London Adventures | Day 2

Hi Everyone! Check out Part 2 of my trip to London!! Hope you like the video :) Sandra xx

London Adventures 2015

Earlier this year I went on a holiday to London, England for a few days... it was my first trip to London and I loved it!  I'm excited to share with all of you this video I put together of some of the places I visited during my first day in London.  Parts 2 & 3 of my London adventure will follow soon!

I'm also looking forward to creating a similar video of my trip to Prague, so stay tuned for that! :D

Hope you enjoy it!

Another choreography coming your way soon!

New Zumba warm-up coming soon!

New Zumba warm-up coming soon on my youtube channel to Omi's Cheerleader!! Please check it out and subscribe! Thank you :)

Licensed Zumba Instructor !

Hi everyone!!  I'd like to share some news I'm very excited about!  This week I became an officially licensed Zumba Instructor!! Yay!  

I haven't started teaching any classes yet, and it will take another week or so for my ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) membership to be active so I'm still in the planning stages right now :)   I have created a youtube channel here where I will be sharing some original choreographies, and videos on other topics I'm interested in (like food, nutrition, and cooking)!

Yesterday I created and filmed a choreography to Ricky Martin's song "La Mordidita" which is on the new channel... check it out here !  Hope you like it, and feel free to leave a comment, subscribe, and let me know what you think :)

A group shot after the training - we are all licensed instructors now! :D 

Bruno Mars Concert in Toronto

Bruno Mars' Moonshine Jungle Tour was amaazing!

Flamenco Nights

I went to see an amazing flamenco performance in Dubai's Park Hyatt Hotel before Christmas (my mum surprised us with tickets as a christmas gift!), and I'd like to share with you this video we took of part of the performance!  Hope you enjoy!

Here is their website, if you'd like to find out more about the dinner and show: http://www.alandalusevents.com/#home

Whole Wheat Banana/Blueberry Pancakes

I made these yummy pancakes at the beginning of the week, but I forgot to take pics when I made them fresh at the time!  So I made some more this morning with the left over batter I had.... this recipe was taken from SkinnyTaste.com, which has many delicious low-fat and healthy recipes :)  The original recipe is called Banana Nut pancakes, but I skipped the walnuts and added some fresh blueberries instead! 

with Maple Syrup!!

Falconry Video!

My falconry video is finally finished!! It took a long time to edit it, but I finally uploaded it .... hope you like it! 

A Falconry Show at Bab Al Shams Hotel in Dubai :
(Links to the music videos in the description box on youtube)

New Year's Celebrations

For New Year's, we decided to celebrate outside the house so we made a reservation at Ember restaurant in the Address Hotel (it's close to Dubai Mall, so it took us forever to get there because of traffic - since the fireworks display from Burj Khalifa was close by!).  It was a set 5 course menu of fine-dining dishes, and each course was sooo delicious!  I'll include a snapshot of the menu, which shows different options for each course.

We were first greeted at the front desk by the manager of the restaurant, and shown to our table...

Champagne and fresh oysters upon arrival! :D  The oysters were so fresh, and the champagne was actually Prosecco (an italian white sparkling wine), which I think is my favourite type now! 

The restaurant interior:

Entertainment during dinner

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the individual dishes (I think I was too excited to start eating them lol), but this is the palette cleanser we had in between the starter and main course.  It was served in a bowl of ice(!) which was illuminated from below by a light which changed colour ever few seconds ...very cool! 

Orange, Champagne and Rosemary Sorbet

At midnight, we watched the Burj Khalifa fireworks on a big screen.... Here's a video of the 2012 fireworks from youtube below:

Another Day... Another Piano piece

Piano - Bebu Silvetti

This is a basic arrangement of Bebu Silvetti's piece called "Piano"... I learnt it when I used to take piano lessons, so this isn't a very advanced version, but I hope you enjoy!!

I also wanted to record another piece, but my memory card ran out of space!! So here's a teaser for you for the next video! :) 

Gotan Project - Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)

The KO Hip-Hop Cello Beatbox Experience

I was looking through the youtube trends, and came across this video... take a look!

Mo Mansour ft. Emma Hayes - Dubai State of Mind

A track dedicated to the amazing city of Dubai. Lyrics and Rap by Mo Mansour. Chorus Vocals by Emma Hayes.

