The skiing in Lebanon trip

Did you know you can ski in Lebanon and it’s supposedly pretty good? Someone mentioned this to me, and of course, I had to go and check out this novelty for myself. It’s not that I’m a big skier. Actually, I’ve never skied, but the exotic slopes of Faraya in Lebanon seemed like the perfect place to learn.

Beirut has been on my list of places to visit for years, but the whole war in Syria thing has made it a little off limits. I always assumed the war would be a little too close for comfort. But when I met other people from KAUST (where I was working) had gone for visits and said it was fine, I thought maybe it was doable. I’ve learned after I moved to Saudi Arabia and felt safer than I did in certain places of the United States that what you see on TV isn’t always reality. It’s generally better to talk to someone who has been there recently and get the real picture.

 

Also, I had two friends who thought skiing in Lebanon was a brilliant idea and were totally up for going.

 

 

 

We arrived on Thursday morning and it was raining. A storm front had rolled into the area which meant that yes, there was snow on the mountains, but what equated as a little rain in Beirut resulted in a blizzard in the ski area. No worries. We would spend the day exploring Beirut and could ski on Friday.

EATING OUR WAY THROUGH BEIRUT

Beirut is a confusing, but beautiful city. We tried to find our way on our own, but Google Maps didn’t quite get the layout of the area and had us walking everywhere. Thankfully, my girlfriend could speak Arabic and could ask for directions…a lot of directions.

And in truth, being lost made the adventure even more fun.

 

This is considered a road in Beirut. Really.

 Walking in the rain added to our experience in a good way. Because we were cold and wet, our day became an adventure in eating as we had to stop for coffee, snacks, lunch, coffee, snacks, ice cream and more coffee along the way. We ate so much I was beginning to worry that my newly bought ski pants were not going to fit. 

 

Best Lebanese food. So good.

 

One of the best places we ate at was nearly impossible to find. It was recommended by the hotel concierge as being the best place to get authentic Lebanese food (I can’t remember the name but it was like someone’s kitchen).

 

It wasn’t on the main street, but down a narrow alley with stairways that looked like it was more of a path than an official road. It’s then you realize how old Beirut really is and that it was built long before cars existed.

 

The location of the oldest ice cream shop.

After lunch, our quest was to find the city’s oldest ice cream shop, which was even more of a challenge than the lunch place. This one was located on a real road, but the building was so old and full of bullet holes, we thought it was abandoned. And of course, it was closed that day because who would want ice cream in the freezing rain? We did go back the next day and get some though.

SO ABOUT THE SKIING…             

So what about the skiing? We tried. We really did. I even had bought ski pants and a jacket for the trip. The rain continued into Friday so that day was out. But Saturday the weather cleared and we drove up to the slopes. And yes, there was an amazing amount of snow. 

More eating at a bakery

Unfortunately, there was too much snow so the police would not let us drive up to the actual ski area as we didn’t have chains on our cheap rental car. Yeah, the skiing in part of the “skiing in Lebanon” trip was a bust. But it was a fun trip.

 I guess my destiny will be to learn to ski in Switzerland.

 Funny how that all worked out - considering I'm now living and working in Lausanne.

Looking for an apartment in Lausanne

I’ve moved a lot over the years, but usually I can find the perfect place to live within days and am able to move in within a week or so. That’s not the case in Lausanne. When people told me to expect to spend 6 to 8 weeks in temporary housing, I thought they were exaggerating.

Turns out they were right. It’s hard to find a place to live in Lausanne – especially if you are an expat.

Here’s why:

1) First of all, you need to speak French in order to communicate with the property owner.

2) You need your Swiss ID which takes at least a month to get (and to get this, you need a document from your work and you need a lease - a bit of a catch 22.  I used the contract for my temporary housing to get mine).

3) You need connections because if you like the place, so do 50 other people and the only way your application will stand out in the pile is if you have a connection. They don't care if you can plop down the down payment at that second.  It's a networking thing --and luck.

4) You need to have your personal insurance documents.

