The Introverted Paradox

Mayne x Lang Leav

I have this habit of keeping the photos first before posting them. I want to savor the moment before letting the world know. So please, don’t be surprised if I will post something that’s already months (or a year) late. And this is one of them. It’s roughly been 12mos since this event happened yet when I look back, I still feel kilig. 

Many people don’t know about my love for books. (I know, You…

I have always adored the sun. I have always loved watching it set and change colors. And I also thought that sunrise means no matter how dark, bleak and lonely your night has been, it has an end; and it can end beautifully.

However, the reason why I visited the Burj Khalifa~ a family friend, Ate Joyce, had a 12-hr-layover in DXB and we met each other.

But unfortunately, it’s the wee hours of sleeping and we couldn’t go far. I honestly couldn’t think of a place where I could let her have a better view of Dubai (since I also don’t tour around Dubai very often). Let alone tourist spots at those hours. But days before her arrival, I got an information from a colleague that there was a promotion for visiting Burj Khalifa during the sunrise so I looked into it and booked us a ticket.

Waiting for the sun to rise has never been so dramatic to me. I was never an early riser. Well, I love the sun but I’d rather watch sunsets because it’s more convenient. But that was not just the same ordinary day. We were also visiting the famous and elegant Burj Khalifa that measures 829.8 m (2,722 ft) and a roof height (excluding antenna) of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure in the world since its topping out in late 2008.

Dubai is Beautiful. My eyes are full.

This is how Sheikh Zayed Road looks like at night.

How fetch! It was just the way I imagined it to be. It does scream wealth, class and abundance.

It’s fascinating how distinctively the rays of colors be so vivid right before my eyes. From total darkness to a mixture of dark blue and a faint red to red orange and yellow combined. And those colors could light up the sky and illuminate the whole world.

I was lost for words for a moment and couldn’t say anything but “WOW”.

Being able to watch this dope of a scenery at the world’s considered as the tallest building was totally remarkable. 

Dawn

  See that? Breathtakingly beautiful! the sun’s on point!

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DESCENDING FROM THE TOP. SUCH AN INCREDIBLE RIDE! ”Burj Khalifa has the World’s 3rd’s fastest lift!”

This is so fetch!

    Good morning, Dubai!

  with one of the world’s most favorite photobomber!

her 1st time Dubai Metro experience!

she loves Dubai, indeed..

free coffee and pastries!

just right outside the reception

what a beautiful morning!

  When I was younger, the things that gave me pleasure were all material things and the happiness it could give. All temporal and insanity. All passing.

These days, what gives me pleasure is my time for myself and contentment with what the Lord has blessed me with. I would only bleed myself if I keep on yielding on things I couldn’t have. I have learned things the very hard way.

Dubai has just given me another memory that could last a lifetime.

  If there is one thing I am grateful about  the things I haven’t even prayed or asked for yet still the Lord has always blessed me with,  is my view of the Sun and skies everyday. It is just so therapeutic. After a long day of work, I get to see a fascinating view of sunset everyday. I never failed to stop and marvel at it.  It brings so much joy and peace to me . 

I hope it does to you, too. 

                                                                  P.S

For those asking about the price, I bought ours at AED 125/tix  that includes free coffee and pasties by The Cafe right after the viewing. (The prices may vary and also depends on which floor you wish to go).  The evening price is doubled, I guess.  So, it’s much better if you visit their site first, here’s the link; atthetop.ae to check for the prices before booking. There’s a lot of promotions, just check which time of the day you want to go.

The time of viewing we had is favorable for those who would not want a long queue. And also, you can just collect your tickets at the reception. No worries about that. 

I must say that it is perfect for all the tourists who’s got layovers during this time of the day. I can only speak for the same hours. I cannot guarantee during the afternoon considering the queue and traffic jams you might encounter and eat your time. And based on Ate Joyce’s reaction, it was worth it! And I couldn’t agree more! It’s worth the sleepless night for me and long hours of flights for her, too.

BONUS VIDEO!

Sunrise: 7:05 , Januray 13, 2018

  The most surreal and breath-taking scenery I have ever witnessed.

Thanks for taking time to read! I hope it helps you decide  to try  paying the Burj Khalifa a visit during your long and boring layover or tour in the UAE!

  God Bless You More!

    x x

: mayne

So, I’ll fire the story away.

May 2017 when I heard about the concert of Ed Sheeran. Rowie (my roomie), told me about the online ticket selling details. I had too many things to consider during those times. I was actually planning on having a vacation from November-December, and on top of that,  my Visa’s gonna expire the month before so I cannot say yes and go without having a thorough plan. Honestly, I didn’t have a plan at all. I was clueless if I’ll be renewing my contract or I might have to find another job then, in other words, watching Ed was not really a necessity neither a priority, I thought nonchalantly.

