Hopefully next year we will be somewhere more exciting and far away from here for her birthday. Maybe getting authentic nachos from somewhere in the Americas….

This is how I ended up the post about Little B’s birthday last year. We are far away, but not even close to the Americas or authentic nachos.

And so we complete a year of birthdays away. We have had celebrations in Penang, Saigon, Kyoto/Hiroshima, Amritsar and now in Istanbul. With varied success.

Little B wanted to pick her own cake, so that is what we did, we took her to the delightful and full of colors and temptations patisserie nearby.  A horrible place, perfectly suitable for a little girl and her sweet tooth.

Later, deep into the night, Miss Fab and I were busy cutting up the free booklet they inserted into the bag with the cake. We needed to make cards, letters, decorate a box and wrapping.

A bit of glue, medical tape, scissor action, kitchen paper towels and creativity and we were ready for the morning.

Our creative, but simple wrappings were hiding equally unpretentious gifts – a new set of pencils for her love of drawings, the VW bug she wanted for her Mini Lego guys, a bunch of snacks and sweets, $20 cash to replenish her thirsty savings account and very little else.

It is the rule in our family that the birthday person is the boss of the day. They decide everything, what we eat, where, when…what we do and etc.

Breakfast is usually pancakes, so no surprises here.

For the rest of the day my not so little girl wanted nothing but to play and just stay home. So that is what we did. The catalog from the patisserie came in handy again, as well as a few other advertising leaflets we had gotten around town.

For dinner our boss ordered pizza, so Mr.Blab happily obliged and delivered us a delicious trio.

Candles adorned the simple chocolate cake, surprisingly chosen amongst the other glamorous looking ones.

To finish the day, I set up the kids with three big bowls of freshly popped corn and Little B’s choice for a movie: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . Yes, my daughter has loved this movie about drag-queens and a transsexual on a road trip across Australia for a few years now. I thought she had forgotten it, but I guess not.

You may think this birthday is nothing special and maybe you are right. We had no jumping castles, no piles of presents, no Disneyland or other such entertainment. I even wondered if this is enough at some point in the day. But right before settling in for her movie Little B ordered me not to enter the room. I did not. A few minutes later she asked me to close my eyes and bend. So I did. And she knighted me with a necklace adorned with colorful love-hearts, said “I love you”, kissed me and with a big grin exposing a few of her wobbly teeth ran away to her popcorn and drag-queens.

I guess it is enough.

Because even little girls can recognize love and care, even when they are wrapped in paper towels and recycled boxes.

Happy Birthday, you beautiful little soul.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | Still a monologue | Add to del.icio.us
Homemade, Turkey Post tags: birthday, fun, istanbul

I grew up with it. Every year I would freeze my behind in its chilly fluffiness amidst games with my friends. My feet would shrivel in my old shoes splatting  in that gray slushy that seeps inside your bones.

Then I left for the sunny life in Africa and Australia. And never, never looked back.

Two days ago, Istanbul welcomed us with one of those beautiful snowfalls that look so appealing from inside a warm house with a hot drink in hand. Truth be told, I could have easily lived the rest of my life without having ice falling from the sky. My children on the other hand, craved to feel it. That is why we are here at this time, when most people run elsewhere.

And they have loved it, just as every child before them and every that will come after them.

“It is so light!” – Miss Fab exclaimed underneath her red nose. In her mind snow was going to be rain-like, just white.  The girls kept on coming in and out of the house to warm up and recharge for another go. Our winter attire is rather limited, so long snow fun is not as comfortable as it should be.

After one of their stints they came back with a small snowman as a gift for the Dod, who preferred to look at the snow from inside, rather like his mom.

He liked it. For about 5 minutes. I took care of the puddle.

We ventured out for a bit. A small welcoming kitchen lured us in for a bite, a perfect reason to escape the chilling reality outside.

Then we took cover in a stationary store….and a long stop for hot chocolate…until we realized we are not going anywhere far. We were freezing our butts off.

Moving from one apartment to the other after sunset, proved another adventure, as the hilly roads of Istanbul were frozen. Nobody broke a leg, lets leave it at that.

My first priority right now is to find some cheap warm clothes, which will allow us to jump out freely, because as much as it can be a pain, snow can be great fun.