So I turned to a professional for help. That professional was Carmela at Swiss Flats. Swiss Flats specialize in finding apartments for expats in Lausanne. I found them by doing a random internet search on the web and sent them an email asking about the rates and the process. They responded within 24 hours and had answered all my questions.  I met with Awni, the manager, the day I arrived in Lausanne and after finding out what I was looking for, he assigned Carmela, my Lausanne apartment finder angel, to me.

Carmela was great and treated me as if finding an apartment that was perfect for me was the most important thing in the world.  She was on a mission to make me happy which was a challenge as I'm not rich, but like really nice things and in Lausanne, finding an apartment with modern plumbing in a good location in my price range is pretty much impossible.  Throw in the unreasonable requests of wanting a regular size fridge and laundry in the unit and you are asking for a miracle.

But Carmela was determined. Each morning she would call me after contacting all her contacts with exciting news. “Two new places have opened up. We’ll see them tonight,” she would tell me.

We would go after work and then if I didn’t like them – which was often the case as I’m super picky, she would go back and keep looking for me. If I did like one of them, she would help me fill out the application which was usually in French or German, call up the property manager to try to put in a good word for me and basically “beg” on my behalf.

For two weeks, she drove me around Lausanne, but in the end. It was worth it. She found me the perfect place in my price range. Yay!! People say it’s a miracle that I found something so quickly as some people spend up to 6 months living in crummy places while searching. But that’s because they didn’t have Carmela working for them.

And she hasn’t stopped helping me. She also helped me get my apartment insurance, gave me advice on which cable package to get, where to eat in the neighborhood and so much more. She helped me assimilate so I felt less lost – and more importantly, less confused as to how things worked because it is very confusing here.

Accepting Swiss Flats offer to find me a place to live in Lausanne was the best decision I’ve made this month.

PHOTO MOMENT: Waves of sand in the Empty Quarter

Waves of sand in the Empty Quarter outside of Abu Dhabi.

One word to describe the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi? Wow!

Dubai gets all the hype when it comes to tall buildings, expensive hotels and crazy things of luxury that nobody can afford. But the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is something to behold. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

 The mosque’s official name is Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and it’s in Abu Dhabi.  My friend calls it the Las Vegas of mosques, but I liked it. Yes, it cost $545 million (USD) to construct and the structure took nearly 9 years to build, but it’s worth it. When you walk in, you are in awe and even whispering seems wrong.

 When you first walk in, you won’t be able to miss the chandeliers. There are seven in total throughout the mosque. The biggest one is the second largest chandelier inside a mosque (hard to believe there is one bigger) and the third largest chandelier in the world. It spans 33 feet in diameter and is 49 feet in height.

 While I was blown away by the chandeliers and the cut marble floral designs on the floor, my friend was all about the carpet. The carpet in the main prayer hall is supposedly the world’s largest carpet. It’s 60,570 square feet and weighs 35 tonnes, which I guess is pretty big, but inside this massive mosque, it just looked normal.

What I did think was cool were the raised bits to show people where to pray so that they faced Mecca.

Everything in the mosque is decadent. The columns are marble and inlaid with mother of pearl. The pools on the outside are so blue in contrast to the white mosque.

These are apparently amazing lights at night as they change to match the phase of the moon. However, we had a flight to catch and could not stay.

 Non-Muslims can visit the mosque on Saturdays. It’s free to go in and if you don’t bring your own abaya, they will lend one to you. Guys, don’t wear shorts. This is a place of worship so your legs need to be covered.

 

Filled with amazement in the Empty Quarter

The trailer for the new Star Wars movie “The Force Awakens” is out and the buzz surrounding where it was shot in the desert outside of Abu Dhabi is everywhere.

 Let me tell you, this desert is amazing and even better in real life than on film.

Parts of "The Force Awakens" was shot in the Empty Quarter (also known as Rub’ al Khali). It's the second largest sand desert in the world and covers over 650,000 square kilometers. This sand is so fine that when you step in it, you sink up to your ankles, and when you go up hill, you have to run or else you will slide back down. It’s a challenging and amazing experience, but you will have a lot of sand in your shoes.

