Mmmmm...xpresso

Woke up at 2pm... :) Booked my bike for the trip to Melbourne! ate a McOZ burger (had beetroot in it...eeewww) for breakfast, talked on the phone with my sister Zayn for a while, it was good to catch up. Then I had to have a quick shower and head off to khane. Went out for dinner afterwards in an area called Paramatta, really nice area, lots of cool cafe's and restaurants, had mexican food...yummy and then went for coffee... had this really cool Expresso with melted chocolate, marshmallows and almonds... it was soooooo sooooo good... met some really cool people (thanks Zaileen!) and now I think I go to bed, early again.. damn cough... aargh

Moo...Mooo

Figure the blond moments were over... NOT... wake up this mornin to the entire room laughin... and a Cow Mooing.. and farm animalss... Turns out the lovely alarm on the phone was goin off, and I had no clue... it also happened to be those such noises.. grrreeeaatt... just think of the image these guys must have of Canadians now... ;)

got the heck out of bed, went to go see the doctor about my cough... I'm ok.. YAY.. just cough syrup and rest and I'll be aiight in a week or so... kewl... took a look at some nice bikes... there was a beauty of an 03 CBR RR ... mmmm... but of course a little out of my price range.. saw a few others... looks like I can buy one for 6k and sell it back when I leave for 4k... don't think I'll do it tho.. figure the ride to Melbourne should be good enough for me to get ma fix... that way I can use the rest of the cash for Skydiving, Diving, and other such nonsensical ways to spend money...

Had lunch with Sana (one of Zahra's cousins) pretty cool chatting with her, got some insights into Sydney and a contact in Melbourne... people here are sooo friendly it's not funny.. I thought us Canadians were friendly... forget it, these guys got us beat... Hit the FCUK store to get my shirt... poo, they had it, but it was 50 bux... forget it, I bought the one that was on sale instead... 'FCUKAROO' it says on it... hee hee... gotta love aussie humour...

Went to the Australian Museum to check out an exhibit on Egyptian Mummification, pretty sweet artifacts and information that they had. I was very impressed with all the detail and the way it was presented. Learned lots.. got a cool pic of a mummified head! saw the rest of the museum which had a history on the evolution of man, birds and insects (yech) of Australia, an Exhibit on skeletons of different animals as well as a quick thing on fish... not a bad way to spend a couple of hours no doubt. Took the train back to the hostel and it was off to khane, and now of course am back at the good ol McInternet (as some drunk lady just called it!)

I think we're gonna have to pull a Panama!

Not a bad day today actually. Had a bit of trouble sleeping, think it was the Cough Suppressant I'm on, didn't let me sleep much, got out of bed at about 9:30/10:00 had a shower, got ready, and it was off to the Beach... or so I thought... lol.. by the time I was anywhere it was about 11:30 figured it wasn't worth it to jump on the Bondi Explorer bus (at $36) when the last bus was at 4:15, so I headed off to have breakfast at KFC... I had a fresh squeezed OJ with it, so that makes up for the grease...

Checked out a skydive place, $199 for a Tandem jump...not too bad will have to see what else there is out there...

Jumped on the elevator to the top of the Sydney Tower... breathtaking views from up there, it really gives you an idea of exactly how beautiful this place really is. Got in on the free guided tour and learnt some cool stuff about the city and the things that are around town... also learned that Bondi Beach had a Life Saving club and one of the first people it saved was a 10 year old named Charles Smith... he later went on to be the first to fly from Sydney, Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1928 and the Sydney airport is named after him... pretty cool eh? chilled out there for a bit, taking in the sights, and then it was off to the Sydney OzTrek, basically a touristy VR tour of Australia and ends with a cool video ride where the chairs move and stuff... not too bad at all, good fun.

Left there and headed off to Bondi Beach, got on the bus (yes, public transit) and made my way there... got off on the wrong stop and wandered around until I got my bearings and found the beach...lol... by then it was pretty late and getting a tad cool outside, so I chilled at a cafe called Ravesi's... had one of the best Cappucino's I've had in a looong time... it was good to the last drop... they also had this spicy hummus with this amazing flatbread that was actually Paratha... and really good paratha at that! enjoyed the view of the beach and the main strip and then grabbed the bus back to the hostel.

Got ready and headed off for dinner with Salima, it's great having family friends out here! as I was heading out of the hostel, ran into a fellow Canadian from Toronto... the first Canadian I've met in Aus... she had on an FCUK shirt that I gotta go get.... "FCUK Down Under" isn't it great? Went off for Italian food...mmm...gnocchi... pesto...mmmm...pretty good stuff... then went and saw Sahara at the theatres... not a bad movie at all, good humour, nice action, interesting storyline... and the best part? Penelope Cruz in a bikini :) but you have to wait until the end of the movie for it... :( got back to the hostel and had a total Blond Moment beleive it or not.. as I was saying that I need to get up early, Salima said "just set your alarm clock" to which I replied "All I have is the watch and that doesn't do much good" ... she reminded me that I have a cell phone (actually 2) that have alarm clocks on them... Duh! I think the fever may have killed off whatever few brain cells I had left... else I should start taking my brunette pills again... LOL!

