It was September time to plan another trip to Delhi to stock up on supplies and materials for the business. Over the past few years things have grown so well that going to the source and importing directly has begun to make more sense than getting things through another supplier and being limited to what they have decided to import. Over successive trips I have made deeper in roads to small cottage crafters and am able to get custom items made for me adding that extra exclusive edge to my business. Getting to India is always grueling for me. Thirteen hour flight from the west coast of the US, but all in all it is worth it in the end. Having visited before I book at the Delhi hotels with the most affordable rate and clean safe accommodations. Every year I meet Amit he is my trusted guide through the crowded and confusing streets of Delhi to the markets. He knows what I look for and is good at finding me new contacts and people meet each year thus expanding my circle of friends and business acquainted there. These trips have an edge to then being in India is stressful on one hand, the crowds, pollution, noise but the contrast of the hidden oasis in the court yard gardens of the homes of the wealthy. Where one day we spent having lunch with some new Indian friends. Once inside the walled compound where their large home sat along with servant and quest quarters all among garden and ponds that would rival any paradise. Hard to believe what was just over those tall walls and out side the gates. Lunch was excellent, the hosts very very gracious and seeing the contrast of this walled life inside the endless sprawling slums of Delhi was very enlightening. Now we have done the buying we came here to do. Seen a few sites, visited old and new friends and now time to head back.
First Friday
There is a big storm heading this way from the south, coming up the Baa peninsula. We get very little rain here in Phoenix so I hate to complain and really won’t but doesn’t that just seem to be the way rain when it is least welcomed. With plans to vend art work at an out door event Friday night I really hate to miss the opportunity to show and sell especially when this event comes only once a month because of some rain. The reports earlier in the week were calling for the storms to begin bringing rain to the area Friday afternoon or evening. Mid week forecasts have changed to predicting the rain won’t begin till Saturday, but the wind could pick up Friday late in the day. That would be nice giving us a reprieve for First Friday night from rain but still the possibility of wind. The event, first Friday, encompasses much of the Roosevelt Row area of downtown Phoenix. Artists and musicians selling work on side walks, galleries having openings and restaurants having specials and staying open latter are all part of the evening of fun and festivities. Visitors to Phoenix seem to enjoy the event. Frequently people from around the world are visiting and stumble onto the First Friday scene. Once I met the proprietor for the best Singapore hotels while viewing some very interesting art work combining found objects, fired clay castings, paint and bead work. This event has gone on for over a decade and has grown to involve a couple of areas in the central phoenix areas. The Grand District and Melrose also have First Friday events along with the Roosevelt Row area. An evening at 1st Friday include seeing art demonstrated, spontaneous performance of music and theater, gallery installations, street vendors and food.
Dubai’s Shopping Festival
I travelled from Mumbai to Dubai to enjoy the Dubai Shopping Festival. Yes! There’s a shopping festival in Dubai. DSF. I got to attend the 14th shopping festival, it was billed or promoted as the ‘One World, One Festival’. It lasted a month and the One World theme worked. People from all around the world attended. I was fortunate enough to make reservations at one of the four star Dubai hotels well before the DSF began.
They created a Global Village, which was located right in Dubai and housed pavilions from close to 60 countries, all selling goods and foods from all over the world. I really like how it brought together a diverse culture, entertainment, customs all covering a wide array of activities, which included the arts, handicrafts, dance, music, goods, theater, cuisine and food from every corner of the world. I really thought the Global Village idea was the best part of the shopping festival. But, Dubai is also know for it’s more than 40 top notch shopping malls located outside the Global Village. The Mall of the Emirates which is the largest shopping mall in the Middle-East, which was my favorite, because it was so big, I couldn’t finish window shopping and actual shopping in all the stores in one day, it took me, literally, three days to check out all the shops, oh and the indoor skiing place. Talk about opulent.
