Dub Fest

It was overcast and breezy in Dubai on Friday, a perfect day to take a walk to the Al Ghurair Center to see what is going on at Dub Fest. After this 8 mile journey, I needed to have a sit down at an outdoor table of All the Perks, to take it all in. The moment I was served my delicious mocha, it actually poured down rain! How exciting—Philippino ladies were excitedly yelling and running indoors—but they missed it! Our 2-3 minutes of a “Dubai Downpour” was something that you could easily enjoy from under a little cover.

Cool graphic from the Dub Fest program, with raindrops.

After all that excitement, I saw a man juggle knives and a chainsaw.

Stickman juggling knives and a chainsaw. 

Then indoors I saw a guy riding a multi-story unicycle, this performance team from Japan is called Witty Look.

The tallest unicycle ever.

Then witnessed a hilarious dance party, led by Spandy Andy. His profile advises of his philosophy: "Appreciate the fact that you are alive and use your energy to spread positivity. AKA Keep it TIGHT & BRIGHT!!"

Spandy Andy, keeping it tight and bright! 

Let me tell you, he had the moves, and for a culture that isn't very athletic, he had the Arab kids dancing. I rode up the escalator with some Indian ladies and we had a birds eye view of the dance floor,  and the dance floor was harmonious. I couldn’t read the nearby ladies reactions, but I could tell this is something they’d never seen before. Heck—I’d never seen anything like Spandy Andy before, he was absolutely charming.

There was an entire week of this, I wish I got to see everyone at Dub Fest. List of all performers here. How wonderful to gently infuse street entertainment, as you would naturally find in many cities around the world. There are no street performers in Dubai; it’s probably illegal. But bringing them in for something like this is probably more effective than having a UNESCO program to facilitate cultural understanding. Those kids dancing their butts off today will remember this weekend. The people watching quietly while the stickman juggled a chainsaw were so awestruck, they couldn’t bring themselves to clap. Being stunned like that is good for people now and then.  I should have expected it to be a mostly family event, but was hoping there would be more arts and crafts for big people. Dub Fest seems like it was actually put together to bring more people to the shops, the marketing worked and I did buy some Birkenstocks at the Al Ghurair Center. They were having a sale, so I got a pair for me and a pair for mum.

After Dub Fest I rode the Metro back towards the Trade Center, but went past my place to the Dubai Mall. I needed to pay my Dubai Electric Water Authority bill and wanted to use the cool machine to do it. So I took cash out of the ATM and paid the other machine for my utilities. There’s always something new for me in Dubai!!!

Paid my electric and water bill by automated machine.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Guacamole?

A South African, a Greek, a Ugandan, a Ukrainian, and a Filipino all work at at taqueria-- which one would you trust the most to make your tacos? I would have said the Filipino before tonight. I don't want to turn this Dubai Diary into a food blog, but there is a whole lot of culture involved in food... My reasoning with initially preferring the Filipino guy is that Filipino food is sort of Asian with a lot of spice and veggies-- in it's own island way, it's really yummy, not as good as Mexican food in my opinion, but has a better chance at flair than other flavor palettes.

The most guacmoled taco I have ever eaten.

I'm not a complainer, but this guy who made my tacos seemed like he'd never tried any of the product he was preparing.. I saw what he was creating for me and wanted to ask him to keep those tacos and I would get back in line and try my luck with someone else.. 

You know if you are vegetarian and you ask for something veggie from an omnivore, you often get the anorexic special? That happens at Subway, where the sandwich-artist cannot comprehend that the tomato is your meat. I digress... It felt like he is not personally a taco fan and this fella was throwing crap on there in such a way-- so much guac, it takes up half the taco, then loads of tomatillo sauce-- it's very salty. I'm fairly nice, so I buy these tacos and eat them. Then I feel that I have had my sodium intake for a month, and am kind of ruined on guacamole for a while, which I thought was impossible, I love avocados in any form, and especially love a mashed concoction. Many bites of each taco were completely guacamole. 

Image taken from a discussion board called Skyscrapercity.com

But if you think about it, we are pretty far from Mexico, here in Dubai, so I should be happy that I have a taqueria near my place at all. During my other weekly visits, I get passable tacos. Now it's obvious to everyone that I eat fast food quite often but experiencing food here is such an interesting inter-cultural event, I had to share this enriching interaction with the world. Can you even imagine someone who doesn't know and love tacos? Inconceivable.