Nairobi Pics are up!

Got most of the Nairobi pics up, check 'em out
Safari Pics

Still feelin a little under the weather.. slept in till about 2pm this aft, then wandered out for a walk about town... ate at this little diner place in town, not bad.. they actually serve you the food..lol.. Saw Hyde Park, very beautiful, there were 2 guys playing chess with these huge chess pieces that came up to their knees...pretty funny, because there was a heckler in the crowd criticising their moves... ha ha..

Saw a few of the historical buildings, checked out a park hidden behind the Sydney hospital, walked over to the Opera House and had a sprite and watched the sunset over the Harbour Bridge.. very calming I must say. I was also able to listen to music thanks to the Elio actually working (YAY) not a bad little device...when it works of course... now I just have to get some playlists goin..

walked back to the hostel from the Opera House, stopping to check out an internet cafe that had almost 200 stations.. pretty huge and it's all self service... they must mint money there for sure..

Found out about motorcycle rentals for my trip, looks like I'll only be able to afford to ride to Melbourne and that's gonna cost me about $1000 for the rental and insurance etc for 7 days... about a 1000k ride from what the guys on the phone were saying. Don't think I'll be able to do the ride to Cairns... .too long.. probably will just hop on a bus and go from there. Will be chillin at the hostel until at least Monday now, thanks to Zahra in Nairobi I have some more contacts here in town and will probably meet up with them at some point (Thanks Zahra!)

I still can't get over how beautiful Sydney is, it's just an awesome city.. bloody expensive, but beautiful. The weather looks good tomorrow so I'm gonna attempt the Blue Sydney Explorer bus and hit a few of the beaches... :) time to work on my tan already...lol

S2000 Anyone?

Today was Amazing! Went out for lunch with a guy from the S2000 Forums... Wayne... took me for a spin in his S2000... damn I miss that car... his has the supercharger and a great! exhaust... what a ride around town that was... :) permagrin! we went for lunch at an amusement park that they have across the bay from the Opera house.. then ripped around a couple of the Sydney suburbs.. wow what a rush! Thanks Wayne!

I wandered around town and found the Thai Airways office, they were kind enough to change my ticket! I have until June 20 in Aussie now instead of May 16 :) and the best part was that they didn't charge me.. hee hee.. then it was off to the Emirates office, they didn't want to do the change, so they sent me off to the local STA Travel office.. the guys there were pretty cool, they changed the dates on my other ticket, and gave me some ideas for a stop after Moscow... Prague anyone? lol, it's the cheapest place to go from Moscow... dunno, will see, am still waiting to find out about the volunteer work... you'd think that these people would be on the ball to get willing volunteers placed... hell, I'm even paying for my ticket to that side of the world? sigh...
The bad news is that I can't stopover in Dubai, 4 hours is all that I got when I'm there, and they charged me A$40 for the change... grr... the first ticket so far I've had to pay to change... oh well, it was bound to happen at some point.

Now that I had accomplished all of that, it was time to reward myself with a trip to the Sydney Aquarium. Now these guys know how to do it... lots of information, cute fishies, they have these two areas, ones is for viewing seals. and you can walk through a glass tunnel and view them from below... way cool... but then you go to their Oceanarium, and you see sharks and ray's and fishies... from below... it's so crazy having a shark 2 feet above your head, or seeing a Stingray gracefully fly over your head... unbeleivable... sharks galore as well... they had one area, where you were surrounded by glass...kinda reminded me of the Fresh Prince Episode... Cannons to the left of you, Cannons to the right of you.. Cannons ALL around you.. but it was glass... pretty cool...you're even standing on a glass platform and fish swim below you... then, right before you exit, you come across the best part of the aquarium... a HUGE picture window that's ginormous looking into the tank.. you can sit and they are playing classical music (sounded like water music) and it was very very serene...I must say, the best part and worth the price of admission ($26, or $18 for students like me)

now I'm here, back the lovely internet cafe, getting caught up again on email (Keep writing, it's great to hear from all of you) and finishing the uploads on the pics... not sure when I'll have a chance to put them into the folders, but in the next week or so you should start to see 'em... once my dear sis is finished with the Nairobi pics, we'll be all set!

Beach!