 The fine sand is also why it looks like ocean waves. As the wind blows, your footsteps disappear and tiny waves of sand appear.

I went with a girlfriend a couple of weekends ago as I’ve been dying to stay in a desert resort in the Empty Quarter. The one I picked was Al Sarab Desert Resort, which is located about 2 hours outside of Abu Dhabi in the middle of nowhere – or in the middle of the Empty Quarter.

But it was worth the long drive as everything at the resort was better than I imagined – from driving up to the resort gates (that looked like a desert fortress) to drinking camel milk with dates (their welcome drink), to the super posh bathtub that neither of us had time to use in our fantastic room.

RIDING ON CAMELS AND FAT TIRE BIKES

We hadn’t planned on doing excursions, but when we got there, we couldn’t resist. Instantly we signed up for a sunset camel ride in the desert and Fat Tire Biking at sunrise. You notice all our activities are either early morning as the sun sets, and that’s because it’s the desert. The rest of the day is pretty hot so you want to spend that part in the pool or in air conditioning somewhere.

So first up…the camels. I’ve done camel riding in Morocco years ago, but that one was lame compared to this adventure.

With the Al Sarab Desert Resort, you are riding your camel for a good hour or so. I’m saying riding, but really you are just sitting there. The camels know where they are going so you don’t need to steer or anything. They walk in this slow leisurely line up over the dunes and eventually you stop on top of a sand dune and watch the sun go down. Super relaxing.

Then there were the fat tire bikes. These are the opposite of relaxing. This was challenging. The tires are fat AND they are flat. The reason for this is so that you have more traction in the sand and don’t sink. Remember how I mentioned that you have to run up the hills or else you slide back down on the sand? Well, on the bike, you have to pedal really fast or else you’ll sink, slide down and then fall off. They are also really bouncy when on solid ground (that part was fun).

I highly recommend fat tire biking if there. It’s an experience you won’t find anywhere else as this desert is unique. Plus, once I got the hang up it, going up and down the dunes was a blast!

 
SO MANY STARS

The absolutely best part about our trip to the Empty Quarter was the night walk through the desert.

There were just four of us and the guide. He drove us out farther in the desert away from everything and then we trekked through the sand under the light of the moon. The only sound out there was our footsteps as we sloshed through the sand, but we could see the tracks of other creatures in the sand as we walked. Even the beetles sink in the fine dust so you could see their tracks too.

Finally, at the top of one of the dune, the guide had us stop, lay back and gaze up at the sky. With no light pollution, the heavens were an astrologer’s dream. I’ve never seen so many stars. It was as if they were layered upon each other. And the silence of the desert was so peaceful. 

I never had time to do this, but if you go, try to camp in the Empty Quarter under the stars. They resort can set up a tent for you, provide food and the transportation to the middle of the desert and back.  After seeing the starry night sky, I've now added this to my list of things to do next time.

Have the Swiss found the secret to happiness?

I’m going to be honest. My first few days in Switzerland sucked. It was raining, barely over the freezing mark, I was paying a lot of money for a crummy room with a crappy heater and the internet didn’t work.

But then spring arrived a week later and life was good.

There are still a number of things to get used to like the fact that none of their gyms open before 7 a.m., all the shops close at 6:30 p.m. and nothing is open on Sunday. The first week here I never made the cut off and had no groceries in my fridge. It was extremely frustrating...and I was hungry.

 But now I’m catching on and I think I get it. It’s forced down time.

Because things close early, you have to leave work on time in order to complete all your errands before the stores lock their doors. So by 6:30 p.m. you’re done and you have your whole night ahead of you to relax, hang out with friends or hit the gym. There are no excuses not to relax as there is nothing else to do except relaxing things. In my case, it’s even more extreme as I’m still in my crummy place with no internet so I can’t even do work at home.

