I Just Want To Relax This Spring Break!

Sunning on the beach or poolside and watching the sunlight play across the water is as active as some Spring Breakers want to get.

Others just want to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of waves lapping the beach. And there are those who want to choose which nightclubs or beach parties they’d like to attend, not necessarily be surrounded by it 24/7.

Spring Break is first and foremost equated with single college students ready to party, yet they aren’t the only ones who go on road trips during Spring break. Students in a relationship may opt for a romantic getaway for two. Families also plan vacations during this time as a reward for their college student. Add to this list, teachers and families of K-12 grades use their road trip planners to create a fun family getaway during this time.

THE FOLLOWING SAFETY TIPS PROVIDE SOUND ADVICE FOR ANY ROAD TRIP PLANNER.
* Make sure all buckles in the backseat work.
* Take turns driving and switch drivers every two hours.
* Passengers riding shotgun have the extra responsibility of keeping the driver alert (yes, even if the others in the back seat get to snooze!).
* Check that everyone has their driver’s license and that the vehicle registration is in the glove compartment before departure.
* Ideally, someone in your group should belong to AAA or another Roadside Assistance membership. It’ll save everyone time and money if car trouble develops during the trip.

FIRST, WE HIT THE BEACHES
* SOUTH BEACH, FLORIDA – Overall, Florida is hands down, the favored Spring Break destination for road trip planners and this long section of Miami Beach is one of the reasons why. One can walk on the beach literally for miles!
* KEY WEST, FLORIDA – Probably a bit too pricey for most college budgets, but oh, those beaches are pretty!
* SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The water won’t be as warm as in Florida but rumor has it the sun shines there all the time (and it’s true… 75% of the time )

THEN THERE’S THOSE ROMANTIC HIDEAWAYS
* SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS – This island is in the Gulf of Mexico and just north of the northeastern border of Mexico. It’s been a popular Spring break destination for college students and other tourists. Resorts and condominiums are strewn along the lovely coastline.
* KONA, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII – While Honolulu is good for families and Waikiki in particular, is great for night clubs, the Big Island has a more relaxed atmosphere where most of your activities will take place during the day followed by a lovely sunset dinner. Of course, Waikiki will have tons more bars, but you’ll still find them scattered throughout town here.
* SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – Dry sun and an abundance of spas make this a great destination for a road trip planning couple. You’ll find an eclectic mix here, as evidenced by Old Town, which is flanked on the north end by the West’s premier fashion shopping mall, Scottsdale Fashion Square , at the corner of Scottsdale and Camelback Roads. This mall offers wonderful shopping experiences, with more than 15 restaurants and anchor stores Neiman Marcus. More than 500 specialty stores are also a part of this desert shopping oasis.
* FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – Once upon a time, more than 350,000 college students descended on Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break, but the city changed its party laws in the mid-80s and enforced the minimum drinking age so now only about 20,000 come, making this a good place for couples who want nice beaches and great views.

HERE COME THE FAMILY HOT SPOTS
* ORLANDO, FLORIDA – One of the favorites among road trip planners because of the multitude of activities available there. We recommend getting the Go Orlando Card which gives you unlimited admission to over 50 central Florida attractions, including the Kennedy Space Center, Splash Island Water Park, Daytona USA and more!
* HONOLULU, HAWAII – Because of the sheer number of hotels in the Honolulu area, budget-minded families can pick up a good deal here. The beach at Waikiki is a great spot for the whole family because there’s a near-shore break for the kids, while more experienced swimmers surf the waves further out.
* DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – Once also a major Party Town, Daytona followed Fort Lauderdale’s example and now it’s known as a beautiful place for couples and families.

OF COURSE, WE CAN’T FORGET THE FAVORITE PARTY TOWNS – Just book your hotel a few miles away from the heavy traffic areas and choose to relax one day, party the next.
CANCUN, MEXICO – Known as the Riviera Maya, an excellent place for fun in the sun and under the night sky.
OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA – Montego Bay is actually the most popular destination in Jamaica, but Ocho Rios is a close second. Located on the Northern Coast, it’s a great area for scuba diving and other water sports.

So go ahead, whether you’re a student, teacher, a couple or a parent, you deserve this break. Who says road trip planners can’t have their Spring Break cake and eat it too?

Do You Ever Just Wanna Laze Around On A Beach In The Bahamas?

So this economic crisis has cut my Supperannuation investment fund to shreds… down 52%… and I just news from the highest court in the land that the legal nonsense I have been defending for the last 6 years is over and it has gone against me… In a few short months I’ve seen my lifetime of saving washed away to nearly nothing… and I have a tax debt so high I couldn’t jump over it… just wondering… why did I ever bother to work so hard for so long when I could have just sat around getting fat and gathering unemployment benefits… I really don’t feel like working any more.

Raising More Than Just The Temperature

When it comes to a loss of libido, there are many natural methods of restoration that can be undertaken. If you wanted to, of course.

Back in the Sixties, the sexual revolution was happening and anyone that wasn’t swinging from the chandeliers in their pursuit of the ultimate orgasm was not considered hip. Now, it is just those people that are more concerned with putting a hip out just getting in and out of bed, let alone embarking on any sexual gymnastics.

Even back then, sexual freedom was a new thing to be enjoyed but it was really only enjoyed by a select few. The rest, just as with every other generation, found their libido soon gave way to the everyday stresses of kids, work and bills. Some men, and women come to that, would embark on extra marital affairs. However, with the declining security of the family arrangement many couples are looking to revive their libido and their flagging love life at all stages of their lives.

Doctors have often prescribed manufactured drugs to help with loss of male and female libido. However, more of us are looking to alternative therapies to help with this problem as with many other maladies. Very often the body is willing but the emotional and mental side of things is lacking and this can be due to things like everyday pressures of life, low self esteem over a changing body in later years and many other things. However, people are missing out on a very rewarding area of their lives if they don’t make the effort to keep it up (so to speak).