And if we will be here, we might as well enjoy it.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Turkey Post tags: fun, istanbul, snow

Turkey was always our next intended stop, but the mind bogglingly expensive flights to take us across the Mediterranean meant that we needed to think a bit differently here on the ground. Our ideas of making it through the country all the way up to Istanbul were quickly needed to be scrapped – the cheapest options were always directly to Istanbul. Then cheap flights from Beirut to Turkey sparked our interest in a visit to Lebanon. If we are going to be paying through our nose, why not add a stop in between to make it worth it? Yeah, lets go there!

Expensive accommodation in the tiny country squeezed between “exciting” Syria and Israel cooled down our interest and we were back to direct shot to Istanbul.

Then, a couch-surfer in Beirut offered us a place to stay and we were back to Lebanon. Until we really started to crunch our dwindling budget and realized that it will cost us an extra $600 to visit, on top of being already 6 months late for stepping our wandering feet on Europe.

So, eventually we made our booking and today we are flying to Istanbul! Not quite what we had planned and abandoning an opportunity along the way, but excited never the less. The last time I visited I was about 17 years old and I loved the city.

Just a sneak peak into the more mundane issues of traveling the way we do.

Next time we chat, I will be freezing in Europe.

Ma El Salama, Egypt. Good luck!

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Egypt Post tags: cairo, travel

Why do people come from all over the world to see a really old, really big pile of stones?

The key word here is really old. It is so old that to the thousands of folks crowding the brand spanking new Colosseum in Rome to enjoy an execution or two, The Pyramids were as old as the Colosseum is to us today.

Coming to Egypt, when all the travel warnings say not to, meant that we had most of the sites pretty much to ourselves and for the only surviving site from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, this is a very welcomed reality and a definite luxury these days.

The Pyramids are big. I loved watching them peak on top of the half-built dwellings of Giza. They stood with dignity resisting the sprawl of the city – magnificent and calm – while we were buzzing around in the car, trying to catch more glimpses of them. Within a few meters we left the hustle of the garbage filled streets and honking cars behind and entered…history.

Chock a block full of just about everything a man could need, from the teeny-tiny precious stones and materials, to a full sized boat, burred in a pit right next to them, those structures may look amazing now, but imagining them in their hey-day, covered in limestone sharp and smooth, makes the picture even harder to take in. This is the kind of stuff people were busy doing more than four thousand years ago.  And today it is hard to finish all those couple of story buildings crowding around Giza. No limestone necessary, just smooth them out, slap a lick of paint and voila! But not. Even after being battered by the desert for all those years, the pyramids still look better than most of what surrounds them.

The pyramids were just one part of the burial grounds ensuring a good and comfortable afterlife for the pharaohs and the chosen few who can afford such feats.

The Sphinx lays down the hill from the pyramids and it is easy to see why it was buried by the sand over the years. We walked slowly watching it grow before us.

After a few hours we left the best known heavenly pointing structures and made our way to the older, but not as popular sites.

In Dahshur there was no one else. Big open desert, with a winding through tiny road and a security guard on a camel and another one with a big gun over his shoulder were the only signs of life around. We walked slowly around the Bent Pyramid, or the first one that tried to be a true smooth one, not a stepped construction, be it unsuccessfully. The guy with a gun was showing the kids stones and which one is what, so they enthusiastically turned into geologists, while we the adults breathed in the atmosphere.

A short drive away is the Red Pyramid, where we parked with another 3 cars and I took my little girl inside the depths of the giant structure – an experience that here is included in the ticket, while at Giza one has to pay for more than the entrance fee.

The experience is freaky.

We butt slid down a long, narrow slope that never seemed to end. The original idea is that if you are a robber, you would fall through to your untimely death. Thankfully we had slats crossing the wooden planks lining the bottom of the tunnel, but still this is not a comfortable journey. And if you are claustrophobic – forget about it. Stay out and enjoy the view.

At the bottom we found a surprisingly high ceiling, which was a nice breather. A few more ducks and climbs and we were at the sight of the burial. I don’t know about you, but imagining all the tons of unsettlingly old rocks above the hot dead-end space we were occupying made me inch quite rapidly towards the long tunnel leading to the exit. So we did.

We also visited the Saqqara area and the oldest pyramid there is – the crumbling stepped one of Djoster.

And there are more. Many more. These structures are not a rarity here and archeologists keep on finding more and more to this day.

`The pyramids are what they are, essentially enormous piles of rocks. You can talk to me about mathematics, star alignments and mind boggling measurements, but these things one can salivate over from the comfy chair of their house in  another continent somewhere.

