I honestly enjoy going to Borders the most at Mall of the Emirates, I can spend hours there just browsing through all the books that I would want to purchase and then there are the magazines, and more books later on. I have always wanted to grab all the books that I want to read, but after going through so many bookstores over the years I have come up with just a rule to only buy one book per visit that way I manage to go through the books I buy but that isn’t the case really. I forget about the books that I order online after making a note of them after visiting the bookstore. Recently I have had that much time to read all the books that I want but still I’m always happy to have a selection to choose from when picking up the next book. Going through Borders or any bookstore gets me thinking of what books I’m missing so that gets me searching more for other books and looking for other recommendations.
Whenever I come to Dubai the first thing I do is look at the movie list, and I see what is playing the Gold Class screens. Those listings for the Gold Class movies are only until Friday so they change, and I head over only when I finish up my work. The best part is the large selection of movies they have, they do have some old movies and new movies but at least a selection of uncensored movies.
For the first time I managed to see a movie I wanted in the Gold Class theater, and its was as good as everyone said it was. The lazy boys are fantastic and you can really relax, the service is great since everything is brought to you. I was with a friend and he told me they have everything on the menu. I asked them for a hot dog and they had different kinds, so I thought to try it out and ordered a chili-hot dog and I think they mixed chilli with tabasco because it was burning hot. I was really enjoying the movie, and I got real comfortable in the seat too bad the other movie in the Gold Class is one I don’t want to watch.
This current trip was a sudden trip and there seems to be a couple of conventions taking place in Dubai so hotel and flights bookings are bit of an issue. After going through all my options I had three Jazeera, Kuwait Airways, and Emirates Airways. I wanted Emirates but I had an early morning meeting this Friday so I couldn’t take their morning flight, and later in the day only Kuwait Airways is available around 4pm, and the Emirates flight later in the night too late for me.
Since Emirates Airlines flight is either full or a difficult timing I can only take Kuwait Airways for a direct flight. From my previous experience with Kuwait Airways in July, I said I wouldn’t fly with them if it is at all possible. With the help of the travel agents they found an direct Jazeera flight which makes one stop on the way to Dubai which I don’t mind. That is a lot better then flying Kuwait Airways in my opinion. It seems a lot of people are still returning from vacation, there is a lot of planes which are filled in every direction and I thought they might be empty but I was wrong.
The funny part is that whenever I book anywhere in the MiddleEast its always through a travel agent, and if I’m traveling inside Europe or the US I will book online. The only way online booking will really flourish in Kuwait is when the online payment systems really work and smoothly. I was having this discussion with a few people who have tried, they make it nearly impossible and when they say they can do it, it doesn’t work. Its been years and they haven’t worked out the kinks in the online payment system.
This is probably one of the most useful flight trackers I have seen yet. They provide live information about the flight, and if there are any delays. So if you know the flight you are supposed to be traveling on in the morning you can tell if its going to be late or early on arrival, so you know if your departure is going to be late. The input for the search is very intuitive, you can search with multiple feeds. Currently live maps only work for domestic and international flights which are over the Continental US and Canada, for other countries they will give you detailed information about the flight and the status of the flight which is great. You can also review flight times of any of the airlines so then you may
Search Fields:
- It auto completes for airports and airlines, and they have the full list of both
- You can enter by destination and then choose from a list of times if the route has multiple flights
- You can search directly by flight number
- You can also try a random flight just to see the tracking system, but there have to be active flights in US at the time.
Link: FlightStats
Link: FlightStats – Tracker
I seemed to have missed pictures of Santana Row that I had in another folder. I took a lot of pictures on this trip, so I’m putting these up as well. Whats nice about the place is that you can do some furniture shopping as well as home accessories then get something to eat in any of the cafes and restaurants, you have a lot to choose from. I just wish the road was a lot longer so that there would be more places and you can cruise down there a little more.
My usual stops:
- Best Buy (Electronics)
- Crate and Barrel (Furniture)
- Straits (Asian/Cuban Fusion)
- Maggianos (Italian Food)
- Borders Books
- Style & Form (Furniture)
- The Counter (Amazing Burger Place)
- Blowfish Sushi (Funky Sushi)
- Design Within Reach (Furniture)
I think I’m forgetting a few of the places off the top of my head.
The one thing that they did with this development was to make apartments and townhouses for rent, if they were selling them people would buy right away. How nice would it be to live over an area to be considered the Rodeo Drive of Northern California. What I like the most are the boutique stores, they specifically got a lot of different kinds of boutique stores. The best part is there is a lot of parking on all the different sides.
Link: Santana Row Shopping
This is one of the places that was developed just towards the end of my college years, it a really nice posh street with lots of cafes and restaurants with a great view. They are trying to replicate the idea of Rodeo Drive in Northern California and I think its is great. Its really expensive to rent there and a lot of shops don’t survive but there are a lot of good restaurants there. There is every kind of shop you could look for from furniture, clothes, accessories, electronics, and more. The best part is the scenery, of course you can spend the whole day there and on Sundays they close it off to have a sort of farmer’s market for artists. And if you get tired from that there is a movie theater right across the street.
