Eid Mubarak everyone!

Here's wishing you all Eid Mubarak and a happy new year!

May this year bring all the joy and happiness and may you realise your dreams!

Oh... and enjoy the holidays!!!

Abu Dhabi International Motor Show

Went to the Abu Dhabi International Motor Show yesterday. Here are some selected pics I took from my N80. Personally, Dubai's motor show is waaaaaay better than this one!

Abu Dhabi Mina

Last weekend I went to Abu Dhabi and I went to the Mina area with some friends. I remember this place from many years ago. It was a small, sandy strip of land by the creek where people would go to just sit and relax. You could get some tea from the cafeteria, park your car in front of the ocean and sip in tranquility.

The new Mina is totally different. It’s been expanded and paved up and a whole new road leads towards it. I don’t know if this place existed before and they just dusted it up and opened it for the public, but it’s pretty huge. I went there after midnight and the place was bustling with people. It’s like a mini runway with street lights through the middle and the cars are parked all around the edges. It’s hard to find a good spot to park your car. People are sitting on canvas mats and portable chairs, smoking shisha, talking, laughing and just enjoying the chilly night. Many nationals were folk dancing in their kandoorahs to the local music playing on their car stereos.

A few meters away from here is another little strip of land which is identical to this one, except that there is a long line of old, decrepit wooden boats and dhows lying in the center, a picture of which is seen below. Many have broken rudders or shattered decks. Others have cracked masts or the whole body just cut in half. It’s a boats graveyard. The once proud warriors that braved the rough seas are now too old and weak to stay afloat. Looking at them under the yellow hue of the street lamps, they looked magnificent, yet at the same time they emanated a feeling of sorrow for their collapse.

It was an interesting and peaceful 1 ½ hour spent in Mina. Maybe you guys should check it out too if you haven’t yet already.

Dubai Deira Creek

Some pics I took today from Deira creek in the afternoon. Instead of of going for lunch, I went for a walk with a can of Mirinda in one hand and my trust Nokia N80 in the other. Hope you like 'em. I think it also goes well with the current theme of "water" on the Global Themes blog. Sexy weather too!

Do You Know...

Stop the music video, turn up the volume, click play on the flash file and prepare to laugh your undies off!!!

Iraq Study Group Report

The Iraq Study Group (ISG), also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, or simply the Baker Commission, was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations. It was first proposed by Virginia Republican Representative Frank Wolf.

The Iraq Study Group was facilitated by the United States Institute of Peace, who released the Iraq Study Group's final report on their Website on December 6, 2006.

The ISG was led by co-chairs James Baker, a former Secretary of State (Republican) and Lee Hamilton (Democrat), a former U.S. Representative and the vice chair of the 9/11 Commission. It was also composed of four additional Republicans and four additional Democrats.

President Bush said he would not accept every recommendation by the ISG panel but promised that he would take the report seriously. President Bush is expected to wait for three other studies from the Pentagon, the US State Department and the National Security Council before charting the new course on Iraq. On US foreign policy, President Bush warned that he would only talk to Iran if it suspended uranium enrichment and bring Syria on board if it stops funding the insurgency in Lebanon, extends support to the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and provides economic help to Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called the group's conclusions "very dangerous" to Iraq's sovereignty and constitution, according to CNN. "As a whole, I reject this report," Talabani said.

** Excerpts taken from Wikipedia

The full report is available here from the United States Institute of Peace

Fun In The Desert!

Last Thursday we went quad biking in the desert! Awesome weather at around 4pm. The drive towards Hatta was enjoyable too. This time I had a 500cc AWD bike. It's like a rocket!!! I have some pics and videos for you to check out. I'm the one in the red t-shirt on the red bike. BTW... if you're new at quad biking, start with the 200cc first. It's smoother and more stable. You can learn better on it. Anyways, let the show begin!

That's me! The first one to jump! Do not try this at home kids!!!

Blood Groups

General information. Good to know. Not much work to do in the office today... oh and Kaya... I just had to write it!! :D

Who Wants Some?

Got it in the mail today...

License to give BLOOD!

Let's B+ about this!

Welcome Back Clayfuture!

Ok.. so I'm back after a short but unwanted break! My webpage was all screwed up. All of you must have gotten the blank, white page when you tried to check my blog! At first I thought it's a glitch from Blogger, but after a few days I got a little concerned.. maybe I've lost my blog! Oh no!! Blogger Help didn't do shit! Their forums are so confusing! So I left a comment in Kaya's blog hoping for someone to respond.. and Destitute Rebel came to my rescue. Told me to check my template.. I did.. I tweaked it a little and I'm back! Thanks dude!!!

So... Here is what I did in the last 10 days. I'll keep it short so you don't lose interest, unless you're yawning already!!

On 24th Nov. I went for the Khaleej Times desert adventure. There were almost 600 cars waiting to go dune bashing. We went through Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and ended up in Ras Al Khaimah where we had a not-so-good BBQ lunch. I wasn't too concerned about the food, coz unlike most people, my friends and I had already taken little snacks to munch on the way so we don't starve! It was a good ride, especially watching the newbie drivers who got stuck in the sand with their Hummers and other big cars!!! Ha!! Later, me and the gang went to UAQ to check out the big dune and relax a little, in the middle of nowhere! 12 hrs in the desert is quite tiring!

25th to 30 Nov. I was busy with office work, trying to finish everything before the 2 days weekend. I managed to finish most of it!

Thursday night we went to watch Casino Royale, coz I missed it the week before. Frankly, I like the new Bond. He's a darker version of all the Bonds. More on the action side, he's wearing more casual attire than usual, which makes it easier in one-on-one combat than wearing a tuxedo and doing it! In fact, I only liked the new Bond during the first half, coz in the second half of the movie, he somehow turns into a pussycat! I mean.. what the fuck!! James Bond cannot say I love you!! He's not that type! I'm sure all the ladies liked the new, more sensitive 007... but this is ridiculous!! and he resigns from his job for a woman!! What the fuck!! He hardly drove the new Aston Martin DBS and crashed it. I think he ran more kilometers on foot than he drove the Aston!!! I like the new Bond, but the movie was a disaster!

Friday afternoon I went with friends towards Hatta to go dune bashing on quad bikes. Fantastic weather! It was cloudy and rained a little while in the city. When we reached near Hatta it was raining heavily and was really windy. Would have been amazing to ride the bikes in the rain, but it stopped soon after. We had a lot of fun though. Although some silly mistakes were also the order of the day. One girl fell off the bike coz she braked too hard ripped a couple of tissues in her leg. It was pretty bad. Guess she won't be coming next time!! Another friend crashed into a steel fence. Got his arm all scratched and broke the bike's accelerator lever. Had to pay for it on the spot! All the others fell off, but not too bad. However, yours truly is good at this shit and can give you all a few pointers on how NOT to fall off the bike!! Check out the 2 pics taken in that area. They're grainy coz it was getting dark and we were using our mobile cameras! For a moment I thought of leaving it as it is, but then again... how we bloggers like to remain anonymous! Maybe next time!

Saturday evening went with a few friends to city center. Made a mistake coz it was raining all day yesterday. Some traffic signals were off and the cars were all jammed up! It took me 45 minutes to move a about 100 meters and into the city center parking lot! DAMN!!!! That was so frustrating!!! I bought the 2 DVD set of Scarface and had a calorie filled cinnamon roll from Cinnabon! Yummy!

All in all, it was an interesting few days!

Rock on!!!

Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing a cap or a helmet. My hair was full of sand and from the strong winds, it looked like I got an electric shock!