Monday 19 March 2012

A Horsey Weekend

I thought once the exams were out of the way I could write a post or two in peace…..me and my grand plans I tell you. Have been so very busy…….will put up a newsy post sometime next week. Just posting a few pictures of what we did this weekend. I had already posted about it[the same event] on my picture blog last year……and honestly same stuff, just different year. So skipping the detailed explanations, just adding a few more pictures......ofcourse I don’t need to stress do I that I’m no photographer, just showing you bits & pieces of what’s happening on this side of the world:-). 

Convention Gate, Trade Centre
The Horse Championship & Exhibition was held at the Trade Centre, same venue as last year. Looking at the outside one will never guess the huge amount of space inside the building. The area where this Championship[which was a huge auditorium] was held just occupies one corner of it.


The show had already started when we reached. Here's how it goes....the horses are paraded one by one and the marks are recorded on the blue screen above for all of us to see. They looked beautiful, the horses I mean....and not to forget, worth millions. Here's a funny fact...as each horse is guided into the arena by its jockey the crowd erupts in cheers and applause; many even banged on their tables, stamped their feet & made lot of unwanted din. For a very elegant and posh do, this was like OTT. When I expressed surprise the better-half enlightened me that they are not cheering but booing....trying to rattle the horses into making mistakes which inturn will help[supposedly] their own horses win more points;-D


Can you see the blue sashes on the neck of those 3 horses??? They were the winners....I would love to pretend I know more but seriously I was more concerned about where the kids disappeared to and so took off to check on them.

Fodder
There was also an exhibition happening side by side which advertised and catered to all horses and horse owners needs. For instance, exhibited above is the different kinds of fodder for their daily needs.
Different kinds of supplements for their diet
Branded Salt for Horses:-)
Most horse feeds are low in sodium and chloride, so salt is very important for horses, actually all animals....earlier horses just licked salt blocks now they come packed, the salt I mean. 

Sculptures
Paintings
I stood & watched this man paint for quite sometime.....and started eyeing him suspiciously after sometime. He concentrated on a tiny area at the bottom of that painting for the entire time I was watching him . How does he manage to complete them if he takes so long over every inch I ask.

I know....am a complete Neanderthal when it comes to art;-P. Now you'll say there is no need to act like you are proud of the fact....I'm not, I'm like very ashamed but facts are facts.....the artist wasn't really doing much. I went back after 2 hours and he was still at it, but this time on the right-hand corner. I just threw my hands up & gave up after that.


Riding surfaces[tilt head towards left to see clearly]
Something's wrong with my picture editing software. Portraits turn into landscapes and then refuse revert back. The above picture is an example of different riding surfaces......don't ask me more, I myself have doubts how the horses manage to ride over that black terribly uneven surface;-o

If one was bored with all the horse-related programs there was a section where UAE's heritage was depicted. I have seen it all before but half-way through my aimless wandering[I was trying to catch the kids remember] it occurred to me that you guys maybe interested, so then back-tracked and took pictures.
Tools used for pearl-diving
One of the main occupations of the people of UAE in the 19th century was pearl-diving. There was a very interesting write-up on it fixed above this cabinet. I read the entire thing but now can't remember much. Check out those huge shells...they've got multiple bump-like thingies on them which makes me think that one large shell can give upto 5-6 pearls[click image to zoom] instead of what I always believed, courtesy animated movies[one tiny closed shell gives one shiny pearl;-/]. Anyways don't believe everything I write here...I just told you what I thought;-P.

Below is one of my favourite pictures....an idyllic scene where an old man is working. The two beside him are chatting and drinking Kawa[Arabic coffee]. Another man is taking his young son to task for running around aimlessly. A woman in traditional hijab, walking past. Click to enlarge.
Basket-weaving
There was a stall which served hot dosa-like dish and dumplings in a caramelised sweet sauce. I remember trying them last year but this year I couldn't get anywhere near the stall as there was too much crowd. See, the entrance to this do is free...so quite a few people mainly locals & europeans wander in to check out what's happening. And free food is free food & if its tasty then there will be a long queue;-P.
Emarati woman making traditional delicacies 
We had VIP passes and so were treated like royalty......well almost like. Seriously, the only difference I noticed was that Royalty[they were seated across us, I heard Sheikh Hamdan[crown prince] was there but didn't spot him anywhere but then I didn't really look] got gilt-edged velvet couches...and we got elegant chairs. Service-wise everything was same....unless they got champagne but then they don't drink, so....;-P


Every 5-10 minutes bearers floated around with dainty hors d'oeuvres[no main dishes, only nibbles throughout] and how can I forget the delectable desserts.....everytime the waiter brought some, the kids magically appeared out of nowhere and gobbled them all up. Nikita openly claimed to our host that she was there only to eat the desserts embarrassing the life out of us. See that empty plate in the corner, I got our waitress to get me those dumplings I was talking about earlier;-D. No picture of desserts for obvious reasons.


There was plenty to keep the kids occupied…unlimited horse rides, henna painting, vibrating floors, falcon show and ofcourse the eats. They disappeared with their friends immediately after we reached and I stopped looking for them after sometime. Because they kept turning up at intervals with complaints, hunger pangs and to show off their tattoos & the freebies they accumulated:-)).