Finally made it to a beach!!! woke up around 11, and it was off to Bondi Beach... wow, 30 minutes outside of the city and absolutely stunning. This city reminds me so much of Canada... some areas are like Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary... it's uncanny... and then there are things that are just Sydney... like having numerous beaches close to the city, excellent harbour views... wow... walked across Bondi, did a bit of a trek up some rocks.. then headed back and over to Suicide Cliff, apparently where a lot of suicides take place... they have a sign there with crisis line numbers... but guess what? no bloody phone... I'm thinkin, if I was gonna kill myself... what if I didn't bring my mobile? what if I didn't have any credit left... and I WANTED to call for help... hell that would be the last straw... prob would push me to jump... go figure eh?
So me being the idiot that I am... what do I do? I jump over the protective fence that they have and decide to walk to the edge of the rocks... it's a looooong way down... pretty awesome feeling though... jumped another fence a ways down and dangled my legs off the rock... got some cool pics, it was at least 100 feet if not more to the water and crushing waves below :)
headed over to Watsons Bay, ate some seafood by the pier, checked out a few seagulls with red feet and beaks... saw some cute kids playing... awww ...
took off from there and saw some of the suburbs, saw an amazing sunset over Sydney. Salima was kind enough to make Dinner... yummy lamb chops and shrimps and rice... damn good food... watched Hum Tum and Desperate Housewives... and it was back to the hostel ... tiem for bed.. hopefully I'm able to get a full day out tomorrow.

Back at the Cafe... lol

Went straight to bed after getting home in the AM, bleh tired... serves me right... how the hell was I able to sit and work for that long every day (oh yeah... I didn't actually do anything did I?) woke up around noonish, ate, went back to bed. Got woken up at around 3:30 and had to get dressed and showered supa fast so I could head over to Khane with Salima. It was great! the kids were practising for a play that's coming up, and lucky me, I got to help out... reading lines and standing in, not a bad deal, reminds me of grade school days and school plays... some of these kids are extremely talented.. it's also good to see the community here come together like that. Met Zai who is originally from Nairobi, for those that know her, she says HI! she actually went to school with one of my cousins... small world eh?

Left khane and went for dinner at this pretty cool pub... here they have this really strange self service thing, no waiters or waitresses, order food and drink at the bar and bring it to your table... tres weird. Me had a yummy steak and a coke ... mmm....mmm... good... had chai and watched Bride and Prejudice, great movie, I recommend it... it's a little stereotypical, but not bad. lots of funny parts...

Now I hope I am able to wake up at a half decent hour tomorrow, wouldn't mind checking out the beach... :)

Back at the Cafe... lol

Went straight to bed after getting home in the AM, bleh tired... serves me right... how the hell was I able to sit and work for that long every day (oh yeah... I didn't actually do anything did I?) woke up around noonish, ate, went back to bed. Got woken up at around 3:30 and had to get dressed and showered supa fast so I could head over to Khane with Salima. It was great! the kids were practising for a play that's coming up, and lucky me, I got to help out... reading lines and standing in, not a bad deal, reminds me of grade school days and school plays... some of these kids are extremely talented.. it's also good to see the community here come together like that. Met Zai who is originally from Nairobi, for those that know her, she says HI! she actually went to school with one of my cousins... small world eh?

Left khane and went for dinner at this pretty cool pub... here they have this really strange self service thing, no waiters or waitresses, order food and drink at the bar and bring it to your table... tres weird. Me had a yummy steak and a coke ... mmm....mmm... good... had chai and watched Bride and Prejudice, great movie, I recommend it... it's a little stereotypical, but not bad. lots of funny parts...

Now I hope I am able to wake up at a half decent hour tomorrow, wouldn't mind checking out the beach... :)

Marathon...@

the internet cafe

k, it's 6:33 am here, I've been in the basement of a McDonalds since 9:21pm last night.. I tell you I'm a lunatic...

Yesterday I tried to wake up, didn't happen, felt like ass... prob overdid it the day before, thinking I was aiight... so I slept in until about 12 or 1pm, grabbed breakfast and came back to bed, chatted with Gave on the phone, it was good to talk to him after so long.. gotta love this cheap long distance... after that I had a shower, more food, and headed off to Khane... nice one they have here, 2 years old, about 40 mins from the city. Not too many people for a sat, but all the same not bad. Thanks Uncle Silu for the contact... one of my uncles relatives, Salima was kind enough to pick me up and take me out there..

stopped at the Star Bar for an Aussie meat pie and a sprite, it was a great place, pub, bar, niteclub all in one... I think there's a pool hall there too... now that I think of it, it's kinda like the old Bourbon Street... but classier... came back to the hostel, got my electronic gear and it was off to the internet cafe for a marathon of internet... got my music down on the computer, the Elio worked and connected... but died shortly afterwards... great battery... will have to charge it and try again. got through a ton of email, uploaded most of the outstanding pics (not live yet.. maybe tomorrow or the day after) got some insane upload speeds.. like 11 minutes for 80megs... crazy... gotta love the real world. Listened to 50 mp3s of Hindi Film songs from the last year... why? I have no clue...but it was very calming...I think I'm getting old... :( wait.. I think I'm already there... waaa....waaa....waaahhh... gotta love the internet cafe tho... $10 for unlimited access from 8pm - 8am... not a bad deal at all... the scariest part is... .this place is packed... it's in the basement of a McDonalds.. called CUVE Internet Lounge... if you're ever in Sydney, check it out...