Then it was off to Al Fahidi Street where I bought many electronic. The pricing was too hard to resist. Then I hit The Dana Center, The Karma Center, the Al Dhiyafa, the BurJuman Center, the Beach Center, Palm Strip, the Al Rais Shopping Mall, the Al Manal Center, the Center and Hamarain Center. I didn’t get to shop them all, so I’ll be back next year. At least I manage to buy more luggage so I could bring everything I purchased home with me.
Rajasthan Capital City
New Delhi, India is one of the country’s largest and most diverse cities. And while Hindu is the prominent religion throughout India, and inclusive of New Delhi, it is not the only one tolerated or practiced. Sikhism is another prominent religion in the country, and has also manifested into a political position as well. Tourists staying in one of the New Delhi four star hotels is likely to visit a Sikh temple as part of their vacation. They are also extremely likely to visit Hindu temples and monuments, as well as other major religious and cultural landmarks and icons.
Of the organized religions in the world, the Sikh religion is now the fifth largest of them. And while there are many worshippers and followers throughout the world, historically it was primarily centered in the Punjab region of India. It still retains the highest population of Sikhs though after the partition, millions of them are now living in what is called Pakistani Punjab. The religion is generally recognized as a peaceful and contemplative approach to life.
The religion was established and structured around the lessons of Guru Nanak Dev and the following ten successive Gurus. This dates the earliest followers to 15th century. Due to the divine nature of the Gurus, the religion has been known, and sometimes translated as the counsel of Gurus. One of the principle belief foundations of the religion is a belief that God can actually be interpreted as the entire universe, and not a simple anthropomorphic archetype. Salvation is reached primarily through a disciplined meditation and devotion to the name of God and the essential message. Most of the practices are based on the teachings of the ten Gurus of Sikhism and as well as the sacred text of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Bilbao’s Alejandro Gracia
There is nothing like a vacation in Spain, and for luxury hotels, Bilbao is a vacation in paradise. This city has undergone a tremendous urban renewal in the past couple of decades, focusing on rebuilding the city with tourism in mind. While there is a long tradition of visitors to this city, the recent changes have made it even more attractive. Contemporary technologies and conveniences accompany the old-world standards of comfort and hospitality to make for an accommodation experience that is extremely stylish. There is a gorgeous sense of relaxation and revitalization that the ocean air offers here, and you’ll feel a splendid sense of well-being when you wake up in our sumptuous rooms. Bilbao offers some fantastic attractions to interest visitors of all ages. Whether sight-seeing and shopping are in mind, or whether it’s to get away from it all, Bilbao can help. As one of the great centers of Basque culture, Bilbao has maintained its investment in local and national culture, and this is evident all over the city. The place is small and quaint, and has a fairly small population, but the art here could never be called provincial. Where in some places it would seem as though the 20th century never happened, in Bilbao it is as though the best art movements of the 20th century landed here. One of Bilbao’s most interesting young artists, contributing to its credibility as a great international art center, is Alejandro Gracia. Gracia was born here in 1971, and has made enormous contributions to the local art scene. He has had numerous solo and collective exhibitions all over Spain. He lends his name and his work to important social causes, and is not afraid of crossing lines and boundaries in his art, and as an artist. This is apparent especially in his work. Visually stunning, the work of Alejandro Gracia is particularly explosive, in color and in design. There is the distinct feel of a deep commitment to experiment with the canvas. He has stepped into a difficult but historically-powerful role as the artist as alchemist. In his work, word travels over image, past meets present, and memory and amnesia come together to create an altogether visionary effect.
Street Walking in Thailand
Change is inevitable and, for me, the only known constant in the whole entire world, but it still bugs me, is when the change is for the worse, not for the better. It was around January of last year, when I was taking a friend of my who was staying at one of the Thailand luxury hotelswhen I went to pick him up and take him to one of my favorite spots in Pattaya. When we arrived I wanted to take him to the famous Walking Street in Pattaya, but they took the sign down. That sign was known through out the world; it was the gateway to one of the worlds best known streets: Walking Street.