The kids:-))
A totally random picture taken after the event. While walking out of the auditorium they gathered all the fresh flowers they found and kept busy refreshing them in the water from the fountain, to keep them from dying[a 10 minute walk to the main entrance took 25 minutes;-/].

p.s: If the post didn't make any sense and you really want to understand what I'm talking about then please click on the link I gave in the first paragraph. 
p.p.s: If you feel too lazy to scroll up but still want to check the link out, then click here. The extremes I go to, to get people to read my posts...*Nancy rolling her eyes*.

Monday 5 March 2012

Not a Post

The finals exams are going on in our household. You can imagine how it must be.....yup the kids are freaking. I play a very important part here…..I provide atmosphere. Thunderclouds and gloom. So blogging is out. I’d feel so terrible if I did,  like as if I’m enjoying myself when the kids are so hard at work. Like guilty pleasure. So this is not like a proper post……it’s a tag. No, tags are not posts, they are tags. U can torture me but I stand by what I say…..atleast till the exams are over.
Hitchwriter  swears this tag is called  Tag you’re it!!
I believe him.
Without wasting another minute….the Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post & then create 11 new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3. Tag 11 people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!
So here are the 11 questions that Hitchy has posted 
1.)      If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Right now I wish I had superpowers to find that perfect apartment. Yep we are apartment hunting and I wish so much I had the power to find an apartment where the kitchen is big enough for four  3 people to stand comfortably and work, bedrooms with cabinets, airy bathrooms with natural light, and enough space in the balcony where I can place 2 chairs & lots of plants.

2.)      What was your favourite childhood television program?
Different Strokes:-))
I’m not sure really. Back in the 80’s we didn’t have a lot of choice, we watched whatever we got[duhhh dont I sound like my parents;-/]. The Hindi movies aired at 6pm on Sundays used to be a treat especially if it had Amitabh Bachchan in itJ. Oh yes I remember never missing the Japanese serial ‘Giant Robot’ & another one which used to come on Sundays called ‘Different Strokes’.

3.)      Have / had any celebrity crushes ?  
By now most of you know that I have a soft corner for Salman Khan. I even blogged about it once. Don’t go looking for it. I cringe now when I see the post. Yeah well I’m not sure he was a crush…I mean he's my favourite and I love him but crush….naaah. The closest I can think of is Hritik Roshan in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai…….not Rohit, it was Raj who swept me off my feetJ. I also loved his act as a betrayed lover in Mujhse Dosti Karoge too. And that part in Jodha-Akbar where Jodha ogles him while he practices his sword-fighting……brrrrr I had goosebumps. Oh alright seems like Hritik Roshan comes close to a crush though I prefer to believe the characters he plays get to me.

4.)      If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
It used to be Switzerland for a long time.  It changed when I came across this ad in a magazine. Picture this: There is a make-shift shack set up in the middle of nowhere with a mindblowing backdrop. This shack is selling fresh fruit and vegetables. The price of each item is hand-written above each basket. There is nobody in the shack to monitor who buys what. There is a weighing machine & a money box kept on one side. And the tagline simply said “Visit New Zealand” or some such thing. Ever since…..
[Why do I get the feeling I’ve already mentioned this somewhere on the blog. This is what happens when one does too many tags;-/. ]

5.)      Name 1 thing you miss about being a child.
I don’t really miss it all that much. I had too many hang-ups as a kid which still has the power to bother me when I think back about them. I like my present.

6.)      Name the one comic/book character that you loved the most and why?
I remember wanting to emulate George of the Famous Five series……she wanted to be a boy, had short hair, she had a dog, was fearless,  was not afraid to say what was on her mind and never backed away from a fight. Oh yes I wanted to be like George so much.

7.)      What is the one thing that you are dying to try but haven’t had a chance to do so yet ?
I want to climb a mountain, any mountain even a teeny-weeny one but it’s got to be a mountain; I’ll climb to the summit, pitch a tent , sit outside  it, soak in the sunshine, drink in the breath-taking view, contemplate LIFE.

For my luck I'd probably get this sign ;-P
8.)     Do you have a role model – someone you want to emulate? Whom do you admire the most?
The go-getter. I’m a very laid-back….keep waiting for things to happen, stuff to fall in my lap. I know, I know….even I can’t believe people like me exist;-P. So yeah I admire the go-getters.

9.)      What do others make of you?
I think they think that I think differently....like outside the box. I don’t really fit in. For starters…not very conventional, kind of like witty but not very pretty. If she is in the mood to impress she can keep us in splits, if she’s not then heaven save us from the mistress of doom. Like I said…..they think I think that they think like that.

10.)  Have you ever gotten into a fight or punched someone ?
I have gotten into fights[small tame arguments in my opinion;-/] but haven’t punched anybody yet. Haven’t lost hope though. But I soo wish I had/have the courage to do something like that especially when roadside romeos behave crudely….u know just catch him by his collar and ram my fist against his nose. I sooo wish I had the courage to make sure that he’ll never ever do that to another woman ever in his life again.

11.)   For Girls – If you woke up tomorrow to find out you are Brad Pitt, what would be the first thing you’d say upon looking in the mirror???
For Boys – If you woke up tomorrow to find out you are Angelina Jolie, what would be the first thing you’d say upon looking in the mirror???
Angie daaaaarling, you’ll never guess*huge grin*;-D

So that’s it my 11 answers. Now I have to go…..remember I've got exams.
 I tag…
Tan
Uma

My questions are same as Hitchwriters, please don’t get mad at me for not putting up new ones. I'll give u permission to change the last question with one of ur own.....even I hated that one;-D.  EXAMS.  Gotta rush….I can hear the kids chattering away. Not a good sign.  You guys can make new questions when you are tagging others. Cheers.