So at this point I'm pretty much all done, gonna hit the sack, pass the @#$% out and see what tomorrow brings me....

oh, before I 4get, here's a link to some very interesting articles by none other than Mr. E-Pauly... Ladies... read the series on "Basic Game Theory" I would love to hear your thoughts on what he is saying

"Basic Game Theory"

g'nite!

Wow Sydney!

This city is incredible! just when I've gone to my favorite place in the world... I hit another city and it tops it....

Sydney is such a cosmopolitan city, so many people, so many cultures, I never ever would have imagined it, it is one heck of an eye opening experience to see so many different types of people from all different areas of the world... it truly does bring light to how big this world really is and how diverse it is... it's amazing.

Got my 2nd cell phone.. I'm the man...2 mobiles... kewl eh? one for calling Canada and one for sending and receiving SMS messages... crazy no? but at least they work.. which is great!

took another nap, then finally left for my trek around town... walked to the harbour, saw the opera house. It needs a tad of a paint job, not the nice pretty white thing that we all see on TV, the roof is actually quite brown and icky poo if you ask me... but it's a nice building... they had this Ship docked at one of the piers... the damn thing is massive... I'm talking absolutely, incredibly, no doubt about it, HUGE! words can't really explain the size of this thing, the only way I can try and describe it is BiG... pic come soon me hopes...

Took a moment at the top of one of the lookout points... woweee... just gorgeous.. it reminds me a whole lot of Victoria... but 10 times bigger, same look / feel, different accent and much better looking women (yes, I said that) but it has that kind of atmosphere.. I wandered around some more, guess I ended up on some strange road, looks like they are rebuilding it and trying to clean up its image... it was right near the Sydney theatre I think.. turns out there's a memorial for a guy and his buddy that were shot there... looked recent too, so sad... why do people do such stupid things, if only everybody could respect life more...it's way too short... the thing that caught my eye was a pic of one of they guys and a written note along the lines of "the man our daughter loved with all her heart" really sad...

Read the Story

not too sure about the cause or if anything else has happened since, but it's quite sad regardless.

Kept walking some more and came across these really nice apartment buildings... looked across the street and it's the Wharf, with a big sign stating that it's an operating wharf and harbour and there is going to be noise to deal with 24/7 ... talk about not making sure you invest in the right property... poor people probably got snookered real good on that one.

more walking led me to the King Street Wharf, had a bite to eat at this really trendy pub/patio/bar called Bungalow 8. All the other places on the block were dead, this one was jammed with people and it only got busier... strange concept though... everything is self service, you want a drink, go get it from the bar... you want food, go order it from the bar or the kitchen... ok they'll drop it off and clean the tables... but thats it... talk about keeping the costs down... and yet the place is super packed... I don't get it..shrug..

met 2 girls there that work for some investment bank around the corner... I guess this place is the after work hangout for most that work in the area... got some good travel tips from em as well. People are pretty friendly around these parts. headed out from there and wandered back to the internet cafe... again so many people on the street, all different shapes, colors, sizes, it's something I think everybody should come see if they can... the area is called Haymarket, I think it's their version of Chinatown.

I'm just really glad and thankful to be here, it's one hell of an opportunity.

ah.. a little taste of McHeaven...:)

ok, found a way cool internet cafe, it's in the basement of a rotten ronnies... so of course I just finitoed polishing off a hotcakes, OJ, and a 500 Calorie Hasbrown :D mmm mmm it was McDelicious

this cafe is pretty kewl... gots cd burner and usb, I can actually upload pics now (still a little slow, but better than what I had in Nairobi and Dubai) , m feeling better now... gonna head back to the hostel for another nap, pick up another mobile phone so I can sms with Nairobi, this damn one that I got doesn't wanna receive sms, it can only send... :(

gonna attempt to make it to the harbour and check out the sights... take some pix... see if I can get some touristy stuff done 2day... should be aiight... my body is still reeeling from the fat and sugar content in those damn cakes... :)

well ma CD is burnt... gonna head back and take that nap

I'm Alive!!!!

so it looks like I'm gonna make it... still feeling a little ill, but the worst is past... YAY... ventured out, got my mobile phone working (turns out you have to use another phone to call the customer service number to set it up...duh..) so that's done, talked to ma sis for a good half hour... not bad at 18c/min but of course, I made tha mistake of assuming that I could txt message anywhere... ya.. umm. NOT.. this network doesn't text to Telus, only Microcell.. have to remember a rogers number and try it out...but I'm waiting to see if I'm able to txt back and forth to Nairobi... this is what happens when I make decisions under the influence of cold medication :( might just have to suck it up and buy another phone just for SMSing... grrr....

other than that, things are good, the weather is getting a little better, and warmer.. it's only 23 here today... I miss my 35+ weather... boo hooo....

I can't beleive how cosmopolitan it is here, it's insane.. there are so many people, from all over the world.. and the Aussies are so bloody polite and friendly... I think it's great...

k back to replying to a long list of emails...

ILL Down Under....