I was so depressed, my friend didn’t understand, so I tried to explain. I know the sign had some problems, but repairing them surely couldn’t have been that bad. I mean, the cost would have certainly been so much more less than what they replaced it with. The old sign was charming and was so recognizable to anyone that had seen or heard of it. I asked some one one the street when did all this happen? And they were just as disappointed as me and explained, when they were in town early in 2008, they had installed the pilings and pole for the new sign and had started taking down the old. What should’ve been a months job lingered on for a few months, then stopped for at least 6 month, they started up again and lingered on for even more months.
Eventually, towards the end of 2008, the sign was complete and put into service. Of course, he explained, the next day it stopped working, but they quickly got it going again. My visiting friend made the comment that he liked the sign and didn’t know why me and the stranger on the street were so upset. I think I don’t like my visiting friend anymore. Why make such a comment? I was obvious just how much the old sign meant to us. I ended up dropping him back off to his hotel room early and met up afterward with my new found friend who understands my misery of the old gone sign over Walking Street.
Samson Young in Hong Kong
There are so many things to recommend Hong Kong. Hotel accommodations are high on the list, because there are so many excellent places to stay. The tradition of taking care of travelers is very old here, and the quality of service is quite good. Our hotels are carefully selected to offer the best of the best, offering you variety in lodgings that will also offer the best in service, comfort, and design. The old world and the new come together in our hotels, and there is a sense of splendor that is unmistakably of another time, yet the sense of design is so precise, and the technology so current, that you will feel as though you are almost living in the future.
In Hong Kong, perhaps we are living in the future. It is one of the most magnetic metropolitan centers in the world, and is at the forefront of technology and culture. Because of this, there is a terrific array of attractions here that will offer something for visitors of all ages. Whether you have an afternoon of sight-seeing in mind, or want to spend time shopping for the latest fashions from some of the world’s leading designers, there’s something incredible in store for you. In the realm of visual and performing arts, there is also a veritable feast of new work to experience here. One of Hong Kong’s more innovative artists, representing a generation whose concerns are with merging the visual with technology, is Samson Young.
He is currently in New York, pursuing a doctoral degree in music from Colombia, but he has certainly left a mark in Hong Kong, and his work can be seen in town and all over the world. He is an artist whose work crosses over into many disciplines. One of his obvious talents is music. Samson Young mixes a remarkable sense of humor into a dark and very brooding landscape, which has a startling effect on the listener that is simultaneously emotionally raw and cerebral. This carries over into his installation work, which displays a talent for creating a total effect in a small environment that is at once spectacle, dreamlike, and carries astute political and cultural commentary. He is one of the brighter talents working in these areas today, and it will be utterly fascinating to watch his work as it evolves into its next compelling phase.
Nikotin Rocks Dubai
When it comes to five-star hotels, Dubai might have some of the best selections in the world. With a splendid talent for combining both innovation and tradition, featuring high-tech amenities and luxurious hospitality, Dubai knows how to take care of travelers. Our hotels are no exception, and are carefully selected from this already-magnificent selection, to provide you with the best of the best when it comes to excellence in accommodations. Dubai is a very exciting place, and there are reasons why it is one of the world’s hottest spots for travelers. After a stay in our lodgings, it will be plainly simple to understand why. With gorgeous rooms decorated by our designers to showcase the best of international and local splendor, and meals prepared by top chefs trained in all the intricacies of world cuisine, you will be ready to have your own Dubai adventure.
Dubai is growing by leaps and bounds, seeing unprecedented development. It has some of the finest shopping malls in the world, where ostentatiousness is embraced to demonstrate an unmistakable sense of material plenty. There are a fantastic number of new galleries opening every year, taking part in Dubai’s rise in reputation in the international art world. It attracts new generations of artists all year, looking to be part of the next scene, and doing a terrific job of creating one. The new alternative rock band Nikotin is a fine example of this. They are part of a local music scene that is rather stunning, with a large number of festivals taking place in Dubai every year. Add to this a number of tours that come through, and countless local music events that happen in the city every night. Things are happening here.
