Quad bikes. The desert bikes. There are two things that every one and anyone who visits the UAE should try, and they are Desert Safari and Quad biking. I haven’t tried desert safari yet, so it’s still in my bucket list. Quad biking, on the other hand I have tried.
Now I don’t remember the name of the adventure park which provided this service, mainly because it’s in such a bad condition. But thank god the quad bikes was in perfect condition. Just like Jet ski, this is a easy to operate vehicle and there is only a rare chance that you will fall from it, considering it has four wheels unlike two wheels in a bike. I must say it was really fun to drive it and I was hoping the allotted one hour time would not end. The only issue with quad biking is that the tires will get stuck in the sand and we will have to lift the rear of it to be able to drive again, and it’s really irritating.
Trying to lift the quad bike after it got stuck in the sand
So, the upcoming Shahrukh Khan movie Happy New Year is set to release next week, 23rd Oct 2014, in GCC and one of the best cinemas in the UAE has come up with a contest, in which you will have to compete and win to meet with the cast of Happy New Year in Atlantis. Here’s what you have to do:
If you are a fashion lover and you are in Dubai, just head down to the Mall of Emirates to catch Harper’s Bazaar World of Fashion which will last ill 31st October 2014. I happened to catch the fashion show by Kate Spade. Below is the video and pictures for your viewing pleasure.
There’s nothing much to say about Jet skiing. Everyone knows about it. We have seen it in movies and I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say that everyone has wanted to ride a jet ski.
As usual, me and my colleague purchased a coupon for jet skiing and went to Mamzar Beach in Sharjah. On arriving near the beach itself, we got to see a lot of people canvassing potential clients into riding a jet ski, and there were a lot of tents setup which was into this business. We had a hard time figuring out in which tent we were supposed to show our coupon, but eventually we found it.
My colleague was asked to sign a term and condition form and then we were given life jackets to put on. Since, the handle of a jet ski looks similar to that of a bike, I assumed the acceleration mechanism will be the same too. I was wrong. It is very easy to operate a jet ski and I am pretty sure it is very rare for someone to fall from it. But I did see some people fall from it. Don’t believe me? Look at the main picture I uploaded for the post. There are two people in the water next to the jet ski in which they rode, behind me. Till this moment I have no idea how they fell.
It was a good experience, but it could have been better if we were allowed to ride a wider area. But for safety reasons, we weren’t allowed to and it would cost us about AED 500 (I think) if we violate it, as per the terms and condition that we had signed.
We created a video, for a competition, that would have won us a GoPro Hero 3+, but sadly we didn’t win. Anyhow, below is the video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
My previous post was about the disappointing replica gun shooting. But I didn’t lose hope. I promised my self that I will try target shooting with a real gun and that’s exactly what I did.
For this, we had to go all the way to “Al Forsan International Sports Resort” in Abu Dhabi. Talking about Al Forsan International Sports Resort, It is like Hobbies Club, but better, bigger and with more recreational activities. I recommend everyone to visit this place and try out the activities they provide.
Other than the charges for the activity that you wish to try, there is an additional entrance and parking fee (if you want to take your car inside and park right near to where the activity is). Me and my colleague parked the car outside and we were taken to the building, where the shooting is, in a bus and thank god for that because Al Forsan covers a very wide area, and we would have had to walk a very long distance to reach there.
Once we reached the building we showed our coupon and we went to the underground level of the building. There were already people practicing the target shooting and I couldn’t help from stopping myself from smiling on the very sight of target shooting it self. Finally, I am going to shoot with a real gun.
We had to wear a noise cancellation head phone (which only reduces the noise of the gun shots and not completely mute it) and since I already wear a glass, I was not required to wear an eye protection glass. The gun given to us was a Beretta 9mm,
Beretta 9mm
with 30 bullets to practice our shoot. It was heavy. I couldn’t hear most of what the instructor said because of the noise cancellation head phones. But he wouldn’t hand over the gun unless it was facing the target board and nowhere else (thanks for trusting me). I must say it was scary to shoot a gun. It was my first time shooting a real gun and the constant fear of hitting somewhere other than the target made me nervous (now I know why the staff of Al Forsan didn’t trust me).
Unlike the replica gun shooting, where I hit the bulls-eye from the start itself, I couldn’t manage to hit the bulls-eye with the real gun untill the last few rounds. This time, my colleague beat me in shooting. But the experience was very good.
