Més Que Un Club!

1,2,3,4,5 - 0 !!!! 

that's how people should remember yesterday's El Clasico !! the famous clash of the titans of two of the best European soccer teams

The tension was at its highest between the fans before the start of the game, with the usual teasing and taunting pre-game and in the first minutes of kick-off... the fans in club shirts, caps and even BlacBerry Messenger profile pics, including me and @LaSahely,,, everything was set for an action packed game with everyone preparing the taunts, the replies, the "gooooooooooolll" broadcast messages and tweeeets!!  

Kick-off, teams testing each other out, and BAMMMM, then KAPPOOOWWW, the first two goals in barely 20 mins into the game and the Blancos' spirit was broken, their play began to fumble down the drain unfortunately, only to be replaced with a 70-30 possession split in favor of the Blaugrana !! 

One would wonder about such a crushing victory against Mourinho, one of the most prominent coaches these days, and his results with Real Madrid, adjusting their playing style to their old beautiful flair, barely though... 

Well i believe the issue was not Mourinho's formation, tactics or instructions to his players which betrayed him and the team,, but it was the players themselves... running a comparison with the Barca play yest, one would notice a team playing as One-For-All, like a build-up of 20 passes before the 2nd Barca goal, against a team playing as 3 teams in one, with the defense trying to just hold their ground and push the ball away, the midfield desperately looking for the attackers and missing the passes, and the attackers passing when their teammates least expect it?! i think the Real Madrid players betrayed themselves with not being in-sync, with not taking things slower, building up their movement through the pitch..

I have enjoyed and quite agreed on the 10 points why we Barca fans should've feared Mourinho, byt my good friend @figo29 on his blog,


http://figo29.com/2010/11/22/i-fear-mourinho/


well i guess tonight my friend figo, we showed them !! Ronaldo still ddnt score against Barca in a Real Madrid jersey, we did not treat them like an Almeria team (they made it easy), Messi was flamboyant against Mourinho's containment measures, we did not need our substitution bench (albeit Bojan almost scored twice), Puyol was Ronaldo's "Sisyphus Boulder", Villa scored twiiice (but ddnt play tht well though)....

The game's golden moments would definitely be the renowned tiqui-taca passing of Barca, the Ronaldo shove to Pep Guardiola, the fighting spirit of the Barca players, the disorientation in the Real Madrid players, the Sergio Ramos red card and the silent Mourinho...

i would like to congratulate Barccaaaaaaaaa :D and hard luck for Real Madrid, but the crushing win left aside, the season is not over yet, this is the first time Barca tops the standings, and we have always witnessed the relentless fight of Mourinho and the Real Madrid team's surprises throughout the league.. 

The coming games are tough for Real Madrid...

Until the next El Clasico in May (with Mourinho having never lost a home game since 2003 with any team he coached), godspeed for both teams!

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Techy Cookie Dough

I want to introduce to you all my close friend's shop Cookie Dough !!! 

Cookie Dough offers multi-brand Luxury for Little Ones from 0-6 years. We harmonize the fashionably avant-garde with the timeless classic, presenting a concoction of styles and trends personally handpicked from both internationally acclaimed brand names, as well as discreet upcoming designers.


The shop offers a great experience and well catered to every last detail!!  form the handmade and hand painted clothes hangers, to the colorful thematic window displays, to the amazing services they offer such as a limo ride at no extra cost to pick u up from your place and take you back !! 

The beautiful door! 

The works

Cutest Hangers !! 

And newly launched is the Blackberry Messenger service! yess yesss,, BBM used for businesses!!  i believe it is a first in Beirut,  and i actually see this for the first time ! 

Introducing our Blackberry Service! Add us on your BBM: 21CEB868 to make orders and deliveries easier. It will also help you stay up to date with our news, latest collections, services, and promotions.

now that's a kick ass idea!!! 

the shop just even released a cookbook full of recipes for babies!!! 

Cookie Dough is PROUDLY owned by one of the most amazing people you will ever meet Ms. Yasmin Agha !!! 

