Made it back to China yesterday afternoon, safe and sound. But also exhausted, because for some reason I was not able to sleep on the plane. We took off at like 8pm, so I figured I'd watch a movie then sleep for a bit, but for some reason it didn't matter what position I was in, after about five minutes I'd just be super uncomfortable and unable to relax. It was pretty annoying.
The end of the Dubai trip was great, though. I spent the day with my friend Teresa. We met when she was here in Shanghai, but she left to go work on a few projects in Dubai back in December. So it was great to see her and catch up a bit. We started out pretty relaxed, just having coffee at the beachfront, where they had a 3D art festival going on. The government or event organizers or whoever it was invited a bunch of those people who draw stuff on the ground that then looks 3D to come and draw on the ground. And on the buildings. It was actually a lot more fun than I expected. Plus we got to go to the beach, which is always nice. No swimming involved or anything, but just hanging out on the beach for a few minutes and putting my toes in the water was all I needed. And we ate a camel burger! It was actually pretty good. The meat was more like pulled meat than ground. I don't know if that's just how camel is, or if it maybe was pulled meat. Flavor-wise, it most reminded me of the moose burger I had in Sweden a few years back, but better. And it was spiced really nicely. Ok, that's my attempt at being a food writer. I think I've used up all my adjectives and cooking vocabulary, so that's all I have to say about that. Other than it was pretty good and I'm surprised that this was the only time I've ever seen camel on a menu. Glad I can add it to my list of animals I've eaten!
After a lazy morning, the afternoon actually got a bit rushed. We were on the hunt for a themed gift for me to take back to another friend, and when we couldn't find it at the small mall in the Marina, we went to the souk. We needed something Dubai- (or camel) themed, and super kitschy, so of course the souk is the right choice. Plus I wanted to buy a new hookah since mine broke last year and the one I got in Istanbul airport is tiny and I don't like it very much. So we ended up rushing through the souk trying to find anything, and not. Not even a good hookah. So we figured we'd try the larger mall attached to my hotel, which was perfect since I had to be back at the hotel to get to the airport soon anyway. And also because the mall had a Nando's, so I got to eat Nando's before leaving! No gifts were found, but Nando's was eaten, so really what more could you want from life? And Terry had never tried Nando's before, but now she has and there's one right by her, so she's going to eat it all the time and make me super jealous.
That was it. Dubai is done. Now I'm back in China for about 4 weeks, before heading to Germany for a trade show. Got a couple of local trips planned, and some visitors coming to Shanghai, so should be a fun month.
And again we have two tracks from two artists, but unlike last time it's not to clear out the queue of songs I had to share. Actually I didn't have either of them queued up to share, but I should have. Both of them are songs or artists I found recently that I enjoy very much, so I should have shared sooner. The first is Peroration Six, the closing track off of Floating Points's debut album, Elaenia, which was released last year. I only heard it a few weeks ago, but it's a great sound, something along the lines of the instrumental, ambient electronic of The Cinematic Orchestra. And it made a perfect starting point for a great Spotify channel for the last time I worked from home (something I'm doing again today).
And then we have a new song from Massive Attack. They put out a new EP, Ritual Spirit, back in January, and I've been obsessed with the title track since I first heard it. Obviously they are not a band I just recently found out about, but they just recently put out this EP after 6 years of nothing, and the song should have been shared with you much sooner. It features Azekel on vocals (who I told you about last year), but there are also great collaborations with Tricky, Young Fathers and Roots Manuva. Hopefully this means they have a new album in the works. No word on that yet, though.
The end of the Dubai trip was great, though. I spent the day with my friend Teresa. We met when she was here in Shanghai, but she left to go work on a few projects in Dubai back in December. So it was great to see her and catch up a bit. We started out pretty relaxed, just having coffee at the beachfront, where they had a 3D art festival going on. The government or event organizers or whoever it was invited a bunch of those people who draw stuff on the ground that then looks 3D to come and draw on the ground. And on the buildings. It was actually a lot more fun than I expected. Plus we got to go to the beach, which is always nice. No swimming involved or anything, but just hanging out on the beach for a few minutes and putting my toes in the water was all I needed. And we ate a camel burger! It was actually pretty good. The meat was more like pulled meat than ground. I don't know if that's just how camel is, or if it maybe was pulled meat. Flavor-wise, it most reminded me of the moose burger I had in Sweden a few years back, but better. And it was spiced really nicely. Ok, that's my attempt at being a food writer. I think I've used up all my adjectives and cooking vocabulary, so that's all I have to say about that. Other than it was pretty good and I'm surprised that this was the only time I've ever seen camel on a menu. Glad I can add it to my list of animals I've eaten!
After a lazy morning, the afternoon actually got a bit rushed. We were on the hunt for a themed gift for me to take back to another friend, and when we couldn't find it at the small mall in the Marina, we went to the souk. We needed something Dubai- (or camel) themed, and super kitschy, so of course the souk is the right choice. Plus I wanted to buy a new hookah since mine broke last year and the one I got in Istanbul airport is tiny and I don't like it very much. So we ended up rushing through the souk trying to find anything, and not. Not even a good hookah. So we figured we'd try the larger mall attached to my hotel, which was perfect since I had to be back at the hotel to get to the airport soon anyway. And also because the mall had a Nando's, so I got to eat Nando's before leaving! No gifts were found, but Nando's was eaten, so really what more could you want from life? And Terry had never tried Nando's before, but now she has and there's one right by her, so she's going to eat it all the time and make me super jealous.
That was it. Dubai is done. Now I'm back in China for about 4 weeks, before heading to Germany for a trade show. Got a couple of local trips planned, and some visitors coming to Shanghai, so should be a fun month.
And again we have two tracks from two artists, but unlike last time it's not to clear out the queue of songs I had to share. Actually I didn't have either of them queued up to share, but I should have. Both of them are songs or artists I found recently that I enjoy very much, so I should have shared sooner. The first is Peroration Six, the closing track off of Floating Points's debut album, Elaenia, which was released last year. I only heard it a few weeks ago, but it's a great sound, something along the lines of the instrumental, ambient electronic of The Cinematic Orchestra. And it made a perfect starting point for a great Spotify channel for the last time I worked from home (something I'm doing again today).
And then we have a new song from Massive Attack. They put out a new EP, Ritual Spirit, back in January, and I've been obsessed with the title track since I first heard it. Obviously they are not a band I just recently found out about, but they just recently put out this EP after 6 years of nothing, and the song should have been shared with you much sooner. It features Azekel on vocals (who I told you about last year), but there are also great collaborations with Tricky, Young Fathers and Roots Manuva. Hopefully this means they have a new album in the works. No word on that yet, though.
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