, so I was ok

get back to the hotel and I have like 3 messages waiting for me.. it's my dad. Turns out there is going to be a religious celebration (Deedar) and our spiritual leader (Aga Khan) is coming to visit Nairobi on what is New Years for us (Navroz) so i'll be headed back to Nairobi!!

I'm just 100% drained and it's time for bed... but I end up going out for chinese food with some more people that I met here. The Hotel GM's sons take me out with their friends..food was good, they had this really good chicken dish..mmm... I seem to be having lots and lots of good food on this trip. :)

Chilled out at a gas station drinkin hot chocolate for a bit, then headed back to the hotel. Checked fares for flights to Nairobi ($1400) then passed out and went to sleep.

.Sunday.

Woke up early, called around for fares... found one with Emirates for USD$550, so I booked it... all the flights were almost sold out.. managed to get the last seat on Friday's flight out.. had lunch and took a taxi to the Emirates office to pick up and pay for the tickets...you'd think E-ticketing would be readily available..get there, sit in the queue (thats what they use out here to refer to a LINE UP). Finally get to see the rep at the counter. Tell her I need to make an amendment to a ticket and purchase a reserved ticket... so she starts hassling me about a change fee, and I don't think we can change your ticket b/c it was issued by an agency..blah blah blah.. I'm like I already spoke to the people on the phone and everything is done, I just need to pay for the ticket. She calls this person and that person and finally says that there is a $50 change fee.. I got her to ask her supervisor...why is it that one office can change the ticket no problems.. but she can't? she checks... the change is free.. done.. whew.. got my ticket and booked it out of there to get back to the hotel in time for my Desert Safari. Wait until 4:30, the driver didn't show up... so I went to sleep :)

Woke up around 8:30 or so, wandered around town, found a nice place to eat... I can't beleive how Cheap food is in this part of town.. a whole meal (Butter chicken, Naan, Masala Chai) for 13 Dhirams... US$3.51 .. you can't even get a meal at Rotten Ronnies for that much... unless you're a child....

Spoke the the boys again about the plan for partying... they'll call me later, so I went over to the internet cafe and attempted to catch up on emails.. got a little ways through the list, got to chat with a few people before heading back to the hotel. Metup with the boys... enjoyed some laughs... one of the guys finally came around and realizes how important a girl he likes is to him... but of course she likes someone else.. gotta hate when that happens. So we attempted to help him out with what to do...
We headed out to a club called Carter's...WOW so much better than the last place.. music was good, packed with all sorts of people.. good times for sure. Left there and headed over to a Dance Bar... turned out to be another Mujjrah place, but the girls at this one wear western clothes.. not too bad... had this really good Chilli Chicken...mmm...mm... and the 7up here tastes so good. We went upstairs to check out the other Dance Bar that they had.. chilled there for a while.. this one had a few cute girls at least... there was one that had the right attitude and was a great dancer... I'll have to go back ;) came back to the hotel.. one of the guys was so drunk he tried to pass out in the hallway with only his boxers and t shirt... lol, too funny...

Oh boy Dubai!

What an entertaining night. So I had lunch/breakfast, and then went to wander around town for a bit. Saw the Dubai museum, some shopping stalls, it's beautiful over here. Took an abra (boat) ride down Dubai creek and saw some really cool buildings, the old boats that they heave here are amazingly large and beautiful.

Headed back over to the hotel and thats where the fun begins....

