Wax On, Wax Off

There are occasions when I wish I was still living in the United States. Say, for example, you are at home alone with nothing to do and all of a sudden an awesomely bad movie comes on and you want to blog about this event (because, as I mentioned, you are alone with no one to hear your commentary), but you can't because you haven't had internet at home for a month. This was the situation last night when I discovered Karate Kid II while flipping channels. So I will try to write a bit of what came to mind while watching it.

I so know what you're thinking, "Karate Kid II was not a bad film--it was awesome!" Well, let me remind you that you were probably still in elementary school when you last saw this film, so guess what, the film is not like a fine wine and definitely did not get better with age. However, the beauty of nostalgia is, the memories of this movie do have a tendency to outweigh the particularities of its cheesy film-making. So of course a flood of memories came racing to forefront of my mind:

We all practised the crane-style kick as exhibited during the first flick, and repeated, although not as successfully, in the second. Don't even deny it. We all karate-chopped our siblings. (I have a certain cousin in Texas who is definitely guilty of that. He probably doesn't read this, but he knows who he is.) We "painted the fence," "waxed on and waxed off" and when Karate Kid II came about, we added breathing-focused-hands-in-prayer-position-while-moving-them-up-and-forward, as shown below before Danialsan chops his way through six sheets of ice.

But through all our fond memories of sitting in time-out after practising our moves on siblings or smaller neighborhood children, we forget the flaws of the film. I could go on and on about the bad dialogue (I had a lot of "did he really just say that?" moments), stereotyping, and why I still think that when she was younger my sister looked like Ralph Macchio, I would like to focus a little on costuming. Although the movie took place in the 80's, it seems that Okinawa was stuck in the 1950's. Chozen (the enemy kid...didn't know that was his name until I watched the credits) was dressed like mafia-greaser, and there was a sock hop with poodle skirts. (Do you recall that little dance that Danielsan and the girl were invited to, by none other than B.D. Wong, might I add?) I guess every teenage girl in Okinawa owns a crinoline.
I am a little annoyed that I couldn't find an image of Danielsan and his wardrobe. I thought it strange that he wore that Asian bandana in public, along with his pink-checked flannel shirt and high-waisted, baggy "mom jeans." That was the best part. I am pretty sure the waistline covered his navel. I recall that some people made fun of our President's similar denim choice during a baseball game, but perhaps he was trying to channel a little Karate Kid to help him get that pitch over the plate. It would have looked a little ridiculous if he tried the hands-in-prayer-focus-breathy-thing, so the jeans were probably the best thing he could have done.

The jeans did not stop him from getting the girl, as they would today. Gentlemen, take note. I certainly recall my girly affection for the Peter Cetera hit "Glory of Love" written for the film. Last night, part of me wanted to sing along and then buy it off of iTunes. I refrained; instead I just laughed heartily, and wished my sister was sitting next to me so I could slap her knee in acknowledgment of the memories we have surrounding the song and the movie. I know she would do the same thing.

In the end Danielsan and Mr. Miyagi saved the girl, the town, their honor and the day, and I sat on my bed pretty pleased that I found such a good way to pass the evening. But while watching the credits, I noticed something a little disconcerting that broke my childhood heart: Karate Kid II wasn't even filmed in Okinawa; it was filmed in Hawaii. I felt so deceived in a way. Who knows, maybe if it was actually filmed in Japan, it may not have been so awesomely bad, and I wouldn't be able to make fun of it.

Excuses, excuses

Sometimes we need to have a really good excuse in order to get something accomplished. For example when your pants feel a little loose, it's a good excuse to up your daily dessert quota. I recently had a really good excuse to play tourist in this fair city while I hosted a couple of friends who were here for brief visits. It was a huge blessing in so many ways: 1) even with my few church friends it is so easy to feel lonely and isolated and I needed to have friends and be a friend; and 2) I actually got to leave work early and play a little. Thanks to the added benefit of the use of Chef Aaron's car I got to drive around and know Dubai a whole lot better. For example, I can probably get to the airport with my eyes closed. Although I don't really recommend it because there are thousands of crazy drivers and one must be alert and aggressive. Thanks to a few driving adventures in the NYC I was fully prepared to honk, cut people off and gesture all at the same time.

With my first guest, Carlynne, I got to do the most exploring. She was game for anything, so I got to pick out our destinations:

Like Cafe Blanc, a chic-looking Lebanese restaurant in Dubai Mall. We ate hommous, pita, tabbouleh, kebbeh, and cleansed our palates with rose water tea in some fancy cups (see above). Lebanese food is the best Arabic food--don't let anyone convince you otherwise. I'm not saying that because of any bias, anyone here will tell you that.

The Dubai Mall is the largest mall in the world, and it is filled with some pretty fancy stores like Hermes and Jimmy Choo. I think there is a Gap, but it is tucked away in a far-to-reach corner. Like most largest-in-the-world shopping centers, Dubai Mall has other attractions like spectacular fountains, an ice-skating rink, amusement parks, and also has a pretty large aquarium (with a shark tank). Since I've been to this particular mall a few times on my own, I figured that having a guest meant that I needed to seek out a new place to see fish. Like the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. The hotel and its aquarium tried to replicate what the lost city of Atlantis might be like--well at least what it might be like the minds of architects, engineers and designers. It was fancy and interesting.