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When I got on the plane at San Francisco Airport I had a long night hanging out with all my friends and only getting three hours worth of sleep. My flight was an early afternoon flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt which is 11 hours long, then a 3.5 hour lay over at Fraport, then a 5 hour flight from Frankfurt to Kuwait.
From the moment I got the airport I felt tired, but I was also hungry. A friend of mine called in late to work and took me to the airport and we were listening to Howard Stern the whole drive up. I’m not one for goodbyes and so I just head out tell people I will see them later, especially since I’m really close with a lot of the guys there. I’m just happy I took a lot of pictures, and enjoyed my time with them, I’m very happy for all of them when I see them doing good.
I always think about everything that just took place as soon as I get on the plane, and I knew that I was going get some sleep on the plane. As soon as I got on I ate lunch while watching some anime, and it was about two hours in when I fell asleep, and I only woke up 40 minutes before the plane landed, so I managed to sleep about 8 hours which felt great. The one thing I don’t like about Lufthansa is the layover at Fraport since there isn’t a good place to eat and nothing much to do since their magazine place “Relay” doesn’t have too much of a choice. I watched some anime while at the lounge which killed sometime until my flight to Kuwait, then I headed over to the gate since it was 40 minutes before boarding.
As soon as I got comfortable I switched on my laptop, plugged in the power connector, and kept watching as much anime as possible. I felt a little tired so I took a nap and when I woke up the plane was 30 minutes from landing. And my sleep has almost been adjusted in Kuwait but its still a little off, I feel a little tired around the afternoon since I went right into work the next day without recouping for the long flight!
We went to Las Vegas for Labor Day weekend, and we were 11 guys and one of my friends organized the whole trip from A to Z. He wanted to surprise me and one of my friends who is getting married at the end of the year. One of the things that he organized was the JT Concert and even though we were all a bunch of guys we were looking forward to it since we knew he was going to be damn good.
First off there are two things you hear in that concert, one is the music and second is the high pitch scream of every women in the vicinity of that hall! I think I lost some of my hearing from the screams coming from behind me. My friend did a great job with the tickets we were about 25 meters from the stage on an elevated area so it was pretty good and we got a good view.
My hat goes off to the guy, he is even better live then when you hear his music on the CD. You can’t help but get up and dance with the beats vibrating through the whole Mandalay Concert Hall. We were lucky we were staying at the hotel, the whole thing was packed. If you ever get a chance to see this guy live then go for it, I know I would go see him again thats for sure.
Check out this youtube link of the Manadalay Show but the audio quality isn’t the greatest but it gives you an idea.
Link: YouTube
This has been one hell of a trip! I didn’t have a chance to sit down or stop to breath! Always running around and doing something which is great. My vacation started around the end of August and I just came back after two and half weeks. And these weeks went by very quickly! I managed to do a lot during my time there but most of it was going out with friends, sports, riding, and a few other activities.
Time Spent:
- Los Angeles 11%
- Las Vegas 27%
- San Francisco/ Bay Area 62%
When I was in the Bay Area I would stay with a friend since I’m there 90% of the time and during the day I would go riding and meet up people for lunch which was fun. I was also doing a lot of paper work for some things that I am working on in the states. I was riding and driving like a demon in the states which had its results.
For the short amount of time that I spent there I got 3 speeding tickets (96 mph, 90 mph, 80+ mph). Two of the cops were nice about it because all they saw was a blur and I was going a lot faster then 96 mph, and one cop was rediculous but like any place with rules you have to know the loop holes to get out of the points from these tickets. I tried going to the movies but I didn’t have enough time. One thing to mention, I managed to go to the Justin Timberlake show in Las Vegas, and as a man I have to admit that his show was nothing short of amazing, that guy can put on a show.
The weather was so nice I was always trying to do things and staying outside, the best part was driving with the top down in the amazing sunny California weather. The amazing feeling of a cold breeze while racing across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to head to our diner for a bite to eat.
I have just arrived in LA after a nice long flight! I really do enjoy long flights since I get to eat, sleep, eat, and sleep without any issues. I also have a large amount of anime on my hard drive to watch so that is something which will kill some time. But my battery died after the first 2.5 hours, but then I went to sleep.
As soon as I arrive, I’m going to the hotel and then straight to family for the day. Going to check on my nephew who had a recent accident and I rought a gift with me which will hopefully entertain him for time he can’t go out with his family and do things. I remember getting gifts when you have a broken foot or arm is always something to make your day better.
I was a bit worried when going to immigrations since my passport only had four months left, but they didn’t say anthing at the counter in Kuwait. And the German Immigaraion didnt say anything since I had to go out of the International Terminal to get to the nice First Class Lounge.
There was a huge cue for the US immigrations so I had to wait about 40 minutes before getting to the counter, and they asked me the usual questions. I give them very blunt answers which usually satisfies them. Then I got stopped at customs and they pulled me aside for about an hour going through my things and asking a lot of questions, which I answered to the fullest, and I told them I was hungry since it was a long flight. As soon as I walked out of the airport it was a cool breeze and sunny weather. Today was going to be a good day.