Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Hello friends,

It is with much disappointment that I am writing this post. My friend I went to see the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, which is based on book # 5. Book # 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is about to be released soon here in the UAE, and there is just so much mega-excitement all over town, to the point where one superstore is bringing a Daniel Radcliffe lookalike to town to take pictures with the kids (lame I think!)

The Order of Phoenix was a very drab affair. The formula for the movie seemed pretty much like the first part, where we see Harry suffer with his relatives and being teased by his cousin. An owl sends a message to Harry, whereby he is told he is expelled from Hogwarts because he used his magic powers outside of school. Yawn! There is a court scene where they decide whether to keep Harry in school or expel him. Yawn! A new professor comes to Hogwarts and restricts everything for the kids. Yawn! Harry starts up his own army to fight Lord Voldemort and in the process starts to develop romantic feelings for an Asian girl (who is conveniently forgotten at the end of the movie!) Yawn! Harry starts to feel the evil inside of him (pretty much like Spiderman who had this evil nature in him in part 3) Yawn! A final climatic battle takes place, and everything is resolved and the kids go back home in their train! YAWN!

I didn't understand what the hype was all about. Sure, it's an interesting movie, but the predictability factor set in and everything I was seeing in this movie, I had seen before. There was nothing new to it, apart from a couple of new creatures and characters, which wasn't good because Harry's friend Ron was relegated into the background! However it was refreshing to see the kids grown up and at times it felt like this was not a kiddie movie anymore. Harry Potter 5 is a serious, dark movie with a lot of underlying adult themes and with a lot more talking and less action. No doubt, the visual effects were amazing, but that didn't help me retain my interest in the movie like the first 3 parts.

If this is the way part 6 and 7 will be like, then I say there should be no more books after part 7. I hope they do something drastic and bring new stuff to the next sequel.

As for now, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gets a 2 out 5 for me.

Mansur

A Salute to Dubai

Hello friends,

Now that I am preparing to leave Dubai for good, I thought I would do a quick recap of all the good moments I have had in Dubai. More than the city itself, I think what made my stay memorable here were my friends and the fun things we got to do together. I don't even know where to start: concerts, desert safari, rain dance, countless dinners and movies, ski Dubai, beaches, snorkel ling, Hatta trips, museums, art exhibitions, dining in fancy five start restaurants, seeing Burj Al Arab from the inside, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain trips, malls, shopping, Global Village, Dubai Shopping Festival, Wild Wadi and the list goes on. Sadly enough, there have also been some tragic moments here in Dubai, of which I will not get into because I want to leave with good memories. :-)

So a salute to Dubai for giving me an amazing 8 years, and I hope I get to live here again sometimes soon (right after all the traffic mess is sorted out and construction has been completed!)

Mansur

Surprise Farewell!

Hello friends,

On Thursday night, I made plans to hang out with Sam. I gave him the option of meeting wherever and wherever and he came back to me asking to meet up with him at the Jumeirah Beach Park. I was a little late getting there, and when I did, I was not allowed in. It was after a little bit of haggling with the local lady inside the booth that she let me in. I met up with Sam, and we sat down on the grass. I thought maybe this would be the last time I would get to hang out with him.

I don't know how to explain to you what happened next. The quietness that Sam and I were in was suddenly pierced with loud shouts, and from behind me Adam, Karun and Gaelle jumped on me, screaming as loud as they could. It was just a YELL! A SCREAM I can not tell you how shocked I was. I had a million swear words running in my head, and I had to cover my mouth to prevent myself from saying out all the expletives! (I always cover my mouth everytime I want to say a swear word!) It was so surreal, I literally had to take deep breaths as I savored the moment. Now there 7 more people in the group!





After the initial shock and surprise, we went to the local cafeteria and had dinner and juices. There is just something about this group of people that lifts my spirits. Just being their presences gives me so much comfort and joy, I cannot even begin to explain why. We hung out at Nisin's place where we stayed till 1am. It certainly was a surprise to see everyone giving me such an awesome farewell. These are friends who I know I will cherish, and for them to even think of doing something like this for meant the world to me. I love the fact that I have international friends. Let me count the nationalities in this group: Pakistani (1), Indian (2), Egyptian/ Scot (2), Germany (2), Cameroon (1), Argentinian (1).


