Barney-Stins-ome!

Yet again, Dubai is the subject of my blog this time around too. But I swear, its not like the older 'boring-philosophy-stuff-to-go-with-a-bunch-of-photos-I-took-during-my-vacation' kind of.

Christmas vacation this time was so awesome I just can't find words to describe it. Probably cuz going to Dubai again in 6 months since last time was totally unexpected or maybe cuz its been 5 months since then that I'm writing about it that I can't actually remember what all we did there...NOT! It was actually awesome!

No matter how 'you-can't-explain-how-good-your-vacation-was-to-someone-y' it is, there are a few memories that stand out.

Road trip to Fujairah, one of the most beautiful places to visit in UAE. It was a good trip. And I remember my dad and brother fighting about how you had the choice to swim to Pakistan or Iran?! XD

Then there's a whole lot of Dubai-sh memories and then there's New Year's eve. To be honest, I've never actually seen a firework show. Or now when I think about it, a 'proper' and 'safe' firework show. Well, that's a little inside joke for my friends(Sreyas, Nihal, Jishaan, Mappu, Nithul :D) and I. And to see it from Burj Khalifa was simply awesome. Countdown to 12 with a huge crowd, and watching the firework work its magic like it's not gonna end, through the viewfinder, of course. I refused my brother's advice to stop with the photos and enjoy the show which I regret now, looking at the photos that came out.

BBQ at a park. Sounds plain. BBQ in the evening in Dubai. Okay. BBQ in the daytime in Dubai. Now, that's priceless :D This being my first visit to Dubai during the winter. Aweome place. Awesome time. Awesome people. Awesome food. Awesome :D (Awesome count this post : 8 :P) Oh, and mind you, flying a kite is not easy as it sounds. We gave the rest of the crowd at the park a great time looking like retards, though :P

And that's how my awesome vacation ended..

BAZINGA! Haha, actually, now this is where it gets so awesome I feel like Barney Stinson, "What up!"

On the 2nd of January, and the last day of my vacation. I was quite literally on cloud 9. I got to see footballing legends Nesta, Inzaghi, Gattuso, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Ibrahimovic, Pato, Robinho right in front of my eyes and get their autographs! I couldn't ask for anything more. 

AC Milan, fortunately for me, had a friendly with Dubai's local club Al-Ahli. I was gonna miss that but I could squeeze in to one of their practice sessions as it was open to public for free. When you see them walk up to you to sign your book(for once, I'm grateful to Engineering Graphics cuz the only book I had in my backpack was the drawing book :D), you go speechless. As in, you feel like telling something but you go numb head to toe. Especially when Aquilani came up, I wanted to say "Stay at Liverpool, Aqua!" But all I did was stand like a frozen rock. 

When it was Ibra's turn, its a totally different feeling though. He is scary, standing 18 feet tall with a "terminator" look on his face. Plus the fact that he's a taekwondo black belt. When Seedorf or Pato shoots the ball, it rips the net off. Ibra played defense during the practice session and he shoots the ball from 20 yards out, the crossbar vibates so hard, it reminds you of Physics lab in 12th grade :P

The reasons to why I was so fascinated about seeing AC Milan's first team for real are

1. They're one of the oldest football clubs in the world

2. We(Liverpool FC0 beat them in Istanbul in 2005 which is the best game of football I've ever watched.

3. David Beckham, my idol played for the club on loan twice, last year

4. Aquilani who's loaned out from Liverpool is currenly playing for them.

5. Ibrahimovic! :D

P.S : More photos on the facebook page.

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Dubai

I was quite excited to come to Dubai not only cuz it will be fun spending (probably) the last month of a strangely long vacation with my siblings and their family, it will mean escape from the monsoon. But apparently, I forgot how it feels like when it's around 45 degrees outside. Besides a few expensive recreational activities, there isn't much you can do in Dubai in the summer unless you want to literally cook yourself. So, "shapping malls"(in a mallu accent) it was. When the rest of the group goes shopping(or window shopping), I walk around taking photos. Actually I enjoyed it cuz of three reasons:

1. In Dubai, man-made wonder replaces nature, or at least I think that is what they're trying to :P Where Burj Khalifa = The Grand Canyon, The Palm Islands = Lakshwadeep (I know, I know. That's not even a valid comparison, but you get the point) and so on. When we went to Palm Jumeirah, just being there gave me tingles. It was beautiful but..I don't know, there was something strange about the place,

2. This is something I can't do freely back at my place. The way I see it, if someone does something different or don't do something others don't, he/she is out of their minds and whatever. Not that I give a damn about it, but it pricks; and finally

3. I get to do this with my brother's Canon EOS 400D! But the downside is, every time you think you got hold of using it, there's bad news. I still have a long way to go.

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The beach

When I was in primary school, going to the beach 2 and a half kilometers away used to be a luxury. Even if the grown ups take us there, there's always the "dont-go-near-the-water" rule. We would be taken to a cliff nearby and show us the beach. It was almost like watching a video from a distance and that too annoying cuz we could see other kids playing in the water. I mean, whats the fun in going to the beach and not getting drenched in the water or making sandcastles or playing football or taking a walk in the hot sand, barefoot, licking an ice cream cone? Yep, it was that terrible. This summer vacation, I fell in love with the beach all over again. There's no other place in my town where I actually enjoy which maybe the reason, but that's not my point.

I literally spent a huge chunk of my time at the beach either playing football, swimming or just taking a walk watching other people. From homeless people to fishermen(yes, they do fishing at the beach :D) to amateur teams playing beach football to couples to people playing fetch with their dogs to people like me. It's teh place to relax. Especially for me, to cool down from the entrance exams that just finished, to stop worrying about other things. The hot sun and the cold water, equally soothing. 'Going to the beach' clichéd among my friends. As in, whenever we hung out, (not the Google plus hangout, the real ones ;) ) wherever we go, whatever we do, we finally end up there. Like there's a gravitational pull. And then we sit on the sand just watching the waves and controlling the temptation of going into the water. But, eventually we all go back home drenched. And, some of them had to travel a long distance by bus. It was terrible, but it was fun at the same time.

 

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Innocence

 

"My heart leaps up when I behold
 A Rainbow in the sky:
 So was it when my life began;
 So is it now I am a man;
 So be it when I shall grow old,
 Or let me die!
 The Child is father of the man;
 And I wish my days to be
 Bound each to each by natural piety."

                        -William Wordsworth

Adults confuse me. They live in a world of their own. They preach something and practice something else. They say they're mature but waste a huge part of their lives fighting on the simplest of all things, making simple things complicated. They worry about things that won't happen. They make and break laws whenever they like. Everything wrong they do has a cause. It's for the good. They give up happiness for other things that they think is more important.

But, in every man is a child. Innocence. Longing to jump and play, to shout and have fun, to live carefree, to enjoy the small things in life. But they refrain. It's that one small thing that separates adults from children. It's not something that they've learnt growing up, but forgot. As an adolescent, I'm right between the two but it's certainly not best of both worlds.

It's kind of pointless wishing my niece turning two tomorrow a happy birthday let alone through the Internet, so this is a little something to mark the day. Happy Birthday :)

 

 

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