So, how can you revive the libido when it’s all ‘in the mind’? Emerging into the front place for libido lifters is aromatherapy. This can come in the form of patches, oils or fragrances that you can put in a room.

Aromatherapy patches that look similar to nicotine patches are worn on the inside of the wrist and can be sniffed regularly throughout the day, building your enthusiasm to fever pitch by the time you get together with your partner at the end of the day. Sort of a scratch and sniff for the uninterested. Make sure you go easy on it while shopping – Tesco staff are not accustomed to being accosted by the elderly.

If you’re not entirely happy with this idea for raising the libido, try aromatherapy oils. These are an essential selection of oils that can be massaged into the skin. What I want to know is if you can’t be bothered to get your rocks off are you surely going to find the inclination to give someone a massage?

Alternatively, drop some of these oils into the bath water. If one party is willing and the other isn’t, this is a good, sneaky way of arousing some interest.

Essential oils can also be burnt in appropriate holders in the bedroom but if your libido has flagged because your life is so busy with kids, work bills etc then anything with a naked flame within the house is probably not a good idea. This also applies to the elderly for the obvious reasons.

Foods have long been documented in history as aphrodisiacs and these usually take the form of anything that resembles phallic symbols. Probably no real libido enhancing effect from the nutrients but originally a male idea and if your partner gets interested by something as obvious as a parsnip, definitely don’t take them to Tescos!

Staying with food, it has long been thought that the many spices that raise body temperature will also raise libido. If a high temperature is all that is needed how come menopausal women are not at it like rabbits? How come the beach is not overcome with people that have lost all self control in the summer?

Of all the essential oils, foods, patches, herbs etc that are marketed for the increasing of sexual excitement, most will contain a select few ingredients. These will encompass rose, vanilla, jasmine, ginger, Ylang Ylang, Jojoba and Cedarwood among others. This now begs the question as to why all these ingredients are used in fabric softeners? Are we not fighting a losing battle if our clothes smell so nice we want to keep them on yet put the same ingredients into our baths, our rooms and our skin in an effort to taking our clothes off?

If you’re looking for stimulation stirrers, libido lifters or arousal rousers, there are a multitude of products on the market to try. Alternatively, you could spend that money on a decent bar of chocolate (better than sex any day – or am I just doing it wrong?) and just roll over and enjoy a good night sleep.

USA_ _arguably costume, not just this competition

Miss Universe 2009 delegates visited the country second largest city of the ‘island of Grand Bahama on Sunday for the long-awaited presentation bathroom. It is important to note that this is not a competition, but even more, a fashion show of nature, with participants in a swimsuit. The ladies were at the international airport in Grand Bahama with a real first brass band serenaded by a choir of young people of Grand Bahama, where they went in the terminal. Accompanied by two drums of goatskin, the choir sang “Welcome to Grand Bahama … we are so happy that you are coming before the fall into a medley of the Caribbean and the Bahamas Ring play songs. The women danced, as they sip on board the coconut water from coconut, not, or if you want the terminal when it is said, it was time to go.
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textUnable to perform Translation:invalid textThere was a delicious breakfast at the Yacht Club of Grand Bahama, before visiting the garden of the Groves – an area of 12 hectares of botanical garden, orchids, ferns, duck ponds and waterfalls – for a photo with PO Dayan Mendoza Miss Universe and the establishment, under the management and staff. Dayan has remained for the garden, while the participants at the head of Our Lucaya Beach Resort in preparation for the event bathroom. The place was incredible! A giant tent was the Great Lawn of the hotel with sea view. Piece of cloth decorated in light colors, while the ceiling of 100 seats in the audience was essentially objects with color. Although the event is not up to 5 hours, the arrival of people have begun as early as 3! Over time, that was ready to begin, the position of the capacity was filled with Pageant Fans in several countries like the Philippines (there are around 50 Filipinos in the audience), the Turks and Caicos Islands (ci Turks are many islanders who live in Grand Bahama), Guyana, China, the United States and, of course, the Bahamas.
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textIn his welcome remarks, Paula Shugart said that the Bahamas, while it is still the smallest host Miss Universe, the reconstruction of the event held on this day has ever known in 10 years, is already on the organization Miss Universe. ‘It is better not only in the Bahamas, “he says,” but you know, like the Bahamas.
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textThe participants were in groups of 12 and has a wide choice of costumes from Thailand BSC overalls, shoes Nina. I can tell you that it will be a hell of a competition on institutions, on the track! It ‘very difficult for the jury for a job most of the participants this year, because both of them are in better shape, both as regards the condition of the structures and their ability to bridge. The delegates, that my eyes were:
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textUnable to perform Translation:invalid textAngola – great body, strong bridge
Australia – fantastic body, beautiful face, a good bridge
Bahamas – the hometown boys a thunderous round of applause for their strong bridge
Brazil – beautiful face, great body
Canada – amazing body! Not an ounce of fat anywhere!
Cayman Islands – great body, strong bridge
Colombia – great body, sexy catwalk
Czech Republic – very good body and face, that oh!
Dominican Republic – great body, excellent gateway
France – good body, very sexy and track
United Kingdom – Burden of personality, a good place
Honduras – great body, big parades, beautiful face
Hungary – beautiful face, great body, but the work must be on the podium
Iceland – very good body, big parades Jamaica – beautiful face, beautiful body
Japan – great body, strong bridge
Mexico – good body, great personality, a good bridge
Netherlands – very good body!
Nicaragua – great body, fun to see on stage
Norway – amazing body!
Puerto Rico – fabulous body, great capacity for parades
Russia – great body, amazing face, very sexy catwalk
Slovak Republic – good body, a good bridge
South Africa – great body, legs for days!
Spain – a great place
Sweden – fantastic body, pretty face, port capacity could be more
The United States – great body, probably the best in the bathroom in this contest!
Venezuela – great body, classic beauty
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textUnable to perform Translation:invalid textThe presentation of the bath, the participants ate dinner before a return flight to Nassau. Here’s an interesting anecdote. The long day of competition does not seem to relate to the participants, because they have a secret weapon – Red Bull! The Ministry of Tourism has arranged for refreshments for the girls at every stop, and the Red Bull is often made in haste. It also seems that the girls to drink more water to stay hydrated in the heat of summer.
Unable to perform Translation:invalid textUnable to perform Translation:invalid textMonday, competition begins on the first event given. The costume contest is in response to a float-parade through the streets of Nassau. There are no Miss Trinidad & Tobago. MUO director of talent relations and PR Esther Swann confirmed that only 84 participants this year on reconstruction and there is Miss Trinidad and Tobago. When asked about the reports, as a delegate from Trinidad, said he would check, but as we know, there has never been a Miss T & T. I apologize for this round of reporting.