  

Pink Flamingos in Dubai

I recently finished the latest John Waters book titled Carsick, and remembered that I need to post about the flamingos in Dubai...

Divine, nicked from IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069089/

When I first saw these magnificent birds, I just couldn't believe my eyes-- but after driving by these tropical beauties everyday, on the way home every day, sadly they became just part of the landscape.

View from the parking lot.

View from the parking lot, you can see hundreds of birds in the background.

Nevertheless, to stop and see them up close by using a special "flamingo blind" so as to not scare these creatures away as you look at them is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

You walk out in this covered pathway, or "blind," to get a great view of the flamingo action.

Here are photos from a day a few weeks ago when I stopped at gazed upon these marvelous creatures.

Hundreds of birds here, thousand in the Dubai Creek area.

Panoramic view from inside the blind.

Zoom shot of the flock.

And right across the highway is the Dubai skyline. Another reason why Dubai is a magical place.

Eat Your Box of Lemonade

This "hyper-contemporary," restaurant has opened in my 'hood. It's unique, intriguing, and has good food, but the concept is incredibly confusing... I feel like the English language is pretty easy for me, even though I natively speak the American dialect *that's a joke*, but the way this place operates, not only do you need to be savvy about reading a menu, you need to be patient with all the "offers" being offered to you and vigilant, nearly combative, about what you are about to have placed on your plate.. Too many options.

Cool logo for Lemonade.

This trendy idea of "Seasonal Southern California Comfort Food" seems nice, but there are really too many options.. There are several outlets in California and just a couple here in the United Arab Emirates. Upon the first visit my only thought was "this place will never last." It looks expensive to run, seems like there would be a lot of waste at the end of the night due to the excessive variety of options and the communication skills needed to get the food.. It's exhausting just to get to the end of the line, then you need to deal with eating it. 

What's that? And that? And that? And that?

More indecipherable options.

Funky interior, looks very expensive.

I thought the brussel sprouts salad was pretty great, so today I went back for a *simple* "Lemonade box." A straight-forward affair, where you only need to make two or three decisions, and it will cost you only 40AED, which is almost $11. Yeah well, there is a cold brussel sprouts salad and other things with brussel sprouts in it, then there is the brussel sprout option on the hot table.. 

Almost there-- I'm almost done-- so much trouble-- be patient.. The lady in front of me is having a lot of trouble-- I need to stay out of it and not try to explain this place.. She is clearly pissed because her meal cost like almost 100 AED, not what she was expecting. Then, I get to make one more decision, what type of lemonade do I want? I got Blood Orange.

I feel like yuppie scum, or like I'm in the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where the issues at a Pinkberry turn into high drama. I guess I am letting it get out of hand, but seriously, should a restaurant with that kind of overhead be making you do so much chit-chatting before letting you out the door with your food? No.

In the end, I took this huge pizza-box-looking meal to my place and enjoyed it. Let's not even think about the waste involved either-- because we are in Dubai, we don't think of such things.

P.S. Yes, that is a red velvet cupcake. No, I didn't have to choose the dessert.

Giving up Facebook

I have tried to take a "facebreak" off and on for a few years now, and it has recently felt like Facebook is winning the battle for my personal time. This past weekend I avoided all the things I had planned and just gazed into the internet-- so I impulsively deactivated my Facebook account!
I already miss a lot of things, such as pictures of my dear friends new baby, and anticipated information about a couple of people I am expecting will become engaged soon... Hopefully the old-school grapevine will work and I will know about these awesome things in a more natural way.
I was using social media as a social crutch and an excuse to not go out and live life the normal way. I was even trying to use software such as StayFocusd, which worked a little, but I would find ways around it.. If you need to make sure you don't spend more than 10 or 20 minutes at a time on WasteBook or other social media, it's something to consider downloading on all of your devices...
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stayfocusd/laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji?hl=en

If you want to get in touch with me, please remember to check my website for contact info: www.melaniewood.com
I hope to be posting more fun UAE adventures, now that I'm unhooked!

Picture: an after brunch stroll along Dubai Creek, view of downtown Dubai across the water.