Forced down time. Could this be the secret to sustained happiness?  Survey after survey, Switzerland is shown to be the place where people are the happiest. It's an expensive country to live, the weather isn't as fabulous as Florida and they work hard and have less vacation than some other countries.  Yet, they still say they are happy.  Could it be because of the early closing of shops and the lack of anything open on Sunday has instilled the habit of work/life balance?  Could it be forced down time can lead one down the path to happiness?

Forced down time. Maybe the Swiss are onto something.

PHOTO MOMENT: Scary monkey faces in Indonesia

When traveling through Asia, it's so interesting how different every single country is even though they are only a few hours away by plane.  In Thailand, the laughing Buddha is everywhere, but in Indonesia it's a mix of cute and scary -- but still the art is beautiful.

Celebrating "Silent Day" in Bali with mindfulness meditation

The day after the fnew moon of the ninth lunar month is the Balinese New Year.  The locals call it Nyepi, but it's also known as "Silent Day" or "The Day of Silence." This is because the entire country goes silent for one day.  All external activities cease. There are no TV broadcasts, no driving and not electricity. Even the airport shuts down for the day.

The forced day of silence and peace was just what I needed and one of the reasons why I choose to go to Bali at this time.

My day of silence included two mindfulness mediations -- one at 9 am and one under the stars at 9 p.m.   The sessions were conducted by Nan, who is a former Buddhist nun.  She studied the Dharma in monasteries throughout Asia and has been meditating for nearly a decade.

The style of mediation she practices is called "mindfulness," and it's great for Type A personalities like me who have trouble staying focused and are constantly planning, thinking and doing.  In fact, even as I'm typing this I'm already thinking of what I need to do next.

Mindfulness mediation comes from the Buddhist vipassana mediation and the goal of it is not to force your mind to be quiet for an hour, but to learn to be mindful.  What this means is that as you do your meditation, whether it's 10 minutes or a few hours, that you are doing it with the intention of focusing on what's happening in the present moment.  This means turning off the multi-tasking thoughts that we have about what you need to do in the future or what has happened in the past.  You are to focus on what's happening at that time, which is nothing. You are sitting and breathing.  That's all you need to worry about.

It sounds simple, but it's harder to stay in the moment. Thankfully, mindfulness meditation accepts that people's minds move faster than the speed of light, so part of the meditation is accepting and non-judging when your focus wanders for a brief second or so.

"Your mind is like a spider that sits in the center of its web.  It sits there, but is constantly aware of what's going on. When something touches the web, it senses this, but then goes back to the center," explained Nan. "This is what mindfulness mediation is. When you hear something or feel something, acknowledge it -- but then go back to the center and refocus."

Now that I can do.

PHOTO MOMENT: Spicy deliciousness in Indonesia

As you know, I'm a foodie -- but I still try to eat healthy.  It's sometimes hard to find food with flavor that is great tasting. But this isn't a problem in Indonesia at the Four Seasons Sayan.  I got the rice on the side for this dish so that I wouldn't be tempted, and instead could really savor the grilled Mahi Mahi over spicy eggplant. MMM…so good.

Ogoh-Ogoh Parade in Indonesia

Ogoh-Ogoh parade in Denpasar, Indonesia

Yes, I'm moving to Switzerland for work after spending 1.5 years in Saudi Arabia, but I decided to do a 4 day pit stop along the way to clear my mind and rejuvenate myself.

I haven't been to Indonesia before, but I've been wanting to.  So when I did some research and learned it was actually cheaper to stay in Bali than to stay in a hotel in Geneva, I figured "why not?"

Also, because I'm moving to Europe and to a place that is a little expensive, this little getaways will probably be my last Asian trip for  a while. I might as well give it try.  And, when I learned it was Balinese New Year,  I definitely had to go. What better way to start a new job in a new country than by celebrating it with a day of silence and mediation -- just like the locals do!

Balinese New Year is known as Nyepi (aka, annual Silent Day) and the area Bali takes it very seriously. They shut down all TV broadcasts, airports, public transit, schools and businesses.  They also turn off the electricity. It's a day for quiet reflection.