‘Are You God Or Just Gay?’ – Tenth Chapter The Winner Stands Alone

Even if he’d had his swimming things with him, he would have found it difficult to get anywhere near the sea shore. The big hotels had, it seems, acquired the rights to great swathes of beach which they had filled with their chairs, logos, waiters and bodyguards, who, at every entry point, demanded the guest’s room key or some other form of identification. Other areas were occupied by huge white marquees, where some production company, brewery or cosmetics firm was launching its latest product at a so-called ‘lunch’. People here were dressed normally, if by ‘normal’ you mean a baseball cap, bright shirt and light-coloured trousers for men, and jewellery, loose top, bermudas and low-heeled shoes for women.

Dark glasses were de rigueur for both sexes, and there was little bare flesh on show because members of the Superclass were too old for that now, and any such display would be considered ridiculous or, rather, pathetic.

Igor noticed one other thing: the mobile phone. The most important item of clothing.

It was essential to be receiving a constant stream of messages or calls, to be prepared to interrupt any conversation in order to answer a call that was not in the least urgent, to stand keying in endless texts via an SMS. They had all forgotten that these initials mean Short Message Service and instead used the key pad as if it were a typewriter. It was slow, awkward and could cause serious damage to the thumb, but what did it matter? At that very moment, not only in Cannes, but in the whole world, the ether was being filled with messages like ‘Good morning, my love, I woke up thinking about you and I’m so glad to have you in my life’, ‘I’ll be home in ten minutes, please have my lunch ready and check that my clothes were sent to the laundry’, or ‘The party here is a real drag, but I haven’t got anywhere else to go, where are you?’ Things that take five minutes to be written down and only ten seconds to be spoken, but that’s the way the world is. Igor knows all about this because he has earned hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the fact that the phone is no longer simply a method of communicating with others, but a thread of hope, a way of believing that you’re not alone, a way of showing others how important you are.

And it was leading the world into a state of utter madness. For a mere 5 euros a month, via an ingenious system created in London, a call centre would send you a standard message every three minutes. When you know you’re going to be talking to someone you want to impress, you just have to dial a particular number to activate the system. The phone rings, you pick it up, open the message, read it quickly and say ‘Oh, that can wait’ (of course it can: it was written to order). This way, the person you’re talking to feels important, and things move along more quickly because he realises he’s in the presence of a very busy person. Three minutes later, the conversation is interrupted by another message, the pressure mounts, and the user of the service can decide whether it’s worth turning off his phone for a quarter of an hour or lying and saying that he really must take this call, and so rid himself of a disagreeable companion.

There is only one situation in which all mobile phones must be turned off. Not at formal suppers, in the middle of a play, during the key moment in a film or while an opera singer is attempting the most difficult of arias; we’ve all heard someone’s mobile phone go off in such circumstances. No, the only time when people are genuinely concerned that their phone might prove dangerous is when they get on a plane and hear the usual lie: ‘All mobile phones must be switched off during the flight because they might interfere with the on-board systems.’ We all believe this and do as the flight attendants ask.

Igor knew when this myth had been created: for years now, airlines had been doing their best to convince passengers to use the phones attached to their seat. These cost ten dollars a minute and use the same transmission system as mobile phones. The strategy didn’t work, but the myth lingered on; they had simply forgotten to remove the warning from the list of dos and don’ts that the flight attendant has to read out before take-off. What no one knew was that on every flight, there were always at least two or three passengers who forgot to turn their phones off, and besides, laptops access the Internet using exactly the same system as mobiles. And no plane anywhere in the world has yet fallen out of the sky because of that.

Now they were trying to modify the warning without alarming the passengers too much and without dropping the price. You could use your mobile phone as long as it was one you could put into flight mode. Such phones cost four times as much. No one has ever explained what ‘flight mode’ is, but if people choose to be taken in like this, that’s their problem.

He keeps walking. He’s troubled by the last look the girl had given him before she died, but prefers not to think about it.

More bodyguards, more dark glasses, more bikinis on the beach, more light-coloured clothes and jewellery attending ‘lunches’, more people hurrying along as if they had something very important to do that morning, more photographers on every corner attempting the impossible task of snapping something unusual, more magazines and free newspapers about what’s happening at the Festival, more people handing out flyers to the poor mortals who haven’t been invited to lunch in one of the white marquees, flyers advertising restaurants on the top of the hill, far from everything, where little is heard of what goes on in Boulevard de la Croisette, up there where models rent apartments for the duration of the Festival, hoping they’ll be summoned to an audition that will change their lives for ever.

All so unsurprising. All so predictable. If he were to go into one of those marquees now, no one would dare ask for his identification because it’s still early and the promoters will be afraid that no one will come. In half an hour’s time, though, depending on how things go, the security guards will be given express orders to let in only pretty, unaccompanied girls.

