A "Biutiful" Night at the Chennai International Film Festival

Last night I went to the Chennai International Film Festival. They were showing a Spanish language film “Biutiful” directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The movie stars Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a Spanish man raising two children surrounded by pain and struggle in the slums of Barcelona. He learns early in the film that he is dying of cancer. While he keeps this knowledge from most people around him, the one person he confides in advises him to “put his things in order”. His efforts to do so, however, are continually frustrated. No matter how hard he tries, situations grow more desperate as death hovers over him. The film depicts hopeless situations in Uxbal’s life involving criminals, exploited immigrants, and his family (his bipolar ex-wife and two children). As things near the end, Uxbal tearfully pleads with his daughter to just remember him. His only comfort and hope was knowing that he would live on at least in his daughter’s memory.

The film was depressing and difficult to watch, but also very powerful in its portrayal of life. Iñárritu described it as “a reflection akin to our brief and humble permanence in this life. Our existence, short-lived as the flicker of a star, only reveals to us its ineffable brevity once we are close to death.” It is short, and when we die we leave behind nothing but our memory. “Biutiful” did not offer much hope, but there is a hope that truly is beautiful. Leaving the theater, I was struck by the large Christmas tree all lit up in the mall. It stood out to me as a symbol of hope, a representation of the eternal beauty that the film did not offer. Without Christ’s birth life is hopeless. Without Christmas our lives are just desperate attempts to “put our things in order” before we die. Thankfully we do have Christmas, and we do have a hope beyond this life. “Biutiful” may not have put forth any hope in its depiction of life and death, but it reminded me that this life is not what we are living for and that more than our memories will live on after our death. That is something worth remembering this Christmas season.

The music playing over the ending credits of the movie was Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G 2nd movement. It is a beautiful and emotional piece of music which fit perfectly with the tone of the movie. I love it, so I thought I would include a version of it I found on YouTube:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur was a quick trip but a fabulous one. Malaysia. There is so much to do and see and we were there for such a short time (two days) we stayed close to our hotel and the walking distance around it. We stayed at the Westin Hotel which was across the street from the major mall there called the Pavilion. We were on the 42nd floor of the hotel so our view was spectacular which included part of the famous skyline highlight –the Petronas Towers and the KL Tower. Absolutely beautiful. The Petronis Towers are the 5th tallest buildings in the world but are the tallest twin buildings in the world and stand at 1,483 feet tall. We were taken back by how pretty they were, especially lit up at night, however we prolly would have been more so if we had not been at the world's tallest The Burg Kalifa the week before. Dubai ruined us for the sheer awesomeness of TALL buildings. We did still enjoy it much and also the deliciousness of a few meals in the restaurants in the mall.

One of our favorite parts of our short stay in Malaysia was how decorated for Christmas the place was. The main streets of Kuala Lumpur and in and around the Pavillion was decorated to the Nines. All Christmas in red and green and gold. Fake snow, and sparkly icicles, ornaments and gold ribbons EVERYWHERE.

We even saw Santa Claus. No joke if you had seen him you would BELIEVE. He was the most real looking Santa I had ever seen (he did not look Malaysian). Perfect rosie cheeks, red suit, boots, and hat, and a curly white beard and hair and carrying a red velvet bag on his back that looked like it was NOT just filled with candy canes, know what I mean? HE WAS REAL. I swear. He was taking a stroll around the outside corners of the mall and he walked up to us enjoying our Starbucks coffee and jollily said “Hello”..followed by a “HO HO HO” and trailed off with a “Merrrrrrrry Chriiiiiiiiiiistmas”as he merrily walked along his way. Who knew Santa was in Kuala Lumpur?

And if that was not enough the air was filled with Christmas music playing all the time so all the popular and traditional ol tunes and carols were in our heads and definitely got us into the Christmas spirit. It was really neat. Of course our two days went by really fast but it really was just an extended layover as were headed to Thailand.

More on that next. But for now enjoy our pics of Kuala Lumpur.

Desert Safari

Friends told us that it was a MUST we do the Desert Safari excursion while in Dubai. We had heard good things and decided to go for it. We booked our trip and were anxiously awaiting the adventure ahead.