Mansur

Road Trips

Hello friends,

I know I have been out of the loop for a while. Things have just got so hectic here with my packing up and leaving Dubai, I don't even know where to begin sharing about my experiences. I finally managed to furnish my apartments at International City, and am waiting now for suitable tenants. Once that's done, then I will get a steady source of income for myself.

Last Friday, a bunch of us went to Abu Dhabi for a road trip, and to check out the Emirates Palace Hotel there. It was my first time to Abu Dhabi, and we all had a great time, checking out the city, hanging out and spending a lot of time at the Emirates Palace Hotel, which indeed is very palatial and much much better than the Burj Al Arab. We checked out the Marina Mall, where we had ice cream, and then later proceeded to the Corniche. Abu Dhabi is about 1.5 hours away from Dubai, and it's a long drive, but with great company in my car, the long drive became all the more worthwhile!


Two days ago, we went to Al Ain to meet up with my friend Sam there. Al Ain was my first time as well, and we had a blast in the car, with loud music, and a video being made. Al Ain was certainly a wonderful road trip, with a lot of greenery and a very idyllic and laid back atmosphere. It almost didn't seem like I was in UAE anymore. At the food court, Sam recommended to us the Egyptian Kofta grill sandwich was surprisingly quite good.

We also celebrated a friend's birthday at TGI Fridays, which also became an opportunity for my small circle of friends to spend our last moments together and share our thoughts. I had them sign a picture frame, in which I would put our pictures.

I am leaving Dubai for good on Saturday morning, and moving back to Lahore, Pakistan. I have very mixed feelings as I prepre myself mentally to go back home and leave my friends behind here.

Mansur

17 Years Later

Hello friends,

I didn't know what my friend would look like. It would be 17years since I last saw him in Jeddah. It was quite a surprise when I received the phone call right out of the blue!

"Mansur, it's me Omair!"

I didn't have the words to react and all I could do was blurt out: OMAIR!

My mind was transported back to the early 90s when he was still there in Jeddah. Everything came back in seconds: the house, he and his family, the swimming pool we all swam in, the musical evenings we attended at his house and much much more. It was with much excitement and anticipation that I was waiting with to see him after 17 years.

Naturally, he was shocked to see me grown so tall, for he remembered me as a kid, when I was a mere 13years old, and shorter than him. I remembered him as being our big brother in school. He was also in a popular school play, and he had this role of a rock star, and so I kind of looked up to him as a big brother. Back to 2007, we had a lot of catching up to do. Since my parents were here too, he and I could not really catch up on a lot since. I told him directly: I need to lock you and I up in a solitary room and catch up on the last 17 years.

Last night, we went out for dinner, with another Jeddah friend. It was a lot of fun catching up and reminiscing old Jeddah memories, ranging from camel meat in Balad, to Conti school days, to Saudi Channel 2 to Jamel the Camel! I wish I could get into the details of all that we talked, but a lot of it was personal stuff.

Old Jeddah Buddies: Me, Mariam, Omair

17 years is a long time to meet up with an old Jeddah friend. Surely, it was the sweetest thing!

Mansur

The Last Supper

Hello friends,

Because I am leaving Dubai to go back to Pakistan soon, I treated out three of my friends to Noodle House at Madinat Jumeirah. Noodle House is one of my favorite places to have dinner. It's a blend between a casual- fine dining experience. They are famous for their noodles-- in my opinion, their roasted duck is the best dish there-- and their food is consistently delicious.

When we got there, we had to wait for about 40 minutes to get a table for four. That's how popular it is. We all took this opportunity to share with each other with what's been happening in our lives. I always enjoy spending time with these friends because with them, I can be who I really am. I can shed my inhibitions and just be who I am.