Why not try it out?

He follows his impulse; after all, he’s on a mission. He goes down some steps, which lead not to the beach, but to a large white marquee with plastic windows, air-conditioning and white chairs and tables, largely empty. One of the security guards asks if he has an invitation, and he says that he does. He pretends to search his pockets. A receptionist dressed in red asks if she can help.

He offers her his business card, bearing the logo of his phone company and his name, Igor Vassilovich, President. He’s sure his name is on the list, he says, but he must have left his invitation at the hotel; he’s been at a series of meetings and forgot to bring it with him. The receptionist welcomes him and invites him in; she has learned to judge men and women by the way they dress, and ‘President’ means the same thing worldwide. Besides, he’s the President of a Russian company! And everyone knows how rich Russians like to show off their wealth. There was no need to check the list.

Igor enters, heads straight for the bar – it’s a very well equipped marquee; there’s even a dance floor – and orders a pineapple juice because it suits the atmosphere and, more importantly, because the drink, decorated with a tiny, blue Japanese umbrella, comes complete with a black straw.

He sits down at one of the many empty tables. Among the few people present is a man in his fifties, with hennaed mahogany brown hair, fake tan and a body honed in one of those gyms that promise eternal youth. He’s wearing a torn T-shirt and is sitting with two other men, who are both dressed in impeccable designer suits. The two men turn to face Igor, and he immediately turns his head slightly, but continues to study them from behind his dark glasses. The men in suits try to work out who this new arrival is, then lose interest.

Igor’s interest, however, increases.

The man does not even have a mobile phone on the table, although his two assistants are constantly fielding calls.

Given that this badly dressed, arrogant fellow has been let into the marquee; given that he has his mobile phone turned off; given that the waiter keeps coming up to him and asking if he wants anything; given that he doesn’t even deign to respond, but merely waves him away, he is obviously someone very important.

Igor takes a fifty-euro note out of his pocket and gives it to the waiter who has just started laying the table.

‘Who’s the gentleman in the faded blue T-shirt?’ he asks, glancing in the direction of the other table.

‘Javits Wild. He’s a very important man.’

Excellent. After someone as insignificant as the girl at the beach, a figure like Javits Wild would be ideal – not famous, but important. One of the people who decides who should be in the spotlight and who feels no need to take much care over his own appearance because he knows exactly who he is. He’s in charge of pulling the strings, and the puppets feel themselves to be the most privileged and envied people on the planet, until one day, for whatever reason, the puppeteer decides to cut the strings, and the puppets fall down, lifeless and powerless.

He’s clearly a member of the Superclass, which means that he has false friends and many enemies.

‘One other question. Would it be acceptable to destroy a universe in the name of a greater love?’

The waiter laughs.

‘Are you God or just gay?’

‘Neither, but thank you for your answer.’

 

The 11th Chapter will be posted on Tuesday 3rd of March

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet

Dubai – is it Exciting or Just a Building Site?

Over the last 75 years, Dubai has transformed itself from a being a simple ‘pearl-diving centre’ into a powerful international trading hub with impressive worldwide links and an ever changing ethnic identity. With a huge contingent of foreign manual workers from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and service industry employees mostly from the Philippines, Middle East, Europe and Australasia, it’s not difficult to see why the changing population is increasing so rapidly.

Much of the Gulf region is experiencing extraordinary levels of growth, with the city of Dubai currently being at the fore-front. Although Dubai is intent on creating masses of future development projects for many years to come, it continues to provide the infrastructure to run in parallel. One of the newest development projects is the prestigious Tiger Woods Golf Complex – Al Ruwaya, which is due to open in September  2009. (See more about Tiger Woods Dubai). In reality, the expansion of Dubai is generally geared to causing the minimum of disruption to business, services, residents and tourists as much as possible. Experts seem to agree that Dubai is a unique fusion of both the old and new, and is a leading inspiration for others to ensue.

Dubai Highlights – What it’s really like

If you arrive late at night at Dubai Airport from, say a UK airport, getting through the Arrivals area could well be ‘manic’ with waiting friends and relatives gathered around the main entrance in vast numbers. At least until your taxi finally gets you away. Book an overnight flight to arrive at breakfast-time and you’ll probably find it a very civilised experience and easy to spot those greeting you. First impressions usually count, and on the way to your chosen holiday accommodation or hotel, you’ll see lines of impressive glass panelled hotels and office blocks glistening in the sunshine. During spring and early summer you’re sure to pass some amazing floral gardens that border the interchanges along the Sheikh Zayed Road, their colours will astound you. In the heat of the Dubai desert, you’ll wonder how they can produce such wonderful sights. Get yourself settled in your chosen accommodation and you’ll soon be ready to explore the city, either by taxi or driving your own rental car. As a general guide for getting your bearings, road signs showing Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi are to the south of the city and signs showing Deira, Bur Dubai, and Sharja are all to the north. There are 3 main city roads that run almost parallel. First there is the Beach road running from a point adjacent to Port Rachid through Jumeirah to the Dubai Marina. The next is the Al Wasl Road which links the Al Bada district to Al Wasl, close to Jumeirah. The biggest and widest road in Dubai, the Sheikh Zayed Road, runs through Dubai right to Abu Dhabi with only a simple name-change to worry about. This busy road is still undergoing upgrading work and some modifications to the existing layout, which is partly due to the current development and construction of the new Dubai Metro system which runs alongside Sheikh Zayed Road with a number of stations en-route. 

Where to stay – Desert Hotel, Beach Resort or Private Villa?