Nikotin started, it might be said, at the right place at the right time. The guitarist and lead drummer, Mr. P. and Psycho that is, met in 2005 at a music shop. It was a watershed year, as the two hungry youth started talking about mutual interests, and soon found themselves practicing together. This was the formation of Nikotin a band of five young men, from Dubai and the U.S., who are causing heads (and ears) to turn in the UAE. Their sound is a pretty solid and crisp classic rock, mixed with some alternative music sensibilities, to make for a sonic experience that touches roots. They’ve been playing locally at all the right haunts, with their driving rhythms and solid vocals, including even some acoustic sets, to the delight of local fans, and international audiences who are just starting to catch on.
Technasia in Hong Kong
For travelers in Asia, we have the perfect boutique hotel. Hong Kong is a fantastic place, and your stay in our luxury accommodations will be immensely pleasurable, making memories that will last for years. Boutique hotels offer the same high standards that the industry recognizes, with some very key differences. Individuality and uniqueness are the hallmarks of boutique lodging, giving the discerning guests an alternative to the chain hotel. Exquisite style and taste will greet you at every turn, reminding you that your comfort and convenience are just the beginning.
After a restful night in our sumptuous rooms, and a gourmet meal served by chefs who specialize in both innovation and tradition in world cuisine, you will be ready to discover Hong Kong. People watching is at a premium here, with the bustling metropolis providing the backdrop for one of the most exciting places in the world. There is marvelous shopping and sight-seeing here, to please every member of the family. Then there are the clubs, offering a night life that is worth writing home about. One of the most spectacular artists working the club circuit today is the world-renowned Technasia. Charles Seigling is the electronic genius behind the name, having worked for a number of years with partner Amil Khan.
Khan and Seigling began Tecnhnasia in 1996, with the intention of putting the sounds of South East Asia in the forefront of electronic music fan’s minds. They have been enormously successful, and now Seigling is the sole DJ behind the tracks, continuing to produce some of the most exciting beats in world techno music. They’ve performed all over the world, in loads of hot dance clubs and playing at some of the great electronic music festivals. They have also produced a stunning number of albums, so that music lovers can continue the beat long after the live performances have ended. Today, Technasia performs all over Europe and Asia, promoting the Hong Kong sound as it develops and mixes with influences from all over the map.
Train to Perth
Perth, the most isolated city in the world, so they say, and on the three day trainn trip from Sydney on the Indian Pacific line, a three day juggernaut across the Nullarbor Plain. I was sick and running a fever as I got on, and Kathy graciously let me sleep and sleep, thus missing most of the first half of the trip, between gulps of hot green tea and aspirin. The comfortable train was a blessing, and we hoped we would find something as nice in the Hotels Perth accommodation guide we leafed through, deciding against reservations and just winging it. “Nullarbor means to trees, doesn’t it?” I asked Kathy as I came out of my fog awakening and looked out side at the sweeping pastures of the passing landscape. “Very good, Einstein, now go back to sleep,” she said and I did and got over the flu. We looked forward to swimming in the Indian Ocean once we arrived, a first for us (both the arrival and the ocean part) and looked forward to wine and waves thengoing to one of the wildlife parks like the Caversham wildlife Park where we can take a gander (so to speak) at the many odd looking creatures that inhabit Australia. I hoped to see and maybe hold a wombat, mainly because I like the word wombat, and wonder when sports teams in the States will ever adopt the name. I swore if I ever started a sport franchise I would name it the Furious Wombats. I think that would leave our kangaroos. We planned to rent a car and go to the park and then keep going and check out a winery and have some adult fun with some of the fine wines of Australia, or perhaps get a locally crafted brewed beer.