I meet some people in the bar and hang out with them...one guy is Indian Navy, the other guys work for the airport. Good times...lots of laughs..the guys were harrassing the working girls...hee hee... I decided to explain to one of them that where I come from she has to pay me for sex...ha ha... got the dirtiest look and she walked away... :) I've never had to work this hard at repulsing women...ok, it's a natural thing.. but when you actually want them to go away...it's not that easy ;)

hang out there for a while, head over the the boys place after a very fun, fast, loud music car ride. Nice apartments.. the ones used by Emirates cabin crews.. the buildings here are phenomenal. Head up to the apartment itself... as soon as I walk in .. there's a gun pointed at my head.. BANG! the navy guy pulls the trigger... I didn't see him with the gun in his hand when I walked in...I'm too slow at my old age...but at least I didn't flinch when it went off.. it was an air gun..ha ha..very funny... :)
Chill there for a while listening to some really good Hindi and Trance music... played some darts.. left there and headed over to a bar called the Lodge
Get lost... 45 minutes later we end up there. The jackass bouncer wouldn't let us in... "Cabin Crew Only Tonite"... geez... I thought I left this cocky bouncer crap in Calgary.. so one of the guys convinces the bouncer that we all work for Emirates Security...haha... we get in...it's dead...
Had a Grrreat! Chicken Shawarma...8 Dhirams... so about C$2.75 mmm danced for a bit in the HUGE outdoor dance floor. I'm really starting to like this concept of outdoor dance bars... wish it was possible in good old Canada...brr... they had an indoor area as well for Rock and R&B/Hip-Hop music they were playin... the Dance/Techo music outside was great! I had a blast...very very tired by the end of it.

We took off and came back to hotel and I chill at the HoBar for a while...head over to the Mujjrah for a bit, and now I'm ready for bed, had a bit of a problem with my room so I get another room for the night...of course all my stuff is still in my room.. lucky #333...grr.... anyways...manage to get some sleep, wake up, relax a bit... then head to my room so I can have a shower, get changed (yes I do shower) etc... GUESS WHAT??? still a problem there moved my stuff and took it to the new room #326... so I get all my stuff, have a shower, get ready...

Met up with one of Sarfraz's friends Rafik, really cool guy,... took me to the big big big a$$ mall here in Dubai... the damn thing is HUGE we're talking big... lots of brand names and really expensive...but...but...but... I found a FRENCH CONNECTION STORE :) !!! bought a shirt from there (I couldn't resist, even though I have no room in my bags) "FCUK ON HOLIDAY" I think it's appropriate.
Got to go and see the town of Sharjah.. an non alcoholc city attached to Dubai itself...drove through Deira Dubai which is one half of Dubai, the other being Bur Dubai.
and then back to my hotel...

finally found an internet cafe that wasn't FULL, ok it was, but I waited for 10 mins and its fine now.

thats my update... def a long one.. hope you enjoyed it.... until later .... f

In Dubai...

Wow, I can't believe I'm in Dubai... what a nice place, totally not what I expected. Everything here is so modern and clean. Lots of lights, great roads, nice shops...lots of gadgets ;)

Managed to get hooked up and am staying at a hotel that's run by one of my dad's friends business associate... It's a nice hotel, but the "disco" is quite shady... is a 100% blatant one stop "ho" shop. There's no shortage of prostitutes in the place...there all over... not the most appealing nightclub...but ran into the same thing in Mombasa alebeit on a much smaller and more subtle scale, all of the prettiest girls in the joint were "working" girls... not something I'm used to seeing in Calgary! but this place is something else, there were probably more of them in the club than there were customers !!!

They also have an indian restaurant in the hotel that has a nightly dancing show called Mujjarah. Basically indian girls dressed in bar type clothes or traditional indian dress dance on stage to live music...dirrty old men throw money on the stage and the girls smile and dance some more... no removal of clothing, just straight dancing... very interesting I must say...

I must go have breakfast right now (it's 12:30pm) and then figure out what to do from here. I have a list of things.. but must wait to talk to some people here and see if I can get hooked up with some form of discount!! :)

Off tomorrow :(

So I'm off to Dubai tomorrow, don't really want to leave Nairobi, it's so nice here... relaxing...cheap...but if I don't leave I don't think I ever will.   Had a good day today... went for lunch again on the safest street in Nairobi...right by the Israeli Embassy... guards with guns, check your trunks and parcels.. there's an Israeli Security guy that stands outside all the time on the side of the road... like it's not obvious that he's security detail... but the restaurant had a really good pineapple juice drink as well as a chicken pita sandwich...mmm....oh am I craving Joey's chicken Dumplings.. and their chocolate cake... any volunteers to mail me some? lol...