Privately owned holiday villas in Dubai are available to rent, and located around the southern and outer fringes of the city. Residential areas such as The Springs, The Meadows, Jumeirah Islands and Arabian Ranches are all well served with plenty of semi and detached villas for short and long term rent. You’ll find many private villas with pools in Dubai but each of the newly built residential developments cater for those without pools by providing several ‘local’ outdoor swimming pools with children’s play areas. Often located in pleasant landscaped gardens and surroundings, they are closely monitored on a daily basis with adequate security staff and lifeguards in attendance.

You’ll find plenty of modern classy beach resorts to choose from, but Dubai is creating an enormous demand for an exceptional new range of ‘sky-rise’ city hotels, that are being built mainly around the business and trade centre areas of the Sheikh Zayed Road. You will need to remember that, because only licensed hotel restaurants are permitted to serve alcohol, they attract business people, tourists and local residents who enjoy the western-style culture of social drinking hours. The popular Shangri-La provides a nightly buffet with an option price that includes alcohol. The Crowne Plaza, Dusit, Emirates Towers and The Fairmont hotels are just a few examples that can boast some individual and ‘stunning’ architectural or design features, whilst also providing several restaurants that offer authentic cuisines from around the globe. Prior booking is always recommended. 

In Jumeirah, the Madinat Al Qasar, Jumeirah Beach and the One & Only-Royal Mirage hotels are all firm favourites with previous guests and beach lovers alike. They offer guest rooms with stylish décor and quality finishes combining superb luxury amid ostentatious surroundings. Guests requiring larger suites can opt for a choice of quality room upgrades.

Then, there is the famous hotel, The Burj Al Arab. This is the world’s first proclaimed 7-star hotel, a sail-shaped building that’s also the world’s tallest dedicated hotel. It’s Dubai’s iconic symbol, a major landmark. Being set slightly off-shore, with its own private security- controlled bridge for access, this magnificent hotel enjoys fabulous views over Dubai city, the Arabian Gulf, and now, the first purpose built off-shore Island, called Palm Jumeirah. The Burj Al Arab, meaning Arabian Tower, is an all-suite hotel with cascading waterfalls and computerised water displays that greet you on various levels. All areas exude opulence and boast palatial surroundings, sumptuous furnishings and beautiful Arabic décor. There are numerous lavish gold structures and matching colourful ornamental displays throughout, plus the largest atrium you’ll ever see. Guests are provided with their own personal butler who will tend to your every need. Without even a restaurant reservation, non residents will pay an entry fee to look around, but it’s an absolute must to book a Friday brunch at the hotel’s highest restaurant-Al Muntaha where you’ll see views to die for! Reached by an amazing high speed lift, this wonderful restaurant seems perched like a wedge, but has the most spectacular views over Dubai City and Arabian Gulf. Controversially, a full-height symbol of the cross features in the design at the rear of the hotel. This is only viewable from the sea or if you take a private boat trip around the Palm Jumeirah. Nightly illuminations with changing coloured lasers create a spectacular display for the nearby hotel and Madinat guests. Don’t forget to take the camera!

The nearest desert hotel would be Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa – a luxury spot out among the sand dunes, or Jebel Ali Golf and Beach Resort on the outer fringes of the desert. This resort overlooks Palm Jebel Ali just off-shore, which is currently under construction. It’s much nearer to Dubai, but equally a great place to stay.
For sheer unadulterated luxury try a visit to the Al-Maha Desert Resort & Spa. It’s located part way between Dubai and Al-Ain and has magnificent views of the Hajar Mountains and the surrounding dunes. This elegant and luxurious resort offers a unique and personalised Arabian nature experience. With the focus being on pure nature watching and conservation, it boasts a personal desert guide for your holiday duration, and a personal, heated infinity pool with fantastic views across the open desert. Animals, wildlife and guests all secluded and protected in over 80 square miles of desert conservation. No day visitors and probably no probably no non-guests allowed, this exclusive resort is the ultimate retreat, providing maximum privacy. 

Beaches & Parks and the Environment

Whether you stay in hotels or residential accommodation, you will probably want to go to the beach sometime. If you are more interested in Arabic culture and heritage or want to shop in souqs, then Bur Dubai or Deira have city hotels that are ideally located. The Dubai Museum is very interesting, and there are opportunities to take an open top bus tour of the city with an information guide on board. The number one beach choice would have to be Jumeriah. It covers the best location from almost any point you can find along the coast. There are some fantastic views of Palm Jumeirah from The Madinat and Jumeirah Beach hotels own beaches, along with those of the famous hotel, Burj Al Arab.
There are several ‘Public’ beaches – Umm Suqeim beach, Kite beach and other stretches of beach around the The Oasis, Dubai Hilton and Le Meridien Mina Seyahi hotels that are nearest to the Dubai Marina.

Jumeirah Beach Park – being a favourite, gets very busy at weekends, but has a long stretch of sandy beach. It has excellent facilities for children, picnic tables, barbecues and several shop kiosks. Lifeguards are in attendance.
Safa Park – has excellent facilities for all the family. There’s a lake with paddleboats, barbecues, football pitch, waterfall and tennis courts.
Dubai Wildlife & Water-Park Sanctuary – has newly installed viewing platforms for bird-watchers. You may see hordes of pink flamingos which flock to the end of the Creek during winter months.
Creekside Park – has Children’s City, a themed activity centre and children’s museum that kids will love. There is plenty to do for all ages, both educational and creative, where all children can really join in.
Wild Wadi WaterPark – is an excellent water-park that caters for all, plus has some interesting, interconnecting rides. Safety lessons are on offer, and there are gentle rides for small children and nervous parents. With some awesome and scary rides for the bravest, you and your family could be in here quite a while. You’ll be surprised how food and drinks are soon acquired and paid for. It’s all great fun and not to be missed by anyone!

Dubai is generally a very clean city and litter has not become a problem, although the city employs plenty of workers to keep it that way. With increased building work reshaping the original desert and increasing levels of traffic congestion, air pollution has become a major concern. Citizens of Dubai create huge volumes of waste, but new recycling centres have now opened around the city to help cope with it. Off-shore oil spillages have forced government agencies to act, monitor and control sea pollution which threatens marine life and could also seriously damage essential desalination plants that the city depends on.