Today is the first day since I left, that I actually missed home... my bed, my blankie, my tv and my fireplace... It sux being sick... especially being this far away from home. Looks like the fever has gone, still got a killer headache, not sure if that's due to the fever being gone, the dehydration, or too much sleep. Had solid food for dinner, which is good. Am feeling a bit better, but still pretty drained... hopefully I just have to rest for one more day...

Got out of the Hostel today, went to have breakfast (Citrus Shake with Echinachea and a few bites of a Bannana Pecan muffin), Picked up a mobile phone (damn thing doesn't work, gotta go back tomorrow...technology..hmph)

It was coldish and rainy today, so not much was lost, tomorrow should be about the same, its good that I'm not missing hot weather days sleeping in the dorm.

The Hostel that I'm at - Wakeup! Sydney is a superb hostel, a little pricey (A$27 per night) but the rooms are spacious even with 8 people, and the facilities are great, nice showers, an excellent cafe and bar, projection tv, and internet access. Can't complain too much.

There's so much to do here in Sydney, lots and lots of stuff, I can't get over it... once I feel better will see if I'm staying longer or not... :)

In Aussie....sicky poo

I made it, slept lots on the 13 hour flight, watched a couple of movies, listened to some cool music (Emirates on Demand ROX!) was a little pissed that my wonderful little new toy didn't work :( I hate technology sometimes.

Still feel like crap. It's nice and sunny outside and I'm going back to bed.

Awww....pooor bebe....

Just my luck, I'm SICK... felt something coming on yesterday, but didn't think much, then when all I did was sleep today, I knew something was up... nothing that 2 extra strength Tynelols couldn't fix... had breakfast at a little diner with Pakistani food, took a taxi to the beach, slept on the beach, chilled in the water (this beach is so nice... it's also a park...woweee) slept on the beach, chilled in the water... man was I beat... all I did was sleep and sleep and sleep. got a nice tan though. Jumeira Beach Park, check it out sometime, it's a very nice place.

left there, went for lunch/dinner at Nando's, not a bad place at all, great atmosphere... it's the one on Sheikh Zayed Road... very nice location, and the service was good as well.

came home, had a shower, went 3 times to get my Elio... decided to buy it after all.. :) they brought it from the depot and it even had ALL the accesories (except the power adapter) so finally the brought that over as well. It's charging right now and I'm about to transfer ma music over... :) as well as ma pics... YAY.. hopefully it works ..

m drinking water and OJ right now in the hopes of getting rid of this fever, else I am gonna sleep like a baby on the plane... will just have to get all drugged up and shizzy... is it normal for your Feet to feel like they are on Fire? that and I have a little bit of a skin tingle all over... eh... hopefully will be aiight... will just have to find someone to take care of me when I'm there... HA Riiight...

well, I'm off to finish the transfers and get this thingy working... next time u hear from me, I'll be in the land down under... or if youre indian, the Lande Downe Undher...

Abu Dhabi!...

I just got back from Lovely Abu Dhabi (not really, it's quite boring there)
but on the bright side, it was 39C today!!!! I had one heck of a grin when I got off the bus...wowee... Got up in the morning, went over to the bus station, grabbed the bus and away we went... nice drive about 1.5-2 hours away, lush green grass, lots of palm trees, kinda reminds me of Miami in the sense of how it is portrayed in hollywood (the greenery only) the trees weren't as tall, but still not bad. All I really did was wander and wander.. checked out two of the malls, went and saw the Marina Mall.. and excellent mall, lots of stores, found a really cool FCUK shirt... it said... "Filthy" on it... but I didn't buy it cuz it was too expensive...plus, I wouldn't want to give someone the wrong idea...lol.. [I really hate it when you are trying to remember what you did today, and you can't.. I'm sitting here and can't remember :( ]

checked out some more of the stores, had a Dunkin Donuts coffee (Hafeez, the ones are still better) some timbits (Damn I miss Timmy's) saw this incredibly large cigar.. I mean this thing was HUGE.. they had it on a stand that you would see samurai swords on. Will have to get one... one day....

oh remembered that I went on a circular escalator.. the thing went up, but in a semi circle.. kinda cool, made me a little dizzy...

anyhoo, I left the Marina mall and took a few pictures... saw this AMAZING hotel that they've built (I think it used to be the presidential conference centre or something) but the damn thing is huge..

In my attempts to find out where Khane was (Thanks Imran) I was unsuccessful, so one of Sarfraz' and Rafiq's friends picked me up from Marina Mall (where I just finished eating Popeyes... mmm...bizzcuitzz) and they (Imran and Ahmed) dropped me to khane before they went back to work... they make you work crazy hours here. Khane was good, very very small, smaller than Halifax and Mombasa (Bamburi), but it was good. Finally got a cab (why is it that when you want one, you can't find it, and when you don't want one, they're EVERYWHERE!!!) got to the bus station and then got on da bus 2 Doobai... hit the hotel, they fixed the leak in the bathroom..YAY.. then I came here... what an eventful day...eh?

Hmmm.....

No sure what to title this one, got lots to write about....

