the most beautiful city (Cape Town, South Africa)

Howzit!

The most beautiful city, in my opinion, is undoubtedly
Cape Town!

I just spent 12 magical days there and am totally reconvinced. So many negative stories (especially political and criminal) have been associated with South Africa which wanted to make me nervous about my visit - but instead I went in with a positive mind because this way the attraction for positive things are usually much more probable. It paid off well:)

There is SOOOOO much to do in Cape Town. Variety!
I spent most of my time on those stunning beaches (and they are FREE), sunsets I wish I could stare at, having conversations with open-minded, intelligent and creative people whom I wish I could stare at, having cheesecake in Mr PickWicks, going right back into the salsa scene from private- and group lessons to social dancing, to langarm in the Northern Suburbs (and now my eyes are really open enough that "ballrooming on techno music on a babypowdered floor" is actually an accurate way to describe this style of dancing, a Balkonology party (goodness), dinners with loving friends, seeing funny and crazy things happen at times where I think, "only in Cape Town" e.g. seeing a fake fire extinguisher on a tree on the way down the Kloofnek Pass, guys (barechested and sexy) do little magnificent fire shows on the beach after sunset (and they are FREE) and if you didn't bring your candles and bottle of wine to the beach after sunset, you're not well-prepared, me walking with my funky Nepalese pants barefoot and with only a bikini top into Nando's and no one staring (that's AWESOME), spending time with my multi-cultural group of friends, and spending great times with my Indian-turned-South African boyfriend (clothed in shorts and sandals and "bru"-attitude), I realize that this is the place to be. Cape Town is the COOLEST destination (and for those who live there, enjoy it). And the list goes on..... Just look around you!;-)

Now I'm back into the hooting traffic of Dubai, where my building smells of a mixture of stasoft and curries, and I can't think of anything worthwhile to do. Oh well, I'll continue to make the best of my time here.

It was great to see those I saw, apologies to the ones I didn't get to.
Keep rocking,
and remember that the best things in life really are free.

Ok bye dudes and dudettes;-)
*Peace and Joy
Alta

Singapore/Brisbane

Good d'ayy possums,
how ar ya

You have no idea what you have become to me, not only to share my news and my life, not only friends - also a reason to do all these things. Not only for myself...but do it for everyone that has always wanted. Making the best of every moment so that I can come home and have good news:) Making a movie then writing the script. Thank you so very much for all your wonderful feedback and replies. And for those who don't, don't worry - I know you smile.

I have just returned back to Dubai after 9 days - it feels weird. In 9 days we had 6 flights, 4 days in Brisbane and 2 in Singapore. Passengers asked me a question, and I had to think where I am before I could answer, haha. Mind and body freak, all these timezones.

Brisbane is beautiful - I call Australia: European South Africa. Everything happens smoothly, traffic goes orderly, no hooting, pedestrians cross where and when they have to and the whole city, just runs like the Truman Show. I fully understand why so many Saffi's (South Africans) immigrate to Aussie. It is the perfect place to settle down and have a family. In Brisbane I went shopping, from the city to the botanical gardens meets river, all in 5 mins. And it's clean and just stunning. Unfortunately I connected with not one single person on this trip, nevertheless went traveling to the Gold Coast with a colleague (Thai). We also went to the zoo (not a sad one - fantastic though and HUGE, peaceful and sirene) and yes, saw wallabies and emus, cuddled kangaroos and KOALA BEARS!!! My colleague has all the photos tho, my camera died on me.

In Singapore I went to Little India, a nice walk around the city and the Boat Quay (lots of restaurants here) very nice. Went clubbing for the first time traveling. It was GREAT!! After arriving in Singapore, got dressed and ended up in Insomnia (and with a Romanian colleague) - haha, can you believe. Danced till I dropped sober as a woodpecker (not much sleep mentioned here). I have a soft spot for this place. I can find my way around it by now (Singapore's not very big) and ask for certain foods even if it's not on the menu:) The people are so pure. I walked around in my Nepalese fisherman's pants (those waaaaaide ones) Walked into a vegetarian restaurant to find there are lots of pork, chicken, fish and steak on the menu and almost got upset for false advertising. But had to be convinced that the menu is 100% vegetarian - I was blown away (heaven). And the food was so great, I walked around as if on drugs. Just wanting to hug and love everyone. I don't know what they put in their food, but I'm in love with it. Number one on my list. A woman from Bugis market recognized me from last time. Wow!!! Haha. And then I shopped till I dropped....