Shopping in brief

Dubai has a wealth of shopping facilities that you will find hard to beat almost anywhere else on the planet. During June is when the stores start their sales, usually lasting for a month, and all with massive reductions.
The Mall of the Emirates – adjoins the 5-star Kempinski Hotel. It’s a huge Mall with escalators to all floors. There are excellent facilities and plenty of restaurants on all levels. Parking is easy, safe and well illuminated. The Mall is also home to Ski-Dubai, one of the worlds largest indoor ski resorts.
Ibn Battuta – named after the 14th century discoverer, is a large single storey Mall with individually Arabian themed areas including lots of facilities, restaurants and a multi-screen cinema.
Wafi City – provides top-of the- range stylish designer stores and products, plus some home furnishing outlets. Excellent facilities are provided throughout.
The BurJuman Centre – a newly transformed Mall with exclusive designer shops and boutiques.
Souqs – Bustling Souqs in Bur Dubai and Deira, offer gold, jewellery and Arabian antiques along with clothing, textiles and designer souvenirs, often sold at a fraction of normal retail cost. A selection of souqs can also be found at Karama and the Madinat.

Driving

Dubai has no real public transport system in place yet, so the best way to travel is usually by car. Although the traffic is increasing rapidly and hold-ups do occur, it’s generally the easy way to navigate your way around the city. Visitors must now obtain a current International Driving Permit (IDP) which is a strict requirement for all car rentals. They are available throughout the UK, from main post offices. Renting a car in Dubai does carry certain restrictions, so driving to or through other Emirates may not be possible and it is therefore best to confirm this when booking.

Religion & Culture

Dubai is still a Sheikh-dom and the Al-Maktoum family rulers are treated with total and utmost respect. Being an Islamic society, the UAE places certain restrictions on what can be displayed in public and what can not.  Baring some parts of your flesh is strictly forbidden, and public displays of affection may also be frowned upon, so it’s best to always dress conservatively and to familiarize yourself with Arab etiquette before you travel. Muslims take their religion very seriously and needing to pray up to 5 times a day is not uncommon, even if it means stopping their lorry on the roadside to find a place to kneel. It is widely believed that anywhere in the city, you are rarely more than 500 metres from a Mosque, from where you may regularly hear the Muezzin’s familiar call to prayer.

Dubai’s tolerant and modern life-style helps promote it as a safe and exciting destination for tourists. It blends well with society in general and is where both nationals and visitors co-exist quite amicably. Religion and tradition dictate much of the Emiratis way of life, like daily routines, personal relations and even what and where they eat and drink.

Best time to go

The United Arab Emirates lies directly across the Tropic of Cancer, meaning warm and sunny winters, but hot and humid summer months. Although everywhere is air-conditioned, sound advice is for families with young children to holiday during the cooler months from October through to April. Visit anytime from November to March and you’ll be sure of beautiful sunny weather most days. There is some rainfall in winter, but it would probably be very little, no more than just a short brief shower that quickly clears up. During the summer, Dubai hotels offer some exceptionally attractive accommodation rates, especially for June, July and August when many foreign workers return home for their holidays. To prevent dehydration, it’s recommended to drink plenty of bottled water and at regular intervals – 2 to 3 litres per day is quite normal, and keep in the shade as much as possible. Remember the sun is very powerful even if you can’t see it, so wear a hat when outside and use lots of high factor sun creams.

Dubai is a dream holiday destination. There’s so much to see and do, with stylish hotels and resorts, luxury villas and apartments to rent, great restaurants to dine in and numerous shops and local attractions to visit.  Enjoy it, Emiratis do.

Is Ist Just Me? Have I Been Sick To Long? Was I Kept In Medical Induced Coma Too Long? Or Truly, Can Heidi?

Montag not come up with her own ideas, dreams, or anything for that matter? True, I’ve always been on “Team Lauren”, but I actually did like & even put it on my IPod Heidi’s song “Body Language”. But when I was finally brought out of my medical induced coma and saw that Heidi had not only started a much cheaper version of her own clothing line, but she still took the time to bash Lauren’s line while doing so. I actually began to feel sorry for the girl. Why? Simply because if she had not latched on to Lauren in Design school, & pretended to be her friend, than she would still be this poor little girl from CO, with no ideas of her own and no class whatsoever. You don’t see LC trying to record an album, but everyone who has watched Laguna Beach from the get go, knows LC has always dreamed of being a designer. Everything Heidi has done has been dirty…the rumors she spread with Spencer about that tape, going behind that girls back at her job and stealing it out from under her…

Fun Questionnaire For Mummies Just Because I’m Bored?

Ok so I’ve been on bedrest for about a week and a half now and it is extremely boring. Anyway, the kids are all in bed (it’s 9pm here), my fiance is next door with the guys and I’m even more bored than normal so I turn to Y!A to help. If you want to join in then feel free but if you don’t want to then just don’t bother answering. Oh and it’s not specific to mummies but I like this section best.
So these are the questions with my answers and you can add yours:
First real best friend: Steph
First school: Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
First mobile: Nokia 3310
First funeral: My grandma’s
First pet(s) and name(s): Huntley and Palmer(!), black labs
First big trip and your age: To my grandpa’s when I was about a month!
First fight: Probably with my father
First celebrity crush: Johnny depp =P
First time out of the country: Ireland when I was 6 months
First job: Babysitting for family friends
Last person you hugged: My sons goodnight
Last car ride: Home from work on Friday
Last time you cried: This morning – watching Beaches
Last movie you watched: Indiana Jones 2
Last food you ate: Chewing gum?
Last item you bought: Credit for my mobile
Last top you wore: Still wearing a long sleeved grey one
Last phone call: A general chat with my ma
Last text message: To be fiance to behave tonight!
Last thing you touched (apart from the keyboard!): My cup (of tea)
Last funeral: My brother’s
Last time you went shopping (not food): Last Saturday with my ma
Last time you were excited for something: Lost finale (I’m sad =])
Last person you saw: My fiance
Last thing you drank: Tea
Last person that broke your heart: My eldest daughter’s dad
Last time you were really and honestly happy: When my sons said they loved me when they kissed me goodnight.
Thanks to anyone who answers – it’ll just give me something to read. And if you want to add more, feel free and others can answer them (including me).