If you are ever free, do drop by and have a chat with her and check out the shop :D 


P.S: do follow Yasmin on Twitter.com/YasminAgha and Cookie Dough on Twitter.com/CookieDough_Bey

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

A Slice of Heaven

This year i spent the Eid break in the UAE, in Dubai more specifically. I had the company of close family visiting and was responsible for activities :D 


For the first time i was able to enjoy all the various good restaurants in Dubai, the good fun to be had with family and all.


The biggest surprise for us all was our visit to Jumeirah's Bab el Shams Resort and Spa !!! 


We planned to arrive there before sunset to watch it from their very very cosy Al-Sarab cafe! it is built like an old fort top with a gorgeous outdoor chimney! the couches and arabic majlis seating are very comfy, the service impeccable and the weather a blissful collection of breezes! 


Unfortunately we left a tad late for the 45 mins drive from the hotel, but we were still treated to majestic sand dunes sun kissed by the sunset through the drive.. The magic kept on goin till we reached and sat in the cafe, with the gorgeous sky colored by a palette of orange, yellow, purple and dark blues !! The sight is truly to die for!! 

Trusty Nikon D5000

The Resort is exquisite with its architecture, reminiscent of the Bedouin times, with a simplistic modern twist, the pictures speak for themselves !! The resort's serene feel is just accentuated by its isolated position in the middle of sand dunes, away from all the busy feel and state of bustling Dubai !! 

Next stop, is a short 3 mins buggy ride outside the main resort building deep into the sand dunes into the Hadheera (The Barn)
The place is basically a reconstruction of a an old times barn. It is used as a great place for a good night time!!!  the menu for entertainment consists of an arabic singer at first (not bad), a Tannoura dancer with his face painted in green (guess its a morrocan thingy), well he was a star with his performance and interaction with the crowd, moving around the place and dancing for almost every table! The dabkeh band was a hit as well, and there is an oriental dancer, but we missed it since the kids were too tired to stay up, but according to the pics we saw of her, she haawwttt!!! 


The place is well designed, with very nice seating, allowing you to see the stage wherever you are, i advise sittin on the sides with the nice couches and majlis areas instead of the classic chairs before the main stage.


The place has a buffet system, but a veryyyy well organised one, with food station scattered around instead of a single line of food... there are almost no cues to get your food, and the waiters can even serve you a collection of the available num num !!!  the meat and chicken kababs are yummmyyy and so are the freshly boiled crabs and steaks!! 


There is also a heritage village within the location, where you have a rebuilt village type of setting, with wax figurines depicting the lifestyle of bedouins from their homes to their habits and professions of carpentry, fishing and barbers... moreover you have the typical camel rides, pony rides, horse rides and falcon posing!!! 


The place is a must see and a great weekend getaway if you are living in Dubai !!! 


@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Zangetsu a.k.a Honda S2000

well i was like a kid in a candy store coupla weeks ago, i was granted the chance to drive one of the cars i fascinated about getting before i got my monstrous Nissan Armada !! 


The Honda S2000 !!!! 


(for reference only, the blue car is not the actual one)

My good friend @Wassim_Moumneh (a social media guru, ex-rugby player :p, you should follow him) exchanged his Honda S2000 for a week, and boy what a week that was for me... 


The car has been dubbed a motorbike with 4 wheels, and owning a superbike myself, from the same Honda familia, i must say the car earns it! 


The car looks like a tiny Japanese corvette, with its long bonnet, uber short tail and double exhaust pipes! 


The inside does looks close to the last generation of Corvettes, with the super simplicity it carries in matters of equipment, the radio for example is hidden behind a flip down hatch, and to be honest u won't need it with the deafening sound of the exhaust!!  


a quick look inside 

one of the most distinctive features in the mini-rocket, is the digital dashboard!!! your inner kid awakens and there you are, driving a car from a playstation game right one the street!!! thts a surreal experience, pretty challenging as well, you get confused whether you wana look at the road and watch out for traffic and things zooming by, or enjoy the digital rev counter and the rest playin in front of your eyes, hmmm safety wins and you end up looking at the road ahead :( 

The other clever design feature is the dashboard controls, you can notice in the pic above how closely packed they are... well the engineers wanted to have everythin within a finger reach, for the driver to use without having to take his hands of the steering wheel!!  man the Japs think of everything!! 