Last night I decided I would be brave and try something new.. (no it's not being responsible..lol) so I went to the Dubai World Trade Centre for the Jagjit Singh show... but of course with my luck, I get there and the damn thing is sold out.. very nice venue, stuck around there for about an hour to see if anybody was scalping or selling their extra tickets...there was one idiot who wanted 250 Dhs for 500 dhs seats.. but he got the tix for free... moron.. like anybody is that stupid.

Came back to the hotel, and decided to go see my "Friend" at the Mujjrah... I gave her a call (with the help of my translator...thanks Tasha) and was informed that she now suddenly had a boyfriend.. oh well.. :( so I figure I'm a sucker for punishment, headed over there with one of the guys that hangs out at the hotel Raja... got there, had dinner while looking at all the celebs (Indian) that Raja has met, Hema Malini, Salman Khan and Preity Zinta to name a few... not a bad collection of pics... saw the "boyfriend" dude's old and like 40! WTF? anywayz, left there and back to the hotel for some masala chai and then headed off to bed.

thought I would wake up early and get a headstart on shizzy.. didn't happen, woke up, watched smallville, dragged my ass out of bed and had a shower... by the time I got out it was already 1pm.. oh well.. headed over to the bus station to get the bus to this new mall called Ibn Butata mall ... waiting for the bus, some guy walks up to me and asks if I want to share a cab.. Sure.. no problem I say.. so he finds another guy and we left, dropped him off, picked up 3 more people at a bus stop down the way, dropped them off and finally made it to the mall, paid the guy 25Dhs and he said he'd come back at 6 to get me...

Now this mall.. the damn thing is HUGE!!! has 6 malls all in one, lots of stores, got the opportunity to get the autographs of the Bombay Rockets.. umm.. I mean the Bombay Rockers... didn't do it tho... don't know who they are.. not that it stopped me from getting a picture taken with one of Nairobi's stars.. a fella named Nameless and his girlfriend (can't remember her name).. eh... whatever.

Did some window shopping, things are expensive in the mall.. but I did find this really cool jukebox thingy .. Called the Elio Damn this thing rocks... 20gb storage, right form the card, FM Radio, voice recorder direct copy MP3, JPG storage... OMG!!! I think I am a little too much of a computer geek. So I wanted to know if the price was a good price... went into another one of the stores and covertly used one of their display laptops (that had Wifi enabled) to surf google and find the price.. 260 Pounds, so about 650 Canadian, their price worked out to be about 420 Canadian.. not a bad deal at all for what it gets me... then I don't have to keep burning CD's everywhere I go... I guess I don't really need it... but I wanna... :( we'll see if I get the chance to get it again.. the reason I didn't get it, is that I thought that it was missing a part (box was open) now that I'm at the Internet Cafe (shared a laugh with Madeleine from Australia over one guy who was making really annoying smooching noises into the microphone, to another guy that was singing along to the BlackStreet boys.. 'Backstreets back aaiigt', I said if someone starts dancing, I'm gettin the F@#K out of here) I find out that the part that was missing, is an optional part... DOH!

Get out to the entrance and wait until 6:10 for my good friend Vincent (the "cabbie" ) of course my luck dictates that he doesn't show up... great... so I had to grab a cab to get back in time to go to Khane... Thanks Rafiq for the ride...sorry for being late... and the cab costs me 55 DHS... DOH! and I was late, and the damn cab had a governor.. 120kph...any faster and the damn thing beeps at you...BEEP! came back from khane, headed back to the hotel only to find out that they didn't fix the leaky floor in the bathroom... eh, I don't feel like moving rooms tonite, so I'll leave it for tomorrow, already moved rooms once this trip... if they can get it fixed while I am in Abu Dhabi tomorrow, then YAY, if not, I guess I get a new room. Left the hotel, went to look for cell phones... figure I should get one that's unlocked and cheap here. Pop in a Sim card there and Voila..SMS and cheap LD calls... lets see how it works out...

I had a good chicken curry and chapati and paratha (bit spicy) but good, I forgot how yummy the food here is...mmm... and hit the Internet Cafe...

I still have some more stories from Nairobi that are pending, will get them up as soon as I can (maybe on my 13 HOUR NON-STOP FLIGHT TO SYDNEY (how the hell did I agree to that?!?!?!?) ) [had to close both open brackets.. Feisal=Geek]

:)

mmmm....Starbucks

Just finishin off my trademark double short Caramel Machiatto with extra caramel and sugar... is it normal for veins to tingle? lol...

Been at the internet cafe for most of the day, catching up on stuff... dunno if I'll make it to the Jagjit concert today, but am thinking about it, dunno... have to go back to the hotel and see

If anybody is planning on heading to Kenya, please check out a buddy of mines site... he's a great person, has travel experience and will most definately take good care of you


www.gearupngo.com where we approach life as an adventure...

I really should get the hell out of here, been locked up infront of a computer all day... hmm...kinda reminds me of work... ha ha

ah...civilization!

