Hochiminh City, Vietnam

I will be off to Vietnam for a couple of weeks....business cum a bit of leisure.

Hope to surprise http://vietnamesegod.blogspot.com/

Will definitely try out some of the restaurants he reccommended on his blog...and revisit Qbar...hopefully it is still as cool. My biggest desire is to meet my god-brother Viet whom i lose contact with for a few years now. He was barely 10 when i met him one fateful night in Ho Chi Minh City...working as a shoe-shine boy for a mere US$1 per day! To cut the long story short...I enrolled him for an english course in an American school. The last i heard from him...he was doing well...working in a cafe...speaking good english.

source of photo: http://www.easia-adventures.com/sites/hochiminhcity.htm

Dubai Metro

The Saeediya Station will be along the green line...and currently...looking out from my balcony...excavation work is on day and night...even during the wee hours....u can hear the pounding sound in your dream. Luckily, i doze off easily inspite of the irritating noise. Madam Tango left before she becomes crazy!

But I am a bit worried because the excavation work is less than 6 metres from the existing Musallah Residence where Im staying....yet to see any cracked line...touch wood. What about the foundation? will it not be affected ?or am I the only resident left because I noticed for the past 2 weeks.....most of the lights in the entire building were off? Anyway, some facts and figures of the Metro to excite you:

Features of the Lines:
Single largest automatic driverless system in the world
Red Line -52.1 km and 28 stations. These include 24 elevated and 4 underground.
Red Line - scheduled for completion on 9th September, 2009 while contract commenced on 21st August, 2005
The underground stations for the Red Line are Burjuman, Union Square, Al Rigga and Port Sayed
Green Line - 17.6 km and 14 stations
Hours of operation - 05H00 to 00H30
Average Speed - 40kph
Interchange underground stations at Burjuman and Union Square
Red Line:
5 car train - this includes carriage for VIPS, Women and Children
Fully Air conditioned trains and stations
Retail facilitates at stations
Green Line:
3 car train - this includes carriage for VIPS, Women and Children
Fully Air conditioned trains and stations
Retail facilitates at stations

http://www.dubaimetro.info/en/

Cyclone Gonu

"Cyclone hit the Emirates"
"Destruction in Fujairah"

"Mohammad Ali Sultan, a Fujairah resident said the whole situation reminds him of the Indonesia tsunami. He said: “It’s just like the Tsunami, as water is pushing on slowly from the shore, but it is just beginning, soon it will reach the houses on the other side of the road from the beach”.
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Environment/10130200.html

I was planning to visit Fujairah yesterday until my client called to postpone the appointment. They have two projects by the sea and the management was sensible enuff to halt the work. And the same guy who called was laughing over the other end..."We are off to the beach to watch the once in a lifetime spectacular!"
The visibility level in Dubai was bad yesterday as well. However, I thought it was much cooler.

The last time I experienced a nerve wrecking storm was in Kurobe, Japan. The wind was so strong that I was literally stuck onto a lamp post for a good 5 minutes...cross my heart, no exaggeration!

Well...i think i should stop working hard for the next couple of days...until Gonu is pacified.

By the way...the stupid guy who went to watch the "spectacular" is still alive.

My Private Pool....

Well almost....kiki the birdie has also chosen to make the pool her permanent home. With a bit of celebrity status that she's enjoying now...the diva has gone bonker! Two weeks ago, she actually bite my finger when I tried to give her a piece of apple.

Anyway, the pool is on the 14th floor....the smaller one is a jacuzzi. Normally, I am alone. The other residents...mainly europeans choose to come out in the evening when the sun has gone home....for fear of skin cancer i think. Perfect for me! I stopped going to the beach....overcrowded. And with the new "what you should and should not wear on the beach" code..I think it is better to stay away...otherwise some idiots might report you to the petrolling police for indecent exposure! Having said that...there are really some idiots on the beach...u know who u are.....who couldn't care less even if there have nothing on! I have seen one fat couple who stripped to the butt....oblivious to those around. Subsequently, I had nightmare for a week.

Dubailand

In the next couple of years, I cannot think of any country embarking on such a massive project. Dubailand will simply blow your mind away. It will be the mecca of commercialisation of the highest order. Check this out:


Dubailand will cover an area of 3 billion square feet
Dubailand has 7 themes: Theme parks, culture & art, science & planetariums, sports & sports academies, wellbeing & health, shopping & retail and resorts & hotels
Dubailand has a total of 45 mega projects
Projects currently operational include: Autodrome, Polo & Equestrian Club and Al Sahra Desert Resort
Dubailand expects a footfall of 200,000 visitors a day and 15 millions visitors a year once fully operational
The diverse projects under Dubailand include theme parks, eco-tourism projects, shopping malls, restaurants and residential units that are being developed by UAE, GCC and international investors
Dubailand will have a minimum of 55 hotels within its geographical location
Dubailand projects a population of 2.5 million people, which includes tourists, workers and residents, once fully operational


http://www.dubailand.ae/facts_figures.html

Last month... I was at the ATM (Arabian Travel Market) exhibition..for the sole purpose of visiting the Dubailand pavilion. Look at some of the project details...there's the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, Eiffel Tower, London Bridge.......it's just unbelievable! And Universal Studio will be there as well.

2010....the magic number....I think I should be around to witness history in the making...don't envy me!