Just How Gay Is The Gop?

Sen. Larry ‘Wide Stance’ Craig, just another in a long daisy chain of happy homoevidence
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, September 7, 2007
Here is the sticky, irresistible question, hovering like some sort of perky rainbow-colored cloud over anyone who reads the news or pays attention to the scandals or the nifty bathroom hand signals or the various semen stains covering the pages of the Official GOP Handbook like some sort of wretched, skanky Kandinsky painting:
Really, just how many closeted, self-hating, violently repressed “I-am-not-gay” totally gay hypocrites are there in the Republican Party? Or for that matter, in your average born-again Christian megachurch? Or in the U.S. military? Or in (your morally righteous group’s name here)? Ten percent of them? Fifty? A hundred and four?
Because baby, it just keeps popping up, scandal after scandal, homophobic lawmaker after anti-gay preacher after gay marriage attacker after hooker-loving “family values” adulterer, Bob Allen to Ted Haggard to Jim West to Glenn Murphy Jr. to David “Diaperman” Vitter, so many examples of a militant loudmouthed Christian Republican suddenly caught with his pants down around his boyfriend’s ankles that, after so many headlines, the notion that these cases might be rare or exceptional simply vanishes and you are left only with the undeniable fact that, oh my God, the American right is simply teeming with so much murky, pressure-cooked homoeroticism it might as well be a Young Republicans kegger at Mark Foley’s pink Miami Beach condo.
Not exactly a revelation, I admit. As you already know and as any D.C. therapist or male prostitute or honest historian will happily remind you, this is the way it’s always been; incidents like Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s toe-tapping in the tearoom merely reinforce the great Rule of Conservative Hypocrisy — the louder and more self-righteous the indignation over a given “moral” issue, the more sure you can be that the screamer in question is simply oozing with repressed fantasy/lust regarding that very issue — and what’s more, is very likely acting on it, right now, in a fetish dungeon, brothel or bathroom stall near you.
Same as it ever was? Absolutely.
Maybe this, then, is the more interesting question: How far back does it go? How deep can you trace it? To the very roots of humanity itself? Indeed, you need no microscope, no copy of “The Agony and the Ecstasy” to see the ocean of homoerotic sexual repression surrounding the very foundations of the conservative fundamentalist worldview, or the church itself, hearkening back to all those early, nasty popes (secretly married, secret adulterers, secret flocks of nubile boys at their disposal).
You need no “Da Vinci Code” to tell you of the religious right’s eternal repression of the feminine divine, its deep fear of sex, its eternal fascination with the supple flesh of young males. Hell, show me a vociferous anti-sex fundamentalist of any religious or political bent — be he Muslim, Christian, Jew, Mormon, Republican or other — and I’ll show you a slideshow of his secret nighttime fantasies so kinky and dark it would make Jenna Jameson shudder. And not in a good way.
In this light, Larry Craig is merely carrying on a proud, rather disgusting tradition among the morally rigid and the sexually turgid. He is but one in a long, long line of dangerous, duplicitous cretins who stab madly at the world and work like fervent demons to demean others because they cannot stand their own repulsive reflection in the mirror.
It’s as if all the pedophilic priests and all the gay evangelists and the hooker-loving, cocaine-snorting family values GOP crusaders really want us to know that there exists no bastion of stiff, sanctimonious “moral” values that is not, at its core, corrupt and messy and wrongheaded as the Taliban at a nudist colony.
Not our military, a massively warped organization apparently far more terrified of gays than of dropping its entrance barrier so dangerously low it makes good soldiers nervous, not the seminary with the pitter-patter of young men’s feet from bunk to bunk after light’s out, not the megachurches with their deep, eternal, fetishistic fascination with all things anal and perverted and hookeriffic and yummy.
And for the record, no, liberals and Dems are far from immune to this timeless rule (though the self-hating hypocrisy part is largely muted, by default). It’s equally true for any hardcore PETA activist or Earth Firster. The more intolerant you become and the more fixed your ideas of how it’s all supposed to work, the more likely the universe will simply laugh, and smack you upside the head, and secretly take your picture licking your new leather boots or applauding the bombing of Afghanistan or eating that endangered baby seal burger. In your Hummer. With a rifle. On top of Bill O’Reilly. (Shudder.)
But one vital aspect of this otherwise rather typical gay-Republican scandal must be repeated, merely for the record: Truly, no one would give much of a damn that Craig’s as gay as a three-dollar bill and probably has been for oh, about 40 years now — in fact, it might have even been applauded, had he come out with anything resembling dignity or honesty — were the man not a raging, deceitful, duplicitous fraud, one who’s intentionally and maliciously damaged lives, restricted sexual progress and, with his fellow homophobes in Congress, taken a rusty, serrated knife the very fabric of human love. Oh yes he has.
After all, this is the same sniveling Larry Craig who snickered that Bill Clinton was a “bad, nasty, naughty boy” during Lewinskygate, the same Craig who helped to enact the military’s brutal, failed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy (which, as Slate’s William Saletan points out, is a complete and degrading sham — if you don’t tell, they make you tell), the same senator who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and against adding sexual orientation to the list of punishable hate crimes.
In fact, Craig’s classic case of GOP hypocrisy, of the chasm between his homophobic public persona and his homosexual personal lusts is simply so blatant, so undeniably grotesque, he becomes a bizarre case study, a cultural curio, a deeply fascinating — albeit largely nauseating — archetype, full of obvious but still mandatory lessons for us all.
But let us look, just for now, at the biggest one of all. This particular lesson comes straight from the universe itself. It flows and ebbs and floods over all of time, it reeks of blood and sex and huge explosions of exotic flowers, tells tales of history and warped leaders and sexual mayhem going back millennia. In other words, this lesson, as they say, has seen it all.
It goes something like this:
Dear eternally baffled, terminally horny humans: You can only poison your own soul for so long. You can only lie to yourself, your wife, your children, the nation, your own miserable and intolerant genitalia before the backlash, the recoil, the nasty acid reflux comes right back up to bite your *** in the cold, cold bathroom stall of life. Do you understand? Do you not yet see?
Do not, at the peril of your very spirit, at the risk of all that is beautiful and good and fluid and sexual and wet and sticky and right, hold so tightly, so violently to your narrow views of sex and love and human behavior that, when you are caught naked and shivering and salivating on your bed of nails doing exactly the thing your beliefs profess to hate, that your very soul explodes, the flowers wilt, the gods laugh and you are handed a tiny yellow ticket guaranteeing your return in the next life as a small, black, cancerous lesion on the underbelly of a hyena. OK?
Thus endeth the lesson.
Thoughts for the author? E-mail him.