The company picked us up in a 4 x 4 rig along with a small group from Lebanon and off we went. We headed about 50 miles into the dessert…seemed crazy far away. Our only complaint was that the Lebanese crew spoke Arabic and were talking the to driver the entire trip so we had no clue what they were saying and felt we were missing out on not just conversation in general but interesting facts about what was whizzing by the back seat windows. Oh well. Miles and I had a blast. We stopped at one place to take some photos. The hot sun was just beginning to sink and made perfect colors in the sand and displayed the most gorgeous scenery. It was breathtaking. The sand was as far as the eye could see. We met up with a bunch of other tour rigs and caravaned through some intense sand dunes. Sitting in the far backseat turned out to be rather painful at times. We were flying all over the place but did not mind because it was crazy fun. I mean who gets to roll their Toyotas up and down and sideways through the Dubai sands?

We arrived at the camp where there were tents and mats and pillows set up everywhere. There were camels for riding, Arabic coffee, trinkets for sale, and sand boarding. We hiked up a steep sand hill and Miles “boarded” down. He did really well too. After dark a BBQ buffet was served. The food was incredible! We sat on mats and pillows on the dessert floor enjoying our food, coffee, and dessert under the bright dessert stars and watched a belly dancing show that was honestly quite good and we felt immersed in Arabic culture. With the camels on the horizon it felt like we were really being taken back into a different time.

The trip was fantastic and It truly lived up to all the recommendations and we recommend it to anyone traveling to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. It was the perfect way to end our trip to Dubai. We loved this city and everything in the surrounding areas. Goodbye Dubai – for now. We hope to return.

The Burj Kalifa

The Burj Kalifa is the tallest building in the world. It is 2,717 feet high, over 1,000 feet taller than the second tallest building (which is in Taiwan), and over twice as tall as the Empire State Building (which is 1,250 feet tall). The numbers help give an idea of its size, but really it has to be seen to be believed. It looks unreal, like something out of a science fiction movie. There were times it felt like we were looking at something that was computer generated, not a real structure. It just towers over everything, making other huge skyscrapers look tiny.

We went up to the observation deck. It's on the 124th floor, "only" 1,483 feet off the ground. To get to that observation deck, we took one of the fastest elevators in the world, moving from the ground floor to the 124th floor at speeds of over 20 mph, but they are suprisingly smooth. Once at the top, the view is impressive. Being so high up is strange. It feels like looking out of an airplane window after taking off. The height is almost dizzying, but it was really a cool experience.

The building timeline of the Burj Kalifa

The Dubai Fountain from above.

Are we in an airplane or a building?

View of the "World" Islands

Thanksgiving at AquaAdventure

On Thanksgiving in Dubai we spent the day at the fabulous AquaAdventure Water Park. We had a blast spending all day riding tubes down slides and through rapids. The weather was perfect (mid-80's), and the park was not too crowded at all. The park is located at the Atlantis resort at the end of the Palm Jumeirah islands (one of the several man-made palm-shaped islands in Dubai). The main feature of this park is the giant ziggaraut where most of the rides start. The park is laid out really nicely with conveyors so for most of the rides you don't have to get out of the water. After going down a slide, you can float through a stream and either go around the park through some rapids or direct yourself to the conveyor that will take you in your tube up to the slides again.

One of the coolest rides drops your tube into a tunnel where you are surrounded by an aquarium. Then you float slowly through the aquarium so you can check out all the fish, sharks, and sting rays that are swimming around you on all sides.

The biggest slide is the "Leap of Faith". It is a 200 ft. slide that drops you 90 feet at an 84 degree angle. It was actually featured on the show "The Amazing Race" a couple season ago. In the show both members of each team had to go down the slide. One girl refused getting her team eliminated and costing them a shot at the million dollar prize. After seeing the view from the top I can understand how she felt. When you stand at the top and look down all you can see is the slide disappearing into the shark tank. It also lives up to its name. When you sit down at the top of the slide it is so steep that you can't see anything below you. You have to push yourself off in a literal leap of faith.

I went on it twice. The first time I was so surprised at the speed and the water splashing my face that I didn't have time to enjoy it. The second time it was a blast. Since I knew what to expect I had a little more time to watch the shark tank getting closer (but not much; it is fast).

The Atlantis Resort

The "Leap of Faith" ride

View from "The Leap of Faith". Jenn's at the second bridge in the white skirt getting ready to film me.

View of the slides from the top of the ziggaraut. The Burj Al-Arab hotel is visible in the distance.

The Persian Gulf from Aqua Adventure

Some of the rives that flow around the park

View of Dubai from the park

The Burj Al-Arab, known as the world's only "7-star hotel"

Sharks and sting rays in the aquarium. The tube in the center is the ride you float through.