What touched me is the direct connection to the people of that time that being here afforded me. Sliding my fingers through the stones and  the carvings someone had chiseled thousands and thousands of years ago felt as though they were telling me their story, showing me their way. They were not so distant anymore.

Driving back through Giza and watching the results of our own modern construction passing by in the smeary window, made all those years that separate me from the times the pyramids were built completely melt away. I don’t know where we are all going as humans, but we have not gone that far. iGadgets, smart phones and clap-operated window curtains progress do not make, and lets not kid ourselves.

People have managed to achieve a lot more, many, many years ago.

The pyramids of Egypt – a sobering experience.

Tip: Come before the travel warnings get lifted.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Egypt Post tags: cairo, pyramids

And we got blasted by it.

This is the story I will tell my grandchildren, as they stare at me in amazement (or pity, depending on how lucky they are in the gene lottery). Whatever the truth is, we are all crook. I am faring the best so far, with Mr.Blab looking at me through his droopy lids from the other end of the spectrum.

I would love to tell you all about the day we got cursed (I am sticking to my story), but my brain is marinating in a mixture of leave me alone and English? Me no spek Inglish!  You can not push these things.

In short, we are alive, but barely
Thank you for your patience and send some get well wishes our way.

P.S. and spread the news!

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Egypt Post tags: cairo, pyramids

Go down these stairs (watch out for the wonky steps and don’t touch the dusty railing).

Turn right and immediately left.

Walk, oh, fifty or so meters and you are at Tahrir Square.

Smell the air soaked with hope and hunger for freedom, and look into the eyes of people that are awake.

Then ponder why it feels so unfamiliar.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | Still a monologue | Add to del.icio.us
Egypt Post tags: accommodation, cairo, snippet

Egypt was another one of our destinations for which I had very little expectations. Alexandria filled a rather airy and lonely  spot in my knowledge bank. Beyond the pyramids and ancient sites, we dont get to hear about what is life like for its people today.

It is cold, which should not be surprising since its winter, but I was. My toes stiffened confused in their flip flops, as we jingled our way to the hotel in the rickety Lada of the sales manager. It was midnight and Alex, as it is affectionately called here,  was asleep and barely lit.

The next day we dug deep in our bags and pulled the cold clothes that have been sitting patiently there since our stint in the Himalayas. Then all rugged up we set off to figure out where in the world have we made it to.

After the mellow stiffness of the Arab Peninsula, the muddy from the rain streets felt like a breath of fresh air. I dislike wet feet just as much as the next person, but seeing the tea makers rugged up in small corners everywhere, old chairs facing the street and providing rest for the shisha smokers, laundry flapping in the gusty wind and life buzzing around me, I couldnt help but grin, as though I have just melted into my favorite chair.

We walked down the corniche and breathed in the Mediterranean.

Rain started to sprinkle again and we hid in one of the back streets.

The smell of freshly baked bread pulled us into the direction of a bakery, where before we knew it we were given tastings of various cookes, sweets and breads. The big man working the brick oven spread his arms wider then his smile and ushered us in to peak into the fire where the next batch of small skinny breads were sending delightful scents throughout the air.

We just had to wait.

Before we knew it, broken chairs were pulled around the place for us as though we were long lost relatives paying a visit.

Full of warm breads and sweets we pulled ourselves from our unintended stop and continued down the streets of the city, where the temperamental weather still could not decide whether it wanted sun or dark clouds or both with some rain in between.

Not long after we got back on the waterfront we stumbled upon a little restaurant, where one thing led to another and we found ourselves amidst the busy kitchen and another group of big grinned men. With all the patience in the world they explained what everything was, chairs were pulled to help the girls to see the action and we watched the swift work of the cook – flipping, stretching and baking fteer.

We had to have one, it looked so good.

Mr.Blab noticed another dish being piled through the window and suddenly hunger was inconsequential, because we were stuffing ourselves full despite of it.

Total for our paratha-like  pizza and koshari: less than $3
Yummy? You bet.

One laughable fish museum later, which served better as an escape from the rain than as a cultural spot,  we reached our final destination – the more than 500 year old Citadel of Qaitbay.

Yes, it was that windy:

The weather was miserable.

The streets were a big wet amalgamation of garbage and dirt. The beautiful old buildings stood around like ghosts of another time,  slowly losing the battle with time and people. Caked on dirt decorated the rusty cars splatting in the puddles dotting the badly maintained streets.