My Short Story, Just For Fun : ) Any Comments Appreciated!!?

I just found this story that was a result of an all-nighter i pulled my freshman year of high school : ) haha Reactions, anyone?
What Happened on Tempest Point
Outside the luxurious Seaview Hotel, the tide crashed on to the dunes of Tempest Point. Tourists crowded the areas of the beach that weren’t ridden with jagged Maine granite. The sight- seers scurried in and out of the expansive brick resort like ants in gaudy swimsuits, rushing to fetch towels, or sunglasses, or more tanning lotion.
An unadorned window on the bottom floor of the Seaview was flung open to welcome the salt laden breeze. Behind it, standing at an immense sink filled with dirty dishes, was a girl of about fourteen. She had long, dark, hair and distant eyes that seemed to reflect the dark blue- gray of the Maine ocean. The girl stared at the small children splashing in the shore while their parents lazed on blankets, covered in baby oil. How can those mothers and fathers let their children near the water? There had been a time when the girl had loved the wild Atlantic. She had felt like the luckiest person in the world, to have it waiting at her front door. That was before I knew what was hidden beneath the surface. Unbridled rage, waiting for the right moment to take, and never to return. Gray clouds seemed to obscure her eyes as she remembered the terrible night.
“Marina!” an annoyed voice called. Marina, the girl at the sink, flinched as she heard her name, a constant reminder of the sea. “What are you doing, idling the afternoon away? Wash the dishes! The software engineers will be here in one hour for their company convention!” The hotel manager turned on his heel and stalked out through the swinging doors of the kitchens. A short man in his mid- fifties, with salt and pepper hair, Walter Galvin had been Marina’s mother’s second cousin three times removed. Or was it third cousin twice removed?
Marina scowled at her “Uncle Walt’s” retreating back. Turning to the open window, swollen from humidity and sticky from salt, she wrenched it shut. Filling the sink with hot water and suds, Marina began to work.
The Seaview often played host to companies or other groups holding conferences or meetings. Marina hoped the engineers weren’t picky and were quiet.
By the time Marina had washed enough dishes to serve an army, DigiTech software vans were pulling into the parking lot behind the hotel. She watched computer engineers awkwardly climb out of the vans in their suits and ties. Hanging her apron on a peg, she straightened her boring regulation waitress outfit: white blouse with a blue knee length skirt.
Half an hour later, it was dinnertime. When Marina entered the corporate dining room to take beverage orders, she was greeted by a sea of combovers and glasses. After endless requests for V-8 and prune juice, followed by the main course and dessert, she was exhausted. After helping to bus the tables, Marina climbed a narrow back staircase to her room.
Her room was on the top floor, floor three. It used to be a storage room. Its one small window viewed a parking lot. When Marina had moved into the Seaview after the terrible night, her Uncle Walter had offered her a large room with a bay window overlooking the ocean. But the girl wanted no reminder of the force that had changed her life forever.
That night, she dreamt of a turbulent sea and one tiny boat, drifting and trying to stay afloat.
July 7th
While the guests were at breakfast, Marina joined the housekeepers in making the beds ant putting fresh towels in all of the rooms. When she knocked on the door of the last room on her assigned floor, a man talking on a cell phone answered. One of the few engineers without glasses, his DigiTech nametag read, “Hi! My name is Marc.” Mike- Alpha- Romeo- Charlie Marina thought automatically. But no. She couldn’t think about the radio codes any more. She had to never let those memories surface again.
Marc waved her inside. Covering the mouthpiece of the phone, he whispered. “Sorry. I’ll finish the call on the porch.” The man walked out onto the small deck outside his room, still talking on the small phone. As Marina made the bed, fragments of conversation floated through the bay window. “isn’t working…won’t tell…have to..daughter…Seaview…”
When Marina heard that word, daughter, she blinked back tears. It wasn’t that long ago that she had been a daughter. Nine months, though it felt like an eternity. Marina had been a daughter for thirteen and a half years.
Marina’s mother, Mara Chandler, married Jonah Taylor in 1990. A month before their first child, Marina, was to be born, Jonah left his wife. “I should have known he was no good.” Mara would later joke to her daughter. “After all, he was a Jonah- bad luck.” Jonah Taylor never tried to contact his wife or child, but Marina didn’t care. She and her mom lived in a small bu

Next Page »