40 minutes later, we get our table and we were really hungry by this time. We ordered our drinks- my passion sensation was truly awesome, and the others ordered four season Asian, a concoction of various fruits. To help my friends know what to order, I had the waitress show us a sample of the different kind of noodles available: shanghai, Singaporean, egg and one more I can't recall now. They were certainly amazed to see that there could be so many different variety of noodles. Gaelle and I went for the Roasted Duck, and as a side order took steamed rice and Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts. Sam ordered Shanghai Beef Noodles, and Nisin ordered Singapore Noodles with Chicken. While waiting for our food, we took a lot of pictures with each other.

When the food finally arrived, we just dove in and truly satisfied ourselves. It was as always delicious and truly an amazing meal. So full were we, we didn't have any space left for desserts. It certainly was a sad moment for me to know that I will be leaving this awesome group of friends behind as I move to a new phase of my life, but I know these friends will always be in my heart. Before we left, I told each of them that I have a special gift to give to them, and that it's an extremely personal gift, who I give to people who I can trust wholeheartedly. I took out their gift bags, which had a pack of Hershey's chocolates, and a copy of the book I had written. It was a delight to see their expression as they were in awe of holding the book. They were so over-whelmed; emotions over came them and they didn't know what to say. Nisin wanted to start reading my book already at the table. Gaelle had to tell the guys to close the book and come back to earth.

( Nisin, Me, Sam, Gaelle)

Moments like this draw us closer, and takes the level of our friendship to a whole new level. I love these friends, and they mean the world to me. Gaelle, Nisin and Sam, you guys are so the best, and I am honored and privileged to have you as my friends.

Mansur

Michael Buble's Home

Hello friends,

I don't know how many of you have heard of Michael Buble. I have and I absolutely love his music, especially his song Home, which has a special meaning in my heart. Here are the lyrics, and should you get a chance, check out the video here too.

Mansur

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Hello friends, I am so EXCITED because one of my favorite authors, Khaled Hosseini, who wrote The Kite Runner-- one of the most amazing books ever- came out with his latest one: A Thousand Splendid Suns. I already picked it up and started reading it. Will post the review once I am done with it.

Mansur

Birthday Dinner at PierChic

Hello friends,

Last night, a friend and I went to this really exclusive seafood restaurant at Al Qasr, Dubai. Pierchic is regarded as one of the best restaurant in Dubai, and in my opinion it certainly lived up to the expectation.

Al Qasr is located next to the famed Madinat Jumeirah, and while Madinat Jumeirah is hustle-bustle, Al Qasr is more tucked away and less crowded. As you drive on the bricked drive-way, you are welcomed by these awesome bronze-casted Arabian stallions. The main entrance is palatial, complete with Arabian architecture: arches, hanging lamp, majlis style seating, fancy tile work and the greeters dressed in long flowing robes.

It takes about 5 minutes to take a walk down to the beach side, where the buggy was to take us to the pier. However, we decided to walk the entire way. We passed through the swimming pools, and once we came to the pier, it was a sight to behold. About 300 meters out into the sea, the pier was lined with flaming torches, and water was flowing beneath us. Cold towels welcomed us at the end of the pier, which was refreshing as the humidity started to get the better of us. The restaurant is built on the sea, and while some diners sat outside on the perimeter of the restaurant, we opted to sit inside in the air conditioned area.

The highlight of the restaurant is the bar area, where the color changed every 10 seconds or gradually into another color. The menu didn't have an extensive list to chose from, and there were only two dish which were alcohol or pork free. I opted for the Wild Sea Bass, while my friend opted for the Roasted John Dory. They served us three different kind of breads for starter, and my favorite was mustard-cheese bread. So delicious! Then they gave us in this deep bowl a small appetiser, which was a piece of fish, with soy sauce on cucumbers. While it was a one-bite appetiser, it was certainly a great one. It took a while for the main meal to come, so we exchanged gifts in the meantime.

I got her a book The Secret, which is apparently one of the hottest book nowadays, on the occasion for her new job. She got me the Burberry perfume- my absolute favorite perfume in the world! The main course arrived, and on first impression, it seemed too little. This was seafood after all.

