My Sister Finally Graduates

Hey friends,

A milestone for my sister, who after three intense years at Kings’ College in London finally managed to pass. She created a lot of drama and suspense during these three years, nearly convincing herself that she was not college material. I even remember helping her out writing out essays and skimming through her materials to make notes. My parents and my brother and myself made sure she got the right support and encouragement, and thank the Lord, she made it through!

So sister, congratulations on your college degree!

Mansur

Why Can’t I Be Alone?

One of my favorite places in the world is the ocean.
That’s one place where, as I snorkel, I can hear the sound of my own breath and nothing else.

As I swim across the surface of the ocean, I know I am far away from the madness of the world.
Yes, I may be an escapist, someone who is running away from the problems of the world

But

In the ocean, I am in solitude.
I am alone. I like that.
I stare down into the darkness.
Who knows how deep the ocean floor may be?

I wish something could come and drag me down to the ocean floor.
I want to fall into the abyss.
I want something in this darkness to end me.

I wish my life were like that too, where I don’t have to encounter loud noise from all around me.
I wish I could be alone.
I wish I could live my life the way I want to.

Why can’t I be alone?

Snoopy Island, Fujairah

Underwater Sex

Hello friends,

On Tuesday night, I was at the Jumeirah Open Beach, where my colleague had invited me to hang out with his group of friends. Jumeirah Open Beach is also popularly known as Russian/ Moscow beach because a lot of Russians frequent it, clearly enticing the taxi drivers/ cleaners to stand and stare at the Russians.

My friend is a Filipino, and I was hesitant at first, but he was insisting to join them so I did. I had been to this Jumeirah Open Beach couple of times before, but of late there have been a lot of construction going on here creating a very messy, dusty and noisy atmosphere.

We got there after work, and his other friends got us Pizza Hut and KFC for dinner, and then we went swimming. It was actually quite pleasant. The water was just about the right temperature, the waves were just about right, the weather itself was just about right, till the moment when someone clutched my butts!

I turned around to see this Arab guy still holding onto my butts. I pushed him away immediately and asked him what his matter was. He didn’t reply, so I called my friend over, and he started talking to this Arab guy who turned out to be from Oman. What the hell was he doing clutching my butts. Well, my friend said, he is looking for underwater sex with a guy!

Everything drained out from within me. I was out of color. I went pale. I went quiet. My friend asked me what happened, and I told him I didnt like him doing this. So for the next three hours that we were on the beach, my friend and his group shoved away any man that tried to come near me.

I asked my friend about this whole thing, and it turned out that Jumeirah Open Beach is a hang out place for men who want gay sex. It’s a place where guys come to check out other guys, to pick them up, to take them back home for sex. It’s a place where guys from neghboring countries come to look for cheap sex. It’s a place which has already been raided by the CID resulting in the arrest of several men caught having sex underwater. It’s a place where conservative men come to check out scantily clad men. I tell you what it is, it’s a slap in the face for someone like me who didn’t expect such a vibrant and lively gay scene right in the midst of Dubai! Call me naive, but I honestly didn’t think the somewhat hidden gay community could do such things so openly here.

Mansur

Driving in Dubai

Hey friends,

If I were to swear at all the people who drive like maniacs here in Dubai, or park in all the wrong places, or double park, or change lanes without giving indicators, or over speed, or drive on hard shoulders, or use hazard signs for wrong reasons, or cut in front of me abruptly, or drive too slow in a fast lane, or drive over a solid white line into my lane, or over taking recklessly, I would have the entire encyclopedia of all the swear words imaginable.

They say a picture says a thousand words, well here you go!

(courtesy of www.dwc.hct.ac.ae)

Mansur

NEW Movies- Pirates 2 and Fast & the Furious 3

Hey friends,

Saw two movies, both sequels, one good, another could have been better.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest was indeed a fun movie to watch. It wasn’t a sequel in the traditional sense, but felt like as if the movie was continuing on from the first part. Usually, when you watch a sequel, you have the same characters, but you put them in different surroundings and basically try to repeat what made the first part a success, but in case of Pirates 2, it felt different, which probably made the movie more enjoyable. We get to meet Captain Kack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth, alongside newer characters. The basic plot line revolves around the search of a missing key which can unlock a hidden chest, in which is the dead’s man “heart.” Through series of swash buckling adventures, we see our heroes fighting off new set of villains, meeting a witch doctor en route, come face to face with Kraken, a sea monster, and bumping one main character off, all before coming to an abrupt ending, clearly leaving us wanting to see the third part eagerly. If you liked the first part, then you are sure to enjoy the second one. Just make sure you watch this movie with a fresh mind for its as long as 2.5 hours. My favorite scenes were some of the action sequences, especially the one on the huge spinning wheel!

Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, the third part in the trilogy was a differnt story. Bringing in a new actor, who looks suspiciouly overly familair to the hero in the first part, seems like an attempt from the makers of this movie to re-create what they had in the first installment. The action begins with an intense car chase gone wrong in an American high school, whereafter our hero is sent to Tokyo Japan to stay with his dad. In Tokyo, he gets involved in the underworld car racing, or rather, “drifting,” which is a procedure whereby the car drifts on the road, as if gliding. There were truly some amazing car racing/ drifting scenes that leaves you in awe of what one can do with a car, but in between the car chases, there is a story line too, which isn’t really all that important. Our hero falls in love with the girlfriend of DK, Drift King, which sets off a series of explosive events, leading to a grand finale of car drifting amidst the mountain roads. By the way, watch out the surprise/ twist at the end, where our hero is beckoned to race someone..who turns out to be, well, I won’t spoil the surprise.

Mansur