Ogoh-Ogoh --- love saying that!!!

The day before though, is the opposite of "Silent Day." It's the day of the Ogoh-Ogoh parade, but this isn't any normal parade. This one is all about demons and spiritual cleansing.  You see, the ogoh-ogoh are mythological beings, mostly demons.

My driver told me that the goal of the parade of ogoh-ogoh creatures symbolizes purification.

He said that in the Hindu tradition, there are three goals: human to human harmony, human to nature harmony, and human to God harmony.  The parade of all the demons is to showcase all the spiritual pollutants people have done through their activities when they have not been in harmony with each other, nature or God.

The spirits are bigger then life and are carried through the parade the a bamboo frame by 8 or 12 men.
They are made by the village artists.

The best part is the end as that's the cleansing time - and it reminded me of Burning Man and the burning of the temple.  That's because after the parade, the ogoh-ogoh sculptures are burnt to ashes as a symbol of self-purification.

Such a cool and interesting night made even more cool as I had no idea it was happening until I arrived in the country.

PS Sorry, my photos are a little crappy, but it was getting dark out and my iPhone isn't that fantastic at dusk.

Related: Burning Man: I never expected the Temple

PHOTO MOMENT: Gatotkaca Knight Statue in Denpasar

A totally fluke shot of the Gatotkaca statue in Denpasar that I took with my iPhone from the car.

It was built in 1993 and is located in the middle of T- junction outside of the airport, and depicts the story of the gallant and brave knight Gatotkaca, the son of Bimasena, one of the great warriors of the Pandavas. 

Starting My New Life with New Vision

Moving to a new country for work is stressful - even if you've done it before.  In addition to learning a new job, you have all the added pressure of trying to find a place to live, a cell phone carrier, how to get to work, figuring out the language issue, the local customs, etc.

If you've been following my blog, then you know I've moved from Toronto to Memphis, from Memphis to Tampa, from Tampa to Houston, from Houston to Sacramento, from Sacramento to Phoenix, and then from Phoenix to Saudi Arabia -- all in less than 8 years.

Yes, it's been hectic, but I've learned so much and grown so much with my career and leadership skills. I've been on the fast-track, but not with the goal of running up the corporate ladder. Instead, my goal was to be the best digital news/managing editor I could be by working my way through the local news markets. It's been fun and challenging -- and I really, really love my life, my career, all the people I've met and my lack of material stuff (can't really have a lot when you move as much as I do).

I've just been offered a great position with Frontiers in Lausanne, Switzerland where I'll be able to fine tune my skills and learn some new ones.  This position is new for me as instead of running a digital news team, I'll be doing their communications. So it requires my skills, but from a different angle - a brand new way to challenge me.

When planning my move,  I learned I couldn't even start looking for a place to live in Switzerland until I got my Swiss ID, which I can't get until my first day of work. So I decided I should be like a normal person and take a week off in between to clear my mind and refocus my energy rather than rushing there.  Generally, I'm nuts and leave my job on Friday and then start the new one on Monday.  That's what I've been doing for years -- even when I moved to Saudi Arabia. I arrived jet lagged and exhausted, but I was there and ready to work.

So yes, I tend to start my new jobs a little burnt out and in desperate need of a vacation which I won't get until I pass the 3 month probation period. I do this because I'm paranoid I'll run out of money before my first pay check or there will be unexpected moving expenses and I'll regret that I didn't work until the last second.

Yeah….life/work balance. Still haven't mastered that.

But I'm learning. This time for the first time ever I'm taking a week's vacation to refocus, rejuvenate and  mentally get ready for the move to Switzerland instead of moving there directly - and I'm freaking out a little bit.

While moving to a new country or taking a new job is completely relaxing for me and so is not having an address as I'm floating between places, this week off for "pleasure" is stressful.  For me, spending this money on myself knowing my next pay check is a month away is a risk - and outside my comfort zone.

Isn't it amazing what you learn about yourself when situations arise?