Now I'm back, it's 11 o 'clock in the morning, and I haven't slept. And don't remember when I did last and for how long. It's the strangest feeling.
So, if you see me - I might look thinner than I used to:) But no worries, I still eat healthy, drink the strongest vitamins and minerals, do yoga and feel salubrious. So please don't stop me when I feel like running around naked on the beaches of Sandy Bay, heehee.

I can truly say now: Life's a journey, enjoy the ride!!

Cheerio mates

Ps. I'll be in Cape Town from the 10th;-)

Mwah

alles is wunderbar and fantastisch (Frankfurt, Germany)

Guten tag almal

Today's news is about Frankfurt, Germany.
The flight was great and the people behaved. Frankfurt was frrreeezing. The hotel was absolutely gorgeous, the room so funky and cute - I felt like jumping on the bed (I didn't)

Sabrine (french girl) and I connected and off we went into the cold to explore Frankfurt. We experienced the Germans there as very unfriendly, impatient and rude people. It freaked me out when even the Japanese girl at the sushi counter blabbered off in German as she got frustrated when I couldn't understand what she was saying. They were all like this. We only found ONE person that made an effort to show us where to buy tickets for the underground and which number to take. The whole city was un-"userfriendly". Everything was in German and we never knew if we were going the right way/direction. We learned that 'ausgang' does not mean toilet (the pictures of a man and woman - as it does when it shows you the toilet, was right above this word and just lead us to a dead-end) but rather meant 'exit' (uitgang). Weizen means wheat (found ONE english speaking person in the whole supermarket - they sent him to me to translate) in my search for wheat-free cereal. Scheize, what a schlep. At least bought good, healthy food in Germany:). And so our German lessons continued. We went to Romer, to the Old Town. Oh, basically Frankfurt was destroyed/demolished in the war and the entire city was rebuilt. Then we took a walk to the river. Instead of hazzling our way back, we shared a cab. It was so awesome to see all the taxis to be Mercedes's. I then remembered that it is made in Germany.

Sabrine is a great gal, so we had a lot of fun. Made fun of the grumpy Germans, and started to moan back at them, haha.

Nein danke, this place is not for me:) Was so excited to see in the tv guide that FRIENDS is on, to find that it is dubbed in German. And so also watching Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan speak German, I thought it rather a good time to snooze before my flight back.

Saturday early morning I'm leaving on a 9day trip - staying 2 days in Singapore and 4 days in Brisbane. Hope to have lots of news. Am so very excited to have some lekker sunshine on my face. In need of a serious tan:) And next month I am "putting my tootsies on Cape Town soil" (as someone said:-) !!!! Am missing our beautiful mothercity!!! It's all over our magazines at the moment:)

Anyhooo, vielen dank for being in this lifetime with me

Till soon
Auf wiedersehen

Alts

Ps. No Germans were harmed during the making of this documentary, heehee
To my German friends, you are lovely!!!

antique still works (Casablanca, Morocco )

Bonjour/salaam

Just returned from Casablanca, Morocco and ja
mmmm...interesting place. I don't even know what to write today. There is definitely an uniqueness about Morocco. A place where you can speak french, buy buckets full of olives, smoke shisha, dance to Arabian music and drink Moroccan tea (mint). Where new meets old (as in total extremes) because this place is ANCIENT!!! (and had the best hotel I've ever stayed in - pure luxury). The Berbers live there! - Their culture is like 4000 years old. In Morocco they still ride those pedal-motorcycles (what do you call them?). Some of the buildings are REALLY old, the people are hard, yet friendly and approachable. After every sale, my male colleague (luckily he could understand Arabic, although he is from Bangladesh - brought up in Dubai, family lives in New York) shook the hands of every seller (at the markets where you find those Moroccan antiques). And luckily my female colleague (the 3 of us spent the entire day together) could speak French (although she's from Spain). Because it was difficult to find English speaking people there. Thank goodness I didn't travel alone this time:-)

We went to the second largest mosque in the world - Hassan II - and wow, it took my breath away!!
And as evening approached, we wanted to have shisha, tea and dinner (but this combination doesn't exist in Casablanca), so we had dinner first - ended up in a Cafe where the menu was in French only, and I don't think we've ever had better pizza before:), then went to a larny (how funny is that) place where we had shisha and pots of Moroccan tea

Overall it was a pleasant trip. Great shopping. Fabulous weather (about 25 degrees) and it didn't feel crowded. The place is big and spacious. A mixture of what I'm used to in Dubai and in South Africa - Arab world and greenery. The flight there was long, the captain called us to the flight deck to see the Pyramids as we flew over Egypt:-) That was awesome!