While this particular venue perhaps wasn't as scientifically informative as, say, the Seattle Aquarium, it did have really large fish that liked to pose for the camera. Seriously, this one saw my camera and struck that menacing pose. This aquarium doesn't really need to be informative, I guess, when it is housed in a pretty spectacular hotel

on a pretty spectacularly man-made island the shape of a palm tree. Seriously, google it.

While Carlynne was here, the sun wasn't. Some dust storm in Saudi caused us to have murky overcast weather. It was not an excuse, to dampen our fun. So off we went to see a movie at the Gold Class Cinema. I've already blogged about sitting in recliners and being waited on while watching a movie, so you know it is an activity worth repeating. Dubai has a few other destinations worth repeating, like the Madinat Jumeirah. I went to the Madinat for the Keane concert in July, but I didn't explore the souks and canals because that obviously wasn't the purpose of the visit. Thanks to guests, I had an excuse to return. This is a newer resort area with lovely hotels, lots of restaurants, and a souk full of regional antiques and souvenirs. Despite the flagrant newness, the area is beautiful and incredibly peaceful. It also has impressive views of the Burj al Arab, the world's only 7-star hotel. (That would be the modern, pointy thing in the image below.)

Carlynne was not the only guest I took the Madinat, my former roommate Carrie was here for an eight-hour layover and we went to one of the bars for their tasty mocktails. (Due to the Arabic tradition of teetotal-ling, mocktails are served everywhere. I'm taking notes for my next mocktail party...when I get out and explore again.) Carrie's layover began at around 11pm and ended at 7am, so her visit was filled with nightlife-esque activities. We started at the Al Reef Lebanese 24-hour bakery for flat bread with cheese and/or zaatar, baklava, and flirting with attractive German fellows sitting by themselves. (Oh yes, we know how to have a good time.) Then we went in search of mocktails in fancy faux-ancient Arabic settings where we talked, giggled, reminisced and caught up over fruity beverages. Then we had to take naps. Her visit was a terribly good excuse to stay up all hours of the night and then leave work early the next day to "recuperate."
But there is still so much to do and see like dune bashing on a desert safari, camel races, a cricket match, waterparks... Some of y'all will just have to come out and visit me so I can do some of these things. No excuses...

I Was Really Hoping to Live by the Foot of that Mountain

So you watched the video clip and went straight to iTunes to buy a copy of that song, only to find out that iTunes doesn't carry it (along with a majority of the last 25 years of A-ha music). That was the tragedy I met up with today. So after spending a relatively large portion of my paperwork time watching/listening to videos on youtube I came up with a solution to this musical predicament. Since I know you were all planning on getting this song, I will pass along the info. You can purchase and download the album from their Web site. You will have to buy the whole album (but it's worth it) and then you will have to transfer the files to iTunes (where they will not let you edit information apparently or maybe I just terribly iTunes inept). But when it costs you 6.45 Euros, it sure looks like a pretty good deal.

Ok. That's enough A-ha for the moment. I swear, my next post will have pictures of Dubai in it!

Nostalgic

There are only two things I remember from Jessica Ketteridge's 10th birthday party:

1) I gave her a "My Little Pony" figurine that she could paint. Everyone else gave her more "tween" type items, although I doubt that the "tween" market was as big then as it is now. Nonetheless Tiger Beat did exist and I imagine that was the inspiration for her other, more trendy gifts. Looking back, I am not surprised she ended our friendship soon thereafter.

2) Instead of watching any movies, we watched the Grammy's award show that her parents had recorded earlier in the week. This was the mid-80's, and we were all excited to catch the performance of one band in particular, A-ha. Thanks to the fully-functioning "stop," "rewind" and "play" buttons, we watched the "Take on Me" performance innumerable times, swooning and giggling as only 9 and 10 year-olds can.

I was fortunate to have an older sister who had in her possession a copy of the tape from which the aforementioned song came. It was the first track on side "A" and pretty much the only song that I remember listening to. Maybe once in a while we got tired of hitting the rewind button and actually listened to the whole cassette. I think there was a song on the other side that was pretty decent; it was just too much work to look for it when we got tired of "Take on Me." Soon other bands entered the American airwaves, and we (my sister and I), and pretty much the general American population forgot to look for other songs that this hit 80's band from Norway might have recorded.

Fast forward to 2009, and now I live in Dubai, and I listen to a radio station that likes to insert a few obscure songs/groups into their typical line-up of hits. I appreciate that this station will forgo playing the same obnoxiously ubiquitous Lady Gaga for something better, although not exactly Top-40. One day they played a song that I really, really liked, and to my surprise it was a new song from A-ha. Since I don't know if this song has reached the North American continent, I thought I'd share it. Just in case you, like me, forgot to look for new A-ha songs post-"Take on Me."



Of course I am a little miffed that now I have 20 years of A-ha music that I need to catch up on.