Amazing Atlantis

the atlantis.

plato wrote about atlantis as a legendary island that sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune". it is said to be a lost island, but with a civilization of advanced technology. many men have seek this mystical island, never found - it lies beneath, along with the secrets of the deep blue sea.

i'll have you all know that i'm a sucker for crop circles, theories about the stonehenge and the curse of the pyramids. that kind of crap. did you read eric von daniken's 'chariots of the gods?' man, i had goose-bumps!

atlantis is the name of dubai's new landmark - a hotel only comparable to burj al-arab - The Atlantis at Crescent, Palm Jumeirah.

the atlantis at night - when mr khairul took me with my parents

despite the mysterious tale behind its name, the intricate detail of the interior decor and the architectural marvel of the building, one thing struck me as well, out of place - when i came to dubai with my parents, mr. khairul took us to the atlantis. but it was at night and we didn't go inside. the lights gave the new dubai landmark a fantastic look, hiding the gaudy paint color! right, so my point is - why is atlantis painted yucky pale pink or salmon or that color?

mr. khairul took me on a second visit to the atlantis with his mom and sis

with mr. khairul's mom and sis we went again, this time to have a good look inside the much talked-about hotel where beckham and pak lah stayed on their visit to dubai. we dressed up like makcik arab and strut our stuff into the posh hotel, pretending to be potential guests. it was fun!

"dive into an aquatic adventure inspired by a mythical age"

that was the catchphrase presented as soon as we enter the official website of the atlantis. true to its name, the interior decor boasts sea motives and ornaments. from the sea-shell lamps to the oyster fountain - there is even a sea horse lamp inside the individual cubicles of the restroom! i want that in my living room, and they put it in the toilet! everything has deep sea ocean written all over. even the colorful mosaics on the walls and ceiling.

you'd feel like you're in king triton's ocean kingdom, the dwelling of the merpeople!

the main centrepiece is my favorite

the atlantis has

• a waterpark called aquaventure - slated to be the biggest in the world
• the lost chambers – where you can journey through a labyrinth of chambers to experience its fascinating underwater world with an impressive variety of marine life including sharks, eels, rays, piranhas, hundreds of exotic and tropical fish.
• see underwater ruins ala the lost city of atlantis - seen the animated feature voiced by michael j. fox?
• dolphin bay - lush tropical setting modelled carefully so the dolphins feel at home in atlantis. we can even meet these graceful charismatic creatures. perhaps have a swim together too?

when kahfi is older, i'd definitely want them to mingle with the dolphins!

ice-cream in winter?

ha! an ice-cream place at the atlantis! let's!

so we had ice-cream at cold stone creamery - MUST come again because we missed taking picture of a fantastic showmanship of the ice-cream dude! you see, as usual we were asked to choose the flavors - it was plain choc and dark choc. then teh chose the toppings - oreo, cashew nut and white choc chip.

what he did next:

• he plop the chunk of ice cream flavors on board
• made a hole
• put the chosen toppings in the middle of the hole
  
• crush 'em and mix 'em nice
• made everything into a ball - ice-cream and toppings
  
• THREW the whole daymn thing into the air
• ..and caught it with a medium size ice-cream cup

>clap! clap!<
the atlantis is situated on the crescent of the palm jumeirah, the largest man-made island in the world. the island is visible from the poolside of our new apartment in dubai marina. see the 'palm leaves' part of the island? that has all the exclusive villas, and the 'crescent moon' part at the top of the 'leaves'? that is where the atlantis is.

perhaps when you guys come over, we can make a day of it - pack some sandwiches and juice - or karipap, bihun goreng and teh o, shoot up to the poolside, hang back and enjoy the view.

jom!