Back in Good Old Dubai!!! lots to do again this time around.. got in last night after a great flight with Emirates... the food ROCKS!! I have to say that they have the best airplane food, it's even better than what I've eaten in some restaurants!
Had the cutest little baby girl sitting next to me... very animated little one, didn't cry very much, and overall fairly well behaved...awww... got into Dubai and at 12:30am it was a whopping 28C (that's +28C for you canadians ..lol..) right now it's about 33 so not too bad. gotta love the humidity :) got a free upgrade at the hotel for one night and stayed in the Deluxe room... very very very nice... I'm now in a normal room :( woke up, headed to McDonalds for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese...mmmm..mmmmm...goood.... can't wait to hit Starbucks for my Caramel Macchiato... YAY... Also saw a guy park his car and put up EnCana Sunshades in the car... really cool to see the old logo.. asked him if he worked for EnCana...dude didn't have a clue what the company was...oh well...still a small world.

lots to do this time around and then off to Aussiland on Monday. I do miss Nairobi very much, the people, the weather, the overwhelming sense of community. The only problem being security and corruption (standy by for a post on Corruption 101)

Safari Adventures....

Here's the long awaited Safari Entry.

Day 1 8am
So after partying all weekend had to wake up bright and early on a sunday morning to head over to the Safari Company and meet our driver!
Paid for the Safari and got our sleeping bags and met Sammy our driver. There were some changes to the intinerary so we headed to Nakuru first. The truck we were in was a Land Cruiser with 2 roof panels that popped open all the way... now this is what I call a Sunroof!! these roads really suck... I have no idea how people do this on a regular basis. In the cruiser was Naomi, Marni and myself... luckily we hadn't picked anybody up yet. The Hotel in Nakuru looked a little shady, weird shower that was right next to the toilet... not too sure about this roughing it thing that we are doing... The bed was uncomfortable and really crappy... oh well ate lunch there and left with a driver named Joshua in a Suzuki Sidekick type car for a game drive in Nakuru national park. Our Land Cruiser went in for repairs.
We drove around the national park, got to see White Rhinos, Flamingoes, Zebra's Gazelles and a whole bunch of other animals...pretty cool stuff. There was lots of dust and so my allergies decided to kick in. lake Nakuru is very pretty... large flat land with trees and then this massive lake filled with flamingoes... we went up to a cliff that serves as a lookout point over the lake...it was quite breathtaking. too lots of pictures...including one that amazed me... here we were in the middle of nowhere and I had cell phone reception... go figure...
Back to the hotel for dinner and a really bad shower..

Day 2

Woke up had breakfast and we were off in the Land Cruiser for some more driving... stopped at a junction point (one of the safari companies transfer points I guess) and picked up Tapan and Rajiv from India, Teddy from Germany, and Martina from Switzerland. The truck was just paked with people... so much for having it all to ourselves :(
more driving on the crappy roads (I mean so bad that at points it was better to drive on the grass/dirt potholes than to attempt the ones on the road...10-15kph max) we finally got to the Masai Mara park and headed over to the Masai Village to see how they live and meet them. REally cool People but the whole experience was very touristy. went on a game drive. We saw lots of nice animals. We then headed over to the campsite... this was entertaining... at least all the tents were already up and had beds in them. A long drop for a bathroom and the showers were outdoor and encased in concrete and no lights...eeewww.... Luckily I got my own tent to sleep in, put up the mosquito net and popped my bags on the other bed. Keeping an open mind.. but boy was this low end... poor Feisal. We ate dinner and made some friends with a group from France, then went to bed and passed out cold...

Day 3 5:30am
Woke up bright and early for a game drive, but before that had a COLD shower in the dark and used the really useless toilet (have they heard of Seats???). Had to stand guard over the showers as the girls had theirs, guess some idiots had tried to get into their tents that morning so they were a little freaked out. Of course THEY get hot water.. hmph... We ate breakfast and took off.. We got to see Lions and Giraffes and Elephants. Gazelles, headed over to the Tanzania and Kenya Border, stopped at this really nice lodge for a bathroom break... Yay Seats!!! saw monkeys and these little cute baby ones too...

Headed off for a picnic lunch at a river wher hippos like to bathe.. Damn them things are HUGE! and Scary... but they make this eh eh eh sound that's entertaining...lol.. The food for a packed lunch was not bad, there was this most excellent Fruit Salad...mmm...'nanas

Went into the park for another Game drive... we saw a black rhino in the bushes near a small pond and proceeded to try and get a better look...guess the Rhino didn't like that too much, it came out of the bushes and growled at us and stomped its feet... a little scary seeing as the thing could very easily kill all of us and overturn the truck we were in... we were lucky... it gave us the "look of death" and then turned around and scampered off into the vast plains of the African savannah. The great thing was that there are very few Black Rhino's in the park... the driver we were with hadn't seen one for 6 months...so we were very, very fortunate to get to see one. We drove around some more, saw more animals and then headed back to "The Camp".