But the people and the food shone brighter than any of it, just like the double rainbow that spread across the horizon and the spitting Mediterranean.

“Welcome to Egypt” is the phrase heard more often around us, but nobody needs to say it, because we can feel it in every face and smile around us.

Thank you, Alexandria.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Egypt Post tags: alexandria, people, walk

Flight safety demonstrations are a requirement and usually look like a chore. If you are still listening to them after your first flight, there is something seriously wrong with you.

Then on our last flight I found myself not only listening and watching the video going on in front of me, but even taking pictures. Unheard of for me.

FlyDubai asked the creators of the successful Emirati cartoon show FreeJ to create their inflight video and they did. The result is refreshing, fun and most importantly, made us look.
(the characters are a representation of a more traditional Dubai and are wearing battoulahs – an Islamic face covering)

As usual when my interest is tickled I had to dig deeper and see what other airlines out there are challenging the status quo. The benefit of being stuck inside by the bad weather in Alexandria is that I could share some of my favorites with you.

_____

Animations are used a lot, but often without any gain in creativity.
EL AL come around this video reincarnated into a helpful dainty fairy helping everyone on the plane.

_________

Thomson Airline used children to appeal for our love of all things small and cute:

You like child labor? Then check out the other airlines using it, like Nordwind and Pegasus.
_________

If adult fun is more your thing, Air New Zealand has got a good dose of it. I have never been, but I love this country. Love it. It is beautiful, independent, free thinking and does not kiss any big power’s behind. True, there are more sheep there than people, but I can live with that.

Here is a full load of the All Blacks(rugby, people) and a streaker to boot:

Then there is the bare essential video, where the crew are presenting the information while they are butt naked. No kidding.

You can also watch the bloopers of making the video.
Or enjoy the response by the rapper flight attendant from Southwest Airlines (see below).

___________

Philippine Airlines strikes a good balance between humour and image of quality:

___________

Not all good demonstrations are prefabricated videos. Southwest flight attendant David Holmes, raps his way through the requirements and leaves everyone in good spirits for the flight:

___________

And last a fakie by MAD TV, but it is so good it would have been a shame to miss it.
Have a good flight!

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
General, Random Blabs, UAE Post tags: dubai, fun, plane

Our taste for modern mosque delicacy had been wet in Muscat, where we spent an embarrassingly long time staring at… a chandelier. And when we learned that the same German company had made another one for the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and we could walk on the biggest carpet in the world, we knew we had to go.

The mosque is of impressive size and if you are passing by on any of the roads around, you cannot miss its gleaming snow white occupation of five football fields of land.  We approached slowly from the bus stop, walked around to a small gate and entered into the gardens around it. Not a person in sight, as is often the benefit in not arriving via the main entrance.

One may be excused in erroneously assuming the whiteness was achieved by a paint. The enormous structure is flawlessly brilliant white all over. The translucent nature of the Taj Mahal marble is nowhere to be found in its Macedonian counterpart, which covers the whole external structure of the mosque. Yes, this is marble, people. All of it.

Artisans and materials from all over the world and half a billion dollars  have made this place possible. Precious stones inlaid in marble from different corners of the world, plenty of gold, state of the art lighting, thousands of Swarovski crystals, Arabic calligraphers from Syria, Jordan and the UAE contributed their skill for this beautiful building and this is just the beginning.  The list goes on and on and on. And very little of it matters if the result is just a loud manifestation of extraordinary wealth.Is it?

Covered in my black abaya, I shimmied around the place in awe.  And when my bare feet settled perfectly on that lush Persian carpet, all 35 tons of it, lining the floor of the main prayer hall… I was gone, completely won by what was in front of me. We walked every corner of the hall, while the children discovered that the world’s biggest carpet is a rather fun surface to play on.  Every corner, every view, every surface I looked at was perfect and an example of what we can do when money is not of concern even today. It required wealth and yet, it showed that which is priceless in each and every one of us.

This is, hands down, my modern Taj Mahal, standing proudly on its own two feet without being propped up  by legends and love stories. I will leave you with some pictures so you can make your own judgements, because my objectivity melted somewhere along the way.

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
UAE Post tags: abu dhabi, mosque

©Snaps & Blabs, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
UAE Post tags: abu dhabi, fun, snippet