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BiBi, African Artist in Dubai

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Dubai’s rise as a world-class tourist destination has been very fast, and the city’s been able to keep up stylishly with the hunger for culture and fun.  With its brilliant combination of beaches and nightlife, it’s the perfect place for a luxury hotel.  Dubai offers many splendid choices for attractions for the savviest of travelers, and there’s always something new here, as the city continues to evolve.  Its curious, fantastic, and graceful architecture always offer a sense of visual delight as you tour Dubai, and the cultural scenes add to the local flavor.  Our hotels aim to compliment the magnificent design, and offer a wonderful place for you to call home while you’re here, enjoying your stay in perfect leisure.  The accommodations are prepared to serve business and leisure travelers, and there are hosts of conveniences and extra touches to make your stay even more sweet.

It’s a pleasure to wake up in the gorgeous hotel rooms, surrounded by reminders that you are an honored guest in this fabulous place.  After a delicious meal prepared by top chefs, and perhaps spending some time exercising in the state of the art facilities, you’ll be ready to set off and see for yourself what Dubai has to offer.  Its cultural mix is fairly heady, as the recent changes in the creative arts scene have started to attract artists from all over the world.  To add to the evolving fabric of Dubai, BiBi, an artist from Lagos, Nigeria, recently moved to Dubai to show her work here, and the reception has been fascinating and rather splendid.

She’s connected to other networks of African artists working in Dubai, including an art producing agency called AfricHood Entertainment, whose goals are very similar to hers.  Her work, mostly painting, has dealt with some very traditional West African themes, including the myth of the divine twins, nature as a source of all the good things in life, and cultural identities in a shifting time.  BiBi’s work has started to take on Arabic influences from her experiences in living in a new place, and this is interestingly intertwined with traditional African art themes as well.  West African art and philosophy has been deeply influenced by the cultures that make up the region, and that includes traditional African spiritual systems, along with European and Arabic cosmologies as well.  So this is a kind of reverse ethnography, and it will be fascinating to see how African art changes as is begins to take root in the Dubai cityscape.

Tags: AfricHood Entertainment, BiBi, dubai, luxury hotel Dubai

Huma Mulji: Seeking Taxidermist in Dubai

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There are many reasons why Dubai is so magnetic these days.  The stunning, and baffling, combination of deep desert and fantastic beaches, the magnificent and sometimes exuberant architecture, and the electric night life, all contribute to the contemporary mystique.  You’ll find yourself wondering what to do next, and the choices are always exciting or simply delightfully relaxing.  Lying in the sun, or taking in the latest new installation art exhibit, or visiting some of the largest shopping malls in the world, can all be done, and even on the same day.  To refresh from the excitement, you’ll enjoy staying at a 4 star hotel.  Dubai has a brilliant selection of these.

Our hotels are specially selected to offer you the best of the best, so that your days here will always end and begin in splendid hospitality.  Design and decor are at a premium here, where some of the sharpest eyes in Dubai help to cover every little detail, so you are always aware that art can enter into every corner and make life more pleasant.  Art in Dubai is really stunning these days.  Artists from all over the world are presenting new work, and there are many fairs and festivals outside of the multiple possibilities for seeing contemporary art in the galleries in town.  One of the really exciting exhibitions this past spring was Desperately Seeking Paradise, featuring work by 11 artists from Pakistan.

Among the artists featured here was Huma Mulji.  This young artist has been turning heads all over the globe lately, with her large taxidermy sculptures.  These works are enormously challenging, and enormously fun, but ask crucial questions about the nature of cultural identity and permanence in an age where the digital seems to hold sway over nature.  Born in Karachi and living in Lahore, she represents a new generation of artists who cross disciplines with the ease of a shapeshifter, where the movement in between genres and styles is part of the message in the work.  Her complex and compelling images are a splendid contribution to the cultural landscape here.

Tags: 4 star htoel Dubai, Desperately Seeking Paradise, Huma Mulji, UAE

Phoenix to San Francisco Road Trip

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It was a hot and sunny in Phoenix we were getting pretty tired of the heat. By the end of July we sure get tired of what seems like the endlessness of the heat, hot nights and even hotter days. We have just gone through to weeks with temperatures over 110 degrees and it looks like there is no end in sight. On a whim we decided it was time for a road trip to get out of this heat for a little while. My friend got on the net and a few minutes latter proclaimed we had reservations at hotel San Francisco starting this Tuesday and ending Sunday morning. Well it was Monday afternoon in Phoenix, we were going to have to hit the road early in the morning to make it to San Francisco late Tuesday. Time to prepare.

I headed to the grocery store first to get some road trip foods, chips, nuts, trail mixes, fruits and some cookies along with plenty of water should do the trick. Then home to pack a suit case and load up the car. Hopefully we would be on the road by 5 AM at the latest. It is an eleven and a half hour drive from here so an early start is the only way we will get there Tuesday.

Tuesday morning came and we were able to make it out the door and on to the road on time. Driving from here to Los Angeles is a drive I am familiar with having done it many times over the years. I was really looking forward to the drive north through California’s Central Valley. The valley begins north of Los Angeles and stretches to Sacramento. In the Central Valley much of the countries produce is grown. I was not disappointed with the drive. The Central Valley is beautiful. We passed archers and archers of fields growing any and all fruits, nuts and vegetables anyone could imagine. An amazing sight to see the large growing operations, even if only passing by on the road.

We made the drive without incident, leaving Phoenix at 5 AM and arriving in San Francisco at our hotel at 7 PM. Not bad time and we are out of the heat looking forward to the next few days

Tags: California's Central Valley, heat, hotel San Francisco

Wild ride in Bali

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We went all out and caught a taxi to Ubud in the center of the island of Bali. We felt like the taxi driver came straight from New York City, he dodged mopeds, cars and the apparently not surprising wild dogs all the while driving about a foot  away from the vehicles in front of us. We just looked at the center pieces that make for a roundabout as a visual distraction from our horrendous and chaotic taxi ride. We made it to one of the Bali boutique hotels with which we had reservations in one piece, and that journey wiped away any jet lag we might be experiencing.

Our hotel room, which we considered one of the best hotels around, has a balcony that over looked a garden. Our room was so clean and sparkling, we were so happy with just how well the hotel took pride in cleanliness. The price was irresistible and the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. We felt welcome everywhere we went in the hotel; it felt like we were the only guest staying the night with all the undivided attention.

We hire a driver for the day, we decided that was the best way to see a majority of the sights around the island. Our hotel concierge was most helpful in finding us the perfect driver, it was his brother!  We hired him on the spot as our chauffeur and guide for the following day, because today, we made sure to just relax around the hotel’s pool and bar, or maybe take a walk, we wanted to take it easy and not feel stressed. After relaxing a bit pool side and with a few beers in us, we decided to walk down Ubud’s main street not for from our hotel. We reached Monkey Forest, a forest full of wild monkeys, macaques to be accurate. That was really fun and amusing, we could’ve stayed there all day just watching all the monkey’s and the baby monkeys, but we were growing tired and headed back to our hotel room. When we got to our room, we just crashed for the night. We were hoping we had enough energy to go out in the evening, but that will have to wait for tomorrow.

Tags: Bali, Bali boutique hotels, Monkey Forest, Ubud