I love video games, and among them my favourite are mostly First Person Shooter games. I have always wondered how it would be to shoot a gun. I am pretty sure most of you also have thought about the same.
So, I was browsing through a website and there it was. A coupon for shooting and it was so cheap too. (I should have got the hint from the price itself that it was a replica. P.S: but I didn’t). With high hopes and dreams; me, my colleague and my brother went to “Hobbies Club, Dubai”, where the shooting was being held.
The Shooting area of Hobbies Club
Hobbies Club, as the name itself suggest, is a place with a lot of recreational activities to try, like mountain biking, quad biking, horse riding and all. We went inside and gave the staff, who works there, the coupon. He took us to the place where the target shooting is, and that my friends was when I became totally disappointed. At that moment we realised that the shooting was not going to be with a real gun, and voila the staff came out with three air rifles. We were disappointed. Very disappointed. But then we thought we are here anyway and we paid for this, so might as well try who has a better aim at shooting.
The gun was very light and very easy to operate. I don’t remember how many “bullets” we were given to shoot, but everyone of us hit the bulls eye. In the end, most of my “bullets” where the ones to hit the bulls eye and hence I was the winner of the day. The only point of time where I was not disappointed of that day.
Climbing wall is a wall with different coloured grips for hand and feet and what we are basically supposed to do is to climb the wall using only one color grip for each round.
Speed climbing competition
Ever since I have seen XGames speed wall climbing competition, in which the participant had to climb the wall as fast as they can, I have been wanting to try it and used to think that it was pretty easy. One fine day, I got a discount voucher for climbing wall in Dorell sports, Dubai World Trade Center and my heart was jumping with joy on the thought of beating the current speed wall climbing record. I was wrong. Really badly wrong.
On arriving the destination and looking at the wall itself, part of my confidence went down. When I finally took the courage to try climbing, I will be frank with you, I was really scared. But still I went ahead and began climbing till I reached the middle of the wall in the first round. When I was about to lose hope, a kid came to climb the wall and he, without any problem what so ever, climbed till the top. That’s when it hit me, if the kid can do it, so can I. I went ahead for a second round and reached the top of the wall. True story.
You have taught me well master
It was amazing and exhausting at the same time as it required a lot of upper body strength. But since then I have never ever doubted the XGames speed climbing competition to be over rated.
Frankly speaking, I am getting tired of watching 3D movies nowadays. Almost every movie is releasing in 3D and only a few scenes in the movie is in actual 3D. But not to worry, because ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the future of cinema viewing experience, THE 4DX CINEMA.
Example of 5D simulator.
4DX is basically 3D plus some extra effects like light, wind , motion, water and scent. It’s just like the 8D cinema simulators we see in amusement parks or malls, but instead of short roller coaster or other videos, it will be a full length movie. In UAE, this technology is exclusive at Vox Cinemas and a ticket costs AED 125 excluding the 3D glasses. So, is it really worth it?
THE GOOD
I must say, the 3D experience is much better than the usual 3D viewing. I have been to 4DX cinemas twice and both the time I felt that the 3D content is much better in 4DX. Trust me, I have been to most of the cinemas in the UAE and I have been to lots of 3D movies until I realised it’s just a rip-off, and stopped watching movies in 3D.
The motion effect is very good and this must be the mostly used effect in the 4DX, atleast according to me. The first movie I saw in 4DX was The Amazing Spider-man 2, and the motion effect in 4DX did justice in capturing the way spidey swinged acrossed the city. Besides the motion, the vibration effect is also noteworthy.
THE BAD
The water effect is just a bad gimmick. When ever there is a scene in the movie in which there is a rain or the
To disable or not to disable. That’s the question.
character is in a situation where he is in a “watery situation” (I just made up the word, but you get the idea), water squirts up from the front and it creates a feeling of the “watery situation”, which is nothing like it. But, if you wish to stop this effect there is a button on the right hand of the seat, where you can opt to disable this effect. I still leave the water effect on though, cause it is part of the 4DX and I want to enjoy the total experience.
THE UGLY
If you ask me what the worst thing about the 4DX is, I would definitely say the scent effect is the worst. Why? because both of the time I have been to the 4DX, there was not a single scene in the movie of which the scent effect was used, except for one scene in the trailer of the 4DX.
In the end, if given a chance, would I go to watch a movie in 4DX? Yes, I would definitely. I mean The Amazing Spider-man 2 was a bad movie, that’s a given. But I really enjoyed the movie just because I was watching it in 4DX. So I suggest you go for it.