+ peace and quiet in dubai +

Routine! A word I thought I would not encounter for a while is back in my life. However, instead of bitching around I quite welcomed some routine back into my life. It was about time I took a break and had my body used once more to sleeping at night and eating at proper times. So I have been in Dubai for almost 12 days now (had a short Shanghai flight) living a very normal and routine life.

Wake up around 9 and walk to the gym. It takes around 20 minutes and at that time it is still OK to walk under the sun (I always carry a bottle of water with me). Than I stay at the gym for 2 hours and take a taxi back home. Cook lunch, watch a movie, read a book, take a nap, go to the pool (have turned brown once again) and once the sun goes down I go out to meet up with friends or go for a walk. It is a very easy life and it is good to regain some of the energy lost last month when I flew 114 hours!!!

The last two movies I watched were: Elephant (Gus Van Sant) and Adaptation (with Nicholas Cage). Really liked both of them. At the same time I am reading a book called: Reading Lolita in Tehran, about the Islamic Revolution in Iran. It was a NY Times bestseller so I decided to take a chance and it is quite interesting. However I am looking forward to my new book called The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster. But as a true Capricorn, I must first finish Lolita before start reading the other.

It is quite cool to have a life like mine. Last weekend in Shanghai (my 4th time in China this year) I really felt familiar with the city and already have my favourite spot in the planet which is the outside bar at the top restaurant on 3 on the Bund. It is a nice bar with very nice lounge music facing the Bund and Pudong. The best view in town. Actually all of the restaurants at 3 on the bund are really nice. And Shanghai is turning into my favourite city in the world.

The good about traveling to places like Shanghai and New York so often is that I can use those little frequent customer cards at Starbucks. So I need to drink two more Macchiatos in China to get a free one. At the same time I need to buy 25 more dollars worth of books at Border’s in NY to get a free book! Cool, innit?

This life is ideal for those articles on Wallpaper* about nice bars and restaurants. Before I would look at them and think how nice it would be to dine here or drink there and now I can actually do it. This is why I bought a magazine called Navigator, from Wallpaper* with the cool addresses around the world. At least I have a glass of wine at fancy hotels and sometimes desert or a salad at superb restaurants!!! Lovely!!!

But one bad thing of living in Dubai is to have censorship on the Internet. I have recently received a few invitations to join ORKUT but that site is forbidden here in the UAE! It says that the information may not go in accordance with the customs, religious or social habits of this country. What a shame!!!

Anyway, will go back to my peaceful life and hope to find some time to write more later!