So, I heard, It was only less than an hour that the tickets got SOLD-OUT! GRABE lang! Rowie was into the moon when she booked herself  a ticket (with her friend) then I just thought, it’s not really meant to be for me to watch Ed Live. 😦  I know, I was quite sad, I thought how wrong timing it was. Perhaps, I can catch him in the Philippines, or maybe next year… or I lost my chance already.

I have long accepted the fact that I cannot really watch. But it’s kinda bugging me all the time, though.

However, days went by so quickly then November came like a whiplash; I renewed my contract with the company I am working with (thank God) totally mindful about Ed’s concert and still my plan on having a vacation was postponed. Rowie then, broke the news to me that her friend needs to go home urgently prior to the concert, so she’ s selling her ticket….

I didn’t think twice, though. HEHE. I got my chance right? No need to mope around!

Moreover, the day has finally come! Autism Rocks Arena is quite far of a venue. We left for Dubai at 3pm; took us more than 2 hours to reach the venue, early enough before the gates opened at 7pm and searched for the best spot and waited for 2 hours to start.

  At 9Pm, LAUV (the Special Guest) which I’m not familiar with was the first to perform, if you know him, he’s also good! His song “I Like Me Better” has 60M Views (the Official Audio) and 21M Views on the Official Video on YouTube. (As of this writing- April 9, 2018)

  After the performance of Lauv, we got hyped for Ed’s turn. And boy, he does not disappoint! The mere sight of him entering the stage sent the whole Arena into pandemonium! It was crazy! I had no better word for that. We’ve been waiting for him for hours but when we saw him it doesn’t seem like we did anymore!

He sung “Castle on the Hill” right away!

        The following videos are the setlist consisted of 19 Songs. Feel free to watch and I hope you have a good time watching as much as we did!

Castle On The Hill, Eraser, The A Team, Don’t, Dive, Bloodstream, Happier, Tenerife Sea, Galway Girl, Feeling Good- I See Fire, How Would You Feel, Photograph, Perfect, Nancy Mulligan, Thinking Out Loud, Sing.

          Encore:

Shape of You and You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.

As much as I try to express the exact feelings while he was singing the songs, I cannot. I just can’t. I’m just so happy and it was overflowing! I was anticipating that he would sing Lego House and All of the Stars, my first favorite songs of him but he did sung Tenerife Sea instead, I melted. Everything from the DIVIDE ALBUM were all equally beautiful!

When you’re there watching, You just really can’t help but record everything and document the every moment, not wanting to miss anything!  That’s why,I have a video of each of the songs ! I’m very proud of myself! haha! But boy, it was hard! Really sorry for the shaky parts, because sometimes, I’m not mindful of the phone anymore. I just watch and enjoy.

(Grabe sa Storage, Beshie! haha, Hindi ko kayang burahin sa phone kahit may back up pa!)

The Concert was lit! People on fire and singing along at the top of their lungs! It was crazy and really overwhelming. Thinking about How Ed Sheeran gathered people from different ages, religions and nationalities got me thinking like, “Music has the power to unite people, indeed. It is a language that everyone understands.”

You hear his songs everywhere, thousand times even, but it’s entirely different when it’s live. He’s got this certain energy and vibe that is really contagious. Girls go crazy and dig emotional and romantic songs and that’s what he gives you. True, simple and real stories through songs you can actually relate to.  No matter if you’re in a relationship or not, young and old, he makes you want to fall in love through his songs.

  One of the best nights of my 2017! Really worth it!

Shout out to Rowie’s friend, Aileen, who sold her ticket (it’s only wise that she sold it….. to me of course!) Thank you! I hope you could watch Ed’s concert soon, too. And maybe I was really destined to watch it! Come to think of it, I already refused even before the pre-selling but still, it landed on me. Charooot…..! But my real reaction was, MANONOOD AKO…. MANOOOD AKO NG ED SHEERAN CONCERT!!!!!!!!!

And boy, was it a dream come true! A Perfect night, indeed! I can’t listen to Ed’s song without remembering that epic night!

He sung 19 songs nonstop playing guitars and he doesn’t have a band. He even just got back from a bike injury if you had known that he broke his arm. We thought that DXB will be one of the countries to be rescheduled (Philippines was one) but he pushed it through. There were times in the concert that he would hold his arms to his wrist like it was still kinda painful. He’s definitely one amazing Musician this world has.

You may have been bullied before, no college degree, a simple English man with no 9-5 office job yet you are so amazingly talented! Very humble and simple guy! Thanks so much for sharing your talent to the world! See you again! You are one of my favorite people in the world.

  You are perfectly imperfect, Ed!

   x      I LOVE YOU!      x