 

Other than that I am looking forward to DooBai... it should be good times... party some, relax some, plan Australia some..see how it goes.

 

anyhoo,...getting hungry should go home b4 I get in trouble from dad...ha ha ... :)

Umm.. Nairobi?

Heya, Chilling here in Nairobi in what was considered the hottest February in 20 Years !!!  The sun, the heat.. oh so much fun.  It finally rained yesterday, and boy did it rain!!  I'm staying here another week to spend some more time with my dad.  Emirates was very good in extending my tickets.. can you beleive that they changed 2 of my tickets... for FREE!!  so I lose a week in Australia, oh well, it's kinda nice out here, lots of business opportunities...but personal security and safety is a bit of an issue. 

 

I have been really bad in providing updates to what is going on for the last 3 weeks.  I will also be putting together a summary of the most excellent Safari that we went on. :)

 

It's really nice here, had my rubber arm twisted into putting in a computer and accounting system for my dad's restaurant.. go figure, working while on vacation... I am a computer geek for sure.  The people are very friendly, everybody is addicted to their mobiles and will txt and sms constantly.. some things are really cheap, others are the same price or higher once you do the conversion.  Internet access, being slow, is pretty reasonable at about 120 shillings an hour.. that's roughly C$2 an hour... and it's sooooo slow... did I mention it's slow?

 

It's amazing how much poverty there is in this country and how so many things that we take for granted in the western world aren't available here, or if they are, it's for a price.  There are cars that were made in the 80's and early 90's all around, auto spares is a booming business... it's cheaper to fix things, than to replace them.  But the biggest shock was the difference in the labour and working class wages... a waiter or waitress, shop hand, stock boy etc... makes about 4000 - 6000 shillings a month.. that's about C$66-$100 PER MONTH!!!  some of us will spend that in an hour or a day without even thinking... and then there are the office jobs where you can get about 15,000 - 30,000 /month or $250-500.  it's really sad when you think about it, that's not a lot of money... rents in ok areas would run you almost your pay... now if you're a good skilled person in IT or running your own business, then and only then can you make 150,000 - 300,000 shillings a month... $2500-5000 which gives you a lot of freedom, but the people that make that kind of money are not your average citizen.  Schools cost money, hospitals cost money, guards cost money... it's so sad,... and then there are stories of massive corruption on the parts of the local government... where they are driving around in posh Mercedes Benz' the people of this country are starving.... to the point where there are fights and violent arguments over dead meat and roadkill.  A hippo strayed from the water and got hit by a bus... the police had to come and organize the people so that they could get some meat... same thing with a buffalo... all in the span of one week.. it truly is sad.  It's a vicious cycle... poverty, crime, corruption, and the cycle repeats... when the police officers of the country are seen and caught stealing and robbing people, sometimes in full uniform... when banks have to employ machine gun wielding guards 24/7 to patrol and protect the premises... there are issues...and the only way to combat it is to educate the population and attempt to reverse the poverty cycle... but it's hard to do, when the only way in is through the government... a government that is corrupt and will ensure that the funds dedicated to helping the people, will only go into their pockets...presumably to service the Mercedes' and employ the locals at substandard wages to keep their posh mansions clean and kept... it's sick.

 

I've added some pictures from Paris on the photo site.. they're still unsorted...hopefully will get a decent connection in Dubai and get them all sorted out, I sent a cd of Safari pic's back, will attempt to get my sister to upload them. 

 

Speaking of little sis... she got her first real job!!  Way to GO!  She'll be doing some sort of Sales/Support work for Replicon..  It's about time she got a real job.. .now she can pay rent :)  Wish her luck!!!  Welcome to the real world Zayn!

 

There's my update for now... getting hungry... time to finish up some emails and go eat some free food (I think the real reason I'm staying another week, is I'm liking the fact I haven't spent a dime since I came...hee hee...thanks Dad!!)