I truly relished each and every bite of my Wild Sea Bass. It was cooked so perfectly, and was placed on a bed of vegetables. I took time to devour my main course, for each bite was meant to be enjoyed. After the main course was over, we were set to go, when the waiter bought this small chocolate mousse cake, with a small Happy Birthday written on it. "Many happy returns of the day. Compliments from Pierchic." I blew out the candle and my friend and I shared the delicious cake together.

Nothing could have been more perfect as we walked back towards the pier, taking in magnificent views of the Burj Al Arab hotel, the grandeur Arabian architecture of the Madinat Jumeirah's hotel, all the while having water below gently hitting the pier's wooden legs. Dubai Explorer claims that the venue of PierChic is worth the visit alone, and I second that opinion.

This coming Friday I am going out to yet another dinner with three of my other friends, and I am in the process of choosing the venue. Watch out for this space! :-)

Mansur

Dinner With Adam

Hey friends,

I have to just share with you what happened last night. A dear friend of mine Adam from South Africa had promised to treat me out to dinner for my birthday. Since he found out I was leaving Dubai too, he decided to do a double treat for me. He claimed his favorite place to eat was Ravi's, which is a local Pakistani restaurant, where the main meal costs around 10dhs. So I was prepared to go to someplace like that, or maybe, just maybe, we might end up going to Chilis or TGIF.

It was with much surprise when he messaged me and told me to come to Spectrum on One at the Fairmont hotel. I was flabbergasted. That's supposed to be an expensive place. I called him up and told him to not go out of his way: let's keep it simple. He refused to budge, and insisted we go there. I had never been there so I was quite excited.

We showed up there at 830pm, and let me tell you what an experience it was. The restaurant is located on the first floor of the Fairmont Hotel, and the minute we entered, the waitress confirmed our reservation, and proceeded to show us around the restaurant. "It's part of the experience," Adam told me. The waitress took us through the passageways, stopping at certain points. This was a multi-cultural cuisine restaurant. We stopped at the Arabic place first, where we could see the open kitchen. Then came the Chinese open kitchen, followed by Japanese and Indian. The bar was so divine, it made me want to start drinking, sitting at the bar with amazing views towards the city. As we passed through the bar, we came to the desserts area, and we already made up our mind as to what we wanted: both of us are chocoholics! :-) The whole idea of dining at Spectrum on One is experiencing Theatre Kitchens; depending on where you are seated, you can view the chefs preparing the meals in the open kitchens.

Browsing through the menu, which had about 20 pages, it seemed more like a small novella. Since I was in a new place, I decided to take something different, and I opted for the Chicken L'Orange. Adam went for the Duck too, but in another kind of sauce. He ordered his special wine too. I stuck with the fancy glass of water. The food was presented so stylishly, I almost didn't want to eat it. I wanted to capture the amazing presentation of my duck in the dark brown sauce, with tangy orange pieces on top of it. Once I took the first bite, I was in heaven. So divine was the taste of my meal, I took about a complete hour to eat my meal, relishing the taste and aroma of the duck.

Surprisingly, I was so stuffed with my meal for it was so rich in taste and made for an amazing culinary experience. We ordered the awesome dessert platter, where we have a sampling of the five of the best desserts in one platter. That alone took us 30 minutes to finish. So heavenly it was, I wanted to just eat more and more of it.

By the time we were done, it was 12:30am. We spent about 4 hours having a dinner. Longer than I thought, but what took us so long was the time we spent talking. I never had such a stimulating, interesting and fun conversation in one sitting with someone, but with Adam I was transported to another world. We talked about Dubai, architecture, art, musems, meeting famous people, travelling, Middle East, technology, movies, books, tv shows, poverty, life in Saudi Arabia and South Africa, climate change, human rights issues, politics, war in iraq, political situation in Pakistan, life's ups and downs, challenges, overcoming adversity, spirituality and religion, our dreams, hopes and goals, our fascination for chocolates and our favorite chocolates ever and the list just goes on and on.

I am certainly sad to leave Adam behind in Dubai, but he has his plans to leave Dubai and move on to a better place. Adam, thanks for your friendship for the last one year, and I will truly cherish it. There are only a few people in my life who make me want to be a better person, and you are one of them.

Mansur