Once back at the camp, some of us headed off on a Masai Walk... this was up to the top of a hillside just in time to witness a spectacular sunset. Well worth the pain... my calves...oweee....Marni and Naomi had no problems at all... me an the other guy...pathetic... I was out of breath in all of umm... say 15 seconds of trekking... :( but boy was the sunset awesome..hopefully the pictures will be up at some point and all of yalls can enjoy. We headed back down and attempted to corrupt (ok I did) and teach him how to tell tourist to watch out for little piles of dung that were on the ground... the girls made reasonable suggestions.. "Watch out for the POOP"..."Look out for the SHIT" ha ha... poor guy... it was fun tho... got back to the campsite and had a hot shower, ate dinner and moved my bags into the girls' room.... I got to sleep with 2 cute women... that was my highlight... of course we were all in different beds and seperated by this silky white material called a MOSQUITO NET!! oh well... :) I barely slept all night... the net wasn't up properly so it was on my head for most of the night. damn thing...

Day 4 5:30am
Woke up bright and early again... headed off for yet another game drive.. saw 2 lions getting it on... quite entertaining... the female gets "seduced" by the male.. which involves him growling and biting her... then he does his thing.. she looks like she couldn't care less... 30 seconds later, he goes into his corner, she stays where she is and they take a nap... hmm... sounds like married life to me... LOL got video of it... can't wait to show you! we left the park..said bye bye to the Masai Mara National Park and headed to the junction point....

We stopped for lunch in Naroc.. .good food, went across the street for some Mango juice.. they make this bottle mango juice called Picana...mmm.mmmm.. good... changed people at the junction and headed off for our last nite... in Naivasha..
Drive was worse than Nakuru... roads really really sucked... I think we would have gotten there faster if we walked! got to Camp Crayfish and I saw tents... thought I might have to camp again.. which would probably involve me slitting my wrists.. or taking a bath in hippo infested waters... anything but camping again :( thank god it had rooms as well. shared shower and toilets (with seats) (the toilet had seats...not the showers...) had a hot water shower (YAY) we went for a walk by the water... heard a hippo.. eh eh eh. Didn't think it was a stupid thing to do at the time, but we went through an electrified fence (you could just detach the "wire" from the hook on the wooden post) walked by the water... came back... freaked the heck out of Marni as I pretended to be "shocked" by the line as I put it back...LOL..Priceless... eh eh eh.... but a few weeks later at another camp, some woman got killed by a Hippo that charged her, threw her into the air and then stomped on her... scary stuff. Saw another beautiful sunset and headed off for Dinner. This menu actually let you choose what you wanted to eat (YAY) then bedtime....

Day 5
Feeling kinda tired and drained in the morning... ate brekky and headed over to Hells Gate National Park. I would have liked to mountain bike into the park... but by the time I remembered, we had already passed the rental shop... Saw more aminals on the way in.. some of the odd names that I was calling them:
Raffi's
LelePhANTS
Zebebra's
Lyons
...Yes I was dropped on my head as a child....and yes, they are called aminals... just like Skizzors and Tynelol.

This place is gorgeous... we headed to the ranger station and then proceeded to trek through the park..which has a gorge and hot springs..without a guide.. they kept trying to give us one.. but we weren't interested... walked around for a bit.. the girls took a break and I proceeded to explore.. headed up to the top of a rock outcropping and snuck up behind (on top) of them... they were at the bottom in a riverbed... pretty cool stuff... they walked up to the top as well and we headed back to the car. Hit the camp for lunch and then back to Nairobi. We saw a gang of Kikuyu youths with sticks and batons and mallets ready to fight.. they were pissed off at the other tribe, the Masai and were gonna go for a rumble in the jungle... kinda scary, but mildly entertaining... the army guys were on standby a few minutes away in case things got out of hand... And before we knew it, we were back in Nairobi... All done Safari :( it was a great time and a great experience and must do for anyone coming down by these parts.

Left the next morning for Mombasa.. mmmm... coast...beach...party...tan..sunburn..party...

Party, Party, Party

Been having way too much fun here, meeting lots of cool people, making new friends and partying lots... dad keeps telling me to come home early... so I've been listening to him... 6am, 7am... lol... the sad part is, in this country its safer to come home at 6am than it is to come home at 2am..

some highlights...
went to a BBQ on Friday, ended up chilling there and all of us Ismaili's (about 20) were singing indian songs until 3am... not something you'd expect to do in Canada (as far as I know)
Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing night, went out to Iguana (a lounge) then went to Carnivore (my favorite club in the world..ok, the old FX in Missisauga is #1 but that's not open anymore...) and then back to Iguana...went to bed at 4:30 and had dad waking me up at 8 b/c he needed help at the restaurant... aargh... I guess I should be careful... wouldn't want to get grounded... ROTFLMAO....

Sunday I was out until the wee hours of the morning as well... good thing I took it easy on Monday and Tuesday... can't beleive that I only have a week left... It's a hard life waking up somewhere between 11am and 2pm everyday... very hard life...

c ya's