LYRICS

Goodbye Canada, I must say you will be missed,
I trade my winter gloves for a pair of oven mits,
Flip flops in December, damn I'm loving this,
And I can still go skiing at the Mall of the Emirates.
All jokes aside... Dubai's the best,
Just host a visitor and tell me if he's not impressed,
Built from the desert but, you woulda never guessed,
Best of the Middle East, sprinkled with some West.
Perfect place to travel from, but this is where my base is,
What a perfect blend of fifty different places,
All the diverse cultures, languages, and races,
Adds a real spice to life that everyone embraces.
From a desert with some shrubs to a world hub,
From not being on the map, to it's own rap.
Sheikh Mohamed raised his vision straight to the sky,
Make your arms do the same, let's hear it for:
(Chorus)
I say hamdullah that things are back to goin' well,
The economy and buildings are both growin' well,
So bring the tourists on, we'll play some show-and-tell,
Let's add two to a five star hotel.
That's the Burj Al Arab, in case you didn't get it,
Just pick a record out, let's make a bet we set it.
And if it's set then we'll break it and we will maintain,
Look up at the Burj Khalifa, just make sure your neck don't sprain.
Wanna see some culture? You can see them all,
Wanna do some shopping? You should see the malls,
Shopping on a budget? You can hit Karama.
Wanna see Atlantis? You can skip Bahamas.
Lookin for some nightlife? Don't have to look too far,
Pre-game at Caramel, party at Boudoir.
Some say its artificial, more like official art,
You really can't deny, this city's got some heart.
(Chorus)
Something charming bout the old Dubai like Bur Dubai and Deira,
But I still prefer the new Dubai like Downtown and Jumeirah,
And I love the other Emirates from Abu to Fujeirah,
But you really can't deny that the action's over here.
We could go to JBR and just chill and tan,
Or take a tour of some islands that were made by man,
Big events are every month so you don't have to make a plan,
Rugby 7's, Tennis Open, or the World Cup at Meydan,
And I'm barely scratching the surface,
This city's got way too much for just a couple of verses.
So if you need some more reasons to come and visit just aks me,
Or better yet just move here, it's tax free.
They come in winters when the weather is a dream to 'em,
Take off in summer when the city is a steam room.
The only two seasons are warm and hot,
It's no wonder that this city's such a melting pot.

On the floor - J.Lo ft Pitbull

I love this song!

The Green Hornet

So I went to see the Green Hornet today in 3D, since they didn't have a regular showing.  I thought it was an entertaining action movie and fun to ; it would be most popular with teenagers, I would think, since it has the over-the-top action scenes and slow motion martial arts stunts .

The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogan as Britt Reid, Jay Chou as his partner Kato, and Cameron Diaz as Reid's assistant .  The storyline wasn't very original,  but the movie as a whole was very entertaining especially if you like Seth Rogan's humour and his bumbling personality.... and his assistant Kato was very good too !  I would have liked to see more of him!

Brief plot: After his father's death, Britt Reid inherits his dad's newspaper company which he doesn't want to run and doesn't care about it.  After meeting his late father's mechanic, Kato, they both become friends and decide to form a team (since Reid is very intelligent and Kato is an experted engineer and martial artist, but both haven't been living up to their potential).  They decide to fight crime, by pretending to be villains and put a stop to the city's criminals.

I give this movie : 7/10

Photos taken from movie review sites

The Dubai water fountain (Video)

I forgot that I had taken this video when we were in Dubai! We went to have dinner at a lebanese restaurant in Dubai Mall and we were seated outside on the patio, with the world's tallest tower "Burj Khalifa" on our right, the water fountain in front of us, and the rest of the buildings which make up Dubai Mall on our left! The weather was so nice; a little breezy which meant you needed to wear a jacket.

The fountain was scheduled every half hour, and lasted 5-10 minutes. Every half hour the fountain would put on a different 'dance' with accompanying music... including 'Time to Say Goodbye', an Arabic melody, and Michael Jackson's Thriller (which I missed!! :[ )

Anyway, here's the video I took (it's in 2 parts because the first memory card ran out of space, so I had to switch it) ... I'm not sure what music it is, but it sounds like something from Indiana Jones lol ... Enjoy!

Bills Bills Bills (Warblers performance)

One of my favourite Glee performances:

The King's Speech.... Speechless!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie!!!! It was amazing, and definitely confirmed what a great actor Colin Firth is!  His speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, and wife played by Helena Bonham Carter (another favourite of mine) were also brilliant!

The King's Speech is, as it was advertised, a historical drama, but it did have some comedic acts throughout... and an especially hilarious scene, which I won't ruin for you now!  I would highly recommend this to everyone!



For those unfamiliar with the story,  King George VI (Colin Firth) is introduced to Lionel Logue, a speech therapist who is known for his unorthodox methods to help patients with their stammer.  The two men build a friendship as Logue helps him overcome his speech impedement, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the King must deliver a radio broadcast at the beginning of World War II.

Photos from movie review site