Money unit - Moroccan dirhams (equivalent to the Rand basically)
That's about it for now:)

*Salaam
Have a fantastic day
Alta
Au revoir

..and how to shorten your life... (Bangladesh)

Allo allo

Just returned from a trip to Dhaka in Bangladesh (Southern asia, basically surrounded by India)
and I must admit, I quite enjoyed it. I thought those days when I traveled in Delhi were bad, but man the traffic in Dhaka was even scarier. How to loose 10 years of your life caused by stress, go on an autoricksha (those 3 wheeled scootercars) or rickshaw (the 3 wheeled bicycles) and experience facing REAL traffic with your bare body. You will think the people are mad, then you realize it's just the way they drive around there. No one follows the traffic rules (like stopping at a traffic light or staying in your lane). You just drive as if you REALLY have to be somewhere. It's cars, buses, rickshas, auto ones, people (incl. beggars, hawkers) EVERYWHERE! The flight over there was horrendous and animalistic. Unfortunately the locals just have no idea. They don't know how to flush the toilet, where the bin is, or some don't even know that there is a toilet on the aircraft and pee on their seat (one even pooed on the toilet seat and not inside) they ask for water constantly and stand up from their seats while the aircraft is landing. There were 400 of them on this flight. Good grief, what an experience. I've been warned, so thought I was prepared. But sjoe, hiyebo, aikona.

Anyway, no one was brave enough to take on the thought of traveling, so I went alone. Found a guide (probably not more than 12 years old) and off we went. Saw the beautiful National Parliament House designed by Louis Khan, it won architectural awards. Went to the Dekashwari hindu temple and then little Russel (the guide) took me to the clothing markets where you can also buy the latest movies for verrrry cheap. Took a 3 wheeled bicycle ride back (my first time, i felt bad for letting a guy cycle us, but he gotto feed his family (sjoe, this is a poor country) - i gave him a lot more than he asked for) Then we walked back to the hotel - he took me through the back alleys where I would never dare be alone. It was great!!! I loved it.

Back at the hotel, I chilled in a jacuzzi (haha, in Dhaka) and joined crew for dinner. The hotel had a stunning fully equipped gym, swimming pool, sauna and steamroom and restaurants(well, like most hotels). Don't know why crew complain about the hotel. It is luxury. Especially for Dhaka standards.

Money unit= taka
Weather - misty now and chilly

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed.
Hear from you soon

Ciao for now
Hugs,
A

bye bye love, hello loneliness

Good morning lovely people!

The first month of the year is already over!
and so we continue into the year
I have just said goodbye to Pookie. We spent about 9 wonderful days together. Param and I also spent days of bad flu's and body aches and nursed each other back to recovery, it was quite funny. I took him to my favourite corners of Dubai, old traditional buildings made from clay and wooden sticks, arabian boats, hungry cats and native men with bad posture, where the food is cheap and the birds like to chirp. He loved it as much. Wow, what a relief. We went on a thrilling dune-bashing desert safari, amazing dinners and lunches, saw some crazy architecture and just enjoyed being together again. It was great. In between I had an insane Indian flight (never to be repeated again, haha) and went to Birmingham, where I fell so sick, I slept for 17 hours. The bus ride to the hotel was stunning though. Beautiful stretches of bright and lush grassy fields and leafless trees, old english suburbs (Solihull). The weather was cold, but great.

The month of Feb, I will hopefully have some great traveling news again, as my roster is quite promising. Having Param here though, has been my best time in Dubai:-) He is on his way to Thailand now (without me, as I didn't get the leave I requested)

Oh, and I must tell you this interesting happening - the rain in Dubai. On the 13th of Jan, we had 2 days of non-stop rain in Dubai. Now, this sounds normal for a winter season, but no - NOT Middle East!! Dubai does not have a draining system, causing all of our balconies to flood, confusing and disorientating taxi/bus drivers, traffic jams, delayed flights etc etc. It was unbelievable. It seems like it's over now, although the weather is still very cold. Been like this for a month now. (Dubai USUALLY only has TWO seasons - hot and BLOODY hot), don't know where THIS weather comes from, hehe.

Hey, it's 7am now (haven't slept), preparing my body clock for the 3 am flight I have later:)
Thank you for letting me share my life

Till later
Tooooedeldoe!!

Alta