Well yes, you have no time to take your hands off the wheel, the only time you can i for shifting gears with the super short stick on the Honda S2000 giving you lots of umphhhh with every gear, making use, abusing this super high rev engine, up to 9,000rpm !!! yes its tht high!!1 

in the words of my friend Wassim, "Ali, below 5,000rpm, you are driving a Civic, but once the V-Tec engine kicks in at 5k, you are driving a little rocket!" 

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

That's my buttermint for the day! 

MIA !

sorry all, 

have been out of action for the past 2 weeks, loads of work and the Eid break has taken me away from writing! 


but its time again for the fingers to tap some keys!! 


hope u all enjoyed the holidays, and now more posts for your enjoyment on the way..




@Alexi 13

Hot Torch!

hello helllo my geeky friends!! 


my blackberry bold 9700 gave me a hard time last week and decided to die out with resetting with the slightest of movements, and all resuscitation attempts came with no avail :( 


well, too bad for him!! he got replaced muuuuhahahaha ,, by this magnificent marvel from BlackBerry


The Torch 9800 !! 

And what a phone!!! 


this sums it up for the techys http://crackberry.com/blackberry-torch-9800-features-and-specifications


and my take on it? 


the OS 6 is pretty well built, very fast, no more hangs, ready for the fast fingers and heavy multitasking. the touch screen has done away with the click screen of the storm and has even included the same browser software used by Android and Apple's IOS,,, yes yes, multi touch screen and superb web browsing ability!! 


i loved the design, so sleek, barellllyyyy bigger than the bold 9700, by 0.1 inch! nothing!! i was anxiously waiting for Blackberry to release a phone with a full physical keyboard coupled to a touch screen, and voila, they did it so well!!  it is even being referred to as the best blackberry to date :D 


i did not however like the battery casing's rubbery feel and design, but hey thts the secondary task of phone covers, cover the imperfections haha..


Finally, a must have phone for users wanting a touchscreen and not wanting to let go of the physical QWERTY keyboard :) 




@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

El Mariachi !

FINALLY ! 

after 3 years sittin in its coffin, the guitarrrra came out!! i enrolled today to take classes and try to master the instrument!


Went over to the Sing n Swing center in Ibn Battuta Mall, and met the teacher, his name is Nitin Joe.. very cool guy, if u ever wana learn, he the man!! 


so we started by restringing my guitar since i had a broken string,, and we were off!! 


i opted not to follow the classical type of music on the guitar and more into the spanish,, since i wana play hopefully the classic spanish ballads and rock songs and such... 


First off, got accustomed to the notes, the chords and the scales,, and started practicing them with the teach, and gettin some tips on hand and finger positioning..


yes it was frustrating to see how difficult it is to control each finger to hit the notes well, was a bit boring since you kinda keep on repeating the scales.. and thats how it will be for the next couple of weeks till i get it right :D 


i must say when i saw him playin the notes so easily, that was it, i must practice hard every day!!! 


hopefully next time ill post a vid about me playin my first correct notes :D 




@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Bed Head !

Got off to a new start for my mornings to day!


woke up with the oh so dreaded bed hair !!! after spending almost 8 years with short hair, i decided to grow  it, and boy its growing!! 
im so nervous now about goin into that bermuda triangle period where you dont knw wht to do with your hair, however you style it, it still will look like crap! hmmm,, and i should prepare my list of hair wax/gel to keep it in check when needed... 


which reminded me of some funny and smart ads for exactly taming my new hair!! 


Enjoy! 

 

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Deja-vol !

The plane, in this age most of us have at least been on a plane once! and i envy the ones who never took a plane again...

No, i don't fear planes :D but i fear the dreaded flight attendant announcements!!! so much that i barely notice them anymore as i start putting my headphones on before even boarding! 

i mean, seriously, with alllll the creativity we see around us and innovation, do airlines really do not plan on changing this?!

Well apparently some flight attendants took it upon themselves to make the flights more enjoyable for the passengers, and for them i believe! i would throw myself out if i board 5 planes a day and repeat the same boring announcement to my crew and passengers...

so here's a few vids on those brave innovative flight attendants i would want to hitch a ride with one day... 

And finally, a surprisingly daring yet funny flight announcement by Emirates Crew (lyrics included)!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVseUk9P4XM&feature=related


@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13