Newlyweds

At Mamzar Park

Alright, here again we are going to organize a newlyweds exclusive lunch fiesta. This will happen in Mamzar park of Dubai where we can enjoy ourselves with loads of outside activities. I wanted to go to Jumeirah beach instead which I think is nicer than Mamzar. But the main reason I wanted to go there is, we all went to Mamzar once and we couldn't go to Jumeirah still. I have seen nice pictures of the beach and I'm mesmerized by its beauty and enchanted by its magical surroundings. I am looking forward for the big events. I like to walk on the beach at the evening and thread on sea water foaming ashore.

There will be new lady members joining this event to situate a women association. Earlier I was the only female member among 14 other male members. Last time we went to Mamzar, I videoed them playing beach volleyball and having a bath in the sea. I'm looking forward to have more fun again in the beach.

Fireworks

Fireworks of Dubai Shopping Festival

This is one of the pictures taken at Dubai Creek

Doom dum dum....we were astounded by hearing the first sound of fireworks in Dubai Creek. It took 10 seconds for us to realize they were fireworks. We watched the night sky glittering with dozens of firecrackers. It was such an eye-catching scene that I couldn't get my eyes off them. We managed to take loads of beautiful photos of fireworks. These fireworks will be there everyday until 24th Feb i.e.Until DSF is over.

Blessings in Disguise

Problem
George W. Bush arrived in Dubai and he was warmly welcomed. This was the first ever visit of a sitting US president to UAE. Due to his arrival some roads were closed for security reasons and there were huge traffic jams. My colleagues were cursing him for causing much traffic.

Solution
But lately all the cursing turned to a blessing after a text message from office when we were returning home. Due to some road closure and expected congestion it was declared a public holiday in Dubai. That was a surprise holiday, after havoc for most of the people who were caught in the traffic for hours. Fortunately I was able to come home without getting caught to much traffic jams.

Result
We spent our holiday in our friends' place also known as "Maha Gedara". We all got together and gave a lunch for one of our friend's parents who visited Dubai. The lunch came out well although the chief cook was not present (He got married in January and enjoying holidays in SL). Most of us learned to cook after coming to Dubai. We were able to have this lunch coz of US president's visit, so I call it a blessing in disguise. :)

We were called "Al Baraha Gang" which is comprised of 15 members (all are boys except me) for now and rapidly growing with new members joining after the marriage. Three of my friends went back to SL to get married and they are due to come back with their new brides in February. We are in the process of organizing nice events for couples who are starting new lives in Dubai.

New Year dawns in Dubai

It was New Year's Eve in Dubai. To my surprise I heard people screeching, howling and clattering metals outside at exactly 12 midnight. I had a peek through the window. People were on the road dancing and they stopped vehicles heading towards them. There was such a loud noise emanating from horns of vehicles and voices of people. Despite of this drama, there were magnificent fireworks displayed on the sky, which is the only thing to be happy about being here in Dubai. Then after a while people on higher buildings were throwing water at the innocent people walking on the road or driving, passing their flats.

I hope for peace and serenity throughout 2008 without noise pollution and unfortunate incidents.

Visit to Global Village

I started my blog last year but after few posts I became lazy. I used to write a lot when I’m in a mood (happy or sad) I thought to start writing again as before. Hmmm let’s make a diary out of my blog with my new life in Dubai.

Last Friday we went to global village where the Dubai shopping festival is happening. The Global Village is a unique international destination for tourism, entertainment, leisure and culture. It brings together diverse customs and cultures covering a broad spectrum of activities including music, dances, arts and handicrafts, theatre, costumes and cuisine of different countries.

It was so far from Dubai, where we stay. We didn’t think it will be that far. We went from home around 3 and able to catch a taxi around 3.30. The emirates road we took to reach there is like a dessert, no houses to be seen.

Somehow we went inside the village which has different countries’ shopping complexes. First we went to Egypt and bought a papyrus art. Then we went to some other countries’ stalls. We bought shoes for winter, plant, bag, cap and weight lifting glows. At that time it was bit dark despite of the lights emanating from shopping complexes. The most exciting thing there was the merry-go-rounds. To join for such event we need to buy tokens which look like coins. We participated in one such game (they called it typhoone ride) which is so thrilling and at the same time bit dangerous. I screamed from the middle of the show to the last. It was so breathtaking event that I thought I’m going to fall off the seat. Mind you this is my first ever experience of such an event :)

Although we have more shops to visit, our feet were aching, it was dark and around 12 midnight we thought to go home after visiting Sri Lankan shopping complex. To our surprise and misfortune there were not that much of shops opened and no cultural things of Sri Lanka to show our Sri Lankan identity. We thought to open shops ourselves, which is something impossible. But we felt so sad to see the stalls. We had a ray of hope more shops will be opened during next month when the shopping festival is really going to blow up. With hands full of shopping items we took a taxi from there. There is a good taxi and bus services which is something really important in Dubai if you don’t have a vehicle of your own.

Dubai Life

After a long time I thought to write here. Now I'm in Dubai. It's a city with large buildings. These days it's hot outside since it's summer. I'm waiting to see the Winter which will be falling on September, October.

I went to City Centre, Dragon Mart and Supermarkets only. This is not a good time to walk outside.